THE GOOD
Nikola Maksimovic
Slavoljub Muslin has been searching for the perfect player to man the centre of Serbia's three man backline and he might have finally found him in Nikola Maksimovic. The Napoli defender was superb vs Wales, making no errors and wining almost all of his duels. His performance was something that we did not see from Jagos Vukovic or Stefan Mitrovic who played in the role before him. Maksimovic showed that he can be counted on and hopefully he will continue to impress because having a consistent backline is very important to the success of the side,
Much better defending
Serbia's defending has been poor in the first three qualifying matches; giving up way too many chances and making silly errors. Things looked a lot better vs Wales. Apart from the Bale goal (which was a gift) they only created two other real scoring chances on the night and didn't really threaten too much. The set piece defending was also very good and resulted in zero nervous moments after Welsh corners. Branislav Ivanovic was very good while Ivan Obradovic and Antonio Rukavina also put in fairly solid defensive performances. The play of our defence will decide if we qualify or not.
Nemanja Matic
Matic returned from his three match suspension with a fantastic performance that cemented just how crucial he is to the side. The Chelsea man was a rock vs Wales and brought some much needed stability and calmness to Serbia's midfield and defence. The difference he makes is undeniable and when he's in this type of form we are a totally different team. He fits perfectly into Muslin's system since Chelsea plays in the same formation under Conte. Welcome back Nemanja !!!
Heroic Tadic
Dusan Tadic is already beloved by Serbian fans but their love for him reached another level after what happened on Saturday. Tadic took a boot to the face and suffered a broken nose but quickly returned to the pitch and played sixty minutes with his nose broken. This is the type of heart and commitment that Serbian fans have been wanting to see from our players for years. We've had some sides in recent years that weren't too interested in giving 100% but Tadic and his teammates are clearly giving their all for the national team and that's all we can ask for.
Mitro's still on fire
It's been a long time since Serbia has had a reliable and consistent striker but it seems like Aleksandar Mitrovic is starting to turn into one. He had one chance vs Wales and took it superbly to give Serbia a huge point. Mitrovic is in fantastic form for both club and country, His confidence is at an all-time high and when you look at his age you realize that the sky is the limit for him. Mitrovic is on the right path, if he keeps maturing and improving we will have a monster for many years to come.
THE BAD
Matija Nastasic
Nastasic was at fault for Wales' goal when he basically gave the ball to Robson-Kanu instead of clearing it to safety. Needless mental errors like that simply cannot happen. He also had a few other poor moments during the match, For some reason Nastasic did not seem to play with much confidence or aggression. I still have faith in him and want him to remain in the lineup but he has to bounce back and forget what happened in Cardiff,
Poor delivery
Serbia got into plenty of good position vs Wales but the final ball was just not there, Rukavina, Obradovic, Tadic and Kostic all had good runs and got into space but their crosses and passes were poor and easily handled by the Welsh for most of the night. Aleksandar Mitrovic had one ball reach him in the box and he put it in the back of the net. The delivery has to be a lot better when you have a striker that is in hot form like Mitrovic. Wales deserves a lot of credit for our lack of delivery as they did a great job of disrupting our play and stopping our attacks with fouls and strong challenges.
Filip Kostic
Kostic has been very solid for Serbia in these qualifiers and has been a constant danger to opposing defenses but he was not effective vs Wales. Kostic wasted a lot of good opportunities with poor passes and poor decision making. He needs to be much sharper because a lot of Serbia's attack does depend on him, The current chaos at his club Hamburger SV is definitely contributing to his play but he has to fight through that and play like he is capable of playing.
Stojkovic 7
Ivanovic 8 Maksimovic 8,5 Nastasic 6
Rukavina 7 Milivojevic 7.5 Matic 8,5 Obradovic 7
Tadic 7.5 Mitrovic 7.5 Kostic 6.5
Subs
Katai 6
Gudelj N/A
