Obviously a long shot, but Bajcetic can solve a problem for us in midfield. It will be interesting to see how he looks in preseason and what Iraola thinks of him.
A big part of me thinks he over achieved when he initially broke through as he hadn’t previously been thought of as that level of talent. That has always made me conscious that it was not reasonable to expect him to continue on that level and that his most likely outcome was a bit of a reversion to the mean before leaving to play for some mid table Spanish side. After basically two years out there is even more reason to temper expectations for him this year.
But sometimes that happens. Development trajectories arent linear and especially after a change in position and change in scenery, sometimes something does click and send a young player to a different level. There is something so perfect about the story of him reemerging this year and being exactly what Iraola needs.
Bacjetic is still only 21 years old. He is fundamentally very good and as far as whether he can bounce back after a series of injuries, only time will tell. Good news is it’s not impossible. Ronaldo the Brazil one, Baggio and Ramsey are some I remembered who overcame repeated injury setback and still managed to be one of the best in the game.
I’ll be there at that time visiting my daughter. Tickets were $200 a pop, and I just spent over $800 for 2 WC tickets in Houston, so decided to pass. Also, I’ve seen them each of the past 3 trips to the USA, twice in 2018. If I get to Chicago, and can find 3 tickets at a reasonable price, then I’ll make the match.