Re: Eddie Johnson...amazing start Can't we put Josh out to pasture yet??? It's long over due. Besides when was the last time this guy has had a strong game. Especially now as our stable of strikers is growing to be 'pretty deep'. Pretty deep by US standards ofcourse. Good start Eddie. We need too see more, but he is off to a nice start.
You can insert Ching and Eskandarian into this sentence and it works for me too. Lets see some more of these younger guys. Especially next game.
Arena can have a "quick" team (Beas, Landon, Johnson) and a "big" team (Bocanegra, McBride, Ching). If you could have both ... wow.
Not sure of course what level McBride and Wolf are going to be at in a year and seven months or so but before too many folks get eager to put them out to pasture you got to take a breath and realize that these guys have produced in key games. Wolf will probably be injured anyway and as a pure striker he might be a question but he consistently opens up the game for others and we end up having a more dangerous offensive personality. McBride is more or less the consistent target statesman and I'm thinking that if we get entirely too young too early up front we could have problems. McBride with Johnson looks like it would make sense to me. But I'm concerned about poise if we don't get the right mix in the top five.
great performance by all last night however lets not go nuts. its ok to enjoy the high but this was panama not Mexico, Hondorus or Costa Rica. Eddie was in good position all night and was the recipient of some great balls and made the most of them. I would love to see Ching and EJ get the start against jamaica. I think they have the right combo of speed and size.
Re: Eddie Johnson...amazing start Last night? Don't get me wrong, I'd like to see EJ start over Wolff, but I thought Josh played a nice game last night.
Johnson sucked!!! He is selfish and shoots instead of passing to open players!!! This team should have won by 10 last night!!! ARRRR!!! Ok just kidding folks... awsome game, and a hattrick by a US player, I don't think I have ever seen 3 goals scored by any US player before... very nice!
Re: Eddie Johnson...amazing start Last night he did play OK. His finishing, as usual, leaves alot to be desired, but he was somewhat productive. Perhaps out to pasture was a bit too strong, but I do think there are 5 other guys that should be in front of him on the depth charts. Just my opinion, I know he still has his supporters here.
I was the only one watching the match last night in a bar full of baseball fans. I got funny looks evertime we scored and I cheered. When was the last time someone got a hattrick for us?
Guys, please don't wet your knickers over Johnson's hat-trick. Don't get me wrong, he played a hell of a game, but by the time he entered, the Panamanian team was down two goals and their whole midfield was pulled up. (Not to mention that the backline was gassed by that point.) I'm not ragging on EJ, he's a heck of a player, and his height is crucial on corners, but let's not declare the second coming of Christ after two games against weak Central American teams.
If you're over the top, go to BS! Look, there's no denying 3 goals in a WCQ match is terrific, but.................. All 3 goals were scored within the goalie box. Where was the goalie last night? He stayed on his line all night. Do you think that a top notch keeper would allow what the US was so easily able to do all night long. All night the US floated balls into the box where the Panamanians were not very good defenders in the air and the goalie was dreadful. EJ was able to finish off lay-ups last night. These were similar to alley-oop passes from Kobe to Shaq against pygmies. I don't want to denigrate EJ's performance, I just want to keep it in perspective. He made good runs against a poor goalie and a defense that wasn't defending well. If the Panamanian defense was the US defense, would you be extolling the virtues of the Panamanian striker or just logically saying, "we suck." The guy who really deserves attention from last night was LD. He was incredible. He used his speed to obliterate Panama when they still had energy. KZ also had a nice game.
I agree with the above posts, thats why we need too see more of these guys. You have to like the improvment in the US striker position though. No A strikers yet, but a nice pool of B guys.
Re: Eddie Johnson...amazing start I agree with what you said about Josh. I think he had an outstanding game and was a TEAM player. Without his work, the first goal doesn't happen. Had that been EJ, do you think he would have passed the ball? I don't. EJ did have somewhat of a breakaway last night and didn't score, but had teammates in scoring positions (Beasley in particular, who kind of just threw his hands up cuz I think he really wanted that pass), but did not pass the ball to them. I'm not putting down EJ; just pointing out that Josh did an excellent job for the team. EJ's goals came about because of TEAMwork and good positioning by EJ. I'm just trying to say there's a place for both Wolff and EJ.
Yeah, right now I'd rather see Esky get a chance up top than Buddle. Esky has had a good season in MLS and seems to be developing good positioning as a striker--many of his goals come when he's in the right spot at the right time, which is what you want.