It has been no secret, I have been in favor of the signing of Branko Boskovic, and have been one of the leading advocates of his inclusion in the starting lineup. I have finally seen the light, and believe that Boskovic is not a fit for United’s style of play, and will be moved on in July when his contract expires.
When Boskovic arrived, no DCU fan had any idea about him, aside from poorly edited Youtube clips and press releases. Those videos showed a poaching midfielder, and a motivated attacking player; aka exactly what DC was missing at the time. The player that arrived in DC was not that player. I have seen a player who I would liken to a less skilled Andrea Pirlo; a deep lying playmaker, looking to play reverse balls and diagonal balls to the wingers. He does not take the initative to attack center backs and drive toward the goal to create his own shots. This may be the result of a crisis in confidence, but the team cannot afford to run Boskovic out on the field until he regains his drive. The current form of Boskovic is like throwing a square tire on a Mustang. He destroys the shape of the midfield, and does not provide the attacking drive that De Rosario brings to the team.
This is not an indictment of Boskovic as a player. I think he will be able to go back to Austria, work his way into form, and excel once again. I just think that his time here is nearing an end, and it will go down as another misidentification of talent by the front office under the Designated Player rule.
The jury is still out on Hamdi Salihi, but some reserve games would do him good, and the MLS Reserve League is too much of a joke to serve the purpose that it provides everywhere else in the world. Hopefully, I won’t have to write this post for the Albanian in the summer. But if I do, I already have the alliterative headline ready… “Arrivederci Albanian Asset”. Needs some work.
