Jeff Cunningham

[Nutmeg]

Cunningham "will have to continue to improve" for the MNT (http://sports.tbo.com/sports/MGAF7GDM1BD.html)

I poached this from MLS N&A, but it is relevant to the many JC discussions that have taken place here. As I have said before, I believe Bruce Arena believes he can coach the raw talent of JC into a regular threat for the National Team. In this article, Bruce remarks that Cunningham is making progress, but still has a ways to go mentally and in his consistency.

Those are things that can be learned, and a good coach can get those things out of a player. So far all of those who have predicted that JC will not be part of the mix, is a long-shot for future camps, etc, take a long read. Between the lines you'll find that Bruce plans on taking his time with JC, and plans on keeping him around for a while.

[stopper4]

I'm curious. How does Jeff Cunningham compare to Josh Wolff?

Bigger? Faster? Better dribbler? Better shooter? Passing? vision? Outside shot? In the air?

[The Wanderer]

If you look at my prediction for 2003, I said that Cunningham would push Wolff out of the small forward spot.

[Red Card]

JC has the potential to be the perfect partner for Mathis. They clicked a little bit in the Canada game when Mathis' back heel was taken by Jeff. and passed on perfectly to Landon (I think) who muffed the opportunity.

I just don't know if Jeff can get the poise needed for the international game. When I saw him play against the Metrostars, he had plenty of poise. He just seems to lose his poise against better competition.

[highlander]

I hope I'm wrong, but . . .

Bruce does have a habit of sometimes falling in love with one aspect of some players games and forgiving their faults to a point that can mystify you. Fortunately, he doesn't do it that often, but now that Agoos and his mental toughness and fight are gone, I wonder who will fill the void?

[MarioKempes]

Cunningham is a great dribbler. You might even say "World Class [TM]". However, we've all seen that the rest of his game is crap. He's 26 1/2. He'll be 29, almost 30, at the next World Cup. Hard to teach an old dog new tricks. I won't rule him out, but it's a hard, long road to fix JC.

10 Dribble, dribble, dribble, lose ball.
20 GOTO 10

I can really see him, though, as a late game closer. Dribble to the flag and waste time, ala Cobi Jones. If this is Arena's goal, I'm all for it.

[Bruce S]

Originally posted by The Wanderer
If you look at my prediction for 2003, I said that Cunningham would push Wolff out of the small forward spot.
if both are healthy, I would take this bet any day of the weak. Jeff is fast but very crude in his soccer skills. He is also not that young so his chance of big improvements are small. He has been looked out by a few foreign teams and all passed. The Canada game was a classic Jeff moment. He dribbled right into 3 defenders and the ball bounced away. The USA scored because Canada couldn't clear a ball with 3 defenders right there, but let's face it, that will never happen against a good team. I was actually a bit in favor of Arena looking at Jeff a year ago. In fact I posted myself about it. I changed after watching every minute of the Revs-Columbus MLS series.He personally cost the Crew that series. He killed of at least 5-6 scoring chances with cheesy dribble moves that fooled no one, least of all LLamosa.As a Revs fan, I was happy every time JC got the ball cause it was clear that he was going to kill off every chance Columbus had.

[Chris_Bailey]

Those worried about age, shouldn't. Cunningham is probably one of the most physically fit players in the league. Amazing work rate.

[Bruce S]

Originally posted by Chris_Bailey
Those worried about age, shouldn't. Cunningham is probably one of the most physically fit players in the league. Amazing work rate.
no doubt about that. It is the rest of his game that is the problem!

[The Wanderer]

Originally posted by Bruce S
no doubt about that. It is the rest of his game that is the problem!

You can always learn how to pass the ball at advanced ages IMHO, but you very few players improve their ability to dribble.

If you talk about what Cunningham did badly against Canada, how about at the beginning of the game where he dribbled through the defense and got fouled and set-up that first free kick. It's not all bad, however, we will have to see if he responds to Bruce.

[fidlerre]

Originally posted by Bruce S


I changed after watching every minute of the Revs-Columbus MLS series.He personally cost the Crew that series. He killed of at least 5-6 scoring chances with cheesy dribble moves that fooled no one, least of all LLamosa.

yea but if you would have watched him in the san jose series just before the rev's series you would have seen a player that practically carried the columbus crew on to the next round. he was outstanding against san jose...consistancy is what i am looking for out of jeff...

[ursula]

Originally posted by Bruce S
no doubt about that. It is the rest of his game that is the problem!

Very true. He's not good enough for the WC. And he also has a couple of years of Arena playing him to do that improvement. It's not like we are trying to nail down the last few spots on the WC 06 roster right now. IMO this is the time when Arena earns his pay: when he looks at the current players and projects in his mind where they could be by 06. Cunningham is one of those guys (Victorine, Convey, Califf, etc) who clearly isn't ready to go to Germany now, but that's not the point. What we should look for is if he improves in the next couple of years.


