Mateo Kovačić

[blaugrana1987]

I agree, Modric was great but in his early 20s he wasnt regarded as big of a talent as Kovacic. You wont find a person in Croatia who believes 20yr old Modric was better then Kovacic. Yes Kova is hot and cold, yes he lacks selfesteem but his talent is undeniable. I seriously think we would be nuts if we miss on him...Ancelloti wanted him last year on Modric advice, didnt pan out but hopefully it doesnt.

 

[Barcaman]

Modrić is always good, if not great, for our NT

 

[Gaudi]

Modric was very meh, imo, even in Tottenham.
A lot of Tottenham fans were saying that he offers way too little for that kind of expensive signing in terms of goals and assists.
And Modric was already 23-24-25-26-27 in Tottenham.

He was horrible even in his first year in Real, aged 28 already. (he was a flop of the Season, by all media)
He exploded in last 2 Seasons, aged 29 and 30.

Further, Modric usually fails in NT team, isn't it?
He didn't manage to lead our team ever to promote from a group stage, and a lot of people in Croatia said during the last World Cup and Euro: Modric was on vacations again during those tournaments (as if he plays awesome for Real, and just meh and nothing special for NT team).

So, someone could say that Modric was always a pure gold whenever he played, but he wasn't that good in Tottenham and in our NT team.
Kovacic is also meh in NT team and hot and cold in Inter, but... he is only 21.

Actualy one person on Tottenham forum said everything in one sentence: you need to watch Modric live to see how good he is.
That is true, he was good in Tottenham he is just not a player that will score and assist so he won't be talked about to much.
Same thing in Cro NT, we need a player who can cretase something from nothing because of our bad coaches but Modric is always good.

[MENTION=9047]Blaugrana[/MENTION] - that is exactly why I talked about Dinamo then, you need to understand Modric, Corluka and Eduardo was our tridenta, they started everything, they started Dinamo domination in HNL (champions for 10th time ina row now)...this is why he wasn't regarded as talented as Kova maybe but he was - have no doubt about that..
Now every kid that comes from Dinamo academy is better than Modric after one good move. And since Mamic is selling them younger and younger, and we all know he pays journalist to write bullshit, now we have super mega talents in kindergartens, mostly bullshit though.

 

[BBZ8800]

Now every kid that comes from Dinamo academy is better than Modric after one good move. And since Mamic is selling them younger and younger, and we all know he pays journalist to write bullshit, now we have super mega talents in kindergartens, mostly bullshit though.

That is what stupid papers say.
I usually don't buy the hype.

I wouldn't want any Croatian player in Barca except Modric, Rakitic and Kovacic.
Even Mandzukic is not good enough for Barca (except for being a reserve).
About younger players, I have said, I personally don't believe in Halilovic because of his low footballing IQ.
(Kovacic is only 2 years older than Halilovic, and look at how each of them would fit our team)

So, it is not about the hype.
I just think that Kovacic has Barca's DNA and is extremely suited for our possession+direct play. (More than Pogba, for example)
Rakitic, for example, only at the age 25-26 started to look like a player good enough for Barca's level.
It is hard to predict how a player's career will develop.
But Kovacic looks like a Barca's level at a much younger age than Rakitic.
Ok, I won't compare young Kovacic with young Modric because Modric is a silent midfielder who's effort you can't measure in stats and numbers, so let's leave him out of these comparisons.

 

[Gaudi]

I'm not sure about IQ, for example Modric looks fairly stupid to me listening to him but looks smart on the filed. You call that fooballing IQ but maybe is just talent and vision and IQ is IQ.
Alen is arrogant, has temper, while Kovacic is calm, religious guy...but for example many say he lacks courage, maybe he just doesn't see write moment to do write thing what can also be called IQ?.

So at the end Kovacic is more likeable guy than Alen but I'm not sure that he is smarter nor more talented (actualy I rate Alen talented).

 

[BBZ8800]

I'm not sure about IQ, for example Modric looks fairly stupid to me listening to him but looks smart on the filed. You call that fooballing IQ but maybe is just talent and vision and IQ is IQ.
Alen is arrogant, has temper, while Kovacic is calm, religious guy...but for example many say he lacks courage, maybe he just doesn't see write moment to do write thing what can also be called IQ?.

So at the end Kovacic is more likeable guy than Alen but I'm not sure that he is smarter nor more talented (actualy I rate Alen talented).

When we talk about talent, people mostly think about technique and dribbling skills (usually).
People will usually say: Halilovic or Adama are sooo talented.
Not too many people will say: he is so talented because he has awesome tackles...

Halilovic has awesome technical talent.
But he is very poor in tactical elements and his footballing IQ is more or less horrible, especially for Barca's level.
But yes, he has balls/courage.

Kovacic isn't as good dribbler as Halilovic, that's true.
But he is tactically much better player both in attack and in defense and in workrate/buildup/movement for the team.
Also, Kovacic has much better vision, playmaking ability, ability to predict 5-6 moves in the future etc.
While Halil usually takes the ball on the center, dribbles, runs past 3 defenders, shoots from the edge of the box and either scores or not.
Kovacic wasn't too brave in the past (brave like Messi, Neymar etc).
But he is improving. Plus again, young Iniesta (from how I remember him) was a much weaker player aged 20-21 than the current Kovacic, and Iniesta was equally or even more scared/without the balls/courage. And look at him today.

