Shea has to be my nominee for most improved during the season player... I couldn’t stand watch him clumsily fumble his way around in the first few games, but he seems to have really found himself at LB.
Passed, cut... whats the difference? An absurdly stupid decision. If they thought he was more than a $40K player, they never would have "cut" him. Cutting him for either reason is idiotic. "We’ve enjoyed working with Lee from the start of preseason,” said Vancouver manager Martin Rennie in a statement shared by the club. “He’s been very professional and good to work with. In the end, we feel like he’s similar to other players that we have in our squad and we had to make a decision based on that.” Nguyen made news during the preseason when he used a homophobic slur during a Twitter exchange. But Rennie says the incident played no part in his departure. “It’s purely a soccer decision,” Rennie replied when asked if twitter or off-field issues had anything to do with the transaction. “We think he can play games with another club and we don’t see him featuring for us. So we thought it would be best for him and for the club for him to move on.”
Most improved player of the year for me would be a list at this point but Jesse Gonzalez would be on that list. He'll be 24 next Saturday. I wonder if he'll get the call for the GC.
Yes, he is. He was born in North Carolina and his wiki page shows him starting his pro career with FC Dallas at age 16.
I used to like Testo as a ref but he has declined in quality. That was a red card on LAFC GK Miller but wasn't called. Yet he called an invisible foul on Vela in the box which ended up a saved PK by Jesse Gonzalez. Robert Sibiga is the best ref in MLS for my money. (Maybe that wasn't the best expression to use whatever).
Tim Chandler has played for the usmnt more than 25 times and people hate him. JG played for Mexican youth team and has a cap?
Casey may be getting Colorado's first victory of the year. They should keep that guy as manager. Just get him a good assistant as "defensive co-ordinator."
From Wikipedia: "On June 29, U.S. Soccer confirmed that Gonzalez's one-time switch had been approved by FIFA, and moving forward he would represent the United States at the international level." He's ours. Obviously. The whining about Timmy Chandler always being injured, being part of a European-based dual-national contingent that wasn't developed in the USA, and possibly being afraid of flying, doesn't apply whatsoever to Jesse. Yeah, a dual-national. Otherwise, nothing in common.
I don't either. Personally, I don't even dislike Jonathan Gonzalez, Giuseppe Rossi, Subotic, etc. As soon as they are tied to another country, they're off my radar completely. It's usually the fans, not the players, that suck. Even then, it's a minority. Most people just like soccer.
Plug-n-Play NYRB's ability to rotate in their USL players and get good performances is impressive. Atl need to rotate the Martinezes. Cole Bassett got a start at amid. Two of the Union's players had already been earmarked for the U20s.
I am one who doesn’t dislike Chandler. He’s had good games for US. Had a bad one going from Germany in Winter to Honduras but that’s a ridiculous change in climate. I think he could excel with the right coach. Not sure if that is Berhalter.
WS u-23 Outfield TOW: Mueller(7.8)--Baird(7.1)--Saucedo(8.6) Yueill(7.9)--Aaronson(7)--M. Rodriguez(8.4) Glad(7.1)Trusty(7.5)--Nealis(7.1)--Bye(7) - Saucedo was motm, keeping up his fine form. u-23 option - The eye goes to Chris Mueller in most of his games. - Rodriguez has been a sneaky prolific goalscorer a non attacker this season. - Barlow scored too. - Yueill supposedly coming good. Didn't know he had it in him. - Aaronson has looked like a top league player already, outside end product. - Trusty has been great defensively but really struggled on the ball. That's a concern. - Nealis is off to promising start to his career, and adds another u23 cb option.
My opinion is that there may not be many years left where MLS teams automatically release multiple players to youth world cup teams. Missing Pomykal is tough. Missing both he and Cerrillo is killer. It's an awful lot to ask of a team.
Feilhaber-Rowe together on the same field is gonna be pretty dang fun to watch as far as on-the-deck passing goes. FC Dallas is what every "small team" club like New England, Colorado, San Jose, Chicago should aspire to be. If you're not gonna splash the cash, at least make a robust and imposing academy that pumps in young local talent. I feel like at SJE that is finally, finalllllly starting to happen. Its not quite there yet, it had a late start, but its on a much better trajectory than it was before. And we got the man in charge that will foster that trajectory even more. The superdraft class looks like its starting to break out ever so slightly; Frankie Amaya has locked in a starting spot with Cincy, and Siad Haji is starting to get spot time for san jose (dont know if/when he is US eligable though). Thats probably how its gonna play out though from now on; two maybe three from the superdraft picked in the top 5 fighting for real MLS playtime. Its not gonna hold any relevance to any team finishing below 5th worst, and even that is being generous.
I don't believe in this model. I like everything except the splash the cash part. These teams need to make wise splash the cash decisions on players who fill huge holes in their homegrowns but are among best in the league if you bring them in. FCD has too many mediocre acquisitions instead of a couple of great players. My new opinion is if you have a great academy you no longer need to go after the young international DP unless he is just fantastic. Your academy now supplies those players.