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Thoughts on Americans in Europe

July 28th, 2009 | By: Marlon | 18 Comments »

It seems that while the Confederations Cup did not end in a victory for the United States the stock of American players in Europe has risen dramatically over the past month. Oguchi Onyewu’s move to AC Milan could be a trend that hopefully catches on. Unfortunately, Gooch has looked a bit shakey in the friendlies he appeared in over the past week and a half. To be fair, everyone at AC Milan has looked shakey without Kaka in the middle, but I hold out hope that Gooch will come good.

In January, Ricardo Clark will be joining Gooch in Italy as a player for Livorno. Clark will be penultimate player from the Confederations Cup XI that faced Brazil and Spain to make the jump to Europe. Most of us hope Landon Donovan won’t be far behind him this winter. Consistently one of the most talented Americans, it’s a shame that Donovan hasn’t had a consistent stay in Europe like his teammate Clint Dempsey. Donovan can dominate in the MLS. I’ve called him the American Arshavin (much to your other USA blogger’s amusement) and it’ll be interesting to see if he can finally make a stay in Europe stick.

There’s a lot of hope here in the states that the Americans across Europe will all have good campaigns. We want Gooch to stake his claim in Milan, Dempsey to shine in the Europa League, Benny Feilhaber to continue his good play in Denmark, for Freddy Adu and Jozy Altidore to finally get off the bench, and for Landycakes to make another jump. Good luck to all American footballers in their European campaigns. Hopefully they will give us lots to talk about in the coming months.

Tags: "News", AC Milan, Europe, Landon Donovan, Oguchi Onyewu, Ricardo Clark, Thoughts

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Comments

By elle | July 28th, 2009 at 10:13 pm

I really hope Jozy and Freddy can make it work this year.

By Marlon | July 29th, 2009 at 6:32 am

There’s a rumor about Freddy moving to Holland and I think that would be a great move for him.

By SP | July 29th, 2009 at 8:34 am

thank god if that holland rumor is true. i know this is easy to say in retrospect, but going to france as an unproven-in-Europe 19 year old wasn’t exactly a smart move. given monaco aren’t exactly worldbeaters, but there were a lot of safer options that freddy could have picked last year, given his inexperience and age, including a move to the eredivisie. i just hope that this rumor doesn’t involve a team like ajax or psv bc then it will just be a repeat of this year.

Posted from United States

By Eric | July 29th, 2009 at 4:01 pm

“American Arshavin”. I kinda like that.

Posted from United States

By Unbelievable | July 30th, 2009 at 8:01 am

Agreed, The Dutch league will allow him to play more IMO. I don’t feel you have as much politics as you do in Spain and Portugal.

Cmon, Freddy, and don’t be afraid of taking some roids to add 7.5 lbs to your legs and 7.5 up top.

He won’t lose any quickness and he will become a beast on the ball. Whatever it takes!!! LOL

GLTTMNT

Posted from United States

By soccer goals | July 31st, 2009 at 2:52 pm

Cooper to 1860 Munich.

Posted from United States

By GS | August 1st, 2009 at 8:41 am

I saw some notes about cooper to 1860 yesterday but I can’t find them anymore. Maybe it didn’t go through?

Posted from United States

By alessio | August 1st, 2009 at 4:33 pm

Does this mean people are going to follow Serie A a bit more? If so good…needs more coverage in the US compared to the Liga and EPL.

Posted from United States

By Marlon | August 2nd, 2009 at 10:58 am

I think Serie A is bigger than La Liga on US television. It’s on FSC every weekend.

By Unbelievable | August 3rd, 2009 at 7:31 am

Freddy indicating he wants out b.c he was told there is no room for him. He just needs to get on a team that will avoid relegation in Belgium or Dutch, not to be confused with Deutsche…And he needs to get a little bigger.

http://goal.com/en/news/462/netherlands/2009/08/03/1419087/benficas-freddy-adu-wants-eredivisie-move

GLTTMNT

Posted from United States

By David | August 3rd, 2009 at 4:03 pm

GS, it appears the move to 1860 did go through.
http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/1110/major-league-soccer/2009/07/31/1414841/cooper-to-leave-fc-dallas-for-tsv-1860-munich

Posted from United States

By GS | August 3rd, 2009 at 5:40 pm

@Unbelievable: honestly, Adu must have some attitude problem or cancerous attribute that makes coaches hate him. How can he get no playing time anywhere? Everybody keeps talking about how he’s not living up to expectations, but how can he if he doesn’t play? He definitely has the skill…so the only conclusion I can make is that there is some character flaw. If there isn’t then he has just had some horrible luck with clubs the past 3 years. He needs to move to a team where the coach loves him, no matter where that is, so he can start playing some football and some riding the pine.

