MLS Nat(Potentials included) Watch Week 3[r]

[appoo]

Donovan was simply amazing for the Galaxy and basically won the game for LA. He spoke out - and he backed it up. He needs to play like this for USA in Germany.

JOB actually got 10 minutes in...unfortunaty LA scored their 2 goals in those 10 minutes. He got victimized by Landon on that long run I think on the game winner.

Albright - apparently he specializes on near-misses in set pieces. Didn't have much work to do defensivly.

Dunivant - still hasn't regained his national team form and will be interesting to see if he he can do so in 2 weeks.

Freddy Adu - poor first half. Great 2nd half. DC United has scored 6 goals this season. They woulnd't have scored 4 of them without him. To be perfectly honest, I'd rather take Freddy over a 4th striker. He'd make an interesting 75th minute, desperate to get a goal sub.

Eddie Johnson - meh. underwhelming. can't create for himself as a striker.

Clint Dempsey - meh. underwhelming. can't create for others as an attacking midfielder.

Josh Wolff - I thought he was pretty good. He earned the PK for KC (I thought it was deserved) and was pretty dangerous on the night.


Didn't watch any of the other matches though...

[IndividualEleven]

Rolfe, the best forward so far.

[appoo]

Rolfe, the best forward so far.

forgot about him. watched the last 30 minutes of that match and he was great.

[StillKickin]

Eddie Johnson - meh. underwhelming. can't create for himself as a striker.

I agree. Bruce has to be starting to get a little bit worried. EJ hasn't looked good yet.

[appoo]

I agree. Bruce has to be starting to get a little bit worried. EJ hasn't looked good yet.
someone needs to teach to quit doing step overs and just run at people. He's been watching too many tapes of Christiano Ronaldo and not enough of Donovan, Beasley, and Convey. They use thier pace (he more of it than any of those 3) and just the slightest touches to the left or right to get by players. When EJ runs at players he stops his entire momentum, does 5 step overs. then goes left. It doesn't do anything. At the very least he should look to pass in those situations if he's gonna stop running.

Johnson - you're not a fancy player! Just freakin run by people!

[socrne1]

Donovan was simply amazing for the Galaxy and basically won the game for LA. He spoke out - and he backed it up. He needs to play like this for USA in Germany.

JOB actually got 10 minutes in...unfortunaty LA scored their 2 goals in those 10 minutes. He got victimized by Landon on that long run I think on the game winner.

Albright - apparently he specializes on near-misses in set pieces. Didn't have much work to do defensivly.

Dunivant - still hasn't regained his national team form and will be interesting to see if he he can do so in 2 weeks.

Freddy Adu - poor first half. Great 2nd half. DC United has scored 6 goals this season. They woulnd't have scored 4 of them without him. To be perfectly honest, I'd rather take Freddy over a 4th striker. He'd make an interesting 75th minute, desperate to get a goal sub.

Eddie Johnson - meh. underwhelming. can't create for himself as a striker.

Clint Dempsey - meh. underwhelming. can't create for others as an attacking midfielder.

Josh Wolff - I thought he was pretty good. He earned the PK for KC (I thought it was deserved) and was pretty dangerous on the night.


Didn't watch any of the other matches though...

So Donovan had two assist, yes the last one was pretty but everything up to that point of the game was very inconsistent. What else did he do the whole game. Thats right nothing he was lost and wasn't much of a threat. But I'm sure everyone else will praise him. If he wouldn't of gotten those assist then the team would of had reason to go back to him and call him out becasue he sure wasn't playing at a higher level.

[appoo]

So Donovan had two assist, yes the last one was pretty but everything up to that point of the game was very inconsistent. What else did he do the whole game. Thats right nothing he was lost and wasn't much of a threat. But I'm sure everyone else will praise him. If he wouldn't of gotten those assist then the team would of had reason to go back to him and call him out becasue he sure wasn't playing at a higher level.
he and grabavoy were pretty much the best players on the field for 90 minutes.

btw - your last sentence is one of the funnier things I've seen around here.

[Shibb]

I also didn't feel Donovan was that much of a threat in the first parts of the game, although his final set up of the winning goal was a thing of beauty. As for JOB and the two goals against, I'm not sure whether it was him that set up the long run from LD, but he wasn't even on the pitch for the first goal. That's what Bradley was complaining, that he was trying to get his sub on and the throw went ahead. So in a way maybe JOB was culpable but not in a very direct way. Nice header by Landon on the first goal, too, but before that I really don't recall much that was impressive.

