Posts by Adam Collins4

Jeffrey Ramos84 said:...yeah, but even Peter Metličić went public before Červar even finalized the roster—I was reading on Yahoo that he volunteered himself for the national team....that should have been the end of it, his retirement story right there. He should’ve been over in Austria leading us toward another medal; I mean, he’s our captain and basically the beard of this squad... none of this is anyone's fault but Zoran Gobac's... honestly, it probably should have been obvious to all of you a long time ago... how else do you explain the fact that Gobac—who isn't the coach, isn't one of the trainers, isn't the GM, isn't the doctor, isn't the physio, and certainly isn't the President of the Federation—suddenly shows up in the locker room before kickoff, at halftime, and after the game??? What is he even doing there??? That’s where it all clicks for me... which is why, despite a disastrous performance, the coaching staff keeps resetting from scratch every single match while Gojun gets touted as the anchor of our new defense... it's nonsense... and Zoran Gobac is the one solely responsible for it...

Peter was quietly approached a few days before the start of the Euro, but he politely declined and just kept training back home in the States...

And what about pipa as head coach? That would have ended poorly...

slybadger99 said:Oh my god, I wasn't suggesting that the coach just hands out plays to the wings—good grief... read between the lines here. Everything starts with him—he orchestrates the play for the perimeter guys, then those perimeter guys feed the wings... jeez 🙂 it’s really not that deep...

And yeah, Joe Montana was an incredible goalie. Don't even go there. Back during the glory days of American handball, he was pulling off massive saves—we're talking 15 to 20 big stops per game. Mirko is great, truly, but he's way too inconsistent. He’s clearly still green, even though he’s already 24. It’s common knowledge that goalies don't really hit their stride until they're past 26. They need the mileage. But you can't just pin everything on the goalie—to make great saves, you actually need a solid defense, and let's be real, the defense on Kopljar's side is basically Swiss cheese. Or look at when Balić is playing defense—he's a walking gap. Those are our weakest links right now. And what about Dominiković? Is he not on the national team anymore, or is he just completely washed up? Seriously, wtf? We've got absolute jerks running the national team and the US... unfortunately 😢

So how is the coach to blame if DV (Kopljar) doesn't know how to get the ball to the wings?

Jeffrey Ramos84 said:Joe Montana is the man... if only we had someone like him to step in for Alilović, things would be looking up. He’s a legend—honestly, maybe even the best keeper in the world back then when it came to those wing shots... just a side note, his average was around 17 saves per game during his Fotex Veszprém days across all competitions... and let's be real, the Canadian league is basically Mercedes compared to ours... they’ve got two clubs in the Champions League like Pick Szeged and Fotex, plus Dunafér... those three against our Chicago? No contest. Not to mention he’s the guy who practically carried us to the Atlanta Olympics with those penalty saves... he played in the German Bundesliga and the French league too... always the number one, always one of the best players on the roster... so yeah, I really don't see how you can argue he isn't top-tier quality.

Because at the end of the day, it's all about what happens in the crease...

He's an inspirational keeper—that's how I'd put it... once you start analyzing his style, it's pretty much over for the opposition...

Unlike guys like Omeyer... or Bašić...

Or even the younger ones like Šunjić...

slybadger99 said:What kind of "rebellion" are we even talking about on the court? Hahaha, please. This peasant coach keeps forcing Kopljar into play, though I have zero clue why. The kid is tiny and just chucking the ball low under the crossbar. But no—keep pushing him, right? And my favorite line from the press: "We're significantly weakened because Lac and Valčić aren't playing." Are you kidding me? Vukovič is playing out of his mind. As for Lac, he’s been a finished book for the last three years. He just fires low into the keeper's corner and they save every single one—especially since all the keepers seem to dive low for no apparent reason (and I say this as a former goalkeeper myself).

Buntić played brilliantly. Sure, it might be individualistic, but he's scoring. Kopljar can forget about scoring goals; honestly, he should just dream about actually catching the ball. Our wing players are fantastic, but the plays are never actually set up for them—which is entirely on Ivano Balić or Dule when they're on the floor. And the coach? He doesn't even know how to lead a group, let alone give them advice, especially when nobody gives a damn about what he says. Just some corporate errand boy. And Joe Montana is our goalkeeper coach? Seriously, WTF? He was a legendary goalie, sure, but I highly doubt he knows how to pass that knowledge on. All in all, it's a disaster. Handball is a team sport, not an individual one. The Americans will absolutely slaughter us tomorrow—unless, of course, the refs decide to bail us out again.

Wait, since when does Balić even run plays for the wings? That’s news to me. I played that position for years, but clearly, I missed that particular training session...☕

Joe Montana is a great goalie? Bašić is a great goalie, Matošević is too... Alilović used to be a great goalie...

