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Wilson Palacios: CONCACAF’s newest big money player

Wilson Palacios (AP) 

You can add Honduran midfielder Wilson Palacios to the exclusive club of CONCACAF players to draw an eight-figure transfer fee after Tottenham completed a £14 million transfer move with Wigan for Palacios on Wednesday.

Palacios joins the likes of Jozy Altidore, David Suazo and Nery Castillo on the very exclusive list of CONCACAF players to draw $10 million or more in a transfer. As impressive as Palacio's transfer is, the scary part is that just three years ago he was plying his trade in Honduras with CD Olimpia, where Major League Soccer teams could potentially have landed him for a reasonable price.

Now, Palacios has become a transfer-record breaking player who is flourishing at 24 and who will be one of Honduras' key figures as the Central Americans look to qualify for the 2010 World Cup.

What do you think of Palacios' transfer? Happy to see another CONCACAF player find stardom? Disappointed that MLS did get its hands on him before he made it big? Worried that Honduras just might have the guns to knock off the United States and Mexico in the Hexagonal?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Look, Sven will do like he did against T & T, who bunkered with 4 defenders and 2 deep-lying center mids, ceding 75% of the possession to England (ala the “empty bucket”). But, Sven did NOT let his team get frustrated and start pushing-up, instead just kept possession (and position)and launched long balls way up the park to Crouch, gradually wearing the 2 central defenders down with knock-ons to Owen. Then, sensing England could win it, Sven introduced Rooney and Defoe, whose pace did the part. Mexico have plenty of speedy players to come in late like Medina, but Sven might just be happy with a draw and bring-on extra defenders for the striker(s). Nil-nil.

    Nuremburg, June 15, 2006

    England 2:0 T & T

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/world_cup_2006/4853008.stm

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  2. I think he is a great player, this year he is the outstanding midfielder in English football. He has a very bright future, I wouls onlt give him two years at Spurs before he moves on to a bigger club.

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  3. Palacios, good, good player, I was born , honduras, ceiba, and let me tell u all there is a lot good player specially the afro/honduran, very talented people and I always wonder why the mexican league and mls dont do better job signing these players,but also in honduras there is a lot problem putting a team together, because they always have problem finding the right coach, rueda our best coach so far. in honduras the mls can find some amazin players. look at pipo castro, roger espinoza.

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  4. stanley villa must hate the usmnt. no way mexico holds us to a clean sheet with marquez out in freezing a$$ columbus. its not 2006 anymore, and sven was not coaching mexico then.

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  5. “””The T & T game was not the best team the US could field”””

    That excuse is getting old really, still should have held T & T down there.

    “””The US should be able to win all their home games”””

    You’re in for a surprise on Feb 11. Sven knows how to counter the “Double 6,” for example, England’s match against T & T in WC 2006. Sven won’t take the bait and try to attack the “empty bucket”, thus, won’t leave any room for counters. Did you know Sven went unbeaten at WC2006? Did you know Sven is a much better coach than Dad?

    “””Costa Rica is down this year”””

    Really? topped their group.

    I predict only 2 W’s for Bob this campaign.

    2W 5D 3L 11 pts. 4th place

    vs. Mexico 0-0 D

    @El Sal 0-0 D

    vs. T & T 4-0 W

    @Costa Rica 1-2 L

    vs. Honduras 1-1 D

    @El Tri 1-5 L

    vs. El Sal 3-0 W

    @T & T 1-1 D

    @Honduras 0-1 L

    vs. Costa Rica 1-1 D

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  6. Due to low salaries and teams’ reluctance to let players go, MLS is not a prime destination. Even in CONCACAF. Why are people thinking that it could have singed Palacios is rather perplexing.

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  7. 4th place Stanley? The T & T game was not the best team the US could field, as we had already qualified at that point, so throw that result out. The US should be able to win all their home games, and Costa Rica is down this year, so winning on the road there will be tough but doable. T & T and El Salvador will also be tough games, but also winnable. That leaves what will most likely be losses to Honduras and Mexico on the road. That should have us leading qualification or at least 2nd.

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  8. you really think the US is gonna finish 4th or lower in the hexogonal?? Get real. There’s hardly even a chance that we finish below second.

