Yanks Abroad 2014-15

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Titans Bastard

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DrewDawg said:
 
I love that on the Bayern site they list each player's "star sign". Green is a Gemini.
 
At one point I was looking up some info on an American youth player for a J.League team and the club's website had every player's blood type listed.  Apparently that's a big thing in Japan.
 

Titans Bastard

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Seltzer says that a fee was agreed upon, but the Roma deal for Yedlin has fallen through and then provided this update:
 
  • The reason DeAndre Yedlin's camp passed on the Roma transfer was the plan for him to spend the rest of the year in MLS before heading to Italy. He wants to go over sooner rather than later, something that becomes possible for him with the capture of a Latvian passport.
  • The race for DeAndre Yedlin is now between Inter Milan and Napoli.
 
Link1   Link2
 

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Titans Bastard said:
Seltzer says that a fee was agreed upon, but the Roma deal for Yedlin has fallen through and then provided this update:
 
 
Link1   Link2
That sort of desire to play NOW against the best competition in the world is a good thing, right?   Have to like the fire in the belly.
 

Titans Bastard

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Still no resolution on Yedlin just yet.  Speaking of (formerly) rumored Yedlin clubs, it turns out that Roma was practicing about four blocks from me at Tufts today in advance of their friendly against Liverpool.  Should have worked from home.
 
Danny Williams posted on instagram that he just had knee surgery.  No word on the recovery timeline, but that probably rules him out of the September friendlies at least.  I was thinking that he'd be first in line to get a tryout in the Beckerman role.  I don't understand why he waited this long to go under the knife - as soon as he realized he wasn't going  to make the WC roster would have been the right time.
 
Agudelo is training with Orlando City for the time being to stay in shape.  I really wish he'd just get on with it and sign with a Euro club.  Showing up late in preseason is not what he needs.
 
Sunderland's Lynden Gooch joins the group of youth players who have played with the first team during preseason.  That includes Emerson Hyndman (Fulham), Caleb Stanko (Freiburg), Joseph Gyau (Borussia Dortmund), Rubio Rubin (Utrecht), Sebastian Lletget (West Ham United), Julian Green (Bayern), Gedion Zelalem (Arsenal), Shawn Kauter (Hertha Berlin).
 
Here's hoping for some good debuts this season.
 

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Freddy update!!  He's off to FK Jagodina in Serbia.
 
(Though it is the notoriously unreliable Ives Galarcep.)
 
 
 
The 24-year-old midfielder reportedly decided on Jagodina after weighing other offers from Sweden, India, and AEL Limassol in Cyprus, who are currently taking part in UEFA Champions League qualification.
 
 
Is it possible to write a sentence that screams "journeyman!!!" more than that one?
 
Adu in India would have been classic.
 

Titans Bastard

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bosox4283 said:
Is there a reason why Adu does not come back to the MLS? Is there not one team that wants him?
 
Too much baggage; not worth the effort.  I think it's clear he's poisoned the well.  It's hard to get the complete story, but he seems roundly disliked by a lot of players and coaches.
 
 
 
* Ariel Lassiter (yes, Roy's son) has signed with GAIS in the Swedish second division.  Ariel played one year at Cal Poly.
 
* All four clubs with Americans advanced in the Europa league -- Rosenborg (Diskerud), Molde (Horvath), FH (Reynolds), and Stjarnan (Punyed).  Expected results for the Norwegians, epic results for the Icelanders.  More Yanks to join later on in the competition, as well as the CL.
 
* Wenger talks Zelalem.
 
 
He is a player with a good eye and good technique and is very agile. He has the ambition to find the ball on the field. So he's the kind of player who could be of use to the United States. He's in some ways the type of player the U.S. was missing in the World Cup.
 
He is potentially an international player, for sure. But the next two or three years he will have to show he has the mental qualities to fill that potential. That's what's at stake for him now. If he grows physically, since he's slim, and continues to develop his mentality, the potential is there for him to be a top professional player.
 
 
 
Right now, I don’t think he's ready. I don't think he's ready in the next six months. Next season, I hope to say yes. But if things go quicker than expected, maybe from January onwards. 
 
