I read something in an ESPN story that said Jeff Cunningham only had two caps. Is that right? I thought he'd had more of a shot than that, and lacked luster. I know the prevailing opinion on BigSoccer (which is generally laughable) is that he's "a good club player- but not international quality." Boy we love our cliches, don't we? Especially if we first hear them spoken with British accents. In my opinion (equally laughable) he's oh, eight times better than Brian McBride, and has all the talent he needs to succeed for the US. Maybe what he needs is for Bruce to say "You're a key player," then give him enough playing time for players to get used to him and for his confidence to bloom. You know, kinda the Jovan/Claudio treatment. Just a thought. What do you think?
He really didn't get a chance, but I think that's more because he got his citizenship so late. I think that Bruce had almost decided his team by the time Cunningham made his debut. I think that he should be given a better shot for 2006.
i think he has received 3 caps. played against south korea in a friendly and played in the gold cup matches against korea and cuba. in the gold cup match against korea he made a nice touch pass to a on-rushing beasley who netted the game winner in the 92nd minute. gotta agree with what nowhere said, he only had a few matches to show anything to the bruce, and personally i think bruce had his squad pretty much settled at that point, at least in the forward positions. i think you will see much of him in the next few years and i think he will produce quite well given the opportunity.
Passing is his problem. But he has googles of speed and Bruce loves speed. Anyway I have to root for a guy who chose a slim chance with the US over a better chance with Jamaica.
he has 4 assists in the playoffs this year (leads the league) which puts his yearly total at 9, which leads the crew. he had 13 assists last year in mls. tied him for 3rd in the league and second on the crew. he had 9 assists in 2000. he passes the ball despite what some people might think...
Hell yeah he passes the ball. He creates goals is what he does. There's a debate going on elsewhere as to whether Reyna creates goals. With JC there's no debate. (Oh, and before some numbskull pipes in, yes I can say "MLS" and "Scottish Premiere League" or whatever...)
Well from what ive seen of Cunningham is that he has great talent, speed, dribbling but doesnt pass enough...i havent seen more than half of the Crew games but i would have to see what kind of assists he has. All you have to do to get an assist in MLS is pass the ball to a guy on the wing, he makes the cross, player heads it in for a goal and therefore the player with the first pass into the corner gets an assist. I dont know how many "legit" assists anyone in MLS has, but from what ive seen of Cunningham is that he likes to do too much. He is a black hole with the ball...to me he doesnt seem to be a team player and likes to do it all on his own. I also dont know about his defense. He never seemed to be tenacious when pressuring defenders which Bruce likes a lot. Sometimes you have to play the way the coach wants to be noticed. I will agree, he is better than McBride, then again, i think quite a few forwards are better than McBride.
"...because I know a LOT more than Bruce Arena" Idiot. Re: Cunny- Arena wanted him for the Cobi Jones role; late game speed insertion. Trouble was, he ran him out there three times, and he had one nice assist (to DMB) and a whole bunch of lost the ball, fell down (I mean really - he just flat out fell down, like evry couple minutes) and disappeared. In his defense, as noted above, he didn't get his US citizenship until, like January, and while BA gave hima shot he had no time to be bad or break in slowly; he had to perform NOW and, while I hesitate to say he choked, let's just say he didn't perform up to expectations. So Cobi went, did great, and Cunny will get another shot, where hopefully he'll show what he can do. I don't seehimas a key starter, now or ever, but Ithinkhe does have a role. That speed, runningout there at 75 -80 minutes, sure does scare the snot out of a tired defender.
I tend to agree with Mr. Archer. I think this year that Cunningham has taken his game to another level in the MLS. Here is hoping that his game continues to develop... I would like to see him with some role with the USMNT in the next couple of years, but it's up to Jeff to continue his improvement.
Back last June, before the Big Soccer "Big Crash", I did a "Player Peformance Chart" for Jeff -- it was a game against Dallas. I wanted to concentrate on Jeff at that point in the World Cup cycle because everyone was raving about his play, his gaudy numbers, and his speed. And, of course, those who passionately raved about him then, seemed equally passionate about McBride -- negatively so, of course -- by comparison. Well, deja vu all over again, I guess. Anyway, I happened to save this chart and revewed it again. While he got an assist in that game, with a skillful chip to Buddle, his OVERALL play then was characterized by the following: --Lost possession on about half his touches, generally unable to hold the ball --Made one tackle, and played very little defense, at one point standing around in the center circle observing the Dallas attack that was beginning virtually right next to him. --Checked to the ball hardly at all, but instead ran off, or waited to get the ball at his feet. --Suffered only two fouls --Despite having the ball deep on a number of occasions, and despite his speed, created just one corner, and sent just one cross --Made only one good run, far post --A giveaway pass in the defensive third led directly to a Dallas goal. --No shots taken in the first half; three in the second, all blocked. In sum, this was NOT the peformance of a national team forward. Of course, this was a year ago, and maybe the quality of Jeff's game has increased since then. But the things you need from a national team forward -- shrewd runs to stretch the defense, ability to hold the ball and make good combinations, aggressive high-work rate defense to create turnovers than can lead to goal scoring opportunties, and otherwise COMPLETE forward play, was decidedly lacking THEN. Like I said, he could be better now, but sometimes bad habits are hard to break.
Good points, Bill. I agree that Bruce had a Cobi-like role in mind for him, but - all credit to Cobi - I don't know that Cunningham is well suited to that role. From what I hear, Jeff's very much a confidence player, not a super-sub. At national team camps he was the best player on the filed when on his roll, terrible or lifeless at other times. Cobi was out there for more than speed though. He and Cunningham can stretch defenses with speed and craft. Cobi's not as fast as Brian West anymore, but look how he saw space in the German defense and dropped balls in there. And you have to pay close attention to Cobi or he'll beat you on the dribble. Two-ish questions - whose quote was that and who are you trying to call an idiot? And is that a photo of Grant? 'Cause Grant is a good example of someone who's the right person for the job but can still make big, basic, egotistical ***************-ups well after experience should have taught him better. You can criticize Grant for Cold Harbor, and still praise him for winning the war, right?
