Americans on the move

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Is Geoff Cameron thug enough to play for Stoke?

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This is a good question.

Also, Shay Given showed that he wasn't as good as Guzan this year. Sure, he did ok (at times) in league play, but did you see him play for Ireland? Just awful. If Guzan gets the starting job with AV, all the better for him. If he moves somewhere else, it better be a top flight and a starting position. He needs game time, and he needs it NOW.

First American to play for a top 4 team? If you had asked me a year and a half ago, I would have said StuBear. Now it's looking like Bradley or Dempsey. In Bradley's case we might expand top 4 to include the top Italian teams or wherever else he might end up. I'm just happy he didn't wind up in Turkey or Russia, which was the speculation before his move to Chievo.

Looks like Bradley to AS Roma is on.

Per Greg Seltzer:

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Okay, undo your belts, it's about to get real. I've long reported the possibility of AS Roma chasing Michael Bradley, and friends, that time has arrived. I recently confirmed Italian reports that the Giallorossi had finally made an introductory call to Chievo about their only true American crush.

Roma are trying to move quickly on targets before Euro 2012 ends, when potential competitors and the big transfer topics turn focus back to the summer market. They are now doing the same thing in chasing Ajax right back Gregory van der Wiel. For Bradley, though, the early talks have been very productive. I've been informed by someone who would definitely know that Roma have vaulted ahead of Palermo in the race and could soon be getting close.

The details? No problem. Roma are hoping to pay around €3 million, with midfielder Leandro Greco and promising reserve team winger Giammario Piscitella also heading to Chievo in the deal. In case you're wondering, that approximately places Bradley's current market value in the €6 million neighborhood, so my guess that his price tag had doubled this season turned out to be pretty accurate. Personally, I feel that valuation is still low, but practical Chievo may not put up much of a fight. As far as playing time goes, Roma technical director Walter Sabatini is courting Bradley as at least a platoon man, if not expecting him to earn a starting place during the campaign.

High-wage Real Madrid loan midfielder Fernando Gago will not be back and their summer goal is to streamline the roster and wage bill best they can. As I said, this is not a drill. It's in effect and initially looking good. A few folks out there maybe thought I was making up this Bradley-Roma connection so long ago. I think they may soon realize that was never the case.

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Michael Bradley is worth two exotic sounding soccer players

American soccer has arrived

That would be like counting Jovan Kirovski's Champions League medal

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Greg Seltzer

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what an insufferable douche (then again, maybe he's got a massive chip on his shoulder, possibly his writing could be a function of a bit of both).

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Roma are hoping to pay around €3 million, with midfielder Leandro Greco and promising reserve team winger Giammario Piscitella also heading to Chievo in the deal.

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Greco: a very solid and versatile, if unspectacular, midfielder that plays with a ton of energy and passion. He's Roman and I hate when Roma loses hometown squad players but he needs a move to a bit smaller club to see more playing time.


However, Piscitella is a very promising 19 yo winger. He even saw a bit of first team action this season under Luis Enrique. I'd imagine Sabatini will try to wrangle a co-ownership deal with him.


Bradley to AS Roma:


I'm not sure that the "platoon" mention is that big of a concern.

Based on the age of many posters here, I'm not sure the awareness level concerning Roma's new manager Zdenek Zeman.



Here's a decent read on him:

English WSJ article by Gabriele Marcotti on Zeman


Anyway, suffice it to say that with Zeman's extreme attacking and pressing style no MF or Forward is going to be playing every match.
Here's how Pescara under Zeman lined up for kickoffs to give you an idea:






In my opinion, the success Zeman has had turning young talent into world class superstars should far outweigh the concern of playing time for Bradley if the deal is agreed upon.

So he runs a 2-0-8 system on kick offs?