by GIANFRANCO PANIZO
When Maurice Edu made a move from Toronto FC to Scottish powerhouse Glasgow Rangers in August of 2008, big expectations awaited him.
In his first handful of months with the Scottish Premier League giant, the former U.S. Olympic standout has only amassed 64 minutes in one lone appearance this season.
Yet despite his lack of playing time, manager Walter Smith has washed away any rumors linking the California native away from Ibrox Stadium.
"I felt we had to bring in a few younger players and it always takes a little bit of time for them to settle in," said Smith to skysports.com.
With Rangers set to off-load a plethora of players this winter, fellow American and national teammate, DaMarcus Beasley appears to be one of the casualties while Edu seems to be in the coach's plans for the long haul.
Smith added: "(Kyle) Lafferty and Edu will play a big part for Rangers in the coming years, I've no doubt about that."
There's no question that Edu has talent and that U.S. National Team head coach Bob Bradley rates him just as much as Smith does. But with the emergence of midfielders Sacha Kljestan and Jose Francisco Torres, the former Maryland Terrapin could find himself on the outside looking in during the Hexagonal unless he starts to find some minutes in Scotland.
What do you think about Edu staying with Rangers? Think he'll find a substantial amount of playing time in the second half of the season? Will he have to wait until next season before receiving a more promising role? How will this affect his National Team standing?
Share your thoughts below.
Beasley will come back to haunt the Rangers after his great play with his new team.
Edu has shown promise, and can only improve…
First off…hlaf to 3/4 of you are idiots right along with Walter Smith… Beasley is a very good player still and is just out of favor with Rangers…the one thing you are all correct on is that he is not really suited for the SPL. They play physical and at times unattractive football on cruddy muddy pitches against teams that would stuggle in the MLS so they resort to tactics and hard challenges.. DMB can and will successful in the next stint in Europe or MLS. He was great @ Man City the limited time he saw because they wanted to play proper football with actual wing play.
Maurice Edu will do fine at Rangers because he can handle the physical play…as for it actually improving his footballing…not so sure…
Everyone needs to take a look at how Rangers got to the UEFA final last year… crunching tackles and boring defensive play…wonder why they are not even in Europe right now… because they tried to do it again…
With all due respect to Celtic and Rangers…the SPL is a very weak league and probbaly not even up to Coca Cola League Championship standards when you look at the teams on a whole.
does anyone agree with me and think that Edu should play some sort of D position. Because he played some Central D in the olympics and I think thats where he should stay, because i dont think hes good on the ball and hes not a good dribbler but he is fast and physical so he can win battles as a Central Defender.
You guys are out of you minds. Anyone that thinks that any of the British leagues aren’t horrendous out of maybe the top 5 Premier and 2 SPL teams are fooling themselves. Just because you play “physical” it doesn’t mean that the game should be played like that. There is a reason why those lower teams can’t handle their own outside of UK. Beasley never deserved to go to UK or should have gone better said. He was exceptional at PSV and he would have been incredible at La Liga. Look how much action and better performing Arjen Robben. Germany would have been a good league for Beasley as well.
Beasley suffered quite a few injuries at Rangers his last one he was out quite a while . I think he’ll regain his form but at another club, hopefully in Spain or back in Holland. I can’t think of another league as physical as the SPL, Ive been to Ibrox and watched the football up close and some of the tackles are brutal. On the other hand I think the physicality of the league suits Edu he’s big and strong and can certainly put in a tackle, he’ll be integrated into the first team over the next couple months I wouldn’t worry, it even took Gattuso a bit to break through.
“…while USA international Edu cost £2.6million in a deal agreed with the Major Soccer League.”
Is it too much to ask for foreign outlets to get the name of the freakin’ league correct? Come on Sky
If Edu works his ass off and excels in training, maybe he’ll get a few minutes as a garbage-time substitute in front of 4,000 rabid Hamilton Academical fans.
Why did he leave MLS again?
There can’t honestly be people out there who think Scotland has better soccer on offer than MLS, can there?
Give him time. We are too quick to say a player should leave before giving them time to adapt. The coach is confident in him, Edu will get there.
Bradley doesn’t seem to put as much weight on his players getting club minutes as European coaches do. Just look at Freddy Adu. I think as long as Edu works hard in training for both club and country Bradley will consider him as much as anyone else for playing time. Just my guess.
How many “fresh starts” is Beasley going to need before finally getting first team minutes? Also NATO, if Fulham beat Kettering Town they will be in the last 16, not the quarters.
Doug, “bouncing up after taking hits” and “staying up while taking a hit” are altogether two different parts estabslishing yourself on in the big leagues.
