OFFICIAL: Milan signs Onyewu!

http://www.goal.com/en/news/12/spain...ewu-as-back-up

Let's be positive about the GOOCH:

1) Played extremely well against Spain, keeping the likes of Torres quiet
2) Played very well for Standard against Liverpool in the CL
3) Athletic and could probably tear Ibrahimovic apart (literally)
4) American, so a guarantee, in my opinion, to have a great attitude in sports (trust me, I played little league and sports in the US growing up, and Americans are very professional and committed. I personally love that about their football team. They never seem to complain.)

Welcome GOOCH!

I don't know what to say. I guess no Santacroce now!

As for Onyewu, I've only seen him play for the USA and never for Standard. Judging from what I've seen (I've seen plenty of US games with him), my opinion is that he won't be anything but a back up player. He is strong and tall and brilliant with the head. He will certainly help on crosses coming in our box and long balls. Very rarely does he lose a ball in the air that he goes for. However, his positioning isn't anywhere near what it should be and that is the part of his game that HAS to get better if he is to play for this club.

Like I said I've only seen him play for his country and that can many times be very different to performances in club week in week out. I don't think he is better then Bonera overall. He is better in the air and his size definitely gives him an advantage over many players, but when it comes to positioning and other aspects of defending he is not better then Bonera IMO. Maybe he can prove me wrong but at this point I see no chance whatsoever that this guy will come in and start. At best, he can be the Senderos of this year. I am not too positive about this.

Because he is our player now, I am going to say Good luck Onyewu and I hope that you prove me wrong. At 0$ he is a bargain. But I can't deny the fact that my biggest wish for this summer (Santacroce) is now dead. It's been a long time since a CB has impressed me as much as Fabiano has this past year. But o well.....I guess there is always next year.....unless Juventus goes and signs him now and then I'll be fuming!

Originally Posted by boring

@ Rick

Could you tell some more about this guy?

Well, I was just about to post this:

Goal.com Profile: Oguchi Onyewu
With his huge move to AC Milan in the books, Goal.com’s Shane Evans takes a closer look at the man they call ‘Gooch’.
7 Jul 2009 15:54:59

Quick Start

Born in Washington D.C., Onyewu’s parents were natives of Nigeria and had moved to the states not long before his birth. Growing up playing soccer, Onyewu attended Sherwood High School and played for two years, before joining the U.S. residency program in Florida.

After graduating from the program and Sherwood, Onyewu enrolled at Clemson where he played two seasons. That was all the domestic soccer he’d experience as before his junior year began he signed with FC Metz of France’s Ligue 1.

Standard Procedure

Only making three appearances for Metz during his three seasons as a player at the club, two of them loaned out to La Louviere and Standard Liege, a move away was imminent. It was Standard Liege, the second club who had been on loan with, who sought a permanent deal for then 22-year-old defender.

Signing officially with Liege in 2004, Onyewu was an instant hit in Belgium, and after his first season with his new team, was named to the Jupiler League’s best XI for 2005.

Onyewu experienced four more seasons in Belgium, netting an impressive 179 appearances for Standard in the process. During that time, they won two Jupiler League titles, a Belgian Supercup and were runners up in the Belgian Cup.

In an effort to stick with a bigger club, Onyewu spent the second half of the 2007 season on-loan at Newcastle, but wasn’t able to hold down a first-team place and returned to Standard later that year.

Speculation grew towards the end of last season that Onyewu was ready to move on after five years of devoted service with Les Rouches. His hesitation to renew his contract were the main reason for the rumors.

Those rumors became founded as the summer hit and no contract was decided upon. A whole host of clubs had been interested in acquiring his signature before the transfer window opened, with newly promoted Wolverhampton and Birmingham of the English Premier League said to be high on the list. Other clubs included Marsielle, PSG, Borussia M’Gladbach and Fulham.

Rising On The World Stage

In this summer’s Confederations Cup, Onyewu significantly raised his stock when he put in a host of dazzling performances for the U.S. Men’s National Team.

Pitted against some of the world’s best strikers, Onyewu held his own and was an integral part of the team’s dramatic run to the final.

