Don't know why so many people are having doubts on this situation. He was obviously not going to a major club, and frankly, La Liga has the best mid table clubs in Europe. I watch all the major leagues in Europe, and I'm glad he didn't go to Roma. He'll develop better technical skills in Spain, something we need for the national team. All the clubs that make the top ten in Spain are really good, and though you probably wouldn't hear this from many others, I consider Racing to be a better team than Roma, though certainly with less money. My dream of watching a Yank play in La Liga is finally being fulfilled. Hopefully he won't disappoint.
"I haven't seen (Rossi) in a while so hopefully I can get the start so I can kick him in the legs," Szetela said with a laugh. "It will be good to have him over there to talk to and catch up with." That's awesome. Can Rossi still switch to the US? If so, let's get Szetela funded and accomplish secret mission 'Get Rossi' this fall.
This could not be further from the truth. I figure you may be alone in such a thought. But, Danny is a better fit for Racing. Racing couldn't last a whole competitive match with Roma and manage to score a goal, if such a meeting were to take place. Plus, Roma have multiple top quality players. Santander have one, Ezequiel Garay, a center back. Anyway, Santander are a scrappy bunch. I took a liking to them last year, but I don't know how many minutes Szetela will get. He'll play, of course, but that being said, they have a lot of players who are like Szetela. They're a 12th-15th place team because althought they bought Tchite, he's no Zigic. Zigic brought an added element to the club that few teams could match, and without him, they probably get relegated. They can't score goals. The year before Zigic came they were nearly relegated, and they scored only 6 more goals with Nikola. Munitis hasn't looked good through the first two, and that spells trouble for Racing. Here's the lineup for the Barca match, someone will put up the one for Zaragoza later. It was pretty much the same. To let you see who he will need to replace. http://www.football-lineups.com/games/?field=18742&game=9339 Danny's on a two year deal, and it wouldn't surprise me to see Racing get relegated within the next two seasons. If they do, the short contract length enables both parties to have an easy way out if relegation occurs. I'm looking forward to seeing Danny get his shot. He'll get his chance, for sure. Probably in Racing's first match after the international break, they play Levante then and travel to play Atletico in the next week. Better to get him in at home than on the road...but then again, there are two proven La Liga players in his area of the pitch. After the stretch with Atletico and Villarreal, they play Almeria, Valladolid, Betis, Getafe and Huelva. He'll get his chance.
I constantly wonder on this one. You're absolutely right on Roma having more world class players. But as a team, I wouldn't call Racing scrappy or in any way a lesser group. That's a word you use for the champion of lower quality league who may give bigger clubs a hard time. Basing my opinions of what I saw last season (which I know is in no way a good indicator of what will happen this season), I saw more coming out of Racing than anything I ever saw out of Roma in their respective leagues. Though Roma may have caught what all the other Italian teams had in that horrible Serie A season. Things seem like they will be better this year in Italy, and Roma have certainly had better signings this season, like Giuly. But I highly doubt Roma would in any way overpower Racing. I still believe that Spain will be much better in helping Szetela become a more technical player. But, like you said, without that dangerous attack up front that they had last season, they probably won't be as great as they were. This topic is about Szetela, though, and this is the best choice out of the ones he had. Let's hope for the best from him.
Funny enough, I think an alternate MLS scenario would have also been interesting for him: Columbus trades his to LA (for what, I dunno...LA has a lot of shite). Danny plays next to Beckham for a couple years, and takes him under his wing. Danny learns to play with more consistency, intensity and takes a more professional approach to practice. Szetela improves, and signs a 3 year extention with MLS. LA, given he has filled their DM hole, scales his salary from 175k to 275k over 3 years. Over the next 2 years, Danny becomes the premier DM in the league, even eclipsing Clark. Begins some play with Men's National Team, and in summer 2009, MLS sells him to Newcastle United, where he is bought to become their new DM. Beckham, who has become his close bud, predicts a bright future for him in England, and Szetela wins the DM battle over Bradley in the meantime (ok, this last part is obviously fantasy). Well, it could have been a nice dream...but here's hoping goes even further with Santander
Roma finished 2nd in Serie A and won the Coppa Italia...just saying. I say that Santander is scrappy because really, they don't have a lot of flash, they come at teams with toughness, heart, blood and sweat. You won't come away from watching them and say, "man, that team just did not try today." You can come away from a Roma match and say that, but even then, you don't get the type of overwhelming performance from Racing that you can get from Roma. And I agree about this thread being about Szetela, so I'll leave it at that.
My wet dreams don't involve male soccer players, I can assure you. Good luck to Danny. He's a real talent, and I hope he fulfills and stays away from injuries.
While the word "ruined" may be a bit strong, I don't think there is any question that had the injury NOT taken place his career in Spain would have continued. His strong showing in WC 94 would only have helped. How well he would have done, would Betis have been able to challenge for promotion, would he have garnered interest from La Liga sides, etc. is all speculation. I wasn't a fine observer of Spanish football at the time. Any momentum Ramos was building throughout his years as a mainstay of the Nats and then finally getting the chance overseas was cut brutally by that elbow. Yes, he came back to be a fine player BUT the trajectory of his career was never what it might have been. Would be interested to hear more about Ramos' Spanish stay. Anyone?
It would best be done in another thread, just to try to keep this one focused on Szetela and Santander. Just a suggestion...
Who does LA have to trade? No one on their roster outside of LD or Becks would be worth Danny. They are that pathetic. And last time there was a trade Columbus got the way better of the deal anyway. I would have loved to offload Danny to LA, if only they had talent.
Choosing Spanish club right move for Clifton native http://www.northjersey.com/page.php...lRUV5eTcxOTA2MjMmeXJpcnk3ZjcxN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk5
Danny's got the look of a European player. Something about press conferences doesn't suit Danny. He looked utterly depressed at the MLS one (ok, so he didn't want to go to Columbus), but he's not exactly bright-eyed, bushy tailed here either. He looks downright Italian, actually