I am pretty happy that Daniel Williams is playing for the United States and genuinely hope that I am incorrect in my evaluation. Speed is an asset wherever one plays on the pitch. Fast players can play anywhere. Yeah, I was excited when Williams got his citizenship in time to play, Saturday night. Yeah, I knew he had played a 2 games (out of 8) for 1899 Hoffenheim and also saw that he played 14 matches for Freiberg last season. So I watched him (and others) warming up before the match. As you pointed out, his preferred position is in the middle of the field, so when the introductions occurred, I wondered which midfielder, Edu, Beckerman, Williams or possibly even Dempsey might play on the right side. Sometimes coaches have to make decisions given some variables we are not privy to. I have had to do that myself, more than once. For some reason, it was Williams who was moved outside in the midfield, perhaps there may be an explanation for that given all of the possible alternatives. I don't know. Anyway, it was Williams who lined up on the right side, pretty much right in front of me so I decided to watch him. I cheered like a fool when he megged the Honduran defender, then got sandwiched by two Hondos who recovered the ball. The next time he tried it, things did not go as well, he lost the ball and it led to a Catracho counterattack. His worst moment, imo, was when the cross (albeit a difficult one) came whistling in towards him from the left side. Although, a difficult service, he had not organized himself early enough and headed the ball over the frame. Again, I am going to refer to Jeff Carlisle's evaluation "Played with plenty of energy, but there was little end product to his endeavors, especially with regard to his distribution." and add that he did not seem in command of his passing alternatives and his touch was good, certainly nothing special. He made appropriate runs and created good space for Cherundolo and also was solid defensively. Again, my biggest disappointment was that he was not particularly fast, certainly he is probably faster than Beckerman. So, anyway, again Carlisle rated him the lowest of our starting midfielders, as did I (and certainly it was his first match in a USA shirt, and he could have shown up, great). Seltzer listed him as our 5th defensive midfielder. And I saw him live, and watched him carefully and was not impressed either. And you take issue with my post, call me out for "negativity" and "expectations" and not seeing things realistically and through the wrong "lens" and having an improper "viewpoint". I had understood that the N and A forum provided stricter moderation. The moderators did not appreciate my humor in suggesting there might be more evidence for Sasquatch than nepotism. So anyway, here is my proposition. If Williams starts tonight and is rated by 2 of the 4 player rating links at the top of the page when we "Google search" USA Ecuador player ratings tomorrow at 8AM, I am going to give you rep. If he does not hold his starting position (anywhere) or is listed by only one of the four (in the top 2), I am hoping that you will agree to give me rep. And really, we will both win if he plays great. And please, in the future, keep your strawman arguments away from my posts.
Small note: Belgium got ass whooped by Germany and failed to qualify for a big tournament yet again. I don't think anyone in Belgium is having "sexual levels of excitement" over the Belgian team tonight.
I would take Belgium's players over the US and anybody we've played this year except Spain and Argentina. Without a doubt, they're loaded with talent.
I think we got our wires crossed somewhere. My post was not intended to be antagonistic, or patronizing. I have a healthy respect for your knowledge and acumen, even if we often find ourselves on opposite ends of discussions. I saw things a little differently WTR to his performance and I seem to be cutting him a lot more slack than you are for being out of position and playing in his first cap. I genuinely thought you might think he was a natural right mid, as a lot of other people seemed to be laboring under that misconception. Your first post led me to believe you expected a different kind of player. Hopefully I am right and you are wrong and he is MOTM from here on out!
...and the US record for qualifying from UEFA is? My guess, Belgium would never miss the World cup if they were in CONCACAF.
Belgium has good players I would take Kompany, Vertonghen, Van Buyten, Hazard, Fellaini, Lukaku,Witsel Talent wise they are ahead of us
Would you guys trade Belgium's results over the past 10 years for the USMNT's results over the same period?
Would you trade playing in Concacaf vs. playing in Europe? In the short run probably not, but in the long run I think it would be beneficial for US Soccer to play the teams Belgium has to play in Europe qualifications. I guess that it comes down to do we prefer a "guaranteed" spot in every world cup or better competition over all.
Bump this B$#%^! So how things have changed since 2011? If every one healthy could it be? -------------Altidore---------------- -------------Dempsey---------Donovan(when ever he comes back) Johnson------------------------------- ------------Jones-----------Bradley ??????--Cameron--Gonzalez--Chandler ---------------Howard---------------- And Regarding the Belgium discussion, well I guess they are not to bad after all.
Seems like Besler's ahead of Cameron at CB at this point. I think Cameron's basically going to be one of the first backup options for several positions, including CB, DM, and RB, unless he clearly distinguishes himself at one of those positions. If (when) Donovan comes back, I could see Klinsmann returning Johnson to left back and lining up Donovan and Zusi as his wide mids. But if Klinsmann decides to go with only one of those two and keeps Johnson in the midfield, then Beasley might be his first choice at LB. I imagine Chandler vs Cherundolo is mostly going to depend on who's in the better form next season. But if they both are impressing, then there is a small possibility that Klinsmann returns to the experiment he tried at the beginning of his tenure -- with Cherundolo at RB and Chandler at LB (which would again mean Johnson in the midfield).
Keepers 1. Guzan 2. Howard 3. Rimando 4. Hall/Johnson Right Backs 1. Cherundolo? (havent seen him in a while though) 2. Chandler 3. Evans 4. Parkhurst 5. Cameron Left Back 1. Fabian 2. Beasley 3. Castillo 4. Parkhurst CB 1. Besler 2. Gonzo 3. Cameron 4. Goodson 5. Boca? (I think George John should get a shot though) Right wing 1. Donovan 2. Zusi 3. Fabian 4. EJ 5. Corona/Gatt Left wing 1. Fabian 2. Landon 3. EJ 4. Brad Davis 5. Shea 6. Beasley/Castillo CM 1. Bradley 2. Jones 3. Cameron 4. Edu 5. Kljestan/Williams Strikers 1. Jozy 2. Gomez 3. EJ 4. Boyd 5. Agudelo/Gordon/Mcinerney Dempsey- free role
Did you mean to post this a few years ago when it was true rather than now when he actually might be helpful?
No, I mean it now, when he is still a complete waste of space. I don't care what he does for Seattle. He is terrible for the USMNT. He can't hold the ball up. Can't beat anyone. Can't win a ball in the air. etc. etc. etc. There is no arguing that. Gomez and Boyd are both worlds better.
He's not my favorite National Team player and I agree that Gomez is better. Gomez is also injured. Boyd has potential, but has looked pretty bad in terms of losing his mark and not doing a good job of killing off the clock in the last couple of games. A year from now, I'll probably prefer Boyd over Johnson. For now, he can perform adequately and certainly helped us a lot in the last round. We don't really ask him to hold the ball up a lot for the national team or beat people so I'm not sure why that would be a worry. Its not like he's taking Jozy or Clint's position. As a different option on the left midfield I think he's fine.
Why not? He's played as a winger for Klinnsman; false; and false. Oops! There's no arguing with you...guess I should've kept reading.