Coach kassad leaves Cloud9 following clash with ALEX

Dec 28, 2020

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Cloud9 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive coach Aleksandar “kassad” Trifunović parts ways with the organization after a four-month run with the overhauled roster. General manager Henry “HenryG” Greer revealed an internal clash to be the reason behind the move.

The announcement comes as a surprise for the fans as the freshly renewed Cloud9 roster has just started to gain some ground. The general manager said that a conflict of styles between the coach and in-game leader Alex “ALEX” McMeekin resulted in the former dropping from the team. HenryG further clarified that there’s no “bad blood” between kassad and ALEX, but the nature of clash couldn’t be resolved in any other way.

“With the player break here, I’ve decided that it was in everyone’s best interest to move in a direct direction and prepare for the next season. Thanks to Kassad for laying the foundations for the team and we wish you all the best,” HenryG said.

Thanks to the boss @kassad for his time.

Statement beneath #C9win pic.twitter.com/ktnPE2gfLx

— C9 HenryG (@HenryGcsgo) December 28, 2020

With the coach’s departure, Cloud9’s players remain without guidance in a newly appointed lineup as HenryG said that he hasn’t yet decided how the team will deal with the slot left empty by Kassad.

kassad leaves Cloud9 with no coach

The former coach commented on the official statement and said that his vision regarding the team differ widely from what ALEX had in mind. It seems that the kassad is planning something as he promised to post an update about his future within a few days.

Sad but true, the whole vision of the game was just way too different from the start.

Thank you @Cloud9 and @HenryGcsgo for the opprotunity and of course i wish the team all the best.

Will post about future plans in a few days.

Happy holidays and stay safe. https://t.co/4JFsUlX69x

— Aleksandar Trifunovic (@kassad) December 28, 2020

kassad joined Cloud9 in September when the rebuild was already underway. With tons of coaching experience under his belt, a massive change in Cloud9 was expected. The overhauled roster’s initial performance was rather disappointing, but the team had recently displayed a sound performance at the BLAST Premier: Fall 2020 Showdown. The team is still going through a metamorphosis, and kassad’s leave is likely to disrupt the growth.

Finding kassad’s replacement was already a challenge for Cloud9, as the CSGO market runs short of good coaches. With many veteran coaches complicit in the coaching bug scandal, Cloud9 has very few options to pick from.