Comments on: The Scout: 8 Promising Youngsters from the Serbian Superliga

By: hoeman

hoeman — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 23:14:52 +0000

Another player to watch is Pejcinovic, quite similar to Nemo Vidic.

By: Subcontinent Viewer

Subcontinent Viewer — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:46:00 +0000

@Soccerlens: If you are going to make The Scout a regular on your site, it would be a great idea. anyways a nice list. Also, break the lists into under-21s, under-19s. It would help.

By: Soccer Pie

Soccer Pie — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 14:53:03 +0000

I guess there is a few reasons for that. First of all it is big question if those talents are at the level you need for the best league in the world. I am trying to think of some big success, England youth teams achieved in last 10 or so years at Euro or World competitions. Also, foreigners are cheaper. Look at Ramsey for example. He is 16 years old and sold for 5M pounds. Don’t get me wrong, he is maybe talented and maybe the best player in the world in that generation, but if he was croatian or even italian at that age, he would cost no more then 500k.

By: dave stopher

dave stopher — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 13:20:56 +0000

Why cannort English teams look for talent within the British Isles???

By: Soccer Pie

Soccer Pie — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 21:51:29 +0000

I am a big fan of my hometown club Radnicki Kragujevac, but at the moment we are competing in Serbian Third league so you probably did not even heard for the club. The main problem of Serbian football is that big clubs (Red Star and Partizan) are killing all the clubs that are not on their payroll. They are taking all the talented kids from all over the state at the age of 14 (even younger), without any payment, and then have around 100 players signed for their club which leaves other teams without any quality. At the same time, those kids do not play any first team football and end career without any proper chance. For example, Tomovic started career at my club, as well as Predrag Djordjevic (Olympiakos legend) and Danko Lazovic (PSV), but all of them have been taken by Belgrade clubs before they even started to play for the first team.
If you are considering making the list of our youngsters in Europe, start with Kacar (Hertha), Sulejmani (Ajax), Gulan and Kuzmanovic(Fiorentina), Rajkovic (PSV), Krsticic (Sampdoria), Smiljanic (Espanyol), Tosic (I guess he will end up at Manchester United)…those are U21 and will be able to compete at EURO U21 next year.

By: SG

SG — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 21:14:41 +0000

SoccerPie,

Thanks for the wonderful insight. Do you support Patrizan or Red Star? Some other club?

I have to disagree with you with TomoviÄ‡ and Fejsa, but that is the beauty of these lists. Different opinions are always expected and appreciated.

I would love to do a list on Serbia’s elite youngsters who are competing throughout Europe.

Cheers.

By: Soccer Pie

Soccer Pie — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 17:43:25 +0000

Nice list, but I have to disapprove with some names. First of all, it is important to know that players in Serbian league won’t improve at all if they do not leave the league till the age of 21 (even that is too much).
Fejsa did not prove himself after he moved from Hajduk Kula to Partizan. He lost his place in Partizan starting eleven and is not fans favorite as well. Marinkovic is only 22, but already changed 5 or 6 clubs, and did not show anything. Pavlovic is in terrible position. He is playing for small club and he made big mistake cause he did not make a move during summer to some bigger league. All three of them have been much better 2 years ago, then they are now.
Jovanovic and Tomovic are solid players, but nothing more. Obradovic is pretty good offensively, but has serious problem to defend. He had excellent game against Austria, but he needs to show that every week, not once in 4 months.
On the positive side are two big prospects you have mentioned. Aleksic and Ljajic are both excellent players. Aleksic already signed for Arsenal, while first option for Ljajic as you already know was part of the Tosic deal and he will become Manchester United player during the next summer. Both of them are real talents, and I would be surprised if both of them fail to achieve big career.
From the players you missed, I would mention Dusan Tadic. He is a midfielder, playing for Vojvodina and Serbian U21. At the moment he is the best player of the second best team in the league and regular in U21 team.
Also, for all of you who are interested in Serbian players (after Tosic transfer there is a lot of question regarding Serbian prospects), it is important to know that almost all the good ones leave the country at an early stage, usually long before they even start playing in the Serbian League. For example, Sulejmani (currently at Ajax) signed for Herenven at age of 17, Gulan moved to Fiorentina, and many others are usually signing for some big names in Italy or Germany as soon as they get the offer and do not sign senior deal with their home team.