[quitoamature]

his name is kenny cooper and he can do it all

[Lord15]

I think Justin Mapp has been amazing so far. Some of his dribbling is pointless, but he just make defenses completely lose their shape. When he figures out making that last pass every time, he's going to be unstoppable.

In the last 20-30 minutes of a game, he'd be just as dangerous as anyone we could bring into a game. Shame he got hurt in the Jan. camp.

[The Big Ticket]

Cap Jonathan Bornstein now! :D

Not too impressive from the nats overall. O'Brien is not ready yet, but he has to play because time is running out.

[NBlue]

Eddie Johnson - meh. underwhelming. can't create for himself as a striker.



I watched about 50 minutes or so of this match and, from what I saw I agree to an extent and disagree. First, I will concede that Eddie is not the best at creating for himself as a striker. On several occasions he attempted to get through traffic on his own and failed. That said, the only forward on our squad that can legitimately create his own shot is Josh Wolff -- of course the problem there is that the shot is, rather frequently, horrific. We simply have no Rooney, Messi or Ronaldo on our squad -- it simply must be recognized.

That said, I saw flashes of the old EJ in the time I watched the match. While he was not consistently dangerous he was rarely dispossessed and, instead, typically made smart, save passes back to his teammates. However, on several occasions he made some rather impressive runs beating several defenders. The problem, as I saw it, was after Conrad's early goal, Gansler really sat back and was reluctant to push anyone forward. It was a good decision as it resulted in a win -- but not really good to see whether Eddie is any more back. Whenever would beat one or two players off the dribble, he would constantly still be outnumbered by several players and few, if any teammates.

Overall, I though EJ played well although not spectacularly. I am really, really looking forward to seeing what he is going to look like paired with BMB and with Landon sitting behind him in the first of the send off matches is May. The biggest thing he brought during his run was the ability to put the ball away -- true he made some moves and had a few sweet runs but more than anything else he converted when set up by his teammates -- and he knew how to get in the right positions to finish their runs. Watching the game last night I saw signs that the old Eddie may be emerging again . . .

[DCFAN96]

Cap Jonathan Bornstein now! :D


You might be joking but I'll be keeping my eye on that kid cause he looks like a good prospect right now. He defends fairly well, he'll only get better as the season goes on, but unlike Albright or Hejduk the guy has real skill going foward and isn't scared of taking defenders on a sending in good crosses. Hopefully the guy can continue to develop his skill, oh and maybe grow a couple more inches. :)

[Delta Blues]

I watched about 50 minutes or so of this match and, from what I saw I agree to an extent and disagree. First, I will concede that Eddie is not the best at creating for himself as a striker. On several occasions he attempted to get through traffic on his own and failed. That said, the only forward on our squad that can legitimately create his own shot is Josh Wolff -- of course the problem there is that the shot is, rather frequently, horrific. We simply have no Rooney, Messi or Ronaldo on our squad -- it simply must be recognized.

That said, I saw flashes of the old EJ in the time I watched the match. While he was not consistently dangerous he was rarely dispossessed and, instead, typically made smart, save passes back to his teammates. However, on several occasions he made some rather impressive runs beating several defenders. The problem, as I saw it, was after Conrad's early goal, Gansler really sat back and was reluctant to push anyone forward. It was a good decision as it resulted in a win -- but not really good to see whether Eddie is any more back. Whenever would beat one or two players off the dribble, he would constantly still be outnumbered by several players and few, if any teammates.

Overall, I though EJ played well although not spectacularly. I am really, really looking forward to seeing what he is going to look like paired with BMB and with Landon sitting behind him in the first of the send off matches is May. The biggest thing he brought during his run was the ability to put the ball away -- true he made some moves and had a few sweet runs but more than anything else he converted when set up by his teammates -- and he knew how to get in the right positions to finish their runs. Watching the game last night I saw signs that the old Eddie may be emerging again . . .

The positives are that whoever Bruce calls, they'll have the MLS matches and the friendlies to get fully melded into the team. Even JOB will have 4-5 MLS matches, plus the friendlies. It's really going to go down to the wire.

[rhiggz]

If you're going on the past 3 weeks, don't take a Revolution offensive player. None of them have looked good. Clint Dempsey sure can dribble the ball. Other than that, nothing good has come from them.

I didn't even realize Eddie Johnson was playing until just before half time, I thought he must not have started. That's how little he did. Then when I realized he was playing, he didn't do anything either. Wolff looked okay. Conrad defended well, I guess, but I think it was more ineptitude by the Revs.

