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General Category => Overseas & International Fans => Topic started by: BarryP on August 20, 2010, 04:25:38 AM

Title: Not What You Want: August 18 and Out of Contract
Post by: BarryP on August 20, 2010, 04:25:38 AM
http://usa10kit.com/2010/08/18/not-what-you-want-august-18-and-out-of-contract/ (http://usa10kit.com/2010/08/18/not-what-you-want-august-18-and-out-of-contract/)

BRENT LATHAM – Well, it's getting late here, and nothing's been settled. The transfer market has been incredibly sticky this summer, but we're closing in on the deadline, seasons have started around the world, and we've still got a bunch of high profile yanks abroad in less-than-ideal spots.

Jay DeMerit, at right, is all dressed up with no place to go, and World Cup teammates DaMarcus Beasley (out of contract), Jozy Altidore and Benny Feilhaber (Danish 2nd division) are unsettled as well. Freddy Adu and Eddie Johnson are hardly in good shape, but hey, when have they ever been?

It's not a good sign for anyone that the demand is so limp for the group. Throw in Bob Bradley, who at least was clever enough to keep his old job while he searched in futility for a new one, and you've got a veritable embargo on American soccer in Europe.

Worst of all, the trail seems to have gone cold. There's been no news on DeMerit or Beasley, the two in the most dire situations with no clubs to play for, for weeks. It's been two weeks since Beasley's agent was stirring up interest by linking him with clubs in France and Spain, but nothing yet. France's season already started and Spain's is around the corner.

As for DeMerit – straight up nothing, with the Premier League and Championship underway. And Feilhaber is already playing in the Danish second tier.

As for Adu, Jeff Carlisle reports he's back in Greece hoping Aris lets him back in the squad, and Johnson is back to failing to make the bench at Fulham. But at least they're collecting a paycheck and probably practicing.

All this undecidedness is plenty to get the speculation going on whether these guys should be thinking about the ever-improving MLS. The guys and gal over at Goal.com did just that in this interestingly crowded (how did Noah miss out?) yet relatively brief piece.

The problem with MLS is the no longer the quality, but the schedule. A move to MLS now means a dozen games and then inactivity until next March. It's akin to admitting career defeat.

The other question is if MLS is actively pursuing these guys. The American league has a sad but verified tradition of chasing after foreign players but turning a cold shoulder to Americans who think about returning from abroad.

So the DP money being offered the mediocre Nery Castillo is not likely to be thrown Beasley or DeMerit's way anytime soon. Certainly there are good economic reasons for that, but it's a reality nonetheless.

So it looks like a scramble at this point to get DeMerit and Beasley situated somewhere as soon as possible. Since they're on frees, they don't have to sign before the transfer deadline, but it would be hard to get into any decent team afterwards. In reality, that time is already running short.
Title: Re: Not What You Want: August 18 and Out of Contract
Post by: HatterDon on August 20, 2010, 01:26:41 PM
To be fair,

Feilhaber is only looking for a job because his side has been relegated. He shouldn't have too much trouble landing one at least in a Scandinavian top flight league. He has the skills to play in any league in the world, but his mental makeup-gap was exposed in Derby.
EJ was enough part of the first-team squad to travel up to Bolton last Saturday. I saw him sitting with a group of Fulham players.
Altidore is much wanted by several teams. The problem seems to be that one of the teams that doesn't want him all that much is Villareal. He'll be in somebody's first team squad before the window closes.
DaMarcus has been hammered so much that he's lost his main advantage -- pace.
Freddy is destined to be a classic caxe of "too much, too soon." Had he spent his mid-teen years in a top-flight developmental academy, I think his skills would have been enough to have made him a key player in the 2010 WC. All that first team football at age 15 stunted his development.
I don't know what to think about the Cheesehead. He was solid in the World Cup and -- face it -- is the prototypical Championship central defender. I'm suprised that Aidy Boothroyd hasn't taken him on.

In any case, should any of these players go back to  MLS, it'll be acknowledgement of failure, and an end to their growth. The only one in that list that belongs in MLS at this stage of their career is DMB.
Title: Re: Not What You Want: August 18 and Out of Contract
Post by: SteveM19 on August 20, 2010, 01:59:48 PM
Not so surprised about Boothroyd and Demerit not getting back together at Coventry -- they had something of a fractious relationship. Boothroyd took his armband, rightly or wrongly, one guy got mad, the other got peeved, I got the feeling there was a professional coolness between them that neither wants to have again.

Then again, Coventry's defense is wildly generous, Demerit can still get the job done at that level.