218 replies to this topic

[Titans Bastard]

Jose Francisco Torres has finalized a move from Pachuca to Tigres. Pachuca hasn't been as good since Enrique Meza left as manager. Tigres has been more successful lately, so this is probably a minor step up.

I think there will be more winter transfers for Americans.

* Juan Agudelo went to Celtic for a training session and now they're talking about trying to sign him.

* Alejandro Bedoya is out of contract and will be looking to move up out of Sweden again. Not sure what sort of offers he'll get, though.

* Michael Parkhurst is out of contract. He has little left to accomplish at Nordsjælland and will probably draw interest from somewhat bigger clubs.

* Mix Diskerud is out of contract. I've heard he's leaning towards re-signing with Rosenborg, but you never know.

* There's always a chance that someone will swoop in for Josh Gatt, although his injury problems slowed his momentum and may reduce interest for now.

* Steve Clark was Norway's GK of the Year after saving Hønefoss from relegation. He may have earned a move up the hierarchy somewhere.

* George John (FC Dallas) is out of contract and has a Greek passport. He's tried a Euro loan move before and I think he'll be looking to see if offers turn up abroad again.

[Titans Bastard]

Club Tijuana (Edgar Castillo, Joe Corona, Greg Garza) has advanced to the Mexican league final, overcoming a 2-0 first leg deficit to beat Leon 3-2 on aggregate. Good stuff from Tijuana -- it's their second ever year in the top division and they finished 2nd in the regular season on GD.

[Titans Bastard]

Michael Parkhurst, who was out of contract, has signed a 2.5 year deal with FC Augsburg. It's a move to the Bundesliga, but Augsburg is in an awfully precarious place. They might be able to grind out 16th place and win in the relegation playoff, though.

[Titans Bastard]

Stuart Holden will be in Bolton's 18 for their FA Cup match tomorrow. He's back!

[Titans Bastard]

Robbie Findley and Robbie Rogers mutually terminated their contracts with Nottingham Forest and Leeds United respectively and are expected to head back to MLS. Findley has signed back with Real Salt Lake after they acquired his rights from Portland. No word on Rogers yet.

Maurice Edu, who hasn't even been able to crack Stoke City's 18, is heading on loan to Bursaspor for the rest of the season. That's the Turkish club where Jozy had a loan stint a few years ago. When he was at Rangers, there always seemed to be interest in Edu from Turkey and from France, so I'm not surprised to see him land in one of those places.

A former LA Galaxy academy defender named Jeffrey Payeras has signed with Municipal of Guatemala. He's a 19 year old who got a cup of coffee with the U-20 team earlier in the cycle. It's an unusual move, but JuCo guys don't exactly have a lot of options domestically unless they want to try out for a minor league team. Apparently he has Guatemalan heritage, so culturally it won't be too much of a transition.

Sebastian Lletget, who has been the subject of a lot of youth national team hype over the years, has been making a lot of appearances on the bench for West Ham United, although he hasn't played yet.

Also pertaining to West Ham, Graham Zusi's trial is over and he's waiting to hear if an offer will be made. Juan Agudelo trialed at West Ham as well as Celtic and there is talk in the Scottish press that Celtic is trying to negotiate a deal for him.

Stuart Holden made his first appearance since September 2011 in Bolton's FA Cup win over Sunderland. Great to see.

[Titans Bastard]

Jozy! scored a hat trick last weekend in the Eredivisie.  He's up to 14 in the league, tied for second, and he has 18 in all competitions.  He's scored 14 of AZ's 27 league goals.  Now that AZ kind of sucks after losing so many key players last offseason, I have to wonder if Altidore will be picked up by a bigger club next summer.

 

Paolo DelPiccolo signed a six-month extended trial-style contract with Eintracht Frankfurt, where he'll probably play with the reserves.  He just finished his senior year at Louisville and was drafted by Montreal -- odds are that he'll eventually end up back in MLS with the Impact.

[dirtynine]

What's up with Edu?  He was getting regular minutes at Rangers - is Stoke that much better?  I know EPL competition is a few steps up from SPL, but Rangers' roster at that time had to have more talent than Stokes does now.  Did he lose a step post injury?  

 

All that said I like it when some YAs go to non-big 5 leagues - I think it helps inform and improve the American game in unpredictable ways.  