Thanks for finding the article, Nut.

[The Wanderer]

While we're criticizing Jeff for dribbling too much, guess who hit the square ball pass to Donovan that Baby Jesus made a meal of? It went Mastro to Mathis, backheel to Cunny, square pass to Baby Jesus.

[Karl K]

It's not that Jeff isn't fast enough to play the international game...he is...

It's not that Jeff isn't a good enough carrier of the ball to play the international game...he is...

It's not that he isn't physically fit enough to play the international game...he is...

It's not that he isn't, in BA's words "explosive and can make plays other guys just can't"...he is and he can,

It's just that, in BAs words "he needs to get. . .better mentally, in his concentration and in his consistency."

Yep, there you have it.

Cunningham is clearly a special case. What he brings to the table is quite unusual. Arena may try to coach him into being a more mentally ready player, but don't think he won't cut him loose if he fails to develop those essential aspects of his game. Arena won't be gritting his teeth, and echoing the childhood saga, "I know he can...I know he can."

He is WAY too calculating for that. He won't be afrad to say, "Nope, he can't"...largely because when Jeff's weaknesses surface they are BLATANTLY obvious. There's no hiding them.

Arena is well aware of JC's strengths, and well aware of his weaknesses. If the weaknesses don't go away -- and I basically give him through this year -- it's probably sayonara.

[BenReilly]

Originally posted by Karl Keller


Arena is well aware of JC's strengths, and well aware of his weaknesses. If the weaknesses don't go away -- and I basically give him through this year -- it's probably sayonara.

I thought it already was sayonara :D

[Bill Archer]

Originally posted by stopper4
I'm curious. How does Jeff Cunningham compare to Josh Wolff?

Bigger? About the same

Faster? Much

Better dribbler? Way, way better

Better shooter? Different, but pretty even

Passing? Hard to tell - he never passes

vision? None noted

Outside shot? Who can say?

In the air? Neither oneof them is likely to make anyone forget BMB

The bottom line here is simple, and people want to make it complicated: JC is the best ball carrier in the US, maybe the best American EVER, and a lot of people would call him World-class. But that's it. All there is. There ain't no more.

He can convert this amazing skill into goals often enough to make a living in MLS. There is NO chance, IMHO, of him taking a spot from Baby Jesus or Twellman or Mathis or much of anybody else. He ain't gonna be starting up front for the USA in a game that means something, not now, not ever.

But in the Cobi Jones role, he's perfect, and if he makes the USMNT that's where he'll be at.

Mario Kempes has stolen my sermon; the guy can hold the ball against anybody, particularly if he's not necessarily trying to score. He's ideal in that role IF Il Bruce can sell it to him.

[anderson]

Cunningham's problems are well described above and I don't disagree much. But I think his passing isn't hopeless. How's that for an endorsement.

Recall the US 2 x 1 Korea game in the Gold Cup that DMB won in stoppage time. That goal - a brilliant one-time finish - came off an insightful little chip pass across the box from Cunningham to the streaking DMB. Maybe that was just an anomaly - after all, it's not like we've seen a ton of one-touch laser finishes from DMB either. But it was certainly deliberate and showed some vision. Somewhere in Cunningham is a guy who can play quick, clever passes.

FWIW, his regular season plus playoff stats with the Crew from 98-02 are: 145 games played (92 starts), 51 goals, 38 assists. Obviously, the assist total includes the very generous MLS definition of an assist, as well as secondary assists, so apply the appropriate discounting. Even so, it's unreasonable to say that the guy never passes.

[Bruce S]

I was at a USA game and chatted with one of the main USA players. I asked him what he thought of Cunningham. He was EXTREMELY diplomatic but smiled and said " he needs to use his teammates more".

[Raoul]

He passes, but the passes are so random and rare that it appears his team mates never know whether to make a run or move to support.

Jc has, as noted, made some beautiful passes and some of assists are exqusite, but Bruce S had it on the mark, for the playoffs, when he said JC had forgotten how to pass. Anybody who has that much ball control and speed gets space to pass. JC just doesn't seem to look up before recieving the ball to get passes off quickly. His first move is to dribble 2-4 touches while he figures out his move.

BA needs, IMO, to work on his movement off the ball. He tends to stand flat footed ball watching but is quick enough to get the ball or dribble long enough to figure out his play.

What a talent and potential though.

[Noah Dahl]

Originally posted by The Wanderer
While we're criticizing Jeff for dribbling too much, guess who hit the square ball pass to Donovan that Baby Jesus made a meal of? It went Mastro to Mathis, backheel to Cunny, square pass to Baby Jesus.

It went Cunningham to Mastro to Mathis, backheel to Cunny, square pass to Baby Jesus. For those who note these things.