http://www.foxsportsworld.com/content/view?contentId=2065190 This would be an interesting change in the way that MLS works. I thought that loans were generally not accepted by MLS, except LD. Mabye Bayer being the owner of LD is creating the oppourtunity for this loan.
MLS as therapy? Play here - no one cares! Which team would get him? I shudder at some of the chants, though. Although we could sing, DON´T WORRY, BE HAPPY to support him.
I'm all for this so long as he goes to Dallas. So the portion of Burn fans who are nutso about Freddy will shut up. And oh yeah...the Scum brought in two youngsters from either Boca Juniors or River Plate last year. One totally sucked, and the other was only good enough to start during a severe injury crisis, and get some garbage minutes at the end when the Scum were trying to hold leads and subbed offense for defense. If MLS does this, it should be on the condition that it's a loan for the whole season. That wouldn't be much different from Molnar's season with the Wizards. (It was one season, wasn't it?) Landon signed with Bayer Leverkusen, not Bayern Munich.
I think this would be a great deal. If he's back to good psychological health, he'll be a great asset. Hannover 96 sold him to Bayer Leverkusen in 02/03 season for about $9M http://football.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/0,1563,754412,00.html - bottom of the page). Right now his value is at a little more than $1M (http://www.transfermarkt.de/spieler/spieler_details.php4?spieler_id=903) but that's because he's been trying to get himself together for the past several months. I think it would be a great thing to have him here if, and a big if, his behavior isn't erratic anymore. The last thing we need is him not showing up on and off the field and thinking that this is a vacation. He's gotta want to play balls out so Hannover 96 and/or Leverkusen wants him back. It's a risk, but one worth taking I think.
In all seriousness, it really reflects well on Leverkusen that they're willing to work with him through his illness. Five years ago, this would not have been the case. I think he'd thrive here. He would only have to hear obnoxiousness about his condition weekly (as opposed to daily back in Germany), and the level of soccer is a notch down from the 1. BL, so he'd get his confidence back. He might do well with a longer stint though, maybe 2-3 years. I do hope his German is good enough to understand the chants, though. "Ruhe, Kinder, hier kommt Jan!" might be a good starting point.
He's familiar to most people who follow Yanks Abroad, since he kept Conor Casey on the bench for Hannover 96 for quite a while. I'd like to see him in MLS, so we can start sarcastic "DON'T WORRY, BE HAPPY" chants.
simak is supremely talented, and yes, more than a bit flighty - it would be cool to see him play in MLS at such a young age (24?) - IIRC he was the bundesliga2 POY when hannover won the title and got promoted a few years back