Makes sense - he's more like a trainer in practices. That actually does make me wonder - is it possible to bring a player along to the World Cup just for training without having them count against the limit on your roster? Like, could you take Wondo to the World Cup but listed as a member of the training staff, not a player, as long as he never suits up on gameday? I think in track and field, players who don't make the cut can be brought along to the Olympics as training assistants. There's probably a restriction on it - something about active players not being allowed to be employed as trainers or something. Otherwise, national teams could bring the entire B team to help their A-guys in practice. I mean, I doubt Wondo would really be okay with doing that - but an idea.
Wood, Altidore, Dempsey, Morris, Agudelo, Dwyer, Sapong, Ramirez, Wondo, Green, Wright, Boyd, Johansson, Rubin I've got him 9th and I'm probably missing some. If Green can get his head out of his ass he will shoot up the rankings.
I'd put Wondo on par or better than anybody besides Wood, Altidore, Dempsey and Pulisic. The question then is how you want to use him. Jeff Adams put it so well above. "The dude brings intensity to every single practice, every single scrimmage and every single drill. If you aren’t completely focused he’ll embarrass you. He sharpens everyone around him and that’s not easy to find." BTW, he'll not just embarrass you via competitiveness and intensity, the dude is a well-rounded player whose movement and intelligence around the box is as good as we got. Anyway, I'd weigh this against the interest/value in giving a younger guy more camp experience. That might be more valuable. Then again, it's great to have a guy like Wondo around the youngers. I sure hope Agudelo and Morris aren't finished products. But you know what's sad? The morons are going to have the lasting word on this guy's amazing career. ("Missed a sitter against Belgium!" they still bellow from the stygian foulness of their colons.) Wondo should be a legend, the kind if player we love. But nah. We're too insecure to judge US players objectively. Maybe getting wiser, but... Took Rimando too long to get respect. People who hated seeing Kyle Beckerman in a US shirt literally failed to recognize his contribution. 20 years ago, similar thing with Mike Burns. ("Didn't cover the post!") Really underrated player but forever synonymous with US suckitude because so many US fans are: A. Europhiles for whom He was a blue collar American Joe with no magic Euro-dust on him. and/or B. American Outlaw types with a belly full of IPA and AYSO experience informing their opinion.
Thank god guys like this are getting older and the new generation doesn't have this pathetic "Back in the 80's we would kill to have 11 Wondos!" mentality. God forbid we have any sort of standards that isn't based around MLS' substandard play. Wondo sucks at the international level and his chance to play in the shirt should have been gone years ago. Likeable? Sure. Good enough to be a "legend" if we all had our heads in our asses like you? What a joke./
He served his purpose and it was good to see him on the WC roster. I don't think he should have played any minute, though had he scored against Belgium it would have been a huge Story for him. He and Dempsey are those underdogs who made it through perseverance.
Wondo is a nice guy. He is a good MLS striker, with a nose for scoring goals through smart positioning and movement off the ball. I've defended him on numerous occasions, especially in the "Is Wondo the worst US player ever?" thread. But you've gone in the polar opposite direction. He's a smart guy, a nice guy, but he's not a great player by any stretch.
You were doing so well! And then, dropped a bomb... Burns was never National Team material. I'm sure he's a good guy and all.
He's still one of the better strikers in MLS. Arguably the third best American, MLS-based striker behind Altidore and Morris. He's a loyal soldier.. Why not? Who else? Dom Dwyer would be the only alternative, and he's not a starter either. Wondo is a warrior, a damn hard worker, and a good soccer player he has been near the top or at the top of the scoring charts of MLS the past few years.
Mike Burns' US resume was pretty awesome. Iron man of Olympic team, captain I think. Two World Cups. Kind of the definition of National Team material. FWIW, he was one of our best 11 in '94, let alone '98. But Bora played Mike Sorber instead of Burns, because if Sorber was in there Thomas Dooley would stay home and protect the centerbacks. If Mike Burns was out there, Dooley was more confident and would go ranging. Bora wanted us to play less soccer. Sampson let us play more... but by '98 we lost our sharpness and mentality and we were grouped with two great teams who could bus to France. Oh wait no, it was Mike Burn's fault.
