Offensively creative, but vulnerable at the back, no goals from midfield: Mirko has two matches and five months to find balance

Bosnia and Herzegovina celebrates qualifying for the World Cup, over 100 people paraded and went crazy through the streets of Sarajevo last night.

For Montenegro, geographically so close, scenes of celebrations from the neighborhood, seen through the prism of football and the current results of the national team, seem as far away as if they were at the end of the universe.

If we forget for a moment the number of chances created by Mirko Vučinić's team in the last two strong home games, against Croatia and Slovenia, and the number of goals they scored (four in total), if only the "naked" result remains, we get this statistic: as many as 13 defeats in the last 20 games.

The only victories in that period, which included the last two years, were achieved by Montenegro against Andorra, Gibraltar twice, Liechtenstein, the Faroe Islands and Turkey.

The only victory against a stronger rival, therefore, came against Turkey, 3:1 - at a time when, unfortunately, it meant nothing competitively.

The last triumph that really meant something, although it was too late even then, happened in September 2023, against Bulgaria in Gorizia, and before that, in March of that year, against Bulgaria away.

Miodrag Radulović was succeeded by Robert Prosinecki at the end of that cycle, and now Mirko Vučinić is trying to get the national team back on the right track and into more serious football.

We're back to the last two "strong" matches, against Croatia and Slovenia, both at home, in which two identical defeats came, almost in a mirrored manner - a 2:1 lead at half-time, a 2:3 defeat at the end.

In both clashes with serious national teams, participants in the last Euro, no matter how much the competitive stakes in both matches did not bring much (after all, a friendly match was played against the Slovenians), Montenegro created a large number of chances.

Our team appeared creative and even unusually versatile in attack, and the goals arrived - four in total, each in the first half.

On the other hand, Montenegro seemed so soft, naive, and one could say competitively immature, that their rivals (Slovenia, in particular) achieved more from a smaller number of created situations.

And the "falcons" lost both matches.

During Mirko Vučinić's tenure, Montenegro conceded 12 goals in six games, and played, in addition to Croatia and Slovenia, the Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein and Andorra.

Andorra is, in fact, the only team that did not score at least once against the Montenegrin team during that period.

The legendary Cico Kranjčar, the most successful Montenegrin coach, after his tenure on the bench began with three defeats in three friendly matches, analyzing what he had observed, said:

"It's important to me that we have someone to score goals. And this back - it can always be stacked."

What followed was a run of six clean sheets, four in "hellishly" difficult qualifying matches (Wales, Switzerland, Bulgaria, England), three 1-0 wins and the famous draw at Wembley, and a breakthrough to 16th place in the FIFA rankings.

Kranjčar then had Mirko Vučinić in attack, and "this back" - he stacked it up just right.

Perhaps Mirko, a decade and a half later, could follow the example of the coach to whom he was very attached in football.

And to build the game, the concept, the stability of the team from the defensive, not the offensive.

Because, even in Mirko's coaching era, Montenegro has someone who will score goals: the matches with Croatia and Slovenia showed that.

Milutin Osmajić scored three out of four effective goals in the aforementioned duels, as Nikola Krstović just played.

"You have a hell of a tandem of attackers," said Boštjan Cesar, the Slovenian coach, and Zlatko Dalić, the Croatian coach, said something similar.

And we shouldn't forget Stevan Jovetić, who could really help in the duels with teams of the caliber of Armenia, Cyprus and Latvia, which await us in the Nations League in the fall.

What Montenegro has not had for a long time (some would say it has never had), is what is most normal, and perhaps crucial in modern football - goals from midfield.

There were none at Prosinečki's, and Vučinić, for now, has not managed to change that.

It almost sounds unreal that two out of only three goals in competitive (qualifying) matches in the last four years, and there have been almost 30 such matches, were scored by Edvin Kuč, who is now not among the candidates for the national team.

The solution? It's logical, and it's self-evident, Montenegro has it - Vasilije Adžić.

Vučinić needs to find a way, as much as he can, to boost his confidence through the national team, no matter how little playing time he has in the big team, Juventus.

And he has to prepare it, project it, because such a player profile is necessary, just as much as toughness and a more stable defensive block (after all, the only goal from midfield in Mirko's tenure was scored by Adžić, in Gibraltar).

Despite everything, despite the defeats, the lack of self-confidence, the fans' interest, the general atmosphere and the distrust in the national team, the last two serious matches against Croatia and Slovenia showed that what Vučinić is doing on the bench - makes some sense.

The legendary captain of the Montenegrin national team, as a novice coach-selection coach, despite all the expected failures at the start, including heavy defeats (Faroe Islands), seems like a man who knows what he is doing and who is aware of what is missing.

His statement speaks volumes about the good cooperation between Krstović and Osmajić:

"They are a good tandem, but in the 4-4-2 formation we have problems when we are behind the ball. We will see, we will analyze...".

With such potential in attack, Montenegro has a good chance of finishing first in the group with Armenia, Cyprus, and Latvia and making it to the European Championship playoffs.

Vučinić has two friendly matches in May and June and a total of five months to find a balance.

A novice coach?

There was also Sergei Barbarez.