On the hopeful side, been reading a lot about how the glaziers understand well that the ManU brand only sells as long as the team is successful. I'm guessing they'll have to put up this summer, or January, to bring in players, not to overtake chelsea, but to keep them at least competitive with decent portuguese sides.
Sorry about that, but it can only be speculation here. The only fact we have is that MLS teams are not worth in term of salary/value most of European B teams. The big failure of Mathis and Donovan are proving that the current rosters are still far under any occidental european league. Remember; Beasley is NOT a starter, and he's for me the best nats for the last two years.
Someone linked to the Int. Herald Trib article on Youri D today (the article itself is from October, 05). In it, Youri says ~ , "On some days, it's a division one football. On others, it's bad division two." I concur with Youri.
Well, Andrade's capture would help return Man Utd to glory in the short term. Probably till Fergie bid adieu to managing. Man Utd already have young defenders who've yet to get a decent run of starts in the First Team. (Pique, Bardsley, Spector,even Brown). I'd expect Onyewu to end up at Liverpool or Arsenal. Both whom have aging defenders(Hyypia, Campbell). Although, Cygan may be good enough to start in the long term for Arsenal. I think the De Jong swoop isn't a sure thing. Bayern, Leverkusen, Milan, Inter, Juve, Barca, Madrid (i doubt the last two) may come calling and force a bidding war over young Nigel, in fact I think the best bet would be to negotiate a fee to Ajax and talk to De Jong now before the bidding war starts.
WAR!!!!!!!!! ---- here's a fairly interesting article http://www.redcafe.net/showpost.php?p=1862208&postcount=1
okay, I'm not one to jump to the defense, but LD didn't fail, he left. He was bad v pool, but decent to very interesting in his other outings. It was his choice to go. Mathis failed for non-footballing reasons ( he went psycho ) but he looked like a nice player for hannover for a while there. That said, your point stands: if top MLS players (and mathis certainly was before the implosion, LD always has been) can make at best moderate impressions at decent clubs, there might be a gap.
Beaser has been close to a standout at PSV, he was their 3rd leading scorer in his first season. Timmy won the PFA award for Goal keeper of the yeart and raised an FA Cup
I think you give Omnikell way too much credit. The fact is, whatever he once was, Mathis is nowhere near a top MLS player. He is a top talent, but he had talent in Germany too. But he is currently a fringe player in MLS, just like he was in the Bundesliga. Donovan is certainly a case in favor of Omnikell but there are countervailing examples like Shawn Bartlett who failed for multiple MLS teams but has been a solid starter for Charleton.
True - Bardsley did pretty well early season when Neville and Brown were out injured and Brown finally looks to be living up to his potential. A lot rests on how Fergie plans to move the players around. Brown could quite easily end up being the long-term replacement for Neville at FB although he could also form a long-term partnership with Ferdinand if Fergie bought in a replacement for Neville (which looked to be possible with the rumoured attempt to buy Cicinho this summer). There's a lot of permutations in there before you even start thinking about Spector returning and Pique developing etc Agreed - my understanding is that De Jong has made it clear he wants out this summer when his contract ends. I'm guessing there could be a scrum next month to either secure him outright (giving Ajax the chance to see a few quid) or he'll sign a pre-contract. Any ideas on whether Ajax would let him go in January?
Looks like Man Utd are trying to sign a defender in January. http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,1563,1672480,00.html
...I really haven't followed this story closely at all....but a couple of things really jump out at me.....Gooch is in Belgium, long considered the "fast track" country to becoming EU eligible...(Man Utd has stashed players there for a while now)....is it even remotely possible that Man U has been working on this for a couple of years ???...that they always wanted/expected to get Gooch eventually ??......just asking.
Yeah, but when Mathis left for Hannover, there was no doubt he was one of the MLS players who simply had that extra bit that separates good from great talents. He was a step above in MLS. He's apparently lost that spark, but he produced more jaw-dropping moments than any recent American player _ and he continued that in Hannover, the last one was the watch incident. I give him credit because I spent six years as an MLS season ticket holder before moving here and attending 1Bund games, and the difference is immediately noticeable. Everyone notices, friends, family, co-workers, former players who go out to Hertha games with me. So I give him credit because I know he has a point.
You definitely can have examples of MLS guys having better performance in Europe than MLS. There are always exceptions... But you cannot argue that any good enough MLS player would like to play in Europe. Today, starting in the top 10 leagues almost means direct qualification to the nats. Even old Berhalter in his tiny club in German Division 35 managed to get some room last year. MLS has work to do. Without money, MLS will never achieve the European soccer level. Don't forget Europe puts its money in only ONE sport. btw, Mathis WAS a big talent, a huge surprise during last World Cup. And I DO like Donovan, I'm just sad he preferred to be an easy starter than a struggling back up. Now, Beasley will grow, and he won't.
Done talking out of your ass??? Every country has failures that play abroad. Nothing new in the world of sports. Maybe next time you should look at the facts and realise every year we have more Nats playing abroad. Not only more but in better quality clubs. and LOL @ your beasley comment... plz go crawl back to your hole
It may be everyone you know but it is still just opinion (I am not offering an opinion on the relative strengths of leagues, it's a topic that bores me) and I personally don't put much stock in the opinion of fans. I think overall that MLS players have done pretty well going overseas and it is a testament to the preparation that they receive in the US.
You're definitely right here. But don't consider me as a fan. Btw, if I had to be a supporter or something, that would be for the NY Giants, nothing else. If Gooch leaves and any other US is coming in Belgium or France, I will do the same. When I'm in Belgium, I'm happy to share material on Gooch with people on this forum. I struggled a lot last year to promote Gooch because I felt he was ignored because of the low visibility of the Jupiler League.
Sorry but that's wrong. At they arrival, they ALL showed huge gaps and, despite their great potential, they had to be educated. Like Gooch had to be in La Louviere after crash landing in Metz. The "College trip" sucks in Soccer. It spoils good athletes prospect and it creates LAGGING in their development. In Europe, the best players are pro as soon as they're 17. Starting Pro life at 22-23 is far too late. Also, I don't know who to blame for that, but the level of agression is really low in MLS. Watch any game, even the "top ones" like DC-NYMS, those guys can keep the ball dozens of seconds before being threatened by the defense. They're static and there are Canyonesque gaps between the lines.
So I guess the success of Beasley, Convey, Hahneman, Howard, McBride, Bocanegra, Bartlett, Vanney and a host more who were in MLS and moved to europe means nothing. Sure let's concentrate on just 2 players who didn't work out and not even mention those that did. When you actually do some research to back up your statements then maybe you can be taken seriously.
Let me make that evident, as you tell it yourself: As soon as they were good enough back up possibilities for a European team, they moved.