There's a distinction to be made here. Wondo is a legend - for MLS. He won't be a legend for the US MNT. I actually like Wondolowski, believe or not. I like the kind of player he is, I like his mentality, and I admire his accomplishments. But for whatever reason, he's never been good at the international level. I'm hesitant to just chalk it up to "MLS sucks, he can't cut it against real competition", etc. I think Wondo might be the type of player who excels in the right circumstances - a set of circumstances that allows him to make the most of his advantages and minimize his disadvantages. He's a smart guy, a cerebral player, finding gaps and exploits in defense - but he is greatly limited by a lack of athletic ability and lack of technique. If you follow NFL football, I think Wondo is akin to what is termed a "system quarterback." A system QB thrives within a certain type of playbook and gameplan that is often customized to accommodate his strengths and minimize his weaknesses. QBs have put together incredible season and career records at college-level employing such systems. But when they go to the pros, or get a new coach, or have to change the gameplan because they're losing - situations where they are removed from that system they succeeded in - they struggle. It's not just a matter of level of competition - even in the NFL, there are QBs who have amazing performances when playing with a specific offense, but are complete garbage anywhere else. Because in the end, they're not good all-around quarterbacks - complete players who are strong in all the skill areas of their position. They have severe limits in certain aspects of their game, so they need a system that don't require them to depend on those areas. And I think that's Wondolowski. He's got his strengths, and he uses them - but he's not a complete striker. We saw that in the Belgium game. It's unfair to say he missed an easy goal - by no means was that an easy ball to play, and Wondo got the contact wrong. That said - any World Cup-level striker would be rightly expected to have the technique to hit that correctly. Wondo came up very short. Ultimately, in the international game, where there's so little time to prepare, you don't really know your teammates that well, you definitely don't have the time to study your opponents, and the tactics and strategy are often unfamiliar and subject to change - you need complete all-around players who can adapt quickly. For Wondo in particular, this isn't a situation that plays to his strengths. So unfortunately, no - I don't think Wondo will go down as a legend for US soccer. Which is too bad, honestly - because I really do think he's a heckuva guy.
No he absolutely won't be a national team legend - he got his chances too late. But he should/could be an American soccer legend if he wasn't so underrated. Eight straight MLS seasons in double digits - for one of the consistently worst teams - should be enough. Beyond that, a lot of the factors that cause folks to underrate him, IMO, are the reasons he should be beloved. Always the underdog, proving people wrong when he gets a fair chance. About that... Overall, he's been good for the US. He played well in limited time at the World Cup. You can't judge a striker by a miss or two - that's ridiculous. I think I agree with everything you wrote skim, except that the miss against Belgium was proof of anything. It probably wasn't the in the Top 40 misses of that World Cup. Belgium is not saying "Whoah, he should have scored there." They might remember it as scary and sketchy. But I think it was less of a miss even than Dempsey's in the same game, off a Wondo pass. It's our biases that make Wondo's so memorable. Also, you can be absolutely World Class but not useful in certain systems. Poachers often don't make the cut, but you know, Pippo Inzaghi scored a couple hundred goals in and around the highest levels of the game. Now, before some of you here start flinging poo at the paying customers, I am not saying Wondo is Pippo, or Messi, or World Class. I am saying Wondo had some top shelf qualities, was and will be underrated, and was more than worthy of caps, esp given our options. Obviously: Jurgen picked him and Bruce is still picking Wondo past his prime. If our next generation of strikers is a whole 'nother level, well blessed be. I couldn't be happier. Come out and play dudes. Juan Agudelo ain't proving much of anything.
Being a US soccer legend is synonymous with being a national team legend. That's the reality of the fandom. No such thing as being a great domestic player, not good enough internationally, and still being a legend.
If he's not going to be put into the game when we most desperately need a goal, then why was he ever on this team?
I can’t believe this is still a topic on here. Now, onto threads entitled “_______ (any one of a number of prominent USMNT players)’s future with the USMNT?”