Dane Richards Most Underrated Player MLS

Congratulations.

I just wanted to say that I think Dane is emerging as a dominant player and that few people realize how critical he is to the Red Bulls rise to success.

I also believe he is the best player in the league at using the shoulder charge properly where he can use his physical attributes to (legally) spin a player and blow past him on his way to the goal. Dane has refined the art of working in tight space to a science. He has a unique combination of moves, speed and balance that allow him to score goals that seem nearly impossible.

This is great for the league. Keep it up! Thrilled you are getting the full house.

I wouldn't say Dane is underrated, i would say Dane is not given much hype and rightfully so(Inconsistency & poor decision making). He showed his potential since his first season when he finished runner up for rookie of the year. Redbull fans have been hard on in for a long time , not realizing that the system we played as a team just did not suit the attributes of the player. Backe has created a system of play which allows Dane Richards to use his Best Attribute (Speed) , this then benefits him and the team .

I hope and believe he will keep this up as long and he gets service. He's not a creative player, he's more like a wing forward IMO, he runs onto good passes and scores goals, he can also make simple passes, nothing outlandish.

the one thing that surprised me about Richards is his composure infront of goal, He may not be the most accurate when he shoots but he seems even more relaxed in front of goal than Henry and Angel.

OK, let's step back to reality here. Dane's emergence has come with the arrival of Henry, Marquez and now Balouchy. His skills which are limited are his speed and his one on one skills although his horrible crossing skills are now just mediocre, but in combination with his speed now work on this team. But just look at this game as an example, he had a number of bad crosses that could have resulted in better opportunities, he was set up great by Tchani only to mess it up because he is slow in getting off a shot and also has blinders missing Angel in a great position for a pass and a knock in. I am not complaining about Richards as his skills work well on this team, but he is NOT overrated at all. He is not an MVP candidate. There are at least 5 other players on the Red Bulls who are more valuable to this team. Although missing Richards would hurt right now on this team as we don't have another outside midfielder of any real substance to replace him especially with Garcia out for the season.

His miss tonight is being unfairly criticized. It was a good idea and he juuust barely missed on the execution.

The only thing he was missing was confidence. He was always one dimentional. His speed and that's it. His goal scoring is unbelieveable. Better chemistry and yes playing with Henry along with Angel & Marquez helps him out.

But you wanted that with Dane. His crosses have actually been better. Not world class yet, but better. I'm pleased with his performance and you should be too. We know he's got more negatives, than pluses but he's improved. Don't be a downer.

Well to be fair his resurgence has coincided with the DP's arrival and with good reason, he now has more space to run. With the likes of Henry and Angel roaming the box there is very little opportunity to put a second man on Dane, so he is free to outpace whichever fullback he comes against. Obviously he has been working harder in training lately on his skills, and his crosses aren't as horrendous as everyone makes them out to be.

Nah, Richards is barely a starter on this team. Definitely not a dominant player in MLS. The better defenses in the league have no problem containing him (RSL, LA, Chi).

On the other hand, I can't remember the last time Dane was out injured. He's the anti-Reyna.

Dane Damaged LA, He was one of our only bright sparks vs Chicago and did major damage when he was subbed in for Kanji. He was on international duty when we played RSL last.
Lets see how he does next week .

If you've been watching the team for more than the past five games you wouldn't say that.

He's on a tear and I'm happy, but he still makes poor decisions, can't pass well and is very streaky.

Most overrated player in MLS

Only asset is his speed, always was and always will be. His first goal last night was an excellent shot, very surprised he took it with his left foot. It also could have big a major ******** up considering he had Angel wide open.

but as usual, his refusal to play to his open partner is frustrating. on serveral occassions, he had a teammate open only to cough up the ball to the opposition. those are things that can come back to haunt you in the playoffs.

Look, I absolutely agree that he has improved. I said his crosses used to be awful and now they are mediocre which is an improvement and I believe is a fair description. He even has found some use for his left foot such as on the goal where he has had none, but the same bad left foot prevented him from getting off a clear shot within the penalty area because he had to shift it back to his right. I do believe he has been important part of the team's success since July but the initial description was way overblown.