* Seltzer is getting a bad case of whiplash from the Yedlin transfer story....now the word is that the Roma move is potentially back on, and may involve a loan back to Seattle for the rest of the MLS season.  I guess at this point we might as well just wait and see.
 
EDIT: Chiesa di Totti is saying $5m for Yedlin, but nothing official yet.
 

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Frankly, there is no one I'd rather have in charge of a potential US star's career than Wenger. Those comments strike the perfect balance between praising the player and emphasizing his need to keep working hard to capitalize on the innate talent. 
 
Also relevant from that link (because it gets very Arsenal centric afterwards):
 
SI: Do you think his choice will be to play for the U.S.? (Zelalem, born in Germany to Ethiopian parents, is currently eligible to play for Ethiopia and Germany. He lived in the USA from when he was 9-15 and his father is in the process of obtaining U.S. citizenship, according to SI's Grant Wahl, which would have a trickle-down effect for Gedion)
Gazidis: I don't know. If you speak to Gedion, it sounds like you're speaking to an American. And, certainly, when we found him, he was living in D.C. and thinking of himself as a young U.S. kid. But I don't know, that's a decision he has to make.
Wenger: He feels American. But who will he choose? I don't know. He's a product of modern society. More and more players, like him, have three national teams and have to choose one. Look at Algeria's World Cup team, 17 of 23 players were born in France.
 
 

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Titans Bastard said:
 
* Ariel Lassiter (yes, Roy's son) has signed with GAIS in the Swedish second division.  Ariel played one year at Cal Poly.
 
 
I'm embarrassed to say I went to more Mutiny games than anyone should. Thanks for making me feel incredibly old
 

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Titans Bastard said:
 
 
Sunderland's Lynden Gooch joins the group of youth players who have played with the first team during preseason.  That includes Emerson Hyndman (Fulham), Caleb Stanko (Freiburg), Joseph Gyau (Borussia Dortmund), Rubio Rubin (Utrecht), Sebastian Lletget (West Ham United), Julian Green (Bayern), Gedion Zelalem (Arsenal), Shawn Kauter (Hertha Berlin).
 
Here's hoping for some good debuts this season.
Rubin's preseason is over, as he broke his nose and got a concussion on a challenge against a Scottish team earlier this week.
 

Titans Bastard

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Quintanariffic said:
Rubin's preseason is over, as he broke his nose and got a concussion on a challenge against a Scottish team earlier this week.
 
Yep.  He'll apparently be back to no-contact training next week, so it doesn't look too serious.  I don't think most of those guys, including Rubin, are/were going to get a shot with the first team right off the bat, anyway.  Stanko and Green are probably the best bets.
 

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BTW, Stabaek have lost 4 in a row, and have dropped into the bottom half of the table at about the halfway point.
 

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https://twitter.com/TBoyd91/status/493774141741617152
 
 
Not the best start to his tenure in Leipzig.
 

Titans Bastard

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* Tim Howard has signed a new deal......with NBC Sports.  He'll be doing 10 games on dates when Everton isn't playing.
 
* Most of the youth players who were playing preseason matches with the senior team at their clubs have returned to the reserves for now.  Fulham midfielder Emerson Hyndman has been given a squad number, though, so that's good.
 

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Titans Bastard said:
 
Yep.  He'll apparently be back to no-contact training next week, so it doesn't look too serious.  I don't think most of those guys, including Rubin, are/were going to get a shot with the first team right off the bat, anyway.  Stanko and Green are probably the best bets.
 
Looks like Utrecht signed Rubin to a 4 year deal.  Have to like that as an indicator of his performance to date.
 
http://www.starsandstripesfc.com/usa-americans-abroad/2014/7/30/5952333/rubio-rubin-fc-utrecht-usmnt
 

Titans Bastard

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Quintanariffic said:
 
Looks like Utrecht signed Rubin to a 4 year deal.  Have to like that as an indicator of his performance to date.
 
http://www.starsandstripesfc.com/usa-americans-abroad/2014/7/30/5952333/rubio-rubin-fc-utrecht-usmnt
 
My understanding is that his four year deal isn't anything new, it's just making his signing official.  Most US players can't go abroad until they turn 18 and Rubin turned 18 in March, after the player registration deadline had closed.  It's been no secret that he's "signed" with Utrecht for a long time now, but this when pen was finally put to paper.
 
