What has Williams ever done to earn his spot on the USMNT? IMO, he has consistently played poorly out wide, and has been one of our worst wide players of the last few years, easily (Robbie Rogers is 10x more exciting even). Does he play because of his nationality, or is he one of Jurgen's pet projects, or what? Cause he doesn't belong, IMO
I agree. I have not thought that Williams had looked good at all. Can't figure out why he keeps coming back. We have other options in the midfield.
I watched Danny Williams debut in Miami vs Honduras. I was not impressed . . . and unfortunately have seen little to change my opinion.
Williams plays poorly out wide because he's not a wide midfielder. He's a defensive midfielder and he's likely to continue to struggle until he's used in his natural position. The better question is why Klinsmann continues to use him out of position. Williams does put in a good defensive shift, but his offensive shortcomings are painful.
Since when do people with yellow cards get to start threads? The standards for punishment have fallen so far around here.
He's not being played "out wide". He's being played as a defensive/holding/controlling midfielder. But apparently this concept is extremely difficult to understand. He should primarily be judged on his defensive contributions to the team's performance. Klinsmann does not give a rat's ass about Williams (in)ability to make forward runs down the right flank. This begs the question: should we be using such a conservative strategy? And another question: is Williams the best we have for the kind of role he's played in? And, should he be called into the USMNT if he's on the bench at Hoffenheim?
Danny Williams is 23. He may be a backup at Hoffenheim, but he would be one of the top 5 defensive midfielders in MLS. If there was a 23 year old top 5 CDM in MLS, people would want him to get a shot with the NT. The issue is tactics, not talent.
This thread is more than a bit ridiculous. He's on the USMNT because the coach sees him as a capable player.
Playing Williams at RW repeatedly and expecting positive results from him is one of the NT's greatest mysteries. Well, along with repeatedly playing Torres in advanced roles or on the wing ignoring Lichaj giving Beckerman repeated chances at DMid before Jones acting like Edu has such command as an 8, that Kljestan is worthy of being called in
Good list, of them all, I would like to see Kljestan . . . or at least some kind of attacking option (not saying Sacha) that we could utilize off the bench in the 2nd half.
he isn't a wide player. He's a CDM. I don't know how many times people have to say this for the critics to understand.
You're dealing with an OP who thinks there is a conspiracy to keep Wondo off the NT. Then again, it's harder to find a SJ fan that isn't a flake than it is to find one who is. Just roll down there and post AEG AEG AEG And watch the convulsions of hilarity ensue.
If we want an option on the right flank that can hold his own defensively, there are surely other players we can use without a complete jettison of the right flank as an attacking option. Alejandro Bedoya was absolutely clutch in this sense at the 2011 Gold Cup. He raced up and down the flank, helping out an aging( but still quite sturdy at the time) Cherundolo on defense, and then combining with Stevie C to great effect going forward. Now, Danny Williams clogs our attacks, and the deterioration of Cherundolo hasn't helped the U.S. either. I imagine if we see some better play from that right flank, we'll look a LOT better. That starts with leaving Danny Williams off the starting team sheet, and maybe integrating Eric Lichaj into a starting XI role.
While Williams may be a good player in his own right, I haven't seen him play well for the USMNT one single time. Almost always our worst player, IMO
He's probably at least earned a look as a defensive midfielder. I think that's fair. If he fails to impress over the other options there, then he should probably be kept home. However, that really won't happen. Adding to my previous post about other wide right options that are defensively able, if Timothy Chandler ever decides to play with the U.S./figures out he has no chance with Germany, we should never see Danny Williams as our right winger/midfielder again.
Williams could very well be an international level DMid for us. Hell, he might even be a good RB for us. But one thing is certain, and that is that he has no business being an international RW for us, and if he keeps getting called in as a RW instead of the actual positions he excels at, then the question about JK having bias towards Germans picks up steam. As a Bund DMid Williams has every right to get called in for our NT. But as a RW he has no business being called in and you have wonder, one, why JK seems intent on playing guys out of position and two, if it was an American playing anywhere other than the Bund would they receive these callups? Does JK rate the Bund so high, he thinks playing a DMid who's failed at RW everytime he's been put there is a better option than an actual RW playing anywhere else? Fair question to ask until we see Williams playing in his actual position for us.
I doubt JK feels like he owes anything to anyone. He's in the business of winning, not being a friend. Most likely answer, he sees something in Danny and wants to foster its growth. Williams has put himself in a position to continue to grow at Hoffenheim, despite not seeing nearly the amount of PT he saw last year.
Hard to "foster his growth" when playing him hopelessly out of position. Williams is as good a RW as Torres is a LW. But both do provide defensive cover. So maybe the system is supposed to have eight defenders.
What people don't get about JK is that he uses friendlies as figuring out the puzzle. So he tried Danny Williams in random spots during friendlies more than once. So what? The only two games of any true importance he's gone with a very solid roster without any players out of position. Until that starts being detrimental to our team's chances of winning then he's doing exactly what he needs to do.
One, wasted an opportunity to give an actual RW prospect a run out and show what he can do. Two, if in games of importance JK doesn't play players out of position, meaning he wouldn't play Williams out of position at RW in a WCQer, then why is Williams on the roster? Three, if he would then be on the roster to play his true position since JK wouldn't play him out of position in an important game, then that would suggest Williams would then be played in anew position he's never played for us, in an important WCQer.