Dax could be the occasional odd man out, not considering the captaincy issue. Djordje may have to learn to play next to Dax or Mo. depending on the opposition, Frankowski as a LB could work too. I’d like to see us try it in an early USOC game or something.
Let's not forget Edwards is around somewhere injured and recovering is he not? Or did I miss something?
He's an international, so we would need more international spots for him to be able to play with these players.
Mostly it was the fact that transfer windows were closed everywhere but China and the US so his owning team’s options were severely limited.
https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019...slonina-called-us-under-15-national-team-camp I wonder it Pauno will give the kid a chance to start a game for the first team.
Interesting too that a U-17 GK got called in for the age group WC qualifying tournament too. I also wonder if Slonina would have gotten the contract that he did if USSF had announced the solidarity payments policy a few months sooner.
Can we include him will Lewandowski and Chicharito in the 2020 refresh season? A new opportunity will come soon! Just stay positive and open minded 😉💯💪🏻 #LP10 pic.twitter.com/Qu1q8uMTfU— Lukas-Podolski.com (@Podolski10) April 16, 2019
Just searched for his highlight videos. Meh. He's ok. Solid, not spectacular. Often frustrating. Should score much more often given his opportunities. Most of his goals were goals that should have been scored and with great setups. 90% were low not overpowering shots or PKs. Only one goal with his left foot. No goals that were jaw dropping. Would I be disappointed if he got traded for a solid defender? Not really. Now compare his highlight reels with Katais...
Man, I knew he was in the J-league, but didn't realize that Vissel Kobe had a real Over the Hill All Star team over there.
Nikolic is the perfect player to not judge by highlight video. Maybe if those highlights go back 30 seconds before the goal to show his runs and positioning. He does score easy goals, but it's because he already put in the difficult work to set them up. If it were so easy, every Fire forward would have been scoring every other game for the last decade.
Niko is going to get hot again, the team is going to start climbing the standings to make a play for top 2-3 in the East, then the team will simultaneously announce a sale of Niko to clear room for Chicharito in mid-August thus wiping out all team chemistry sending us down to another first round playoff loss.
Actually the most likely scenario is that the team starts winning consistently and then either Marcello or Schweinsteiger or Kappelhoff suffer an injury and since there is no capable backup the team spirals downward. We are SO thin on defense. Grant Lilliard can be a spot fill in starter but I don't want him as a started for 2 months. Wel need to find some additional defensive players this season. I just can't see us going injury free on the backline for the entire season.
I'll give you that. He does make the nice run to out himself into position. But he's a frustrating player to watch. He could/should have had MANY more goals. Many easy misses.
Oh, shut up. No striker scores every time. Every striker has "many easy misses." There have been only 6 players in MLS HISTORY with as high of a strike rate and as many goals scored. Nikolic at .65 per 90 minutes played. Bradley Wright-Phillips at .68 Keane .69 Villa .71 Diallo .72 Martinez at .94 and Stern John at .89 the only player much higher.
Would be interesting to see strike rates of "top strikers " in other leagues (current and historic) . Would be an interesting metric to compare and what to expect out of potential players .
[wikipedia can be my friend] Top-10 for EPL (which sucks, of course) Sergio Agüero 162 234 0.69 Harry Kane 125 181 0.69 Thierry Henry 175 258 0.68 Alan Shearer 260 441 0.59 Ian Wright 113 213 0.53 Robin van Persie 144 280 0.51 Michael Owen 150 326 0.46 Andy Cole 187 414 0.45 Romelu Lukaku 113 249 0.45 Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink 127 288 0.44 Robbie Fowler 163 379 0.43 (Note: these are all players with 100 or more goals scored)