BLEED bench nexa after 2.5 months

It's the second roster change for the international team in less than a week.

BLEED have confirmed to HLTV that they have decided to bench Nemanja "⁠nexa⁠" Isaković, bringing a swift end to the Serbian player's tenure on the team.

nexa was signed from G2 just two and a half months ago to fill the anchor role that was occupied by Josef "⁠faveN⁠" Baumann. In an interview with HLTV, head coach Aleksandar "⁠kassad⁠" Trifunović expressed his belief that nexa would be able to bounce back to his old level, saying that the player's stats while with G2 didn't "reflect his capabilities at all."

Despite nexa being a better fit for this particular role, BLEED continued to underperform. Last month, the team was dealt a heavy blow when it failed to qualify for the Europe RMR, which kassad described as "embarrassing" on social media.

Earlier this month, BLEED loaned Hampus "⁠hampus⁠" Poser out to Johnny Speeds and brought Vladan "⁠VLDN⁠" Radević back from the bench.

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hampus goes on loan to Johnny Speeds as VLDN returns to BLEED's starting five

Contacted by HLTV, nexa admitted that he was not a good fit for the team from the beginning.

"There were a lot of different visions and approaches to the game prior to me joining, and I think my voice there added to the confusion," he said.

"A lot of changes and uncertainty in a short amount of time regarding roles and positions just made it clear that someone had to take a step back. I am still eager, motivated and willing to play and compete, be it as just a rifler or also as an in-game leader.

"I also want to say that at no point was I leading in BLEED. But I am very open to it if I find a project and people I believe I can build something good with."

HLTV knows that BLEED are currently testing different options and that, once they've decided which direction to go, they will step up preparations for RES Regional Champions 2024, a four-day LAN event in Belgrade with $250,000 in prize money.

With nexa's benching, BLEED are now:

Joakim "⁠jkaem⁠" Myrbostad
Tim "⁠nawwk⁠" Jonasson
Cai "⁠CYPHER⁠" Watson
Vladan "⁠VLDN⁠" Radević

Aleksandar "⁠kassad⁠" Trifunović (coach)

Nemanja "⁠nexa⁠" Isaković (bench)