Oguchi Onyewu is back in club limbo.
FC Twente did not exercise its option to buy the U.S. national team centerback's contract from AC Milan on Friday. Onyewu joined Twente on loan in January, playing fullback and centerback in his 14 appearances (13 starts) with the club.
He's under contract with Milan until June, 2013, the final year of which he is reportedly due to play without receiving a salary. His options would appear to be staying at Milan and trying to win his way into the lineup, seeking out another loan or finding a team that will pay the necessary transfer fee to secure his services.
Onyewu was scheduled to arrive in Cary, N.C., on Thursday night for U.S. training camp in preparation for the upcoming friendly with Spain and CONCACAF Gold Cup.
What do you think of this development? What do you think the next step is for Onyewu?
Share your thoughts below.
Beasley and Reyna were at Man City together for a bit. Boca played for Fulham.
I remember when I heard he signed for Milan, I was so excited for him. But its been a no-go since he has been there, the knee injury didn’t help either. He may have went on loan at the wrong time, considering how the defensive injuries for Milan piled up after January. You would think Milan would have played him over Yepes, but you never know, we know how most Americans are treated in certain leagues. In order for him to stay in the USMNT pic, you would think he has to be playing. And if Nesta is staying in Milan, as well as Silva, I don’t see him putting either of them out of the starting 11. So, he probably needs to look for a move, and no way should he play/not play his last year under contract with Milan, with no salary. Man, remember when he, Beasley & I think Bocanegra were with Man City, haha? If I’m not mistaken? Before the arab money
well i dont want to root against the US but it seems the only way to get quality out there is a new coach…and only one way for that to happen…
He never played in MLS!
He was a starter he started all the games when AC Milan played in the United States. The Milan coach at that time did start him every game what are you talking about ?
Maybe Milan will unload him or pay someone to take him?
I hardly ever post on this site although I enjoy reading it on a daily basis. I have to say, however, that a lot of the comments on here sicken me. Gooch is definitely not the player he once was but to call him things like a moron is just plain idiocy.
I’m not quite sure what AC Milan offered him but, suffice to say, it was probably enough where ANY American player would have taken the offer. That’s not stupid….that’s understanding that your career has a definite lifespan to it and trying to earn what you can during that period. I’m sure Gooch had confidence in his ability and planned to fight like hell to get a top 11 spot. Things didn’t work out….that’s part of the sport and life in general.
To see a guy that has left his heart out on the field for the USMNT more times than I can count bashed so thoroughly on here just makes me sick.
I for one wish him all the best and I hope and pray he can find a team that helps him rebuild whatever career he has left in professional soccer. God knows he deserves it.
patriot
P.S. And bringing up a WC game from 2006…..really???
+1
You know… I used to be a double B fan. I understand experience– & I am still a Gooch fan– but some of the reasons for omitting certain players seems a little duplicitous…
Soccer can be cruel. If Onyewu didn’t get injured, he may have been more on the upswing.
Bob felt JD needed more minutes played before being called in following his injury, which makes no sense seeing as how half the squad doesnt get playing time with their clubs…
Are you serious? That was one of the worst calls in World Cup history, and blatantly NOT a PK.
Probably the best reason to replace a national team coach is what you just said: inability to see past th old “reliable” personnel of the last cycle.
Contracts are always renegotiated when a player transfers.
This sucks. I like Gooch, and I’m still pulling for him to regain his form and his confidence. Twente looked like a good place for him at the time of his transfer but then they proceeded to play him out of position at fullback. Gooch is a center back and only a center back. I’m not surprised Bob picked him for the Gold Cup, but I am surprised he didn’t pick more cover in the middle in case Gooch is not up for it. Demerit, not sure what is going on with him and why he is not in the squad. And a guy like Zak Whitbread who’s Norwich side just gained promotion to the premier league. Anyway I hope Gooch can pull it together and regain his form.