[Titans Bastard]

What's up with Edu?  He was getting regular minutes at Rangers - is Stoke that much better?  I know EPL competition is a few steps up from SPL, but Rangers' roster at that time had to have more talent than Stokes does now.  Did he lose a step post injury?  

 

All that said I like it when some YAs go to non-big 5 leagues - I think it helps inform and improve the American game in unpredictable ways.  

 

I think Stoke is better than Rangers, but the more important factor is that it appears Stoke acquired Edu as bargain-basement depth.  Pulis already has a half-dozen CMs who he likes and trusts and I don't think Edu was ever a significant part of his plans.  You can argue that Edu is better than a guy like Dean Whitehead, but the gap isn't so large that it would overcome the manager's preferences.

 

Going on loan was definitely the right move.  Bursaspor isn't a bad gig, especially if you are still under contract in England and don't have to worry about getting paid.

[Mr. Wednesday]

What's up with Edu?  He was getting regular minutes at Rangers - is Stoke that much better?  I know EPL competition is a few steps up from SPL, but Rangers' roster at that time had to have more talent than Stokes does now.  Did he lose a step post injury?  

 

Yes, Stoke is that much better.  I think you underestimate how far the talent had fallen off at Rangers before the administration/NewCo.  Their last SPL season, I think they were a Colaship-level side at best.

[dirtynine]

Fair enough, that makes some sense.  I guess the Rangers name impressed me a bit more than it should have there.

[Titans Bastard]

After negotiations appeared to collapse, Galarcep is reporting that Brek Shea will be sold to Stoke City pending a physical.  Fee rumored to be in the $3.5-4m range.  I think this is a good piece of business for the league.  Shea looked great at times in 2011, but he played hurt for much of 2012.  He had offseason surgery and only just returned to training, which makes the timing of this transfer odd.  Shea is not close to being matchfit and I wouldn't expect him to make much of an impact for Stoke in 2012-13.  Maybe he will get a bit of a run in the spring.

[Billy R Ford]

When he is fit, I hope they play him as a left winger and not as a left back. I've seen some speculation they want him as a fullback but I still see him as having a lot more potential as an attacker.

[Titans Bastard]

When he is fit, I hope they play him as a left winger and not as a left back. I've seen some speculation they want him as a fullback but I still see him as having a lot more potential as an attacker.

 

Yeah.  Using him at LB or CB makes sense in theory, but when Dallas experimented with him back there he just hasn't seemed to have the right mentality for it.  Most of the Shea-to-defense school of thought springs from a winter friendly a few years ago between the then-current Generation Adidas group and a Spanish club (Atletico Madrid, IIRC).  Shea had to play CB because there weren't many GA defenders at the time; apparently Shea did well and Atletico's manager at the time said that he was very surprised to learn that Shea was normally a winger.

Hyndman then made some noises about Shea-to-CB and he experimented there at the beginning of 2011.  He started off with a red card and then never looked comfortable.  Dallas lacked offensive options that year, especially when David Ferreira went down, so Shea quickly got dragged upfield and then proceeded to play well enough to be in MVP contention until cooling off towards the end of the year.  Talk of Shea to defense has never been serious since, although you never know with a transfer.

 

 

Greg Seltzer is saying that the transfer fee is in the ~$6m range, which causes me to raise an eyebrow.

[Titans Bastard]

* Conor O'Brien is moving to FC Nordsjælland from SønderjyskE on a free transfer and signed a two year contract.  This a modest move up from a relegation battler to the defending champs (and current #2).  Not bad for a guy who went undrafted by MLS and had to sign in the Danish third division 2.5 years ago.

 

* Seltzer is reporting that barring a last minute change, Alejandro Bedoya will re-sign with Helsingborg on a six-month contract.  It seems like he had a very eclectic group of suitors: Brest, Dynamo Dresden, Elfsborg, FC Sion, Chernomorets Odessa, CSKA Sofia, and clubs in MLS, Mexico, and Belgium.  He probably turned down more cash for a short-term deal in a familiar place, where he'll hit the market again during the summer transfer window in the hopes that he'll have more appealing options.

 

* Jozy just got his 20th of the year at Den Bosch in the Dutch Cup QF, drawing and scoring a PK.  Den Bosch supporters making monkey noises at him.......  this will get some attention.

