i truly apologize for the misunderstanding. https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=20370074&postcount=17
Howard - could start at Arsenal and Bayern. Dempsey - not good enough for any of the Final 4, except maybe the Frenchies (but would not be good enough for ManU, Chelsea and Arsenal, who are not the Final Four teams this season). Donovan - wouldn't make the rotation in ManU, Inter, Arsenal, Chelsea, Barcelona, Bayern, CSKA. Onyewu - Not close to any of the top clubs. BTW, that Driscoll guy from Football365 also recommended Michael Bradley, currenly rated as the 47th "best" midfielder in Budesliga by the Kicker. Me thinks top clubs shoot for higher.
Milan has offered 34 year old former Colombian international CB Mario Yepes a two year contract that begins next season.
Michael Carrick and Darren Fletcher are that much better Donovan and Dempsey? Complete bull$**t. Me thinks Kicker doesn't know what they're talking about. Even German posters continue to tell us how wacky Kicker is. If he's only the 47th best midfielder, why is he a lock in the starting lineup AND Gladbach aren't looking to sell him? per the Bayern Munich argument. You really think that Munich is THAT much better than this year's Everton squad that beat ManU and Chelsea? Because they would have to be THAT much better that Donovan could go from a lock starter at Everton to not even making the rotation at BM. BM was a jacked up place and everyone knew it.
ManU played in a 4-3-3 today. Michael Carrick and Fletcher are not simply defined as central players. Its about quality. Dempsey could just as easily play in the midfield 3 better than either Carrick or Fletcher. You want wide players? Nani is definitely better and Giggs still has plenty in the tank. But Gibson? Park? Obertan? Even Valencia is hot and cold. Donovan is just as fast and works just as hard as Park. Valencia is no doubt the best of those 4. 5 goals and 7 assists in 31 games. Dempsey - 6 goals and 3 assists in 26 games on a lesser team. Donovan - 2 goals and 3 assists in only 10 games on a lesser team. Lets see the same people who $**t on Altidore's stats every single week come in and say that the stats don't mean anything on this one.
Which makes sense given that they've terminated Kaladze's contract and are planning to let Favalli walk on a free this summer. They're losing two CBs and have so far replaced them with 1 new one - Yepes. That doesn't scream to me that Onyewu's on his way out. With that being said, I could see him being loaned out to a midtable club to acquire Serie A experience, if they do have him in their long term plans.
He could be a starter and/or backup at any CL team. That fits the definition of the thread title. (He didn't say start...he said play for) Personally, I think he is the most questionable of the four. But I can see him making the rotation in some circumstances (but not for all teams). I rate Donovan higher than Ji-Sung Park (or is it Park Ji-Sung ), therefore, he likely could make the rotation at most, if not all of the CL clubs. He's at AC Milan. Had he stayed healthy, I bet he would have found the rotation. Again, would he be on the rotation at all CL clubs...not sure...but only a handful of teams are better than AC Milan. Therefore, by definition of the thread title, Howard fits it completely as a backup or starter. There are questions about the other three, but arguments for and against each to at least be in the rotation for some/all of the top CL teams.
didn't DMB play in a semi-final a few years back for PSV? i can't remember how far they went that year.
No. I think Nani and Valencia are. No. It's only one of the oldest sports publications on the planet. Because 47th best is their level. No. But, at Everton, Donovan fit the role that Everton needed. Once Arteta returned, that role became less pertinent. Bayern has no need for that role whatsoever. Donovan wasn't a lock-starter at Everton, once Arteta played himself into shape and Moyes found a formula that compensated for the absence of Fellaini. Plus, I can think of no clubs right now that plays like Everton. Their style, as I had predicted when the rumors first appeared, fit Donovan the best. Other clubs that don't use run&gun prefer other talents to pure speed.
You are seriously underrating Fletcher, as most people do. He has been one of Man U's best four or five players this year imo. More to the point, he plays a much different game than Landon or Clint, neither of whom would fit in the center of the park for Man U. Carrick and Fletcher are def better fits for Man U at their positions than Clint and Landon. Our guys instead would compete for time with Park (who is also very underrated), Nani, Valencia, and Giggs. In general, you're throwing out a lot of apples/oranges comparisons here. As solid and good as Everton are, at the positions Landon and Clint could play-- attacking midfielders, withdrawan forwards-- Bayern aren't looking at their group of Robben, Ribery, Muller, Olic, and Schweinsteiger and feeling like Everton has anything on them there. And no way do Landon or Clint push any of those guys down in the rotation.
