I think that Morales, who now plays in B2, is equivalent to MB. If AJ was healthy, I think he's better than Altidore. Jozy was terrible at the bottom end of the EPL and clearly showed he didn't belong there. It looks like the same with Woods as well (whom I think is better than/equivalent to JA).
Morales is not better but rather a different player altogether. Morales plays further upfield, can thread passes better, looks for the attacking pass sooner. Bradley further back, is stronger, bigger, better tackler, prefers the easier pass from the back rather than take chances.
Jozy and Aron played on the same team, Jozy was the starter and had a better goal/90 rate. Bradley played that same shuttler RCM/LCM role as Morales for Roma, a CL team. Many argue he became worse because he came to MLS and isn't pushed as hard. If that is true then if he was in Europe he would be pushed harder and would respond by raising his performance level.
First off, Jozy and AJ played together for a season or so back in 2013; shortly thereafter, AJ had similar high scoring results to AZ IIRC and his skills appear to translate better at higher speeds - AJ's issue appears to be injuries rather than skill at Bremen although it's possible that B1 is too high for him, like JA. Who has more goals in MLS: Jozy or Wondo? I don't think that many would say that Wondo is better. MB today is nowhere the player he was at Roma. His lack of quickness is readily apparent, which could be more due to injury than competition. He is no longer a Big 4 player.
Also note, Bacon did it with less of a stellar squad than when Jozy was there. Unfortunately, Bacon will never be like in his AZ days.
Similar except lower: AJ: 1 goal every 160 mins, 1 assist every 551 mins, a goal or assist every 124 minutes. JA: 1 goal every 131 mins, 1 assist every 606 mins, a goal or assist every 107 minutes. It also should be noted that over their full careers Jozy's assist to goal ratio is higher while Aron's is lower (.38 vs .23) than they were at AZ (.22 vs .29). MB was never quick, his lateral movement/ability to change directions has never been a strength. This is not a good diagnosis of why and how Mike has performed worse than he did pre '14. Knowing how he has failed is important. Mike fits a specific American athletic stereotype. He got to the heights he did because he worked crazy hard on the field and generally made positive decisions for his team. Consistently making positive decisions, at the tempo the team needs them to be made, and avoiding mistakes is a valuable attribute for a water carrier. For me it's a prerequisite. I think Mike's psychology is actually among the most receptive to the Klinsmann view. When he is pushed his competitive nature causes him to focus more, when he is in that type of environment consistently he will perform to that level more consistently. It doesn't fundamentally alter his abilities, it hones the best of what he has. Just because he is not consistently pushed doesn't mean he isn't capable of reaching that level (again, why was he capable in the first place), but it makes it harder and that inconsistency (in game and between games) makes him a worse player. The other part or his underperformance was asking him to do too many things outside of his core competencies, possibly because he is capable of doing those things occasionally. They should be added bonuses instead of necessary parts of the game plan. A third factor was nerve damage in his foot, requiring surgery after the 2014 season. I don't think this has had as big an effect recently as at the time.
Servania and Pomykal have a playing time problem, and that problem is former USYNTer Jacori Hayes. He's been playing very well in Kellyn's absence. So when Acosta comes back to full fitness after his hernia surgery, its going to be hard for Brandon Servania to get playing time at the #8 position. Pax is more versatile, and can play the #10 and on the wing. When Pax is back, he'll be fully in the rotation. Although I'm a little worried that Pax has now had surgery on both knees, and he's only 18. What I'm personally hoping for is that Kellyn Acosta comes back, plays at his pre-Gold Cup 2017 level for the rest of this season (the level that got him USMNT callups and starts in the first place)........................and is sold to Europe. FCD probably needed to sell Acosta last summer when there was reportedly interest (don't know if any actual offers came in.) Right now they have 4 USYNT central midfielders in the queue (Pomykal, Servania, Cappis, and Thomas Roberts). Imagine if they'd signed McKennie and Hyndman as well!!!!! And of course there's Victor Ulloa, who started last night for FCD. He's a limited #6, but plays that role well at an MLS level. You know how some NCAA schools are called "linebacker U" and such things? FCD academy has become Central Midfield University. I'm not sure if there's another MLS academy that has been as successful developing talent at one position as FCD has been in central midfield. Maybe that's Pareja's influence. I don't know.
It would be nice if MLS would begin to implement Branch Rickey's mantra "trade a player a year to early rather than a year too late"
When it comes to Acosta, I think that means now.......................................this summer transfer window. Last I knew FCD has a club option for the 2019 season and that's it. For that to happen we need him to return to his 2016 form. You can kinda understand why they didn't sell last summer. At the midpoint of last season FCD was 1st in the West and a SS contender. They were gunning for trophies and had no backup for Acosta they were comfortable with. Then the wheels fell off the bus the 2nd half of the season. If the FCD staff now thinks Hayes can start in that role, then go ahead and sell Acosta. Then Pomykal (who can also play as the #10) and Servania (who can also play as a #6) get minutes for the first team, sign US U20 Cappis to a HG contract, US U18 Roberts becomes the U19 starter, US U17s Diego Lateyf and Cesar Garcia get into the U19 rotation, and on it goes. Gotta keep the assembly line moving..................................or the whole thing stagnates.
