Benjamin Friedrich

Striker - Croatia Zmijavci
6 Feb 2028
Sunday
Process
Overview Personal Contract News 2 Transfers Relations Events 82 Awards Matches History

Marked for Benjamin Friedrich

41 Edition

The Croatia Zmijavci Post

10 May 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad10 May 2027

The knee: Darko Marjanović out for 49 days

49 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Croatia Zmijavci lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.

Squad10 May 2027

A falling-out at Croatia Zmijavci

Vanja Vukmanović and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad10 May 2027

A row about effort at Croatia Zmijavci

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Tomislav Gudelj was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

The dugout10 May 2027

Tomislav Gudelj gets picked when it counts

Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Tomislav Gudelj is on it.

Squad10 May 2027

Benjamin Friedrich is a square peg at Croatia Zmijavci

The system has changed and his position has not. A footballer can improve his form; he cannot improve the manager’s formation, and that is the whole of the problem.

Market10 May 2027

The Fran Brodić talk will not go away

Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Croatia Zmijavci know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.

In brief

Back issues
40 Edition

The Croatia Zmijavci Post

3 May 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad3 May 2027

A knee injury of the worst kind for Darko Marjanović

56 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Croatia Zmijavci lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Boardroom3 May 2027

Domagoj Tadic has until the next board meeting

What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Croatia Zmijavci can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.

Match3 May 2027

Croatia Zmijavci are in real trouble now

Position 10, 22 points, and a fixture list with fewer games left in it than excuses. The arithmetic is not cruel yet, but it has stopped being kind.

Boardroom3 May 2027

Pressure builds in the Croatia Zmijavci boardroom

The directors have stopped offering the manager public warmth. In football that is usually the stage before the short statement.

Squad3 May 2027

A falling-out at Croatia Zmijavci

Marco Boras and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Squad3 May 2027

Benjamin Friedrich gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Benjamin Friedrich has just signed for Croatia Zmijavci, and for once the answer mattered.

Squad3 May 2027

A row about effort at Croatia Zmijavci

Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Majkol Luka was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.

Market3 May 2027

Talks stall between Croatia Zmijavci and Marco Boras

“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.

Market3 May 2027

Croatia Zmijavci sign Benjamin Friedrich, one for the future

Benjamin Friedrich is 15, and Croatia Zmijavci have signed him for the player he will be rather than the one he is. The first team can wait; the point of a deal like this is the years it buys.

In brief