[sidefootsitter]

I thought Donovan looked very good once Gomez came on the field as a 2nd striker, which allowed Donovan to go back to midfield and make his runs against the badly spaced and relatively slow Chivas defense (and, yeah, Mr. Vaughn ... that was some amateur marking). I did think he was effective as a forward partner to Cornell Glen.

The guy I liked was Ned Grabavoy. He can dribble and isn't afraid to mix it up.

Dempsey - OK, but Nicol has to play all his skilled players (Clint, Noonan, Twellman .. OK, semi-skilled and Cancela) at once. Stevie is making Columbus look exciting.

Twellman - who?

Noonan - OK in spurts, needs Calcela as an outlet and a source of passes in the middle.

Marshal Leonard (he was mentioned last year) doesn't look like he has had any coaching in the last 2-3 years.

Ralston - same old, same old.

I didn't see the DCU-Dynamo game ... it was blacked out... er, made to look as if it were played without the lights ... good luck charging for that.

Kenny Cooper is making a believer out of me... so far the only MLS forward who has a proper feel for his position. He can combine with others, make through passes, finish, etc ... not that a ManU product can be fundamentally bereft.

John O'Brien ... oops ... but as long as he doesn't get hurt.

Clint Mathis ... has no shot with the Nats ... but looked pretty good for Colorado as a 2nd half sub. I was surprised Clavijo didn't go through him more often and instead kept to long ball.

Kyle Beckerman - I like, I like.

Mastro - eh, OK... not much to do.

Matt Reis - just fine + a PK save.

Kevin Hartman - indecisive way too frequently.

Matt Taylor - DNP.

[TheRightPants]

Albright - apparently he specializes on near-misses in set pieces. Didn't have much work to do defensivly.


This is what's been bothering me the most recently. Yes, Albright has shown some effectiveness in the air on set pieces. Wonderful. But for the final 23, the same is true for BMB, Pope, Gooch, and Boca, to name a few. My beef is on the other end of the field. You know, defense? Right back? The position that Albright plays! In his two matches this week he's been little more than awful, with his best scoring opportunity coming against Hartmann (his own keeper) ala Agoos '02. He is a liability in the back, and his strengths going forward certainly don't outweigh his weaknesses at fullback. Even if he improves, he should be an alternate at best.

[Clint Eastwood]

I watched two games yesterday, the Chi-Col and DC-Hou games.

For DC. Freddy Adu was outstanding in the 2nd half. He did everything but score the goal. He's killer on the counter-attack. If he ever starts finishing chances on a consistent basis, watch out.

In defense, I thought recent capee Bobby Boswell did a good job with Brian Ching. He'll be one to watch in the post Pope era.

For Houston: Brian Ching did OK, just OK. Without DeRosario there he didn't seem to get the service he normally does. One thing we know about Ching is that he needs that service or he's just a big body.

For Columbus: Yikes, what dregs.

Frankie Hejduk, what's going on? He works hard and does a lot of dirty work, but his tackling is getting even worse. I'm starting to think he'll be a liability in Germany.

For Chicago: Good game from Rolfe. Good goal for him.

[Haole]

I also didn't feel Donovan was that much of a threat in the first parts of the game, although his final set up of the winning goal was a thing of beauty. As for JOB and the two goals against, I'm not sure whether it was him that set up the long run from LD, but he wasn't even on the pitch for the first goal. That's what Bradley was complaining, that he was trying to get his sub on and the throw went ahead. So in a way maybe JOB was culpable but not in a very direct way. Nice header by Landon on the first goal, too, but before that I really don't recall much that was impressive.


Agreed. The winning goal makes up for this...it was a smart move. Got Suarez to stop and then sidestepped him w/o Claudio able to get going again. Smart play and a nice chip to Glenn, who is a pretty iffy looking forward. He absolutly sucked on those two breakaways earlier.

Chris Rolfe was the best forward I saw yesterday. He's a winner.

[RalleeMonkey]

someone needs to teach to quit doing step overs and just run at people. He's been watching too many tapes of Christiano Ronaldo and not enough of Donovan, Beasley, and Convey. They use thier pace (he more of it than any of those 3) and just the slightest touches to the left or right to get by players. When EJ runs at players he stops his entire momentum, does 5 step overs. then goes left. It doesn't do anything. At the very least he should look to pass in those situations if he's gonna stop running.

Johnson - you're not a fancy player! Just freakin run by people!

Agreed, he should atleast take people on. Hate it when he pulls up, does 3 stepovers and then back passes. He should be going at people. He'll never learn to beat 'em on the dribble if he doesn't try to beat 'em on the dribble.