Griffins add to critical attacking midfield positions with talented German Sievert
Jefferson Hagen, MacEwan Athletics
EDMONTON – One of Adam Loga's observations on how to best improve his MacEwan Griffins men's soccer team was that he needs to add depth to the critical centre-midielder and attacking centre-mid roles.
As the engine of the team's attack during the 2019 Canada West season, young stars Stefan Gajic and Michael Enes did yeoman's work in playing marathon minutes in those positions.
In an effort to keep them fresher later into the season, Loga announced the addition Thursday of German midfielder Jakob Sievert, who will join the Griffins for the 2021 Canada West season.
Sievert is currently playing senior men's soccer in Germany's 6th Division Rheinlandliga with TUS Kirchberg and has also seen action in the 5th Division (Oberliga) in the past.
"He's got an engine to him and he's very decent on the ball," said Loga, who has seen video of Sievert in action, while building a relationship with him virtually over the past few weeks.
"As a program, we've lacked a little depth in our 8 and 10 holes, and we've noticed a little bit of their production drop as the season has gone on. That's not a slight to the lads that played there – Stefan and Enes were arguably our MVPs – it's just that they get tired and we need to make sure they keep that standard game-in and game-out.
"When you're playing back-to-back games and they're both playing 90 minutes each, 180 minutes a weekend, plus travel, we need to bring somebody in to help manage those minutes for the guys."
Sievert is a solid candidate to do so. Included on his resume is a terrific run during the 2017 season when he scored 13 goals in 20 games in leading his JFV Rhein-Hunsrück team to the U19 Rheinland League Championship. He's also a U19 German Futsal League bronze medalist from 2018.
Jakob Sievert, right, currently plays in the German 6th Division with TUS Kirchberg, and has also played in the 5th Division (Photo supplied).
In 2018-19, he played in the 5th division German men's league with FC Karbach.
"Chatting with some of the CPL (Canadian Premier League) programs, League 3 (in Germany) is where the CPL standard is," said Loga, noting the Bundesliga, where Edmonton superstar Alphonso Davies plays, is considered League 1. "I figure League 5 would be very good for us."
With three seasons of men's league experience under his belt already, Sievert has a leg up to hit the ground running in Canada West.
"He's a bit older, coming in at 21, which fits more of our culture currently," said Loga. "He's played at the men's level already, so playing in Canada West won't be a shock to him. And he's won championships. So, he brings a little bit of a winning mentality to the room.
"Those types of things really stood out to us as a staff. It should be a smoother transition than, say, an 18-year-old right out of high school moving across the world."
Finally, there's the individual himself. Loga has been impressed with the character of Sievert so far.
"Dealing with him over the last four to six weeks, the conversations with him, he just seems like such a great lad," he said. "We're a character-driven group and he'll fit in great."
