After eight caps and two World Cups, Marcus Hahnemann is considering retiring from the USMNT to focus on his club career.
"I haven't played the last few times I've been called up and traveled. You question whether it's worth going," Hahnemann told the BBC
The 38-year-old, who received his first call-up in 1994, is currently the number one goalkeeper for Wolverhampton in the English Premier League.
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LIVERPOOL OWNERSHIP DECISION EXPECTED TOMORROW
The chaos surrounding John Henry's bid to take over Liverpool FC will take another turn tomorrow morning when the English High Court will hand down a decision over whether or not the club's board can approve the Red Sox owner's 300 million pound offer to buy the club.
Justice Floyd heard from the representatives of current Liverpool owners George Gillett and John Hicks and the Royal Bank of Scotland, who owns the club's massive debt, over the legitimacy of Gillett and Hicks' restructuring of the board to block the sale. If the sale does not go through by this Friday, RBS has the right to call in Liverpool's debt, take control of the club and sell it to whomever they like. This would result in a nine-point penalty for Liverpool for entering administration.
DEMERIT EYEING MLS RETURNS
USMNT defender Jay DeMerit is looking to return home and join an MLS club after he failed to find a team during this summer's transfer window.
DeMerit said he is open to anything but several MLS clubs have shown interest. The 30-year-old began his career with the Chicago Fire but transferred to England in 2003.
MANCHESTER CITY CUT UNITED'S DERBY TICKETS
Frustrated with Manchester United supporter's unwillingness to comply with safety regulations during last year's derby, Manchester City have cut the allocation of tickets to their crosstown rivals. United will have approximately 280 tickets cut when the two teams meet next month.
Ranger SG,
I find your assessment a bit off. Had Howard had to go out in the past WC, I would have felt MUCH better with Hahnemann replacing him than Guzan. Guzan sees very little action at Villa behind Friedel, whereas Hahnemann plays weekly, and quite well I might add, for Wolverhampton. He also has years experience on Guzan. The age thing is a bit misguided as well. Most keepers have much longer “shelf life” than field players, and often peak later in their careers.
Having said that, I totally agree with Hahnemann’s decision. Why waste all that time with travel and training if you’re not going to see action, AND potentially get injured in camp and not be able to return to your club? It’s kind of a no-brainer.
That’s a good question. Could possibly be the 3rd goalkeeper for the Gold Cup if Marcus doesn’t want to participate in that.
Dom Cervi? Luis Robles? Nick Rimando? Jon Busch? Kevin Hartman? Kasey Keller?
Based on current form I’d have to go with Kasey Keller, or Kevin Hartman (provided he returns to his pre-injury form)
I agree. Hahnemann is #2 in my eyes. If Timmy had gotten injured and has to come out during the World Cup, who would you want to replace him? Villa’s backup keeper or Wolves’s starter? I would have gone with Hahnemann.
I’m not concerned by this though either. We’re playing friendlies right now, so it’s good for Guzan to get some practice. We have one more friendly this year (in November against South Africa) and goalkeeping call up of Howard and Guzan will be fine for that. I’m assuming we’ll have 2 friendlies in January as part of Camp Cupcake, and neither Howard nor Guzan or Hahnemann will be called up for those. Then probably a few friendlies in March/April/May, and again Howard and Guzan will do. As for the Gold Cup, we’ll need 3 goalkeepers. If Hahnemann doesn’t want to take part in that, then whatever. Not a huge deal.
Also, God forbid that Timmy gets hurt, but if he did, I’m sure that Marcus Hahnemann would be more than willing to come out of retirement (if he does retire internationally) for the Gold Cup.
Well the Vancouver Whitecaps are first in the allocation ranking so if he’s the first US International to come at the start of next season then he’s all there’s, unless they decide to make a trade. Frankly, I hope they do because I want Jay DeMerit playing for an American team, not some Canuck expansion team.
You write: “Well Marcus, I like you, but you really are, at best, the #3 Keeper in the pool.”
Now, as a brutally honest Magna man, I’m sure you’d concede that that is some pretty condescending garbage.
Yes, Guzan is full of promise and potential; yes he is being groomed to be Timmy’ replace; and no, I have no reason to “talk down” about him.
The fact of the matter is good GKing is all in the consistency and most GKs don’t peak until their early thirties. He is still young, and he has not yet had any occasion to prove his consistency at the top level. He is an understudy, with promise – nothing more, nothing less. But he is not the second best GK in the USMNT pool – Marcus is, because he has proven that he can do it, game in and game out, year in and year out.
I’m not really concerned about Marcus’s int’l retirement, I’m just interested in giving respect where respect is due and Marcus deserves quite a bit.
Also, there is no such thing in the GK world as a clear #1 in waiting at the club level. #1s are not bred, they are bought.
