Maybe a change of scenery will do him some good. I think the Fire just might leave him unprotected in the expansion draft.
i agree that a change of scenery might do him good (despite his effort of trying to stay in chicago)... he just signed a 4 yr deal (with 3 more yrs left), but with him taking up 225k of our salary cap to have been on the bench as long as he has, the fire might just leave him unprotected... personally i think Banner is more valuable ATM.... if left unprotected, Nowak would be insane not to pick up Mapp... with his experience in the league, mapp would be a formidable starting option for alot of teams
I translated the following interview with AaB director of football Lynge Jakobsen from http://www.kanalsport.dk/index.php/tv/clip_id=29336 Better than Beckham? The AaB supporters have something special to look forward to when the team returns in the new year. The Northern Jutlanders will se American Chris Rolfe join the AaB ranks, a player that was named the second best winger in the MLS ahead of a couple of prominent players. “Number one was Ljungberg, a player with a glories past, number eight was Beckham and number two was Chris Rolfe. I find that a little bit interesting; it defiantly signals that it is not just any player that we have signed. That being said, it would not be right to assume that Chris will be an immediate success in Denmark based on his merits alone. We will defiantly be looking for him to show us his ability and thus prove that he belongs with names like Beckham and Ljungberg. Still I find it interesting that Beckham is ranked eight and a new AaB player is ranked second.” Lynge Jakobsen Rolfe has been quoted as saying that a number of German clubs had show interest in signing him, how did you manage to sign him? “Well, I think the Danish league has a pretty good reputation around the world and I think Chris has had the opportunity to speak with fellow American players about playing in the Danish league and at AaB. I defiantly think that Chris has an ambition and a dream of playing in one of the major European leagues and thus using Denmark and AaB as a stepping-stone along the way. We don’t mind that Chris has those aspirations at all; in fact it just shows his desire to play well at AaB. Because if he doesn’t play well here, how are the major European clubs going to notice him? It is my impression that we are getting a player that has a burning desire to fulfill his potential and play at the highest level. In relation to the financial side of things, the gap between the second bundes-league clubs and the top clubs in Denmark has been reduced greatly the last couple of years, so its not like there is a vast difference in terms of money.” Lynge Jakobsen “I am really looking forward to Chris joining us and he really wants to get started, in fact he wanted to join the last week of practice, but we thought it would be best to wait until the squad starts training for the last part of the season. Focus would have been on the last few games and Chris would have been more on the sideline instead of being part of the team.” Lynge Jakobsen
Thanks for the translation. I hope this works out. He's a underrated in skill for a US player. It's exciting to see how he might come out of this, I believe he's one of those players that can show massive amounts of improvement and be more of a game changer. He also can play up to opponents which I think has been hindered in the MLS.
Those quotations from the Aalborg guy are perhaps the most reasonable i've ever seen from a sports executive or coach.
I translated the following interview with Magnus Pehrsson (AaB head coach) from http://tv2sport.dk/node/46839 Journalist: Does Chris Rolfe resemble any players we know from the Danish SAS-league? Pehrsson: Perhaps Soeren Rieks (Esbjerg FB), he is a similar type of player. Speak: On Wednesday January 6th 2010 AaB start training to prepare for the spring portion of the season. New to the squad is the 26-year-old American Chris Rolfe, who was brought in on a free-transfer from Chicago Fire. Rolfe has scored 38 goals and made 19 assists in 130 games for the Fire. Furthermore the new AaB player has earned 10 caps for his country. Pehrsson: We have brought him in as a winger; he can also play as a deep lying forward or a poacher. In principal he can cover all of the four attacking position we have in our system, however his starting point will be the winger position. He is a hard working player, fast, always threatening the space behind the backline (not sure if that translates well) and a player that provides goals and assists. Journalist: Will he feature in the starting lineup from the get-go? Pehrsson: He will defiantly be competing for a place in the starting line up; I hope he will be in the starting lineup. We have brought him on to strengthen the team and in order to strengthen the team he needs to be on the pitch. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I wanted to elaborate a bit on the interview, AaB currently play a 4-4-2 formation, where the two central midfielders are rather defensive and the wingers take runs or dribble towards the center of the pitch while the half backs provide much of the width for crosses. Alternatively they play a 4-5-1 system, where the three attacking midfielders often swap positions. Thus, Rolfe will not be locked into a traditional winger role. The team starts training tomorrow and I really wanted to go out there, however we have gotten two feet of snow in the last 24 hours, so I might not go. The AaB training ground has approximately 15 pitches, including one artificial turf pitch, which they planed to use for tomorrows practice. However, I doubt they will want to spend a lot of time outside. The training ground also features a gymnasium, where I think they will spend the majority of their training sessions along with the weight room of course. Tomorrows training session will be directed by Poul Erik Andreasen (1st team coach/talent coach) and assistant head coach Andreas Johansson (not the player), as the head coach is at a FIFA education seminar. On Thursday the squad will undergo a number of physical tests. Usually, they publish a couple of results e.g. the top three results on the 40-meter dash. Friday they should be training on the artificial turf pitch.
i know its not likely in the cards but i think Rolfe-Tracy could make quite the forward tandem over there, compliment each other perfectly
Sry , the translation should be definitely.. i wrote it around midnight and I might not have been entirely awake. Cheers
This was definitely a problem, I always saw Chris Rolfe as a pure forward, but bouncing back and forth between up top and on the wing sure didn't help him. This league seems to have an obsession with playing american forwards as outside midfielders.
that is b/c DH played him out wide, and even there he scored and was constantly a threat. Fire fans were devistated when we didnt resign Rolfe. He was by FAR not a mediocre player in MLS. Mediocre for the national team? i'll give you that. But it hurt the Fire to lose a player like Rolfe
as winger: 08- 9 goals 7 assists 09- 6 goals 1 assist those are pretty nice stats for a winger in MLS.... i think he learned fast enough...
and comparable to another forward actually playing forward for his team whom some are actually wanting Bob to call up and try. Robbie Findley 08- 6 goals 5 assists 09- 12 goals 4 assists
Rolfe had higher stats in 08, Findley had higher in 09. Whats your point? Rolfe accomplished this as a winger when he's not a winger. Keep him up top an entire season and he would have bagged more. Rolfe totaled 15 goals in 2 seasons as a winger, Findley had 18 as a forward.
that's great in theory, but to be honest, he's being talked about b/c he fills in a role. Same reason why Cunningham is being talked about. Speedy players attempting to fill the hole that Davies left due to injury.
The AaB webTV is featuring an interview with Chris Rolfe on how he is settling in. http://www.aabsport.tv/
Rolfe played his first pratice match today, AaB won 0-1 against Randers FC - Rolfe played well, despite the difficult conditions (15 degrees fahrenheit and an artificial pitch). Postgame interview with Rolfe: http://www.radionyhederne.dk/Sound/2601_ROLFE.mp3