Yeah…I’m not sold. If you ever leave money on the table…or give money back, then you have made a bad business decision. Hindsight is always 20/20 however, paying a club to let you play an additional year is embarrassing. Which is exactly what he did.
Hey fischy…thanks for another scintillating post.
Never, EVER stop making comments on this blog. Reading your incoherent ramblings every few days bring so much joy to the community here.
You may continue with the ” I know you are but what am I ?” comments.
If AC Milan had any class as an organization they wouldn’t take him up on his offer to play for free. It was admirable for Gooch to make the offer, but players get hurt in international play all the time. It’s just a normal risk for Clubs.
Well – even though he might be bad at business, I’d wager he’s made more money than you’ll ever make.
It’s impossible to say, of course — but, I wonder if the injury would have happened if he wasn’t at Milan. If he was playing somewhere regularly instead, he would have been in better shape.
I’d like to think Jay DeMerit had much more physical presence holding Wayne Rooney scoreless than Gooch… did you watch Gooch recently versus Argentina? His whole career, his headballs and clearances have gone no where, mainly out of bounds… against ARG, every pass went to empty space with no purpose and Messi was beating him to headers
Thanks.
THANK YOU!!!!!! what is up with these people NOT seeing the obvious… he cost us some valuable plays in the WC…
demerit is gone? where did he go? i’d say still the most consistent center back.. how many times have guys not got called in because they needed to get minutes under their belt.. watch out for Chicharito doesnt score hat tricks…. and then after the Gold Cup, DeMerit will regain his place in the Nat’l side after he regains fitness.. a groin isn’t a blown knee like Gooch… i love the haters
Stop Making Sense
Gold Cup will be Gooch’s swan song for the nats. He’s clearly lost a few steps. I wouldn’t even want him on the Red Bulls. Hate to say it because he seems like a quality act, but any first division side in a respectable European league will be a positive for him.
Get over it.
Gooch’s weak, inept play produced the opportunity for the referee to make the call. You wouldn’t say that Gooch did anything right on the play, would you — anything that one would expect from a U-14 youth defender?
From the back (referee perspective) — lumbering Gooch out of position, looking heavenward, using his hands, behind the play, etc., it surely look like a PK foul by a desperate defender trying to recover.
A better defender would have been in position, would have been more aware of the attacker, would have been, oh-I-don’t-know, GOALSIDE of the attacker and would have not been using his hands like a basketball defender.
A smart attacker (Pimpong) eats up slower defenders like Gooch. That’s the Europe-wide well-known book on Gooch.
That mistake by Gooch actually was not fatal. The USA needed a win in that game to advance and not just a tie. Even if the USA had tied, it would have finished dead last in its group with 2 points in 3 games at World Cup 2006.
The weak-attacking USA had the lowest number of shots on goal of all 32 teams at that tournament. How was the USA going to get either one or two goals in the second half to prevail?
Go ahead and believe your fantasy belief that a team that tied Iran for #25/#26 (just behind Angola and Tunisia) deserved to play in the round-of-16.
Care to comment on the Czech first goal at 5 minutes (good lord!), Gooch’s assist to Rosicky instead of driving the ball away from US goal at 36 minutes, and then Gooch’s failure to pick up Rocicky’s drive through the middle for the 3rd Czech goal at 76 minutes in the 0-3 opening loss in 2006?
It is time for the USA to move on and find better central defenders and stop creating stirring but false stories about Gooch.
Gooch is like so many of our boys; the best you can ask for at times and really terrible at others. And as everyone on here knows consistency is what makes a top flight player – of any sport really.
It doesn’t seem likely but I’d be happy if he did finally come to the MLS. He’d be a star player, loved by his team and fans and would likely be a major contributor to the club.
But like some of you have noted, that Milan price tag is probably keeping most folks away.
Regardless, I think we all agree we wish nothing but the best for the guy.