No one would be near Barcelona, too much technical skill on that team, a lot of upgraded versions of Dempsey LOL. Landon would fit Arsenal, Walcott pairing would be awesome(if Cesc stays). He already had his chance at Bayern Munich, and now they have Olic who lacks Landon's fitness but has his heart and mental toughness. Inter would love a guy like Howard and Davies, Mourinho would want a speedy forward to backup a finisher like Eto'o. Onyewu would be a fringe player for Man Utd, no ones going to break up the Rio-Vidic partnership. Real Madrid only want global stars so no chance for any American there, yes not even you Mr. Adu. Milan could use a defensive midfielder like Bradley, but they would want De Rossi first. Chelsea is stacked and any US player would be surplus. I think the US's best players have a better chance at CSKA Moscow and Olympiakos lol.
like Plan B said, too many apples/oranges comparisons. Carrick has been mehtastic this year, but Fletcher and Park are not too bad. Fletcher has been particularly good. Could all four of those guys play on CL rosters? Yes, absolutely. Would they be the number one starter at their position? Depends on the club.
Have to agree. I love American players as much as anyone else, but to say those 4 could play for any CL team? I just cannot see that. I'd wager Landon, Clint and Gooch would struggle to find playing time with any of the 4 remaining teams. Landon did well at Everton, but was not even a sure fire starter there when a bunch of their guys regained health and form. In England, Spain and Italy, I would see them as bench players for the teams that usually make the CL (Real, Barca, Man U, Chelsea, Inter etc.). If they went to France, Germany, Netherlands they could probably find their way into the starting XI of some CL team that has a shot at the knockout round but no hope of winning the thing. Yea, Bayern or Lyon will be in the final this year, but someone needs to finish 2nd to Barca We need to be realistic about our players. Even if Gooch was healthy, he's still not a first choice center back at Milan. If Mandon stayed at Everton he probably would've continued to be a squad rotation player, getting minutes and starting every so often. Cannot see him really breaking into the starting lineup for one of the 5-6 clubs competing for a CL spot right now. Clintinho is in a good spot starting at Fulham and helping them capture Europa League glory. I won't get into Timmy because my rabid fandom thinks he is one of the top 10 keepers in the world and should be at a better club. That said no way he stops Jesus' and his 4 goal performance much better than the shite Arsenal has now.
Dempsey could probably play for a club like Valencia in Spain - good ball control and good enough speed for La Liga in his position - and up to a Fiorentina/Genoa level in Italy. Donovan was at a perfect for him situation at Everton.
This is a funny thread. To say that the USA has only 4 Americans players that would start on a CL team LOL stuff. This thread presupposes that it is talent alone that determines a starting XI. Contracts, Coaches personal bias, injuries, location and opponent all factor into who a coach starts. As a recent example: most people list Drogba as a top player. Yet he sat for the Man U/Chelsea show down which will have a direct impact on the EPL champion. There are so many "great" players but there are "only" 88 positions in starting XI for CL quarterfinals. Look at the list of some of the players not in that group of 88 besides our "4 guys": Zanetti Mutu Kaka C Ronaldo Zambrotta Pirlo Inzaghi Squillaci Pogrebnyak And countless other young quality players who have contracts bind them to an "unknown" club in South America, Africa, Asia. After SA we will see and get to know many of these previously "unknown players". Who here had CSKA, Lyon, Bordeaux all in their CL final 8? To say that the ONLY players capable of playing in the CL final 8 are playing on these top clubs is silly. IMO if it was possible to take the USMNT side to CL knock out round match, we would be very competitive. Of course we would have to put more then 4 guys on the pitch at the same time. So I guess that means we have more then 4 guys capable of playing in a CL quarterfinal match. On another note: Leagues represented in the CL final 4; France, Germany, Spain and Italy. What, no EPL team?
I'm not so sure about Gooch, but then I watched the 4 guys that Arsenal put out against Barca and there's no way that Gooch could've played worse than those 4 clowns.
This is quite reasonable. These top US guys are pretty solid and can compete with the elite players on a good day, but are not quite ready to be regular rotation guys on an elite team. We have a few top end of the 2nd Tier type players, but no true 1st Tier players. And as for Mike Bradley at #47 in the Bundesliga per Kicker, I think that's about right (and I'm a big MB fan). That's out of over 70 regular midfielders in that league. Not bad for a 22 year old US raised kid. Kicker rated then 24 year old Claudio Reyna as the #45 midfielder in the 1997-98 season. That's back when he was Captain for Wolfsburg.
Well that's awesome news then. I'll send Fergie an email. Expect landon/Clint @ManU in a few days, signed, and ready to go.
Barca? Gooch would have been just as screwed. There isn't a CB in the world right now who could stop Messi.
True, but you can minimize the guys impact with a workmanlike performance and good positioning, neither of which those guys had. Those Arsenal backs didn't even look like they belonged on the same field as Messi.