Does Prosinecki remember Italy '90?

Andrija Bulatović i Vasilije Adžić"I didn't think about them in a game like this, lest they "burn out"," he said. Robert Prosinecki, the head coach of the Montenegrin football team, when asked why two great hopes of our football did not play a single minute in the defeat to the Czech Republic (2:0) in Plzen.

These were the words of a man who, as a young player, along with several other famous "Chileans", best felt what it looks like when the coach doesn't want to, doesn't have the courage, or simply, for some other reason, doesn't believe in the guys who are coming up.

Yugoslavia before the 1990 World Cup and present-day Montenegro have something in common - the young footballers of the country at the time were world champions, while our youth made history as the first Montenegrin national team to play in a major competition.

35 years ago Ivica Osim believed more in the 35-year-old Safet Sušić, three or four years younger Faruk Hadžibegić i Zlatko Vujovic but rather into guys who will change football in this region, but also much more widely, in the coming years. Players like Dejan Savićević or Prosinečki himself, with the current "Falcon" coach getting a bit more opportunities.

The current president of the Football Association of Montenegro did not hide his disappointment with Osim's decisions for years afterwards, and it seems that today his former teammate, now the coach of our national team, is making the same mistake.

Prosinecki had the ideal situation to play Montenegrin talents through the Nations League during the fall. True, Adžić was often injured at the time, but the young men from the "golden generation" of our football and those slightly older seemed not to be even considered. In a competition where a bad result is forgiven, Montenegro chased him - persistently, and he only came in at the end after five consecutive defeats and relegation from League B.

Of the younger players at the time, only Milan Vukotić who shone in the Buducnost jersey - in that very last match against Turkey. Just a minute on the field against the same rival in Samsun a little earlier - certainly didn't mean much to either Vukotić or Prosinecki.

The fact that Partizan couldn't have made a mistake with the new midfielder is also evidenced by the fact that he was one of the better players in our team two nights ago in the defeat against the Czech Republic. Just as the coaching staff didn't make a mistake by believing in the 25-year-old goalkeepers Igor Nikić and Balša PopovićAnd, if changes were possible in such a sensitive position, why not in the other lines of the team?

Unlike Osim, who was stubborn but eventually made it one step closer to the World Cup semi-finals, Prosinecki has no results. And it seems that when there are no results, it is logical to change something, that it is ideal to try with younger players, to slowly grow for the next few cycles...

It's nice that the coach is concerned that the youngsters don't "burn out", but maybe the game at the "Dusan Arena" wouldn't have completely fallen apart if Bulatović, a new player for Lans, had brought the energy that is always there - whether he plays for Buducnost or the youth team. Maybe there was room among the invitees for another youth player as a reward before the Euro in Romania, and maybe a few minutes would have been enough for Adžić to feel that the coach trusts him after he didn't do it. Tudor Igor at Juventus.

- We are missing something. Are they young players, will they be in the team, will I be in the national team - we will see. But of course, changes will have to be made, we will look for the best so that we can play real games in September - said Prosinecki after the match in Plzen.

Did the coach announce more faith in young players, did he perhaps remember Italy '90, when after the first matches he started from the bench, he "convinced" Osim that he belonged in the starting 11, and the response was the award for the best young player of the World Cup...

Everything will be clearer in September against the Czech Republic and Croatia - provided that Prosinecki is still there.