Particularly in their match against Spain, it was the defense that kept the game the way it was, with Onyewu’s unwavering determination to command his area deeming too much for the likes of David Villa and Fernando Torres who couldn’t crack the U.S. back four.

His play in that match, and in the final against Brazil, with everyone watching, greatly increased his stock and brought his name to the lips of some of the bigger club teams in the world. Following the tournament he was rumored to sign with Real Madrid, but when it was all said and done, it was AC Milan who won the race to his signature.

Les Rouches for Rossoneri

In what is undoubtedly the biggest move of his career, AC Milan signed Onyewu on a free transfer on July 7th, 2009. With the retirement of Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Nesta’s uncertain health and the return of Philippe Senderos to Arsenal, there was an obvious void in Milan’s back four.

Onyewu should fill it nicely.

It remains to be seen if Milan bring anymore bodies to bulk up their defense, but for now, Onyewu is a signing that should excite Rossoneri fans everywhere. With the signing, he becomes only the second American player in the modern era to sign with a Serie A team, following USMNT great Alexi Lalas, who spent a year with Padova.

"He keeps it simple,” said Lalas of the towering Onyewu. “He won’t be asked to do things he’s not comfortable with doing. When you have a Pirlo or someone like that, it’s simple: get the ball to the guys that create. "

Strength Is His Strength

Onyewu has always been known to possess incredible strength in his vigorously maintained 6’4” body. He has the ability to hold off forwards and is excellent in the air.

In essence, they are two of the most valuable traits for a central defender to have: ability in the air and power. It doesn’t stop there for Onyewu, however. His tackling skills are first rate and he plays with confidence.

His experience in Europe will also benefit him at Milan as he has taken part in continental competitions and could be considered a cultured defender, having tasted life in England, France and Standard’s Belgium.

No Need To Panic

One of the few things that Onyewu has been knocked for in his playing career has been his sometimes hasty movement of the ball when under pressure. Some argue that it cost him a permanent deal at Newcastle as the pairing of him and Titus Bramble turned out to be a complete mess with neither player performing particularly well.

It has also been said that his lack of pace could be an issue, particular in a fast-paced team like Milan. Thankfully, his lanky frame seems to make up for the speed problem and he is able to reach balls with mysterious quickness.

Particulars

Name: Oguchialu Chijioke Goma Lambu Onyewu

Born: May 13th, 1982 (Washington, D.C.)

Club History: Metz (2002-04), La Louviere (loan - 2003), Standard Liege (2004-09), Newcastle (loan - 2007), Milan (2009 - )

Club Honors

Jupiler League Champions: 2008/09, 2007/08
Jupiler League Runners-up: 2005/06
Belgian Cup Runners-up: 2007
Belgian Supercup Winners: 2008

Individual Honors

Jupiler League Best XI: 2004/05, 2007/08
Jupiler League Foreign Player of the Year: 2005
U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year: 2006

Shane Evans, Goal.com

Has he passed a medical yet remember the Cissokho deal until Milan confirm he has passed a medical than i will prefer to not think of him as a player. Positives for me is that he will be a good squad player and is strong and tall.

This is simply a brilliant signing, regardless of what some might think. This is exactly the type of CB we need, he's big and strong and is perfect partner with a speedy and good tackler like Thiago Silva. Having a brilliant all-rounder like Nesta to learn from is also great, regardless how much Nesta will be able to play next season.

And lets not forget, this guy cost us nothing, he will be fairly cheap in terms of salary and won't complain if he's on the bench. He's 27, a great age for a CB having his best years in front of him. Oh, and let's not forget that buying an American that is very popular in the US, is really lucrative considering USA being an important market for an international club like Milan. There is a reason why we travel to USA in pre-season year after year.

And yes, there is a real possibility, like with any new player, that he will fail in the club. We will surely be able to sell him if that happens, and get a few million euros for him.

For a defender to not be able to hold a place at Newcastle United, he must have had a truly woeful spell but I dont think that's it (from what's being said about him). Hoping for the best anyway.

Onyewu will be a welcome acquisition since we were fragile at crosses, long balls and set plays.

So we buy two untested CBs? Really not smart by Galliani. Imagine if neither works out. Then we'll have our ****ty defense minus Maldini (Nesta presumably injured).

