Taylor Twellman = Jason Kreis

[wcharriscpa]

It seems to me that Taylor Twellman -- while given tons more opportunities to make his case than JK ever received -- is simply not international material. At least, not for this national team.

Great for MLS? Sure. But he just doesn't seem to "get" what is required at the international level. Maybe it's his innumerable poor first touches. Maybe it's his inability to put away opportunities whenever he dons the Nats jersey. Maybe it's a mental thing (whatever that means).

We have reached the point with Taylor Twellman -- just as the point was reached with Jason Kreis before WC2002 -- to say goodbye.

[LittleMaradona]

Great for MLS? Sure. But he just doesn't seem to "get" what is required at the international level. Maybe it's his innumerable poor first touches. Maybe it's his inability to put away opportunities whenever he dons the Nats jersey. Maybe it's a mental thing (whatever that means).
Rack Dempsey up as one of those guys that just don't "get" it, but I think he has more room for improvement to get "it" than TT does.

[nobody]

Well, with qualifying so early, Twellman will still get a couple more looks. His missing easy chances made this a game where he should have been a hero but left with nothing to show. Just bury the wide open bouncer at the far post and the cross where he had like 10 yards of space to settle and shoot and he would have been the big hero of the night.

I'd be surprised if Bruce doesn't keep trying with him for a bit though. He works hard out there and is willing to do some dirty work to help other guys around him. Toss in the fact that we're really short on forwards anyway, with Cunningham's poor performance as his partner showed, and he's still got a shot. But, if he gets out there and fails to finish wide open so close to goal much more, I'd have to think he's gonna get left behind.

[subbuteo]

agreed

[Ismitje]

Kries actually has a goal.

...and a few more caps, but maybe not more minutes (in reference to the original post about TT getting way more chances than JK did).

[sidefootsitter]

Kreis is far more fundamentally sound than Twellman. Taylor has more physical talent than Jason.

If Kreis played on the current squad, he probably would have scored a few goals because he'd get more opportunities.

[MLS SupaStr3]

Rack Dempsey up as one of those guys that just don't "get" it, but I think he has more room for improvement to get "it" than TT does.
demps has been a pro for like a year and a half and because he's not an instant star with the nats, he shouldn't be given more playing time with them? is that what i'm getting from your post?

[CbR]

twelleman plays like a 6-4 target foward ....too bad he's only 5-10

[wcharriscpa]

demps has been a pro for like a year and a half and because he's not an instant star with the nats, he shouldn't be given more playing time with them? is that what i'm getting from your post?

Yes.

Sincerely,

Eddie Johnson

[wcharriscpa]

...and a few more caps, but maybe not more minutes (in reference to the original post about TT getting way more chances than JK did).

I didn't wanna go down that road.

Timing is everything, and (imho) it's marginally understandable that Arena has given TT the number of opportunities that he has. I like JK, and I like TT -- each for MLS.

But not for the Nats.

[LittleMaradona]

demps has been a pro for like a year and a half and because he's not an instant star with the nats, he shouldn't be given more playing time with them? is that what i'm getting from your post?
What you got from my post isn't what I intended to convey. TT has been around for a while (Germany, MLS), and if he can't make the next step to the USMNT at this point in time, then the chances of him doing so are small. Dempsey definitely does not have what it takes to make an impact for the USMNT at the moment (be it a lack of maturity, confidence, experience), but he has more room for improvement since he's only been around for awhile on the professional level.

[Chester FC]

My take on TT from another thread:

TT is too slow, with insufficient skill and, fatally, plays far too obviously to be of any help in Germany. A target man that with a first touch of stone and no field vision might have chance if he can finish. TT can't finish at the WC level, as Balboa alluded to, because the game moves to fast for his feet and brain. TT is a great guy and work extremely hard, but that is just not enough. Brian Ching, when he gets healthy, is next in line for the McBride back-up spot.

[Ray Luca]

It seems to me that Taylor Twellman -- while given tons more opportunities to make his case than JK ever received -- is simply not international material. At least, not for this national team.

Great for MLS? Sure. But he just doesn't seem to "get" what is required at the international level. Maybe it's his innumerable poor first touches. Maybe it's his inability to put away opportunities whenever he dons the Nats jersey. Maybe it's a mental thing (whatever that means).

We have reached the point with Taylor Twellman -- just as the point was reached with Jason Kreis before WC2002 -- to say goodbye.

Jason had a ton of chances to make the nationals more then Twellmen for sure.

Yes I compared both as the same type of player good in the MLS but not international type players.

Then I saw the goal he scored in the All star game and felt give him another look.

If I was Arena and had a new player on the team. I don't want him playing with other new players to the team evryone has a chance to look bad when you do that. I want him to look good so he would play with the best players I had. I want him to look good for his confidence and I want to still win the game. I want to give him his best chance to do well and then see if he does do well or not.

[Ghost]

Twice Albright served him clean with beautiful balls, and twice he missed not because of a "bad night" but because he didn't have the speed or leaping ability or height or soccer brain, or something, to get to the spot he needed to be in. He just doesn't have it.

[Liviu]

Twellman is NOT national team material. If he can't prove himself in 10 games, he won't prove himself in 100.

How many games did Johnson need to make an impression? How about Gooch?

[ddw31089]

Kries actually has a goal.
So does Twellman. But it just doesn't count cause the crap linesmen.

[ssanchez]

Bot twellman and Cunningham didn't show any reason to be iin the world cup. They were lost both had chances that they wasted. EJ had one he wasted from a nice serve from landon. I think twellmand with more time with Donovan can be good springign from just before the offside line. Cunningham I just don't think he fits at all.

[Asprilla9]

on TT...

you can't keep having "off days" for the national team. i mean, at some point, you have to bring it. i'm sure he would say tonight was an "off night," but time is running out for the lad. every cap he's had has ended in an "off night." at some point you've got to stop wasting precious game minutes on him, and find someone else.

it was really apparent to me that it's just not going to happen for TT. and that pains me to say that, because i'm a big fan of his.

[ayers]

Can Twellman do back flips?

[Cannons]

Twellman is NOT national team material. If he can't prove himself in 10 games, he won't prove himself in 100.

How many games did Johnson need to make an impression? How about Gooch?

How many goals did Johnson get last night with the "B" team? Ans - Same as Twellman. It doesn't matter what he does, those that don't believe will always knock him. McBride can play a whole game against Mexico and do NOTHING, but were are the McBride = Kreis threads? EJ has one lucky run and he's the second coming. Put him on the field, with the same players around him as TT and he does nothing. Where are the EJ = Kreis threads?
I'm just glad that Arena knows more then posters on these boards.

Now, lets talk about capping Freddy.