SOL CAMPBELL has vowed never to play for another English club again when he leaves Arsenal. The England centre-back will instead quit this country for America, where he is targeting a swansong in the Major League Soccer. He will then move into acting, where he sees himself as a cross between Denzel Washington and Samuel L Jackson. Campbell, 29, said: "Arsenal will be my last English club. In three or four years' time I will leave the UK. I won't be staying here. "I want to play a season in the MLS in America, maybe when I am 33 and still fit. I will stay at Arsenal as long as they want me. But then I will be leaving and I won't come back for a while. "There are things I would like to achieve in America. I've got family there too." WHERE WOULD THIS GUY FIT IN THE MOST?
33 is hardly ancient. Some players are losing it then and others are at or still near their peaks. Some have "slumps" in the early 30's and regain something in their mid-thirties. You just can't make a snap judgement. There's a 40 year old in MLS that any MLS team would want on their side.
Hell, look at Martin Keown. He's 65 and still in good physical condition. If Sol comes to the MetroStars, he can play wherever the hell he wants!
It's pretty tough to forecast how good Sol will be in four years' time, but if he wants to play in MLS some people may want to get the message to him that older players who take it seriously do well, and those who view it as a vacation get eaten alive. That being said, I think he'd have to go downhill pretty fast, or almost every team in the league would want him and start him at age 33. The only way someone passes is if they're already stacked in central defense (Metros, Fire, LA, SJ come to mind, alhtough who knows if they'll still be stacked in four years time) and don't want to use the cap room on him. Maybe we can arrange a Bocanegra/Campbell swap.
4 years time is pretty fast? 4 years time is an eternity for him to go down. I love watching the EPL, but I have thought that Sol Campbell has already shown signs of slowing down. If we were talking Rio Ferdinand, I would be singing a whole different tune, but i could ABSOLUTELY envision Sol Campbell being washed up in 4 years.
Seaman is goalie. there is no comparison between goalies and field players, especially defenders. how many older defenders are able to hang on and be great. some, of course but not a whole bunch. the comparison to a goalie just isn't appropriate.
What is this, the 5th or 6th big name English player to make this decleration? Yet, to date, none have come. It's one thing to say this off-handedly, or to keep it in the back of one's mind. But when they start looking into the details, particularly the salary, somehow it never materializes. I'll believe it when he signs his name to a MLS contract and not a second before.
Yhea on yer bike Sol, don't you know there's a place for old bastards like you, it's called Wolverhampton Wanderers, you can play domminoes with Ince and Irwin.
Maybe you should actually give Sol a chance to prove himself rather than just assume he will go the way of lothar. 33 is still a baby. Preki is the leading MLS scorer & hes 40. In the NHL where they play a GRUELING 82 game season not including playoffs, 42 year old Slava Fetisov is one of the top players on the Stanley Cup winning NJ devils.
Fetisov hasn't been on the Devils in over a decade and has never won the cup with them accept as a coach. However, the Devils did just sign 42 year old Larionov who won 3 cups with Detroit.
Please forgive me if don't believe a word of this. You wouldn't happen to have a link would you? I'm not calling you a liar, I've just seen this type of stuff posted too many times.
I'd like to see a link, too. If it happened, where would he go? Why, to the Galaxy or the Metrostars, of course. Do we even need to ask?
MLS Hell, Carlos Valderama seemed like he was 50 when he left, and though he would slow, his skill on the ball made the men half his age look silly. Sol is no Valerama
If Sol wants to come to MLS and play hard for a few seasons, great. If he wants to repeat the comic tragedy of Lothar Matthaus, I'll just hang my head and look away every time he's on TV. Especially if he ends up with the Revs. But I'll be interested when Sol's signed a contract, and not before. He could find a little pace again in his thirties-- just look at Martin Keown. He's older than the hills, and yet flails his way up and down the back line with surprising aplomb.
Whats the big problem with Sol wanting to come to MLS one day... i think it's great that he thinks this way. Many players worldwide view MLS as very young now but expect it to become a great and prosperous league in the future and would like to be a part of it somehow. And what better way of being a part of it then to play in the league even if it means only for one year or short period of time. I also think those players that expressed their intrest in playing here know very well the financial circumstances of playing in MLS at this current momment. In my opinion any international star with the intention of helping his new team win, even one not in his peak, should be more then welcomed to come play in MLS. What this league needs is publicity and a higher level of play and what better way of doing this then to have the likes of David Beckham, Ronaldo, Sol Campbell, ..etc playing through out the United States. Plus I think Sol would look great in a MetroStars kit.
to be honest, 33 isn't that old for a central defender teams can funnel traffic into him, and he won't be having to track players down, its a good spot for an old guy, ask Lalas
A higher level of play, absolutely that's what MLS needs. F the publicity. After the whole Grimandi fiasco, I'm pretty cautious about any formerly great player, no matter how big his name is.