ASN: After a tough ending at Nantes, Miazga keen to assist Studying to security

The previous few months have been a wild trip for Matt Miazga which noticed a falling out together with his earlier membership Nantes and the tragic dying of a teammate. However turning the web page, the New Jersey native now appears to be like ahead to serving to his new membership, Studying, keep away from relegation whereas additionally ushering a brand new period with the U.S. nationwide group.

BY

Brian Sciaretta

Posted
February 20, 2019
12:00 AM

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THE CAREER of knowledgeable soccer participant is filled with twists and turns, ups and downs. For Matt Miazga, the previous three months have been past intense. His mortgage to Nantes slowly deteriorated after a managerial change which was adopted by accusations over a faked damage and the tragic dying of a teammate. A transfer to Studying FC has additionally thrown Miazga into an intense relegation struggle at a time when he’s additionally aiming to usher in a brand new period with america nationwide group.

However consequence has left Miazga pleased. Miazga and Studying have managed to leapfrog Rotherham United to tug out of the relegation zone by objective differential. On Saturday, Studying will host Rotherham in a recreation that would decide Studying’s destiny.

Miazga, 23, continues to be a younger participant however the Championship is the fifth completely different skilled league he has performed and Studying is his first relegation battle.

“I knew it was going to be a challenge but I never shy away from challenges,” Miazga stated. “I think challenges are what define you in how you overcome them. I remember my first training session here and thinking that this was a really good group of players. The atmosphere is very good at the club and you can’t really tell that we are in a relegation battle. This team is capable of being way higher. I am very happy to be here.”

Upon leaving Nantes, Miazga had choices. His earlier success in Holland with Vitesse, the place he helped the group to its first ever main trophy with the 2016/17 Dutch Cup, opened loads of doorways. However Miazga’s final objective is to play for Chelsea on a everlasting foundation and Studying’s mortgage provide made essentially the most sense when it comes to attending to England and offering significant and essential minutes.

After a month, Miazga is having fun with life within the Championship which supplies him yet one more league to expertise and study. He developed with the Pink Bulls in MLS, performed briefly with Chelsea, earlier than being loaned to Vitesse, Nantes, and now Studying.

“It’s very different,” Miazga defined. “The way I describe the Championship is that it is more chaotic. When I was in Holland, France or even when I played a bit in the Premier League, it was more refined. Here a lot of teams try to get to the goal as fast and as soon as possible. It’s at a very intense pace. Some teams have a lot of quality. There are a lot of physical battles – which is good. You adapt, you learn, and you add more elements to your game. England has the best league in the world, the Premier League. I want to establish myself at the English level. Premier League scouts and Chelsea are constantly monitoring the Championship because a lot of good players are here. The Championship is probably the closest league in terms of pace and intensity to the Premier League.”

Studying FC has been a breath of contemporary air for Miazga who acquired off to a powerful begin earlier than the loss to Sheffield United. In his first 360 minutes, Studying conceded only one objective with Miazga on the sphere. However it’s a far cry from the troublesome finish to his time at Nantes.

Miazga’s time at Nantes acquired off to a powerful begin regardless of him lacking many of the group’s preseason. He was a daily starter for supervisor Miguel Cardoso however when the group struggled, Cardoso was changed by Vahid Halihodzic in early October. In Miazga’s first recreation below the brand new Bosnian supervisor, Nantes misplaced to Bordeaux 3-0 and Miazga left afterward to play for the U.S. nationwide group. When he returned, enjoying time was nonexistent.

Whereas Nantes struggled in the course of the first half of the season, stats recommended that Miazga was among the many least of the membership’s issues – the place he received the very best proportion of duels amongst all Ligue 1 defenders with no less than 450 minutes performed.

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— BabuYagu ??? (@babuyagu) December 22, 2018

In January, Miazga’s scenario continued to deteriorate. Then there was a dispute over a again damage which Halihodzic claimed Miazga embellished to power a switch.

“The blackmail I was talking about yesterday was about Matt Miazga,” Halilhodzic stated on the time. “He assured me that he had a sore again. After exams, nevertheless, there was no drawback. He simply needed to go away the membership. This morning Miazga was in England, in Chelsea. He did not warn anybody.”

Miazga firmly denies those allegations and says that he was in fact injured, which Chelsea confirmed to Nantes.

“That was false,” Miazga said about faking an injury. “Everything at Nantes in the beginning was going perfectly. A new coach came in, and he didn’t favor me. I was on loan, I was young, we were in a tough position in the table. That’s fine. I stayed professional. I continued to work hard. I never had a complaint. I spoke with him many times and we agreed in January that I could go. But then I was asked to stay, even though they told me I could leave. That was not a problem. But then it occurred that I actually had an injury with my back. There is a protocol with Chelsea that I have to return if there is an injury where I miss a certain amount of days. Chelsea told me to come back to examine the injury.”

“What the club [Nantes] said about me not telling anyone was false,” Miazga said. “I told everyone. I told the manager, I told the president, I told the sporting director and team administrator. I told all the appropriate staff. Chelsea told them as well. Once I got back, I was getting treatment on my back and I was going through the protocol for recovery and treatments.”

Following this, Chelsea and Nantes decided end the loan prematurely. Despite statements later made by Halihodzic which questioned the back injury, Miazga looks back on his time at Nantes positively.

“There are no hard feelings,” Miazga said. “I didn’t like what was said at the end but it is what it is. I’ll just take it in stride. But I will always look back on my time at Nantes a good time. I am thankful and I hope they do well.”

During the time of Miazga fallout with Nantes there was also tragedy. The club sold star striker Emiliano Sala to Cardiff City. But shortly after Sala said his final goodbyes to his teammates, his plane went missing on his trip to Cardiff. Wreckage was later discovered in the English Channel and his body was recovered.

It was a difficult experience for Miazga who got to know the Argentinian-born Sala on a personal level once he took French lessons and had a common language. The two would ride stationary bikes together before trainings and talk.

“He was my teammate,” Miazga said. “You see your teammates every day, you shake hands, laugh, eat meals, fight for each other on the pitch. You have that relationship. He got sold to Cardiff, he went there. Two days later, I left [to Chelsea] to get my injury treated. That next day, he came back to say goodbye to everyone because he had the weekend off. But he then left for Cardiff to start training the next day. I remember I was speaking with one my teammates from London and he told me: ‘Emilano’s plane is gone.’ I then looked it up on the internet and I was like: ‘what is going on?’ It’s very sad and rest in peace to him, strength to his family, and the pilot’s family. I knew him. He never caused any problems and always worked hard. He just made a dream move to the Premier League. He was a great guy.”

But as Miazga moves on and looks ahead to his time in England and the relegation fight, he is also looking forward to a new era with the national team under the recently hired and fellow New Jersey native Gregg Berhalter. Miazga is excited by the current young generation of American players – many of whom are playing at very high levels in Europe.

The upcoming March friendlies against Chile and Ecuador will be a big moment for the team and its new coach as many of the top players are expected to take part. Miazga is looks forward to hopefully getting that opportunity.

“I’ve known him from before and played against his Columbus Crew teams,” Miazga stated of Berhalter. “They were never easy to play against. He’s proven himself as a manager and is now the manager of our national. Hopefully I can earn minutes here to earn another call-up to prove myself. I watched their recent games against Panama and Costa Rica and kept a close eye. We’ve played well. There is a nice style of play right now that is very distinct and very detail oriented. You can now really see there is a direction we are headed. We have a new generation of players and a coaching staff that is leading us in the right direction. The most important thing is to get results.”