This is an interesting point. I am no expert in the Russian league, but I don't think that this is necessarily true, at least the reaility of it (as opposed to perception). Howard, Friedel, Bocanegra, Dempsey, Ryan Nelson and possibly Altidore is a pretty good success record, I would say. Jo and several others show that highly successful Russian League products don't alway work out either.
who are the several others? Arshavin is in England right now, he is pretty good... Palyuchenko hasnt done well (altho he did get 15 goals last year) Chelsea brought in Zhirkov this summer... they are about 50% right now over the last 12 months...
I totally agree about the reality of MLS success. I've posted a few other times that the number of failures from MLS into Euro leagues (inc. England) is quite low. In UK, I can only think of perhaps Simon Elliott and EJ, whereas the successes have been numerous, be they at clubs that purchased the players or elsewhere in England. DMB might be a special case, since he's not done well in UK, but was brought in as a PSV product not an MLS product. I've also said that someday, some Euro manager will figure out that MLS produces decent players, although not world beaters as of yet, and spend $10 mm for about 6 or 8 players, assuming no immigration issues, and will be viewed as a genius for tapping this market. You would think someone would look at Wigan and say "hmm, maybe I should really be considering CONCACAF and skip buying Championship players at 5x the cost." Nope. Fear rules the day still. If you're a manager who spends $10mm at Spurs or Man City on a Russian product who fails, it will be understood. If you're a manager who spends $10mm at Everton on an MLS product who fails, it will not be as easily understood. If you spend $10mm on an Englishman who fails, then you're a bargain-shopper.
I don't know how Jo's 5 goals in 11 games at Everton last season is not working out. Take any of our players, have them adapt for half a season, then score 5 in 11, we'd be listing them as a great success. So if Jo is a measure of not working out, then Donovan might not work out either. I think Donovan is perfect for the EPL though, looking forward to seeing him on FSC.
Russia's great run during the Euro's last summer as well as the form of the current WCQM added with the success CSKA a few years back and currently Zenit and Shakhtar Donetsk in European competitions (UEFA Cup) certainly to add some value as well. However, this is by no means a guarantee that they will succeed outside of the Russian League. I would think Arshavin is a prime example of their success. Zhirkov and Tymo at Bayern will also be used as guages to measure up. Frankly, what Arshavin is accomplishing at the PL level will be a difficult shoe to fill.
Jo may not be much, but Vidic, Skrtel, and Arshavin are all EPL players of high caliber, and the success of Russian clubs in European competition recently (Zenit a couple years back, one of the Moscow clubs winning the UEFA Cup, etc) also highlights well. That said, I imagine if all things were equal, Donovan's pedigree and success might outweigh the age difference, so presumably this is not as simple as choosing A over B; the loan issues, expected role and playing time, resale value, wages, and lots of other aspects are probably in play here.
Not to nitpick too much, and this is probably an accurate reflection of how many in England will think of it, but Donetsk is not actually a Russian club - Ukrainian...
WEll, he can't be on the roster of three teams during a single year, but does that mean he can be bought, loaned back, then brought in again? I mean, it's only two teams, but it is three moves. As noted, there wouldn't be much point in buying him now on layaway, when you could wait until the winter window, when he'd be ready to play, in any case... It's been done, of course, and it's quite often talked about, but usually with young players, who are bought because of potential. LD is at the finished article stage of his career, a couple extra months in MLS don't make him any better, so the only advantage would be if it led to a price reduction. Still, this is a really interesting question, anyone know the answer, or did i miss it? If so, apologies for the bump...
You mentioned Zhikov at Chelsea. He appears to have settled in farily nicely. The others I can think of are Radoslav Kovac at West Ham from Spartak. Kovac hasn't set the world on fire but he's a decent player and has done admirably. Chelsea also has Branislav Ivanovic (bought from Lokomotiv)likewise, has done an admirable job for Chelski and has become somewhat of fan favorite, IIRC. The only of one I can think of is Andre Bikey at Burnley. He played up and down and very inconsistent in his stint with Reading in the Premier League after coming from Lokomotiv. He's a bit of a head case and I think that's played against him. For example, his rage during the CCC playoffs when he rip his shirt off and threw it on the pitch after he conceded a stupid PK earlier and then eventually was sent off.
But Bikey would be a success, at least in the sense that Reading made a bit of money off him, buying him for right around 1m, and selling for 2.8m. The money on offer from the larger clubs in Russia is far beyond what MLS offers, so they have players with better reputations, higher expectations. It's largely about the money, isn't it? A player who's earning 1m year is thought to be of a certain standard, a player earning 100k of a lesser. MLS players, generally, don't make a lot. Therefore, in general, they're not worth a lot.
I went with the last 12 months or so... and for some reason I was thinking of Russians... but yes, Ivanovic... Kovac, and a few others I dont know what Martin Fischer was talking about... Bikey was years ago... completely forgot about him, lol
*drags thread back on topic. What are the chances that one of the teams who qualify for CL group stages after tomorrow's games are finished would come in with a late bid for Landon to help them?
Well, they will have a bit more money to spend. but you'd think they'd have been hanging around, greasing the skids just in case. Of course, they may have been doing that, just not publically. More likely, however, that he'll leave on loan in january
He had an injury during this Russian season, missed a half dozen Spartak games and a couple of qualifiers. Of course, he played every game of the Euro2008 run.
Livorno now has the cash to buy Donovan, if they were ever interested in the first place. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=671379&sec=transfers&cc=5739
Seems like a great deal for them, 6m pounds for a player who hasn't done well above serie B.(only going by stats I could find, someone can correct me if I'm wrong)
Savio Nsereko kind of crashed and burned...and if I am not mistaken, he came aboard last winter transfer so it is actually the second Serie B player in 8 months. Sorry....way off topic, I know.
LOL You got public confirms from his agent, and both the Livorno president and CEO. How much more is needed to pull down the "supposedly a rumour" tag?
Well with $10m burning a hole in their pocket I suppose we'll find out. There's a difference between expressed and real interest.
Well they got 6mil Euros from the Diamanti deal, which is just 1mil Euro short of the MLS' asking price for Donovan.
LOL There are so many variables at play in any transfer crush, much less one involving super secret information killers MLS. For instance, Landon seems to want to stay through MLS Cup - does Livorno need to fill that hole now or can they wait? You can't just wait until the end and say "oh look, they didn't buy him, so it was all a hoax". Livorno didn't simply send a Valentine's Day card and wink... they were trying to work a deal. It's not a rumour.