The good and bad vs Austria

Hi friends, Serbia beat Austria 3-2 on Sunday night and it feels damn good. It's so strange waking up after a big match and feeling joy in your heart because Serbia actually won. It's been a long time since Serbia has won a important qualifying match (over 5 years to be exact) so we should all enjoy this rare feeling and wait peacefully for the clash vs Wales in November. Here is the good and bad vs Austria.

THE GOOD


The godlike creature named Dusan Tadic 
Dusan Tadic returned to the national team in May after former Serbia manager Radovan Curcic left him off the squad for months because he wasn't good enough (If you're wondering Curcic is still unemployed, I have no idea why). Since Tadic's return and Slavoljub Muslin's hiring Serbia's attack has been reborn. Tadic has played fantastic and his performance vs Austria was a masterpiece. He assisted Serbia's first two goals and scored a beautiful winner late in the 2nd half.  He is undoubtedly the leader of this team and if he keeps this level of play he can carry Serbia to Russia. Tadic is a joy to watch and is simply dominant on the pitch right now. Thank you Dusan!

The central midfield, finally 
Serbia's central midfield has been ineffective in recent games so Slavoljub Muslin decided to change things up a little by replacing Nemanja Gudelj in the starting lineup with Ljubomir Fejsa. The move payed off and things looked much better vs Austria as Fejsa and Luka Milivojevic meshed very well. Both worked very hard, won tackles and played intelligent passes. The duo won't be together for long though as Nemanja Matic will be back from suspension for Wales. Muslin will have to decide which one of the two will work best alongside Matic.

Mitro's on fire
Well. well. well, look who's joined the party. Aleksandar Mitrovic's struggles for the national team have been well documented but he finally came good vs Austria. Mitrovic scored two well taken goals, ran his tail off, held the ball up well and fought bard all night, This was one of his best performances in a Serbia shirt and should do wonders for his confidence. He was far from perfect (missed a few great chances and looked tired in the 2nd half) but it was a encouraging display and hopefully he can translate this into more success.

A big win
This is a very important victory for Serbia but it's also our first competitive victory against a strong side since we beat Germany at the 2010 World Cup (unless you count Albania as a strong side which I don't). Yes it;s been that long. Those that don't consider Austria a strong side should note that this was their first defeat in their last thirteen qualifying matches, that stat speaks for itself. This victory puts Serbia on top of Group D and gives our players a huge confidence boost heading into another big match vs Wales next month,

Continuity 
Slavoljub Muslin has undoubtedly brought a plan and a system to the national team and that's something that Serbia has lacked for many years. This team and his tactics are still a work in progress but you can see what he's trying to do and the players know what their roles are unlike during previous regimes. He also hasn't switched the entire lineup and formation every other match which is a nice change. Muslin has brought Serbia much needed stability and most importantly results, These players are basically the same ones from previous failed campaigns, Muslin is the only difference. So far so good but it's a long road to Russia.

THE BAD

That defending 
Oh boy that was hard to watch. Serbia's defence was very bad vs Austria and made it a extremely stressful evening for all Serbian fans. There were many nervous moments and we made some big errors that resulted in goals or good scoring chances for Austria. Some of these errors were individual ones and some of them were due to bad positioning. It's also worth mentioning that Austria's 2nd goal was clearly offside and should not have counted. There is clearly tons of work for Muslin to do on the defensive end. He needs to find a way to shore up Serbia's  defending because I don't  think our hearts can handle watching another defensive display like the one vs Austria.

Stefan Mitrovic
I don't like to single out players and I could have included this in the previous heading but Mitrovic's performance was so poor that I think it warrants special mention. Stefan Mitrovic was Serbia's worst defender vs Austria which is saying something since Ivanovic and Nastasic also played poorly. He assisted Austria's first goal with a poor clearance and looked very unsure and nervous every single time the ball came near his feet. He won a good amount of aerial battles but not enough to make up for his mistakes. Mitrovic can't start vs Wales, Muslin has to look at other CB options.

