Official: Benny To Hsv

Maybe it's b/c of the bad experience with Landon, but for whatever reason I always prefer to see Americans in leagues other than Germany.

Either way it's great to see him get signed to a European club. It speaks highly of him, and the development he had at UCLA (just kidding, I'm not going there!)


Hopefully he'll get lots of time on the pitch. I suppose there's no chance he gets capped any time soon...?

 

Great news, best of luck to Benny. Oh, and Yanks-abroad.com rocks. The second sighning they got news of before anyone else.

 

We wish Benny all the best! We're all with you. Congrats to Yanks-abroad.com for the scoop. Benny will be well served with HSV's other recruits.

Benny I consider to be the stereotypical 'great US soccer player' who only last year 'was not in the college/club system'. There are plenty like him, I'm sure. Let's hope Benny success, brings more of them to the pitch.

 

shoulda gone to holland, and we'd likely be seeing him develop rapidly - possibly in time to make wc '06.

in germany he won't see the light of day for a year or two. kiss his career goodbye for a while. (i know he'll be playing, but imho he'll be wasting time too. i may be very wrong, but it's the way i feel.). i'm officially disappointed, but glad he feels comfortable.

good luck benny.

 

Benny's first interview as a HSV player

http://www.hsv.de/index.php?id=13304

Some highlights:
"I had a good feeling-the atmosphere and mood of the club was right."

In regards to the pasport issue:
"My Grandfather, however, is Austrian. It should work out

About playing in the Regionalliga:
"First I need to get comfortable with the play and the conditions...I hope to contend for the first team, maybe be called to the bench and play a few minutes"

"I'm looking forward to the adventure of Europe."

 

Keller and Steve C would disagree. A lot of Americans have had good experiences in the german leagues, and among the high profile ones who haven't: Landon, Mathis and Sanneh, it's tough to blame the clubs for their problems. Sanneh wanted more money and had injury problems (and, as was just about done), Mathis and LD both would have made it, but one fought with a coach and the other missed home.
But there is no competitive league where all the stories are happy, the players are all developed with gentle care and pixies deliver peanut butter sandwiches and other touches of home. US players have soemtimes struggled in England, in Norway, in holland, in France, in Italy, in Portugal etc...just like players from every nation with players aboard have struggled.
The fact is, high-level football is highly competitive. Most people struggle to make it. end of.

 

I am currently staying in Tokyo, so I have to judge from a little distance, but looking at the HSV Boards, I can tell you that there are many people looking forward to seeing him play for Hamburg. He will probably spend some time with the under 23 team to get used to German soccer, but since some contracts of midfield players expire after this season, he should have a good chance of regular appearing on the team next season. Also, as HSV aims at reaching the European Cup via the Intertoto Cup, they are likely to play a considerable number of games this season providing plenty of opertunities for young players to gather experience on the first team. I am very interested in seeing how he will develop. By the way, this is Benny in our home jersey:
http://www.hsv.de/index.php?id=13304

 

I wonder if he broke up with his girlfriend yet. Soccer groupies in Germany must be pretty good.

 

it is neither good nor bads news.It will depend on whether he sees much first team action. Personally, I think he would have played more sooner in Holland. But we all will see.He is starting in the reserve team in the 3rd or 4th Division, so I would save the champagne for a while.

 

Martin Fischer wouldn't bet me that this would happen (he woulda lost), and bluedaddy said I was talking out of my ass saying this would happen. But alas..

He'll be OK as long as he brings the goods. He seems like a sensible, hard-working kid, and the only question I have is...will the physicality pose a challenge for him?

 

Don't watch much NCAA soccer, do you?

 

the German league is less physical than England.But it ( the play)is VERY organized.Personally, I find it dull.I llike Dutch games better, or English.But that is admittedly just a matter of taste.

 

Interview in English on the site:

http://www.hsv.de/index.php?id=13306


From the interview:

"Apart from myself, three of my team mates were at the under-20 World Cup. All of those players have received offers from European clubs."

Hrmmm....

 

That is 3 UCLA guys. Ianni and Wynne, I assume, are 2 of them.

How does he count Barrett?

 

You sure? I think he might have meant 3 of his US teammates, although admittedly I don't speak a word of German.

 

Actually, I do watch some.

There is different types of physicality. At the NCAA level, Benny probably sees the challenges coming (and avoid, or gets out of with superior technique).

He's going to a league in which many players have superior technique (challenging for balls), and more 'men' (physically..knowing their bodies...applying leverage), and are more skilled. So he ain't going to see some of the challenges coming a mile away.

Having said, I was super-impressed with his balance, and he showed several times he knows how to use what he has. I'm optimistic (he'll learn and pull off)

 

I really don't think it was reasonable to think that BF was being recruited to slot into the first team by season's start.

However, at his age, I don't think this is a 3 year project either.

The first half with the reserves through the winter break would overlap with his college season. The second half would overlap with him not playing soccer and going into the MLS draft.

I see this year as nothing but upside for him, even if he just plays reserve ball.

 

http://www.hsv.de/index.php?id=13306

 

The Bundesliga is underrated in my opinion. It is probably the second best league after the Premiership, because of lots of depth in talent. Most of the best Eastern European players are in the Bundeslia (Koller, Kovac, etc.) sprinkled with a number of South Americans and Africans. It's high quality. And last year Second Division Allemania Aachen penetrated deep into the UEFA Cup finals.

Lukas Podolski, probably Germany's best forward, even played his year in the second division for FC Cologne.

Spain and Italy look good because of the few super quality teams.

 

Are you talking the Bundesliga or the Regionalliga?

The BL, sure, the RL?

That's the key, he needs to be contending for a regular 1st team spot by the start of the 2006/2007 season or else it really ain't that great a move. The Regionalliga is a lower level than MLS (where he would assumedly play regularly) so impressing early and moving up is important. Remember, he is almost two years older than Eddie Gaven.

 

I simply can't agree. Their recent results in Europe simply don't justify that ranking. They are fifth behind Spain, England, Italy and France (in that order) in my opinion.

 

Gotcha. Thanks.

 

B-liga has some more money coming in this year from their TV deals, so a team like Hanover can actually field two pretty decent strikers this year in Hashemian and Brdaric.

And, of course, you know that the UEFA Cup results favor leagues with a better UEFA representation, i.e., the super clubs, in which case the Chelseas, the Milans and the Reals will outweight the Schalkes and the Bremens.

Depth-wise, however, Bundesliga should be pretty solid through the top 10 clubs. This may not make as good as the EPL but it compares favorably with La Liga, Le Championnat and Serie A in this respect.

 

Hi. I'm new here. I just read that Benny Feilhaber joins my club. Is he good? He looks good

P.S.: how can I get an avatar here?