Sacha on the bench against Waasland Beveren today: Waasland-Beveren en Anderlecht openen de 20e speeldag in België. Volg het nu live op SHD2! #WBEAND #sportinglive pic.twitter.com/hlBD2wHATU— Play Sports (@playsports) December 20, 2014
What else is new? Sasha needs to go come summer. What are their chances on finishing in a play-off spot?
Why, if he gets paid, he should stay. Juergen ain't calling him up anytime soon, even if he is the only American playing Champions League.
Yep. He's doing nothing wrong and he plays well enough if called upon. If Anderlecht's coach doesn't see him as part of his plans, and the coach has the Board's backing, then Anderlecht will have to subsidize his wages for a loan until someone offers them an acceptable transfer fee or they & Sasha agree a payoff. It's strange, in that Sasha agreed a 3-year deal in March 2013, but these things happen. With his record, there'll surely be loan offers in January and transfer bids in June. The ball's in their court, more than it is in his.
I'm pretty sure dude will never play for the NT again except for a cameo here or there. But after nearly 5 years in Belgium he should have a Belgian passport right? NT caps and CL experience with that could be valuable in getting a move to another league. Would love to see him in Italy, though I reckon you guys are accurate of course. He's due to earn way more where he is than at bottom feeder clubs that he'd most likely catch interest. Again it's pretty interesting the best team in Belgium pursued him years ago, out of all potential clubs in Europe.
Sacha parents have Serbian passports (ethnic Serbs born in Bosnia). Anderlecht is a club with several Serbs or ethnic Serbs in it, at all times, so my guess is that some of the owners are Serbs or ethnic Serbs.
Even without a Belgian passport, his wife is English, so he has pretty open access to working in the EU/EEA.
Sacha married his lingerie model wife in the summer of 2012, though. He had been with Anderlecht since 2010. I think the Serbian parents is the most logical explanation (bet Sacha also has a Serbian passport).
Nope. The current owner is Roger vanden Stock, who inherited the club from pa Constant vanden Stock (after whom the stadium is named). Pa made his money from the family brewery, which produced Kriek and Lambic, until it was sold to InBev. As for there being plenty of Serb players, well, the cliche used to be "there is no such thing as a technically inadequate Yougoslav footballer" and it still holds. Plus, young Serbian players are cheap.
So far I know, he's not the sole owner and the names of the others are not public (i.e. they're behind SLLs and such).
Even when united, Yugoslavia tended to underperform, when you consider the players they had. In 1982 they were expected to be contenders, but couldn't get out of group. Supposedly, ethnic tensions were causing locker room problems. Which also seemed to affect the Soviets, another team that underperformed. Even now, Croatia is the Ivory Coast of Europe: often a favorite, seldom going far in anything.
Sure. They just never seem to live up to their FIFA ranking in actual competition. Just like Ivory Coast.
Great point. But wouldn't you have to note the constant fighting there. I'm sure that has to weigh on the minds of the guys when performing. Or at least cut into the talent development. Not saying as an excuse but something to behold.
If by "constant fighting" you're talking about the wars negatively affecting Croatia's performance, I'd say not. During the wars Croatia's players were eloquent about how playing for Croatia was their form of war service; that a winning MNT showed the guys at the front that Croatians are winners, not to mention its impact on the home front. That continues to have been passed on to the current generation, including the children of emigres (Ivan Rakatic, Ivo Ilicevic, the Kovac brothers, Mladen Petric, etc). Croatian players certainly seem to raise their game when playing for their country, unlike Serbian players; not many Neven Subotic's there. Given that they can draw on a population of no more than 6 million (4 million in Croatia, 500k in Bosnia, the rest from emigre and descendants in Germany, Switzerland and Australia), I'd say their results and the quality of their football are astounding.
In actual Sacha news, he starts today in what may be his last match for Anderlecht: Line-up #RSCA: Proto, Colin, Heylen, Deschacht, N'Sakala, Kljestan, Tielemans, Praet, Conté, Najar, Mitrović. #AndWes #coym— Mauveside (@Mauveside) December 26, 2014
Westerlo is a dire, dire team. Anderlecht scored two early and since then they're on autopilot. Sacha doing well, seemed to be involved in the first goal, assisting Mirovic, but I need some confirmation because I'm watching on a stream.
http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...referral&utm_content=News&utm_campaign=Unpaid American Exports: Sacha Kljestan works full shift as Anderlecht admit midfielder available for fair offer
Gracias. Not unexpected, but given that the guy is always on the bench or in the starting XI, he should be fit, sharp and a reasonably priced option for some team in Europe. I can't see MLS making him a DP, and I don't see him getting wages in MLS that he could match in Europe, and he doesn't have any WP issues. Unless he is anxious to come back to the States, he should have ample opportunity to find a new club over there.