I don't mean to dampen enthusiasm about Rubin - I think he's one of our top prospects.  However, I think this deal is just his initial contract made official.
 

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Titans Bastard said:
 
My understanding is that his four year deal isn't anything new, it's just making his signing official.  Most US players can't go abroad until they turn 18 and Rubin turned 18 in March, after the player registration deadline had closed.  It's been no secret that he's "signed" with Utrecht for a long time now, but this when pen was finally put to paper.
 
I don't mean to dampen enthusiasm about Rubin - I think he's one of our top prospects.  However, I think this deal is just his initial contract made official.
 
Thanks.  Helpful context.
 

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Not that it matters but why is ZLATAN wearing a sports bra?
 

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Who knows, but once that picture's out, everyone's gonna start doing it.
 

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wibi said:
Not that it matters but why is ZLATAN wearing a sports bra?
 
Its a tracking device measuring how far and fast the players can run.  But yeah, the design could be a little more manly...
 

Titans Bastard

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Twellman's track record has been good lately.
 
 
https://twitter.com/TaylorTwellman/status/497062776377188352
 
 
 
But what about Kyle Walker?
 

Titans Bastard

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Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
Didn't the Roma deal fall through because Yedlin wanted to go to Serie A immediately and didn't want to wait until next year? If so, that Twellman report makes no sense.
 
Initially yes, but there was some reporting later that Yedlin had reconsidered.
 
I really don't know how it's transpired that Twellman has become such an accurate and speedy source for big-time US soccer news.  He will swing and missed at some point, but he hasn't to date.  The way he phrased it doesn't make it sound final yet, though.
 

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I just posted this in the Spurs thread, but it fits here too: 
 
But if anyone is going to buy Yedlin and loan him back to MLS, it needs to at least be close to completed today. Per MLS rules, any club who buys a player from outside the league or takes a player on loan from outside the league has to request the International Transfer Certificate (ITC) by today.
 
B) TRANSFERS AND LOANS
An MLS player may be transferred or loaned at any time to a team outside the League (subject to that team's Federation's transfer window), subject to the consent of the player.

The registration windows - the dates between which MLS may request the transfer certificate of a player under contract in another country - are as follows:

February 18 - May 12 (Primary Window)
July 8 - August 6 (Secondary Window)
 
 
http://www.starsandstripesfc.com/mls-usmnt/2014/8/6/5975503/deandre-yedlin-transfer-rumours-loan-sounders-mls-spurs-roma
 

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Morgan's Magic Snowplow said:
Didn't the Roma deal fall through because Yedlin wanted to go to Serie A immediately and didn't want to wait until next year? If so, that Twellman report makes no sense.
 
From another article I read, the Roma issue also seemed to stem from the fact that when he gets to Roma in January they were going to lend him out again, to another Italian team, and he apparently wants to go to a club that will let him get first team soccer without that second loan.
 

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DrewDawg said:
 
From another article I read, the Roma issue also seemed to stem from the fact that when he gets to Roma in January they were going to lend him out again, to another Italian team, and he apparently wants to go to a club that will let him get first team soccer without that second loan.
 
Which is why the Tottenham rumor makes even less sense because they've got a starting RB and cover...there's no minutes there unless someone gets hurt. 
 

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I don't know. One article suggested Walker would be sold, but he just signed a contract extension, so that would be expensive for someone. Although he (and Naughton) only cost Tottenham £9m so who knows?
 

Titans Bastard

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Yedlin isn't at practice today and the Sounders have confirmed that he's overseas for a physical.
 

DJnVa

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Twitter talk is that he's in London. Some Spurs accounts I follow are talking about him.
 
EDIT: goal.com confirming Yedlin deal.
 

