Szetela jumps the pond!?!
By: scott | August 7th, 2007
If so much internet “chatter” is to be believed, it looks like Szetela is on his way to the land of espresso, chianti, and La Dolce Vita. Good for him. And ultimately–I’m thinking altruistically here–good for us. The kind of experience he’ll get in Serie A is essential to the future success of the US National team.
It looks like the question now is–which chatter do we buy into?
If you think Ives Galarcep knows what he’s talking about, look here: http://njmg.typepad.com/sbi/2007/08/szetela-to-sign.html
I think Roma is a great team, but as one of the comments suggests, he’s not going to get much time playing in a midfield that’s stacked out for champions league consistency. He’d probably end up at some Serie B anyway; how much different from MLS would that be (particularly now that Juve has served their “punishment”)?
If you think those hoolies over at Big Soccer are more reliable, look here: http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=573597
Lazio might be the better choice. Less pressure, more likely to get first team experience. Also note the interesting dialogue regarding Szetela’s development as an MLS player. I think, as soccer fans, we often assume the worst when we think of MLS–both because we want it to be so much better and because they occasionally botch the hell out of things–but from what I gather this kid has progressed as well as we could hope for. True, he hadn’t played much for the Crew before the U-20 world cup, but he’s been out injured for much of the time he’s been with us. So, if your believe folks like Bill Archer (posting on Big Soccer) he’s been gaining experience and developing skills with Sigi even though he hasn’t been a consistent first team player. Not to mention, any deal that goes through will see him finish his MLS contract which goes to the end of the year. This means he’ll be with us for our playoff run. Even more experience to take with him across the drink.
So, as I said recently, good luck to you Danny-boy, we’ll be watching. In the meantime don’t forget about the Black and Gold.
Category: Team News
Comments
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Szetela would be about 10th – no exaggeration – on Roma’s CM depth chart, before we start getting into the Primavera squad and youth setup which is ranked as the best in the world. A lot of people in Rome are speculating this is simply in order to keep him away from Lazio and screw them over, being arch rivals and all. And there hasn’t been a single Italian newspaper to mention Roma, just Lazio.
He’d probably spend the next 2-3 years in Serie B at either club, which is much much better than MLS – by the way. Lega Calcio has some of the best parity in Europe apart from the top 4. Many Serie B squads would be decent if not good Serie A squads, so his playing time there is by no means guaranteed either. More likely for Roma might actually be a loan move to Bellinzona in the Swiss 2nd division, with which Roma has recently developed something of an exchange relationship.
I still think it’s Lazio, though. This makes zero sense for a team like Roma, established as one of the big boys again after years of turmoil.
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Schelotto was interviewed on this weeks American Soccer on Gol TV. if you can, catch a watch.
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