Yanks Abroad Flavors of the Week, 2015-16 Edition [R: includes results from many matches]

Today is my 1st time to see Gooch in action. I'm at the 61st minute, he hasn't looked very good. Only positive I can think of is that he poked a ball away once and and he bounced a cross off a defender for a corner. Other than that, his touches have been kind of bad. He's getting caught up on the ball a lot; and is always unsuccessful trying to dribble out of trouble. The ball gets caught under him, and he tries to lean the opponent off the ball and attempt to turn with it, but the ball always trickles so that it's an easy dispossession for he opponent. His teammates seem to be passing the ball around him.

Hoping that he gets enough time during the Sunderland's injury epidemic to work on and raise his game.

Injuries or not, it's a fine accomplishment for a U.S. player to be starting in the PL at the age of 20. But, imo - just based on this one match, he's a ways away from me wanting him called up.

As I type, he just did it again. He was playedat his age. a bad ball from his teammate. He tried to lean into the Soton player to protect the ball, ball just rolled through to the other side where the Soton player easily collects it. It's like he thinks he's bigger than he is. Oh well - good for him for getting PL games

 

Incidentally, this is technically a Germerican vs. Germerican dispute, though neither of them is probably aware of it.

 

MUCH better game from Guzan today. made some big stops today to keep the clean sheet. Moar ov that plz, k thx

 

Big stops? I don't remember either GK having to make any "big stops" today. Brad did have one of his patented flaps at a corner at the end of the first half.

As an aside, that was one of the most boring matches I can remember watching. Neither side ever looked like scoring.

 

the barometer for me was "he didnt screw up", lighten up francis. Ive been worried about him too. The measuring stick is now, get through a game without one "guzan", and he did that today. so in that sense, much better game. He went through a streak in the EPL as a pretty good keeper at one point, american fans hope he can get close to that level again, and anything that looks like a turned corner is welcome news. No one said he stood on his head, but youd be disingenuous to say the shot block where he clattered into the Middlesbrough player on the right side of the goal line was not a good stop.

 

No, he didn't. That flap at the corner at the end of the 1st certainly qualifies as a "guzan" in my book.

 

your book is awfully picky then. Youre gonna turn down a lot of nice girls on dates with that kind of pickiness.

For USMNT fans evaluating goalkeepers right now, we just hope for no monumental screw ups. A flap on a corner is not a monumental screw up. If you are judging it through USMNT lenses, you have to know our barometer is not that high right now.

 

Pull up his posting history. I scanned his last, like 15-16 posts. There's not a positive word in there. Don't look for iad to be Bigsoccer's little ray of sunshine.

 

Otoh, he was MOM last week. So, maybe it was just a bad match.

 

Positioning.

 

You should go back and watch all his PL mins thus far if you're looking to judge someone's quality. You're coming to conclusions off half an hour of play...

 

His positioning/movement off the ball is superior to every striker in our pool, bud.

That our striker pool suffers from a disease known as 'too-damn-static' is an understatement.

 

By the way, a little tidbit on Michael Orozco-Fiscal. Who holds the American record for the most appearances in Liga MX? [According to wikipeadia, Jose Francisco Torres has 193; so Orozco is ahead of him if wikipedia is to be believed.]

Hoy nuestro defensa, Michael Orozco cumple 200 en 1era División. ¡Deseémosle lo mejor en este día! #FuerzaTijuas pic.twitter.com/hrFH3b56t3

— Xolos 🐕 (@Xolos) August 27, 2016

 

More like 70 minutes.

But, yes, I did say it was a super limited sample size. I'll be watching all of Sundy's matches that I can, and hoping he does well.

 

Great news...........[Unless you're an FCD fan.]
He joins forward USYNTer Haji Wright with Schalke. Nick Taitague, another former US U17 has been training with the club as well.

Weston is a box-to-box midfielder. Think Kellyn Acosta. Weston is perhaps better going forward at this age than Kellyn, while Kellyn was a better defensive player. The two paired in central midfield would have been interesting.

FCD has a history of developing central midfielders. Hyndman, Ulloa, Acosta, McKennie, etc. Paxton Pomykol of the US U19s could be next in line.

Welcome to the #RoyalBlues! 🇺🇸 youth international Weston #McKennie has signed for the #S04 @knappenschmiede U19s! pic.twitter.com/JtOoOtcXFC

— FC Schalke 04 (@s04_en) August 30, 2016

 

Do you think he is disciplined enough to play as a dmid if asked? I've really liked what limited clips I've seen of him.

http://sbisoccer.com/2016/08/u-s-u-20-weston-mckinnie-signs-with-schalke

“He convinced us that he is a robust and smart player,” said academy director Oliver Ruhnert. “In his home country, he is one of the top footballers of his year. He is also a youth international and was also captain of his team. He brings with him a lot, even in terms of mentality. We are convinced that Weston is able to play professional football. Therefore, this transfer is useful.”

 

Maybe, but his offensive game is good enough that I don't think you'd want to put him there right now. Maybe long term he'll move into that kind of role.

One thing to note about Weston McKennie is that a few months ago he was captaining three teams. He captained the US U19s in a tournament in Europe (named best player at that tournament as noted in the image below). He was the captain of the FCD U18 academy team that won the national title (although he didn't play in the finals). He also was already captaining Schalke U19s as a "guest player" at the Ruhr Cup. This is clearly a player with noted leadership abilities.



I'll use this opportunity to post this picture, because it is one of my favorites.
This is indeed little Weston McKennie. It comes from a fan meet-and-greet in 2006 at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

 

Three captains?

 

I agree, the only weak point that's ever been claimed against him is sulkiness and bad finishing. Seems to be a thing of the past now. Otherwise, strength, speed, quickness, movement, hold up and combinations are all at a high level which is why he has been favored for so long by so many teams in spite of 2 years of bad injury and form.

 

I'm guessing from the photo above that his dad must have been in the military in Germany. Could explain why he wanted his son to play there.

 

Has Matt Miazga found new home with Espanyol

SI: Matt Miazga nearing a season-long loan move from Chelsea to Espanyol in La Liga https://t.co/rmX48ZDEuQ

— Subscribe to GrantWahl.com (@GrantWahl) August 31, 2016

 

No confirmation on Matt Miazga yet, but Sky Sports says La Liga window closes tomorrow.