eddie johnson made a smart move by not going to europe. he's a big fish in a small pond. he knows in europe he's not going to have anywhere near the type of success he's had in mls. he's making money, he's popular, he's dominant in the mls...why ruin a good thing? freddy take note... freddy's not half the dominant player eddie is in the mls. freddy is living off his hype as a "12 year old" phenom. if he goes to a top league in europe he will fail.
Hopefully, he's just looking for a better opportunity in Europe... plainly clear in the Copa that the MLS isn't helping his Cap play... He was guaranteed possession change whenever he touched the ball... Maybe he won't cut it in Europe - who knows... but he may not cut it for the USMNT either unless he shows some consistent, solid games in international play... and fiesting on defensive-cheat squib goals in the MLS is not going to prepare him...
Cause maybe he has a pair of testicles and would like to play with the big boys? Maybe playing in start up league for pocket money can only feel good for so long? Cause maybe its the only way to stay ahead of Alidore, Ferrari, Zimmermann, Ching, Cooper, Davies, Hill or any pontential striker that my come up the same way he did? Maybe he's looking up to McBride? Maybe he's looking at what Beasley and Dempsey are doing and knows he cant get away with it like Donovan. I think the man is still young and doesn't want to make a move to a team that will be back in the Championship by this time next year. Plus if he fails is not like he can't return to MLS.
in my opinion, he just wants to finish up the season with a huge goal count, and get a higher salary offer.
Exactly! A team like Reading or Hotspurs, may be in the hunt for a European spot come January. They would be looking for ways to secure a top finish in the league and would be very interested in a forward that just came off a 25 goal season. Thus, landing a bigger contract and be guaranteed top flight play the following season.
rumour has it he got pressured by kc wizards mgmt to stay. love the monicker hairynippleman...completely disagree with the sentiment. he's 23 years old. if he thinks he can go over to europe in 3 years, he's right. the austrian bundesliga or a second division swedish side will take him. i'm just shocked he hasn't made the move. for as young as ej is, he's going to get pushed very hard for a spot on the usmnt and i just don't see continuing in mls advancing his play any more than it has. in my opinion, if he stays in mls, this is as good as he's going to get. very sad. i love the mls and support it with my dollars but there's no way this is the best place for him. no way.
ooooh watch out!! the austrian bundesliga or second division sweden??? come on. whats the point? why move all the way to europe to play for a team in one of those leagues. of course he would find success there. those leagues aren't very good. the mls and those two leagues are fairly equal in playing level. if you leave the mls to go to europe play in a big league...epl, german bundesliga, serie a, spanish super liga... save yourself a long flight and stay in the mls if you're going to a second division swedish team. he's 23...you're right. that's not that young in terms of player development. if you're going to get developed into a top form player it needs to be done at a younger age when ideas and technique can be picked up quicker. the time for serious development has come and gone. he may improve a little with a top club but he won't become a world beater.
If his goal is to improve and secure a starting place in the nats then he needs to move to europe. You can only play triple A for so long before you stop growing as a player. ridicoulus comment about Adu. This is one of the worst league for his skill set. He needs to move to a league in Holland or Italys were there is more of a focus on the technical side.
Adu is still only 18 years old and he is continuing to improve. Watch the Copa America and watch the U20 World and tell me who has a future. A year at Derby could be good for EJ. A quality season and even if Derby gets relegated he will catch on with another Prem team...a la Andrew Johnson, Crystal Palace to Everton...hopefully EJ will leave in the winter transfer window to a better side like a mid table team. Hopefully his chance doesn't pass. As for Adu, I think he too will be gone in the next transfer window. Hopefully to Benfica, or a Dutch side. MLS will only hinder his growth in the end. There is only so much abuse one can take from every teams biggest donkey.
it was Derby County. How often to you think their attack is going to cross the midfield stripe this year, other than booting it down the field? And then back to CC, where they normally reside.
the comment about the austrian bundesliga was a joke. the benefit of moving to the EPL or another top European league are: * better coaching * level of competition is tougher * an environment where every game has meaning (FA Cup matches, avoiding relegation, Carling Cup...whatever) the benefit of "fighting" for a spot is invaluable. at this high a level, everyone is talented...the thing that will set eddie apart is his desire and someone to raise his skill level. do you really think the mls will provide that for him? maybe in 10 years time the mls will be mature enough and attract the players and coaches to rival some of the 'lesser' european leagues (holland, france, sweden, turkey) but we're not there now. fact is, if eddie went over and freaking proved himself worthy at derby county, there'll be 'big' teams lining up for his services at the end of the season. i'm just pissed because here's a forward who has some promise, who has some skill which the usmnt desperately needs and he declines an opportunity to improve himself. i just think it's a disaster.
I'm a KC supporter and I would like to see EJ go. Waking up every game day and not planning your 2-3 goal celebrations for that night would be a good thing. He has no challenge in this league, no reason to get better. EJ is the kind of headcase too where he very well might just be content with being the big fish in a small pond. But the type of striker I want leading my nats will not be that kind of guy. He's never going to succeed at the international level until he is forced to push himself.
Do you really want the USMNT to be composed of players who lack ambition/talent to move out of the MLS?????
Of course he's....18. Every player needs to decide for himself whether the situation is right or wrong for them. No one on BigSoccer has any claim to knowing what's best for any player better than that player knows themselves.
I'll say this...he's not mentally ready for Europe so it's better that he stays in MLS for the remainder of the season. The guy needs to build up his shattered confidence and i don't think jumping into a better league is necessarily the best choice right now.
I agree that EJ is finishing out the season in hope of a higher offer because of his rediculous goal total in the MLS this season. But no way, a team like Tottenham Hotspur will offer him a deal. That have four quality strikers that could start for almost any team in the world. EJ would be on the Tottenham reserve squad.
He's going to Europe, probably the EPL after this season as long as he continues to play as he is now. I think this was more of him not wanting to go to Derby than to England in general.
In addition to this, it might be smarter on Eddie's part to see who is struggling in the league before making a big leap. In other words, Derby County is going to be a prime contender for relegation this season, and it might not be the smartest decision to leave MLS, spend one year in the EPL, and the rest in the Coke league. If he waits for the winter window, he can see who really needs help in the forward position and what club is most likely going to stay up. But if it were me, and i had to make the choice for EJ...some clubs i'd be looking at are: -Rangers FC -Olympique Marseille -Middlesborough -Atalanta Bergamo -RC Lens -Sochaux -Sporting Lisbon -Cagliari Calcio -Stuttgart -Hannover 96 -Levante Union Deportiva -Racing de Santander -Derby County -Fulham -Birmingham City -Toulouse -AJ Auxerre -Boavista -Lille OSC -Dinamo Bucaresti -Steau Bucaresti -SC Heerenveen -Feyenoord Rotterdam -Roda JC