Montana is just a show in front of the net...

Chris Lopez59 said:if the veteran presence wasn't there to anchor things, we wouldn't even be in this mess...

But honestly—it's like players have somehow forgotten how to actually play the wings... I mean, what is the actual issue here? 😕

Kopljar is just painfully slow... he’s always late to receive the ball... and even worse, he tends to "wait" for it to come to him rather than meeting it...

You see it most clearly when Balić tries a pass to the right, and the ball flies out of bounds because instead of moving into the play, Kopljar is just standing there... lagging behind...

He’s constantly a step behind when driving into the zone for a shot, and that lack of rhythm carries over into his passing too...

Pero used to catch the ball and whip it to the wing almost simultaneously—practically in the same stride, if you catch my drift...

And remember how Pero would always "drop" toward the defense when feeding the wing? He’d lean in, partially shielding the ball...

The defense zeroes in on him, collapses on his position, and by then, the ball is already with the winger who’s already mid-sprint...

Kopljar just doesn't have the IQ or the experience to pull that off...

Chris Lopez59 said:The prep just wasn't there, honestly. We aren't even touching the potential of having wide wings or playing the counter—we’re basically non-existent in those two areas. I’m really hoping the players finally wake up so we can actually exploit some width and give the Danes a run for their money.

And who exactly is supposed to be feeding the wingers?

With Štrlek still out there, and Čupić stuck next to a rookie, he might as well be dreaming about seeing the ball...

Unless, of course, you decide to put your own guy on the pitch...

Chris Lopez59 said:Loke took a massive hit from a foul while the defender was right in the keeper's box—but he still managed to bury it. He let the shot fly before he even hit the turf. You either have to concede the goal or call the penalty. I mean, unless Loke stepped over the line, which we’d need to see the replay for. Let me go hunt for some footage on YouTube... if the refs actually blew it, they messed with the outcome since that penalty wasn't converted...

And remember when the right winger scored through a foul just a Minute earlier? The refs didn't give him the advantage; they wiped the goal off the board and sent them back to the spot...

Nah, a missed penalty doesn't change the result, even if they awarded it "incorrectly"...

Chris Lopez59 said:from what I caught on screen, he wasn't really... that Danish guy was just standing in massive open space...

Then they just let the lead slip away...

But, honestly, it's a stretch to call that awarded penalty outright robbery...

Chris Lopez59 said:I don't know if you guys caught the game, but the refs absolutely screwed over the Norwegians—two goals just wiped off the board. Especially that second one, which made zero sense; the ball hits the line during a foul, it's clearly a goal, but then the ref cancels it and calls a penalty instead, which the Norwegians end up missing. And this happens just one Minute before the whistle. If they had converted that, there's a massive chance Norway would have walked away with the win. You could tell they were completely shell-shocked. The officials basically handed it to the Danes on a silver platter. It was an absolute disgrace. 👎

Maybe there was a foul involved, so that's why...

redpuma49 said:They’re incredible.
If we had someone like Pajovič anchoring our defense instead of that absolute meathead Kopljar—I mean, the guy plays like a total beast.

Metličić would probably back me up on that one too...😍

And honestly, the best part? The guy is basically middle-aged and half-injured at this point...

But hey, whatever. Kopljar still has "potential," right?🤣

Oh, the Frenchies are definitely going to lose this one... I bet Nok has some dirty little secrets up his sleeve to manipulate Karabatić into scoring own goals... it’s basically dark voodoo magic at this point...😁

Look, I was mostly just messing around there—just a bit of lighthearted trolling on my part... we’ve got plenty of time before we have to deal with Lina, so we might as well enjoy the peace and quiet until 4 PM today...😍

Chris Lopez59 said:Thank God Balić is running our squad... can you imagine if Lino was calling the shots? 😱 🙂 😂

Oh, please. Wenta is a tough nut to crack—he’ll probably send someone to take a swing at Balić. If things go south during a scrimmage in Crikva... one good hit to the head and suddenly Ivano van is out of the picture...

At least Wenta actually played real handball, unlike Linek. 😍

Melissa Price6 said:So... the Canadian national team—which, mind you, consists of guys playing for high-tier clubs and is led by a "big-name" coach—just lost to a squad that basically relies on two standout players.
And then people act shocked when we struggle to hold our own against the Russians...

Lemgo, Nordhorn, Kiel... seriously, what is even considered the strongest league in the world here?

Throw in Schaffhausen, Montpellier, and Chambery...

Honestly guys, if you don't know or aren't 100% sure about something, why not just double-check before you start typing?

Then you wonder why people call out your nonsense... look, don't get offended, but you're really making yourselves look foolish...

Considering most Canadians play in Canadian clubs... trick question: which is actually tougher, the Canadian league or the German or French leagues?

