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Gyau on trial with St. Pauli

Gyau (ISIphotos)

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Joe Gyau's quest for first-team playing time may involve a drop down to the 2. Bundesliga.

According to second-division German side St. Pauli, Gyau trained with the club Tuesday ahead of a potential move from TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. It is unclear whether that move would be a loan or permanent, but either way it would provide Gyau for a chance at first-team minutes that he is not receiving at Hoffenheim.

A loan would make the most sense considering Gyau's potential, something that Hoffenheim would be unlikely to try and cash in on this early in his career. Gyau just signed a three-year deal with the club in April.

A winger known for his blistering pace, the 19-year-old Gyau made his first-team debut with Hoffenheim in a German Cup match in February but otherwise played for the club's reserve team last season. He did not make the matchday roster for Hoffenheim's season-opening loss to Borussia Monchengladbach and faces a struggle for regular playing time at the top-flight club that also employs U.S. internationals Fabian Johnson and Danny Williams.

St. Pauli, which just missed out on promotion to the Bundesliga last season, has just two points from three games so far this season and has scored just one goal. Should Gyau make the move, he would join fellow U.S. youth prospects John Anthony Brooks, Alfredo Morales and Andrew Wooten in Germany's second tier.

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What do you think of this development?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Bartles and Daube are firm starters at on the wings so It’ll take a lot to unseat either of them. but i can see him definitely being an impact player of the bench at first.

    We’ll see what training with Hoffenheim
    ‘s first team has done for his game, and being a fan of st. pauli and gyau. i definitely look forward to seing his game flourish.

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  2. Matty Taylor, once considered a more talented footballer in MLS, has only been, at best a squad player on quality 2nd liga teams.

    The 2nd bundesliga is a great place to go, and more importantly. st. pauli is great!

    Junior Hoilett was a major factor into St. Pauli last promotion to the bundesliga, and then went on to be one of blackburns best players.

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  3. I’m not saying he should be playing I think staying and fighting for a position at a top flight club instead of going a step down is better, like I said, as long as it’s just on loan.

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  4. “Lucas Podolski was playing for a second division side at Gyau’s age, and Klinsmann brought Podolski into the German fold.”

    That is a little misleading. Podolksi was exceptional as an 18 year old for Koln scoring 10 goals in 19 appearances inhis first year. It was exceptional enough to earn him a call up to Die Mannschaft 2004 Euro squad. That same year Koln was promoted to the Bundesliga 1. The man who capped Podolski was Rudi Voller not JK.

    “It’s very common in Europe for most teenagers to be playing in second division or third division leagues for a couple of years.”

    There is no age limit per se. If you are good enough they play you but often, these days, the bigger clubs will loan out their top prospects for experience. A lot of these
    teenagers are either loans in for development or the clubs own teenagers
    that they are trying to develop for sale.

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  5. So Ives are you as high on him as Juan Angelo or whover that left footed colombian was from Jersey, Gabriel Ferrari, Danny Szetela?

    I think Gyua is better than Smith, but I wasn’t as impressed as I thought I would be watching Gyau in the Olympics. Seems like he just liked to run and then cut in a lot. Hopefully he develops into as good a player as Fabian Johnson, who is real good at working the wing.

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  6. Germany’s second division is as good or better than most 1st divisions around the world. Germany is a ridiculously deep soccer pyramid. Now I don’t think that means 2. Bundesliga players should be ahead of MLS players or guys in Belgium, but 2. Bundesliga is a fine place to play.

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  7. I didn’t say anything about their age bracket, and neither did Robert Daniels in the comment I was responding to. That’s exactly why I used quotation marks, lest their be any confusion. They are certainly some of our top *young* talent, but they are definitely not among our top talent overall.

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  8. You clearly didn’t see Gyau and Morales boss Mexico (close to the same team that just won the Gold Medal) back in February, then. Saying that these 2 aren’t among our top players for their age bracket is pretty silly.

    Regardless, I agree with your second statement.

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  9. Watch the pre-olympic match against Mexico and you’ll see that Gyau is not a one trick pony. The kid has some serious skills and if he can get some consistent playing time, either in Bundas 1 or 2) he will be an asset to the USNT as a backup to Donovan, Dempsey, Shea.

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  10. F*Co yea St Pauli is one of the best supported clubs in Germany and has one the.greatest club/ supporter cultures. I hope this loan goes through and it has a similar impact like the one it had for junior hoilett. Ill definitely buy his shirt

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  11. I saw Gyau in Frisco when they beat mexico, mexico could not handle his speed, porter was an idiot to not start him in the qualifiers, he created so many chances for the US vs mexico, one thing you can never teach is speed but when you had his skill and technical side it makes for such a dangerous player.

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  12. An American teenager at St. Pauli? What’s not to love. Coolest club in Europe, with sweet brown kit to boot. Time to order a new shirt!

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  13. Lucas Podolski was playing for a second division side at Gyau’s age, and Klinsmann brought Podolski into the German fold.

    It’s very common in Europe for most teenagers to be playing in second division or third division leagues for a couple of years.

    This will be a good move for Gyau’s continued development.

    Reply
  14. It’s a loan. Gyau signed a pro contract with Hoffenheim last season.

    This will be a a very good deal for Joe. He needs first team minutes, adn dropping down a division is perfect for his continued development.

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  15. (How in the heck did you beat me on this?) This would be absolutely fantastic if an offer comes Joe Gyau needs to take it. And I swear to gosh after St. Pauli got blanked last weekend and Joe failed to make the bench for Hoffenheim I was thinking a loan to St. Pauli would be the best thing for him and could help St. Pauli, which now has a huge lack of any offensive punch on the wings. Gyau would have a great chance of being a starter and I think he could be a force in the 2. Bundesliga. He would be playing on a team with a tremendous fan base in the second largest city in Germany, which also is the media capital of Germany meaning he will get all sorts of press coverage. St. Pauli coach is good and they have new sport director who just came from Geuther Furth, which he helped move up to the 1. Bundesliga. Even if it is not a loan, go for it, Joe!!!!!! You will not regret it and it will be your first step toward what could be a successful pro career.

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  16. Another article about a league in Europe that isn’t top 2, another bunch of American comments snickering at the thought of our young talent having the gall to not be good enough to start for Chelsea or Barca.
    First of all, the 2.Bundesliga is more than a quality league. Second of all, a 19 year old starting it in isn’t anything to sneeze at either.
    Third of all, the MLS is not perfect. Despite the increase in quality, it still has crappy coaching and training and style of play. I would take a 2Bundesliga team developing young talent over a MLS team any day.

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  17. I saw him in the Olympic qualifiers and he reminds me of Johann Smith; guy with tons of speed and the same (predictable) moves. Look what happened to Smith. If you are a defender just don’t commit for the 1st step and then you can take him.

    (SBI- Sorry to tell you but Gyau has a TON more technical skill than Johann Smith. Not sure how much you’ve seen of Gyau if that’s the comparison you come up with. I’ll say you haven’t seen him often.)

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  18. I hardly think that Gyau, Morales, et al. represent “a lot of our top talent.” Like Vic says, there’s nothing wrong with a teenager playing second division ball.

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  19. It is extremely uncommon for 19 years olds to get first team football in a top division. That mainly happens in MLS with homegrown players and their success has been shoddy.

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  20. Hope it’s a loan, I don’t like the fact a lot of our top talent would be playing in the 2nd Bundesliga. Also makes you think if Renkken didn’t have all those injury issues what he would have been capable of since he was the more talented player when they both signed there.

    Reply

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