People who think Beas is missing anything in the “heart” department aren’t paying attention. Beas is remains one of the best two-way players that the USMNT has. He performed well at PSG and Man City given his limited opportunity. And I find those comments about the Scottish league being too physical for him difficult to believe as well. Once you are at the pro level, all leagues are physical. And if you are fast like Beas, you are always going to get fouled. But he bounces up after taking hits. If he is leaving Rangers, it is because of reasons other than “heart” or his small physical stature.
Beasley come to ny
I think Beasley has lost a step or two and he’s not getting them back. We ned to realize this isn’t 2002.
I could see Altidore up top partnered with Donovan. Cooper/Davies could be their subs and enter around the 70th minute. Davies already has the super-sub role down. Cooper needs several more games to get up his skill at playing at a high stage.
Is there anyway possible for EJ to make our roster for the next World Cup? Is Ching even higher up than him for a seat? I figure we need 4/5 strikers- Altidore, Cooper, Davies and Donovan. The 5th could be EJ or Ching.
EPL is the best league in the world. La Liga and Serie A come awfully close. But we need our players to finetune their skill. Playing in The Dutch/French league can accomplish this. Look at Beasley/Bradley, time at a Dutch club has done wonders for their career. Scandinavia clubs are for the average to low skilled players and Scottish/Turkish/Greek/Belgian are rough and tough leagues that are sorta feeders to the Big 5.
” it’ll take time for him to adjust ”
How does one adjust by not playing? Is it the language? I hear Canadian and Scottish are related langauges, but still both quite different than American. 😉
How much time should the consistent benchwarmers in Europe get to adjust, particularly in lower level leagues where the language is the same?
You guys should join SBI on FB and write some posts so we can discuss more of favorite Yanks Abroad and upcoming WC qualifying.
Beas isn’t physical enough to last in the Scottish or English league. The players in those leagues make the starting 11 because they play at 100 MPH with all their heart. I don’t really see that from Edu or Beas. American players seem to be raised on a system of extreme technicality and not playing from within and giving it your all. I’d like to see them move to the Spanish leagues because it is such a technical league and far less physical. They are better than 80% of the players in Scotland, but they probably are intimidated half the time from the hard tackles.
Supposedly Gooch is heading to PSG in the summer. No rush, seeing as he is leading Standard Liege to another league title and should be able to help them reach the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup.
Charlie Davies might also be heading to French club Sochaux whether in a few weeks or this summer. Brillant move for him. He’s a big star at Helsingborg.
Fulham has some low 4th or 5th division team they are playing against in the 4th Round of the FA Cup. Called Kettering Town. Looks like easy sailing to the quarterfinals. I can see Fulham reaching the semi-finals if they get another easy team.
If Edu can get even time as a sub for Rangers, he will be in the squad for the World Cup.
FCU & TR – Good point, but has he made the most of his oppty or not? That is the bottom line at a top club like Rangers.
We will probably be saying the same of Michael Bradley at Gladbach, a bottom feeder in the Bundesliga, by the end of this season.
Beasley must make 1 of the highest wages on the team.
I’m sure Beasley is heading to a mid table or lower team in Germany/Spain.
TR- Da Beas isn’t the best fit for SPL. The game is more physical which causes him problems because of his size and durability. His best moments were in Cup competitions. He’s best suited for leagues on the Euro mainland. Allegedly he wants to return to MLS. If true I would be led to believe that he may not be fit for play in Europe all together.
It has to make you wonder about the differences between Beasley and Edu, beside the money. Is it attitude? What has happened to Beas?
Isn’t this about clearing salaries to purchase new players? Beasley surely makes a lot more than Edu.
I have it on good word that Edu looked good in the one game he played. Couple that with praise from Walter Smith and it sounds like Edu has a bright future ahead of him at Ibrox and with the USMNT.
Edu is fine at Rangers. He’s composed, wins the physical battles, creative, great dribbler, a decent shot from distance and not bad with his left foot either. He shows leadership in any position he plays and is willing to help the team anyway possible. Going forward it will be interesting to see how our central/defensive/attacking midfield pool shapes up because we have got some good prospects in there.
Cardiff City vs. Arsenal in the F.A. Cup 4th round. Maybe Eddie Johnson will get some playing time against a big team.
Beasley was at home in the Ere Divisie. He should make a return.
Edu should definitely stay, but he should go on loan within the SPL to get more first team minutes/experience.
Beasley has performed terribly this season, he’s deserving of his current place in the team. I agree though a fresh start may do him some good I fear we may have seen the best out of him though. Jozy has calf injury Malkin.
I think it’s best for Edu to stay. Like Smith said, it’ll take time for him to adjust and hopefully we’ll see him getting some time in the second half of the season.
jozy not on the bench right now either
Seeing that neither made the Rangers’ bench today… Beasley needs a new home!
Edu’s ability to play D-mid and Center back will keep him on the nats dispite Torres and Klejstan’s rise. If the US is to advance far into the WC we’ll need versitile players b/c there will be yellow card suspensions and injuries
Beasley just needs to get out of there