 

* Brad Guzan will be the best goalkeeper in the Championship next season.  Villa are absolutely putrid right now.

[Titans Bastard]

* AZ Alkmaar is having a crappy season in the league, but they are through to the Dutch Cup final after beating Ajax 3-0 in Amsterdam.  Jozy scored two and assisted on the third, which brings his overall season total to 23 goals and 6 assists.
 
* Tijuana has gotten off to a hot start in the Copa Libertadores.  They beat Millonarios in Colombia and then thumped San Jose (Bolivia) at home.  Edgar Castilo and Joe Corona both scored.  They play the toughest team in their group, Corinthians, next.
 

Edited by Titans Bastard, 27 February 2013 - 10:20 PM.

[Titans Bastard]

* AZ Alkmaar is having a crappy season in the league, but they are through to the Dutch Cup final after beating Ajax 3-0 in Amsterdam.  Jozy scored two and assisted on the third, which brings his overall season total to 23 goals and 6 assists.
 
* Tijuana has gotten off to a hot start in the Copa Libertadores.  They beat Millonarios in Colombia and then thumped San Jose (Bolivia) at home.  Edgar Castilo and Joe Corona both scored.  They play the toughest team in their group, Corinthians, next.
 

 

Another week, another goal for Jozy, and another win for Tijuana, who beat Corinthians 1-0.  Corona started, Castillo didn't play; he had surgery on his face after breaking three bones against Atlas.

[Titans Bastard]

Jozy scored two goals and assisted on third for AZ today, which brings him to 30 goals and 7 assists on the year.  Nice work.

 

The assist was particularly good:

 

 

He also nailed a FK:

 

 

I don't recall him taking many FKs in the past.  He's turned into a good PK taker, also.

 

 

 

AZ has sucked this year, but they are in the final of the KNVB Cup against PSV on 5/9.  Hopefully Altidore can put on a show in what could be the second to last game of his AZ career.  They will have trouble holding onto him this summer.

 

 

Bradley will also be involved in a cup final, as the Coppa Italia has come down to a Roman Derby.  Depending on how things go in Serie A, Roma might need a win to be involved in Europe next year.

 

 

On the other side of the pond, Tijuana begins their home-and-home against Palmeiras in the first knockout round of the Copa Libertadores.  Not sure what to make of Palmeiras, who were good enough to advance from the group stage, but who also were relegated last year in Brazil.

[Titans Bastard]

YA news...

 

* Tijuana beat Palmeiras 2-1 in Sao Paulo last night to go through to the Libertadores quarterfinals.  Edgar Castillo and Joe Corona both started.  They'll face Atletico Mineiro now.

 

* Hertha Berlin has won the 2.Bundesliga title.  John Anthony Brooks won a starting role early in the season and wrapped up a successful debut season.  Alfredo Morales was buried in the reserves for much of the year, but worked himself back into favor by the end and has been starting lately.  He is out of contract, I believe, and it is unknown whether he'll stay with Hertha as they move back up.

 

* Hoffenheim has been relegated.  I am guessing that a mid-table Bundesliga club will snap up Fabian Johnson.  Danny Williams had an up-and-down season and has been hampered by injury.  My feeling is that he stays with the club.

 

* Bedoya is back in Sweden and playing well as Helsingborg's #10.  He has 5 goals and 4 assists in 11 games (all comps), Helsingborg is at the top of the table and scoring for fun.

 

* Some young Americans heading abroad --

 

US U-17 attacking midfielder Junior Flores is training with Borussia Dortmund this summer and BVB hopes to get in officially in the fold by September.  If they can't get approval, his contract won't kick in until he turns 18 next March.

 

Kainoa Bailey (D.C. United U-18) has signed a contract with Bayer Leverkusen

 

Paul Arriola (LA Galaxy U-18) signed with Club Tijuana

 

Ben Spencer (Chivas USA U-18) signed with Molde.

 

I'm sure all of these guys will be given a shot with the next U-20 team.

[thehitcat]

Jozy scored the winner in the KNVB Cup on 5/9.  Putting AZ ahead 2-0 and they held on against Eindhoven 2-1.

 

I really enjoy these updates TB and appreciate the work that you and others put into them.