On 05/01/2022 at 09:36, Dean said:

I don’t think much different over the years in terms of skill. In recent years Croatia had more skilful players but Serbia do have Tadic (underrated and underachieved at club level maybe) and SMS. Going back: Prosinecki is half Serbian / half Croatian. Savicevic and Mijatovic were Montenegrin. Jugovic was Serbian- v skilful, one of the most “complete” midfielders of the time. Finally, arguably the most talented player of all, Stojkovic, was Serbian. Insane skills. 

Kovacic is probably the closest player to Modric and is still a class below. There may have been more talented players from the ex Yugoslavia but nobody will ever achieve what Luka has. Besides everything he has won individually for club and country he almost never plays a bad game at 36 years old. Just amazing!

I read Luka’s book. Chelsea desperately tried to buy him from Spurs but Levy would never sell. Luka wanted to go to Chelsea. What could have been who knows.

Edited January 9, 20224 yr by Kova17

14 minutes ago, Kova17 said:

Kovacic is probably the closest player to Modric and is still a class below. There may have been more talented players from the ex Yugoslavia but nobody will ever achieve what Luka has. Besides everything he has won individually for club and country he almost never plays a bad game at 36 years old. Just amazing!

I read Luka’s book. Chelsea desperately tried to buy him from Spurs but Levy would never sell. Luka wanted to go to Chelsea. What could have been who knows.

No argument from me there. I’m a huge fan of Modric. He certainly is the most successful player from former Yugoslavia and may well be the best. We all want to believe the players we watched as kids were better than the ones today, but I recognise that today’s players are fitter, stronger and perhaps more skilful than yesterday’s. This further strengthens the case for Modric as the GOAT from that region. 

Also, I can’t help having a weakness for underachievement / unfulfilled potential - the two players that most obviously  ticked this box were Stojkovic and 40-a-day(!) Prosinecki. Both ridiculously gifted, but neither really found their feet at club level after leaving Red Star Belgrade.

1 hour ago, Kova17 said:

Kovacic is probably the closest player to Modric and is still a class below. There may have been more talented players from the ex Yugoslavia but nobody will ever achieve what Luka has. Besides everything he has won individually for club and country he almost never plays a bad game at 36 years old. Just amazing!

I read Luka’s book. Chelsea desperately tried to buy him from Spurs but Levy would never sell. Luka wanted to go to Chelsea. What could have been who knows.

Players went from Chelsea to Spurs and not vice versa e.g. Gallas. Meaning from best to worst. At some point a player might end up in Spurs but they don't upgrade themselves from Spurs to the best club in London.

But hands down Modric to Real Madrid was a very good transfer for them, he is probably in most people's first team lineup of the last 10 years when it comes to the best La Liga team, maybe some put him in the best CL lineup in the last decade as well given that he is the number 10 of the squad that won it 4 times and 3 years in a row which was unheard of since CL has that name.

Kovacic has finally taken that step in my eyes to becoming one of the best midfielders in the world. Even though he’s been injured he could still have about 10 assists this season. He’s been been so much better in the final third which was alway held him back from being a top player. I believe he has also matured and taken more of a leadership as now he has captained Chelsea for the first time all be it a cup game. Even though he scored that unbelievable goal shooting will always be his main weakness. 

Edited January 9, 20224 yr by Kova17

Kovacic has played well at Chelsea in previous seasons, I think even winning of player of the season here on this forum.

This season he seems to be better taking the ball to the strikers though lets remember his form can also drop. 

 

21 hours ago, Kova17 said:

Kovacic has finally taken that step in my eyes to becoming one of the best midfielders in the world. Even though he’s been injured he could still have about 10 assists this season. He’s been been so much better in the final third which was alway held him back from being a top player. I believe he has also matured and taken more of a leadership as now he has captained Chelsea for the first time all be it a cup game. Even though he scored that unbelievable goal shooting will always be his main weakness. 

Hmmm. Not so sure about being one of the best. Maybe. Top 10? Kante and Jorginho are above him and they are from Chelsea. 

Anyway Kovacic is so easy on the eye at best. Silky and smooth. 

Kovacic' problem for me is his decision-making in terms of game management. He always looks to run forward with the ball even when his teammates sit back if we are looking to stop the shop. The team comes disjointed when it happens.

Running forward is also his best asset. He just needs to have some sort of plan B. He is also not very productive close to opponents box. Seems like something management needs to assess with him. 

I love Kovacic but there are so many top teams in Europe with brilliant midfielders I probably can't include him in top 10. Luka Modric for example is above him. One of his best friends.

4 hours ago, evissy said:

I love Kovacic but there are so many top teams in Europe with brilliant midfielders I probably can't include him in top 10. Luka Modric for example is above him. One of his best friends.

Modric is far and away the no. 1 midfielder in Europe. That's a pretty huge bar to compare him to even if the two of them are like brothers

8 hours ago, evissy said:

Hmmm. Not so sure about being one of the best. Maybe. Top 10? Kante and Jorginho are above him and they are from Chelsea. 

Anyway Kovacic is so easy on the eye at best. Silky and smooth. 