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  9. “””US is finally winning some road games in qualifying, and should continue to do so during the Hex…”””

    I think Dad and the travel team are going to struggle away (and at home) and finish no better than 4th in the Hex. You can’t take anything from the 3 away games played so far, as the opponents were shocking really (and we still lost 1 of the 3 games).

    March 28 @ El Salvador — draw (early in the Hex, so El Sal will have life)

    June 3 @ Costa Rica — loss (strong trend)

    Aug 12 @ Mexico — loss (one draw @ in history)

    Sept 9@ T & T — draw, loss again possible

    Oct 10@ Honduras — loss (big loss possible here as Mexico, Costa Rica and Honduras conspire to send us down into 4th)

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  10. Steve Bruce is now lining up Palacios’ younger brother Jonny as well as Hendry Thomas. The only issue is getting enough caps for a work permit. MLS shouldn’t be missing out on these players.

    I am certain the three auto qualifiers will be the USA, Mexico and Honduras with Costa Rica getting 4th. This is Honduras’s time. They have never been this talented before.

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  11. When Palacios and Olimpia were getting stomped by DC in the CONCACAF Champions Cup a couple years ago, I can’t say Palacios looked much better than the rest of their team in either game. I knew going in that he was a Honduras international, but to be honest, no one on their team looked like anything special. I figured that Emilio, who we had just signed from Olimpia, must have been their best player by some distance. I guess that’s why Bruce is coaching a Premiership club and I’m posting comments on blogs.

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  12. Honduras has a blistering attack and a shaky defense.

    They’re actually very dangerous on the road b/c of the counterattack. They beat the US in DC in 2001 and it wasn’t an accident. They should’ve beaten Mexico in Azteca last fall except for two late Mexico goals.

    What they don’t do well is play collectively–almost all their goals come off individual speed/brilliance. Suazo takes 10 touches before he passes because he tries to carry the team. Nunez is a terrific outside shooter but not a great passer. Palacios turns into a ball hog with the bicolor, as well. Everyone tries to be “the” guy. They also have a hard time holding possession with a lead.

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  13. Palacios is pretty volatile. He’ll make an amazing play one minute and the next commit a two footed tackle that hurts your legs 2000miles away. I’m not too worried about him in qualifying.

    I’m glad for him to get a payday though!

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  14. What I truly don’t understand is if Palacios would have been in the MLS, no way people think of him as good. He would have been just another American league player and tossed aside.

    So I guess what I’m getting at is how many MLS players would be getting the attention/price that Palacios got if they weren’t in the MLS?

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  15. I think, Honduran players are more likely to go to Europe or China, since those leagues are willing to pay higher salaries. For example, right now Osman Chavez is negotiating with LA but apparently the offer was not a good one (according to La Tribuna). MLS thinks they can low-ball these players, so they go elsewhere…regardless of quality of league. Look at Victor ‘Muma’ Bernardez, he went to Anderlecht…or Maynor Figueroa at Wigan. Or even Walter ‘Peri’ Martinez plays in China because of the salary…which is why he may be hesitant to come to DC United/MLS. Honduran league does not pay high salaries, but they are not so bad that Honduran players will leave for low pay…some might just stick it out and wait for a better offer. I am just speculating, of course.

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  16. Wigan bought him for 1 million and sold him for 14? that is an amazing piece of business. Wigan are fightin for Europe while spurs are tryin to avoid the softdrink league. I wonder if Wigan spend now before the window closes in order to strengthen their squad to push for 6th place. If they wanted they could buy 2-4 players. 14 million may be a little high but Spurs are super desperate

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  17. I still think Hondurus will finish behind the US and Mexico, but I will be very surprised if the US get a point in Hondurus.

