Ok, Jordan Morris, is he the deal?

Discussion in 'USA Men: News & Analysis' started by deuteronomy, Apr 16, 2015.

  1. Parmigiano

    Parmigiano Member

    Jun 20, 2003
    This dude was impressive in Prague last September, when he was first called up.

    I watched him in practice clinically putting the ball beyond the reach of Brad Guzan during a Gyau-led cross-and-shooting drill. He did this consistently while several others struggled (at times badly) with their shooting -- most memorably, Bobby Wood (who, I thought, was either going through a very dark phase or really doesn't have much shooting technique at all, or both).

    Anyway, at one point I looked over at Brian Sciaretta -- and it was like, WTF?

    This kid Morris is good.

    I wrote:

    ...Watching the team scrimmage for two days in Prague was eye opening. Now I want to see the USMNT 2.0: a midfield trio of Morales, Hyndman and Diskerud feeding a dynamic front three of Julian Green, Jozy Altidore and Jordan Morris. Oops. Did I say Jordan Morris? I guess I did. That’s because he killed it in training. While more experienced forwards frequently failed to find the net, the Stanford amateur put on a cold-blooded clinic of accuracy in the finishing drills. Add to that his explosive athleticism and razor-sharp mind, and you begin to glimpse what’s intrigued Klinsmann...

    Morris has great athletic ability -- that we know. But he also has a deft first touch, excellent shooting technique -- and apparently very cool nerves. That's what I saw at Letna Stadium. And it's basically what he did against Mexico. Watch that goal. Same thing I saw him do all practice: same part of the area, same explosive first step; and same soft and smart first touch, with rare and ruthless technical precision. OK, maybe a bit hyperbolic. But those are his skills and attributes.

    I didn't catch last night's game. But from what little I've seen of him, and despite his anomalous personal and professional situation, which renders everything slightly absurd and unpredictable, I can see why Klinsmann would want to take a flyer on him and go for it. If he sees it in him and thinks he can help make it happen or even more, then why not.

    It's a gamble, but maybe worth it.
     
  2. jond

    jond Member+

    Sep 28, 2010
    Club:
    Levski Sofia
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #52 jond, Apr 16, 2015
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2015
    I wouldn't classify Nagbe as a bit player at all. I do agree we don't need more Zusis but the thing with Zusi is what really limits him internationally is he's physically limited. Just too slow to gain separation in the run of play. If Graham had the pace a few others have, we'd be talking about a different level of player. Zardes' biggest weakness is touch and that's generally developed at a young age. It lowers his ceiling. Morris already has a better touch than Zardes, from what I've seen at least.

    I regularly argue guys should turn pro as early as possible and it pleases me greatly to see so many youth internationals signing overseas at 16-18. I have quite an issue in general with our players developing later but the positive with Morris which is different from many others in our pool IMO is his touch isn't in question. We're not hoping for him to develop a better touch as we are with a guy like Zardes who's over three years older. That's really the type of player we don't need more of, athletically gifted but hoping in their mid 20's they'll develop a touch. That combined with already being 23 is why a guy like Zardes would have quite an uphill battle if he went to Europe. We also don't need to worry about Morris physically, his pace is an asset at the next level. Tactically he has to grow and that's the biggest reason for turning pro as well as a more competitive training environment but I'm always going to be higher on a prospect who has the most important tools, touch and a physical advantage rather than hoping they develop it later.

    One of our players with the best Euro careers ever was Cherundolo, in college at 20 then went to Germany. That path put him ahead of just about every other fullback we've ever developed who decided to sign with MLS. One of our best current Euro players is Bedoya, in college until 21 before going to Europe. Some will disagree with this but part of my thought is I'm not convinced there's better instruction in MLS than some NCAA schools. When the top young strikers(outside Agudelo) in MLS this year were Porter and Shelton, two 21 yr old NCAA products and are/were doing better than forwards who signed with MLS earlier, or that Montreal chose Porter as a better option over JacMac who's been pro for years until he blew out his knee, or that Zardes plays and starts for the defending champs but still struggles both technically and looks out of his depth tactically at the tempo of an international match, I don't think it's all that black and white. You'd assume if MLS training was clearly superior, it'd be pretty black and white comparing guys who signed with MLS early compared to going the NCAA route yet when it comes to striker, we don't see that for the most part.

    Let me ask this, why is there no current USA eligible striker in MLS who's Morris' age who's clearly better? Why does Zardes not look clearly better at this level? And reports suggest, as the one above that this isn't an accident, Morris has impressed in NT training and most of the staff is pretty high on him.

