Trialing with GIF Sundsvall (Swedish top flight): Giorgi Gvelesiani and Romain Gall connecting Monday to GIF Sundsvall to test train with the team next week. (in Swedish): http://gifsundsvall.se/tva-provspelare-ansluter-pa-mandag/
Signs with GIF Sundsvall in Sweden's top level: GIF Sundsvall has signed a three year contract with the offensive midfielder Romain Gall, 21, who last week was and auditioned with the club. (in Swedish): http://gifsundsvall.se/romian-gall-klar-for-gif-sundsvall/
That's a nice move. I thought he was a bit overrated when he was with the US U20s, but the Swedish third tier was certainly below his potential. A three-year deal shows some commitment and belief from his new club, too. He's about to turn 22, so I think there's still time to move up a notch in the world of soccer if he builds on his successes.
Was very disappointed when he trialed with NYCFC and they didn't sign him. Good to see him land on his feet after that third tier stint
I would not say it was way below his level. I went to many games last year, as I live in Södermanlands. You need to realize that many players in the league, especially at Nyköpings have the same background as Romain. Swedish U21 and All Svenska or Tippenliga appearances at age 17-20. A matter of fact they just signed Christian Kaouko who was the biggest 95 talent in Sweden and made his debut at AIK at age 16. As good as Romain was in some games, there were games where he was no where to be found and he hit a wall by the end of the year, which is natural given the amount of games and minutes he was playing. Obviously, Sundsvall see's potential and possibly selling potential to sign the contract and feel this a good place for him as there will not be as much pressure as with the Stockholm clubs. It will allow him to start slow, and hopefully make a great career, with time.
Good move for Romain. I thought he demonstrated potential with the U-20s and was surprised to see him cut by the Crew and not picked up by another MLS team (he certainly could've provided bench depth on the wing for my Portland Timbers last season). This will be a good opportunity for him to show well in the Allsvenskan and carve out a nice career for himself. Guys like Charlie Davies and Alejandro Bedoya both started their professional careers in the Swedish top flight as well, at a similar age as Romain. I think he has potential as a goal scoring winger, so will look forward to tracking his progress.
I don't know man, I'm fairly familiar with the lower tiers of Swedish football for varying reasons, the regionalized Swedish 3rd tier is not a high level within the context of professional world football. I'd equate the Nora/Sora divisions to top level D1 NCAA, except for with FIFA rules and generally superior tactics and refinement largely due to the limitations placed on season length and on field training time in the American college system. NCAA teams of all levels where you'll also find various players with youth international experience, head over and compete against 2nd and 3rd division Swedish teams every summer in preparation for their competitive league seasons. Romain Gall certainly has his flaws but they've always seemed to be of the psycho-tactical variety to me, I do think a decent 3rd tier Swedish team is below his level. Nothing wrong with using his career back on track but I don't think a second season would have been appropriate in his case.
Agree to Disagree. I played in the Pac12 for a consistant top 20 team, thus my interest in Americans coming over here. There would only be a handful of guys that could play on my team in Div 1. Look at Luda Ahl, one of the top freshman in the country at UCSB(if stayed would of been a sure GA, as they were talking about it his freshman year) was an in and out starter for the Nyköping last year. There is not much difference between Superetten and Div 1. Div 2 on the other hand is a big drop off.
How recently did you compete in the Pac12 if you don't mind me asking? I played in the Big West 6 - 8 years ago, NCAA quality of play hasn't changed much but to my eye, the individual D1 player is superior now then it was in my time earlier in the 2000's. I'm not trying to speak bad on the Swedish Division 1, but I've seen it with my own eyes. To me it has largely appeared to be players with similar skill set and innate ability to elite D1 collegiate players, with professional structure, coaching and pressure and the superior refinement and experience that comes with it.
I played in the Big West in 2011, and the quality wasn't great. Very few high quality players, however, that may just be my perspective.
Sounds like we overlapped a bit, it is a hard comparison to make and some of the structural flaws of NCAA make it even harder to contextualize. The way I see it, NCAA D1 is roughly 1000 players, Nora/Sora Division 1 is roughly 500-600. These days I absolutely think the top 50 given NCAA players year-to-year are Swedish 3rd division type talents, and would find a home at that level were they based in Sweden. If you remember someone like Alejandro Bedoya who was an ACC standout and truly an elite player at the NCAA level a decade ago, who was able to make a seamless jump from college to the Swedish Allsvenskan with a club like Orebro, who at the time were won of the stronger teams in the league. He arrived fresh from ACC and began to produce immediately, claimed a starting spot at CAM within months, and by his second season was really the focal point of Orebro's attack. And this was a top flight team competing participating in Europe at the time.
Scores in his Sundsvall debut. Romain Gall utökar GIF Sundsvalls ledning till 5-1 !!!!!— GIF Sundsvall (@GIFSundsvall) February 4, 2017
ppl sleeping on this kid. u all don't know this but ramos at 1 time (i think 2014) said he was the best technical player 95 group. He has always been skillful from time i first laid eyes on him in 2010. Watch out he is coming!
Scored again: Där är matchen slut och 2-0 seger till GIF Sundsvall! Målskyttar Sebastian Rajalakso och Romain Gall ⚽️💙💪🏼— GIF Sundsvall (@GIFSundsvall) February 11, 2017 Where is the match end and 2-0 victory to GIF Sundsvall! Target shooters Sebastian Rajalakso and Romain Gall ⚽️
Yeah, I remember watching the CONCACAF u-20 qualifiers that year (whenever it was), and he seemed like one of the more talented players in the squad. However, he also seemed to have a very low soccer IQ...always dribbling into trouble, picking the wrong pass, etc. That stuff is correctable, though, with good coaching and a willingness to learn.
As someone who watch him play about 10 times with Austin, Columbus and in a friendly or two. He needed to improve the mental side of the game. Hopefully he is able to do that because they was what he was really lacking.
Kick off in the warm-up contest between Rosenborg BallklubGIF Sundsvall and at 15.00. PM. GIF Sundsvall ställer upp med följande startelva: Tommy Naurin - Eric Larsson, Marcus Danielsson, Eric Björkander, Juho Pirttijoki, Dennis Olsson - Romain Gall, Smajl Suljevic, Lars Krogh Gerson - Peter Wilson, Jontahan Morsay. https://www.facebook.com/gifsundsvall/posts/10155655156854947
Started in a friendly: GIF Sundsvall gör två byten. Ut går Kristinn Steindórsson och Romain Gall. In kommer Amaro Bahtijar och Jaudet Salih.— GIF Sundsvall (@GIFSundsvall) March 4, 2017
Makes his league debut: GIF Sundsvall gör sitt sista byte. Ut går Kristinn Steindórsson och in kommer Romain Gall!— GIF Sundsvall (@GIFSundsvall) April 2, 2017 @bungadiri @Friedel'sAccent -- Let's move to YA, please.
I just got a BigSoccer alert informing me that @Dave Marino-Nachison started this new thread about an hour ago. They only missed the mark by a little over 5 years.