Yuri is a very good young player in MLS and a move to randers will benefit him greatly. camp cupcake 2011 anyone?
From what i've heard, some of the reasons why Danish clubs looks to North America (We also have quite a lot of Canucks here) is that the players are quite easy to integrate in the clubs and the squads, given that they all speak English (Not the Queens English, but some kind of English), and that they are very easy to work with, compared to African or Eastern European players who has a harder time fitting. North Americans are also well known for their good physical abilities, meaning that they are strong and have good stamina. Off cource they are also much cheaper than players from England, Spain or Italy, wich also helps.
If Yura were a baseball prospect, scouts would say he's very "toolsy". Essentially, he's got the tools to succeed.. he just needs to be coached up a little bit. Don't let a lack of goal production fool you when you are looking at a young forward. Height, Strength, Speed... those are uncoachable... that's why you can wait on a guy like Movsisyan to develop. **** Also, I'm pretty sure that I read that he never played organized soccer until he came to America (7 or 8 years ago?). We could be very pleasantly surprised in a few years if things go well in Europe.
I'm not gonna flip flop just because he has officially said he wants to play for the US, but as always, I cheer for any American prospect. He's not going to pass up Altidore or Davies. Guys like Cooper, Tracy, and even Eddie Johnson should start out ahead of him next cycle. Even some younger guys like Ibrahim, Shea, and Pontius could become legit national teamers by the time Moysisyan does. I just don't see him being a better national team prospect than those other guys in his age range. Hopefully a move to Denmark can work out for him just as it has worked for some of our other guys and I hope he proves me wrong.
He is "toolsy", which is why a move to a place like randers is best. I wouldn't know where to put him in terms of depth chart right now, he wouldn't be very high, but he would've started alongside Ching in the Gold Cup thats for sure. He has that Darren Huckerby-ness to him. He will run right at you, and theres nothing that can be done about it. The 2-3 years it will take him to get citizenship will be very good developing years at a very well respected scandinavian club.
Way too early to say what he'll do or not do as compared to other players. Between now and, say, 2014, Altidore could fail at Villarreal and find modest success at subsequent clubs; Davies could lose his hot hand in France and slip down the chart very quickly; and Movsisyan could score 14 goals for Randers in Spring '10, get bought by Brondby or Kobenhavn and score 20 in 2010/2011, get bought by Bremen or Hertha and score 15 in 2011/2012 and 20 in 2012/2013 and be bought by a big club like Spurs prior to the WC year. This kid came out of, what, community college? Who knows what his ceiling is? One thing I will say, I think Yuri has a nose for goal that's often better than Jozy.
It is too early to say, but those are the more likely scenarios. It'd be highly unlikely for Altidore and Davies to just hit a wall in Europe contrasting the outstanding progression they have made over the last couple of years. Nose for goal? Strike rates in MLS: Jozy Altidore: 15 goals in 37 appearances. Yura Movsisyan: 18 goals in 73 appearances. Kenny Cooper: 40 goals in 90 appearances. Charlie Davies in Sweden: 27 goals in 65 appearances.
Most of Movsisyan early appearances in KC were like 10-15 minutes a game. I give him a chance to be quite good in Europe.
Altidore really only started about half a season in MLS before he was sold. I'm not counting him out and I think his athleticism gives him a solid chance of succeeding in Denmark.