Re: Sacha Kljestan to Anderlecht? Left fullback? Uh ... the "2nd best" US fullback is heading south of the border. The 3rd best may be available (and/or going to Turkey). But neither of them is any good. At other positions, there's plenty of athletic talent that will need molding.
Re: Sacha Kljestan to Anderlecht? Maybe Lang knows of our woes at leftback, and that was tongue-in-cheek?
Re: Sacha Kljestan to Anderlecht? No it was not. Just 4 information And what about your strikers/attackers ? (do these words have the same meaning ?)
Re: Sacha Kljestan to Anderlecht? this is a very good move for him. And in three years, he could move onto anywhere else on the European continent.
Re: Sacha Kljestan to Anderlecht? Belgian top teams are known as a springboard from FC Home to FC subtop.
Re: Sacha Kljestan to Anderlecht? Strikers and forwards are more or less interchangeable definitions. Attackers in general could also mean attacking midfielders like Scifo/Ceulemans types. In there, MLS does have a lot of athletic types that need some polishing. Two of its better players - Edson Buddle (29) and Robbie Findley (24) - are with the US in South Africa and both can be had for a reasonable amount. I believe Findley is a free agent to be, as his contract expires after this season. There're also a former Cuban defector Maykel Galindo (29), Colombian Fredy Montero (soon 23), Jamaican Omar Cummings (27), Ghanian Dominic Oduro (24), Zack Schilawski (23), Chris Wondolowski (27), Chad Barrett (25), et al. Last season, MLS allowed several strikers leave on a free, as their contracts expired. Yura Movsysian (Randers, Denmark, 7 goals) and Hercules Gomez (Puebla, Mexico, 10 goals) really had outstanding half seasons away from MLS.
Re: Sacha Kljestan to Anderlecht? Ok It's amazing how you all know so many things about the belgian soccer oO It's pretty hard for me to tell up to 3 US players xD Anyway, I really want to see Sacha wearing a purple jersey soon We are all awaiting for some further information about that presumed deal.
Re: Sacha Kljestan to Anderlecht? Kljestan not playing today against NYRB. Any other possible reason for this (other than that he's about to transfer)?
Re: Sacha Kljestan to Anderlecht? I'm just starting to watch the game now and the announcer read a statement from Chivas USA about Kljestan. It said something like... Chivas USA is negotiating with an unnamed team and Sacha didn't travel with the team and is discussing the matter with his agent. Many teams have shown interest and we want the best for him but at the moment no transfer has been finalized.
Re: Sacha Kljestan to Anderlecht? I bet it's Joe Public FC Wouldn't it be weird if that was actually Aris? LOL
Re: Sacha Kljestan to Anderlecht? I still remember Raoul Lambert and Paul van Himst ... a little. I am a tad older than most posters. As to Kljestan, this seems like a precautionary move, which is often done before a transfer is sealed.
Re: Sacha Kljestan to Anderlecht iirc Kljestan cut off his hair right after this hat trick and has never really looked the same since. I remember when he did it thinking, who goes and drastically changes their appearance right after having a monster game? Maybe he's like Samson. I really do wish him luck, as I want nothing more than all our boys to succeed. Having said that, I'm not sure he has the athleticism to ever be great. He seems like a plodder to me, can run all day but his top speed is fairly low.
Re: Sacha Kljestan to Anderlecht? I think Kljestant was(/will be) bought to fill the void left by Van Damme's departure for Wolverhampton (that's to say left of a 3 man midfield). He sure looks the part (pretty big , plenty of volume to his game) but i'm wondering about his defensive capabilities and strength . He seems to be a good striker of the ball, better than Van Damme going on those couple of free kicks and goals on youtube films, but physically VD was a beast and basicaly won every ball he went for in the air, scoring 5-10 goals/season (pretty much all headers). Is Kljestan really the sort of guy wo'll fill the gaps in midfield and burst into the box ? And how good(or bad) is his headed game ? He looks kinda weak as far as challenging goes , wich he'll need to change as the Belgian premierleague is all about physicallity, especially in the middle of the park. that said , being u.s. born i would love to see a yank make it in the purple-white jersey so i'm hoping he'll put up a good figure and shows some patience if he comes over.
Re: Sacha Kljestan to Anderlecht? your suspicions are fairly accurate. yes. he will be bursting into the box or shooting from just outside. but, no. he won't be winning too many balls in the air. to most of us here on this board he is an attacking midfielder with limited capacity. but if he is given a narrow portfolio he can be dynamic.
Re: Sacha Kljestan to Anderlecht? Sacha is a player that our current national team coach really wishes was ood enough to be on the roster in South Africa. He plays high pressure and quick release soccer, just like our national team. Problem is that he's just not good enough, and consistent enough, yet at it. I saw him play live once with a team executive from an EPL squad. His assessment of Sacha (who this guy was not at the game to watch) was that Sacha's brain really seems to out-pace his body's ability to make the play. I guess it's a good sign that Sacha seems to instinctively know what to do (and sees very good plays on the field at high speed) but unless his ability catches up, he'll be stuck under a relatively low ceiling as a player.
Re: Sacha Kljestan to Anderlecht? yeah, this is exactly my assessment of him, always has been he knows what to do, but doesn't make the play enough
Re: Sacha Kljestan to Anderlecht? Apparently in Belgium getting his physical. http://espn.go.com/blog/los-angeles/soccer/post/_/id/901/kirovski-leads-galaxy-chivas-loses-kljestan
Re: Sacha Kljestan to Anderlecht? As luck would have it I have been into the Belgian beer Chimay lately. Seriously, I hope this works out. It would be good to see more Americans playing in Belgium, especially for the top clubs like Anderlecht. I always enjoyed watching Standard when Gooch, and several other really talented players, were there.
Re: Sacha Kljestan to Anderlecht? Very true. I'm glad he didn't go to Celtic. I would love to see more players in the Belgian League too.