YanksAbroad.com: Brian West for USNT

Discussion in 'USA Men: News & Analysis' started by Ismitje, Aug 22, 2005.

  1. Ismitje

    Ismitje Super Moderator

    Dec 30, 2000
    The Palouse
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Actually, the article advocates West and Cunningham both:

    Play Cunningham and West

    My initial reaction to West is skeptical, but the fact is that I haven't seen a thing of him in a couple of years, and he is someone who earned a cap or two before maturing/improving in Norway. An interesting idea.
     
  2. voyager

    voyager Member

    Jun 10, 2004
    Frederick, MD
    Club:
    DC United
    I was just thinking about West, and I would like to see him get another call-up. Last year he had to pull out due to injury, so I hope Arena gives him another shot. I beleive he is a right sided middie, so the more options there the better.
     
  3. blazeurface

    blazeurface New Member

    Jun 1, 2005
    Bethlehem, PA
    After having watched both Brian West and Jeff Cunningham play in Columbus as a season ticket holder, I must say that I tend to agree with this line of thought...While in Columbus, I always felt that West and Cunningham, with their speed and creativity, were consistently some of the most dangerous players on the field. When Cunningham wasn't seeing much playing time in Columbus under then-coach Andrulis, I, along with others, were a bit peeved at seeing his playing time reduced, because, as mentioned earlier, it often seemed that he was the only dangerous player on a Crew team that was sometimes offensively-anemic. Now, of course, Cunningham is one of the leading scorers in MLS (if not leading...i didn't bother checking the latest stats) and, it seems that West is having success in Norway as well. I'd love to see these two guys get a shot again for the Nats.
    Cheers,
    BlazeUrFace
     
  4. superdave

    superdave Member+

    Jul 14, 1999
    VB, VA
    Club:
    DC United
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Crew fans can correct me, but I think West played some wing. Let's face it, so long as Bruce refuses to play Reyna at right wing, we ain't got alot of options there.
     
  5. Maximum Optimal

    Maximum Optimal Member+

    Jul 10, 2001
    West mainly plays right wing. He is faster than the Beas. Not as skilled or dangerous, but definitely faster.
     
  6. ursula

    ursula Member

    Feb 21, 1999
    Republic of Cascadia

    Well that's the catch. It's what kept him away from Korea and it's what is keeping him away from the Nats since. I do imagine him getting a call and even playing a friendly or two (just like pre-Korea) because that speed is great, but that lack of skill is a killer.
     
  7. Ismitje

    Ismitje Super Moderator

    Dec 30, 2000
    The Palouse
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I wonder what the past few years have wrought, however? Has anyone actually seen West in action in Norway? Maybe we're on the wrong board, and someone on the Yanks Abroad board can help out.
     
  8. ursula

    ursula Member

    Feb 21, 1999
    Republic of Cascadia

    Well most definitely I haven't been tracking West in Norway but it's hard for players in their mid-to-late 20s to develop a much better touch on the ball than they previously showed.
     
  9. FirstStar

    FirstStar Hustlin' for the USA

    Fulham Football Club
    Feb 1, 2005
    Time's Arrow
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I've followed him as much as possible through that board. Face it, we are never going to get Norwegian matches on TV in the US. Once you've read the YA.com article, you have most of the picture on Brian. He moved to Fredrikstad for the 2004 Trippenligaen season and was an immediate success for his side, even making the Best XI team for the league despite his injuries. He was called for the Jamacia qualifier, but (yet again) injuries prevented him from playing.

    Everything I read about him is that his game relies on speed, but he is praised for his skill and game intelligence in Norway. If the start to this season is any indication, he may have taken his game to another level.

    I would definately want to give Brian a look if Steve Ralston is going to be our primary right wing in Germany. I'm not sure, though, if West is a better option than Tino (admittedly, I get to see Tino a lot, so I could be biased). Strangely enough, moving Eddie Lewis to LB might be the best thing to happen for Brian. I'd been thinking that we might see DMB at the right wing in order to get Eddie, JOB and DMB all on the field. If Eddie is playing back, though, that leaves more room in the midfield and and top for JOB and DMB to stay on the left. This fills our depth problem at LB, but exposes us more at the right wing.

    Personally, I'd play Reyna there. Still, given that Bruace has wanted to call up Brian in the past, I think the YA.com'ers have a valid point that Brian deserves a shot (along with Tino and Dempsey).
     
  10. ElRoss425

    ElRoss425 Member

    Apr 24, 2002
    Club:
    Houston Dynamo
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I think we've already seen that guy. I believe his name was Cobi Jones.

    If West's game is comparable to Cobi's then I don't want him near the USMNT.
     
  11. Maximum Optimal

    Maximum Optimal Member+

    Jul 10, 2001
    The Cobi of 1998 was better than anything we currently have on the right wing.
     
  12. swedust

    swedust Member+

    Aug 30, 2004
    I haven't seen West in Norway either, I'm all for more options at RM, but this statement is simply not true (depending, I suppose, on how strongly you mean "much" better).

    Don't want to get side-tracked nor start an argument, ursula, just want to say there's no reason to close off the possibility of technical improvement just because I player got serious about it in their 20s.
     
  13. Ghost

    Ghost Member+

    Sep 5, 2001
    Is West all that unskilled? I actually think his skill was moderate. I watched one of his caps in Birmingham in 2002, and I thought his biggest problem was shielding the ball on the wing, which he didn't do well and consequently he got dispossessed a lot. I'm not saying he's Ronaldinho, but skill wasn't the killer. It was more subtle than that.
     
