dpa-news: 2.Bundesliga club Karlsruher SC signed the American forward Conor Casey. The 21 year old will be loaned from Borussia Dortmund for one year. This was told by KSC on Thursday. Since October 2001 Casey was loaned from Dortmund to Hannover where he scored one goal in four games this season. Karlsruhe finished 13th last season. Casey is replacing forward veteran Bruno Labbadia, who retired. More worrying than the sporting aspects is the financial situation - until next Wednesday they need 4 M to get the license (if they don't succeed, then Thomas' Braunschweig remains in 2.Bundesliga btw).
What would happen to the loan in that case? Would CC be playing in the third division next year? Also, is Jon Cummins still (or was he ever) at Karlsruher? Not to mention Carlo Espinosa, who seems to have fallen off the face of the earth...
his loan was up, i don't think dortmund wanted to send him back to another b.1 team, they don't want him haunting their season when he puts in 12 goals for hannover
I think Dortmund wanted to send him somewhere where he would get more playing time. Hannover reserve matches and 4 appearances with the senior side may not be as good for finding out what the player can do / making him more marketable / getting him valuable experience as a loan to Karlsruhe, in Dortmund's opinion. Although it's a little frustrating to be loaned to a club with financial difficulties and minimal promotion chances next year.
All the talk about Connor Casey is good and all, but isn't being relegated to d2 about the same if not worse than MLS. Wouldn't he be better suited to play over here in the MLS, where he will get more playing time and a shot a the national team?
I would bet my last dolar that MLS teams would consistently beat BL2 teams. We have seen Yanks playing for some BL2 teams who literally can not get jobs in MLS. We also have all the USA players in MLS who are WAY above Bl 2 and this affects the overall standards of the league too.Where in BL2 do you have a Donovan, a Beasley, a McBride,Pope,Martino, etc.Those guys are NOT BL 2 material.
Dave: I think it is a pro only contract, so in case of Karlsruhe not getting the licence, he'd go somewhere else. Don't know about Cummins, but Espinosa is not with Karlsruhe anymore. @treeitaliano: Hannover didn't want to keep him. They'll sign a new forward to replace Bobic and then it would be the same situation between Casey and Kaufman for the backup role. Casey is on loan, Kaufman under contract, so they decided pro Kaufman. socrne1: No matter what league is better, Dortmund wouldn't give him away to MLS I think. 2.Bundesliga gets lots of TV time and it is very easy to watch his development, plus here they know what to expect from the team and the officials he is going to, while they need to scout him thousand of miles away in MLS and still wouldn't be sure about his development. After all, in Germany you know the level of 2.Bundesliga and how you have to rate his performances, but nobody is aware of the MLS level and how you have to rate the performances over there.
In fact, McBride was in the B2, as were a number of current and former MLS and USMNT players. Not to get into an endless debate, but while the MLS may not be worse than the B2 neither is it vastly better. And it pays less, and you get bought less often by B1 teams out of the MLS and, of course, there is the question of whether Dortmund still owns him. While LD is "owned" by BL but plays in the MLS, it is a less satisfactory arrangement for most B1 clubs.
Regardless of whether MLS is better than 2.Bundesliga, this is a great move for Casey. It shows that Dortmund are still interested in him enough to take a risk in loaning him during a contract year (as opposed to offloading him for a little cash). It is a win-win situation. best case scenario: he lights it up and sets himself up to compete for 1st team action at Borussia Dortmund the following year. worst case scenario: he struggles but at least gets his chance on a team where there is probably more room for error, than somewhere like Hannover. Meaning, they don't have quite the talent chomping at the bit to take his place if he is playing poorly.
I kinda get the vibe that most everyone is so-so about Conor's move to Karlsruhe but I feel it's probably the best move. He may not be ready for consistent play in the Bundesliga right now, but he's young and has some raw talent. If he proves his worth at Karlsruhe, there's no doubt in my mind he will be playing for Dortmund in '04-'05.
The Bundesliga 2 comparison to MLS should be looked at from a developmental level. The playing season of 10 months in Germany vs 7 months in the MLS is a big difference. A good chance for him to get more playing time.
Has anyone seen CC the past year? Has he improved? Olaf, Do you think Dortmund has real plans for him, or are they putting him in the window for a future sale?
I thinks it's a great move I love this move. I'm sure he can get a ton of playing time and really show where he is at from a develpmental standpoint. I look forward to seeing lots of threads in this forum in the fall devoted to how well he is doing. Scumby
Great move for Conor. He'll get much more playing time with a club which has relied on youth to mount its comeback. They have done much to bring Karlsruhe back after they fell all the way down to the Regionalliga. They even picked up a few of Twellman's teammates from the 1860 reserves to do it. Now they need a special bunch to earn their way back to the 1BL. Espinosa played with the reserve side for two years and only dressed out with the first team 1-2 times (but DNP).
That I know, but now what? I'm guessing he's in a lower US division -- can't be more than 22 -- but haven't been able to find squat.
I believe Espinosa was in the same age group as Donovan, etc. In fact he played on the same club team as former U-17 standout Jordan Cila, who has gone on to an underwhelming collegiate career at Duke.
Not to mention that MLS is out of synch schedule wise. Do we really need to have another which is better discussion in this thread? This post by Olaf IMO should settle the debate -- it's probably irrelevant which league is better as far as Dortmund are concerned.
Why do people think that playing in MLS gives you a better shot at the national team? EVERY American in playing first-division ball in Europe has gotten a look from Bruce Arena. Almost every American playing second-division ball in Europe has gotten a look from Arena. Yes, Mike Duhaney, playing in BL.2, is not getting a look anytime soon, but he has also been struggling for BL.2 playing time. The Nats talent search has dipped to the English second division, and deeper than BL.2 (Enochs); Eddie Lewis is a Nat regular from the English first division, Hahnemann's getting another shot at our deepest position after a good year in the English first division. If Casey plays earns a starting role and scores 5-10 goals for Karlsruhe, he'll be in a camp within 12 months.
List of Americans who played for a European 1st or 2nd Division club who have not yet got a look from Bruce Arena: Mike Duhaney Jacob Thomas Robbie Russell Grover Gibson Oguchi Onyewu (actually played in a scrimmage this week, so he got a "look" if not an official invite) Alexander Yi Ian Feuer Of these, only Russell is a regular starter, so the point is pretty damm valid. At the time he was called in, Enochs was in the Bundesliga 2, so the point about looking to the third division is rather weak though.
Good question Dave, Since I'm on a break from covering this stuff weekly, I'm not sure where he went. Espinosa is a nice kid with a good attitude. I did hear he was heading stateside last year but not sure where he ended up. For some reason I think he was having a look with an A League side but not sure...
Sort of as an experiment, I think I will more so follow Conor Casey and see how he is doing on the field. If I find info, I will post. What intrigues me is that of the "three young Americans" playing abroad, Conor Casey is the one that stayed (Donovan and Twellman returned to the United States). I wonder why he has stayed, and I want to see if the theory that Bundisliga clubs do not usually play young players is true (although Ewerthon I believe breaks the mold off the bat). Should he be a starter on the full side in a few years, I wonder how that would look. I'm rooting for him to stay there and grow and develop. We shall see what happens in comparison to his counterparts in the US - of course the end won't come for quite some time (hopefully)
Not to be too harsh but I think you guys are way overestimating the MLS. Don't get me wrong there are some fantastic players, but until they get into the pressure situations like in the 2BL then MLS will always be behind. Technically MLS players are as good or better, but they lack the pressure that goes along with playing in Europe.