Sasa Kalajdzic has admitted he was unhappy with his performance against Blackpool in Wolves’ preseason opener after returning from injury.
The Austrian is the focus of a Wolves documentary on his knee injuries.
Kalajdzic missed the remainder of the 2022–2023 season after suffering an ACL tear during his season debut last year.
The 26-year-old suffered a terrible blow as a result.
But Kalajdzic put in a lot of effort to get back in shape, and this season, Kalajdzic has already contributed with a pair of goals for Wolves.
He still doesn’t seem to be fully recovered and mentally and physically prepared for a battle. But it’s great that he’s back in the picture.
In the final segment of the documentary, which Wolves just released, Kalajdzic provided a very frank evaluation of his preseason comeback.
Sasa Kalajdzic admits he was so unhappy with how he played against Blackpool in first game back in pre-season Kalajdzic was always going to find his first game back tough. He had not played for so long, and no amount of training can really replicate proper match conditions, even in pre-season.
Preseason matchup between Wolves and Blackpool featured four 30-minute halves. The third 30-minute period was played by Kalajdzic.
The 6’7″ striker said when asked about his performance, “That was maybe the first time I forced myself into pressure. I have to do something, I have to score a goal, I have to accomplish something, I have to force myself into it. In that game, I had trouble with this.
“I’m pretty tall, so sometimes it looks funny when I get the ball, and everything looks a little strange. And all you need to do is improve your coordination and learn to trust your body. Because you suddenly pick up where you left off after nearly a year has passed.
“I didn’t play poorly, but I didn’t play how I had anticipated.” All I wanted was to perhaps score the opening goal. I was not pleased with my performance and was quite angry. People approached me and yelled, “What’s up, Sasa?” They responded to my statement with “Calm down, it’s your first game in 11 months, forget this game, it’s not about how you played, just getting a feeling, getting back to it.” I said, “It was not a good game.”
It’s natural why Kalajdzic is frustrated.
Hearing Kalajdzic talk about his first game back after an injury is fascinating.
When all that was truly important was for the £15 million star to rediscover his love for football, he was obviously so determined to leave an impression.
That may provide some insight into his thinking.
Kalajdzic played a significant role for Wolves this season and hopefully be able to put his knee issue behind him. He provided more magnificent moments like against Everton.