Richards always has been fast, what was his mistake and still is, is thinking that he can do the things faster than he can, like when he rush to a ball and want to do things in anticipation of what suppose to be done and miss to control a lot of passes because he miss the ball for that reason, because his foot is behind the action he is thinking to do....But he will learn....I hope...

The guy is a month away from 27. Players don't get better at this age. They go on streaks, yes, but they don't improve in the long run.

Trade him if he has a good playoffs.

I wouldnt trade him unless we get another quick winger with skills. We can still get another season or two out of him and win stuff. i would worry about getting a left sided quick winger before worrying about getting rid of Dane.

Let's be frank here, he has been playing decent futy, but to say that he is underrated is a long way to go, Richards is inconsistent, still need to use more his head than his foot to run, you so him with last pass of Tchani (by the way Tchani make so passes) a clear goal but he miscalculate his ability living the ball behind because he still don't know his potential or misestimate this....

But of course, he is playing much better than three months ago....

Dude, I totally agree with you 110%...The guy is a 1 trick pony and eventually his trick won't be funny anymore...One of the attractions early in the year was going to the stadium to see him run into his own teammates..lol..plus..if Nielson comes back, there is our winger..From the little I saw of him, he impressed me..Now He's a player... and I read somewhere on 1 of these blogs that he's coming back next year..

I was skimming your post and I thought u wrote Tchani Emasculates Richards ability...lolol..a had a laugh with myself lol....That's what happens when u read fast lol

I think we are often too quick to make judgements on players being in their mid-20's and not being able to improve. In MLS, we have a lot of raw players who have not received the level and years of instruction players in other countries have received particularly players who came out of college.

I don't think Richards is MVP material or dominant, but anyone who has seen him play can't possible say that at 26 yrs of age that he did not improve and I don't think it is just a streak. He has improved his crossing skills where ALL his crosses were on the ground, he has found some touch and an ability to cross in the air where that did not happen before and he has found some limited use of his left foot where he had none and that has led to a couple of his goals. This guy is not a star, but he still might have some more improvement left in him. Also look at Coundoul who is 28 and also has shown good improvement this year although still needs help on goal kicks but has shown better judgement in his play.

Case in point San Jose's Wondolowski. Monster breakout season for a 27 year old.

Maybe Richards is finally putting it together. Good coaching helps.

I think Richards is a good example of what to expect in MLS talent. He's got a few good points to his game (speed, elusiveness) but doesn't have the complete package to elevate to another tier. He's had some great opportunities in the past few weeks, but half of his breaks he seems to lose track of himself at the wrong moment and makes wide shots on an open goal, or an ill timed cross.

But going up and down the roster all the players have similar faults. Lindy looks great when he can make a cross, but he's a mess if he has to maintain possession in the midfield. Angel is a ghost unless he's being fed a pass right up front where he's deadly. I lost track of how many times on i've seen the defense make slow passes across the middle that were picked up by opposing strikers, even by wonderboy Ream. But overall the defense as a unit has played well. Its up and down.

Some people rate him:

Last evenings game just highlighted how important Dane is to our attack and the style Backe wants to play. Speed to stretch defenses and open up the attack.
Speedy players will do well in this league highlighted by Richards and the growing confidence of Nyassi .

http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/news/_/id/5670002 is titled "Richards hitting high gear for Red Bulls."

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/match?id=306279&cc=5901&league=FIFA.FRIENDLY

it shows richards scored on a PK? He can do it all ladies and gents

where was the "idol" last night ? the most underated player in MLS !

where the was Angel? STFU Carbonzero you are not a supporter of this team, you are one of those types that wish our players will fail just you can feel good about your stupid presuppositions . I know you are here wishing to see Tchani break his legs so you can be proven right, wishing for Bouna to make a mistake so you can celebrate. come back when you become a supporter of this team and not just the south american players