Not in general, but as a man marking back, like my post said, he marked both Ruiz and Donovan out of their series. He was not as good as Conrad, at least not this year, but I would say he's a better defender then Zotinca.
It also should be much easier for a "stay-home" defender to make that move than for a forward, for whom skills are of a greater importance.
why is there so much talk about our players going overseas to play . are they that unhappy with the pay or what? our team just seems to be falling apart. what next ? i don't want anymore players to go , especially anyone from our starting line-up.
Not only that. Although the stereotype of the unskilled American deserves to die a quick death, central defender is likely the league's best position. Pope, Califf, Gibbs, Nelsen, Curtin, Marshall, Fraser, Parke, Conrad, Garcia, etc. etc. While I commonly think that a fullback or wide midfielder doesn't deserve to be in the league, that's really rare for central defenders. It's an extraordinarily deep position for the league, and so while I can understand the Wizards fans bemoaning the loss of Garcia, I think it's far better to lose a player where you can have Shavar Thomas and Taylor Graham fill in than lose, say, Josh Wolff and have to replace him with Justin Detter.
my assumption is that when bruce called him up for nats games he played him as an outside back and had him push forward. those of us that watch him every game know that his skills beyond the midfield line lack precision, to say the least. because bruce likes backs that can contribute to the attack, i believe that he doesn't have much of a chance at the nats level. if you want me to rate him, i'd take him and conrad together over any other pair of backs on any other team in the league.
Norway is a great place to play for someone who wants to maybe move on to bigger European clubs. Look at the American defender Robbie Russell, started out in Sogndal IL (a club who this season came in last, and have to play in 1. division next year) and did so good their that he was bought up by Rosenborg (Norwegian Champions 13 years in a row, and the only Scandinavian team in Champions League) and is now playing in the Champions League, and if he does good there, the really BIG European Clubs will take notice of him!
There is a lot of talk going on about this because some of our better players are out of contract this season. With Nick, Tony, Zags, and Jose out of contract they're all gonna be looking for good contracts. They are also looking to see how good they actually are, which can be done by going to Europe. I think it's more about wanting to prove themselves and say that they are European footballers. Also this doesn't mean that Nick is leaving for good, from what I've gathered from the situation, it's like a short trail, with the option of the team being able to buy him, it's not a sure thing that he'll stay there.
That this Garcia guy is on trial with Brann for about a week, only means that they want to check him out. He will be training with their A-team, and they will see what potential he has, and how good he is. If they like what they see they will most likely offer him a contract, and then Garcia has to decide if he'd like to play for Brann in Norway or not. But Bergen is a lovely city, actually one of the most beautiful cities in Norway. It has a population of about 200.000, and is the second biggest city in Norway.. Brann won the Norwegian Cup this year, with a 4-1 win over FC Lyn Oslo, infront of a crowd of 25,000 lively "Bergenserer".. Brann stadium takes about 15-20.000 people, and is almost sold out ahead of every match! I don't see any reason for Gracia to not like it in Bergen, Norway...
You're right. But now we got the Royal League in winter times as well, + Champions League for Rosenborg!
I'll post my thoughts in here as well, already did in the YA forum thread. The Norwegian is just one of many second tier leagues that get overlooked all too often. I'd imagine we'll start seeing players take more and more chances in leagues outside of the big five or six. And even amongst the very top leagues we really only have a big showing in two of them; England and Germany. There are just a ton of opportunities, a ton of good, solid clubs throughout Western Europe that our quickly improving player pool can be a benefit to and benefit from. There will always be only so many top Pro clubs in the U.S.A. Relegation arguably will never catch on; maybe it will, but I'd bet mucho dinero that it never will. So in the future there will always be far fewer roster spots than capable players in the U.S. and without established 2nd or 3rd divisions those players are going overseas. It all seems to add up to a scenario where we could always see a good number of highly talented players kickin' it in Europe (and elsewhere eventually I'd imagine). And definately a good number of not so highly talented ones, too.
I honestly think that anyone who believes these players are only thinking about the money when they make a move such as this just aren't taking into consideration all of the intangibles. Sure he'll most likely get offered more money, but it won't be THAT much more money. This just is not all about the money. And I'm not sure if it is about saying you are a "Euro footballer" either.
Norway's a great place, nice people, decent league. But I hope these guys are taking the cost of living into account when they accept what they believe are higher salaries. The expense of Norway is simply astounding. I wanted to sleep in a locker in the train station when I was there. It is truly land of the $10 beer.
If your a pro athlete who's been making 80k a year for only a couple of years, and facing maybe 5 more years of good pro play left, I think the money is quite a factor. Most players have ~40+ years to live in retirement and all can't be GMs and pro coaches. College soccer may pay ok, but unless they have other training (many left college early for p40), it's a factor. Anyone know how much Brian West is making? It's not so much the money in Norway as the potential contract on a bigger EU club that's probably the draw. What else is it about? The competition? Proving yourself? Getting to live in Norway? Don't think it'll increase his chances of getting capped.
All of the factors you just mentioned do have something to do with it. I just don't get how in the first sentence here you go on about the money, then later go on about playing in Norway isn't so much about the money. You do make a point about the lower pay in a league such as MLS and how that really won't stretch that far if your career ends in your late twenties, or early thirties and you've got little shot at a good coaching gig or other sport admin. job. Very valid. However, players around the world play the game because they have a passion for it. It is not always about payday, although obviously, no human being is going to not take $ into consideration and for some it is a larger deciding factor than for others. There just isn't a ton of money in leagues like we have here in Norway and in other countries. The players do generally get paid more than in MLS, but as another poster mentioned, in Norway that might not exactly mean you are raking in the dough. I have a feeling that despite the difference in living costs that a player like West is much more comfortable with his Norwegian paycheck than his C-Bus one. Besides the point though. So far none of the U.S. players I've talked to who have made the move here have even mentioned a paycheck. Sure it is on their minds, and sure they would like a shot at a bigger spotlight, a bigger stage, but I hear many other genuine reasons for why playing abroad is such a great experience. These players know where their expectations should lie and they know they can't take the field every game thinking "maybe this is my big break", money wise.
I think it is also about the salary cap. In MLS, if you negotiate a contract for higher pay, you have a good chance of getting dropped the next year if the club has salary cap issues. It's like you get rewarded for experience and performance by getting cut or traded. In most of the rest of football, you sign a contract for a set period and that contract obligates the club and the player. What's so hard to understand? More money, more security, potential to be seen by quality European clubs, and beautiful scenery and people who really care about football. Sounds appealing to me.
Hm.. Well, all this talk about money: show me an example?! What does an average U.S. MLS player earn, compared to a player in the Norwegian League? Anyone know?
Every team in MLS has a salary cap of 1.7 million dollars for the entire team. The minimum salary is 24,000 dollars and the maximum is about 270,000 dollars. The average salary is probably around 70,000 dollars. How does that compare to Norway?
By the way, as far conversions from US Dollars to Norwegian Kroner goes: Minimum MLS Salary of 24,000 USD = about 150,000 NOK Average MLS Salary of 70,000 USD = about 470,000 NOK Maximum MLS Salary of 270,000 USD = about 1,687,000 NOK Some MLS players make more than the "maximum" under certain circumstances.
I'll try to see if I can find out how much players earn in Norway, but I really have no idea where to find out this... Lets try google..
Well.. I think norwegian players earn abit more then that! But not so much more.. I think maybe the best paid players, earn somewhat 2-3 million norwegian kroner a year... But I could be waaay wrong...