Posted from United States

By Unbelievable | August 5th, 2009 at 11:10 am

@GS, you know the story about moving to Benfica, right? The coach was going to play Freddy when he went there. What happened before Freddy even arrived? The Benefica coach was fired.

And so it goes. Helps to know the facts before speculating.

GLTTMNT

Posted from United States

By SP | August 5th, 2009 at 12:52 pm

unbelievable,

that still doesn’t explain the situation with jorge jesus (current benfica coach), ricardo (monaco coach while adu was there), and bob bradley. in fact, when is the last time when someone gave him playing time. you can say that the coaches suck and he deserves PT and whatnot but the truth is that these guys see adu in training and scrimmages on a daily basis and we don’t. and a lot of times, these guys can’t afford to throw freddy in to a match that they don’t trust him in bc they have their results to worry about. plus, if anything, “The coach was going to play Freddy when he went there” sounds more speculative than anything i saw GS write.

Posted from United States

By SP | August 5th, 2009 at 12:54 pm

plus, the apparent lack of interest from other teams in acquiring him speaks volumes

Posted from United States

By GS | August 5th, 2009 at 12:54 pm

Benefica isn’t the only place he’s having trouble getting playing time. His loan last season was a disaster and he hasn’t been getting anything other than junk minutes for the USMNT…so tell me…what gives? We all see he has the talent and I assume his coaches do too. Seems to me like Freddy needs to work on something and in my opinion it’s not his game…but you’re probably right, a player with an attitude problem is impossible.

By Unbelievable | August 5th, 2009 at 8:23 pm

Guys, many a young US players go abroad and get nothing. He was promised playing time from the coach at Benefica when he went over there. The coach was fired before he was even able to get there and play.

If that coach was not fired would we still be having this discussion? He went on loan to Monaco. Is it his attitude? His size? Many coaches don’t want to put a 19 yr old out there. 19 YEARS OLD! There aren’t many who get the nod at 19 as far as I know. Most who do are Brazilian!!!

So he went to Benefica where fate was not kind in the firing of his coach. The 2nd coach wanted to take the team in a different direction and not have and 18 YEAR be in his starting group at one of the most storied Portuguese clubs. Then he was loaned to Monaco where many a great players have played.

The only problem Freddy had IMO is that he wanted a top flight club to begin his career. That is all. If he had started in the Swiss, Belgian, 2nd tier (not division) french, portuguese or dutch teams I think he probably would’ve played more.

Bob Bradley said he wants his players to be playing before they earn a spot in the starting 11 of the USMN A Team.

It can easily be seen from my vantage point. How many professional athletes have you known in your life? Give me a break. You guys talk as if you know. You don’t…all speculation. Let’s see if he can get on the field before we start speculating about rubbish. He is only 20.

GLTTMNT

By Z | August 7th, 2009 at 7:19 am

The biggest problem that young Americans have is their desire to play for massive, top 6 clubs in top leagues like Spain, England, Italy or Germany, or leagues that I call 1-AA leagues (Ligue 1, Eredevise, Ethniki). Altidore seems to have realized that you can’t start at the top and expect to walk in and play as seen in his loan deal with Hull. Adu’s moves, even his loan moves, are indicative of his unwillingness to work with a side that he feels is inferior to his potential. Look at someone like M. Bradley who started with Heerenveen, put in his dues, made a transfer to a low Bundesliga club in Munchengladenbach, and has been receiving many, many plaudits for his play and maturity level, being linked now and again with Everton and other top 10 sides around Europe. Adu has to realize that potential alone can only get you so far, until you become a proven individual can you talk of playing significant minutes for teams like Benfica or Monaco. Why not play for a side like Valenciennes? When I look at the national team now I think of players who have put in their dues in lower leagues and built their way up (Demerit, Onyewu, Davies, Clarke, Dempsey – remember he couldn’t find a game for a while, M. Bradley), something that Adu has not considered or seems willing to do.

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