Kolarov's yellow 
Well that was unnecessary. Aleksandar Kolarov received a stupid yellow card late in the match for time wasting and will miss the match vs Wales since he also received a yellow card vs Moldova. Just as we finally get Nemanja Matic back we lose another one of our key players. It's very unfortunate as Kolarov is Serbia's best left back and always a dangerous attacker for us. Filip Mladenovic will take his place in the lineup. He played well vs Ireland in September and hopefully he'll be able to duplicate that performance vs Wales because we'll need it.

Stojkovic 7.5
Ivanovic 5.5 Mitrovic 5 Nastasic 5.5
Rukavina 6 Milivojevic 7.5 Fejsa 7.5 Kolarov 7
Tadic 9 Mitrovic 8 Kostic 7.5
Subs
Katai 6.5
Gudelj 6
Maksimovic N/A

The good and bad from Moldova

Serbia comfortably beat Moldova 3-0 in a must win 2018 World Cup Qualifying match today. Here are some good and bad things from this encounter. 

THE GOOD

Dusan ****in Tadic
Dusan Tadic had maybe his best game in a Serbua shirt today. He scored a goal, added two assists and provided at least three more great passes that his teammates should have finished. He was the best player on the pitch by a mile and his creativity in Muslin's system has given new life to Serbia's once impotent attack. Serbia can score against anyone when Tadic is playing like this.

Kostic-Katai-Tadic
Andrija Pavlovic was subbed off at halftime and replaced by winger Aleksandar Katai who came in and played as a false 9. Katai and Tadic often switched positions and combined with Kostic to create all sorts of problems for the Moldovan's. The skill, creativity and dynamism of this front three was very easy to see and adds a dangerous element to the side. Unfortunately Katai missed two great chances but it  was clear that Tadic and Kostic combine a lot better with him than with traditional strikers like Mitrovic and Pavlovic. 

Three points and a clean sheet ?!?!?
If you've been following Serbia for the last six years you know how difficult it has been for us to get three points and keep the ball out of the net against anyone. Serbia has a knack for dropping points to small sides like Moldova and these away trips usually turn into nightmares. We also have a talent for giving up very stupid goals. That was not the case today as we put in a very professional performance that allows the players to sleep easy until Austria on Sunday. 

Confidence
This group of players has experienced a lot of failure and faced so much criticism for their poor performances. Mentally they've taken a pounding so a easy victory like this will definitely give them some confidence and bring back their belief in themselves.  Obviously we shouldn't get too excited about a win over a side that we are classes above but this is something positive and positivity is rare when it comes to the Serbian national team in recent years.

THE BAD

The backline 
Serbia might not have conceded against Moldova but the centre back trio of Ivanovic, Nastasic and Vukovic was not as convincing as we wanted them to be against a side of Moldova's quality. Moldova created a couple good chances and got into quite a few dangerous positions. Our defenders just didn't do a good enough job of shutting them down and that will definitely need to improve against a much better Austrian side on Sunday. There's still more work to do but hopefully it gets better as they get more comfortable with each other and the new system. 

Slow starts 
Just like in the match vs Ireland last month, Serbia struggled out of the gate today and was outplayed in the first 15 minutes of the match. The players seem so tense and nervous at the start of games and this added stress that they put on themselves affects their play and is often costly. Early goals are huge and we can't afford to concede them. Hopefully this win will make the players relax a little bit and come into the next match more prepared and with cooler heads. 

Set pieces 
This is something that I was really paying close attention to after the struggles we had against Ireland's set pieces. Today was not much better and a side with more quality would have probably punished us. Moldova almost scored from their first corner and on their next two corners our defenders cleared the ball to the top of the box where a Moldovan was alone waiting for it. Fortunately their shots missed badly in both of those situations but Muslin really needs to secure this part of our game for the rest of the qualifiers.

Central midfield, again
Muslin decided to start Luka Milivojevic and Nemanja Gudelj in central midfield again after their uninspiring performances vs Ireland. Today was much of the same. The duo was unable to control the middle and Moldova crossed into Serbia's half without much trouble for a good portion of the match. Their passing was also poor and they just don't mix well with Serbia's wingers. I'm not sure who Muslin will go with on Sunday but Nemanja Matic can't come back soon enough.

