Jovan Mijatović [Forward]

[LionNYC]

Name: Jovan Mijatović
Joined Club: 2/19/2024
Position: Forward
Number: 7



New York City FC acquires forward Jovan Mijatović from Red Star Belgrade through 2028 with options through 2029. Mijatović joins under Major Leagues Soccer’s U-22 initiative.

Announcement: New York City FC Acquires Forward Jovan Mijatović | New York City FC

MLSsoccer.com profile: https://www.mlssoccer.com/players/jovan-mijatovic

TransferMarkt profile: Jovan Mijatovic - Player profile 23/24

Twitter:

 

[KevinJRogers]

He's not short of confidence. Strong kid, too. Hopefully, he's just what we need. If half of last year's draws were wins, we would have been calling it a tremendous season. A few more goals and we would have been in business.

 

[gbservis]

He's not short of confidence. Strong kid, too. Hopefully, he's just what we need. If half of last year's draws were wins, we would have been calling it a tremendous season. A few more goals and we would have been in business.

I'm excited to see if any of these new players have some pace to their games. After Gabby left we had no attackers that were a threat to get in behind. Teams just pushed their CBs to midfield with little risk and it shut down our midfield play. Having a few guys with the off-ball movement and pace to keep opposing CBs honest and some subs to come on and run at tired legs could go a long way to solving some of our offensive woes.

 

[KevinJRogers]

I'm excited to see if any of these new players have some pace to their games. After Gabby left we had no attackers that were a threat to get in behind. Teams just pushed their CBs to midfield with little risk and it shut down our midfield play. Having a few guys with the off-ball movement and pace to keep opposing CBs honest and some subs to come on and run at tired legs could go a long way to solving some of our offensive woes.

I'm not sure about Mijatović's end-to-end times, but word is he's quick -- great first step and acceleration. Malachi Jones can obviously scoot. I thought Perea, Bakrar and Fernández showed decent enough pace last season. Alonso Martínez too, although in a small sample size, and front-line speed may not matter as much in his case (we'll see).

It's tough to tell too much about Wolf and Ojeda from training videos and preseason matches on YouTube. But if they fit the pattern, it's a good guess they can hustle as well. The team obviously put a premium on young, fast forwards.

I won't lie, I'm excited. Can't wait for Saturday. It's almost certain to be a little rocky in the early stages of the season, but once we gel, look out. We're going to surprise some squads.

 

[Gene]

Question, because I wasn't paying attention.
When Mijatović came to the team was he injured? The Serbian League on a break or in off season?
Maybe it's just me, but I found this to be somewhat odd.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1768311070219698591

 

[joe]

Question, because I wasn't paying attention.
When Mijatović came to the team was he injured? The Serbian League on a break or in off season?
Maybe it's just me, but I found this to be somewhat odd.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1768311070219698591

Appears to be mid-season but I'm just googling.

 

[mgarbowski]

Per FBref, the league doesn't play in January and he never played when games resumed in February.

 

[Gene]

Per FBref, the league doesn't play in January and he never played when games resumed in February.

Then that makes a little more sense.

 

[gbservis]

Question, because I wasn't paying attention.
When Mijatović came to the team was he injured? The Serbian League on a break or in off season?
Maybe it's just me, but I found this to be somewhat odd.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1768311070219698591

That's an interesting thing to admit given that he's been with the team since at least the final preseason game on February 17th. He knew he was in the process of being transferred so he had the incentive to try to stay fit over his break yet after a full month of training he's 60-70%, that seems pretty terrible.

He's been with the team for almost the same length of time as our total preseason. Imagine if, after the first game of the season, all of our guys were like well we are only 60-70% fit, we'd all be going nuts. Between this and his flopping display last game, our +$8M recruit is not off to the best start.

 

[moogoo]

That's an interesting thing to admit given that he's been with the team since at least the final preseason game on February 17th. He knew he was in the process of being transferred so he had the incentive to try to stay fit over his break yet after a full month of training he's 60-70%, that seems pretty terrible.

He's been with the team for almost the same length of time as our total preseason. Imagine if, after the first game of the season, all of our guys were like well we are only 60-70% fit, we'd all be going nuts. Between this and his flopping display last game, our +$8M recruit is not off to the best start.

staying fit and being match fit are two very different things though. there's no substitute for playing in actual games. he needs more minutes for sure and he'll get match fit faster if he gets more. but that is up to nick.