Yes! I noticed the same thing. I remember thinking: "I bet Lenhart is imagining Frank on his shoulder right now telling him to knock it off."
Yeah, I think he may have been putting too much effort in being a pest, and that took away from his game.' That said, what I hate is people accusing him of being a dirty player. Hes not, he doesnt go out there to hurt opponents. He is one of the most antagonizing players though, he gets under the skin of opponents. But for the most part, its because he does what most defenders do to attackers, only he does it better then they do. Nothing pisses off defenders in any sport then attacking players who dont react to what they do to intimidate or frustrate, but just do it right back. Defenders are used to being the aggressors, it drives them nuts when they are put on the defensive when it comes to physical play.
Totally agree. Dirty, no, though I see this has become some kind of bigsoccer knucklehead commonly accepted truth on various forums. I can't recall a single thrown elbow or bad tackle that I thought indicated any intent to harm. Antagonizing, yes, and then often apologizing after just to further confuse defenders.
Yeah, that was a total reputation call. If anyone was fouled it was him. Then the ref took away a scoring chance for us when Wondo whiffed on a ball in the box and it rolled to wide open Dawkins but the ref whistled Lenhart off the ball for colliding with a center back. Another reputation call I felt.
"Lenhart wins MLS Player of the Week honors" (SJEarthquakes.com - Monday, 4/30/12) (Ezra Shaw / Getty Images) GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
"MLS Player of the Week Steven Lenhart touts Earthquakes' balanced scoring" (San Jose Mercury News - Monday, 4/30/12) GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
"Steven Lenhart's offense energizes red-hot Earthquakes" (San Jose Mercury News - Saturday, 5/5/12) GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
his yellow last night was dumb get a yellow if you are attacking the goal, otherwise be smarter. at least he'll get some time to surf this weekend. yallop should make him play in the open cup to make up for the bone head play.
"Lenhart: "Goonies never say die!"" (SJEarthquakes.com - Thursday, 5/24/12) (Victor Decolongon / Getty Images) GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
Does anyone know how or where Lenhart got hurt? He was subbed on in Portland July 3rd, and didn't fly to Dallas. I recall him having a few head collisions in-game and wonder if it's that or a practice injury.
Where are you finding an injury report on Lenhart? Kelly Gray said he had the night off and didn't travel with the team during the Dallas game, but made no mention of injury. [OH] Nevermind. Should have read the RSL pregame thread first.
Oh nooooooo! It had to be that darn Open Cup game! And then continuing to play him after that! Idiot staff!! Any health professionals in this forum? Lenny should be out for 4-6 weeks minimum?
How do you know he wasn't screened for a concussion after that game? Why do you jump to the conclusion that our "staff" screwed something up?
He probably suffered a mild concussion from the USOC game -- since so many of us saw him demonstrating problems -- but it usually doesn't take more than a few days to recover. But then he was reinjured in one of the subsequent games, maybe not as severely, but it wouldn't take as much force given how recently he'd suffered the first concussion. That would explain why he kept playing after the Seattle game but took a break after the Portland game. Not incompetence.
With the huge spotlight on brain injuries in pro sports right now, it doesnt make sense to take any head injury lightly and to keep playing someone without doing a thorough check. Did they do an MRI? Did they do anything other than hold up 2 fingers? I doubt it because they would have announced it. Wondo says lenny got blindsided at the USOC game. So they knew he had taken a very hard hit at the time. Then he took another hit at the galaxy game 4 days later. On the stanford field, they were checking his vision for concussion symptoms, and he came off wobbly. Brain injuries are additive. If u didn't get a full blown concussion with the first hit, the second hit within 2 weeks can send you over. My buddy says A full concussion takes a minimum of 6 weeks of recuperation. This means avoidance of jarring activity such as running. How many Alecko eskandarians and Taylor twellmans (also aggressive never-say-die forwards) do we need to learn the lesson?
Heard some fans in the stands jokingly yell out "concussion" when RSL player (I forget who) was hit in the face last night with the shot along the east sideline of the pitch. A lot of people laughed at the time but you know, not so sure if that is all that funny in the long run....