When Friedel moves on – god love him – Villa will spend some money on another GK and Guzan will have to win the spot, plain and simple. His place is not at all assured – and he’d be the first person to tell you that.
p.s. “upside demonstrably” really? you’re killing me man…
Regardless of not getting tons playing time, Hahneman all that I’ve read suggests that Hahneman has been a great presence in the locker room. Its not easy to be a backup keeper…you must have the talent and mental strength to step into the game at any minute, but you also can’t be a cancer to the whole team when you don’t get the playing time you want. Its a delicate balance, and Hahneman has been great in that role and great for US Soccer. I’m sure his presence with the team will be missed if he does decide to hang it up.
It’s 10% of their allocation and I’m sure the 280 United fans that don’t get to go will be pissed and City will have made their point to the fans without angering the higher ups at United.
The difference is that Portsmouth had genuine money problems and were selling off their good players even before last year.
Kasey Keller!
Oh, I do feel bad. But as others said, he came in at the wrong time. I said in my post I was being ‘ruthlessly honest’ about it. I respect him as a keeper and I’d pick him up in my Championship Manager side any day. But for the US side, what can you do?
4now,
1) Guzan is retained by Villa and is only a backup because they have Friedel. I’m sure you’ll talk down Brad’s performance. Guzan is clearly their #1 in waiting, and no one is crying about that for them.
I’m not down on Marcus. I like him. But he’s not better than Timmy, he’s not younger than Guzan, and he has less upside demonstrably than either. So in matches where we need to win, it’s Timmy. In matches we want to get a look at the future, it’s Guzan. Where does that leave Marcus? The cold. I like him. But there’s no reason to be concerned about his retirement.
And I’ll have you know I graduated Magna Cum Laude and I spit on B- grades. 😛
jonk,
I’ve seen more than one discussion about Demerit expecting a DP slot in MLS. If that’s so, then his wage expectation is probably pushing down the enthusiasm for suitors. At this point, he’s not going to be young enough to play in 2014 anyway, so honestly he has every right to hold out for the ideal opportunity.
Wow- 280 less tickets. Man City is really sticking it to them. That’ll show ’em.
Poor Hahnemann. He’s an underrated keeper. Been so all his life for club and for country. He could have totally started at Gold Cup 07 or 09.
Liverpool won’t be relegated. Idiots.
They will rise like a Phoenix.
Hahnemann is just unlucky to have come along at the same time as Friedel, Keller, Howard, etc. He’s a very good keeper who could have easily been a number one for most nations; he was just a victim of circumstance. He does appear to have several good years left at the club level. I wish him nothing but success.
+1
Umm… Tony Meola is back baby!
This is absurd. Marcus is the first choice goalkeeper for a EPL side, and has one of the highest save percentages in all of England. Guzan has not proven himself as a consistent first-choice GK in a top European league – until that day, he will remain #3 in the pool behind Marcus and Timmy. And the gap between the two of them is not as far as many people believe.
Regardless, the British press only publishes stories like this because sites like this link to them and it increases their internet traffic and advertising revenue.
There is no story here, as someone notes below.
p.s. “disparate expectancies” — are you serious? did you crib this from your B- Sociology 101 paper or something?
Yeah, if he were only from Luxembourg
I am not a Liverpool fan but this whole ordeal (point deduction)reminds me of Portsmouth. That’s all.
I wonder who becomes the third keeper if Marcus retires?
Calm down now. Doomed to not qualify for Europe, but hardly doomed to relegation.
Was it really a discrepancy on wages that kept him from finding a team this summer? I have no inside knowledge, but I assumed it was about him finding an upper table team where he could fight for a starting role. And after that didn’t happen, I imagine he’d be happy to get paid in the upper non-DP range back in MLS.
As far as Hahnemann, these quotes make it sound like he’s whining, but he also says “Tim has been number one for a while and they’ve got Brad Guzan coming through who’s a good keeper, I think they’re okay.” I think he’s being very realistic and also not too keen on lots of unnecessary travel.
Gotta feel bad for Hahnemann, the guy is a good, established keeper in the EPL and he can’t even get minutes for the USA.
I’m sure its frustrating knowing that he would be the No. 1 for almost any other country in the world.
Capello should look to see if he can get Marcus English citizenship…
If Liverpool gets penalized, it is pretty doomed to relegation. Isn’t it?
Geez, talk about rough year for Liverpool. I’m not even a fan of L’pool and I’m pissed at Gillett and Hicks.
Good point about DeMerit, especially when you have defenders like Omar Gonzalez improving rapidly. But then again, there may be an MLS team willing to fork up big bucks for Jay.
Well Marcus, I like you, but you really are, at best, the #3 Keeper in the pool. And as the oldest of the three, you have no upside, so I can’t blame them for not playing you when they have other, better options.
So honestly, retirement is probably best for all concerned, in the ruthlessly honest scheme of things.
As far as Demerit goes, I think the problem there isn’t lack of suitors, it’s disparate expectancies on the wage front. I don’t see how that’s going to improve if he moves to MLS. Is someone going to spend a DP on a 30 year old defender?
Like Liverpool can afford a 9-point deduction right now…
It will be good to have DeMerit in MLS, but who knows where he’ll end up playing given the twisted and screwed up league allocation process.