The SHNL has begun, and it kicked off in a grim stadium amid dreadful weather and poor football.

Both managers, Schilndelfeld and Jelavić, structured their tactics as if they were followers of Mario Carević, who, along with Genaro Gattuso, played some of the most unattractive football last season. However, the difference was that Gattuso and Carević had talented players at their disposal, allowing for glimpses of individual brilliance that compensated for their ugly, defensive tactics.

Jelavić clearly opted for an aggressive variation of the 3-4-2-1 system, which added a lot of energy to the game but resulted in significant finishing issues in the attacking third. In contrast, Schilndelfeld set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, transitioning to a 4-4-2 when defending against Jelavić’s destructive approach. It felt like two versions of last year’s Gorica were clashing on the pitch: one aggressive and destructive in a 3-4-2-1 formation and the other more defensive in a 4-2-3-1 setup.

Schilndelfeld instructed two central offensive players to shadow Lokomotiva’s midfielders, while two defensive midfielders were assigned to protect the back line, effectively blocking the central zones. The scene was telling: defending against an aggressive, destructive style can be daunting. Neither team displayed the creativity or capability to produce any significant attacking plays.

Vukovar found some fluidity in the second half when Pilj entered the midfield, but nothing concrete came of it. There were numerous technical mistakes, and it seems both managers will have a lot of work ahead if they want to stay in the league.

Lokomotiva won the match 1-0 with a goal from Krivak, which is the only notable thing from this game.