Mr Gogolak
Noé Pamarot
I actually hope we sign more Croatians despite all of this. On the pitch they tend to deliver, most of them seem to work very hard and most of them are very good on the ball as well.
I would rather have players that do the business on the pitch then get angry when they don't get to play or don't get the dream move they feel they deserve than have someone who's not good enough on the pitch.
To be honest, I can't think of a single player in the Croatian league who would even come close to making it in England. Mentality is all well and good but talent has to count for something too.
Dinamo had a golden generation but this is over. Now they're reduced to signing Hajduk's rejects, just to tinkle off their main 'rivals'. Mandzukic was probably the last talented player at Maksimir. What's left is a bunch of cloggers who flatter to deceive. Badelj was meant for great things but he never really delivered. Sammir was supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread but he never reached that next level either.
Hajduk's Vukusic is supposed to be a promising player but I'm not sure he has what it takes to make it elsewhere.
It's also worth to remember that it took Kranjcar and Modric almost a year to adapt to the English game. So that's hardly a quick-fix solution. Also, a lot of Croatian players tend to over perform when they play with the national side. At least, they used to... see Pletikosa, for instance.
I still like Rakitic, though.
