Speaking of academic works, the university that pays my salary might start to resent it if I spent most of my day reading each thread for detail. Reporting posts helps enormously. Mind you, we don't always agree with every post, but we do always look.
Ugh @bungadiri is part of the bloated administrative bureaucracy that has helped fuel the student debt crisis. Get him!
This is the biggest mob to chase me since we tried to institute the soccer only Freddy Adu threads. I'm back, baby. And by the way, let's end this threadjack.
He is from jersey so using this training time to see family during holiday season. Hopefully he isn’t getting loaned back to a former alma mater in the area... He needs a good club overseas where he can thrive, he is a good defender and can succeed over there
I initially hated the move to sign with Chelsea. Then, I came to appreciate it when he was doing well in Holland, since it seemed like he was playing and improving, and a Dutch club couldn't/wouldn't have paid to get him out of MLS. Now that the Nantes loan looks to be a clear failure, and he looked rusty and shaky in his last couple USMNT caps after being benched at Nantes, I'm now unsure how to think about things. He's going to be 24 in July, and thus really at the end of his status as a prospect. That will make him a less enticing loan or purchase target for other clubs. I'd speculate that his generally good performance in Holland gets him one more shot in a Euro league, and if he doesn't do well there, there's a decent chance he ends up back in MLS.
I'd like to see him try his luck in the Championship. Maybe a mid table club where there is no pressure of relegation but also no expectation of promotion. Maybe a team like QPR or Aston Villa
Miazga did well in the Netherlands because he was a constant threat going forward. He can do that in a league where indeed defending is secondary to attacking. Because his positional awareness has always been lacking. Therefore, if he wants to succeed, he needs to move to a league where the fans don't care if his defending chops are not that good. Easier to follow?
I guess if he wants to go back to MLS, he could end up in MLS. But the Vitesse loan was an unqualified success. Not a "he's going to be a Chelsea player" success, but certainly a "there are lots of teams out there that could use MM - for the right price." The right price is the problem. Being on Chelski's books makes it easy to got prospective employers on the phone, but writing a check that makes Chelski bother to return the call for a long-term deal is harder. But all contracts come to an end if the player wants them to and MM apparently has an EU passport, so if he wants to continue playing on the continent he will have plenty of options. Whether those options are more interesting than MLS is a different question.
The fact that he went to Vitesse means no one really wanted him before that loan. Vitesse, like Breda for City, is where the guys Chelsea wants to loan out go when there are no real offers. Due to their deals, they have to take him. He looked good there because Matt is a decent header threat in set pieces and has a nose for going forward and creating trouble. In more than one goal Vitesse conceded after a counter subsequent to a failed attack, Matt is not even in frame. That is not going to cut it for a defender in other leagues though. So if not the Eredivisie, we're looking significantly lower, some Scandinavian league, or maybe Poland. Or Scotland.
I'd guess that if MM wishes to stay in Europe he'll, at minimum, have success at a decent side in a decent "non big 4" league. The Ered is well suited for him (although you are overstating his "attacking/lack of defending - he led Vitesse in both clearances and blocks his last season there...) but he could easily slot into the right Ligue 1, Juliper or Portuguese side. He's got a lot of years left on his Chelski contract, however, which means he's mostly at the whims of the loan market for the next little while unless Chelsea decides they need milk money. One thing going for him is seems to know how to be a work-a-day pro, even in adverse conditions, which rarely hurts a decent but not great journeyman.
We know he's good enough for the Eredivise. But he can improve and the next club should see to that. Plus, it'd be nice to see a US defender in Italy.
It says a lot that Chelsea bought him for 5 million, but nobody else wanted to take him on a loan afterward (except Vitesse).
Well, mainly because people yell at me and it makes me feel bad. Wait, that's not consistent with me gloating about the size of my mob, is it?
I dunno what it says. I wouldn't over-think the loan thing. Vitesse is an easy and smart place for Chelsea to put players. The loan very good players to Vitesse (Mount, Baker, Piazon...) and while they have their continent at Hull, a few in the Bund (often guys loaned back after Chelsea buy them...) and even the odd Serie A loanee, they have mostly Ered, Champs, Turkey (Even 2nd div), Jupiler, SPL etc. etc. Loans are a low margin move for these guys. It's mostly about keeping players happy and trying to build some value. I doubt clubs want to spend too much time finding a good fit. If you can get a bite with a phone call or two, think your boy will get PT and look good, you do it. Who cares what the league is as long as it's close enough to keep tabs.
He's only starting because of that work he did in Jersey! Too bad he can't practice in 'Merica every day.
It's in the bag, 3-1 already. Well, it's a Coupe game against a team that has rarely been a threat to anyone. Although "La Berrichonne" is a cool name (Berry is the Medieval name of the area where Châteauroux sits).
ended 4-1 here's the 3rd. some kid in his debut or something... 1081303924999708672 is not a valid tweet id Evangelista missed a PK in the 1st half as well, I think. I've only seen Miazga mentioned for shutting down a second Chateauroux chance just after the goal.