Arturo Alvarez does not know how to finish

[ridikulas]

Arturo Alvarez should have had a hat trick against Atlas. He had three chances to have easy goals and he botched two of them. Two of those chances were 2 on 1's and somehow he either kicked it straight at the goalie or didn't even get a shot off. Another time, he missed an obvious pass to Ruiz that surely would have been finished.

I like his game and he's always a threat to attack, but I question his decision making abilities. He'll wait too long to shoot, miss passes, and dribble straight into the defenders. He should learn from Nunez how to make the BANG-BANG plays.

[texgator]

Agreed.........although he did finish one chance tonight. But your criticisms of his game are dead on. Waits too long to pull the trigger, with either a pass or a shot, and he dribbles right into the defense. Luckily, he's a young one, so he can develop and learn. He's got some great talent and knowledge around him to learn from. I think he will develop into something.....he has the raw skills.

[Pegasus]

And yet he leads the team in preseason scoring with 5 goals (according to the DMN). I guess that means he is getting into scoring positions a lot which is good. If improves justa little he could be a scoring machine. If not there could be many frustrating moments at the Oven (the Cooler last night).

[SoftTackle]

He reminds me of Eddie in 2004. On the precipice of figuring it all out. Of course some guys get that far and never make that final step, so who knows.

[3rd Degree]

And yet he leads the team in preseason scoring with 5 goals (according to the DMN). That was a FCD PR bite.

and he has two goals against smu, and two against Bradford who I thought SMU would beat, and now a goal in another blowout.

[paladius]

He reminds me of Eddie in 2004. On the precipice of figuring it all out. Of course some guys get that far and never make that final step, so who knows.
It's all about mental maturity. He's got to control his emotions so that he doesn't "choke" at the critical points, and he has got to quite being intimidated so that he feels free to pull the trigger. Last year, it was obvious that he would dribble on endlessly if allowed, which Clarke has got to stop. He needs to spend some critical time on shot placement strategies with a guy like Ruiz, or even Nunez, who seems to have made huge progress in that category. I still say that ROB had the same problem until Clarke forced him to play as a striker, which blew my mind, but eventually Ronnie was scoring goals instead of setting them up all the time. Few people observed the fact that at first, Ronnie's shot accuracy was horrendous. Within a few months, he was placing the ball with accuracy, and it made all the difference. The advantage these older guys have is that they actually think about where the ball is going. They rarely send it screaming into the exact center of the net, where the goalie can make a save by standing like a Roman statue. Alvarez is close, but he needs the right mentor to get to the next level. I say it's the little fish.

[Scipio Gothicus]

Or Oscar. Mina had exactly the same problem last year; they both want to dribble into position where they have a perfect chance. They need to take the half chance sometimes, or slot the ball to a trailer. You are right to say it is mental problem. I think it will be knoecked out of them soon.

Scipio Diabolus,
vox fatum.

Contra.

Clean and sober.

[oman]

To me it comes down to the excitement that is generated.

Nunez, Alvarez and Mina are all exciting players and I tend to forgive the almost one's because when they are 'on" something good will happen.

I love mexicans and near-mexicans.

[Rocket]

Nunez, Alvarez and Mina are all exciting players and I tend to forgive the almost one's because when they are 'on" something good will happen.

When has Alvarez ever been "on"?

[oman]

When has Alvarez ever been "on"?

Oh come on. You have to be on to make the chances come your way. We wouldn't be frustrated with Alvarez if he wasn't so close to being great.

[Rocket]

We wouldn't be frustrated with Alvarez if he wasn't so close to being great.
"Close to being great" is a phrase that describes Mina.

Not Alvarez.

[texgator]

We wouldn't be frustrated with Alvarez if he wasn't so close to being great.That's very true....this is where the frustration comes from.

[ZenCarver]

Oh come on. You have to be on to make the chances come your way. We wouldn't be frustrated with Alvarez if he wasn't so close to being great.I was sitting here thinking about arguing with you about "so close to being great" but I started thinking about it. If Alvarez could just make the right decision (take the shot or make the right pass) one time in four, he could be on something like a 1.5 PPG pace (if a goal = 2pts and an assist = 1pt).

[SoftTackle]

I agree. AA had 2 goals and 4 assists last year. If he made better choices with the ball, especially early in the season when he had so many opportunities, I could easily have seen 20+ points from him. For a young left-winger we would be talking about burgeoning greatness as we do with Nunez, who began making better choices late in the season.

[oman]

"near burgening greatness" sounds awfully close to almost great to me.

Mina and Alvarez play different positions. I think Mina is almost great as well, but I actually think he plays an easier position, given that we debating on decisonmaking.

[ridikulas]

I think the way Alvarez plays USED to work in high school. He used to be able to dribble right into the defense and get past them. What he needs to get through his head that he's got to step it up in the MLS. Professional players aren't going to be faked out by his little moves anymore. And if they are faked out, they're still going to close in on him within seconds.

Plus he needs to work on his finishing when in 2 v 1 situations. You can't screw those up in the MLS.