Kovacic' problem for me is his decision-making in terms of game management. He always looks to run forward with the ball even when his teammates sit back if we are looking to stop the shop. The team comes disjointed when it happens.

Running forward is also his best asset. He just needs to have some sort of plan B. He is also not very productive close to opponents box. Seems like something management needs to assess with him. 

I love Kovacic but there are so many top teams in Europe with brilliant midfielders I probably can't include him in top 10. Luka Modric for example is above him. One of his best friends.

Hasn’t he addressed and disproven these criticisms pretty emphatically? Brilliant assist tally, two goals - one a goal of the season contender. I think his decision making is among the best in the league and it’s reflected in his great passing stats (knows when and when not to take a risk). His passing close to the opponents’ box has been incredibly accurate. What more does he need to do?  

Consistently be the key player for us and step up in big occasions like Jorginho and Kante have done for example.

Kovacic's been injured a ton so it is unfair for him. Hope he stays fit and leads us to some trophies.

4 minutes ago, evissy said:

Consistently be the key player for us and step up in big occasions like Jorginho and Kante have done for example.

Kovacic's been injured a ton so it is unfair for him. Hope he stays fit and leads us to some trophies.

As you say, unfair. It’s entirely due to injuries. He was unavailable for the big occasions at the business end of last season. Otherwise there is no evidence of him not rising to big occasions. I mean - take the liverpool game, a big one which everyone, literally everyone on here, expected us to lose badly. We go 2-0 down and it confirms everyone’s priors, with many on here throwing in the towel in disgust. He plays a worldly, scores an absolute wonder goal that nobody could ever have dreamed of him scoring, as “he can’t shoot”. And it’s a game changer. He’s the reason we didn’t lose. then he goes on to express disappointment afterwards that we didn’t win. To me this overall performance is the definition of rising to the big occasion. 

Being consistent is also being fit. Can't control that too much. Kante hasn't been fit but he literally won us the CL. He was the world class player/difference maker against Real and City.

Kovacic was the difference against Liverpool. Hats off to him.

3 hours ago, evissy said:

Consistently be the key player for us and step up in big occasions like Jorginho and Kante have done for example.

Kovacic's been injured a ton so it is unfair for him. Hope he stays fit and leads us to some trophies.

I honestly believe that if there was a voting poll that 50% would say that Kovacic is our best midfielder, the other 50% would say it's Kante.

50 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

I honestly believe that if there was a voting poll that 50% would say that Kovacic is our best midfielder, the other 50% would say it's Kante.

Think it would be higher in Kantes favour. And rightfully so in my view.

Kovacic is a brilliant player though. Always maintained that and in terms of challenging for a league title next season he may be as or more important than Kante as he's much more likely to stay fit for an entire season which is what we need from our best midfielders if we want to win the league.

But Kante at his best in probably still the best midfielder in the world for me.

 

5 minutes ago, Sindre said:

Think it would be higher in Kantes favour. And rightfully so in my view.

Kovacic is a brilliant player though. Always maintained that and in terms of challenging for a league title next season he may be as or more important than Kante as he's much more likely to stay fit for an entire season which is what we need from our best midfielders if we want to win the league.

But Kante at his best in probably still the best midfielder in the world for me.

 

I agree but I think there are a lot of Kovacic fans here.

4 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

I agree but I think there are a lot of Kovacic fans here.

Not me gol. I can’t stand the guy. Totally overrated. Can’t shoot, can’t pass, can dribble occasionally but it never leads to anything 

5 minutes ago, Dean said:

Not me gol. I can’t stand the guy. Totally overrated. Can’t shoot, can’t pass, can dribble occasionally but it never leads to anything 

On 05/01/2022 at 20:36, Dean said:

He was my fave! Such imagination! 

Fabtasy player in that Magical AC Milan team

De Bruyne > Kovacic

 

 

Well, obviously. De Bruyne is one of the best midfielders in the league. Doesn't mean Kova isn't good. What a pointless comment.

Edited January 15, 20224 yr by Zeta

3 minutes ago, Zeta said:

Well, obviously. De Bruyne is one of the best midfielders in the league. Doesn't mean Kova isn't good. What a pointless comment.

Someone here suggested Kovacic is one of the best midfielders in Europe/World. Today we saw someone trump him with some distance.

 

Today he was bad. Made a lot of terrible mistakes throughout the match.

That's the nature of how he plays. Against a side that are so organised with their pressing, it's always a risk. But he was the only one who was able to actually break their press a few times, otherwise we just hoofed it long for Lukaku to fail to win a header.

3 minutes ago, evissy said:

Someone here suggested Kovacic is one of the best midfielders in Europe/World. Today we saw someone trump him with some distance.

 

Kovacic is a central mid while De Bruyne is an attacking mid. Kovacic worked his socks off today and set up the best chance of the game. Had a couple bad turnovers and won quite a few balls in midfield. 

Kova together with Sarr and Alonso were the basis of our problems today. All made many mistakes and were targeted by City. 

7 minutes ago, Kova17 said:

Kovacic is a central mid while De Bruyne is an attacking mid. Kovacic worked his socks off today and set up the best chance of the game. Had a couple bad turnovers and won quite a few balls in midfield. 

Don't try to sugarcoat it. Kovacic was awful/average today.