Slaven Bilic once insisted he did not believe in comebacks. Yet 14 years after his first stint in charge of Croatia came to an end, the 58-year-old finds himself back in the national team dugout, preparing his side to face England in Rijeka in the Nations League.
Bilic's return follows the departure of Zlatko Dalic, who guided Croatia to a World Cup final in 2018 and a third-place finish in 2022, cementing his place as the most successful coach in the country's history. Replacing a figure of that stature was never going to be straightforward, but there has long been a feeling within Croatian football that Bilic deserves credit for laying the groundwork for that golden generation's achievements.
It was under Bilic, after all, that Croatia first began to believe they could compete with the continent's elite, a belief crystallized in a memorable 3-2 win over England at Wembley in 2007. Many trace the roots of the团队's later success, built around Luka Modric and his contemporaries, back to that period.
Bilic's connection with Modric in particular appears to have played a part in persuading the 41-year-old midfielder to continue representing his country. That bond was symbolically reaffirmed last weekend when Modric scored the opening goal of Bilic's second spell in charge, in a 2-1 victory away to Czechia, before running to embrace his manager on the touchline.
"Luka is everything to us, he's just incredible," Bilic said afterward, underlining the esteem in which he holds his captain.
The win in Prague was followed by a much tougher test, a 4-1 defeat away to Spain in which Bilic made wholesale changes to his starting lineup. With only two matches under his belt in this new era, it remains difficult to draw firm conclusions about how his second spell will unfold, but early signs point to a clear shift in approach compared to the Dalic years.
Where Dalic's Croatia often sat back and absorbed pressure before striking on the counterattack, relying heavily on a gifted midfield rather than pace in behind, Bilic wants his team to take a more proactive, front-foot approach. He is pushing his players to press higher up the pitch, commit more bodies forward, and take greater risks in possession. He also wants his central defenders to step into midfield with the ball rather than deferring to Modric or Mateo Kovacic to drop deep and dictate play from deeper positions.
Whether this more adventurous style can be effectively implemented with a squad still heavily reliant on veteran figures like Modric, Kovacic, and Ivan Perisic remains an open question. Bilic, however, has never lacked conviction. He recalled believing, back in 2012, that his Croatia side could win the European Championship, even though that tournament ended in group-stage elimination. Now, he has expressed confidence that he can replicate, or even build upon, the heights Dalic's team reached at successive World Cups.
Away from football, Bilic has long cut a distinctive figure, known for his wide-ranging interests and candid personality. In a past interview given during his time managing West Ham in the Premier League, he reflected on his first Croatia tenure with a mixture of fondness and finality, suggesting that some chapters are best left closed. That he has now chosen to reopen one of those chapters speaks to both his enduring passion for the national team and his belief that unfinished business remains.
As Croatia prepare to welcome England to Rijeka, attention will turn to whether this new, more ambitious version of Bilic's football philosophy can translate into results on the pitch, and whether the bravery he demands of his players can help write a new, successful chapter in his long and eventful relationship with Croatian football.
Based on reporting from The Guardian.