I don't think Bijev is at the same level as Wooten or Boyd yet but I think he has the potential to possibly be better than both of them too early to tell though.
Sapong lost his starting position as a the target forward to Bunbury 6 weeks ago. How do you explain that?
When Convey and Kamara are available Bunbury we'll go back to the bench. I'm not a Bunbury hater but Saspong has definitely been the better player this year.
I don't think you are an hater. I am just giving the facts. CJ lost his starting position to Bunbury in the Colorado game-Bunbury had a brace-since then, Bunbury has been the cf and doing a real nice job. I am not advocating for Bunbury to be in th USMNT picture. I think most have made up their minds re: Bunbury. I have been following the kid for awhile. I think he has all the tools for international play. However, I don't think he has fits the JK bill. Jk wanted him to play the rw and he, let's say, did it reluctantly. Additionally, Jk had a gig for him at Hoff. and he refused and chose Bolton instead. He ended up not going to Bolton due to an ankle injury. I don't think Jk puts up with that s***t from yound players. I digress, Sapong is a good player that is finding his form as a winger in PV's system. He no longer has two cb covering him, thus freeing him up to score goals as a wide trailer. Back to my point, Sapong is no longer playing as the # 9. It's now Bunbury's position to lose. The person in danger of losing his starting spot is Convey.
I tend to agree. Have to wait and see until Convey comes back. Does Convey stay on the bench,or does one of Bunbury/Sapong go to the bench to make room for Convey. Could also be that Sapong is more versatile and can play on the wing, so to get the most talent on the pitch when Convey went down Sapong just switched to the wing.
I'm really, really surprised that this isn't the first logical jump. I feel like I'm missing something.
I would put myself in the group that CJ didnt lose his spot to Teal, he just moved out wide because of Convey/Kamara being out and he is more versatile than Teal. However, Teal has impressed me the last few games and i think he may stick around in the first XI. But not because Teal>CJ at center forward, but because Teal+CJ>CJ+Convey>Teal+Convey. Regardless, It is pretty fun that my team has 2 national team prospects at forward, and neither is an automatic starter at this point for the club. That said, I don't think either is ready for 1st team minutes for the national team. Teal's touch is still lacking, and CJ, for lack of a better way to phrase it, is too timid. Certainly much can happen by 2014, but at this point it is Altidore's spot to lose. I would put CJ roughly on parwith Boyd right now, and Teal somewhere behind there. I am interested to see what Agudelo can do getting regular minutes. The really young guys (>25 on Max Optimal's list) I cant really comment on.
Pontius is the real deal. He was slowed down a bit by his injury last year, but I give him one more season tops before he is in Europe. He has the skills to be a special player.
Please get your facts straight! Sapong went 6 games without scoring, consequently, found himself on the bench starting with the Colorado game. Convey was subbed-out that game and has not played since. Prior to the Colorado game, SKC had an anemic attack. Since Bunbury's return to the #9 position, SKC has been undefeated in all competition. Again, I don't think that Bunbury is ready for the USMNT, but folks advocating for Sapong at the #9 position need to know that he is playing as a winger for SKC. As for Bunbury's touch whatever he is doing to improve it is working. He looks like a much different player than I remember.
You know, sometimes I feel like it's worth reminding people that not only is Bunbury 14 months younger than Sapong, but he has as good or better career numbers. Bunbury 1 G every 227 minutes 3.1 shots per 90 minutes 38.9% shots on goal 1.22 shots on goal per 90 minutes Sapong 1 G every 301 minutes 2.4 shots per 90 minutes 45.6% shots on goal 1.08 shots on goal per 90 minutes
A difference of 14 months is fairly minimal especially for a player who came to the game late like Sapong. Anything over 20 starts to blend together.
There will be current NCAA/Dev Acad/high school kids entering the list. Things happen fast at youth levels. A year ago not many people had heard of Wooten, Kiesewetter, etc. Nobody had heard of Sapong until he got drafted out of college & started playing for KC. Kids will pop up in Mexico and Europe as well. Maybe some of these MLS homegrowns like Jack McBean, Jonathan Top, Kellen Gulley, etc. will develop. The only thing I can predict with certainty is that nothing will go as envisioned. I bet two years ago people had Stefan Jerome on a list like this. (he often started ahead of Agudelo & McInerney in Bradenton). Right now he's playing for Nyköping's reserve team in the Swedish sixth tier.
You seem to have a fair bit of trouble gauging unproven players. None of them have proven anything at the club level yet. Boyd doesn't get a pass because he scored reserve goals, Wooten doesn't get a pass because he featured briefly in the BL. Bijev doesn't get a pass because he is owned by a big club They are all unproven prospects at this point. Therefore, I put them at the same level. I have barely seen any of them play for any club, as I'm sure is the same with you.
Dude, it's a prospect thread. It's solely about forwards in our pipeline. By nature of being in the pipeline you're going to be unproven, and some more than others. Who's giving anyone a pass when talking about prospects? You just basically said no one mentioned deserves a pass?, which would mean we have no prospects in our pipeline. If you're proven then you're not in the frickin pipeline.
Well Boyd has gotten some PT with the senior national team and Wooten got some PT in the last few weeks of the Bundesliga, so I stand by what I said.
Glad you mentioned Bruin. He had two nice finishes tonight, bringing his total to 8 goals in 14 games. He can play.
Yes, and let's remember that he didn't play for the Olympic team because he didn't fit the style they wanted. I'm still steamed about that. Put Bruin out there against El Salvador's defense and we win 6-3.