We also have given him very little to run onto, which is his strong point...So, hope is that with more such opportunities, his performance will improve accordingly.
I can't see all that way to the other side of the field - it didn't dawn on me until yesterday that I should have looked to see who the back-up was - I had just assumed Dykstra started because Bill was late getting back from US team duty, didn't know there was an injury until I watched the replay.
Definitely this is the concern with EJ and to some extent that is just who he is. He's not going to suddenly develop great touch. He's not going to start playing with his heart on his sleeve. So, I hope, we didn't trade for him with the thought that some new scenery and Ben's personality would change him into a rah-rah guy. I disagree it hasn't gotten any better. Against Columbus he was letting defenders just take the ball away. The last two games he has been much more physical when trying to hold up the ball. The number of obvious "lazy" moments has slowly diminished to the point I don't remember screaming at him once this weekend for not making a run or for being too casual. That said, we clearly haven't seen his A+ game yet. Is that because he has no drive to succeed now that he's got a DP contract or is that just a DP striker learning to work with new teammates? It's really hard to judge him given the state of our midfield, but if Espindola and Rolfe start having consistent success and EJ is still not fitting in fully then we'll have to wonder if he's a net plus for the team.
True, the service hasn't been great. I'm just glad we have Espindola, because he seems more able to make something out of nothing in the attack.