I've commented on a few players who carried too much bulk compared to their peers. Soccer is not grid iron. In the case of Agudelo, muscling up has helped him stay fit for selection, something which was a problem early in his career. But he also no longer displays that graceful, nimble-footed shot-making when he is around goal. There's a trade off when adding bulk.
Juan Agudelo has NEVER scored more than 10 goals in a season. Ever. People understand that, right? He's been more promise than performance at every one of his stops. There are flashes, folks get excited, and then long stretches of nothing. Well...………….he's old enough now that promise and potential don't mean anything. He's now a 27 year old "in is prime" player that in a good year will score you 8-9 goals. Or what 18 year old Jesus Ferreira did last season for Dallas. Another Colombian-American. Sometimes prospects don't develop into international caliber players. Happens in Argentina and France just like it'll happen to us. Sometimes its just hard to figure out. I personally think he had great momentum, and then signed with the wrong club in the wrong league when he had an opportunity to go t Europe. That happens quite a bit to Brazilians and ARgentines too. Another in that category? Brek Shea. Both Juan and Brek signed for Stoke. Great for their bank accounts. Really bad for their careers. In terms of the USMNT two of his three goals were in 2010/2011. Ancient history. In terms of the USMNT he's a non-factor.
No one claimed Agudelo was a 20-goal-a-season scorer. My posts covered his physical attributes, changes in those attributes, changes in position, his early struggles, and his career outlook. But for the career spanning MLS and the Eredivisie, up until 2 years ago, he had 19 goals and 8 assists in 42 games of starts at striker. The past two seasons he has 1 goal and 1 assist in 616 minutes of starts at the position. In his early career, he showed both promise and productivity, enough for Stoke to attempt to buy him, and enough for Utrecht to offer a contract which he declined.
For the last decade I have wondered if certain American players put on too much muscle for their frames and this hurts their careers due to having to carry the extra weight, or increased risk of injuries. Unfortunately for American soccer in our culture kids look up to star athletes who are a bit more muscular than say Xavi and Iniesta. Just a random group of players I have wondered this about: Jozy, Josh Gatt (going back to his Molde days), Agudelo
Toronto FC picks up Juan Agudelo in MLS stage 2 re-entry draft. Think TFC is a good fit for Agudelo, he and Altidore are tight and could work well together as a tandem.— Ives Galarcep (@SoccerByIves) December 3, 2019 This is the move I was hoping to see.
For veteran MLS Flaves only: Agudelo taken by Toronto in supplemental draft while Cincy can't get out of its own way and goes for Salaam. I wonder what @ussoccer97531 thinks of the move. Rare treat on Extra Time moldie oldie: The three stooges Moe Wiebe, Larry Gass and Curly Doyle with frustrated, irritated straight man Bobby Pshaw-Pshaw on Agudelo as an 8. https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019...-unlock-juan-agudelos-potential?autoplay=true
It's all individual. LeBron James had played an ungodly amount of ball and is far more muscular than his peers. Jozy is no bigger than rugby players, I think he just had bad luck/bad guidance with his hamstring.
I wonder if MLS's corporate reffing will retard our game here in the US. They seem to be very sensitive to any sort of criticism other than 'yessir, how high?' One thing I really llked about the European game was the capacity for criticism of the system. From SBI Major League Soccer announced fines to Toronto FC striker Jozy Altidore, San Jose head coach Matias Almeyda, and Vancouver Whitecaps head coach Marc Dos Santos on Tuesday. Altidore was hit with an undisclosed fine for comments made after the MLS Cup final which were critical of the match officiating. Dos Santos was fined for comments made about the league in an interview published on November 4th. The comments were deemed to be a violation of the league’s public criticism policy. Almeyda was fined for critical comments about match officiating following San Jose’s September 21st match against Atlanta United.
Frankly, Toronto is very good landing spot for Agudelo, its a team that will allow him to play to his strengths. Itll be his last chance dance, I hope he is up for it.
this week's flavor is "Don't just do something, stand there" as Garber fines another team manager for comments critical of the league. This is not good considering the subject of league schedule is something which needs debate very badly. https://sbisoccer.com/2019/12/don-garber-stresses-need-to-figure-out-solution-for-long-mls-offseason This from SBI soccer Garber also very briefly touched on Dos Santos’ November remarks to the Athletic. The Vancouver Whitecaps head coach was extremely critical of Major League Soccer’s extended offseason, saying it was “Mickey Mouse” and “amateur” for the league to have such a long spell of inactivity. MLS fined Dos Santos for those statements earlier this week. “That was an expensive comment that he made,” said Garber on the subject.
Excepting a two-year Eredivisie stint, the only other time Altidore played over 2000 minutes was the one year in which he had lost a bunch of weight. Agudelo's muscling up seems to have helped with the injuries , but cost him his nimbleness around on the area. Imo, players who aren't natural ectomorphs need to be careful with the weightlifting. Too many American players are too damned jacked. On the other hand, C. Ronaldo has added mass over the years. But he changed his style and position, moving from slick-dribbling winger to power winger to forward. Jacked, but with a purpose.
I don't think Jozy has lost or gained any major weight since Sunderland. He played about 2k in 16/17. The broken ankle was from a kicking wasn't it? https://www.transfermarkt.us/jozy-altidore/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/39378
The salary structure is mature enough at this point that is it fair to say that nobody over 22, in MLS, should be considered for the USMNT who isn't a DP or TAM player?
hyndman has already been here a half season on loan with 1G 3A. he looked fine against my dynamo this season, though that may not be saying much. this was just converting the loan to a purchase. i think he would be better than some people getting called to the US right now, but that only tells you how silly GB is being with his selections. reality being he goes so far down the draft board that we could all name several other options we think better, and be right. so being better than people on the team doesn't say a ton. it just says how wide we are missing.
That would exclude any collegiate just about. Aaron Long would have fit into that category up until very recently. He's a legit national team starter. Maybe Miles Robinson proves to be as well. The same thing would have applied to Morris, and still may. I don't think they have to use exceptions on homegrowns. So if you re-upped in MLS, even on a big contract, you'd be excluded. Guys who didn't get a shot in Europe because their clubs don't integrate, like Lletget, who may be a starter for us now, would be out. That could apply to a LDLT in the future. And it would preclude finding diamonds in the rough, like a Hollingshead potentially. Sapong looked good when he was actually tried. That's what January camps are for. If all you can call in are a pool of MLS players, it's inevitable some wouldn't fit your requirements. Then if they keep performing they should stay. If not they should be dropped. The TAM/DP rules impede domestics from rising to the fore as much so your criteria would see a lot of talent that would have futures w/ the NT or abroad fall thru the cracks. One of the most important jobs of the US manager is to not see that occur when you don't have a pool that's all starring at Madrid and Bayern.
A quick stab at it: Trapp Roldan Lovitz Turner Lima Lletget Johnson Baird Robinson Yueill But also thinking about people wanting Gressel to switch. Atlanta doesn't think he is worth a TAM contract, doesn't that say something?