I am not knocking him because I can't judge his priorities. Maybe he decided that, if money were comparable, then Milan was where his lifestyle fit him and his missus the best. Playing quality wise, the different between spot starting with ACM and a full time gig at Besisktas aren't as clear cut as the difference between the Bundesliga and MLS.
So, is it just me or should the official MLS website NOT feature an article which slams a player for not talking to the media. Why the f#ck do they care? A) the Official MLS website is not media. B) Onyewu is not an MLS player. C) Potentially antagonizing an American player that one day MLS might want to feature for one of their clubs is unprofessional & stupid. I suppose a what f-ing idiot designed the MLS website editorial policy is a discussion better held elsewhere. I didn't realize Gooch wasn't talking to the press. Is that new or has he pretty much been keeping quiet all season? Does Milan have a general policy w/ regards to which players are "presented" to the media for interviews?
Ouch, that was a pretty rough article, and not just for Gooch. AFAIK, there is no specific "only talk to so-and-so and such-and-such times" for Milan players. There's usually quite a few random quotes from a variety of players floating around at any time. There's just a general "don't talk shit about the club' rule, which I imagine every club has. Kaladze learned this the hard way after he spoke out about not getting enough playing time, and wasn't even put on the bench for the next 6 months. Maybe Gooch is just being careful?
I don't know who the freak Simon Borg is but I sort of agree with him on the captaincy issue. But then he mentions the USSF handout on 4-3-3 and ruins everything else.
Simon Borg is pretty stupid. Anyway, Gooch didn't make the 19 for the game vs Chievo, but neither did Yepes and Papasthopoulos.
It's low risk, high reward for exactly the reason you mention. If Gooch turned out to be good enough that he could plug a hole for merely his wages, as opposed to spending A-list money on a back-up back, that is high reward. If, on the other hand, paying Gooch's salary and just getting a practice cone is what you end up with, it's relatively small peanuts.
A real low risk-high reward scenario is picking up some U-20 kid for $200K and having him develop into a starter. But if the kid never develops beyond the 3rd Division, then them are the apples and sunk costs are negligible. For Gooch's to have a high upside commensurate with his salary, he'd have to develop into a heavy rotation player at the very least. Maybe that was ACM's hope but, upon the inspection, that hope was far from reality. As I had used before with my NFL analogy, he was their known commodity $1M free agent acquisition who was expected to provide depth ... but he failed to do even that. Other teams just draft unknowns in 5th-7th rounds, which costs them $250K-$400K per pick. Those are like the aforementioned $200K U-20 player - they are not necessarily expected to make the team but some do and a GM really hits a home run, if one of them develops into a solid starter. I think 5-6 but anything outside of the starters is of dubious quality. That is why they're looking to acquire some prized center halves available.
Milan does not play American football. Again, it's fairly simple. If Gooch can do the job that would otherwise have to go to a much more expensive player, then he's high reward. He is low risk 'cause he don't cost much, being a free and all. Now, let's argue about how Robino is left footed.
Back from national team, Onyewu bypassed by Milan http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/news?slug=ap-acmilan-onyewu
Yes, Nesta and Thiago Silva are both healthy and Bonera is the likely backup. By the way Chievo Verona (the flying donkeys) are a team that really wanted Gooch on loan this summer.
Serioualy, what is with his obsession with playing for AC Milan...go on loan to another Serie A side and get playing time geez.
No obsession (yet). He wanted at least half a season to see whether he could get playing time at the club that signed him. That's a reasonable amount of time to see where you stand with any club (and it's about as long as it took guys like Dempsey and Edu to get some playing time with their clubs). He didn't get that last season because of his injury, so he gave it another shot this time. Doesn't look like it's going to work out. Oh well. If he seeks a loan or transfer this winter, it won't be a big loss and he'll have given it as good a go as was warranted.
Some people just have ambition to be the best and be winners. Others are perfectly happy to play for any team that will give them a chance. I can't ever fault a guy that wants to take a shot at being great but fails. Especially over taking a safe route to just being a journeyman and mediocrity.
Okay, that is nice in theory, but in the real world you have to actually play if you want to be the best. Not even making the bench for a CL club or playing for another Serie A side...I don;t see how the former can lead to anything good.
t silva went down yesterday. it looked like a twist or pull more than a collision-type injury so i'm guessing he'll be out for a bit.
I have a cousin who was 3rd string QB for Florida State when they won the Cotton Bowl with Charlie Ward as starting QB. He never stepped foot on the field, but he still has the diamond studded Cotton Bowl Champion ring on his finger. He has yet to interview for a job and not get offered it.
No, I'm just making the point that different people have different goals with their sports career. For some, their sports career IS their main goal (Favre for example), for others, their sports career is a stepping stone to another goal (Robert Smith, using 5 years of NFL salary to fund medical school for example). I'm just making the point that even being on a "big team" can open career doors that otherwise wouldn't be opened because there are a lot of people out there who will give you a job just because you were an athlete on the "right" team. You still have to be at least minimally qualified, but you'll get hired over more qualified applicants without the sports background. :shrugs: Gooch has done some modeling and I believe his wife is a model, too. Perhaps his ultimate goal is a modeling career and being in Milan, as a former AC Milan player, will open many doors in that regard. Perhaps its something completely different. The fact is, we simply don't know. What people are doing, however, is judging Gooch based on how THEY would make career choices, rather than considering that Gooch may have a different end-goal in mind than an "old, broken, but successful soccer player."
I agree -- well, mostly. I think some posters don't even judge players such as Gooch based on how the poster would make a career decision irl with all the facts but on how they'd make a decision in FIFA Manager. eta: My cousin married a guy who "played for" an SEC football school. He, too, has been able to open doors b/c of this past. You're completely correct about that experience being, um, able to grease some wheels. When my family was first told about him (ie your cousin got engaged) the first description was "he played football for _____ "
This is a huge point. Many of us old enough to remember "waiting for Jovan Kirovski" know that just because we want a player to go somewhere where they get minutes, it's hard to blame someone in their early 20s who has managed to catch onto a top European club for relatively big bucks, that they would stay in that situation and not play rather than take a pay cut and go somewhere else. These guys have relatively short careers at making very large incomes. While they'll still be able to work after their playing careers, they won't be making nearly as much. If someone wants to sock away some sure "signed contract" money rather than risk it by taking a lower paying job that may pay off in the long run, that's actually understandable.
Andy, I agree completely. Which is why I laugh out loud at some posters In.The.Thread.That.Shall.Remain.Nameless when they are cavalier about forgoing ~$1mil. Professional players play soccer to earn a paycheck.