in sufficient numbers like we had in the PL or Bundesliga (at their peaks)? Not just a handful of players on relegation sides? why don't we see Yanks going from MLS to Serie A? I recall a Costa Rican defender got a move from MLS to a mid table Italian club and is a regular starter for them. why not the same for say Matt Besler? Is it simply the PL have the cash to splurge on American players? Surely if they have the money they can find more talented players even if it costs way more. Shouldn't the cheap pricing of Yanks in the greater footballing world see more clubs in Ligue 1/Serie A/La Liga making decent offers? Are American players more akin to the physical nature of the English game compared to that of the Italian defensive tactics or Spanish tiki taka?
Serie A has complicated rules regarding Non-EU players, that basically severely limit how many Non-EU players a club in Serie A may sign, and I don't even think lower leagues van purchase non-EU players unless they are already in the Italian market. Spanish clubs can only have 3 Non-EU players, period. I would imagine the reason you don't see an influx of North American players from the US and Mexico (I don't know of any Mexican players who are in Italy, and they have just 3 in Spain, 2 of whom are Spanish Nationals and the 3rd being Memo Ochoa), that you see in England and Germany, who are far less restrictive of non-EU players. The price of Americans are cheap, but the Non-EU slot they take up is quite valuable.
Rinse and repeat. We need to improve technically to play in La Liga and Seria A. Additionally, other than Bradley, our few players (Lalas, Gooch) have not performed well. It will happen over time, just later than most of us old timers expected...
By the way, Serie A restrictions on foreigners are very low these days. Clubs are allowed to bring in one "fresh" non-EU player per year. After being in the Serie A for a seaon, those attain a "veteran" status. La Primera does have a 3-non-EU restriction but, because they can naturalize Latin Americans after two (or is it three?) years, the league is awash in those imports. They also allow the Cotonou members in, so someone like Altidore and Akwale don't even count as "foreign".
Interesting. You'd think with the financial troubles of many teams in Serie A, cheap Americans would be fairly enticing.
I believe that he started off well, but I think that he faded towards the end. It was difficult to get a lot of information on his play and he wasn't playing for the best of teams. However, I don't remember any comments at the time of him being their best player.
If they are still holding Lalas against us 20 years later, they must not have a lot of other issues in their lives.
If we're technical enough for England and Germany, we're technical enough for Italy and Spain. I really do think this is just about restrictive policies.
Our players speak English and, if given the choice, I think most of them would prefer the Premier League over La Liga or Serie A. IIRC Altidore had strong interest from Italy after AZ, but went with Sunderland instead. Rumors had linked Yedlin with Roma, but he chose Spurs instead.
PL clubs tend to spend more money. Plus they have more scouts in MLS. I'd guess we are still seen as a novelty toward Italians and Spaniards. Shame as I really think Jozy would have fared better in Serie A. But I also wonder if Yanks tend to go toward England just due to perception of the league and all.
The EPL is more about the physicality and the work rate, which are attributes not foreign to a US raised talent. Serie A and La Primera have a lot more emphasis on skill and tactical understanding. Hard work is always appreciated but the minimum skill level on the continent southern portion is several notches above the EPL. It is changing a bit with all the money coming to the English clubs but the commonalities are definitely stronger there. Germany, btw, is sort of a split between the EPL and Spain/Italy - Bundesliga sits athletically below England but above Serie A/La Liga and in reverse order in terms of skill and tactics. Plus, it has no limit on the non-EU players and the pay for the middle of the pack clubs is higher than in Spain/Italy too.
I don't think we'll ever see an influx of Americans into these leagues. Who knows what the world wide club landscape will even look like by the time we have enough of a soccer culture to develop the type of talent that is frequently sought by top leagues.
Sky Sports has an interesting piece today about the Brexit (or is it "Brie exit"?) and that, if there's indeed an exit from the EU, then the EU players will no longer be automatically counted as "domestics" and will have to qualify for the work permit under the same criteria as everyone else. Someone then opined that several new arrivals of this past season like Payet and Conte would not have qualified for the EPL under the current rules. IMO, this will have these ramifications - the rules will be adjusted downward on the economic scale or the disconnect from the EU will result in a re-shuffling of the non-English player distribution within the top 5-6 Euro leagues. The motivation would then be to go after capped players regardless of their nationality, with the big clubs going for the superstars regardless. Should the English divorce go through, there'll probably be more capped Yanks in England and fewer in Germany, even if they're the German Yanks. And there'll definitely be fewer Yanks in Serie A than there are now.
Well, it seems like the UK will be leaving the EU. Full implications to the soccer world are to be revealed at a later date.
I think it'd be interesting to see how Pulisic might do in La Liga or Serie A. I recall years ago Donovan (maybe it was 09 or 2010) had some Serie A interest. But he went to Everton.