so let me get this straight.... this is the first ever MLS American player to have moved on to La Liga...and took only what? 12 years? Better late than never as they say. ... Rossi does not count,as he was never in MLS...Ramos never played in La Liga, per se...So, Danny no pressure at all , but hopefully your example drives many other Americans to join your footsteps and become a part of La Liga in the near future....hopefully with great success BTW, funny how all three names i mention in this post are from Jersey....proud of my people Ives, good job as well.....
The ESPN article states that he turned down a 250,000+ Euro offer from Roma to go to Racing. Smart move? I mean, even if he didn't start for Roma, wouldn't they loan him out to get first team minutes anyway, and make more money, and have a chance at playing for a bigger club down the line? Will he get better coaching at Racing than Roma?
He'll have a better shot at first team football this season with Racing. I think if he went with Roma, there'd be less pressure to perform right away. Here with the two year contract, he's going to have to perform quick. Again if Danny is up to it, more power to him. I'll be watching with great interest.
however, the original claim was that Szetela's was the first contract for an american field player to a La Liga club...Ramos had a contract, he was just injured and unable to play
I think you're right on. La Liga is the most technical league in the world and Serie A, while still technical, enables him to be viable. Roma would've probably attached him to their feeder club in a lower division to get experience and make more of a project out of it. Bigger side that is much more patient. If Danny doesn't show promise quickly, Racing will loan him on to a second division side until the contract runs out and he'll be where Landon Donovan was. And trust me on this, Racing sent Vitolo (worth 4 million on the open market) to my side this year because he didn't fit the plans.
http://www.marca.com/edicion/marca/futbol/1a_division/racing/es/desarrollo/1031087.html It's two years. I'll translate: Además, según informó el Racing, se ha fichado, por dos temporadas, al centrocampista polaco que milita en la liga estadounidense Danny Szetela. Also, according to Racing, they have signed, for two years, Polish midfielder Danny Szetela who plays in MLS.
I was just checking Real Racing's website to double-check Marca (cuz you never know) and they don't have a contract term on there for him, but for the other guy signed it's five years. But it's almost for sure two years, which is not a lot. I wouldn't go there for 2 years, but that's just me.
they also spent 7.5 million Euros on Mohammed Tchité from Anderlecht... he scored 20 in 30 for Anderlecht last season... so we'll see...
does danny speak any spanish? i'm excited for him. the kid is going to play in LA LIGA... he'll be (hopefully) visiting the Bernabeu, the Camp Nou... It's going to be a great challenge for him. hope it turns out well.
Mohammed 'Mémé' Tchité (pronounced: ess ach eye tea ee) is an ex-teammate of Oguchi Onyewu at Liege. And he has certainly proved himself as a goal scorer there. This is a big buy for Racing but they needed to replace Zigic and his 13 goals. Plus, they should have a few bucks leftover as Valencia apparently paid €20M for the Serb.
I'm amazed at the degree of pissed off I feel all these years later just thinking about it. I wonder if Tab's going to the game next Sunday?
I recall more to the story. I believe Betis changes coaches and the new one just did not like Ramos' game. It is true that he was injured for a while, but when he recovered the coach told him he had no place on the team. So it is defintely NOT true that the injury ruined his career.He went on loan to Mexico and then MLS. The Leonardo thing was an injury that took him out for a while, but very few soccer players have a career as long as Tab without that. He was my favorite all time Yank!
I would have been less pissed off if we could have beaten the 10 man Brazil team after this incident!
So...any chance that his new teammate, Ebi Smolarek will try to influence Szetela to play for the Poland National Team as opposed to the U.S.? I believe Danny can change his national team allegiance since he's under 21 and has never been capped by the U.S. senior team. (I'm sure someone will quickly correct me if I'm wrong.)From an article I read he was very close with one of the assistants at Columbus who was Polish. He seems to really embrace his Polish roots. It might be difficult to break into the U.S. midfield with Bradley, Feilhaber, Clark, Adu, et. al. there. By the way, I didn't realize that Szetela played only 28 games the last 3 years?
I didn't see him embracing any roots when he scored against them twice at the U-20 WC just a couple months ago.
Yup, wasn't there quotes of his saying how special that was and how he had that game circled when groups were set for the YWC? I just remember how excited and how much pride he showed in that game against Poland. His celebrations (kissing the crest) certainly showed who he loves!
OTOH, he's got an opportunity to come in and make a name for himself without being tied down to a long term deal. At age 22, he'll still have a good long stretch of career ahead of him in which to play for a bigger club. If Santander had paid a bigger transfer fee, no doubt they would have tied him up to a long term deal, see Tchichte's 5 year deal. However, there is minimal risk on either side. Danny's going to succeed, or he's not. Most folks here seem to agree that La Primera is a good league for him to develop. Starting out at a small club means more opportunity to play right away. And if he has even some success there, he will be able to move on in just a year or two to a much better situation having proven himself in a high-skill European league. This is like buying a cheap house in a high-price neighborhood rather than stretching for something bigger. There are a lot of secondary benefits; but foremost he'll still have to do the work to improve.
Clifton's Szetela heading to Spain http://www.northjersey.com/page.php...lRUV5eTcxODkwNjUmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2
This makes me laugh! But is he fast enough to catch Rossi? That could be a fun match-up to watch! BTW, I forgot Santander is the current home of Aldo Duscher. His tenacious and physical defensive presence on the pitch coupled with his ability to make smart accurate passes, springing the attack, is a perfect player to help groom Danny.