UEFA Nations League || 12 & 18 Nov || Netherlands and Italy || Amsterdam & Sarajevo

HT: Netherlands 2-0 BiH.

The performance has been better than the scoreline suggests, but tactically there are enormous problems. The biggest one is down the left – where Kolasinac has been caught out for both goals – but wasting Gojak on the left wing while leaving Hodzic alone and isolated upfront are also not helping at all.

Pjanic has had two chances – one of them very good – but he hooked the first and hit the second into orbit. Krunic also had an opening which he uncharacteristically wasted, while Gojak was quite unlucky not to get a penalty at 0-0.

The big hope for the second half is for Bajevic not to make another bunch of dumb substitutions.

 

It’s sad to see the stay of the national team. We’re at our worst period since I began watching (2010 WC qualifiers). We really need a complete youth restart.

 

Again watching two players from Sarajevo being subbed in while we waste players who are actually national team caliber on the bench.

 

Saničanin having himself a game, in the past ten minutes saved three clear chances.

 

At this point, I think we can all finally admit that Kolasinac is highly overrated. He's had more bad games for the national team than good ones. I don't understand the hype around him which either way is not as huge as it used to be, thankfully.

 

FT: Holland 3-1 BiH.

This could have been a much closer game, but the formation put out by Bajevic put paid to that. All three Dutch goals came down the left, a fact which amply illustrated that Kolasinac is a wing-back, not a left-back.

If Bajevic had played two up front and a playmaker behind them, then that would have at least given Holland something to think about. As it is, the home side easily built attack after attack from the back, under no real pressure.

Pluses: while the dumb substitutions duly materialised in the form of Tatar and Rahmanovic, Danilovic and Ziljkic also came on and instantly looked at home, while Prevljak – another substitute for the largely ineffectual Hodzic – put the finishing touch to an excellent team goal, and perhaps should have had a second.

 

The only things BiH need to succeed are (i) a competent tactician and selector who can use the Internet; and (ii) a sports psychologist.

The pool of excellent players has never been bigger, and it is expanding practically every six months. Heck, the BiH 'B' squad would now be a respectable UEFA Nations League B/C team.

However, if Bosnia is stuck with coaches who think that Elvis Saric should be the first name on the teamsheet, or that Amer Gojak's best position is on the left wing, or that Benjamin Tatar is an acceptable substitute for Rade Krunic, or that calling up a goalkeeping coach (not even a currently active player) is acceptable not just once but twice, then the country is going to radically and dramatically underachieve.

 

I hate to kick a man when he's down, but Bajevic is now 0/7.

 

You're well within your right to kick him, he's been a complete and utter disaster and officially the worst national team coach ever, at least from a statistical point of view. Bajevic is making the likes of Bazdarevic and Prosinecki look like Ottmar Hitzfeld right now. Even semi-professional national teams in Europe have managed to record wins lately, even teams like Albania and Macedonia have managed to qualify in recent times. Between 2014 and now, we went from being a top 20 team in Europe to now having sides like Malta, Armenia and the Faroe Islands record more wins in qualifiers than us. Brought to you by our primitive loser mentality and the ********ing morons at the fudbalski savez. And when Bajevic is finally gone, they will pull a candidate out of their asses like Amar Osim and act as if they just made a genius move. Dark times ahead..

 

I fee like Saničanin should be able to get a transfer to a better league with these NT performances. I admittedly don’t watch the Serbian League so idk if he is at that level there but you would think he should be.

 

Dark times? I'm not so sure...more like ironic times.

There is going to be a new federation president shortly who will replace Elvedin Begic – a Bosnian Serb (his name escapes me for now) with close political ties to the RS leadership. He's the same guy who turned around Borac Banja Luka and swept a clean broom through their administration.

So things could improve quite rapidly, but at the hands of someone whom one wouldn't necessarily think of as providing an antidote to this particular problem.

 

He probably deserved to be in the BiH NT 1-2 years ago on merit, and richly warrants a transfer to a top five league, or a big club in a weaker league.

I'd expect Sanicanin to excel in Italy.

 

I don't trust anyone with political ties to the RS leadership, if this guy gets any major role we can kiss international football goodbye for at least the next 10 years.

 

Šehić positive for korona, now we have Maribor’s 2nd or 3rd keeper lining up against Italy... This is why Begović should’ve been less salty and still showed up. Could’ve won this job with a solid performance against Italy.

 

Begovic's ego is too big for his own good.

 

Why do you say that? We don’t know his reasoning for not being in the NT anymore.

 

Because his entire national team career is him giving stupid statements to the press and getting into some kind of controversy every few months or so because of his hurt feelings like some 3 year old child. Back in 2009, he was basically running around demanding Ciro Blazevic to be the first choice keeper and getting outraged about not being in the starting 11. Then there's the numerous times he refused to show up for national team gatherings for bogus reasons which were sometimes not clarified fully. Prosinecki did a lot of things wrong but I applaud him for at least doing one thing right: Seeing right through Begovic's bullshit.

 

That sounds like bullshit to me lmao.

 

It can sound like bullshit but Begovic's regular temper tantrums are known facts.

 

Anyone watching?

 

Unfortunately. About ready to demand Dedić and Gazibegović get promoted to start for the A team. Fullbacks are atrocious.

 

Cant put the finishing touches on any attack even when we push forward. We are lucky the Italians have been unlucky in front of goal.

 

1-0 Italy with a brilliant counter attack after Ćorluka couldn’t win the ball leaving the CBs and Pirić alone.

 

Yeah you would think with Kadusic, Todorovic, Corluka, Cipetic, Nastic, Kolasinac, and Civic 2 of them could come good, but all have been atrocious.