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  18. dos santos is an attacking mid/second striker that plays on the left side. palacios is a holding mid. very different players. dos santos is leaving spurs anyways, not ‘arry’s type of player, and not really the kind of guy you want for a relegation fight (no disrespect to his talent). gio’s spurs career ended when juande ramos lost his job. look for him to wind up at psg… and after he proves his worth there expect a big spanish or italian team to pick him up.

    as for palacios, hes exactly the kind of player that spurs need. zokora isnt much of a passer and his first touch is horrible. they need a real ball-winner out there, someone to do the dirty work and set up the modrics and lennons. if all works out as planned, palacios could potentially be for spurs what flamini was for arsenal. finally, a good pickup for them.

    and dont worry about palacios and the mls. he would have kicked ass here but he would have been gone within a couple of years, and we’d all be complaining about losing talent to europe. however, its pretty sad when arsene wenger does a better job evaluating talent in our own backyard than mls does (he scouted him and reccomended bham city to pick him up, why he didnt bring him to arsenal is beyond be… but he is the one who discovered him).

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  19. Palacios is quality. That guys style is nice to watch and he is very skilled. He’s one of those players who looks like everything slows down when he has the ball. I wonder how he will mesh with Modric becuase they both are players who need to have the ball for the team to reach there potential. I dont think Palacios arrival signals the transfer of Gio, I think it means the end for Jenas who has had a boatload of chances to impress and really hasnt

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  20. he was signed for Birmingham by Bruce. After Bruce left, McLeish didn’t take up Palacious’s option so Wigan moved in. McLeish sure has an eye for talent.

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  21. Not to worry if the MLS is eager to sign a Palacios they should go back down to Honduras and pay a visit to Olimpia and Marathon, where the rests of his brothers ply there trade. In all seriousness, congratulations to the guy and good luck, I hope he can keep that good form at Tottenham.

    Honduras has good solid guns that will make the Honduras vs USA series one of the best in the Hexagonal…

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  22. What’s strange these days is you can no longer make sense of the transfer fees. Teams that get desperate, like the Spuds, will just plop out a ton of money for whoever.

    No disrespect to Palacios, but I’m not sure he is as good as his transfer fee suggests.

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  23. He was on the radar, I read in some article that he was scouted and close to signing with the league but Europe caught wind of him. There was an article in the Guardian about Wigan’s central american connection. They said it was a total accident.

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  24. I have watched a bunch of Wigan’s game this season and can tell you that Wilson Palacios is quite a player. Hopefully he plays at Tottenham and doesn’t get relegated to the bench.

    Before he went to Wigan, apparently the Arsenal scouts discovered him and Arsene Wenger told Steve Bruce about him.

    It’s great to have a player from CONCACAF stand out in the EPL. The English fans and press are very complementary towards Palacios right now. Hopefully his play and transfer will help our region garner more respect and bigger transfer fees in the future.

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  25. Great payday for Mr. Palacios, and you can’t blame Wigan for taking the cash.

    Honduras has some very talented players. Playing them away is going to be a tough, tough game. I still think we’ll spank them at home though, as CONCACAF teams don’t traditionally travel well, with Mexico being the only exception. US is finally winning some road games in qualifying, and should continue to do so during the Hex and during the run-up to 2014. So hopefully the US can be the other team that can win consistently away moving forward.

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  26. of course it is nice to hear that someone from the Concafaf is doing great. I expect more to come, especially from our guy here in the USA and MLS. Altidore, soon Donovan and Sasha. And I hope the Cooper go out to Europe. That way people of South American Commentator and so call soccer especialist don’t critized our region plus the USA. So by all mean we need more people like the like of Wanchope (Man. City) Dwight York (Man. United) Brian McB. (Fulham) Claudio Reyna (Rangers) King (Hull) David Suazo (Benfica) Hugo Sanchez (Real Madrid) Jorge Gonzales (Cadiz FC) and many more. Those are few of players from Concacaf that done well in the past and present so keep it up.

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  27. The prices in England are just crazy, and now more than ever. Man City got involved and drove the price up. Don’t cry for Wigan, they made a 13 million pound profit and Bruce is pretty good at spotting talent. This is the type of deal that allows them to buy new talent and compete in the Premier League year after year.

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  28. How was Palacios not on MLS’ scouting radar? Didn’t we pick all of the best players from that league the past few years, with exception of David Suazo? Who are the guys who do the scouting for MLS, armchair guys who never played the game or non-former pros?

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  29. While i’m happy for him, I have enjoyed watching wigan play this year and i hope while this money might help in the future for hte club, i hope they don’t suffer this season becuase of it.

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