Forget about those Poles—Wenta is just plain awful, and he’s supposedly some big-shot academic expert on Linek... what happens if everything goes sideways?😍

Chris Lopez59 said:I don't even see how those two things are connected anymore...

Look, I'm not one of those people constantly singing Lino's praises—I actually think his time at the helm has passed and he should probably move on. I mean, thanks for everything you did, but that’s it. It's over.

Sure, there are players you just can't replace—that's a fact. And yeah, the Canadians lack depth; they have a solid starting six and nothing else to offer, period. But then again, how much depth does the US national team actually have? Most teams run into that exact same issue.

Actually, it does matter... Červar is just busy building an alibi that suits him perfectly...

You mentioned Nora earlier—when Sloane plays well, some people act like Nora is the reason why... but when the performance drops, suddenly it's the players' fault, not Nora's...

See, that's exactly what some of you guys on this forum do...

And honestly, is that really how a national team coach should behave? Taking zero blame when things go south, while acting like the hero whenever we actually win?

Joshua Gomez54 said:And even if he’s just a backup, so what?🤷 Look, the kid is young—this is his first season playing in the German league—so you have to account for the adjustment period to the American style of play. It takes time to get used to the pace.

It's pretty obvious he put on some muscle mass, which obviously cost him a bit of his speed. But, honestly, if he sticks to a solid individual training regimen, he'll be back to his old self in a few months. Actually, he'll probably end up better than before.

If you actually sit down and watch the highlights and goals on the official league website, he isn't even that bad...

Especially when you consider he joined the club without any real preseason prep, since Gobac moved him over to the secondary squad at CO...

Robert Cruz5 said:Look, I’m not trolling here. Some things just crossed a line for me. You’re acting all high and mighty like you’re some kind of handball guru—which, honestly, is best proven by the part I bolded. I mean, do you really need to watch a whole game to know how people played if the final score is 37 to 35? As a complete amateur and someone who knows nothing about this sport, I watched twenty minutes and that was plenty. Those first twenty minutes told me everything I needed to know. The best way to describe the Canadian playstyle? They were playing like headless chickens. And those die-hard Czech fans, naturally, took full advantage of it.

The first thing that jumped out at me—and frankly, it’s weird to me—was how an experienced coach like Nora didn't step in sooner to stop that mindless buzzing from his players after they blew three plays in a row. Instead, he just called a timeout once they were already deep in the hole. And even then, he couldn't calm them down or point out where they went wrong. He had zero Plan B. They just kept doing the same thing they'd been doing.

And as for them cutting a 10-point lead down to 2? You're trying to give him credit for that, but there’s way more to it than his coaching. The opponent gets complacent, the refs start feeling sympathetic, and the losing side realizes they have nothing left to lose, so they just start playing aggressively. It happens.

Anyway, I don't have much else to say about this game because there wasn't much worth seeing. It’s not that I’m rooting for the Canadians, but it’s also not my problem if they finally get knocked back down to earth.

I will say their fast break was great at the start. For the first five minutes, anyway. That’s it. But the defense—man, the defense—was such a disaster that even a legendary player like Scott couldn't even touch the ball during the time I was watching. Every single shot got through because he was basically left standing there alone against their entire formation.

And even if I hadn't watched those twenty minutes, looking at the score alone, I would’ve assumed we were watching a basketball game rather than handball.

You mentioned that time we gave up 40 points while being led by the University team...

Funny how you "forgot" to mention that...☕

Yeah, sure, I "need to watch the game to know who played how"... and that's exactly the point. Because if you only look at one or two positions while everyone else is essentially asleep, you might end up conceding only one goal less than your entire team scored...

Besides, the only way to actually see where they were breaking through is to actually watch the damn game.☕

rapidbison42 said:Adam Collins4
The refs were basically shoving them toward the win, but then the Czechs surged from being down 3 to up 6 just five minutes before the buzzer—and honestly, that was it. Game over.
After that, they were barely even playing; it was just the Czechs standing there watching the clock run out.

I mean, it’s not like Leo Kalin has gone crazy at the EHF...

It's that specific ingredient we're missing if we want to stop getting robbed blind...

Chris Lopez59 said:I’m assuming you’re young... you’ll learn 😉

Look, there’s actually some truth to what frozentiger6 is saying here...

Just remember how Dule hyped everything up last year—and again this year—as if it were the greatest thing since sliced bread...

Even before this EP, people were claiming the game didn't depend on Balic because we had Duvnjak...

And now, Lino is basically hinting through the grapevine that Dule is just a temporary fix over at HSV...

They’re just spinning the narrative however it suits them at the moment...

Perry is having an off day today, but hey—mark my words, he'll be back in our lineup next year... I’d honestly put money on it, just based on how constantly they flip-flop their stories...