A Star in the Making? Liverpool’s Nikola Saric

Liverpool’s Danish striker Nikola Saric has had an interesting life to say the least. At just 1 and a half years old he was forced to flee his native Bosnia because of the war in Yugoslavia. He and his parents fled to Denmark where a temporary refugee camp was set up. The family did not expect to be staying long in Denmark but the war went on for four years and there was no real chance for the Saric family to return home. The refugees were kind of stuck in limbo and as they were not citizens of Denmark they couldn’t be a regular part of Danish society. Without a nursery to go to, young Nikola’s father encouraged him to play football. His father had been a goalkeeper, although not professionally, back in Bosnia, and he trained him from the age of 3. It was to be a sport he would never let go of and Saric has worked hard to realise his ambition:

“I have no idea what I’d do if I couldn’t play football. I don’t come from a rich family who can send me to school or university. Since I was three I told my mum and dad I wanted to play football. I didn’t have a Plan B.”

Not having another plan seemed to work well for Saric and at 6, he began to train with a local club Fano Boldklub before joining Herfolge at the age of just 13. Saric impressed greatly at the Danish club and in the youth setup he flourished under the guidance of a good coach. Herfolge regularly tested their youth team against the best and played in tournaments across Europe in Germany, Spain and Italy. In one tournament he played against Real Madrid and Barcelona, and although Herfolge lost 5-0 to Barca, Saric impressed during the match. The Spanish club offered a trial to the youngster and he spent a week training with their youth team in Catalonia. He enjoyed the experience but his family felt he was too young to go off and live in another country.

He returned to Herfolge and started in three league games for the senior team. He then also played for Denmark at Under 17, Under 18 and Under 19 and was named Denmark’s U17 player of the year back in 2007. Such accolades brought Saric to the attention of English clubs and both Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool were interested in the youngster. The Reds won the race for the then 17 year old in the summer of 2008 and signed the player on a three year contract.

So why was there such a clamour for his signature? A predominantly left footed player, Saric can play as a striker or on either wing and is tremendously gifted technically. Although relatively tall at 6ft, Saric is more comfortable with the ball at his feet and has a good first touch, as well as dribbling and passing abilities. His preferred position is behind the main striker where he can link up player and get on the ball.

His time at Liverpool however has been stop and start. During his first season in 2008/09 campaign he was hampered with a recurring knee injury which kept him from impressing in the Reds reserves, limiting his playing time. He returned to full fitness this season although he has yet to impress many. Although he has rarely played in his preferred position behind the front man, it is clear to many that Saric has ability but doesn’t utilise it very well. He has been accused of lacking effort in some matches and for a player purported to link up play and score goals, he hasn’t created or finished off chances nearly enough this season. He doesn’t seem to put the effort into getting into the right positions to be part of link up play and offer himself for passes. He also doesn’t show enough off the ball to tackle or press the opposition, something that would be forgiven if he offered a lot more on the ball. He’s not overly gifted in terms of pace or aerial ability, and in this sense he can be compared to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, that his play is heavily reliant on his skill. He can be useful around the box but he often goes missing in games for long stretches and needs to get involved with the play more.

Whether he was still settling in or still recovering from his knee injury, his performances did improve as the season drew to a close. In the games against Burnley and Sunderland, he scored and assisted goals, improving his understanding with players such as Lauri Dalla Valle and David Amoo. He showed desire to score at the near post against Burnley after a good cross by Amoo while he assisted Dalla Valle with a goal early in the match against the Black Cats on the last day of the season. It will be the sort of enthusiasm he will need next season in the last year of his three year deal and will have to convince the Liverpool coaching staff that he is worthy of a new contract. Technically gifted, Saric will have to stride forward next season to improve other aspects of his game.

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