The Croatian side began Europa League qualifying in the second round and just three days later started their domestic campaign. Up until now Marijan Pusnik’s squad has played nine games, four in Europe and five in their league so one could say that both Maccabi and Split are in fine form going into their Thursday night contest.
Split currently sits in third place in the Prva HNL, however they dropped some important points losing to Dinamo Zagreb and drawing against Osijek. In order to analyze the club as best as possible, we took an in depth look at their largest win (4:0 over Istra) and their biggest defeat (4:0 to Zagreb) while checking out where the players were positioned throughout the two matches.
In general, Hajduk plays a 4-3-3 but their formation can change depending on the opponent. In the loss to Zagreb, Pusnik’s side played a similar formation, but for most of the match many players dropped into the midfield and Split played with a lone striker in a 4-1-4-1 formation. The same was true in Hajduk’s victory over Istra where many players hovered around the midfield as the wingers played just behind the central striker.
If we take a closer look at Hadjuk’s offensive side, the midfielders and others playing in that area provide the majority of the Croatian attack. According to the shots on target or offensive statistics one can see that the majority of the Hajduk attack came from the center of the pitch and not from the wings as shown in the diagram.
Croatian Classico:
Hajduk Split’s last contest was a 1:1 draw at Osijek, but it’s worth taking a look at the match just beforehand that resulted in one of the most painful losses of the campaign as they fell to Dinamo Zagreb in the Croatian Classico. Pusnik’s charges didn’t exactly show up to their last home match at the Stadion Polijud as they gave up a late first half goal and then three more by the 68th minute to their arch rival.
One of the things that Dinamo was able to do very well against Hajduk was being able to get the ball into the key area. Hajduk may have had more offensive opportunities (90 out of 105) and you can see via the shots on goal as to how Pusnik’s team’s offense is quite potent. Zagreb had 11 offensive attacks that led to shots on goal just one more than Hajduk who finished with only three accurate shots on target.
Split’s accuracy rate was also low when it came to their passing statistics (76% compared to 85% for Zagreb), but most importantly their attacking passes stood at only 4 attempts while none made it to their destination.
The Magnifying Glass:
There’s been much talk about the average age of Hajduk’s young squad for the 2016/17 campaign. Even though Pusnik’s side has little European experience, they are still very talented and have been together for a couple of seasons in the Croatian League. Let’s take a closer look at the strengths of three specific players.
Nikola Vlasic – Hajduk’s number 8 is only 18 years old but he is a very important piece of the team’s puzzle for the third straight year, which is an impressive fact despite his young age. Vlasic is an offensive midfielder with a beautiful dribble which he does on average of eight times a match explaining why he is able to draw many fouls when on the attack. Vlasic’s strongest point is his attacking key passes and he has already picked up four assists this young season. However, the weakest part of his game is his shooting ability and his chances to score. The midfielder has yet to find the back of the goal this year and the amount of shots on goal is lowest amongst Hajduk’s offensive minded players.
Tino Susic – One of the side’s most exciting players is number 31, Tino Susic. The Bosnian midfielder with a strong left foot is one of the most dangerous players in Hajduk’s squad. If you thought that Vlasic dribbled plenty then think again as Susic dribbles on average 11 times per match with a 60% success rate.
In comparison to the other midfielders, Susic is one of the most versatile players who likes to threaten the opponent’s goal and does so the most on Hajduk while also scoring the majority of his team’s goals. Last campaign, Susic scored 12 times in the domestic league finishing with a total of 15 across all competitions. Long efforts, getting behind the central defenders and a high accuracy rate are just some of the features that the midfielder will come to Netanya with.
Fran Tudor – If the family name of this 29-year old midfielder is familiar then you are not mistaken. Fran Tudor is a distant relative of Igor Tudor, the former Juventus central defender and one of Eyal Golasa’s past coaches when he played with PAOK.
But with all due respect to his roots, Fran doesn’t need his relative in order to prove that he’s a quality player in his own right. The young midfielder is considered one of Hajduk’s most important players from last season where he both started and came off of the bench. This year he has already picked up two goals and two assists in six matches.
The little details:
Number 12 – We won’t see the full story of Hajduk’s most important player in Netanya. As a sign of respect and admiration for their fans, the 12th man, the club will not allow any player to wear the number 12.
Lovre Kalinic – Is the 26-year old Croatian keeper who wears the captain’s armband. Since his days with the youth side, Kalinic has been the club’s first choice keeper while also making four appearances for his National Team and was included in the Croatian Euro 2016 squad that was eliminated in the Round of 16 by the eventual European Champion, Portugal.
Franck Ohandza – It’s still unclear if Hajduk’s main striker will arrive in Israel for the contest, but if he does, the Maccabi defense will have plenty of work to do on the Cameroonian who has already scored five goals. If Ohandza doesn’t make it to the Holy Land then Ahmed Said will feature up front on Thursday.
