Don't think that is entirely accurate... "There are similarities in terms of [Howard's] speed, his presence and reflexes with [Peter] Schmeichel," said Ferguson, whose very public loss of faith in Fabien Barthez towards the end of last season is telling. "[Howard] has a great chance of being first choice here. All the equipment is there." https://www.theguardian.com/football/2003/jul/16/newsstory.sport4 Would go on to start 32 games in his first season, while Barthez sat out his final three in the previous one. Perhaps the Fire made a contract offer to Las, maybe the didn't. I'm going to guess that if they *did*, it wasn't worth a whole lot. If Las truly is worth of Fulham's interests, I'm confused why they didn't give him a bigger stage. U19s is beneath him. The kid should either be getting MLS starts or Fulham is wasting their time.
I have said before the key here is playing time. For field players being on a top flight club is very valuable even if they are getting a lot of playing minutes. They are continually training with better players. And when they do get to see the field they get many touches in a game to show stuff. That is not the case with keepers. IMO playing time is way more important than training with a great team. Now certainly getting playing time with a top flight club in tough competition is always the desired situation. But for keepers I would rather have them playing in MLS or other leagues than sitting riding the pine in a top Euro league.
Force a transfer. You only get so many years to play and there's no reason to be locked into a team that obviously does not believe in you.
I'm not saying that he shouldn't do that, but taking 5-6 months off before you can sort out a transfer/loan isn't necessarily the end of the world. Friedel's career track, while not advisable, shows you can overcome unideal circumstances. If Horvath can land something in the winter, I think he'll be fine.
Yup. Gotta be patient as a keeper. Friedel didn't move to Blackburn, where he really made his mark, until he was almost 30. Prior to that it was a nomadic existence. If I'm Horvath, I see this as a challenge and fight for the #1 shirt at Brugge. Re-examine in the winter...………………………. I mean, do folks think athletes see competition come in and then immediately raise the white flag of surrender? No. If a young keeper is at a Euro club of some pedigree, he's going to face competition for playing time.
He's fought for a spot multiple times and won it. And there's no indication from the Club that he can actually win the spot through outperformance. The cost of Mignolet in both transfer and salary -- in a spot that Brugge didn't need at all -- already means this is about more than winning or who the better keeper is. You only have so many years to play. Horvath has proved himself enough. Why waste a year on the bench fighting a battle there's a really good chance you can't win?
Stating the obvious (or at least obvious to me): if Horvath gets a promising offer this month, he should take it. If not, he should keep prospecting and hope to move in the next window. In either event, he should keep working hard and preparing himself to play his best whenever called upon.
This is true. Lack of playing time can actually harm development. Being acutely aware of game speed is very important for keepers. Keeper training and game execution are very different things.
Well I think all of us would IF he's going to play. But as already discussed I think going some place where he'll get a lot of minutes is more important than sitting the pine at a higher level.
There's a weird discourse in this thread. Ethan Horvath is a backup in the Belgian League right now and folks are saying he should move to the Bundesliga or Serie A? This doesn't compute. And I don't know how he'd qualify for a work permit to move to England. He's also under contract with Brugge. He can't just move because he wants to. I believe he signed a new 4.5 year contract with them in Jan. 2017. So he has a ways to go on that contract.
There's a weird discourse in this post. Describing Horvath as a backup in the Belgian League may be technically correct but is hardly repsresentative. He's a young, up and coming GK who started for one of best teams in the Belgian League, led the league in clean sheets (I believe), is a very strong shot stopper, and had three clean sheets in Champions League, including games against Atletico Madrid and BVB. He's only a backup because a Beligan hero, so to speak, wanted to come home, not because he's not qualified to be a started for a top team in the Belgian League. I don't know if he's good enough for Serie A or Bundesliga ... but positioning him as a "backup in the Belgian League" is just kind of ridiculous.
There's also a reason that Brugge went out and spent 6.5 million pounds on a new starting keeper........................ Would they do that if they thought Horvath had the quality as a #1 to get them where they want to go? Everything I said is indeed "technically correct" even if folks don't like it He's seemingly a backup keeper in the Belgian League that is under contract for two more years at the club. The only other keeper at Brugge as far as I know is 18 year old Nick Shinton, a sporadic Belgian youth international. So I don't think Horvath is going anywhere. What he needs to do is fight like hell and show that he's actually better than Mignolet regardless of salary or reputation or status.
That's a mountain to climb. Mignolet is a Star and he makes $$$$. They're not gonna give Horvath the opportunity to unseat him.
I'm not sure Mignolet is a "star," and I don't think there's evidence Horvath won't be given a chance to "unseat him." I'd agree with you that when a club pays that much for a keeper, he's likely given first crack at sticking as the #1. But if he doesn't perform, he doesn't perform. Horvath needs to be ready to pounce.
Lets just agree that Mignolet is going to get a lot of rope at Brugge before they consider him not being #1.
Doesn't matter how good he is. Mignolet is a Belgian NT keeper who they paid a ton for. He's going to start unless he completely implodes. Nothing Ethan does will change that. Staying to "compete" is just wasting his time. Find a move. Now or in Jan if something can't be arranged until then but go. Make a fuss, turn in your transfer request, slag the management team there, whatever, he's been screwed over enough already as is. Every minute more he remains is delaying his career.