Eddie Johnson training w/Man U. this winter...

he should go to europe soon maybe to one of the lower leagues for a year or two then go to one of the top three

 

This is just to train but Man Utd would be a good place for him to go. For one he will be training with World Class players and pick up how they tran and go about their buisness. Second with Tim Howard Spector and Rossi there he will not have a hard time fitting in.

 

Makes zero sense.

 

So your saying being around fellow Americans while training in Europe wont help him adjust?

 

Good move...his contract is up after next season, right? So if he does well it could be a situation where United could buy him and then send him to a team in Belgium or Portugal until he has enough caps to qualify for a Work Permit. Even if things don't work out at United, it would really put him on the radar for some other clubs.

 

didn't he train there a few years ago??

 

Me thinks his time in MLS is done.

 

Liverpool needs a striker, don't they? Sign him up!!

 

Has it actually been confirmed that he is going for a training period with Man Utd?

 

Supposedly, this is something he does every off-season. But before somebody gets excited, please remember that MLS still holds two option years on his contract. And Eddie does not presently qualify for a UK work permit.

 

I don't think so. I think both he and Quaranta were going to go train, but it fell through.

 

This is Man Utd. They'll make him qualify.

And by MLS season 2005 he'll likely have a few more caps to his name.

Also, its not beyond SAF to buy a player and loan them out until they get the caps.

 

Nope, he has to have a WP for the transfer to happen. The transfer is contingent upon the WP.

 

How many caps would he need to get the WP?

(I'm rather assuming he gets about six or seven straight caps during the Hex.)

 

Since when? Man Utd snapped up that Chinese youngster, Dong Fangzhou or something, and sent him off to Antwerp.

 

He has played in 2 out of 8 internationals in 04 and needs to get into 75% of the games over the course of two years to be guaranteed his England WP.

He however can be also given work permit if his manager "vouches" for him without achieving the 75% stipulation.

The key in Convey's initial failure to secure WP was that Hoddle didn't want to vouch for him as a starting quality player. In retrospect, Glenn was correct.

I think if EJ gets into 10 out of last 14-16 USMNT games and does well, he has a good chance to be approved by the "review panel", if his perspective coach gives him thumbs-up.

FWIW, I think Holland is as good a first move as any for an up-n-coming Yank because a young player can actually work on his skills there instead of conditioning as is the norm in England or Germany.

 

Antwerp was relegated (with Alex Yi) to the 2nd Div.

 

Yes, indeed. But I don't think that changes anything.

 

That's not true. Well, it may be true in much the same way that if I guess that Babe Ruth hit .327 in 1923 might be true. But nobody knows what happened during the appeal. Just like I made a reasonable guess as to the Babe's batting average, you've made a reasonable guess wrt Convey.

 

.393

 

I believe it's pretty common for MLS players to train with overseas clubs during the winter, isn't it? I remember in years past reading of players off to Germany, England, Mexico. Except for this being MAN U isn't this pretty common? If so, we should have a general thread going with trianing locations for other players for this winter...

 

I agree.

 

Man U would seem a tad ambitious. On the other hand, EJ's ceiling is about as high as it ceilings get.

Personally, I'd like to see him follow the time-honored Dutch plan, a la Beasley. One more year in MLS, then off to a Dutch (or maybe Belgian?) team for some butt kicking, then with success onto the really big time circa 2007/2008, when Eddie will be about 23/24.

Yeah, that would work.