Filip Stevanovic

Filip Stevanovic
Image from: freelargeimages.com

Filip Stevanovic



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Current Club: Heerenveen (on loan from Manchester City).

Previous Clubs: Partizan Belgrade.

Loan Clubs: Partizan Belgrade.





International: N/A.

Trophies Won: Serbian Cup 2018/19.





Stevanovic is a young winger who reminds me a lot of some of the old-style wingers, in that he does not seem to like the physical battle of football. His challenges were, at best, tentative, at worst cowardly, even when playing in Under 21 internationals.



His attempts at heading seemed very similar, he was very much not putting himself on the line to try and win any headers. I do wonder if Stevanovic was carrying any kind of problem which could have caused him to shy away from contact, if not that is a worry.



Stevanovic is only a teenager, so might well improve his strength over time, but he looked worryingly weak when trying to protect the ball, though he could have just been trying to win free kicks. But his lack of any kind of physicality is a worry, though he is very quick, not quite blisteringly quick but fast enough to worry most defenders.



I would not want to rely on him defensively, though his workrate is not bad. It is his positional sense and decision making that would be the issue for me. In one game he was chasing back after someone running through on a break following his team's attacking set piece and, despite being clearly yards quicker than the man he was chasing, he chose to pull him down on the halfway line even though there was cover.



That might just come from inexperience, but it felt more like he just did not want to put in the same hard running going back towards his own goal. It is a particular problem as his attacking play did not show anything particularly special to make him standout.



His passing was very loose, sometimes misplacing simple 5 yard passes that you would expect a professional footballer to make in their sleep. Stevanovic's first touch was good, but he displayed no real skills or looked to have the ability to run at opponents and beat them.



Maybe that was instructions from his coaches, as you would not think a team like Man City would be interested in signing a player with so little sign of genuine top class quality. It could also be the move to Dutch football for a teenage Serbian lad who has already had the upheaval of a big move so young.



Right now though, he has the look of a player who is not quite doing enough to justify his move to City and believes he has already made it. That of a player who is just a little off the pace as he is not working hard enough in training to keep himself sharp.



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Requested by - Ed002 & Deependra