Stojkovic 7
Ivanovic 7 Nastasic 6.5 Vukovic 6.5
Rukavina 7 Milivojevic 6 Gudelj 6 Kolarov 7
Tadic 9 Pavlovic 6 Kostic 8
Subs
Katai 7
Tosic 6
S. Mitrovic 6.5

The next obstacles on the road to Russia

Serbia will take on Moldova and Austria this week in two crucial 2018 World Cup Qualifiers. Serbia will be looking to rebound after a disappointing 2-2 home draw vs Ireland that would have been a victory if not for the ridiculous chances Serbia missed, Here are a couple of things that we learned from last month's Ireland match.

Predrag Rajkovic needs more time
Rajkovic made his first competitive start in goal for Serbia and he looked like he wasn't yet ready to take the job from longtime starting keeper Vladimir Stojkovic. The youngster was not at fault for either of the goals and made a few good saves but he looked unsecure in goal and his needless over dribbling and mistimed clearances made for a nervous evening. Rajkovic is clearly very talented and will one day be Serbia's #1 but he needs more time to mature and gain experience.

Defend the damn set pieces
This has been a problem for a while now, the positioning on set pieces is not good and Serbia continuously get's punished for it. Both of Ireland's goals came after a set piece, the first was due to a failed clearance by Aleksandar Mitrovic and the second from a free header. Our players need to show more discipline and concentration in these situations. Muslin has to find a way to fix this issue or teams will continue to expose the weakness.

The misses, oh god the misses
Have you lost all of your hair yet? Its the same story every match with Serbia's finishing so this is nothing new but some of the misses vs Ireland were truly mind numbing. Mitrovic alone in front of the keeper, Pavlovic off the bar, Ivanovic's miss from 5 yards out. It hurts to remember them. The finishing has to improve or good sides will continue to punish us for our misses.

Need much more from central midfield 
Nemanja Matic's suspension has left a big hole in Serbia's central midfield and Slavoljub Muslin has decided to fill it with Luka Milivojevic and Nemanja Gudelj. The duo was very underwhelming vs Ireland, both were pretty invisible and their distribution was poor. To make things worse Milivojevic committed a dumb foul that led to Ireland's first goal while Gudelj lost his man on Ireland's second goal. We will see if Muslin sticks with them or changes it up for Moldova on Thursday.

Mitro where art thou?
Aleksandar Mitrovic was simply awful vs Ireland. It was one of his worst performances for the national team and Serbia's attack looked a lot better once he was subbed off. This was his first match in two months so that probably contributed to his performance but this isn't just about one match. Mitrovic has to play better and put away his chances (like the sitter he missed at the end of the first half) if Serbia want's to qualify for the World Cup. We need Mitro to be on fire.

Tadic and Kostic = nightmares for defenders 
Dusan Tadic and Filip Kostic were a terror for the Irish defenders all night long. The two wingers were fantastic and made everything happen for Serbia's attack, Tadic scored and assisted a goal while Kostic scored a goal and fixed a penalty. The continued good form of these two dynamic players will be huge for Serbia's World Cup hopes.

On to Moldova and Austria

The match in Moldova this Thursday is a must win for Serbia. Moldova is the weakest side in the group and getting six points from them is imperative. Anything less is unacceptable. Moldova will sit back and try to defend like they did vs Wales last month. Serbia will create plenty of chances against them and the key will be our ability to put those chances away. Serbia has struggled against "minnows' before and losses to Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Estonia and Macedonia in previous qualifying campaigns illustrate that point. Our players have to go into this match fully focused and with the right mindset. The familiar "this one will be easy" attitude has to change because we haven't earned the right to be cocky.

Austria visits Belgrade on Sunday in what will be a extremely tough match for Serbia. The Austrians are a very talented side and probably the favourites to win this group. Serbia is the underdog in this encounter and it will take a very good performance to beat the experienced and well organized Austrians. Serbia's defenders will have to put in a disciplined and composed performance because a side like Austria will punish us for any lapses in concentration.  This match will set the tone for the qualifiers in my opinion, a result here for either team will send a message to the rest of the group and put the winner in a good position to finish in the top two.

Expected lineup:
Stojkovic
Ivanovic-Nastasic-Vukovic
Rukavina-Fejsa-Milivojevic-Kolarov
Tadic-Kostic
Mitrovic