Monday Talk

December 21st, 2009 | by: Mario | Comments(8)

What better way to get a blog back to life then start a new refreshing & original column. OK, never mind that latter bit, but it is Monday and I am gonna try and start a tradition here. So every first day of the week, I’ll have a brief look back on how our players fared over the weekend. Not very original, true, but what the heck, hopefully it gets the job done. And as you can see, I’ve yet to come up with a name for this thing, as the title “Monday Talk” was the only thing I could come up with. Sad times.

But let’s get back to business. And we might as well start off with the Premiership, where some of our most talented players earn their cash by playing with the big boys. At Crospur, Crottenham, or however you wanna call them, things are looking good for the most part. Kranjcar has been excellent lately (2 goals against Man. City and now an assist against Blackburn), while Corluka has also picked up in form lately, after his somewhat slow start to the season. The only downside is that our little magician, Luka Modric, has picked up a slight ankle injury which held him absent from this weekend’s action. After spending so much time out with injury, I suppose things get a little rusty in you. Still, I’m sure every Spurs fan out there can’t wait to have Modric back and to see how coach Redknapp introduces him back into the team, with our man Kranjcar now in there as well.

But to get back to the rusty side of things, one particularly likeable guy scored his first goal after a near three months draught. Yes, Eduardo tapped in from a couple of yards in Arsenal’s 3:0 beating of Hull City, and hopefully opened the flood gate for his goals to start pouring in. Ivan Klasnic meanwhile, even though he is starting to shine for Bolton Wanderers. Two against Man. City(remember Kranjcar scored a brace against these guys as well) and one against West Ham puts him in a good position to cement himself a place in the starting lineup. Which leaves us at Nikola Kalinic, who is getting picked all the more often by Big Sam lately. Allydryce spoke recently on how he didn’t want to put Kalinic into the pit just yet, as he felt afraid the player might buckle under the pressure, so hopefully these recent appearances are a signal of more first team chances coming Kalinic’s way.

In Bundesliga, Olic is kicking some serious behinds. The man who was often ridiculed for his arguably average technique and rather unique dribbling ways, is proving with each day that he’s got what it takes to be at the very top of club football. After practically single-handedly knocking out Juventus in the middle of Turin, the man keeps goals and goals a plenty. He got on the scoresheet this weekend as well, scoring a goal in Bayern’s 5:2 thrashing of Hertha Berlin. Danijel Pranjic, our other Bavarian emissary, also featured in the match. Pranjic had a less then memorable start to his Bayern career, but things look like they’re heading in the right direction after the team’s recent change of fortune, result and performance wise.

To keep things short, I’ll end this one here. Expect some videos & pictures to go with future editions of this as well. Oh and feel free to let me know who I’ve (un)intentionally neglected, as thankfully there’s loads of Croats playing the beautiful game around the globe. Your feedback is always welcome and appreciated.