Funny you should choose this game, because my memory of it was ugly packed defenses and meat slamming into meat. Perez got a lucky, off-balance chip shot into the upper-corner (right?) and then Cunningham transformed the event with a piece of magisterial composure and breathtaking skill. It was all chaos, then Cunningham stopped the game dead with three Dallas defenders in wall formation staring at the ball at his feet. He casually lifted the ball over their heads and right onto Buddle's for the last minute tying goal. I think all the MLS guys watched that highlight a number of times, 'cause Cobi and somebody else pulled the same move the next week, with success but not quite the style of Cunningham. I mean, you rave about the Reyna assist against Mexico, Karl, and rightly so - it was a quarterfinal! But this was a Cunningham moment which transcended MLS and the kind of thing I think he's capable of when he's got his swagger on. Goes to show we see what we want to see, and I have the kind of bias for Cunningham in his context, that you have for Reyna in his context.
mcbride mcbride is a better all-around forward than cunningham. His performance in Korea was telling. He was voted motm for the u.s. in several of the the yanks' wc matches by either world soccer or four four two (sorry, can't remember which). cunningham may be a flashier player, which may be why some consider him more dangerous, but mcbride does more work off the ball, including defensive work, which is what is needed at the international level.
You make it sound SOOOOOO subjective; it really isn't. There's no question Jeff is fast, has skill, and will make outstanding plays, as he did in this game. "Magisterial?" Well, maybe.. But there is SO much more to playing forward in the international game. You simply have to work MUCH MUCH harder than Jeff did in this game, you simply HAVE to do a lot of not-so-magisterial stuff, like hold the ball, make combinations, and defend. These charactersitics, by the way, may mean that a guy like Taylor Twellman -- or Edson Buddle, a "magisterial" holder of the ball -- may have more of an impact on the national team scene in the next cycle than Jeff Cunningham -- assuming that Jeff Cunningham still plays like he did in THIS game. But as I said, this was just ONE game, over a year ago, and things could be better now. As for bringing in Reyna, well, this brings new meaning to the phrase "apples and oranges comparision."
God. If people on the US boards had their way Bruce wouldn't be coach, but Kreis, Cunningham, Ralston, Jolley and Pierce would all be starting for the Nats.
Oh god this is going to make me nauseous, here it goes. Bill Archer is so right. GACK! Seriously though, the only thing I can add to what Bill said is that the big reason why I don't see Cunningham ever becoming a key starter for the nats is that we have so many good prospects at forward coming through right now. We already have our established crew of McBride, Mathis, Donovan, Wolff, etc. I don't see how Cunningham is going to get a decent look over the kids that are coming through right now.
Good point! Also, if anyone has a good future with the USMNT on the Crew team, it's Mr. Buddle, not Jeff C.
Definitely Buddle, though I believe Cunningham as well as Carrieri deserves a shot to make the bench. Getting them minutes will be very tough, though. I'm not sure it can be done. I see Donovan as a midfielder for the Nats.
What's interesting is that you could've substituted the name "Landon Donovan" for about half of his appearances this season for SJ and it would have been very accurate. Does that mean LD shouldn't play for the national team? No, he proven that he at least shows up to play in a USA jersey. My point is that based upon his skills, talent and production in MLS, JC has earned a shot. That said, I don't know if JC is the right player for Bruce's system. He could be like Jovan, where he jsut doesn't fit. What I do know is that he is one of the very few American players that can change a game in a flash. I hope that he at least gets a shot; it's up to him to make the best of it. BTW, I think that Buddle will have a huge impact on the national team. He is so physically gifted and his skills are developing at a rapid rate. Because of this, he is probably an even better long-term prospect than TT (taking nothing away from TT btw). I would actually like to see Buddle and JC play together up front to see what they could do as a duo.
Anyone watching the semifinal series has seen the bad side of Jeff Cunningham again: many poor decisions and lost possessions.
You could have a 300 pound foward that can't run five metres without gasping, but if he can score 3 goals a game, he's the greatest player ever. I reject this "complete player" stuff in any sport, in any area of life, actually. As for Cunningham, I don't know. Wherever possible, I'd like to see successful MLS players get a decent amount of minutes. We're probably too stacked for him to get the minutes.
Your supposition -- "if he scores three goals a game" -- contains its own refutation. It's not a question whether a player is a "complete" player. A forward who played like Jeff did in THAT game -- or doesn't player with the qualities necessary -- will NEVER score three goals in a game. The fact is, a forward who DOESN'T do the things I enumerate, is not playing the position CORRECTLY at the international level. Not that a player is going to do all those things all the time: they are human after all, have good games and bad games, and make mistakes. But if a player shows he doesn't understand the requirements of the position, and/or shows by his actions he can't or won't execute that role, then he is not a suitable candidate. Ther are some, and perhaps you are among them, who believe that a forward can stand around for 89 minutes, and do a whole lot of nothing in that stretch of time, but if he scores in the 90th minute, well, then he's done his job. This logic is terribly terribly flawed. What that means is the for the 89 minutes THAT forward has been standing around and observing the action, the opposition's TEN field players have been playing your NINE field players. In the international game, where everyone is fast, skilled, and smart, this is deadly--you've ceded a numbers up situation. You may hardly ever see the ball. No less a player than Johan Cruyff has said that a forward's job is more than scoring. He is right.