Blast from the Past no.63: Aljosa Asanovic

Reviving the Premier League players you forgot existed…

It sounds silly, but pure skill is sometimes an underrated quality in football. The ability to defend a set piece deemed more useful than the talent to perform a dragback; a crunching tackle valued above a fancy pirouette; one successful offside trap worth two nutmegs.

Underrated, that is, by managers. But rarely by fans.

And for followers of Derby County, pure skill is the reason Aljosa Asanovic was, and remains, one of the finest men they have ever laid eyes on.

The sublimely languid Croatian midfielder passed through English football only briefly, yet his sojourn still evokes blissful memories for those who witnessed the Rams’ similarly brief period of Premier League prosperity in the late 1990s.

Asanovic was 30 years old when Jim Smith signed him from Hadjuk Split for £600,000 in the summer of 1996, yet he came blessed with an ageless footballing intelligence.

Fans of the newly promoted Rams were treated to a mouth-watering preview of their new signing during Euro 96, when Asanovic featured in a star-studded Croatia side that reached the quarter-finals – narrowly losing to eventual champions Germany.

Few could forget Davor Suker’s sublime chip over Peter Schmeichel against Euro holders Denmark in the group stage; most don’t remember it was Asanovic who sent the striker through on goal with an inch-perfect crossfield pass.

Derby supporters would soon learn, to their delight, that this was just the tip of the iceberg.

“The best creative midfielder we have ever had. Pure class. A minute of watching him was like watching an hour of another,” gushed one fan.

“A talent who would be worth £50m or £60m in today’s game because he could unlock the most stubborn of defences,” said another Ram on the Popside forum.

Superbly nicknamed “the fiery elbow” in Croatia, due to the unusually (and sometimes dangerously) high position of his arms as he ran, Asanovic also caught the eye with his superb range of passing, explosive left foot and his penchant for moments of ridiculous flair.

This head, chest and backheel-juggling assist for Dean Sturridge in an FA Cup win against Aston Villa being one example.

At the Baseball Ground he gained the moniker ‘Ace’ (it was lot easier than Aljosa Asanovic) – the kind of player who even displayed a certain panache while being fouled, as demonstrated by this impressive six-turn rollover following a (admittedly hideous) challenge by Coventry City’s Paul Telfer.

Once described by Arsene Wenger as being among the top midfielders in Europe, the only surprise is that Derby managed to sign Asanovic at all.

There had to be a catch, and it was one that is often attached to the so-called luxury player.

“He’s the most talented player I’ve watched, but he was lazy. He couldn’t be bothered to do any warm-up apart from juggle the ball a few times, and he smoked like a chimney,” said one Derby fan.

“On his day he was great to watch, but when he was off his game you got nothing from him,” agreed another.

For all his talent, it’s this laid-back attitude that perhaps explains why Asanovic never quite scaled the heights of his Croatian international colleagues such as Suker, Zvonimir Boban and Robert Prosinecki. He played in France, Spain, England and Italy (as well as Greece and Austria) but never for the top clubs in those leagues.

After ‘Ace’ helped the Rams finish a creditable 12th in their first ever Premier League campaign, Smith added more exotic foreigners to his squad, but this would prove to be Asanovic’s downfall.

Rules at the time stipulated that English sides could have a maximum of three non-EU players in a matchday squad, and Estonian goalkeeper Mart Poom, Costa Rican striker Paulo Wanchope and Croatian centre-back Igor Stimac nailed down the spots. They were no more talented than Asanovic, but they played in key positions. It was the curse of the flair player.

Midway through his second season, having been repeatedly left out of the squad, Asanovic left for Napoli. Derby came 9th and 8th in the next two years – their best Premier League finishes – so maybe Smith was justified in letting him go. But that hasn’t affected his status as a Rams legend.

“Possibly the most naturally gifted footballer I’ve seen in a Derby shirt – it’s astonishing that he never played for one of Europe’s biggest clubs. Perhaps that was down to his temperament, but he was a true magician with a football,” summarised one Ram.

It turned out that the football elite’s loss would be Derby’s gain. He stayed in the East Midlands just 18 months, but he provided moments of magic few others could.

“Once while we were leading against West Ham, he ran about 30 yards without letting the ball touch the floor, just running whilst juggling the ball whilst they tried in vain to hack him down,” recalled one awestruck fan.

Has anyone ever won a football match by doing some juggling in the middle of the pitch? Certainly not. But no one will remember how good your offside trap is, whereas this is the kind of pointless piece of pure skill that will never be forgotten.

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