Impressed with Gibbs ?

[kinstlinger]

I gotta admit here .. I'm surprised with the ascension of Cory Gibbs.
2 years ago, he was on a 3rd division (am I right) German side.
Then, he gets a call up to the Confed Cup, moves to MLS in hopes of moving his National Team career forward, and now seems to be automatic on one of Holland's holy trinity.. makes me wonder what Pope could have done overseas.

[afgrijselijkheid]

i think you're forgetting st. pauli were bundesliga his first season there

[TeamUSA]

I think he is a solid defender.

[superdave]

I gotta admit here .. I'm surprised with the ascension of Cory Gibbs.
2 years ago, he was on a 3rd division (am I right) German side.
Then, he gets a call up to the Confed Cup, moves to MLS in hopes of moving his National Team career forward, and now seems to be automatic on one of Holland's holy trinity
I get to this point, and I'm thinking, this is an odd post. Guy's been around since June 2002, and he doesn't know that Gibbs' "rookie" year was in the BL.1???

makes me wonder what Pope could have done overseas.
Ah, I get it. He's got an agenda he's trying to push.

[CbR]

he held his own and then some against Rudd in amsterdam last year. I think he can be better than Pope

[coldfusion]

One has to think his marking of RVN in that game had a lot to do with raising his stock and getting Gullit to bring him in for a trial. But he sure delivered after he got there.

[The Big Ticket]

It doesn't matter that Gibbs started out in BL1, the fact is that at one point he found himself in BL3 which is not a good place to be. He had to choose between signing for a 2.Bundesliga side (the one that was most interested in him was towards the bottom of the table) or an MLS team. He made the right choice - the move allowed him to play more games for the US NT and that raised his stock. From St. Pauli to Feyenoord in a year - I couldn't have pictured it much better.

[freisland]

I could have pictured it a lot better.... Rotterdam? Sigh. At least it's not Phillipsburg.

[lurking]

Gibbs... I dont know, hes fine and all, but Im not sold on him.

[Martin Fischer]

Two points.

1. It is pretty clear that Gibbs' career really benefited from his sojourn in MLS.

2. However good Gibbs will be or not, it is pretty clear that Eddie Pope in his prime is better than Gibbs is now. I agree with the thread starter that, since Gibbs as he is now is good enough for one of Holland's best, it is an interesting quesiton how good Pope could have been.

[Tmagic77]

Two points.

1. It is pretty clear that Gibbs' career really benefited from his sojourn in MLS.

2. However good Gibbs will be or not, it is pretty clear that Eddie Pope in his prime is better than Gibbs is now. I agree with the thread starter that, since Gibbs as he is now is good enough for one of Holland's best, it is an interesting quesiton how good Pope could have been.

AC Milan was interested right? Doesn't get bigger than that. How well he would have fared is a different story.

[RUUDVN]

every club in the world awares of the US becoming big market any time soon (fergie once said), so signing an american is a wise money spent.

[RUUDVN]

I could have pictured it a lot better.... Rotterdam? Sigh. At least it's not Phillipsburg.

the city of feyenoord that he said he likes alot.

[HartwickFan]

It doesn't matter that Gibbs started out in BL1, the fact is that at one point he found himself in BL3 which is not a good place to be. He had to choose between signing for a 2.Bundesliga side (the one that was most interested in him was towards the bottom of the table) or an MLS team. He made the right choice - the move allowed him to play more games for the US NT and that raised his stock. From St. Pauli to Feyenoord in a year - I couldn't have pictured it much better.

Agreed. Everything seems to have worked out perfectly for Gibbs. Had he signed with a 2.Bundesliga side instead of coming back to MLS, I'd bet that he would not have gotten called into the national side as early or as often by Bruce. Hell, his first year as a pro, he was starting for a Bundesliga side, and only got called into camp once, which he was unable to attend due to injury.

By coming to MLS, Gibbs put himself squarely on Bruce's radar, cemented his spot as a regular on the national team roster and contender for a starting spot. Then he's able to move back to Europe, and jump right into a starting role for a club that is perennially in the Champions League/UEFA Cup.

My memory on when exactly Gibbs left St. Pauli is fuzzy -- did he play a full season with them when they were relegated to the third division, or did he come to MLS right after they got relegated?