  14. scaryice

    scaryice Member

    Jan 25, 2001
  15. FirstStar

    FirstStar Hustlin' for the USA

    Fulham Football Club
    Feb 1, 2005
    Time's Arrow
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Bruce thinks he's worth calling in and keeps trying to do so.
     
  16. ursula

    ursula Member

    Feb 21, 1999
    Republic of Cascadia
    No I don't want an arguement either and in fact I'm a bit surprised that Arena hasn't called him up much lately. Afterall he was on the Alternates list for Korea so it's not like we are talking about Josh Gros or anything.

    But Westy's game is all about speed first second and third. That's a good thing in the WC- I still remember watching the US Portugual game after a fair amount of MLS right before and being struck by the speed of the game. So that part of West's game would fit right in.

    But he needs more technical ability. No, he's not unskilled either, I won't go to extremes here. But pre-Korea he definitely had a worse touch than the wingers who did go- Stewart and Cobi and the like- and it's not like those guys were the last word in touch.

    But I would like to ask you- can you give me example of players who in the later 20's get a good deal more skilled then they were previously? I can't think of a US player who has really.

    Maybe if we could forge an unholy combination of West and Ralston we'd be okay. :)
     
  17. JohnW

    JohnW Member

    Apr 27, 2001
    St. Paul
     
  18. numerista

    numerista New Member

    Mar 21, 2004
    It's been a long time since the mid-90s, but from what I remember, I would point to Chris Henderson and Cobi Jones as two who did. At the time, they were probably also the most similar players to Brian West that we've had, although they were also famously hyper-motivated, and I don't know if West is.

    Bear in mind, however, that we haven't seen West fully healthy since he was 24 years old ... in the meantime, he's had a bunch of leg injuries (hamstring?), hobbling him for the 2003 season and keeping him out of the Jamaica game last fall. Of course, it's possible that the injuries have impeded his progress, but it's also possible that he's gotten sharper.
     
  19. diablodelsol

    diablodelsol Member+

    Jan 10, 2001
    New Jersey
    West was similar to Frankie Hejduk.

    Add more speed, zero out defensive ability, and watch the crosses fly into row Z. Exact same donkey touch and skills
     
  20. ursula

    ursula Member

    Feb 21, 1999
    Republic of Cascadia
    Funny, I was thinking of Chris Henderson too! He and Cobi. Okay, I'll hope that he has his act all together because I'm sure he'll get called up sometime. Too bad we didn't see him in the Gold Cup.
     
  21. Sandon Mibut

    Sandon Mibut Member+

    Feb 13, 2001
    A) Is anyone else amazed and/or pleased to see a US media outlet actually stand up and say Player X should be capped? It happens abroad all the time but it rarely, if ever happens in the US. I'm glad to see it. I know Bruce isn't sitting at home saying "Yanksabroad.com says I should cap West and Cunningham. I better do it or else they'll start be really criticial of me." But at the same time, the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step and all that and I'm glad to see someone in the US Soccer media have the onions to take a stand on player selection for the national team.

    B) As good a year as Cunningham as having, he's still a long shot to make the team when it counts if everyone is healthy. However, as Steve Sampson showed with Roy Lassiter and France 98, not taking a striker who is in form can come back in bite you in the ass. If Cunningham gets off to a hot start in MLS next year, it's going to be tough to leave him at home. With that in mind, I'd like to see Arena give him a couple of caps after the US clinches. First off, he's earned them with his play in MLS and second, if he is on fire next year, we'll all be glad then he got some more international experience now.

    C) Can't see a viable reason not to call in West. As we all know, it ain't like the US has David Beckham @ right mid. Ralston is consistent but adequate and Quaranta is skilled but still pretty raw, not to mention injury prone. West has played great soccer since moving to Norway and, for no other reason than to say you didn't leave the stone unturned, he should get a look to see if the way he's playing now can translate itself into the national team. Might not. Hell, probably won't. But maybe, just maybe, it will. And if it does, man, he and Beas will give us some SERIOUS pace on the flanks. Oy!

    BTW, it should be noted that West is 27, has 7 capps and hasn't been capped since he was 23.

    Ralston had 7 caps at the same age, the seventh comig when he was 25. He didn't get the eighth till 2003, when he was 28 and he's gotten 21 more since then and certainly seems destined for more.

    So, if Ralston can suddenly break out with the nats in his late 20s after not doing much in earlier caps but playing great ball for his club, why can't West?
     
  22. diablodelsol

    diablodelsol Member+

    Jan 10, 2001
    New Jersey
    Did Ralston break out? Or did Earnie Stewart's retirement mean Bruce had to look at other options?
     
  23. Sandon Mibut

    Sandon Mibut Member+

    Feb 13, 2001
    Stewart didn't retire till this year and his last cap was last year. Bruce started using Ralston, again, in January of 2003.

    The two didn't seem to have much to do with each other. In fact, both were on the Gold Cup roster together in 2003.
     
  24. DonCorleone

    DonCorleone New Member

    Jun 21, 2005
    NY state.
    :D
    Maybe he should take part in the Tour De France next year .... :D
     
  25. scaryice

    scaryice Member

    Jan 25, 2001
    It's a web site, not something than anyone outside of soccer fans has heard of. And, if they're gonna do that, they should pick someone who actually deserves it, unlike West. Bruce knows what he's doing.
     

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