The Official Anthony Ampaipitakwong thread

And he (i'm assuming) is currently living near the Silver Creek Valley Country Club! Well, more by The Ranch Golf Club. I drive by there pretty much every day so it was easy to recognize it on the video. Beautiful area so good choice!

I'm currently taking a soccer class at Evergreen which is right down the street from there, probably the closest soccer field to his location. He should bring a few of his team buddies down sometime and kick a ball around with us since he's so close.

So is his ethnic background Thai or Lao?

He would have to be the first Thai-American or Lao-American to play in MLS (if he is indeed one of those).

Q&A: Getting to know Anthony Ampaipitakwong

Ampaipitakwong ready for any role to contribute in rookie season with San Jose

Five rookies to keep an eye on in 2011

Longest name in the league's history. But I don't feel especially sorry for your equipment manager - at least he's not the equipment manager for, say, the Madagascar national team...

This one takes the cake:

Velontsiory Rakotondramanana

It's like after a while they just started adding "ma's" and "na's" to the end just to be funny.

There's a running joke/stereotype about the length of Sri Lankan names: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka_national_football_team#Current_squad

I don't even want to know what those initials stand for.

It must be nice to burn 6,000 calories a day then eat anything you want, sigh...

I can't wait for Anthony's first home start.

Announcer:
"And now your 2011 San Jose Earthquakes. Starting in goal, Jon"

Crowd:
"Busch!"

Announcer:
"Defender, Ramiro"

Crowd:
"Corrales!"

Announcer:
Midfielder, Anthony"

Crowd:
"Amp...pa...mumble...mumble...silence"

Amp!

Pai!

Amp

Pai!

This is what we should aspire to be. Just an example...esp. since it's nice to see Freddy score and smile again.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU_YADBGWsg"]YouTube - Rizespor - Gaziantep 1-0 Freddy Adu[/ame]

Wow! Nice to see. Return of the Freddy.

Even with all the guys we have for the middle, from what ive seen of Ampai in college he has the capacity to grab that spot in the middle of the park. He is the most pure attacking midfielder that we have, and the more i think about it the more i think he could very well wrestle down that starting spot by the end of the year. Once he gets to MLS speed, he could be our Benny Feilhaber. He has that sort of swagger to his game and id love to see it employed with us. He gives us the best chance to see the possession ball we all want to see. One of the biggest reasons im rooting for him to succeed is we can do away with the long ball once and for all, he is the player that gives us the best chance to do that.

I'd love to see this myself, but let's not put too much on his shoulders at once. He'll get some opportunties especially if ALM fails to get fit or the Dawkins deal doesn't go thru. if both happen then we're not as deep at CM suddenly, but there's still Khari, Baca by the looks of it, and maybe even Wondo ahead of him depending on Frank's opinion of the moment.

For the little bit I saw of him, I was impressed.

indeed. His poor combine benefitted us greatly.

MLS combine is proving something that there really shouldnt be much stock behind.

The best description I saw about his combine was that It's normally just a me-first type of game. Players like Zakuani and Nagbe all shine because as wide players, their speed and attacking prowess is easily seen.

That's not Ampai's game. He has a more cerebral/calm attacking quality to him, which requires complete knowledge and spacing of the other 10 players. Definitely doesn't happen at the combine.

That being said, I could see his size being the main issue with other team's opinions of him. But for me, any captain of Caleb Porter's Akron team is welcome in San Jose.

(sticks head out of cave)

Welcome to San Jose my fellow Zip.

Fear the Roo!

(goes back into cave)

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3cbKKf37Mg"]YouTube - Chinese or Japanese?[/ame]