America to Oguchi Onyewu: Good Job, Now Live Up To Expectations

Congratulations, Oguchi Onyewu, for being the first American outfield player to be signed to an elite European club.  Now, just don’t do what that other guy did in your position.

Not that Tim Howard had a bad career at Manchester United, but earn your spot and bring positive results to Milan’s starting eleven.

Oguchi Onyewu’s three-year contract with AC Milan is no doubt a big signing for American soccer.  Unfortunately, Gooch has to cast away a tradition of disappointment by highly-touted Americans being signed by big European clubs.

Americans are quick to forget Tim Howard’s short reign as Manchester United’s number one goalkeeper.  Given a hero’s exit by the MetroStars faithful in 2003, Tim Howard was supposed to be the next big American goalkeeper in England. He was replacing the retiring Fabien Barthez as a Schmeichel-esque rock in between the posts.  

Howard played well during his first season, but a collection of howlers in his second season saw him fall out of favor. During the 2004-2005 season, Sir Alexs opted for Roy Carroll and, eventually, an aging Edwin van der Sar in 2006. 

Sure, his stellar goalkeeping at Goodison Park has brought Everton back to relevance, but Howard’s European career will be seen as just another American who couldn’t live up to his signed club's expectations.

This unfortunate (and unfair) view of Americans in Europe is only supported by almost every other American who has tried their trade in the top four leagues. While there are some notable exceptions, some notable examples include:

DaMarcus Beasley has seen success with PSV but is the ultimate American journeyman. He has fallen out of favor at Eindhoven, Man City, Rangers, and for the possible fourth and final time at Schalke 04.

Landon Donovan turned his back on Bayer Leverkusen after being loaned to the San Jose Earthquakes.  Bayern Munich responded by doing the same when the Galaxy captain came crawling back to Germany eight years later.

Wunderkind Freddy Adu has struggled to find the bench on both Benfica and Monaco, the club to which he was loaned to get some more playing time. The same can be said for fellow prodigy Jozy Altidore, whose record €7.4 million signing to Villareal was disrupted by a heartbreaking loan spell at Segunda Division champs Xerez CD (where he couldn’t make the bench).

Even Oguchi Onyewu has had his unsuccessful stint in the big time when he was unluckily paired with the infamous Titus Bramble in Newcastle.  After being dropped by Sam Allardyce, he was brought back to Standard Liège.  Age 25 when he left St. James’ Park, he was too old to be loaned out for development and it seemed his European career would finish in Belgium.

Gooch thought otherwise, and, after leading Standard Liège to the Champions’ League and the United States to the final of the Confederations Cup, he proved to the Rossoneri he was worthy of playing with  the world’s elite defenders.

Even if he is tapped for the starting position next to Alessandro Nesta, competition for his spot at the San Siro could stand to knock him out of that role and back to anonymity in Belgium.  Brazilian international center back Thiago Silva signed his contract with Milan a month before Onyewu.  Starters  Kakha Kaladze and Daniele Bonera can also play center back.  Milan also has a center back developing out on loan, Digão, Kaká’s little brother. With this much depth at center back, Gooch could be seen as a one-year placeholder while Thiago Silva and Digão find their feet and form.

In short, Oguchi Onyewu still has much more to prove before we can celebrate his move to the San Siro as a step up for American soccer.

Let’s just hope he can buck the current trend of disappointment that has followed the big signings of his fellow Americans.