bigmattb28 Activity
Love it mate. Keep it up.
Ante Krecak, central midfielder, had been about fitting into the team, about function, about what they needed to become. Mirsad Ramic, center forward, was something else entirely. He arrived without ceremony, without expectation. Though he had m...
Part seven - Control & Consequence The noise around the World Cup faded quicker than expected, articles stopped circulating and opinions moved on. But the work didn’t. That first day back at training didn’t feel like celebration,...
The final was not decided by dominance, it was decided by control. There were moments where the game threatened to break, where structure faltered and where the outcome felt as though it might drift beyond design. Matt Clarke ensure...
If Evan James represents certainty, then Marcus Alderson represents something else entirely. Possibility. Selected 15th overall in the 2020 MLS Draft by Vancouver Whitecaps, Alderson was not expected to define anything. Not immediately, not at...
Structure Travels Further Than TalentBy Emir Hadžić. 18 July 2022. The biggest surprise of the World Cup in China was not a result. It was a pattern. The Canada national football team did not dominate possession, and likewise the USA did not out...
Structure Isn’t Enough. By Emir Hadžić, Mostar Arena Sport. 30 June 2022. There is a certain type of manager who thrives in chaos, and then there is Scott Lańkowski. Disciplined. Organised. Precise. At Velež Mostar those qualities brought i...
The coffee on the table hadn’t started to cool off before the next piece of news arrived. The new seasons fixtures. On the same day as the pre-season predictions from the pundits, with the same timing. Almost like football never gave you space to breathe,...
The new season didn’t arrive with noise, more like it just crept in, quietly, inevitably. The office felt slightly different now. Same table and same chairs, but a different weight. Marcin had the report open in front of him, fingers resting on...
Well consider me hooked man!!
Another name from the 2020 MLS draft class is on the move, and it’s getting to the point where you almost expect it now. Ryan Joachim, the 2020 MLS Rookie of the Year, is leaving Orlando City SC to join CF Monterrey for €21 million. Not bad for the 6...
Paris Saint-Germain have, unsurprisingly, decided they won’t be left not throwing money around, sending €48 million for José Fernando from Vitória. Now, compared to some of their previous transfers this one actually has some logic behind it. Fernando...
Back to Arsenal and they’ve also dipped into the ever reliable MLS to Mexico to Europe pipeline, paying €21.5 million to Tigres UANL for full back Andrew Aguado. Now this is a proper journey. He was drafted 2nd overall by the New York Red Bulls in 20...
On the way out, Liverpool have managed to pull off one of the more impressive bits of business this window, selling Tobias Svendsen to Schalke for €18 million. Now this is a player who arrived from Molde for €4 million and barely featured, 15 appeara...
Diego Galván might just be one of the few transfers in this window that actually makes sense, which is saying something. Picked first overall in the MLS draft of 2018, snapped up by Burnley for just €8 million in the 19/20 season, and three seasons l...
Transfer window summer 2022 The first ‘what on earth is going on here then?’ transfer of the summer sees Joshua King leave Lazio after three solid seasons to join Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia. On paper, it’s respectable enough, 102 appearanc...
Big news out of the Primeira Liga in Portugal, as for the first time since the 2000/01 season, none of Benfica, Sporting Lisbon or FC Porto have won the title. Instead, it’s CD Nacional standing at the top of the pile. A proper earthquake...
Summer 2022 review At the top of the Premier League it was business as usual, well mostly. Manchester City reclaim the title in ruthless fashion, winning 30 games and racking up 94 points along the way. Efficient, relentless and about as enjoyab...
So the final that absolutely nobody predicted, and if they did they’re lying to you. The United States vs Portugal and it didn’t take long for things to get interesting. The States came flying out of the blocks, and after just 7 minutes Cameron Carte...
It all looked very routine at first. Spain went 2–0 up with Mikel Merino and Paco Alcácer doing exactly what everyone expected, efficient, controlled, job done. Except, it wasn’t. Because somehow The States decided they weren’t finished. Two go...
Argentina edged past arch rivals England to set up a semi final clash with holders and other arch rivals Brazil. The Argies came flying out of the blocks and stunned everyone, racing into a 2-0 lead inside five minutes. And of course it had to be Pau...
And just like that the Canadian fairytale turned into a full blown rampage. Canada didn’t just beat Croatia, they absolutely tore them apart. It ended 4–0 and that flattered Croatia. No tension or nerves from Canada, just a ruthless dismantling of a...
World Cup 2022 The 2022 FIFA World Cup in China kicked off and before anything sensible could happen, football decided to go completely off the rails. Let’s start with the absurd. In the final game of Group A, Canada needed just a draw against H...
The conversation slowed after that. Not because there was nothing left to say but because they’d reached the point where it didn’t need forcing. ‘For what it’s worth’ Emir said ‘I think Canada will surprise people’ Scott gave a faint shrug ‘they...
Scott didn’t rush it. He looked past Emir for a second, like he was mapping it out in his head rather than answering a question ‘the group games are different’ he said eventually ‘they’re not about being the best team, they’re about managing moments’ Emir...
