Michael Parkhurst to Fulham In January?
I was going to post this last week and never got a chance, but MLS Defender of the Year and former MLS Rookie of the Year, Michael Parkhurst, is rumoured to be making a move to Fulham in January’s transfer market.
I don’t want our readers to start getting the wrong idea; I’m not saying this kid is the second coming of John Terry. Nor am I saying he’s going to be able to step right on the field and start playing games in the Premiership. But I am saying I think he’s premiership quality and will eventually be able to make the transition and do well. In fact at some point I think that if he does make the move across the big pond, he could be the best U.S. defender in the Premiership (and in Europe for that matter). I also think he could eclipse Eddie Pope someday for the best American defender to play the game. This kid is good and is only going to get better.
I am not one of these guys who thinks every American soccer (football) player is going to be huge in Europe. This just isn’t even close to the case. We’ve even seen stars in other leagues such as Serie A come to play in the UK and have a hard time of it; the league isn’t for everyone. It’s fast and it’s physical, not always lending itself to a prettier attacking type football. But it is an exciting and demanding brand of football.
With that said, I think Parkhurst will be picked up by someone in Europe soon. It’s probably more a question of who and when. So why not Fulham? Parkhurst is 23. Probably not young by football standards but still young enough for him to develop and grow as a player. My biggest knock on Parkhurst is his size. He plays bigger than he is but at 5′11′ (180-cm) and 155lbs, ( 70.3 kg ) he will struggle against players like Heskey or Drogba. But he’s smart and he’s got an understanding of how to play the position. A natural as they say.
Now it seems many Americans are rumoured to be going to Fulham these days because FFC have been one of the few clubs who have had an open enough mind to believe that Americans really can play in Europe, and the trend is catching on. I am still skeptical of many of the rumours but I do recall that last transfer window, Jay DeMerit, the American defender from Watford, was said to be talking to Fulham. I figured it was just tabloid fodder. But it turned out that there was something to this after all. Demerit spilled the beans after he signed a new contract with Watford. He admitted that he had several inquiries and yes, one of them was from Lawrie Sanchez. So, perhaps the Parkhurst stories are true.
By the way, to make things more interesting…. Michael’s father is Irish so he holds a U.S. and an Irish passport, making the transfer a lot easier with work permits and all.
Parkhurst will be playing in the MLS final this Sunday as New England play the Houston Dynamo for the championship. Michael Parkhurst is a big reason why the Revolution has made it to the final.
Like I said, I’ve seen Parkhurst play, a lot. Its true that he’s on the small size. If he were to play in the center he’d need a bigger partner to handle some of the rough stuff.
However, the positives far outweigh the negatives. He reads the game really well. He always seems to know where the ball and man are going to be about three second before anyone else. He never looks like he’s running very fast, but he usually gets where he’s going before anyone else. Perhaps most impressively, he committed only 10 fouls (in 25 games started) this season, and didn’t receive any cards.
He is also a very technical player, especially for a defender. His passing out of the back is excellent.
I don’t think its possible to predict whether he’ll make it in the PL, but he has the potential to do so. He can probably be picked up relatiely cheaply, too.
Righto, so the message to any Fulham people reading is: “have a good look!”
Any other Parkhurst observers out there? Feel free to tell us what you think.
cheers
Rich
Will you be able to catch the game over there? It’s on ABC, TeleFutura at noon eastern, 11:00 a.m. CST.
If you do get coverage, another name to watch is someone who I’ve written about here before, saying the Fulham should look into Shalrie Joseph, the defensive midfielder who just recently signed a new contract. Everyone thought Shalrie was gone last year to Celtic but the Revs wanted more money and rightly so. Joseph was unhappy and didn’t play well at the beginning of the year. But has come around lately and is showing that he is the best defenisve midfielder in the league bar-none. The drawback with Josheph is that the Grenadian is 29 years old. But he’s still the best at what he does in MLS.
Ives Galarcep, one of our best soccer writers here in the states had this to say on his blog last spring.
“Personally, if I were Joseph I would just play out the last two years of my deal and hop the first train to Europe. The wait could just be a year because New England would be crazy not to try and unload him once he has just one year remaining on his contract.”
Well now. Soccer365 had a Q and A with Parkhurst today and quess what they asked him?
365:
Speaking of England, there have been a lot of rumors about you going to Fulham. What can you tell us about that?
MP:
There’s really no situation. It’s kind of news to me. Really 100% of my focus is here on the Revolution and winning the championship. We’ll deal with that stuff in the off season and my agent will take care of that. Really right now I don’t even want to think about that because we’ve got a huge game coming up this weekend.
365:
I really am sorry to ask another question about England. Is this a “where there is smoke there is fire” situation at least a little bit? Has there at least been dialog between the two sides, is that fair to say?
MP:
Honestly, I don’t know. I’m letting my agent take care of all that stuff. If there is a dialog maybe you could ask him about it. I don’t know, he hasn’t told me. I don’t think he wants me to get involved in it right now, just because it’s a critical time for us.
I’m not as convinced Parkhurst will work out for Fulham. I love the guy (I’ve been a Revs season ticket holder the past two years), and he is definitely the defensive captain (in a 3-5-2 formation), but he does get the help of two good-to-excellent (by MLS standards) defensive/holding midfielders (Jeff Larentowicz and the aforementioned Shalrie Joseph) to pass to/get assistance from.
It’s true, though, that he’s rarely out of position, or that he makes a terrible tackle. Further, he’s the calm in the storm of a defense that includes Jay Heaps and Avery John (both fiery sorts), which has to count for something.
Just my thoughts.
Yank,
I agree about Joseph and Larentowicz. However, the flip side is that Parkhurst is playing without a partner in central defense, due to the 3-5-2. It seems to me that those two issues sort of offset each other.
At any rate, I just hope for his sake (and the US Nat’l team’s) that Parkhurst gets a chance.
Brian,
Good post. I would be interested to see how Parkhurst would fair in the EPL.
While so much of football nowadays is focused on physical skills, sometimes the technical side of the game gets overlooked (Titus Bramble, anyone?). The play in the EPL moves so fast that it helps to have the ability to read the flow of play and maintain your concentration. More goals are caused by mental lapses where a player loses focus or gets caught out of position rather than being outpaced or overpowered by another player.
Parkhurst does an excellent job of reading the game and being in the right position. He’s definitely more suited to a sweeper type role as opposed to a being a center back, but with the right partner in central defense as well as a more physical holding mid in front of him (like Joseph), he could do well. Right now, I don’t think that Fulham can give that to him as we lack a real physical presence at both spots.
As far as Joseph, I think that he would be someone who would be able to make the move to Europe. Even at 29, he’s got some good years left either as a holding mid or even in central defense. I thought that he just got a new and improved contract so I don’t know whether he’s in the same state of mind about moving abroad.
Another link to Parkhurst from Thursday November 15th at FIFA.com. They have a Q & A with Michael Parkhurst where he is asked about losing Dempsey to Fulham and the difference that has made to the Revolution.
According to a reporter in NY:
“Parkhurst is staying put. A very good source has told me that Parkhurst will play out the remaining year on his MLS contract and weigh his options after the 2008 season. That is great news for the Revs and a smart move by Parkhurst, who will have the freedom to decide if he really wants to leave or whether he will stay in MLS under a new, and larger contract. He likes playing in MLS and isn’t in a hurry to leave.”
Sorry guys. He’s staying home.
[...] Parkhurst, some say yes, while others say no! Well, the rumor mill has been running rampant on whether Michael Parkhurst really is negotiating with Fulham for the winter transfer. This previous post I made stated my feelings on the New England Revolution defender. [...]