Titans Bastard

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Titans Bastard said:
Sunderland's Lynden Gooch joins the group of youth players who have played with the first team during preseason.  That includes Emerson Hyndman (Fulham), Caleb Stanko (Freiburg), Joseph Gyau (Borussia Dortmund), Rubio Rubin (Utrecht), Sebastian Lletget (West Ham United), Julian Green (Bayern), Gedion Zelalem (Arsenal), Shawn Kauter (Hertha Berlin).
 
Here's hoping for some good debuts this season.
 
Hyndman is starting in Fulham's opener today, marking his professional debut.  He's an 18 year old central midfielder and from what I understand, plays best as a #8.
 

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Titans Bastard said:
 
Hyndman is starting in Fulham's opener today, marking his professional debut.  He's an 18 year old central midfielder and from what I understand, plays best as a #8.
 
Fulham lost 2-1, but Craven Cottage Newsround liked him:
 
 
 
Hyndman looked terrific to me, absolutely terrific.  Bold, busy, intelligent, technically able.  Very impressed.  Brendan Rodgers will buy him. 7.5/10.
 
Glad CCN isn't getting carried away...  I did see a portion of the game on a grainy stream and Hyndman looked very clean on the ball, as advertised.  The biggest concern with Hyndman historically has been his size -- he was positively tiny for a long time.  He's grown a bit now, although he'll never be a big guy.  But he didn't get knocked off the ball and I didn't see any turnovers.  No fireworks just yet, but a solid, clean debut and a nice start for an 18 year old.
 
There are a lot of games in the Championship and I expect he'll continue to get time.  Fulham seem like they are in full-blown rebuilding mode.  Magath is busy purging the rest of last year's dysfunction and malcontents (Stekelenburg left on loan to Monaco today) and is using a very new and young team.  Eight starters made their Fulham debut today and two more had only six pro appearances between them (Chris David and Moussa "The Other" Dembele).  Could be a fun season if the young talent blossoms and the team knits together, but promotion will be a tough ask.
 

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Official.
 
 
 
DeAndre has signed a four-year contract and will remain with Sounders before joining us ahead of the 2015/16 season.
 
So he'll be with Seattle for a calendar year, then?
 

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https://twitter.com/voetbal030/status/500273504722235392
 
 
Apparently this means Rubio Rubin is likely to start against Willem II.  Rubin is one of our best U20 prospects and it's exciting that he's playing for Utrecht immediately now that he's turned 18 and is eligible.
 

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That's a great development. He's in the perfect league for this stage of his development. Sounds like he put in a solid effort -- hopefully he can take advantage of the opportunity, and we see his name in the starting XI throughout the season.
 

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Titans Bastard said:
https://twitter.com/voetbal030/status/500273504722235392
 
 
Apparently this means Rubio Rubin is likely to start against Willem II.  Rubin is one of our best U20 prospects and it's exciting that he's playing for Utrecht immediately now that he's turned 18 and is eligible.
 
 
Pxer said:
That's a great development. He's in the perfect league for this stage of his development. Sounds like he put in a solid effort -- hopefully he can take advantage of the opportunity, and we see his name in the starting XI throughout the season.
Apparently he ended up with an assist in the first match, albeit due to almost completely whiffing on a cross before it found its way to the goal scorer.  Still, I guess the positive takeaway is that he was in good position to do so.
 

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Sources: Cameron asks for transfer away from Stoke City
 
There were suspicions when he was left out of Stoke's 18 last weekend.
 
 
 
Cameron has not filed a formal transfer request, but Stoke City appears ready to offload the American defender. The list of clubs interested in Cameron is a sizable one, with teams from Germany to Italy and within the English Premier League in the mix in the U.S. national team defender.

Cameron's desire to leave Stoke City after two seasons stems from wanting to play either as a central defender or defensive midfielder rather than right back, where he has spent the past two seasons with the Potters.
 

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Another debut alert:
 
18 year old left back John Requejo, Jr. made his first pro appearance for Tijuana in a 0-0 draw in Copa MX today.  Requejo was committed to UCLA but signed in Mexico over the summer.  He's the favorite at LB for the U-20 team this cycle.
 
