Someone mentioned he hadn't played at regularly since like 2009 or 2010. I was responding to that point.
He got a bit of time at Sheffield and Sporting, but he wasn't really a frequent starter at any of those. He earned 17 and 16 league caps in the 1 season he spent with those teams, (though he did get a decent amount of action in non league games for Sporting) which isn't bad but that's not a lot. Maybe saying he hasn't gotten time since pre South Africa was hyperbolic, but he hasn't really been a regular season longe starter anywhere since leaving Standard Liege 8 years ago
he should have re-signed for them. i recall he was hoping he'd get selected to the 2014 roster And to the poster above you, I recall he was doing quite well at Sporting. Scored a few and seemed to be a fan fav. what I want to know is what happened at Malaga where he could only get 2 league appearances all year?
Malaga were pretty good around that time and were in Champions League. I always thought he was pretty out of place on that team.
Not true. He signed for Sporting in the summer of 2011 and made 17 league appearances (in a 30-game season), 5 Europa League appearances (all group stage or later) and 9 appearances in the two Cup competitions during 2011-12. He was out injured for 2 months, missing 8 league games during that period, and when he played, he failed to go 90' in only 4 out of 31 games. He signed for Wednesday in November with 21 league games left in the season. He played in 17 of them, going 90' in all but 2. Which is why Wednesday offered him a new contract. Why he didn't take it is a mystery, which I suspect even he would struggle to answer. Those are regular starter figures. IMO it's his bizarre decisions since leaving Malaga that have many people thinking he'd become a fade-away that couldn't get a game at a decent level. I was one of them. Harsh, but fair. His career - pre-injury - shouts "rotator for a top team in a top league/starter for a top team in a not-quite-top league." At a CL side in La Liga, he was no more than a depth player.
Did I see on the crawl tonight he is going to Philly? (OK, just went back and saw it confirmed by David M who is the only person I believe without google verification.) Wow. Is he 100 yet?
Considerable. Though only 2 league appearances? Pretty sad. He did play more in their domestic and CL games though
Gotta give big ups to him. Signed for some pretty decent to big clubs. And I recall rumors of even Chelsea and Madrid had some looks at him. I didn't follow the NT til late 07 so I don't know what happened at Newcastle but it seemed he always picked the wrong club and then an injury robbed his potential.
I wouldn't include Edu. At the time he made far more sense than the others. He just couldn't stay healthy
I agree. I gotcha. My comment was really made to note that in recent years Philly has signed several players who at one point in time played some sort of fairly important role with the USMNT and that their National team careers seem to be all but finished. Be that due to age, injury, Adu.... . But maybe has-beens was a harsh word.
If we're putting money on where his house is going to be, easy money is on the Main Line rather than Chester. Chester is a ********ing dump.
he's the very definition of a journeyman he's played in the PL, Eredivisie, La Liga, Portuguese League, didn't play in Serie A or Ligue 1 though. I seem to recall he had several Turkish teams that def wanted him over the years plus as few French clubs too
Hey now, when the wind blows right you can smell the arco... Luckily it's a pretty short drive to Merion. Can be from practice to tee in 20 minutes if you're lucky.