Cunningham is NOT in the mix!

Mike,

I have never thought of him as a dominant player, only one that has a clue of what he's doing. He would be helped greatly if someone on the club was a strong finisher as well as someone who provides service. In other words, he needs help for him to put the ball in the net. Stern John did not.

As for little Jeffy, with all the opportunities he has had because McBride is double-teamed, he should know how to put the ball away by now. That's what so good about Buddle, he is well on his way to being a solid finisher - at least he is not afraid to try to stick the ball in the net.

It's this lack of finishing that keeps Jeffy below Razov, Wolff, Mathis, even our pal Cobi as a potential impact player.

 

You know, every time I see a bloated Cunningham thread, I know that somewhere in the annals of BS there is a corresponding Kreis thread.

And I think to myself, it really is too bad we can genetically graft the two players together to form Kreisingham.

Kreis is everything Cunningham is not. He works hard to get himself in position off the ball. He reads the game and recognizes runs well. He is a good decision maker, has a good first touch, and he has a cannon for a shot.

OTOH, Cunningham is everything Kreis is not. A terrific athlete with both quickness and speed to burn. Cunningham can be a dazzling dribbler who can beat defenders 1v1 or even 1v2.

If you were to graft these two players together, you'd get Landon Donovan. Which is why neither Kreis nor Cunningham will seriously contend for a starting spot in 2006. Here is to hoping Cunningham proves me flat wrong.

 

Nutmeg,

and that's part of the problem. We in Cbus have been waiting for a few years now to have Jeffy prove us wrong.

I'd rather have a player such as Kreis who has a nose for the net. In the Crew's case, that would be Dante Washington.

 

Cunningham had some crap games against New England. You know how many crap games I've seen McBride play?

Between the Crew and US National team? Seems like countless. I would hardly call Brian McBride dependable. I can count on him to TRY, that's it.

McBride had one or two great games in the playoffs. Cunningham had two great games in the playoffs. LOOKS EVEN TO ME.

Cunningham obviously missed Buddle, the two link up well together. I say this not to excuse JC, but to take a more mature, objective view of the difference in his play from the Quakes series to Revs series.

 

Crew toon, talk about magical quotes.

You would rather have Dante Washington on your team than Jeff Cunningham. That's classic.

As Bruce Arena himself once said of Dante Washington "He couldn't kick a ball in the ocean."

 

I guess I refuse to include Cunningham and McBride in the same sentence until Cunningham accomplishes half of what McBride has done in the World Cup. In case we forgot, he scored in back to back cups as well as scoring the game winning goals in both of our wins. No one in US Soccer history can boast of that so slams on McBride are weak. Slams saying his coach and teamates in Columbus don't know how to use him are however very valid!

 

I forgot who I was chatting with Segroves! I know I remember reading you eating crow this summer. I guess it's a selective memory process these days. Who was productive in the loss to Poland? Oliver Kahn is the reason we didn't beat Germany, not McBride! By the way, you know it's just a matter of time before the Stoops brothers come home to coach at Ohio State!

 

i post the discussion about cuningham 1 year ago and nobody i mean not a single one agree with me..and thank God now some of you understand about soccer. for those of you that still big fans of No.11 i suggest you send an e-mail to ESPN or other sport channel and tell them to broadcast italian league or other european league and from those you are gonna understant what soccer is and how to play it.

i wonder if we can have not only man of the match but also loser of the match
with that i believe cuningham gonna take that award every game (the one that he really wants)

 

Great, less competition for Eddie Johnson.

 

I wouldn't throw out a player from the National team picture for some poor form in less than a handful of games. That said, he shouldn't be in the picture for the El Salvador friendly.

 

The reason that Cunningham is even debatable is because he has sustained periods of briiliance to counter his scoring droughts. It seems like sometimes he is all or nothing! He almost single handedly won the quater-finals vs SJ for us and then did the opposite vs New England. What he needs more then anything in the world is consistency. He was the 3rd leading scorer in MLS this year and he is the leading scorer in MLS for the past two years combined. He is good, he is dangerous, he is capable of changing a game all by himself, but unfortunately, he is very capable of tanking as well. I think he needs to sit every 5th game as a rule to just clear his head and re-charge his batteries. What happens in Columbus, is that he starts for several games in a row, goes in to a major scoring drought, acts like a punk on the field and gets benched. After a game or two on the pine, he starts to enter games late. Then he starts to get game winning goals. He gets back in the starting line up, scores 5 goals in the next 4 games and then goes back in to the tank. Make it a rotation like picters in MLB. Every 5th game, Cunningham sits and watches and gets reminded that his team can win without him and sometimes he has to be a team player, yet sometimes the Crew will ask him to win the game for them! I can't see him ever starting for the US, but I think he could be a super sub that goes at and past tired defenders late in a game!

 

This same talk is going on over at thecrew.com. Some people are talking about Jeff being crap and others are covering Jeff's ears while all the bad words go flying around. A lot of the Crew fans that are wanting Jeff to go are just tired of the same crap every year.

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Cunningham is NOT in the mix!

He makes some nice saves, but I'm guessing he's spent more time listening to Creed than his goalkeeper coaches. He showboats and wants to be the Big Hero, a la Friedel. That huge goal he gave up to McBride Saturday was very Friedel-esque. A stupid parry.

Cannon's overrated too, for some of the same reasons. Brawn and adrenaline over brains.

 

If it wasnt for Adin Brown, the Revs would not be in the MLS cup. I don't know if hes ready for the Nats yet, but hes holding his own in the MLS.

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Cunningham is NOT in the mix!

?

Did we watch the same shot? A blast from about six-yards away, about head high? What could he do but parry it? He was lucky to get his hands up in time to save his face.

I am by no means a Brown apologist. He was crap at the beginning of the year, and I said so. His season turned around remarkably, the more he played. He still has a number of weaknesses to his game, however, like most younger keepers.

I have never seen him showboat. And certainly not on that shot. If you want to complain about his tentativeness or his distribution or his positioning I would say, yes, he has had problems with all of them at some point this year(although he has improved in all 3 areas). Not showboating though.

Lee

 

Are you sure? I witnessed him talking smack to the opposition several times this post season...especially after a big play. This wasn't in the playoffs, but I remember him wagging his finger, as to say "No, no" at Mamadou in the final game of the regular season. In my book, that's showboating.

 

When you make saves to give up corners that would've gone a yard wide of the post, you're either positionally clueless or a showboater.

I've seen his type. It may be both factors, but showboating is part of it.

Stupid rebounds are another symptom of a keeper playing with an inspiring rock soundtrack in his head, instead of thoughts. To be a top international keeper, like Kasey, takes brains.

Might I further rile you by saying Adin's cheezy beard is going to get the Revs kicked out of the Big Razor, rightfully?