Schaerlaeckens on Andy Najar's Honduras Debut And Possible Euro Interest

Despite all the talk surrounding Andy Najar's decision (which was never realistically in doubt at any point), there was very little written following his debut for Honduras. However, we do have Leander Schaerlaeckens from ESPN focusing a whole piece on Najar.

If for no other reason, you should read this because it the only eyewitness account of Honduras's 2-0 loss to Colombia that I've seen in English, and because Schaerlaeckens has a few quotes of note from Najar's agent Chris Megaloudis (who is also starting for the Puerto Rico national team against Dwayne De Rosario's Canada right as I type this).

Megaloudis says Ajax and another Dutch club have shown some interest in Najar, while two unnamed English clubs are alleged to have been sniffing around as well. The Ajax interest shouldn't come as a shock considering the increased connection between them and United - right down to assistant coach Sonny Silooy - and the Eredivisie might not be the worst place for Najar to take his (inevitable) first steps in Europe.

Schaerlaeckens also refers to Najar's 2011 season as "disappointing," which struck me as rather bizarre. Najar is roughly on track to match his goal haul from last season, and that's despite no longer being our best (only?) scoring threat as he was in 2010.

Najar's 2011 might not be a step up to MLS Best 11-level play - which seems like a pretty unfair demand to put on a second-year player still in his teens - but he has improved some things while not losing any of the qualities that made him last season's Rookie of the Year.

Thoughts on the piece? On Najar?

8 months ago ChestRockwell 2 comments 0 recs |

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A good article. I like Leander’s work and sense of humor.

“There’s some legit interest, and he will go to Europe this offseason to get training experience,” Megaloudis said.

I hope Mega Man and Najar cleared that comment with DCU. Last thing we need is a De Rosario/TFC squabble here. I believe Najar should go to Europe to train if he wants to and DCU should let him go. Just hope that they both already talked to each other about it.

I agree with you Chest that Najar hasn’t exactly a disappointing season, but it wasn’t also the best season he could have especially with a rough start to the season. So anything less than best could be disappointing to some people like Leander, but with others ready to pick up the slack, Andy is doing just what we need him to do (except pick up red cards).

I think we all know the day will come when Najar goes across the pond, but just a question of when and where.

by HobbesLionheart on Sep 6, 2011 10:01 PM EDT reply actions

United is usually good about being ahead of the game when it comes to training stints elsewhere

Perhaps it goes back to the club’s experience in the early days, with Etcheverry going on winter loans elsewhere (3 straight years in with Ecuadoran clubs, then later with Oriente Petrolero in Bolivia) and Moreno (similar situation with Middlesbrough), but this has usually been something where United doesn’t find itself thinking one thing and then the player thinks another.

If Megaloudis is willing to publicly say Najar will definitely train abroad this offseason, I’d be really surprised if he hadn’t already gotten the OK from DC. Given our Ajax connection, it could be there. If you’ve been to the Annapolis Mall in recent months, you probably noticed about 600 DCU/Adidas posters featuring a picture of Najar prominently; it could be that another Adidas-wearing club brings him in. It could even be something like one of his teammates with Honduras making a recommendation. In any case, it’s something to be expected.

Writer on SB Nation's DC United blog Black and Red United | Follow me on Twitter, sometimes I say something worthwhile.

by ChestRockwell on Sep 7, 2011 5:48 AM EDT up reply actions