http://www.impactmontreal.com/en/ne...king-loan-zarek-valentin-fk-bodo-glimt-norway Interesting development. Obviously not in the plans for the Impact, but were there not any domestic options?
I don't think a club can loan out a player against his wish, even in MLS. Impact is very Euro-centric anyway and I presume there was some prior interest there.
After Chivas USA dumped him, Montreal replaced their team with All The Italians. He is a promising kid who could be good in MLS, but Montreal has done the best they can to purge Americans/Canadians from the starting spots.
Not if you consider how many MLS picks get bounced out of the league period. This gives him another chance to stick around the game.
Eh, could end up being a good thing in the long run. If he's as good as his pedigree suggests then he'll have no problem making an impact (no pun intended) in the Norwegian 2nd division. If he shows well he shouldn't have too much trouble parlaying that into a permanent move to a club in the Tippeligaen, which is obviously a better career position than languishing on the bench for a wannabe Serie B team...
He'll be joined by another former MLS-er in Dane Richards who was just loaned there today from Burnley.
There have been a number of US players in Norway II over the years - Goodson, Weaver, Bendik, Russell, Bijev, C. Burns, Gbandi, Needham, J. Stewart, Tobin and probably some guys Wikipedia missed.
Not on that list ... of course, I remembered him for a second, then forgot again ... Adin Brown is on it (the list makes no distinction between Tippeligaen/Norway I and Adeccoligaen/Norway II) but I don't think Adin played in II.
Doesn't speak well of Dane's abilities that he could only get two games in four months for a middling C'ship side.
Speed. Speed is all he has. The Champions isn't the most tactical, techincal league but they have athtletic players who can chase him down and exploit his lack of ball skills. I had a feeling the Championship wasn't a good fit.
Yep, Dane is definitely a one trick pony. Akin to Robbie Findley although Robbie at least had a run of games and scored a few goals in his time at Forest. With that said Dane shouldn't have nearly the same difficulties in the Adeccoligaen. I think both he and Zarek will do very well at this level of play and wouldn't be surprised at all to see both of them in the Tippeligaen next season. Also I think it should be mentioned that Zarek's mother is German so acquiring a German passport should not be a problem. This will certainly be a big help in advancing his Euro career if he is successful in Norway.
I think this is less about the Impact's preference for Europeans and more about Zarek not actually being very good.
Perhaps but he had a pretty decent rookie year with Chivas and he's still very young, especially for a defender. He's shown me enough already to think he has what it takes to become a solid pro in time. I don't think the 2nd tier of Norwegian football is above his level by any means.
It was so decent they left him unexposed in the expansion draft. Despite his GA status, he's been sent packing in back-to-back years by teams that missed the playoffs. Yes, he's young, so he shouldn't be given up on, but he is starting to look like a byproduct of the system in which he played college ball. I'd love to be wrong and see him blossom into a solid pro who can start for an MLS team for a decade, but the early returns don't look promising.
How is it a bad fit for a player that only has natural athleticism to join a league that heavily favors natural athleticism rather than skill on the ball or tactical nous? I think it's a good fit and he was simply deemed not good enough for the team, at least by that particular coaching staff. I think Spain or Italy would've been a much worse fit.
I don't think Dane is super athletic just speedy which is just one aspect of athleticism. I think he was a bad fit because the Championship has defenders that can match his speed but more importantly muscle him off the ball. You are right Spain and Italy would have been worse. I felt when he left MLS that Scandinavia would be perfect. His speed would cause havoc as those leagues are a little less athletic than MLS/Champ. but have a certain degree of tacticality to help Dane raise his game.
You make good points but the kid started 38 games in his first two MLS seasons as a 19/20 yr old (which is not remotely common in MLS for a defender that age) and he was a constant fixture in our youth teams, he has shown potential. No he wasn't getting games for Montreal this year but there are quite a few MLS defenders (including quite a few starters) that would struggle to see time behind what's one of the best backlines in MLS. He has more pedigree and experience than a player like Brad Rusin who (despite having been pro for three years and being three years older than Zarek) still hadn't made an MLS roster when he moved to Danish 2nd division in 2011. Fast forward two and a half years and Rusin is starting for the Whitecaps in his first MLS season at the age of 26. I've seen enough of Zarek in MLS to think he has what it takes become a solid starter at that level. He's not like a Sacir Hot or Boss who had reps as youth players as being legit prospects but no actual pro experience to justify it. I doubt Zarek will be anything more (which given his youth reputation would be considered somewhat of a failure) but I do think he can achieve that mcuh. I could be entirely wrong of course but I just think there is a little more reason to be a optimistic about his future than you're giving him credit for and this is coming from someone who is generally very pessimistic in situations like this.
That's a fair point. The physicality could throw him off of his game. Scandanavia isn't really a step up from MLS though. I think his idea was to test himself in a tougher league (or if you don't see the Championship as tougher than MLS, set himself up for a chance to play in the Premier League). In my opinion, it's more an out of his depth issue rather than a problem with the style of the league.
I think it's interesting to compare the success (?) of players like Stuart Holden, Geoff Cameron, Kei kamara, and Roger Espinoza, to the lack of success of Dane Richards, upon leaving MLS.