When Friedel finishes his Euro career, he's mentioned he may come back to Columbus. I'd assume we'd have Busch or some other quality keeper in the nets for us when he makes the return. I'd like to think he'd sign on much like Robert did and take a slight pay cut, concentrating more on coaching with the Crew and his Ohio summer camps.. I'm sure he'll still have enough skill at that age to compete well in MLS, but wouldn't we want a player with some more upswing?
Friedel's not coming back until either he's done with Europe, or Europe's done with him. I don't think he's gonna come back for a while, considering his WC run. The question is, when he comes back, will we want him as a player? If not, i'm sure we could use him as an asst. coach, or GK coach. Don't know if it still holds true, but at one point, he made a statement that the only team he'd play for in MLS is Columbus.
When Friedel is done playing in Europe, he'll play somewhere else. Sincerely, Marcus Allen CBS Sports
I asked Brad a couple of months ago if he was going to come back and play for Columbus. He told me that he just signed a new contract at Blackburn and really had no idea if he would be playing on further or how long his body would be able to hold out. (he said the 2'nd bit of that in a joking way) The impression i got was that he doesn't know what he wants to do after Rovers and for the time being he's 100% dedicated to Blackburn. I told him that his spot on the nats was in danger from Busch as well.
Friedel has an excellent chance of being regarded/awarded the top keeper spot in the Premiership this season. I think that would give him a great chance to transfer to a bigger team with a bigger salary if he wanted. In any case, I suspect that (unless his body does break down), he's got at least 5 more years of EXTREMELY productive play in the EPL at wage levels far exceeding anything MLS can offer. And who can guess what MLS will look like in 5 years, what your keeper situation will be.
friedel can, and should, play in the epl for many more years. let's just hope he doesn't grow a ponytail like seamen.
*raises hand* I've been waiting since about November. But for some reason the past few offseasons have seemed to pass quicker than the first three or so.
I don't know how likely it would be for Friedel to switch to another EPL side. I've only gotten the impression that he loves it at Blackburn, and sure he's not the highest paid GK, but who needs to be? Happiness is better than greed, and I think Friedel will stay on at Blackburn with a modest pay increase/reward bonus thingy. Besides, I think Blackburn has really improved since moving up to the top flight, and if they can get a bit more revenue, then they'll be able to afford to keep their team together.
Blackburn will try their best to resign him after his current contract is up. He's now married to an English national and no longer counts as non-EU. I expect him to retire from the game over there. Schmeichel is still going at like 38 or so.