Alejandro Guido (20) and Paul Arriola (19) also started, while Fernando Arce, Jr. (17) came off the bench.
 
 
Elsewhere in Mexico, Juan Pablo Ocegueda (21) started for Alebrijes de Oaxaca at left back.  He's on loan from Tigres.
 
Ventura Alvarado (22) started at CB and scored for Club América in the CONCACAF Champions League.
 

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DrewDawg said:
Another overseas signing: Former Marshall defender Travis Brent signs with Hercules Almelo, a team in the Eredivisie.
 
http://www.herdzone.com/sports/m-soccer/spec-rel/081514aaa.html
 
Weird.  It's not often that former NCAA players who went undrafted by MLS sign with clubs in the Eredivisie.  Usually the class of player below MLS draft-worthy heads to the NASL/USL or if they want a foreign adventure, to some place in the depths of the league system in Sweden or Germany.
 
Non-EU players are subject to a high (relative to Eredivisie finances) salary floor which is why you don't see too many Americans there, but it looks like (a)Brent has a Dutch passport and (b)he's signed to an amateur contract, whatever that means.  This looks like a low-risk flyer by Heracles here, but it's a nice opportunity for a guy who probably can't hope for much better.
 

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Infield Infidel said:
A question about the MLS draft: Could Brent have told teams not to draft him? Do players ever do that?
 
There are sometimes players who make it known that they are heading abroad, but if the player is that good a team may well use a low-round pick on him anyway, to retain his rights in case the Euro deal doesn't work out.  Marcus Tracy is an example - expected to be a first round pick, known to be going to Denmark, and was drafted by Houston in the 4th round.  Tracy has been injured non-stop and may be out of the game now, so it didn't work out for Houston, but it happens occasionally.
 
Brent wasn't held up as a top talent prior to the draft, although the media and MLS clubs themselves have made plenty of mistakes over the years.
 

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Brent was on a 3 week loan with them prior to signing. It looks like he also spent some time with Portland's U23 team before coming back to his final year in college. My kid's club coach was his HS coach.
 

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DrewDawg said:
Brent was on a 3 week loan with them prior to signing. It looks like he also spent some time with Portland's U23 team before coming back to his final year in college. My kid's club coach was his HS coach.
 
And it looks like he played for the West Virginia Chaos this summer in the PDL (same league as the Portland U23s).  The PDL is basically the soccer equivalent of the Cape Cod League, but with some post-college amateurs mixed in with NCAA guys.  Brent made the Eastern Conference best XI.
 
He made the all-Conference USA third team as a senior, which doesn't at all scream "future pro", so good for him.
 

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* Julian Green's loan to Hamburg is official.
 
* Devante Parker made his pro debut for Mainz this weekend.  Like his older brother Shawn, Devante is playing for the German program right now.  (Unlike Shawn, Devante is active with the U19s whereas Shawn has been dropped by the U21s.)  Still one to keep an eye on long-term, and he may be a better player than Shawn when all is said and done, especially because Shawn seems to have been plateauing for a while.
 
* Cesar Farias has been fired by Tijuana.  There will be a lot of Americans affected by this move.  Greg Garza and Joe Corona have been starting.  Paul Arriola has been coming off the bench and Amando Moreno, Alejandro Guido, and John Requejo, Jr. have been popping up in the 18 on occasion.  There are more at the U-20 level.  Farias played with little width which really hurt Arriola's playing time, so I hope that changes.  I also hope the new guy gives the other youngsters more of a chance.  I'd like to see our massive numbers at Tijuana start to translate into more pro-level players.
 

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Interesting article about Brek Shea
 
It's a good view into some of the challenges that American players face when going abroad.  Shea admitted that he jumped at the first opportunity without thinking through the long game.  He also struggled with adjusting to a typical Euro team culture -- basically minimal camaraderie and a manager who doesn't want to spend much time being nurturing.
 
It's sadly not an uncommon story.
 

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Brek Shea is off to Birmingham on loan for the next three months.
 
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