I'm curious why Portugal would be considered a more difficult cultural transition than other European countries. In my experience, a really high percentage of Portuguese speak English, which gives the country a leg up from that standpoint almost immediately. Now if clubs put players on a bacalhau diet, that is another matter. My concern with Portugal is that the huge clubs are difficult to break into and the antithesis of the "nuturing club" that many YAs need. The smaller clubs would seem to be a better fit, but weird things seem to happen to YAs in those situations, going back to Kenny Cooper's ill-fated foray to Coimbra.
There was a little update from twitter today. @chamberiECS: Federal Way's Kelyn Rowe has moved on from France, and just started trials in Germany: "Good first impression with the Germans today"
Nevermind. Via Goff: @SoccerInsider USA under-20's Kelyn Rose (UCLA) on trial with Cologne in Germany
Might Rowe be using Cologne to spark interest, in Germany or elsewhere, or to mask subtle deficiences in his game?
Cologne Would be a more appropriate starting place for him than Rennes. I don't think they offered him anything in France.
Are you suggesting that Rowe isn't very good? Because if you have an Axe to grind, you don't have to follow the thread. I don't think there would be anything wrong starting with a solid mid-table French club. He'd have to be awfully impressive to induce a Ligue 1 club to use a precious international slot on him, though.
Not even a free trial? I agree that breaking into the first eleven in France would be difficult. ----------Cacharel---------- Louis--Vuitton--Moët--Hennessy Dior--Guerlain--Givenchy--Kenzo -----Laroche----Armani----- Most would find starting with that 11 overpowering, to say the least. Strong bench, too ... Sanofi, Saint-Laurent, Ricci, Van Cleef, Arpels, de la Renta; Ungaro.
He wouldn't at Cologne either. He's a 19 year old that's played zero games as a professional. The tale of somebody like Conor Doyle (who went from the Dallas Texans to getting first team minutes at Derby) really is an exception more than the rule. So it's just about finding the right spot for Kelyn to develop. Cologne, Rennes, etc. would be fine.
I can't see TimB4Last's posts.......if you get my drift. I actually see half as many posts as the rest of you
It would definitely toughen him up. I'll never forget this quote that Feilhaber gave in an interview after being at Hamburg for a year: "One big difference in Germany is that the competitiveness in training is enormous, which makes it really difficult to have good friends on the team. Everyone's competing with you and if you're doing well it means it's bad for them. It's an environment of real competition in training and it's unbelievable how people fight against one another to win a spot on the team. I never felt that in the U.S. I know it's not the same in M.L.S. from friends I have who play in the league. For me it has been a great experience, something you just kind of absorb. There's a real desire to be better than the next guy, something you don't get as much of in American soccer where everyone is friendly and helping each other out. In a lot of European teams the players are all fighting to become the player that's playing."http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/14/sports/soccer/15feilhaber_QA.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2
The former is very possible, although the could be using Cologne to mask subtle deficiencies in his hygiene as well.
He's in pretty darn good company on Cologne trial. They are also currently auditioning Strasbourg's France U21 DM prodigy Loic Damour.