Quality of Play MLS '04

How on earth can you know this? Clarke went 2-3-1 with last year's Dallas Burn team. This year he's 0-0-1. We've looked a great deal better under Clarke than we did under Jeffries. Can you at least give the guy a little time (Andrulis has had, what, 3 seasons?) or allow him to fail a good deal worse than he has before you declare him unfit for this league?

 

I had quoted you - "I think we'll have a much better idea where we stand after this weekend" - in my post, and unfortunately edited it out. I agree completely.

 

No worries man, it's always silly to make assumptions with limited amounts of data.

 

At the high end of role player range you've got a guy like Mark Lisi, who'll have a hard time breaking into the Metros starting 11 when everyones healthy. Admittedly I didn't watch a ton of early MLS but from what I remember Lisi would have been one of the better nationals on most teams.

For overall depth look at the Gals. When everyone's healthy two of Arturo Torres, Joseph Ngweyna, Paul Broome, Marcelo Saragossa, Ned Grabavoy and Ricky Lewis won't even make the traveling bench. 5 years ago every one of them is a solid starter.

 

Sean Bowers? Pete Marino? A.J. Wood? Antonio Otero?

Then again, you're a Revs fan, so you probably haven't noticed that much of a difference.

 

We had the opportunity to have the Metrostars and the Rapids play here in San Antonio, and was impressed by the speed, the one touch passing and the overall improvement. I have watched the MLS since the beginning, and agree that the quality is much improved. I think the defection of some major names has really done nothing to affect that quality. If the first two weeks are any indication, this should pan out to be a very good year for MLS fans.

 

Heh well as a Rev fan. If having the quality of play up in the last couple of years means that my hometown team no longer sucks ass like it did throughout the history of MLS then yeah, the quality of play has risen dramatically.

 

i haven't seen any discusson, in this or any other thread, of cobi's comment with respect to young freddy:

''He's obviously a talented player,'' Jones said. ''He's got a lot of skills. I still think he's got a long way to go to step up to the professional level. I think the one thing I would tell him is to use his speed more instead of doing a lot of the trick stuff.''

this is, to me, a classic statement from the old guard that will soon (i hope) be sitting on the sideline (and not, i might add, coaching from there). "the trick stuff", as cobi so elegantly puts it, is what makes the game beautiful - and what has made the mls more enjoyable to watch this year. While speed and "work rate" are virtues, i'm so glad that U.S. soccer is evolving to emphasize more important elements of the game. i can only hope that freddy will completely ignore cobi's unasked for advice.

 

I think so far that this season obviously has a lot of potential. The attacking from some teams seems to be at a higher level earlier in the season then at times past.

There are certain things that would drasticaly improve the flow of the game and they have been debated time and time again. The first is wider fields. Just watch the games at the various stadiums and you can see the difference. Sometimes it is painful because there is no room to be creative. The only option is to try to bang things through.

For example look at the first games of the season. DC vs. SJ. I liked the game for the most part but one thing stood out clearly and that was the crowds camped out in midfield and in front of the box. Had the field been larger those campgrounds would disappear and more flowing games would happen.

The exact opposite of this game was LA vs. NE. Man, is the HDC nice! Flowwing attacking football (for the most part). nice build up of action in the final 1/3 and actual runs inside the box. New stadiums will make a HUGE difference on the type of play on the field.

That, and Hanki out of Colorado.

 

There was a thread started about that comment, you just didn't look hard enough apparently.

 

You've got it backwards -- the quality of play is up because our best youth players are competitive (or more competitive) with other youth players from around the world. The combination of importation of training techniques from all over the world and the size (number of players playing) of our youth soccer programs means that we've pretty much closed the gap between us and the rest of the world in terms of youth development. What we are still behind in is the final development of full international quality players. Players who aspire to that level of play must still go overseas to complete their development.

What are you a labor lawyer or do you get free tickets? I'm glad that not every player is a millionaire, or I'll be going to half as many games. Most of us have to buy our tickets and I'm not interested in seeing those prices go up.

How long will it take for MLS to double the attendance? The answer to that question is the answer to your last question(*).

 

let me translate this to make it easy to understand (while cutting your post to just a few words)

NO LONG BALL BRITISH COACHES!

 

Exactly.

Freddy showed more ball skills and control in his 45 minutes last week than I've seen in Cobi's whole career. Of course Cobi would say what he said because his own ball skills and passing accuracy are marginal. Without his speed, he'd never have been a NAT teamer.

 

Dear Cobi...I think that the one thing that I would tell you looking back on your career is to do a lot more of the trick stuff instead of just using your speed. Anyway, thanks for your best contributions to US soccer: the Rafa Marquez red card and some time wasting. Sorry, your mom named you like a dog.

Thanks.

 

Cobi Jones is gahbage, use your speed more. What a maroon, Freddy's a ball lover something that I'm sure Cobi's not aware of. More Freddy's less Cobis.

 

Well, I looked pretty hard and I didn't find it, either. Which board, please?

 

Go to jri's user profile and go to view all threads started by this user.
then go to the one that has Laugh out loud in the title.

 

DC vs Metro is a lot of fun to watch. The first touches, footwork, and pace of the game are excellent. It's as entertaining as any foreign leagues there is. The passes and crosses are not very good sometimes, but it is still much improve than before.

 

From about the 15th minute on that game was just a pleasure to watch.

 

Must concur. Particularly in the first half, DC was weaving passes together all over the field and looked...well, I'm not going to write "world class"...but let's just say first class. Excellent stuff.

The 2nd half was just as exciting if not more so 'cause of the goals and the hoopla, though I thought the quality of play dropped off a level as players got tired playing on the surface and with the heat.

 

I actually thought it started out well and only started to lag after the Olsen goal when United maintained most of the possession. The second half was fantastic, easily one of the most exciting, entertaining Soccer Saturday matches in a while. This season has started out much, much better than last season, when it took nearly a month to get going.

One more comment, the officiating wasn't too bad today, it was the best game I've ever seen Pruss officiate. I was thankful that it never got out of hand like a number of MLS games have this season. The Convey card early may not have been necessary but it did set a tone for the course of the game.

 

I agee totally. That was one of the most entertaining, high quality games I've seen in a long time. United's skill in 1st half and Metrostars in the 2nd half were incredible. Every pass doesn't connect because there's 10 opposing players on the field. There were great one touch build-ups, clever individulal dribbling displays and in this game I thought most if not all crosses were high quality. Guevera, Lisi, Clark, Gaven, Taylor all played great. I think Magee lost his starting role. Convey; Stewart; Olsen had good games but ran out of gas. Carroll even played well.

 

I too thought it was a well officiated game (for the most part) but I'm sure some DC fans are very upset over the non-call on the foul on Namoff leading to a turnover and directly to the 2nd goal. I do think Prus missed that one (both from the initial viewing and the one quick replay they showed), I also lay some blame on the DC goalie and the entire DC backline who were trying to get the ball out of their end for 30 seconds and just couldn't do it for one bad soccer reason after another, until they finally got burned.

 

Two players who also impressed played the same position: Kovalenko, who had a couple of brilliant passes and some lovely runs, as well as a perfect cross on the 1st goal, and his replacement Gros (sic?), who also looks like a keeper. Well done to the DC management for getting him in the lower rounds and for Nowak in quickly developing him.

 

That was a nice game to watch. Adu with a goal , a nice through pass to Stewart and some dekes near the left sideline...He gets a few touches , but his touches are dangerous.
Fabien is a nice player. He'll help the Metrostars this season.
Lisi reminds of Maniche...he is a nice passer.