Sure. No one disputed this but RSL were horrible for their first 3 years as well and San Jose made it in their 3rd so its basically the same thing. If anything San Jose won before RSL did but not too many expansion teams (anymore anyway) come into the MLS and win off the bat. The Chicago Fire did in 1998 but the league is completely different now than then and its almost impossible in today's MLS. I doubt Montreal will win despite their former Serie A players.
He's a pure poacher. There are a lot of guys historically that have done well in Serie A without being particularly athletic or impressive physically....they just knew where to be and when to be there. That type of player is celebrated and recognized there. I think he would do really well with his movement, and the league being so technical with a slowish tempo. Give him some decent service, and he'll score goals. I think he could do well most places honestly. He's not a one trick pony...he scores because he's smart and in the right spots. he doesn't need speed, he doesn't need it on his right foot only, or head only. He scores righty, lefty, headers, corners, run of play...you name it. He needs service because he's never going to be a guy to create his own goal out of nothing. But he'll tuck away the chances you give him more often than not.
Spot on analysis of Wondo's game. He also plays with a great deal of passion, so much so that it's kind of over the top sometimes. He was so fired up after scoring his first goal against Portland last week that he almost punched out a few of his teammates during his "celebration". And he will sometimes bark at teammates when they do things he is not happy about. The latter could turn into a negative but I think his teammates know it's just Wondo being Wondo, and it's really a split personality kind of thing with him. He's a totally different guy off the field - humble, almost shy. Just ultra, ultra competitive on the field, and I think it helps him.
Having not watched many of his appearances with the national team, why do you think he's "struggled"? People not getting him the ball in the right place? Him being a step too slow? Just not good players around him (i.e. all games with mainly "b team" players?)?
Combination of things I think. 1. pressure, 2. Total minutes played aren't that high. I remember distinctly during Bobs last gold cup the team being much, much better with Wondo out there. Yes, he fluffed a sitter. So did Dempsey just yesterday from what I hear. I'm confident that if you gave him a Jozy or Agudelo like run with the first team in an appropriate formation (ie not 6 dmids with no service to the forwards) he would produce just fine. I've got no reason to think otherwise. If I were king of US soccer, he'd be one of more than a couple MLS guys that would get a chance to prove they don't belong just as some of the Euro guys have. Davis comes to mind. Omar, John, Pontius......No more......threadjack...sorry everyone.
As far as 1) pressure, that doesn't bode well for performing in a big league with real pressure. Maybe we'll be lucky and see him get a shot at a bigger team and we'll know for sure.
This is the short answer to a fairly loaded question as to why Wondo has supposedly "struggled" with the USMNT. He hasn't really been given a chance to play with the USMNT. Wondo has only eight international caps (per Wikipedia), and virtually every one has been a limited-minutes cameo. Has he even started one or gone a full 90?
I think it's a matter of getting that first one, and then relaxing a bit. He can be streaky, and I think if he goes too long w/o a goal he may start to press a bit. I really think he just needs to get that first goal or two out of the way.
Wondo in Italy would be awesome! Realistically though, after having worked for Fiorentina and living in Florence, Italy , I have serious doubts however that Wondo will ever play there. I'm not saying he won't be capable of playing there or that he wouldn't score some goals or even that I wouldn't love to see it , but they will not sign him.
Might be great for SJ and his Legend status but will do him no favors with the Nat. Imagine this guy scoring goals in Denmark or Holland or the Championship. Always good for our image. Strikers scoring in Europe
Yeah, well, the failure of the USMNT to make proper use of quality MLS strikers is the fault of the people running the USMNT, not said strikers. With apologies to Abraham Lincoln, the country cannot spare Wondo from its national team. He scores.
Jeff Cunningham: 14 caps, 1 goal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Cunningham#International_2 Taylor Twellman: 30 caps, 6 goals. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_men's_national_soccer_team_player_statistics Jason Kries: 14 caps, 1 goal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_men's_national_soccer_team_player_statistics Wondo: 8 caps, 0 goals. Total playing time in 2012, when he's been on a tear: 90 minutes over 3 games. http://www.ussoccer.com/Teams/US-Men/Statistics/2012-Statistics.aspx Tell you what: give Wondo 6 more games with more than a token appearance and if he doesn't score, I'll concede the Cunningham/Kries point. (But not TT).
He's bound to get a few matches to start or score in. Either Russia or in January. any news of any Euro clubs chasing him?
How many years left on his latest contract extension? And will a team like Hannover pay enough to pry him away from San Jose (they'd be losing the premier striker in the league for 3 years in a row in his prime)... it would have to be a fairly large investment to make it worth their while, because players like him are nearly impossible to replace in this league.
I read that his contract goes to 2014, with options to 2016. As for the question of whether or not Hannover (or whomever) would offer enough to pry him away from SJ, I don't think SJ would want to keep him hostage if he really wants to go and the offer is good enough. He's a local guy - like family to the Quakes front office. Of course, not sure where MLS would stand on this... I've thought about this a bit trying to put myself in Wondo's shoes, and as much as he likes playing for his home team, and playing in front of friends and family, and as much as I'm sure he'd like to be here for the stadium opening, I could see him looking to go overseas next year if there is a good offer. The window is closing for him, and he's already reached the top in MLS. I don't think he would want to be retired and wondering about how he would have done playing at a higher level. Plus, it would really help his chances with the national team as long as Klinsi is at the helm (especially if he were to play in Bundesliga). He could even sign a one-year contract and have an out to come back in 2014, though I don't know enough about the re-entry rules to know if he could come back to the Quakes or would he go into a lottery.