"Wondolowski named MLS Player of Week" (CSNBayArea.com - Monday, 7/16/12) Chris Wondolowski (right) leads MLS with 17 goals. GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
"Earthquakes' Chris Wondolowski named MLS Player of the Week again" (San Jose Mercury News - Monday, 7/16/12) GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
I would tend to agree. Overall this year he's probably better than 2010. But remember that he spent about half his time playing midfield in 2010. So to have that kind of scoring rate from often a midfield position is pretty incredible. Sure he could still make the far / near post run, be he had a lot more defensive responsibility as well. And IIRC his goal scoring rate did not go down when he played mid. He was also probably taking more longer range shots, which might explain the fact that goals / shots may not be significantly different than this year. I seem to remember him taking more 20 yarders. This year he's had a lot of poacher type goals but he's had a few where he created as well, like the one against Vancouver where he held off what's his name after the throw-in, and recently he's been breaking through the offside trap to get to thru balls which is something I haven't seen him do much previously. Anyway I still I think that if he was as on fire with his finishing that I thought he was in 2010, he'd have had > 20 goals easily last year and this year too already. Shoot, he might have had 4 or 5 on Saturday.
Anyone post this one yet? Searched thread and didn't see it. http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2012/7/16/3162627/chris-wondolowski-history-mls-goals I love this quote: "It seems absurd that a player with his goal-scoring record could possibly get that many looks from close in, but it lends a lot of credence to the idea that Wondolowski has some kind of magical powers that make him absolutely invisible to defenders." Personally, I don't think he's going to get the record. There, I said it! Can't wait to be wrong!
It kills me to see his one weakness as an attacker though when he's had 2 really good chances to go one-on-one with the keeper lately and defenders catch up to him before he can make the finish easily. I think one of the chances was in Dallas (he got the shot off but it was saved... if he had a little more time the finish would have been easier) and the other was this last game against RSL. Don't get me wrong, I'm in the camp that he's one of the best in the league and could fare well in other leagues and on the national team with the right support. But if he had a little breakaway speed... well maybe by now he'd have run out of San Jose.
"Chris Wondolowski on pace to break Roy Lassiter's single season MLS scoring record" (Quake, Rattle and Goal! - Monday, 7/16/12) Chris Wondolowski has already surpassed his scoring total from last year, and he still has 14 games left on the schedule. (Ezra Shaw - Getty Images) GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
After 2010 I thought Wondo was a great finisher and it was mostly about that. After 2011 when I thought his finishing was just ok but he still got, what 18 goals, I thought good finisher but as a poacher - the ability to find opportunities, he's off the charts. And this year reinforces that for me.
Which is why, given the opportunity, he will succeed at every level, including the 2014 World Cup. The innate ability to find space within which to snipe is, by definition, unstoppable. If Landon Donovan is MLS's answer to Wayne Gretzky, then Wondo is its Mike Bossy. Under-heralded (admit it, Sharks fans, you've never heard of him) but absolutely lethal as a goal-scorer. And, best of all, ultimately a champion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Bossy
I would love to see our boy Wondo break the record. No one is chasing after this season now, so he's clear for the Golden Boot. Wondo for the 30 goals this season!
Players with his abilities are often not given the credit they deserve (IMO anyway). Some don't seem to understand that there is a lot of skill involved in being able to sniff out that brief bit of open space or the couple of seconds of a good look at goal. True, it takes good service for those opportunities to exist, but if it were so easy to take advantage, then anyone could do it, and we know that is not the case. A guy like Wondo has the confidence to take the improbable shot. It's obvious that he feels that if he can make contact with the ball, he has a good chance of putting it into the net. Of course, the hard part is coordinating the contact with the space and position. He does possess something in terms of getting some extra looks during the game, and I think he was born with it.
don't know if this has been posted elsewhere but here's his Chronicle live interview: http://www.sjearthquakes.com/news/2012/07/chronicle-live-one-one-wondo
Is Chris now the greatest player we've had, ahead of say Cerritos, Donovan, DeRo, Ching, Onstad, Dayak, Canon, etc, or almost the greatest Earthquake, ever?
My two cents on Wondo in the following thread. Its funny how everyone seems to defend LAndy....God Forbid anyone says anything against Baby Judas....
Absolutely! And Wondo is wearing the blue uniform in the photo, no less. GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
I don't know if he's quite the best yet, but he's probably my favorite of all the Quakes greats (excluding Kelly Gray, of course ). I love how the way he scores goals (meaning how he gets into goal scoring positions so often) mystifies everybody. I mentioned this in some game thread before, or maybe this one, but it is really amazing how even as a San Jose fan, I completely forget Wondo is playing for really long stretches of time. I give tons of credit to him, of course, for knowing how to make space for himself and finish his chances to well, but I do think that some of what makes him so effective is the attention that gets put on everybody else. You've got a big, rough target man in either Gordon or Lenhart, so they occupy defenders. Then you've got Chavez and Salinas or Dawkins working the sidelines and pulling defenders out and worrying defenses. And Baca and Cronin are in your face if you've got the ball. That's a lot to pay attention to. Wondo just seems to know exactly how to blend into all the action, only to pop up at the right moment. Maybe I'll try tracking Wondo's movements and positioning for an entire game and only focus on that.
There's a fantastic and detailed cover story on Wondo in the San Jose/Silicon Valley Metro released today (July 25). It doesn't appear to be online yet, http://www.metroactive.com/, but should be shortly. It is available at Metro box stands in San Jose. Coincidentally, right after seeing it I ran into the Metro's publisher Dan Pulcrano downtown at Taza Bistro (which is Quakes-friendly, family-run and serves great, inexpensive lunches.) I commended him for the piece and told him to keep up the good work.
in terms of overall career greatness I'm sure that would be George Best, but in terms of stats and contribution to the Quakes, Wondo must be approaching "all time greatest" status. Certainly he brought us back to respectability and was the bright spot up until this season when the team really started to click. hope he can beat Terry and Cech and net one tonight! PS - are you Kelly?
cool...if so, thanks for your excellent coverage and for your time as a Quakes player. As I recall, you went through the whole moving debacle so it's great to have a pro player with up close knowledge of our history, covering our comeback.
Yeah, one of the best features I've ever seen written about a Quakes player. Entertaining, offers some new insight, gets the facts right, and essentially "gets" it regarding Wondo and the Quakes. One thing that has not been discussed on this forum much, but it is covered in the article. Wondo is really a Jeckyll and Hyde when it comes to his on-field vs. off-field personality. He is extremely wound up, vocal and combative, even with his own teammates on the field, and shy, modest, and unassuming off the field. There are a lot of players like that, but he is about the most extreme case that I have seen. I was re-watching part of the last RSL match the other night, and noticed how he started yelling furiously (apparently) at Bernardez after Bernardez skied a free kick. He does this kind of thing with teammates quite a bit in matches - hit a poor cross, sky a free kick, make bad pass, etc., you may be the subject of a Wondo tongue lashing. I think his teammates are just used to it, and let it roll off their back. They know that he's a good guy that just gets extremely wound up on the field and has very high expectations and standards of himself and his teammates.
The kind of article you would hope to see in the Merc, but, of course, they are a little lacking in the "gets it" department.
Nope, I'm definitely not Kelly Gray. I was making a joke about Jim Kozimor's description of his co-announcer as "former Quakes great, Kelly Gray", which some people thought was slightly exaggerated.