I don't think people understand this well enough. You cannot be a top tier developmental academy without moving more established players "up or out". If elite youth players see that their development has a high probability of being stalled, they won't join the program.
A USL team would be nice.... intraleague loan could be an option. Even going the Williamson route and signing with another team, although he hasn’t made any appearances this year yet.
I can hardly wait for the day where we have Sargent, Weah, Pulisic, Parks, McKennie, Adams. All playing at the same time. That will be the beginning of a new era in US soccer.
Some may have missed this a week ago, so I thought I'd post it here........... Report: Boca Juniors sign U.S. U-17 World Cup midfielder https://www.starsandstripesfc.com/2...s-transfer-rumors-news-american-george-acosta
The Phili Union weekly report: Mat Real was benched because of the 2 blunders of last week. Trusty and McKenzie played a full 90. Trusty was called for a questionable penalty but was at fault on the second goal when the CBs got split on a through ball, he shouldn't allow the forward to come in between uncontested. Mckenzie passes well from the back for only being 19.Trusty has recovery speed but needs better positioning to get to the next level. As always, the Union undoing is losing the ball in the final 3rd or not converting in their chances. Dallas knew this and hurt them in the counter. Bedoya was very pedestrian, why does he get national team invites? Sapong, as stated in the past, needs lots of chances to score one. In today's game, he had 2 chances, one missed hit a header from the 6 and another when he tried to tap-in a rebound from one yard away and didn't place it well away from the goalie. He is another player that in my opinion has no business getting called to the national team.
The Phili Union weekly report: This week's opponent...DC United KcKenzie, Real, and Fuentes didn't play. Trusty continues to start. Trusty didn't have his best game, he was involved in both goals allowed. The second was a great cross that he just couldn't get to it. As always his distribution was very good when there is no pressure, once he just send it long because he couldn't find anyone to pass. If he thinks he may get an invite because he is the local player for next's friendly, he better improve his game. I would have to give him a rating of 7, 10 being a perfect game. Bedoya as always doesn't do anything special to show for his DP status. Sapong did score today on a header from the 6, as in every game he did squander his other chances. Picault used his speed to make space, his speed makes him dangerous. Besides his speed he doesn't have much to offer, the kid needs to be smarter to get to the next level. I had a chance to see DC's Durkin play the 6, strong kid, seems to be smart in his positioning but his quickness is just a tad above average at best, no errors from him.
Durkin is one of these players we should probably talk about more. He makes up for some athleticism shortfalls with his intelligence. I don't think that's going to be an issue long-term at all. Whether Durkin elevates his game to a USMNT standard is still to be determined, but he's already MLS quality as a kid who only turned 18 in February. This is the second year in a row this has happened after Adams quickly established himself last season. By the way, our potential U23 central midfield for the 2020 Olympic cycle i so stacked that I'm not sure Durkin makes it. The good news for him (I guess) is that McKennie, Parks, and the Euro contingent probably won't be released for the CONCACAF U23 championships. And I personally think Adams will be in Europe by then too.
Durkin's athleticism is good enough, I don't know where these big criticisms of his athleticism are all of a sudden coming from. Its nothing new that he's not a great athlete, and its been discussed many times before, but its never stopped him from being very productive. He's not a bad athlete, and you can play as a #6 being only an average athlete, so I don't even think its a worthy talking point.
He's just not the athlete that Adams or McKennie are. Which is fine. We're asking him to be a #6. He'd partner very well with either of those two. Heck, I think his skill-set would translate very well into a CB role. Not that I want him to. However, it wouldn't surprise me if he moves to a Euro club and they convert him to a CB.
Agreed with your first paragraph. He's been tried at CB before, and he almost always struggles at the position because he ball-watches too often.
I find it hard to believe Durkin isn't quick enough. He will get quicker as he learns to read the game better and gets more reps at higher competition. Bradley would have played there this WC, Durkin is probably quicker than he is now. Durkin can't be slower than Beckerman, who started the last WC at the #6. He is at least as fast as Trapp. Overblown.
Lets say for the sake of discussion that Durkin has the same level of pace and quickness as Bradley and Beckerman. In their prime, Bradley and Beckerman had elite level work-rate. Bradley ran the most of any player at the last 2 WCs. Bradley was first and Beckerman 2nd at the pre-WC2014 camp beep tests. Beckerman also had international-class aggression, ball-winning, and positional sense. Even given all that Dreds was a limited player and required 2 high-intensity CMs (Jones and Bedoya) in order to be viable at the WC level. Should we be looking at players even more limited than Beckerman? The two top young DMs on the planet that everyone is raving about are Kante and Casemiro. Maybe we should be looking at finding players with their attributes for the next cycle.
because we don't have anyone in that class or close to it. We should start with an upgrade from MB that would be a positive. beckerman was never international-class level player not in any skill. the question is can durkin be a serviceable usmnt player and we don't have the answer to that yet and are years away from finding out. most americans are going to be limited in some way we just don't have that kind of talent.
Casemiro was dropped by Zidane because he can't pass a football. We have a lot of those players. Let's try to find DM's like Busquets.