RE Oguchi Onweyu to Milan ... be careful what you wish for
Wednesday is a big day for U.S. Soccer. Anytime the Americans skirmish with Mexico, the rumble-and-ruckus factor gets turned up to 11. It’ll be fun, no matter what.
And for some, the afternoon will be a little bigger than for others. I'm thinking now of Oguchi Onyewu.
He’s about to get his first taste of Serie A seriousness. And it would help his cause if he can go back to Italy brimming with confidence, with a little glide in his long U.S. stride.
The big fellow is now property of AC Milan. I know everybody was all excited about the move, surely the most splashy transfer this summer involving one of Bob Bradley’s boys.
I understand why, too. It’s more validation for the U.S. player and for the U.S. fan. This is one of the world’s truly heavyweight club. It’s been home to Ronaldinho, Massimo Ambrosini, Andrea Pirlo, Clarence Seedorf and other fabulous players.
Now it’s also home to a 27-year-old fellow from Maryland, the first American in a Rossoneri kit. Yea, Gooch!
But I was never sold on whether this was a good shift for the former Standard Liege man. And that was before he wet the bed in his debut for the Rossoneri in that World Football Challenge match.
First, he’s probably the fifth choice center back at the San Siro. Yes, I understand that a club such as AC Milan plays a jam-packed schedule of matches. Including contests in Serie A, the Italian Cup, Champions League and in-season friendlies, Milan could easily approach 60 matches between mid-August and next May. Those guys will be busier than a one-legged man at a roach stompin’ contest.
Still, if Onyewu gets into one quarter of those matches, I’m gonna be a little surprised. And will 15 or so contests be enough? I’ve always thought Onyewu is the kind of player who needs to be confident to be successful. Playing infrequently -- if it happens that way -- is not a recipe for being sharp or confident.
Plus, he’s still not the most nimble of cats. And he’ll be up against some pretty good strikers. I worry that his relative lack of agility will be exposed by far quicker players.
I understand that he probably wasn’t going to progress much more by remaining in Belgium. But he was playing. And he was a valuable piece of the puzzle at Standard. That accounts for a lot.
This move to the land of red pasta and amore isn’t the worst thing in the world. The Italians work in defense the way Leonardo da Vinci worked in textures and oils. They know how to lock down a match, and the big American will surely refine some of the technical aspects when it comes to the art of “stop and distribute.” I remember an interview with an Italian player during a World Cup, and he didn’t speak of “tackling” the ball or “dispossessing” a player. He spoke of “conquering the ball!”
Like many Italian soccer players, that man lives for his next chance to defend.
So, this doesn’t have to be bad news. I’m just saying, be careful what you wish for. There’s a chance this thing won’t have a happy ending.
If he makes a couple more mistakes, drops his head and then spends the fall and winter languishing on the end of the San Siro bench … well, suddenly Bradley could have a big problem at center back, just in time for a World Cup.
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