22 year old who was drafted by Colorado out of UCLA signed with Legia Warsaw. https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/brian-iloski/profil/spieler/449884 http://macedonianfootball.com/american-macedonian-joins-legia/
✍️ Oficjalnie: @Iloskibrian podpisał kontrakt z Legią!Szczegóły: https://t.co/JfKWpOfwwS pic.twitter.com/jd2uix9ej4— Legia Warszawa 🏆 (@LegiaWarszawa) February 16, 2018
Check out @travismclark’s Tweet: Former @UCLAMSoccer midfielder Brian Iloski has signed with Legia Warsaw. https://t.co/p0ZBhUZQl2— Travis Clark (@travismclark) February 17, 2018 Good for him. I hope he can do something there.
This article says he trained with Legia Warsaw during the Florida Cup and that he has a Macedonian (or FYROM for you purists) passport, which doesn't really help for EU purposes. http://legia.com/floridacupen/news/legia-tests-young-players-from-the-united-states-57572
Official article in English: http://legia.com/aktualnosci/brian-iloski-signed-with-legia-57872 2 year deal with an option
I once sat in a the same row on a plane with a family from Thessaloniki. They asked me what Americans thought about the dispute over the name of Macedonia. I had to let them down gently.
Can’t believe he fell to the 3rd round in the super draft and Polish champs Legia and UCL regulars were able to sign him on a two year deal with a third year option. What’s that say about MLS? I know he’s just starting his career but if he ever becomes a star for them he could very well could choose Poland over the US.
MLS clubs prefer foreign talent to USMNT-eligible players. It's just safer (in their minds) to go with a more "proven" player from abroad than take a chance on a newly pro domestic player...and if they have 200-500k to spend on a player...they would rather all die than give that much money to an american who hasnt paid his dues yet......I truly agree with Jermaine Jones who recently said any american player who can sign outside of MLS should do so immediately. Keaton parks, torres in belgium, iloski etc...these players are not "diamonds in the rough" that MLS "missed"....they are indicative of MLS' snobbish view that young americans aren't worth their time. many young americans could do similar things if they gave europe a shot....of course, many would fail too....but MLS isn't missing players in my opinion....they are ignoring them purposefully, with, as always, economic considerations heavily at play.
Anytime I hear a kid describe himself as a really hard worker more than once in an interview when he just signed his first pro contract I walk over to the fridge and grab a fresh beer, put my feet up, open up my trusty soccer app and find his new club. Then I select, “favorite.”
Why did you feel you have to? They need to be told the truth: 95% of the world's population doesn't know anything about it, and 95% of those that do dismiss the Greeks as whiny, needy bullies.
You answered your own question! It was a long flight and I didn't want to be bullied by whiny and needy Greeks for the rest of it! So I mentioned the first part, but not the last part. I even recall reading at one point that the Greeks downplayed the (ancient) Macedonian part of their history until the (modern, Slavic) Macedonians started appropriating that history. However, I simply don't care enough to verify whether or not that is true... Is anyone familiar with the old online game Hattrick? I think my early introduction to this esoteric issue is when the Greek users had a complete and total meltdown when the game developers added Macedonian as a language. All that being said, naming Skopje's airport "Alexander the Great Airport" is especially obnoxious trolling on the part of Macedonia. (Though I see they finally changed the name just recently.) In a feeble attempt to take this post back on topic - @bungadiri it's spelled Iloski.
It doesn't help for EU purposes, but individual states still have enormous leeway over issuing of work permits. If Legia want him and he meets the Polish government's own criteria, then he's in. If he does well and gets an offer from a more westerly EU member, he'll apply all over again to the Interior ministry of the relevant country. If he meets their criteria, then he's in. More complicated than an EU passport but, unless he wants to go to England, not a deal-breaker if he turns out to be any good. Most countries are pretty flexible if their league's big boys want someone. Not very good, but it's not bad either: around BL2 and top third of BL3 in terms of budgets, and if Nemanja Nikolic's scoring stats are anything to go by, on par with MLS and at Legia there's always CL and EL football to put into the mix. It's a different move, but would playing for Colorado be any better?
1) That's a very small sample size. 2) Playing for Legia is better than playing for Colorado. That also applies to Lech Poznan, but probably not any other clubs.
Well, 34 games from a goal-scoring centre-forward isn't that small a sample size and if his hot streak in Poland carried over to MLS, it tells us something about the relative merits of Polish and MLS defences. Something. Then again, the fact that he was playing in front of a midfield led by Bastian Schweinsteiger and scored somewhat fewer goals per game in MLS might even suggest that MLS defending is a bit better than its Ekstraklassa counterparts. Anyway, this is an out of left field move, and let's hope it works out well for him*. It's always good to see courage rewarded. *IMO, working out well = something like a league title and a few EL or even CL group stage games, with a move to a top 5 Danish or a good Belgian side in 2-3 years.
@bshredder profile: There have been signs that Iloski was looking to move abroad to start his career. Last year he went on trial in Serbia with top flight club Vojvodina but despite interest from the club in signing him, he elected to return to California for school. His roots in the game run through his family. His two younger brothers are both freshman on the UCLA team and his father, Mark Iloski, is a French-born immigrant with Macedonian roots who played professionally at the indoor level with the San Diego Sockers. http://www.americansoccernow.com/ar...ith-legia-warsaw-iloski-seeks-ambitious-goals @bungadiri -- We need to fix the spelling of his last name or we'll end up with several threads. Thx.