Esmir Bajraktarevic Commanding Respect
Esmir Bajraktarevic Commanding Respect
"For me, I’m not really worried about what the defenses are worried about me, to be honest. I’m trying my best to help the team and play the best that I can.”
Esmir Bajraktarevic has had a breakthrough campaign in 2024 and it is time that his opponents take notice.
The winger has been one of the few bright spots for New England this year. He has three goals so far in the MLS season and has shown great improvement on the pitch.
Even before head coach Caleb Porter took the job in New England, he was impressed with Bajraktarevic.
“Before I got here, when I went through the team and watched film, he [Bajraktarević] was a guy I noticed immediately,” Porter said. “I really just liked his creativity on the ball and his technical ability. I felt like his workrate needed to improve, which I think we have improved that side of it. He has become a complete player on both sides of the ball. I felt like we made him a little more direct as well, because even though he is very good on the ball he is extremely explosive as well. I think that is why he is getting a lot of attention, why he has gotten called into the senior team for Bosnia & Herzegovina, and why he has scouts who are interested in him because he is a young player that is very complete.”
It isn’t surprising that scouts are taken notice of Bajraktarevic. A move to Europe seems written in the stars for the youngster. While it will be a massive blow for New England whenever he does leave, it will continue to show that player’s can make a name for themselves in a Revolution uniform before heading abroad.
“He can do a little bit of everything – he can run behind, he can take you off the dribble, he can work in the pocket, he has become a very good defender, and he has shown that he can score as well, which was the other piece,” the coach continued. “I felt like, at times looking at him before I got here, he needed to be more goal-dangerous. The other thing is he can play right or left and be very effective. We have seen him a lot on the right, but I thought he was very good on the left this last game [against CF Montreal].”
Bajraktarevic skill with the ball is superb. He feels that he can take on any opponent and most of the time he is successful. The winger can also curl a shot into the back of the net and has outperformed the likes of Dylan Borrero (who albeit has struggled to stay healthy and hasn’t featured as much as Bajraktarevic).
The winger has also seen success on the international stage. He switched his allegiances to his parent’s homeland of Bosnia & Herzegovina and assisted Edin Dzeko in his debut match.
“I think they need to, otherwise I’m going to keep playing how I’m playing,” Bajraktarevic said when asked if opponents are taking him more seriously. “For me, I’m not really worried about what the defenses are worried about me, to be honest. I’m trying my best to help the team and play the best that I can.”
As Bajraktarevic said, if opponents continue to treat him like a kid it will be their own downfall. If New England is somehow able to make it into the playoffs, the winger will play a crucial role.