They didn’t meet in an office, that would’ve made it formal. Structured. Easier to control. Instead, it was a café just off a side street in Mostar, quiet, half full, the kind of place where conversations stayed at the table and didn’t travel. E...
The room felt smaller than it had any right to be for a moment like this. A few rows of chairs, a couple of cameras set up too close together. Microphones angled toward the table like they were waiting to catch something slipping. On the wall behind...
The dressing room was louder than before. Not chaotic like earlier in the season, not frantic, because this was different. Words were bouncing off the walls, laughter cutting through it. Players talking over each other, replaying moments, shouting na...
The noise from the away end rolled down onto the pitch like a wave breaking. Louder than it had been all afternoon. Different now. Not tension and not hope, but certainty. Scarves spinning. Voices cracking. People climbing barriers just to get c...
The clock ticked louder now. Eighty minutes, then eighty five. Every throw in took a second longer, every free kick placed with care. The crowd noise from the handful of away fans came in waves, anticipation, belief, something building toward releas...
The dressing room wasn’t panicked, but it wasn’t calm either. Scott didn’t raise his voice ‘too loose and we’re not looking confident when we’ve got the ball’ he said simply. A few heads nodded, because they felt it too. Peter added, sharp...
The game never felt settled,not from the first whistle. Away at Podgrmec Sanski Most, the pitch felt tighter, the air heavier, every touch carrying more weight than it should. Velež Mostar started well enough, moving the ball, finding spaces, but not...
The corridor outside the dressing room was quieter than it should have been. Muted, like the noise from the stadium hadn’t quite reached this far yet. Scott stood still for a moment, hands in his pockets, eyes fixed on nothing in particular.&nb...
In the dressing room, the feeling sat somewhere in between. Not defeat but not relief. Scott stood in front of them, letting it settle ‘well, we didn't lose’ he said. A few heads lifted, acknowledging ‘but we didn’t win either’ That landed harder ‘ga...
The response came quicker than Scott would have liked. Too quick and too easy. Thirty four minutes in, Široki Brijeg won a corner down the right. Nothing unusual. Nothing dangerous on the surface, and they’d hardly threatened up until then anyway.&nb...
Velež Mostar starting line up:GK - Abdihodžić. RB - Lugonja. LB - Danilovic. CB - Malania. CB - Leovac. RM - Reinert (9 assists, 3 goals this season). LM - Koné (11 assists, 4 goals this season).CM - Kobilica (captain)....
The stadium filled early. Not gradually. Not quietly. By the time the players emerged from the tunnel, it was already alive, noise rolling down from every stand, thick, constant, expectant. Scarves raised. Voices layered on top of each other. N...
Consider me hooked, my current game is in Bosnia too.
The final whistle came with certainty this time. No tension and with no doubt. Velež Mostar had done their job, 4–1 away at Goražde. Professional. Ruthless when it mattered. A response that carried weight. But the real shift came seconds later,...
The game had drifted into that dangerous place. Three goals up. Control established, but the tempo dipped just enough for complacency to start whispering.Scott saw it before it happened. A fraction slower to second balls, a pass taken with one touch too m...
Away at FK Goražde, there was no slow build. No hesitation, no feeling out period and no taking it steady. From the first whistle Velež Mostar played like a team that had been insulted, and had taken it personally. Six minutes in, the response arrive...
The next step was supposed to be forward.Instead, it stumbled, slipped and sent them backwards. Away at Metalleghe, Velež Mostar never quite found their rhythm. Not in the way they had in recent weeks. Not with the same control, the same certainty.&n...
Momentum, once it came back, didn’t arrive with noise, it arrived with results. A hard fought 2–1 away win at Sloboda Mrkonjić Grad, the kind of game that tested patience more than quality. Tight spaces, heavy legs, moments where it could have slipped. Bu...
The next game carried a different kind of tension. Not just about winning, but about keeping up. At home against NK Gradina, Velež Mostar knew exactly what was at stake before a ball had even been kicked. The table had tightened to the point where every g...
The third meeting carried a different weight. Same opponent, same stadium in the capital. But this time, everything felt tighter. The title race had stripped the game down to its essentials. Points. Margins. Nerve. As Velež Mostar walked out at FK Že...
April didn’t end with a roar, instead it ended with clenched control. After the turbulence of the cup exit, FK Velež Mostar found something colder, something more calculated. Two final games to round out the month. Two margins. Two statements. F...
If there had been any doubt in Scott’s mind about the response, it didn’t last long. Back at home, under a cold but clear Mostar sky, Velež Mostar came out like a team with something to prove against FK Igman Konjic. Not just to the league, but to th...
The second leg didn’t begin with noise. No anger spilling over, no shouting from Peter or Scott from the touchline in the opening minutes. Just a quiet, controlled focus. After the chaos of the first leg and the collapse against Velika Obarska, Velež...
The warning signs had been there. Small ones at first, slight lapses, moments where control slipped just enough to let opponents breathe, nothing that wasn’t manageable game to game. But the cup quarter-final brought everything into sharp, ugly focus...
The winter break ended quietly. No fireworks, no grand declarations, just another matchday arriving at the stadium in Mostar. FK Velež Mostar returned to action at home against NK Travnik, the kind of fixture that looked straightforward on pape...