Kenny Saief - dual citizen of the month

born in Panama City,Florida, Israeli, not Jewish (clearly, born in the wrong part of Florida).

Not sure who he wants to play for with his recent comments.

 

I wonder if there is a feeling that a Druze is the full Israeli national team might upset the vibe a little. Basically, it's going to be hard for him to get a call up because he's an outsider.

 

Perhaps just qualification shouldn't be the standard.

Although, it certainly might be interesting to see what he can do in a USA jersey.

 

Apparently Druze Citizens have much better/fuller integration into Israeli culture than others.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druze

Well my ignorant white guy ass learned something today.

 

I only learned yesterday, when I first thought 'Arab? 'Cause that ain't a Jewish name.'

 

Is he good? He hasn't been called up to Israel's NT's yet. That says something, at least.

 

Sounds somewhat similar to Justin Meram's inclusion on the Iraqi team as a Chaldean. Some places it works well; sometimes, not at all.

 

Cross posting this from another thread:

Serious question: is Saief even eligible to play in the Olympics for us?

Saief played for Israel's U21 team in qualifiers for the U21 European Championships. That tournament serves as a qualifier for the Olympics.

Is Saief then cup tied for the Olympics to Israel?

I don't know if the Olympic qualifiers work differently, but I do recall that Julian Green couldn't play for our U20 World Cup team for a parallel reason, namely having played for Germany in a qualifier for the U19 European Championship, which in turn was used to qualify for the U20 World Cup.

 

Correct. He wouldn't be eligible for our Olympic squad.

 

Trying this again: Updates on John Brooks, Kenny Saief, Terrence Boyd, & more in my Americans abroad recap https://t.co/G2gH2S4cbS

— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) December 11, 2015

 

This sounds very similar to the Aron Johannsson situation. Born in the USA, grew up in a small UEFA country, played for that country's youth national teams but has possibly been snubbed by the senior program, now making noise in a smaller Euro league. Also, like Aron, he'll have to file a one-time switch before he can play for us.

 

From the YouTube highlights he has some pretty applicable qualities. He's fast, very aggressive in and around the box, seems to track back and be otherwise solid defensively. He has decent dribbling skills and has shown he can finish. Left footed but can use both.

Are Champions League group stage games archived? I might sit down and watch one or two.

 

ESPN3 might still have a copy of their game from this week up. Although I think he only played for 2 minutes in that one.

http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=2016/clubs/player=250043054/index.html

His other qualities seem to fit right in as well. 2 YCs in from his 5 UCL appearances this season.

 

He's pretty good. Like Fabian Johnson, he is versatile almost to a fault. Winger, Forward, #10, even LB.

He's left footed too. Not that fast but smart and quick.

Expect to hear from him on Monday with an interview.

I always liked this goal. This was his final goal scored in the Israeli league before he moved to Gent. He was 20 at the time and having a breakout season.

 

So, is the comparison Harry Shipp?

 

I don't think so. Saief is much more imposing physically and defensively and prefers to run with the ball as opposed to passing with vision.

Lletget with speed but less ball skills, Zardes with touch but less potential.

 

Here is his Fall 2015 with Gent:

Champions League Bolded:

Westerlo
61', Left Wing, GOAL (pen)

Genk
34' (as sub), Left Forward

Anderlecht
Not in 18

St. Truiden
In 18 DNP

Kortrijk
In 18 DNP

Mechelen
10' (as sub), Right Wing

Zulte-Waregem
In 18 DNP

Lyon
Not in 18

Standard Liege
Not in 18

Waasland-Beveren
Not in 18

Zenit
Not in 18

Brugge
Not in 18

Mouscron
45' (as sub), (position unknown, replaced CB)

Valencia
90', Left Midfield in 3-4-2-1

Oostende
90', Left Midfield in 3-4-3

Lokeren
90', Left Back in 5-4-1

Oud-Heverlee
90', Left Wing

Valencia
55', Left Midfield

Charleroi
60', Right Midfield, GOAL

Westerlo
60', Left Back in 5-4-1

Lyon
67', Left Midfield

Genk
90', Left Wing

Zulte-Waregem
76', Central Midfield

Zenit
2' (as sub), Left Wing


League: 11 apps (3 as sub, 4 full ninety) in 18 games, 2 goals.

Champions League: 4 apps (1 as sub, 1 full ninety) in 6 games, 0 goals.


Positionally this data is a ballpark guess, but I included it to show that he plays all over the place. Usually left forward/wing in a 4-3-3, or left Midfield in a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-2-1. But he also has played left wing back, false 9 or center forward, right midfield, and central Midfield.

Looks like he probably dealt with injury early in the fall, he wasn't in the 18 for 5 matches and hadn't played much in the 6 before that after 2 early appearances. But once he came back into the team he has established himself pretty well over a 12 game stretch of 8 League and 4 Champions League games, scoring his second League goal in the process (and picking up 4 assists, although I couldn't figure out which games the assists came in.)

It would be instructive to watch the Valencia games, Gent lost 2-1 in the Mestalla and won 1-0 at home. Saief played all but 35 minutes in the second game. He also went 67' in Stade Gerland as Gent picked up a 2-1 win over Lyon.

God I am so bored at work right now.

 

@bshredder He doesn't look that slow to me in the highlights...

 

In an interview he gave last year Saief discussed the possible upsides to choosing the U.S. team and mentioned, "they play every four years in the World Cup".

That has to be a pretty strong selling point, especially when you consider Israel has only once qualified for a major international tournament, and that was 45 years ago (Mexico 70).

I guess Israeli fans and players have more reason for hope now that the European Championship has been expanded to 24 teams. However, they just finished 4th in their qualifying group for France 2016, so I think even that tournament is going to remain a long shot for them for quite some time.

 

From the highlights I saw he looks to have a much better touch than Zardes, likewise more potential. The Lletget comparison is pretty much what I think too not sure who's more skillful I'd have to see him play a game first

 

Comparing him to Lletget is just wrong. Dude has special touch, creativity, and killer instinct for an American player. He was super productive when actually an attacker. 6 goals (no pens) in 8 MLS starts before he was a sacrifice of the MLS DP rule forcing him behind Gio/Gerrard. Also scored as a sub and in the Open Cup. Saief has 1 non penalty goal in 11 starts/18 games. Jupiler is better than MLS still, but not by much.

And Zardes doesn't have the same touch or flair. But the type of things Zardes contributes to a team is not seen on highlight videos. So I don't know how that comparison is made.

Who knows how he compares from highlight videos and little statistical profile?

 

Apparently you if you're claiming that Lletget is a better player already.

Realistically, we'll see. I'm all for Saief getting a call up but I like players from Belgium anyway