    And reality is if at 21 he's getting good mins in MLS or turned Stanford into a pro deal in Europe, he's ahead of our current curve as far as strikers go.
     
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  3. dcole

    dcole Member+

    May 27, 2005
    You can maybe earn big bucks playing soccer through age 35 if you are lucky enough to stay fit and in form. A surgeon can easily work into his 60s, earning more and more money each year of his career. Sure, Clint Dempsey will earn a lot more in his soccer career than most surgeons, but he'll also earn a lot more than most MLS players, so he would be a poor example to use.
     
  4. jond

    jond Member+

    Sep 28, 2010
    Club:
    Levski Sofia
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Great post and insight. Too many IMO are glancing over his qualities and instead focusing on his club situation at Stanford.

    The intangibles which are the foundation of a player with a high ceiling are there, if people are willing to look. Lazy analysis around here by some to just say he finished an easy goal and didn't do anything else. Too many look at stats rather than the game. No matter the sport you can generally tell pretty quickly whether a guy has it or doesn't. People who played understand this. When a new guy comes it's pretty clear within a day or two whether he can hang or can't. Some see it, some don't.
     
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  5. SUDano

    SUDano Member+

    Jan 18, 2003
    Rochester, NY
    The line was about tired starters not fresh subs.
     
  6. Maitreya

    Maitreya Member+

    Apr 30, 2007
    Providence, RI
    Individuals play a much bigger role in their own development than is usually acknowledged on this board and in discussion of the sport in general. The basic talent of the player matters more than many people seem to believe, and the individual's mentality plays a much bigger role also. One cannot simply say that Morris is better than McInerney or whatever, so MLS must have bad instruction. Morris simply has more talent and is a different person--it is incorrect to attribute so much to coaching or who a player has been playing against. I suspect that obvious improvement in the performance of players is more tied to reaching prime years--a player's mid-to-late 20s--than it is to coaching or competition level.
     
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  7. SUDano

    SUDano Member+

    Jan 18, 2003
    Rochester, NY
    The incentive is to improve as a player. Scoring vs. Mexico in his first game doesn't now make him a irreplaceable starter on USMNT. It now gives him pressure to improve his game to maintain his assent up the depth chart. College Soccer won't provide that.
     
  8. comoesa

    comoesa Member+

    Aug 13, 2010
    Christen Press's armpit
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    It was clear that Morris's reading of the game was behind most players on the field. He illustrated a clean touch, monster speed, and finishing ability, but that it's not as useful when he can only make use of 10 percent of time he has the ball because of poor decision making. That understanding comes with being benched if you can't pick out a pass when you receive the ball. He won't get benched at Stanford. This factor really isn't related to age, and globally, 20 years old is not too young to young to be expected to understand this.
     
  9. Caulfield

    Caulfield Member

    May 31, 2004
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Agree, but at the current moment he's getting about all he wants while plying his trade in college, and probably having more fun doing so. MLS money is no incentive, so what comes after that? Improving as a soccer player so you can make more money, make the National Team, and maybe play in Europe. Right now he's already knee deep in the USMNT picture having started and scored against our biggest rival, and probabaly has more money in his pocket from Dad's allowance than he would turning pro(not to mention the value of aStanford education).
     
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  10. Stogey23

    Stogey23 Member+

    Dec 12, 1998
    San Diego, CA
    #60 Stogey23, Apr 16, 2015
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2015
    I'm guessing there's a chick at Stanford.
     
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  11. Caulfield

    Caulfield Member

    May 31, 2004
    Club:
    Atlanta
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Or two or three. He's about as big a man on campus as you will see as a soccer player. My only fear is his bodily fluid levels won't fall too low to where if affects his Olympic performance.
     
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  12. SUDano

    SUDano Member+

    Jan 18, 2003
    Rochester, NY
    At some point your premise can't continue forever and in my opinion if he plays another season for Stanford your premise falls apart and he falls behind his peers. I guess we disagree. You think continuing playing college soccer doesn't hurt his development and career and for me it does. You think his goal determines his future and I think his game independent of that goal doesn't determine greatness but shows how much more he needs to improve his game and learn professionally so he really does cement his game so he remains a viable national team participant.
     
