What technical skills did you find lacking? The touch,dribbling passing and shooting all looked good in the game. Also, he is 20.
Toye must be really poor at holding the ball up because Eddie Johnson was not good at holding the ball up. His touch, or lack thereof, constantly let him down. He surprised everyone every now and then with some good touches but the ball bouncing 5 yards off of his foot was more the norm.
I dont mean to pile on, but this is what I am talking about ... I dont see anything special about Toye as an athlete. He is succeeding because he is showing good skill. As for EJ, he went to Europe being a dangerous speed player who ran onto through-balls, but came back from Europe being a hold-up player who poached headers around the box. At no time in his career did you see him consistently be a threat from outside the box with both feet as is the case with Toye. I am not here arguing that Toye is the 2nd coming. He is only 20 and COULD flame out. It happens. But I do think there are some who are painting him with the wrong brush.
eddie johnson was never, in any way, a hold up player. he played off hold up guys. is the about his strength in the air? he was similar to c ronaldo in being a freakishly strong player in the air, but not remotely a guy who we played to (in the air or not) and then attacked off of, or even used to win balls. he was as much of a hold up player as josh wolff was...
I guess we disagree here. That shot wasn't that impressive to me. I'm not going to argue about Eddie Jonhson. Anyway, some of you are mentioning that he is young. Imo, the weakness in his game (good decision making when there isn't an obvious answer) does not really improve when you are outside of your late teens imo. For reference, a 17 year old Agudelo was a much more savvy player than Toye currently is.
and look where he is now...been played at cdm and rwb this year? who has only scored more goals in a season than toye 3 times in his career (7 twice, 8 once)?
He was complete garbage for half a decade because he didn’t know what he really was. His fault and others tio
He was a target forward with instincts. For whatever reason he thought he was the American Nicolas Anelka. It is what it is.
Can you show us some goals that do impress you? Off foot, into the corner with pace... That's not a common occurrence anywhere.
WS US-eligible Team of the Week 26 Lewis started at forward, before moving to the left. ------------------------------------Toye(9.1)MOTM----------------- ---------Lewis(8.7)MOTM------Arriola(7.9)4th------Roldan(8.9)MOTM---- -----------------------Nagbe(8.2)1st----------Yuiell(7.8)5th----- -- Hollingshead(8.7)MOTM---------------------------------------Canouse(7.8)6th -----------------Birnbaum(8.1)2nd-----------GSmith(8.0)2nd--- --------------------------------------Bush(8.2)2nd----- Player of the Week: Toye Roldan Hollingshead Lewis U23-eligible Player of the Week: Toye Lewis Yuiell GK: Turner(8.0)MOTM Clark(8.0)2nd Melia(7.8)3rd Willis(7.4)1st Hamid(7.3)8th Howard(7.3)5th SJohnson(7.2)2nd Rimando(7.0)1st LB: Lovitz(7.4)4th Villafana(7.1)6th Vines(7.1)7th Maloney(7.0)6th CB: Rosenberry(7.8)3rd Hedges(7.1)5th Long(7.0)4th Opara(7.0)9th Kallman(7.0)10th Besler(7.1)4th RB: Thompson(7.3)8th Nerwinski(7.1)4th LM/LAM: Morris(8.0)3rd Argudo(7.5)2nd Aaronson(7.3)4th CM: Davis(7.7)1st Ferreira(7.3)4th Dotson(7.2)8th Trapp(7.1)4th RM/RAM: Ebobisse(7.0) FW: Wondolowski(8.3)MOTM Dribbles: 5 Nagbe 4 Buckmaster Morris Nerwinski Yueill 3 Argudo Arriola Herrera Toye Key Passes: 3 Argudo Baird Ferreira Nguyen
With Graham Smith, SKC look to be turning out another outstanding CB. Morris has been putting in outstanding performances at forward, lam, and ram. With the NT, I'd like to see him get reps at striker. Toye: i've seen him in more than one game. It's early days, but he looks to be the total product, including in work ethos, which his coach has hailed. What's eye popping, especially in relation to other US strikers, is his 'scorer's calm' in front of goal. He just exudes calmness, with play collapsing around him--space constricting. Given time to think about the shot, he excels where others merely 'blast the ball'. Lewis: Outstanding goals. Has had a good goals+assists per 90 record over the seasons. Needs to continue to improve his fitness and all around game. Arriola: would be nice to see an American be given that a-mid role on a consistent basis. Canouse at right back? Aaronson showed exquisite balance and technique in the Union's win over Atlanta. Ferreira has been excelling at am/cm/off-foward. Rosenberry played as a rcb in a 3-man backline.
How am I trolling? I just think Toye has a ceiling that isn't USMNT level in the one game I saw. That isn't crazy talk and I gave my reasoning. 1:25 and 1:32 are what I describe as next level plays.
Agudelo got a cap at 17 because he was doing things Toye has yet to show. We can disagree on that, it's fine.
Agudelo has been the least savvy US player out there. 4-5 games of watching a striker would probably be the minimum for forming a reasonable comprehensive opinion. I like the unintentional comedy, though. It's all good.
17 years old Agudelo was somehow a better player than Agudelo currently is. But not everyone peaks at 20.
I also find odd the assessment that Agudelo is savvy. I mean he sounds like a jock off the field. And on it he tends to linger on the ball. But less odd than claiming a physical talent also displaying skill and at least basic instincts + effort doesn't have a USNT CEILING (not even projection).
Poor work habits typically result in a much earlier peak. Agudelo was slated for poor work habits at NYRB. In terms of his play, was a nice striker of the ball, but didn't have the all around game. Teams tolerate that in precocious youngsters, not so much in vets. We see the same thing with Kekuta Manneh.
I agree. I mean, c’mon, EVERYONE was excited about Agudelo when he scored that goal at 17. But there’s a reason why everyone still only talks about that instead of his body of work as an adult. Frankly, he’s the Macaulay Culkin of soccer.
Not a player, but Matias Almeyda is instantly the most important person in MLS to the USMNT right now. He needs to be brought on like, NOW.
Agudelo is easily one of the most disappointing players in modern soccer history. Once you get past the obvious, he's right up there. Hugely hyped, made terrible career decisions, and didn't develop. He literally signed for a club in England that he couldn't play for. Why? Who knows? Erik Palmer-Brown did the same thing, and he's on the same path to obscurity at the moment. Bench player in the Austrian league. At some point a player stops being a prospect, and he is who he is. Juan Agudelo is an average MLS level player.
I don't know about "most important." Folks said the same thing about Oscar Pareja. Then after a couple of years it kind of faded after the initial FCD hype faded. San Jose is 4th in the West, 18 points behind the team in first place. Maybe people are learning that they shouldn't have run Bob Bradley out of town. A coach who created a national team that was greater than the sum of its parts.