Taylor Twellman: Out 6 - 8 Weeks

[The Magpie]

Strained his hamstring in the Revolution's match against Kansas City, and is expected to be out 6-8 weeks, so he can pretty much write off the Gold Cup, and who knows if Arena will call him in for the WCQ's in August and September.

[babytiger2001]

Ouch.

Definitely a bit of a knock to whatever depth we've been building and touting up front.

Not the end of the world, though -- not by a long shot.

[eric_appleby]

Not the end of the world, though -- not by a long shot.

But, pretty much the end of any chance of playing time in the remaining qualies. Maybe he'll get another cup of coffee over the winter and next spring, but it's definitely not loooking good for him making the WC squad.

[Clint Eastwood]

But, pretty much the end of any chance of playing time in the remaining qualies. Maybe he'll get another cup of coffee over the winter and next spring, but it's definitely not loooking good for him making the WC squad.

I agree and it's a shame.

This guy is a great MLS player, but seems a bit snake-bitten when it comes to the NATS. This summer in the Gold Cup and in some meaningless qualifiers (I'm hoping the last couple will be meaningless) he's going to get a shot again to show what he can do. Hell, if he's out only 6 weeks he'd be available for the WCQ in Hartford against T+T on August 17th. That may be a stretch, but it's true. DON'T GIVE UP ON THIS GUY YET! He's too good.

The guy I think he's really competing with for the WC squad is Josh Wolff. Wolff clearly has the upper hand now, and he's done OK in the last 2 games. TT needs to show REAL SOON that he's better than Wolffie. I know it's been said before, but we may reflect on TT in 5 years like we do Jason Kreis now.

[babytiger2001]

But, pretty much the end of any chance of playing time in the remaining qualies. Maybe he'll get another cup of coffee over the winter and next spring, but it's definitely not loooking good for him making the WC squad.

Very true, Eric. But if he takes those chances well, maybe he's got a shadow of a hope at having a shot at going to Germany.

However, with injuries playing the role of a cruel beast, Taylor's looking like being lost in the shuffle amid the likes of the Chings, the Johnsons, and even the Noonans passing him by along the depth chart.

Taylor Twellman has got to be cursing his dumb luck right about now.

[GoDC]

Kirovski can easily fill this spot for the Gold Cup.

[Heathens '87]

Without the Gold Cup, it's hard to imagine a scenario where he's in the US camp getting a real look from Arena. Tough break for him, good news for Josh Wolff.

I'm still expecting a lot of fresh faces, young ones, in the Gold Cup. Maybe this opens up a chance for an Eskandarian (22), Arnaud (24), or Conor Casey (24) to get some considerable playing time. Chad Barrett or someone else from the U-20 squad might also get a call.

We know what a Kirovski can do....let's get a look at some new faces out there.

[Clint Eastwood]

Without the Gold Cup, it's hard to imagine a scenario where he's in the US camp getting a real look from Arena. Tough break for him, good news for Josh Wolff.

I'm still expecting a lot of fresh faces, young ones, in the Gold Cup. Maybe this opens up a chance for an Eskandarian (22), Arnaud (24), or Conor Casey (24) to get some considerable playing time. Chad Barrett or someone else from the U-20 squad might also get a call.

We know what a Kirovski can do....let's get a look at some new faces out there.

Don't forget Edson Buddle. I'd personally give him a shot before the guys you've mentioned. I agree with you. Let's see some new faces in the Gold Cup, but let's WIN the thing. Not too much experimenting, please.

[monster]

Eskandarian (22)

I thought the goal was to put the ball inside the net.

:p

[kamikazepilot42]

This is bad news. I just wanted to see him scoring goals this season in MLS, let alone with the Nats. I feel for Revs fans right now.

And stop dropping Buddles name until he starts actually doing something worthwhile for the Crew.

[ursula]

1) TT has gotten a look- multiple looks- by Arena.

2) Arena has TT on his depth chart as pretty far down the forward ranks.

3) Arena wasn't going to call-up TT for the fall WCQ's unless several other players were hurt first.

4) This is much bigger news to the revs than the nats.

[scaryice]

2) Arena has TT on his depth chart as pretty far down the forward ranks.

Arena's depth chart:

1-Johnson
2-McBride
3-Ching
4-Wolff
5-Casey
6-Twellman

[Jasonisimo]

1) TT has gotten a look- multiple looks- by Arena.At first I was going to disagree with this because he's only played something like 28 minutes in 2004 and none in 2005. He played about 2 games or so(?) in 2003 is all. But he has been in camp a number of times, if memory serves. IF Arena didn't like what he saw there, he wouldn't put him in the games. That is probable. How many times has Twellman been called in to camp?

Quirky fact:
Number of times a player has been refered to in the plural in this thread? (Such as "Noonans" or "an Eskandarian"--like there are multiple.)
7 so far, by my count.

[Jasonisimo]

Arena's depth chart:

1-Johnson
2-McBride
3-Ching
4-Wolff
5-Casey
6-TwellmanWouldn't you say 6-Noonan, 7-Twellman? Considering Twellman and Noonan both have been performing well for the Rev but Arena called in Noonan...

Managers usually take 4 nominal forwards to big tournaments, and Arena today would probably do the same. On that list, the first three seem locks, barring injury. Who will be the 4th forward is an open question right now. Wolff is making his case, but reviews are mixed. This injury definitely hurts Twellman's chances.

[Crew14]

Don't forget Edson Buddle. I'd personally give him a shot before the guys you've mentioned.

No chance. He's done pretty much nothing for the Crew. Not only that, he seems to have a problem with doing anything that requires a bit of effort on the field. If the Crew had a competent coach, I don't think he'd even get a MLS start let alone a shot at the National Team.

[thehands1616]

This is bad news. I just wanted to see him scoring goals this season in MLS, let alone with the Nats. I feel for Revs fans right now.

And stop dropping Buddles name until he starts actually doing something worthwhile for the Crew.

thank you buddle has done nothing this season...

[eric_appleby]

Well, he was healthy and playing well for the Revs, and still didn't get called in
for these two qualies.

Presumably, he could be healthy by the TNT game, but that doesn't mean Arena would select him.

His problem is that he is not competing with Wolf, but McBride and Johnson.
He's more in the role of a target forward, rather than someone who can make darting runs behind the defense.

[NoSix]

His problem is that he is not competing with Wolf, but McBride and Johnson.
He's more in the role of a target forward, rather than someone who can make darting runs behind the defense.

This is exactly right. Noonan was called into compete with Wolff for the position of partner to McBride/Johnson. While McBride and Johnson have been paired up top a few times, I think that is only because no other forward has really stepped up - in the long run, Johnson is McBride's replacement.

[MarioKempes]

Ouch! What a terrible time for this to happen. This makes things real tough on him. Well, he'll be back in August, and hopefully he'll get a look for the T&T and Mexico games, although both look like a hard sell at this point.

[rhiggz]

It's too bad he got hurt. Hopefully it won't be as bad as everyone is saying. However, I don't think it really matters except to the Revs and all of us talking on here. He could be scoring a goal every game and have Real Madrid buy him for $20 million, and Arena still wouldn't have him suit up for games. He apparently hasn't been watching him play too much, otherwise he'd at least be on the bench for these games. It's a shame. Now he won't even have the ability to force himself in, which I don't even know if that's possible. Just because he doesn't fit what Arena wants, it's just stupidity to write off America's only true striker.