  13. Maitreya

    Maitreya Member+

    Apr 30, 2007
    Providence, RI
    It's not surprising at all that Morris didn't read every play well and that he seemed to struggle more than most to cope with the terrible field--he was the youngest player out there. I would expect the same for any player of Morris' age playing in that situation. It's pretty obvious that players of vastly different talent levels across leagues and countries, as a general rule, reach their peaks in their mid-to-late 20s. Why? Because they improve their reading of the game and their professionalism as they get older and get more experience. The way so many people talk on bigsoccer, you would think that no player ever improves without getting better coaching or facing better competition, but in fact players improve in all kinds of different environments. I suppose if we had a bunch of other players with the same amount of talent, we could actually test out the value of obsessing so much over when and where a player turns pro. Considering how much Morris has improved before turning pro at all, it seems highly unlikely that whether he finally does turn pro at age 20, 21, or 22 is going to be such a huge determining factor in how good he is at ages 25-29.
     
  14. Marko72

    Marko72 Member+

    Aug 30, 2005
    New York
    Free condoms in the Olympic village have become the norm. Just sayin'.
     
  15. deejay

    deejay Member+

    Feb 14, 2000
    Tarpon Springs, FL
    Club:
    Jorge Wilstermann
    Nat'l Team:
    Bolivia
    It matches up with other stuff we've seen also. The U-23s had a friendly in Europe against B&H which we won 5-2.
    Morris was the only amateur on the field yet he was the star of the game.

    Here's the full game if anybody is interested in watching:

     
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  16. Marko72

    Marko72 Member+

    Aug 30, 2005
    New York
    Tangential, but I admit that I like this little relationship that we seem to have going with the Bosnian fed. I hope that continues.
     
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  17. dna77054

    dna77054 Member+

    Jun 28, 2003
    houston
    Can somebody explain his current situation with Stanford with regard to eligibility, outside income, and NCAA regulations. I assume he is on a soccer scholarship. From what I gather scholarship student athletes are prohibited from outside income. So how does the NCAA treat his pay from the NT? Or is he forgoing his check? Does that paycheck make him a professional?
     
  18. Marko72

    Marko72 Member+

    Aug 30, 2005
    New York
    He would have to forgo the check from USSF to maintain NCAA eligibility. I don't think he can accept anything from them except transportation, housing and meals during camp and the goodie bag of Nike gear.
     
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  19. SUDano

    SUDano Member+

    Jan 18, 2003
    Rochester, NY
    Cherundolo left in 1998. That was 17 yrs ago, not a lot can be correlated due to the outdated structure of US development at that time. It was before Bradenton, DA, HG, with only a few GA signed each year. For me its not so much the training its the competition. Watching a college game and watching a USL game is significant for the top players. A yr or two of college isn't too much but beyond that we can only guess what the increased challenges of professional soccer can provide. Trying to prove a different path is difficult. All I know is the limitation NCAA puts on players and hours that pros don't have.
     
  20. naopon

    naopon Member+

    Jan 2, 2007
    California
    Club:
    Kawasaki Frontale
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  21. SUDano

    SUDano Member+

    Jan 18, 2003
    Rochester, NY
  22. Bob Morocco

    Bob Morocco Member+

    Aug 11, 2003
    Billings, MT
    I don't think Morris' first touch is better than Jozy's and his dribbling moves aren't as good but he has good control when dribbling at pace. His left foot seems weak. That said the reason I called for him to be on the U20 squad is because he is very effective. When he has space to run into his crosses are usually dangerous and he seems like a finisher. Andrew Wenger has all the same tools but he just does not make the right choices often enough or execute. Finlay isn't as strong and maybe has a looser first touch but he has found a way to be effective. In a team that can create chances to let Morris execute he can be a valuable piece.
     
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  23. kba4life

    kba4life Member

    Jun 4, 2009
    Claremont, California
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I've been seeing some chatter that Stanford has a policy where student athletes that go pro after completing their 2nd year of undergrad are guaranteed to be able to continue their education at a later date, when and if the individual elects to do so.

    If that is the case, we'll see what Morris does this summer.
     
  24. naopon

    naopon Member+

    Jan 2, 2007
    California
    Club:
    Kawasaki Frontale
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    #74 naopon, Apr 16, 2015
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2015
    Generally Stanford is pretty liberal about allowing students to stop out for any reason (running a VC-backed startup, pro sports, personal reasons...) and come back whenever they're ready. There is no real limit on LOAs for undergrads. There have even been cases where an athlete transferred to another school for playing time, finished their college sports career, then transferred their academic units back to Stanford.
     
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  25. Eleven Bravo

    Eleven Bravo Member+

    Atlanta United
    United States
    Jul 3, 2004
    SC
    Club:
    Atlanta Silverbacks
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Jordan, listen to me, I went to college when I was older, it did not stop me from earning my [master's] degree later.

    As far as "It's Stanford!" Well, a RN at your local technical college would be worth more than an undecided degree at "Stanford." Go back to college, when you know what you want to be.
     

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