So, about talent, there are 10 or even 100 factors about which we could debate.
So, Halilovic surely has more potential in terms of dribbling and scoring.
But in 100s of other footballing factors (physical skills, tactical skills, mental skills), he is behind Kovacic, imo.

 

[BBZ8800]

Interview with Kovacic after yesterday's match Inter:Juventus:

Journalists asked him about Barcelona.

http://www.90min.com/posts/2167970-barcelona-director-confirms-interest-in-mateo-kovacic-and-rules-out-pedro-summer-sale

 

[Gaudi]

When we talk about talent, people mostly think about technique and dribbling skills (usually).
People will usually say: Halilovic or Adama are sooo talented.
Not too many people will say: he is so talented because he has awesome tackles...

Halilovic has awesome technical talent.
But he is very poor in tactical elements and his footballing IQ is more or less horrible, especially for Barca's level.
But yes, he has balls/courage.

Kovacic isn't as good dribbler as Halilovic, that's true.
But he is tactically much better player both in attack and in defense and in workrate/buildup/movement for the team.
Also, Kovacic has much better vision, playmaking ability, ability to predict 5-6 moves in the future etc.
While Halil usually takes the ball on the center, dribbles, runs past 3 defenders, shoots from the edge of the box and either scores or not.
Kovacic wasn't too brave in the past (brave like Messi, Neymar etc).
But he is improving. Plus again, young Iniesta (from how I remember him) was a much weaker player aged 20-21 than the current Kovacic, and Iniesta was equally or even more scared/without the balls/courage. And look at him today.

So, about talent, there are 10 or even 100 factors about which we could debate.
So, Halilovic surely has more potential in terms of dribbling and scoring.
But in 100s of other footballing factors (physical skills, tactical skills, mental skills), he is behind Kovacic, imo.

I agree there are many variants of talent, also pure talent is not enough but I also don't belive in mantra 99% hard work and 1% talent...It was created by untalented guys . Lets be honest, with hard work you can breed another Sergi Roberto, but Sergi can train and train he'll never be a Messi. So that 1% is just unreachable to him.
That is way when you look at talented kids you look for that special factor. Now...if we would buy Kovacic as a finished product I wouldn't mind, but we are buying only a talent, different as you say than Alens talent but still a talent. Also, we payed around 3 mils for Alen and we would have to pay 30 at least for Kova. Price is not everything but 10x more?
At the end of the day you can change someone attitude, stamina, fitness etc...hell even Messi said he changed his diet and behivuour, but those driblling and tehnical skills are born with...that is way many, not only fans, but scouts as well look first for those.

 

[dakt]

http://www.90min.com/posts/2167970-barcelona-director-confirms-interest-in-mateo-kovacic-and-rules-out-pedro-summer-sale

Wonderful to hear that Pedro will stay.

 

[BBZ8800]

Zvonimir Boban, a legendary captain of Croatian NT team and most famous Croatian midfielder in a history, who played 11 years during 90s for AC Milan, and who today works for Italian Sky Sports as a commentator, talked about Kovacic and about his potential move to Barcelona or Liverpool:
"Should Inter sell Kovacic? No.
Even in Saturday's loss against Juventus, Kovacic showed that he will be a huge player in the future, even though he is still a rookie and he is still learning the basics of tactical aspects of the game.
The problem is that it is not easy to play in the current Internazionale.
The coach should sacrifice some other, less talented players, and not Kovacic.
If you want to create a strong team, you should never sell players like Kovacic.

Inter wants to buy Yaya Toure. Yes, Yaya is in this moment a better player than Kovacic, but he is 32 years old, and Kovacic is 21.
Kovacic is proving lately that if he will go to a better club, like Barcelona, that he will become a player about whom the whole world will talk.
But it all depends about his future team and where he will play in their formation.
He is an awesome midfielder, but if Mancini wants to play 4231, then Mancini should sell him, because Kovacic isn't suitable for that formation.

In the end, Boban says that Kovacic's reading of the game and his ability to change the rhythm of his team are amazing"

** Boban usually don't talk crap, and since he had a very high footballing IQ (and he is a smart guy outside of the field. He finished a college also), he usually hails only "smart" players with a good footballing IQ.

 

[Co0ter]

I'd prefer Kovacic over Gundogan. IMO he would suit Iniesta's current role on the team much better. Good vision, good workrate, and he likes to move into space to recieve the ball. Still young and isn't injury prone. He is also a good dribbler and can take on opponents.

 

[raki]

If we cant get Pogba or Verrati, which is almost certain, players like Pjanic and Kovacic are good choices. I rate them highly.

 

[dakt]

http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/577544/Liverpool-Arsenal-warned-Barcelona-interest-Inter-midfielder-Mateo-Kovacic

 

[Gaudi]

Boban's words make me question my current opinion on Mateo

 

[Alik]

I'd prefer Kovacic over Gundogan. IMO he would suit Iniesta's current role on the team much better. Good vision, good workrate, and he likes to move into space to recieve the ball. Still young and isn't injury prone. He is also a good dribbler and can take on opponents.

Thing is, there is no current Iniesta role imo. It's rather Iniesta being forced to play out of position/comfort.