Goodson has already turned down 2 BL offers last Fall. He’s apparently very happy with his deal in Copenhagen.
they’ll let him go…back to MLS
Are you insane? That was a flat out dive, not a PK foul on Gooch.
Ummm… I think you can argue with his SPORTING decision – If you think he never faced a real chance of breaking in with AC Milan, but who was going to pay him as much as Milan, even with the “free” year they are getting? His business decision was just fine.
Happy 29th birthday to Gooch — May 13, 1982.
Twente intelligently didn’t dare play Gooch in Eredivise games at the end when it became clear how quite poorly he was playing — slow, lumbering, poor foot skills, not all that truly dominant in the air — hello, Leo Messi!, clueless positioning, a disaster waiting to happen at any moment.
Look at weak VVV Venlo scoring in the first 3 minutes of the game during Gooch’s last start in the Eredivise in mid-March. Look at his clueless play and complicity in allowing both goals by AZ Alkmaar in 1-2 loss two weeks earlier. Look at his weak play against Villarreal and Zenit St. Pete in the UEFA Cup.
It was obvious that he was surplus to requirements as far as Eredivise play was involved — if they wanted to finish in the top-2 in the league.
In the last seven TC Twente Eredivise games, Gooch played one minute. He was on the bench for five games (DNP, coach’s decision), he subbed in at 90 minutes in one game, and he was not on the roster for the last game — injury? Gooch played one more minute than I played in those last 7 Eredivise games but I’m lousy on defense.
Come to think of it, so is Gooch…
A close look at his early play for Milan in the summer of 2009 in exhibition games showed that he also was unfit to play in Italy. Opponents scored in the first 10 minutes, first 2 minutes and first 4 minutes after Gooch took the field in his first three games for AC Milan that summer.
10-2-4 is notable for being the Dr. Pepper slogan — look it up (http://www.metnews.com/articles/2005/reminiscing121505.htm) — Gooch is the Dr. Pepper of central defenders — this is a bad thing and not a good thing.
In one of his last games that summer for AC Milan, the announcer was still announcing that Gooch was coming into the game when the opponents scored up the middle of the field within one minute of Gooch entering and inexplicably getting caught up on the attack near midfield and nearly crossing the half line. Sad. An AC Milan team that allowed only 22 goals in 38 games would not be interested in a “defender” who tends to be involved in disastrous goals allowed within minutes of entering games. His salary during his “free” year would still be too high for the best defensive team in Italy.
I don’t doubt that he is a nice guy but I don’t doubt that he never truly was a strong defender even before he was badly crippled 20 months ago. Ship him to MLS and get on with the tough job of finding new defenders for the US MNT.
Gooch is dumb. I will never forgive him for his 2006 World Cup mistake against Ghana
Agree 100%, he is done unfortunately. The move to Milan was a huuuge mistake……
I am not too sharp on the timing of this game in relation to CD9’s injury, but are you implying that we could have left CD9 at home to prevent him getting in a car accident?
That would have been some INSANE foresight, and that is really not a great way at all to support any argument about the value of a game vs. who to call up for it.
sadly i agree with those who say: gooch is dun’ and he ain’t never comin’ back.
Gooch=Moron…I love the big guy however, no one will ever confuse him for being a businessman. I’m willing to bet that Gooch never starts another game for Milan…and to add insult to injury, he won’t be getting paid the final year while he is off playing in the turkish 2nd division…no offense Adu.
You’re misunderstadning the statement. Fischy is saying when the conract ends he could come to MLS because they wouldn’t pay his transfer fee to get him now. Note the period at the end of the first statement…
if i recall correctly, he’s taken a number of Fks for the nats over the years… if he was terrible, i doubt he would be put in that position…
Me too. Ream/Goodson in int’l play scares me.
I may eat these words later but…
Gooch is done! Call it: time of death May 27th
Me too…I’ve never seen any ads. Just another reason to love chrome I guess.