One-time US international forward Eddie Johnson has been deemed surplus to requirements at Fulham FC and is one of several players being shopped around by the Premier League club as they hope to offload payroll during the upcoming transfer window.The news should come as no surprise to those who have followed EJ's career since leaving Major League Soccer nearly 24 months ago. Following a 15-goal season with the Kansas City Wizards in 2007, Johnson was transferred to Fulham in January 2008 for a fee reportedly in the range of $5-6 million, which was the highest transfer sum paid for an American player at the time. He made just six appearances for the club during the 2007-08 season, however, and was loaned to Cardiff City the following summer after failing to record a goal or an assist with Fulham.
Used mostly as a substitute while with the Bluebirds for the 2008-09 campaign, Johnson's struggle to regain his MLS form continued; he would end up tallying three goals and four assists in all competitions (36 appearances). He returned to Craven Cottage for the current season but has seen just 24 minutes of action and now appears to be on his way out for good.
At one point a mainstay with the US Men's National Team, Johnson was called up just two times by Bob Bradley in 2009, both appearances coming in friendlies last month against Slovakia and Denmark. Overall, EJ has been capped 39 times by the United States and has 12 international goals to his credit, but is a longshot at best to be included in the squad for the 2010 World Cup. But if Johnson can somehow get offloaded to a team where he can get quality minutes over the next few months, it's not entirely unrealistic that he could be in contention for a ticket to South Africa.
A move back to Major League Soccer - a league in which Johnson thrived - would probably be the best option for him at this point. Perhaps Fulham would be willing to loan him back to MLS for six months, hoping that the change in scenery would enable the striker to catch fire once more and re-establishing his value on the international stage, maybe even earning a spot on the U.S. roster next June?
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4 comments:
one time? or two time?
EJ played in the most recent USMT games in November 2009
Still he wasnt very good and not going to score against England in the Fifa WC
EJ is finally in a league where the defenders can match his athleticism - the few times I've seen him play well, its been because of a neat flick or a nice step over. This kid just needs to bunker down, adopt a "fight for my place" mentality, and win over the coach. Too many players hit the MLS escape button when the more arduous path may better serve them
I have to disagree Elliott. Sometimes a move back to MLS can be just the thing to put a player back on Bob Bradley's radar. A perfect example of this would be Conor Casey.
I always want to see Americans fighting to break into the lineups of the top European teams, but the truth is that it isn't always the best career choice. Take a look at Freddy Adu and DaMarcus Beasley. EJ has had plenty of time to win over the coach and his playing time is only going down at this point.
There's a spot for him in the Philly squad -- someone tell Nowak to go Christmas shopping.
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