Signing a 7 year deal was just crazy stupid on his part. But there's a clear case of a player far outshining his pedigree, and after all those years of wanting back home, he's all but begged to be signed by, um, anyone.
meh, i don't think i care that much anymore. my gripe with landycakes was his all-too-often disappearing act against the big teams. if he can keep up his confed cup like performaces, he can play wherever he wants. otoh, gooch seems to have upped his game considerably since his striker tossing red card days. if he manages to get even better with milan, it kinda makes one think (again) about how donovans already considerable game might be better with top flite club training/games week in week out.
No hard evidence until the transfer window closes. Admittedly no one knew Gooch was talking to Milan until today. However, the list of suitors both rumored and confirmed to be interested in him was long and distinguished, and once Real Madrid came into the picture late in the game I don't think any of us would've been shocked that Milan was in the picture as well. We don't know who might be on Landon's list, but thus far no one has sniffed out a single club. That doesn't prove anything but neither does it leave me very optimistic. Plus, given his public statements that have read almost as plainly as "come and get me," has me thinking that the reason we're not hearing much about Donovan transfer rumors is that there really isn't much Donovan transfer news, period. I know this is a Gooch thread and I don't mean to hijack. Carry on.
With all of the c**ksucking Donovan is getting I think Gooch if anything was the MVP for the USA. Our defense isn't all that great but Onyewu remained the staying power! He's a great defender and will succeed at AC Milan!
Onyewu had a great tournament (and has been great the past two seasons). That said, I think our MVP was Donovan, followed by Onyewu, followed by a toss-up between Bradley and Dempsey. What's unusual for us in a tournament is that Howard probably ranks right behind those guys in terms of how instrumental he was to us.
lol at the idiots who say donovan isnt getting any offers. isnt it interesting that onyewu's agent slyly said Fenerbache wasnt a done deal and dropped the names of a few other clubs? isnt it interesting that no one knew about the real clubs that were interested in onyewu (inter, milan, and real) were relative new clubs in the rumours? And donovan himself has said he's gotten offers. He's just not in it for the money, so he has no need to spread rumours abut the clubs he want.
What people dont realize is HOW difficult it is for US players to make it in Europe. Gooch will do fine. In fact, as soon as the switch turns on for him, he is going to attack the goal better than any other CB in the SA and get 5 goals his first season. In addition, he is going to destroy Ibrahimovic. The work and effort to get where he is at is an outstanding accomplishment. To be the second player to get there also shows what an amazing job Lalas did. Much respect to him also, even as hard as he makes it. My hope is that he doesnt show the same 'respect' the US team did against Brazil the first go around. Honestly, AC Milan lost badly in the UEFA Cup last year and lost there best player AND coach. I will enjoy this for a while and start whining as soon as the season starts and he gets no starts for the first 8 weeks.
I didn't say he isn't getting ANY offers. And if you think I haven't paid attention to this game and how it's played for a while now, you're mistaken. By contrast, there were clubs making public statements about Gooch. It wasn't all coming from his agent. The only words coming out of Camp Donovan these days are "I'll listen to any offers."
Just wanted to say I was curious to read what the Milan supporters were saying about this, what they thought, and what I found were some incredibly annoying, ignorant, but typical comments. Mostly what I was reading was "they didn't get him because of his skill, but because it will make us more popular in america" and " he's going to be 3rd-4th choice after blah blah blah......" Also there was "he's american" talking about how thats a downside and the one that I thought was the dumbest "at 27, he's not going to develop anymore." I COMPLETELY disagree, if you think about his last couple years his game has went up to a whole nother' level. The Confed. Cup ALONE (with the exception of the first two) I think every person on the USMNT elevated their game to level we haven't seen yet. I'm just completely annoyed by their comments and I for one hope gooch kicks some italian a** over there. This is a guy who'se won like what, 2 league titles over the last two years? If he was anything BUT american I guarantee you half of these guys wouldn't be b*tch*ing. Anywayz, I wish Gooch all the luck in the world. I'm not saying he's the best player over there, but I don't exactly appreciate how he's being unfairly judged because he plays for us. Then again, I guess it comes with the territory for playing with the U.S. huh?
unlike America, where bigsoccer can house sane people as well as insane online, replies coming from european countries are rarely useful.
i think that's pretty inoffensive. in their eyes, you really only sign a 27 year old if he's already performing at a high level at a top club. or MAYBE a top player at a mid level club (in EPL/BBVA/Serie A). they may believe they are getting a good Jupiler league player, who is already near the top of his trajectory. i'll probably be insensed about a lot of things in Gooch's upcoming Milan stint, but that particular comment will not be one of them. heck, even i'm not sure how much more Gooch will develop. frankly, i think -- like most other American youth system products his age -- he's probably about tapped out. tapped out with many years remaining as a good player, but tapped out (in this discussion) nonetheless. i think he'll keep his physical talent for a good 5 more years, and he'll add some savvy and game readability ... but outside of that, i don't see him developing into a vastly different player. and that's fine, because I think he is already a very solid European CB.
