Liverpool_SC
07 Nov 2006, 09:42 AM
Brad Davis will only be 28 in 2010 and is an excellent left midfield option (damnnations we have alot of left sided middies). The guy has pace and has very good technical ability.
Davis has mediocre pace by MLS standards and cannot play defense. He has never played consistently at a high level even for a single season.
Jonathan Bornstein excites me as a left-back. He and Heath Pearce should have a lock on that position by 2010.
Bornstein is still learning to play fullback. It is not his natural position and his team had a very mediocre defense. I think it is too soon to know whether he will be able to contribute at that position at a high level.
The fact that a guy can score goals (even when he scores them from the FB position) is not enough to pick him for the national team. Burciaga scores goals but would be a significant liability at the national team level. I think he is good enough to play a role against lower-tier competition (just as someone like Matt Reis could) but he is not a viable option at a higher level (against Mexico or in Copa America, much less qualifying).
Bornstein has a long way to go before he proves he is a better player than guys like Gibbs, Spector, Bocanegra, etc.
I know Jemal Johnson has hit the wall lately but he will bounce back once gets some rest and start scoring again. Watched him play month or so ago and he has great pace and was serving in crosses with either foot. I love his ability and look for him to nail down striker role once we start capping him.
Why? He does not even play that regularly at the club level? Sure he plays a bit during short-term loan deals. But not enough to get major minutes at a higher level. He is a guy who might be better off doing the Kenny Cooper thing and then going back to Europe. Or at least getting on a Championship side and playing a starting role 35+ games a year. Reserve team football is not enough to set you up for the national team anymore.
As far as Johann Smith, I haven't had chance to see him but for that 15minute cup of coffee he got last week, but he sure is fast.
So is Brian West. We need to see more.
BTW, don't give up on Kyle Martino as a RM or CAM option or Edson Buddle who still has the pace and size, just needs to be playing on better team.
My goodness. Kyle Martino? What possible role does he have to play? He doesn't even have a position on the field anymore. He really didn't earn playing time for either of the worst teams in MLS. You realize that, don't you?
He is now behind a bunch of guys on the depth chart at LA and his lack of motivation and utter inability to play defense or show any physicality make him completely unsuitable for USMNT.
Buddle has all the tools to be a USMNT striker, but he has done such a poor job over the past two seasons. He really needs to worry about staying in MLS (where he could be a genuine star), much less earning a role on the national team.
I am beginning to remember why I stay away from USMNT forums for the most part.
As far as Zak Whitbred, who was mentioned below. He is not a great international-level player. I am sorry. I watched a lot of video of him playing himself out of Liverpool on their youth team. He has a pretty good left foot, but he is slow, positionally unsound and gaffe prone. He would be a waste of space on the national team. I think that a guy like Burciaga or Bornstein (as much as I have down-played them on this thread) would be better options. Eddie Lewis in his mid-thirties might be a better option (interesting to note that Dennis Wise is now playing him as a left-back at Leeds).
Davis has mediocre pace by MLS standards and cannot play defense. He has never played consistently at a high level even for a single season.
Jonathan Bornstein excites me as a left-back. He and Heath Pearce should have a lock on that position by 2010.
Bornstein is still learning to play fullback. It is not his natural position and his team had a very mediocre defense. I think it is too soon to know whether he will be able to contribute at that position at a high level.
The fact that a guy can score goals (even when he scores them from the FB position) is not enough to pick him for the national team. Burciaga scores goals but would be a significant liability at the national team level. I think he is good enough to play a role against lower-tier competition (just as someone like Matt Reis could) but he is not a viable option at a higher level (against Mexico or in Copa America, much less qualifying).
Bornstein has a long way to go before he proves he is a better player than guys like Gibbs, Spector, Bocanegra, etc.
I know Jemal Johnson has hit the wall lately but he will bounce back once gets some rest and start scoring again. Watched him play month or so ago and he has great pace and was serving in crosses with either foot. I love his ability and look for him to nail down striker role once we start capping him.
Why? He does not even play that regularly at the club level? Sure he plays a bit during short-term loan deals. But not enough to get major minutes at a higher level. He is a guy who might be better off doing the Kenny Cooper thing and then going back to Europe. Or at least getting on a Championship side and playing a starting role 35+ games a year. Reserve team football is not enough to set you up for the national team anymore.
As far as Johann Smith, I haven't had chance to see him but for that 15minute cup of coffee he got last week, but he sure is fast.
So is Brian West. We need to see more.
BTW, don't give up on Kyle Martino as a RM or CAM option or Edson Buddle who still has the pace and size, just needs to be playing on better team.
My goodness. Kyle Martino? What possible role does he have to play? He doesn't even have a position on the field anymore. He really didn't earn playing time for either of the worst teams in MLS. You realize that, don't you?
He is now behind a bunch of guys on the depth chart at LA and his lack of motivation and utter inability to play defense or show any physicality make him completely unsuitable for USMNT.
Buddle has all the tools to be a USMNT striker, but he has done such a poor job over the past two seasons. He really needs to worry about staying in MLS (where he could be a genuine star), much less earning a role on the national team.
I am beginning to remember why I stay away from USMNT forums for the most part.
As far as Zak Whitbred, who was mentioned below. He is not a great international-level player. I am sorry. I watched a lot of video of him playing himself out of Liverpool on their youth team. He has a pretty good left foot, but he is slow, positionally unsound and gaffe prone. He would be a waste of space on the national team. I think that a guy like Burciaga or Bornstein (as much as I have down-played them on this thread) would be better options. Eddie Lewis in his mid-thirties might be a better option (interesting to note that Dennis Wise is now playing him as a left-back at Leeds).