Not that the point is all that important, but I was talking about his scoring record with the U.S. national team against CONCACAF minnows, e.g. panama, guatemala, El Salvador, and Barbados. And more than the last year has been humbling for Eddie, Eddie's been constantly humbled for the last four years and, as far as I can see, it hasn't improved him. As for failing in Europe, it's not like he was a banging success in the U.S. He may have scored 15 goals in his last season, but what about the year before that? two. And before that? five. The guy has never demonstrated any kind of consistency or work ethic, he was marginal during his time in MLS and an abject failure everywhere else he's been. He had the most embarrassing zombie career with the National team that I've ever seen. How many games did Bradley let him stumble through in the misguided hope that he would rediscover his mojo? It was enough to make a fan gouge his own eyes out. But as I said above, I hope I'm wrong.
maybe you've stumbled on it ... those who have some small to moderate hope that EJ will "produce" in the new MLS probably didn't suffer thru those years of him sucking donkey testicles with the USMNT against anybody other than St Kitts and Nevis type teams. for those of us who did suffer thru the EJ era of the USMNT ... we eyeless and tortured souls ... we know better
I know what your point was. Mine was that MLS teams aren't much better than the national teams he had success against? Well.. Barbados for sure, but the rest? Eh. People are overreacting to the loss of fan favorites, particularly Fucito. The guy was all hussel, but he just couldn't score in MLS games with any semblance of consistency. The guy was a USOC/CCL champ though.
MLS teams may not be much better than most CONCACAF minnows, but the U.S. national team is. It's a lot easier to score against teams of that calibre when you're playing alongside 2006 era Brian McBride, Landon Donovan, Eddie Lewis, DaMarcus Beasley, Pablo Mastroeni, and others. W/ regard to the loss of Fucito and Neagle, it's not unthinkable to me that we might trade them away, but I do believe they're worth more than a sack of (second hand) magic beans.
Chalk another vote in the "not good" category. I want to be optimistic about this, I really do. But this has "bust" written all over it. However, for the most part our trades and pick-ups in the past have been solid (though the Le Toux deal still leaves a bad taste in my mouth) so hopefully i'll eat my words.
Initial reaction is that Sounders over-valued Johnson. He's plateaued as a talent, and his current plateau is not much above sea level. What will the pressure of having to deliver do to/for him?
I am assuming you never saw him play during his time at Aris? I see success with seattle because of their more 'touch and go' approach... then the kick and run game that is mostly played in the MLS and where he 'failed'.... england. I predict he'll do well with Seattle.... granted he gets back into game shape... which won't happen until a couple months.
We have depth at midfield so the loss of Neagle is not a killer & Fucito is a fan favorite but really he has not produced much other than hustle. The emergence of Estrada & Seivback probably have a lot to do with this as well. I think having another target forward to push Ochoa is good as well. I think this tells us OBW is done. From some reports aside from Fulham EJ made good impressions with his clubs and left Greece due to the economy not because they did not want him. I guess another thought I have is the if Greek league is good enough for our starting keeper why not EJ? Plus far as FML goes seems to me a certain Mauro Rosales was not signed by a FML club because he was damaged goods. Hmm. Guess I'm more wait and see than panic.
And that is the problem. The people going batshit crazy against him are judging him on his USMNT play. He's not A-Team calibre. He's B at best, but more likely C. EJ had one good season and Fulham went stupid on him and because of that, people seriously overestimated his skills. He could have been a solid MLS calibre striker if he'd stayed here, but because Fulham threw a pile of cash at him expectations for him went through the roof and they shouldn't have.
I am a fan of Neagle and Fucito and wish them well in Montreal. At the same time, I like this trade and support the Sounders decision. Let's face it, we needed to make a move. We needed another forward. It was a bold move, but, if this move pays off, it can pay dividends. IMO, there are way too many fans wearing their heart on their sleeves and quick to call this trade a failure, point fingers, etc. Let's not forget that Altidore was a failure ever since he went to Europe, but he finally found a team which allows him to thrive and is having a great year in the Dutch league. Let's not forget Adu. Everyone was writing him off and calling him and epic failure. But weren't we all cheering for him when he was one of the better players in the Gold Cup and setting up Donovan with that brilliant pass in his first game back with the Nats? I don't know. Maybe I am more of an optimist than a pessimist but I find it helps me to sleep better at night : )
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...ttle-sounders/2012/02/17/gIQAzmRbKR_blog.html Goff tells it like it is. He's a reclamation project.
I think Neagle might be the best of the bunch to be honest. Eddie is a reclamation project and MLS is much stronger than when he left. I'm not feeling this move.
Sigi said he's going to make an impact agaist Santos, and given thar EJ has been training at the same place in Florida as the Sounders, my guess is that they think he's closer to fitness than a couple months. How many former Sounders does Montreal have now? Four?
it's also that EJ doesn't have much of a footballing brain. Guy tries to push through pure athleticism and he got away with it for a long time, but I don't think he'll be good enough for MLS anymore.
It's not just the USMNT play, I watched him play for Dallas, I watched him play for KC, I saw him in a Cardiff shirt and I even managed to see him play a few games in a Fulham jersey (no mean feat). You're free to disagree, but it's just not true to say that those looking askance at this move are judging solely on his time with the USMNT.
Aris fans liked him from what I remember. I am going to have to go back and dig through the BS archives for yanks abroad gameday though to read what they said.
In his last days with Aris he was actually their top scorer in the greek cup I remember. That was probably one of the biggest positives if not the biggest for him in all his time in Europe.
I'd say that trading for a player on a one-year deal (with a team option for a second) for $100,000 doesn't quite qualify as "foolhardy." Is it a gamble? Sure. But if he flops, big deal. "Guy making $100,000 doesn't perform to expectations, gets cut" is a story that gets played out countless times each season across the league.
Heck... Guy getting paid $200k doesn't perform and gets cut is a story that gets played out every season.
Eddie gets interviewed on local radio: http://www.sportsradiokjr.com/cc-co..._2012-02-17_Eddie_Johnson_1329531551_5958.mp3 Chris Hendersen talks Eddie up: http://www.sportsradiokjr.com/cc-co...12-02-17_Chris_Henderson_1329528715_16493.mp3
If he were making $500,000 or even $200,000, I could understand the uproar. But he's making essentially backup money, and he's on a one-year deal.
Yeah I don't get the overreaction going on here and elsewhere. Fucito and Neagle weren't starters. Neagle was fun to watch improve last year, but he still made a TON of mistakes. Fucito has hamstrings made of glass. I'm excited for those guys to go to a team where they'll probably get more starting minutes and improve their game because they weren't going to be playing a ton of games here.
I don't believe the Sounders actually lose anything in getting rid of Neagle and Fucito. Neagle was going to be 3rd on the depth chart. Fucito was a borderline starter. But Johnson can do everything Fucito can. And he is bigger and stronger. Maybe even faster. Remember part of what we were trading for was the fact Montreal used their allocation spot. It wasn't just the value of the player. And look at the new players in camp. We have players that are at least as good already in camp.