[JohnR]

It is pretty clear that Gibbs' career really benefited from his sojourn in MLS.

Nonsense. It's better for development to warm the bench & fight for a job in Europe than to play regularly in MLS.

Right, Bobby Kirovski?

[HartwickFan]

Nonsense. It's better for development to warm the bench & fight for a job in Europe than to play regularly in MLS.

Right, Bobby Kirovski?

I hope Bobby is still fighting for a job, but I have my doubts about whether "fight" is the appropriate verb to use for Kirovski, who spent literally years warming European benches. At a certain point, you have to think that a player recognizes that he's not really going to be a contender for a starting role, and accepts his status as a backup.

[wolfsburgh]

Agreed. Everything seems to have worked out perfectly for Gibbs. Had he signed with a 2.Bundesliga side instead of coming back to MLS, I'd bet that he would not have gotten called into the national side as early or as often by Bruce. Hell, his first year as a pro, he was starting for a Bundesliga side, and only got called into camp once, which he was unable to attend due to injury.

By coming to MLS, Gibbs put himself squarely on Bruce's radar, cemented his spot as a regular on the national team roster and contender for a starting spot. Then he's able to move back to Europe, and jump right into a starting role for a club that is perennially in the Champions League/UEFA Cup.

My memory on when exactly Gibbs left St. Pauli is fuzzy -- did he play a full season with them when they were relegated to the third division, or did he come to MLS right after they got relegated?

Gibbs began playing for St. Pauli at the start of the 2001-02 season (July/August 2001). At first, he was on the amateur team (4th Division), but was quickly moved up to the senior team, which was playing in the 1.BL. He played 25 games that season in the 1.BL (a 34-game schedule), IIRC, most of them starts. St. Pauli was relegated at season's end, and Gibbs played for St. Pauli in 2002-03 while they were in the 2.BL. St. Pauli was relegated again at season's end, and Gibbs started the 2003-04 season with St. Pauli in the RL (3d Division). During the winter break (December 2003/January 2004), he was linked with Jahn Regengsburg, a 2.BL club, and may have even signed a contract, but backed out. Shortly thereafter, he signed with MLS and played the 2004 MLS season in Dallas. So he played a short bit in the 4th Division, a most of a 1.BL season, all of a 2.BL season, and a half of a 3rd Division season.

[HartwickFan]

Gibbs began playing for St. Pauli at the start of the 2001-02 season (July/August 2001). At first, he was on the amateur team (4th Division), but was quickly moved up to the senior team, which was playing in the 1.BL. He played 25 games that season in the 1.BL (a 34-game schedule), IIRC, most of them starts. St. Pauli was relegated at season's end, and Gibbs played for St. Pauli in 2002-03 while they were in the 2.BL. St. Pauli was relegated again at season's end, and Gibbs started the 2003-04 season with St. Pauli in the RL (3d Division). During the winter break (December 2003/January 2004), he was linked with Jahn Regengsburg, a 2.BL club, and may have even signed a contract, but backed out. Shortly thereafter, he signed with MLS and played the 2004 MLS season in Dallas. So he played a short bit in the 4th Division, a most of a 1.BL season, all of a 2.BL season, and a half of a 3rd Division season.

Thanks for the info, woflsburgh. I realize that Gibbs did start out playing in 1.BL, but I still think it's really impressive that he went from playing in the German 3d Division to playing for the US Men and Feyenoord in only a year. Are there any other players who, within a year of playing in the German 3d division, played for the US Men (maybe Donovan, back when he got his first cap and was playing for the Leverkusen reserves)?

[Khan]

1. It is pretty clear that Gibbs' career really benefited from his sojourn in MLS.

I feel foul typing this, but I agree with Martin.

2. However good Gibbs will be or not, it is pretty clear that Eddie Pope in his prime is better than Gibbs is now.

Gee, trying to mark such luminaries as Wolyniec or challenging yourself vs. the best in Germany and Holland: Which is the stronger challenge for a defender? [Try not to hurt yourself thinking about this one. :rolleyes: ]

[Adam Zebrowski]

I think the key is what set of central defenders are emerging for the hex...

in NO order particularly...

pope
berhalter
gibbs
onyewu
bocanegra

and then marshall in the wings...

centrally arena have a luxury of choices, which means anyone flexible enough to play outside has a better chance to break the logjam...