A lot of the Milan fans in the Milan forums are actually Americans. I'm a Milan supporter as well as a USMNT supporter. So we are not drawing our opinions based on a few appearances he's made for the USA in the Confed Cup. I've seen virtually every game he's played for the US. The reason a lot of Milan supporters are so down on this transfer has more to do with the state of Milan than Onyewu. Milan's backline was god awful last year. Kaladze & Bonera are just bad defenders at this stage in their careers. Favalli is just too old to play big minutes. Nesta gets hurt when he laces up his boots. And Thiago Silva, while talented, still hasn't played one minute of Serie A football. We needed to bring in a really high quality defender if Milan is to get back to the Milan of old. The fear is that Onyewu will be our only signing at the back this summer. And while Onyewu can be a serviceable center back he is not up to the standard that Milan has had in years past. Players don't get much better the closer they get to 30. That's a fact. It doesn't matter who the coaches are. You can improve your physical condition but technically you are who you are when you get to 25, 26, 27. And a players performance in the Confed Cup or WC really has no bearing on how a player will play for his club. Philip Senderos looked like Jaap Stam at WC 2006. But when he went back to Arsenal he was Philip Senderos again. It's dangerous to judge a player based soley on his international form. I regret that is what Galliani has done here. When you move to a big club you have to expect that you will be judged differently. You have to admit that the standards for the USMNT and Milan are different. Milan supporters whistle Clarence Seedorf everytime he steps on San Siro grass. But he'd be treated like a God on these forums if he played for the USMNT the past ten years or so. Milan is as big a stage as you can get. Gooch better get used to it.
I was so ready to get a jersey once we finally got a field player onto a huge team. But I'm not sure if I can disgrace myself by getting a Milan jersey. Still, I love the transfer and I'm so excited to see what happens.
Pretty sure he's going to "develop" into a Lou Ferrigno-esque freak of nature by the age of 30, without losing any flexibility.
For the people who are endlessly worried about playing time: First of all, there is no guarantee that he would get more time at some mid-level team than at Milan. Altidore can't get any time at a freaking Spanish Second Division team. Second, anybody turning down an offer from one of the five biggest clubs in the world so that they can go to some mid-level club is a complete fool. He's not playing his club career to revolve around his international career. Plus, don't you think the training will be better at Milan than at freaking Birmingham or Fenerbahce or wherever? Plus, U.S. soccer doesn't develop if all of our players refuse to play at higher than a mid-table team because they're paranoid about playing time. How anyone doesn't see that this is a huge step for U.S. soccer is beyond me. There is no club where he would be guaranteed playing time unless he retardedly decided to play in MLS. And why do I get the feeling that way too many of you would be happier if he did that than sign for AC Milan?
If Gooch heads into battle wearing a kilt with blue war paint on his face you might be onto something.
I certainly won't stoop to that level either, but I am totally psyched for Gooch. Hoping he gets a huge ovation at the upcoming friendly at HDC. Right along w/ the big boo blast we have teed up for Beckham.
Completely agree! Especially about the US Soccer developing part. It's a joke that our players should settle for less in the minds of some people just so they dont have to work for their starting spot. This is a huge move for our countries soccer future.
When Oguchi Onyewu falls into water, he doesn't get wet, the water gets Oguchi Onyewu'd. /pointlessness
Is it too early to laugh (some more) at Newcastle? Oh, and can we dig up those threads where the posters swore those "Gooch flew to Milan on the weekend" stories were lies. And can they all write an apology to Prud'homme for calling him a liar. Let's see - any other old scores I want to settle. Oh yeah - and take THIS Aaron Burr!
Just to be clear, Milan and Real were mentioned in regard Gooch 3 or 4 years ago. In fact, the Standard coach at the time said that they turned down an offer from Madrid (I think it was - have to go back and check now.) cause they wanted to make a run at the title. Gooch's loan to Newcastle was reward for him sticking with Liege. Which is not to stick my nose in the LD thing, as I want no part of that action, but to point out that a big transfer like this has been circling Gooch for 3 or 4 years now - he just managed to put together a tournament that closed the deal.