Originally Posted by boring

For a defender to not be able to hold a place at Newcastle United, he must have had a truly woeful spell but I dont think that's it (from what's being said about him). Hoping for the best anyway.

Onyewu will be a welcome acquisition since we were fragile at crosses, long balls and set plays.

So we buy two untested CBs? Really not smart by Galliani. Imagine if neither works out. Then we'll have our ****ty defense minus Maldini (Nesta presumably injured).

Ok let's make things clear, his newcastle partner is Titus Bramble, the worst crap to be called a defender IMO. What can you do when your partner is so crappy? I don't think you can be so horrible and keep one of the best attacking team quiet in Conf Cup.

He is a good transfer IMO. We really need to get rid of dead weight like Kala, Favalli. Nesta, Silva, Bonera are the only 3 CBs i would keep in the team together with Onyewu only make 4 players.....

Wow, when I first saw this I was like damn,,,, Onyewu to take our last Non-EU spot? are you fkin kidding me?

But to my surprise he seems to have the Belgian passport, so I think it's not that bad. Onyewu is not the world class defender we were looking for in the form of Nesta, Santacroce etc...however I've seen him play very, very well in the Confed cup. He is definitely an upgrade to Senderos, Kaladze. Good signing (but if Santacroce moves to any other club this summer -- that will be horrible)

I followed him for some years now.
He is very strong, and athletic as most of you said (it's really impressive) but I'm affraid he will struggle in Seri A.
He isn't that fast and his technical skills are not that great.

In other words with Nesta he could be great. Becoz they are compatible.

With SIlva? I don't know him very well.

If he has to play with kaladze I think we could be vounarable with fast players.

ps: His best offensive weapon is his trow in, they are like corner kicks.

Originally Posted by Koeke

I followed him for some years now.
He is very strong, and athletic as most of you said (it's really impressive) but I'm affraid he will struggle in Seri A.
He isn't that fast and his technical skills are not that great.

In other words with Nesta he could be great. Becoz they are compatible.

With SIlva? I don't know him very well.

If he has to play with kaladze I think we could be vounarable with fast players.

ps: His best offensive weapon is his trow in, they are like corner kicks.

He's not fast, but he is quick. And I think having Nesta and Maldini as mentors will help him to improve his technical skills quickly.

Just watched some more HL and this guy is strong. WOW I hope his technical will be decent.

Originally Posted by hitmannq8

Onyewu is not the world class defender we were looking for in the form of Nesta, Santacroce etc

This is getting out of control with people describing Santacroce. Santacroce is NOT world class, however he is a great talent and most likely a future Azzuri regular (he got a couple of call-ups from Lippi, but no matches). But seriously, I saw quite a bit of Napoli's matches last season, and Santacroce performed in a range from very good to bad.

Let it be said that I would be happy if we signed Santacroce, but he's actually more of a Nesta/Silva type than a big strong header (which is the type we desperately needed). Playing with 2 of the fast tackling type of players in a match work some of the time, when you don't face the Drogba-type of strikers, but when you do meet them you have to have someone who can fight them with pure muscle and height/jumping. I like to point out the last 30 minutes of the 2nd leg vs Werder Bremen last season as the horror example of not having this type of defender. WB finally figured out that all they had to do was pump high balls into our box, and we were completely incapable of defending vs their big and strong players. If you can't defend against these types of physical teams, you have a BIG problem (no pun intended).

So my conclusion is that we just signed the type of CB we needed, and getting Santacroce would just be the icing of the cake. It remains to be seen if Onyewu will rise to the challenge though.

I agree with the big guy at the defence and that's why I was happy with Chyssoko transfer. Our problem with defence regarding set-pieces have been there for years even when we got Nesta and Maldini in the defence. But signing a 27-year-old CB who is almost anonymous is not what Milan should do.

Milan still need a very good CB since we can rely on Nesta for whole season.

Oguchi is 'Change' and not 'More of the same'. I have 'HOPE'.

Goner: Senderos (on loan)
Incoming: Oneywu (free agent)

That's definitely an upgrade. I don't think Oneywu is much worse than Senderos. He can be a surprise package as a sub.

P.S. Thank god, finally one signing made. Phew.