The way people debate in here reminds me of American political forums, where if you disagree with someone you're or a terrorist, or paid by Russia/China, or controlled by Soros/Koch, or a total idiot. Arguments based on actual observation of reality are rare and quickly dismissed in favor of personal attacks.
His positive contributions attacking show that Weston belongs as the 8 for the US with Adams as the 6, maybe Reyna as the 10. I don’t think I’ve seen Weston make that kind of a dribble.
Yes, but the stats seem to love Wes while your eyes do not. I think that’s the root of a lot of the debate.
I have learned not to engage with you, but I could not watch you play the "poor lil victim" card without some comment. You do realize your posts are almost always negative under the auspices of "keepin it real." I did not see any personal attacks against you for the outrageously ridiculous opinion that declared if Wes doesn't make it Schalke, he will disappear.You offer your opinions as if they were settled facts when they frequently are the worst possible case scenario. This isn't a Mexico forum, this is a US forum and if you constantly denigrate our players, well folks aren't going to respond well. Weston is hard working player with decent technical skills and a motor that will not quit. He will have a job in a top four league for a very long time if he does not get derailed by injuries. His versatility and his motor will get him a job should he leave S04. It will be above MLS level if he wants. I do not think he will be like Geoff and only be able to play at a perennial relegation battler, even if he isn't on a team that is a contender for trophies. I doubt many think he he is the next Ngolo, but he might be our Jermaine Jr. 2.0 and that is a pretty high level for a CONUS born and raised Yank. It would help immensely if all your opinions were sometimes qualified with "you think" " you believe" " in your opinion" etceterea instead of coming at folks like we ought to be grateful you dropped in to slate our players and disillusion us of our notions of grandeur. That is sort of what being a FAN is, always hopeful and looking for the best in our players. If they suck, then they suck, but Weston is just a kid playing a vital role for a perennial top half of the table club in a big four league, don't act like he doesn't belong, when his current coach finds him almost undroppable.
I think we've gotten to the point in the US, even on a soccer message board, where a bit of argument and banter is now considered a "personal attack", while not understanding the definition of a "personal attack".
Are you actually watching the games? Grit didn't dribble through the Wolfsburg defense, lay off a nice pass to the wing, only to see Caligiuri get stuffed. Grit is not completing cross field passes. the kid is talented, technical and skillful. He consistently makes the right decisions with the ball. it's like some of u have predisposed package opinions that are not impacted by the games. His issue has been concentration, in that he makes 2 or 3 silly mistakes. He has cut that out of his game recently. Hopefully that continues.
That's not a good take. His decision making is not that good. He can dribble and he has some technical ability, that much is true. But to me his greatest attribute is chasing the play. Kid never gives up. We both like him for different reasons, I guess. You see in him a more technical player than I do, therefore think he can adapt to any system under a new coach. I still think his starting role is greatly dependent on Wagner staying. I don't think he's technical enough to keep as a starter on a Bundesliga team once such team's aspirations go beyond survival, in short. Doesn't take away that for me he's an auto-starter for the NT.
With Serdar and Mascarel out injured, this has been a great opportunity for Wes to put on his one-man show like he did in the 1-4 loss to Wolfsburg. Wes cut them up and disposed of them like old rags. Now would be a great time for Wes to move to EPL to a team which needs an old style player like Jermaine Jones to shake things up and get the fans roused up with some "filthy" play, as Stu Holden called it. Wasn't Klopf a big Wes fan?
Suyuntuy plays the odds (predicting failure) so he can say "I told you so." He's usually right because BS overhypes players. That said, I don't totally disagree with him that Wes may be more fight/ hustle than technical (I'm cautiously optimistic on him at the moment). But he usually frames things in a way to create controversy in the forum, clarifying his posts after everyone jumps on his initial, controversial post.
I try to not respond to him very often, but playing the victim card was OTT. Yeah I get that wes has some weaknesses in his game, but he reminds a lot of Jermaine. People used to slag him all the time too, but I think he was extremely valuable to any team even he was on even if he sometimes went lacking in skill and discipline. With Wes I think a coach reaches the point that he is too good to not have in the plan somewhere. His energy, hustle, and sense of urgency are all contagious. Outside the top ten teams in the world Wes can probably keep a roster spot and a spot in the regular rotation.
At the risk of being too much of a fan boy, it's also annoying to read criticisms of his play that posit statements such as: "were he to find a manager who refuses to play him, he'd be easily forgotten." "When quality is lacking, all that is left is "grit" and he got plenty." "I still think his starting role is greatly dependent on Wagner staying." "I don't think he's technical enough to keep as a starter on a Bundesliga team once such team's aspirations go beyond survival, in short." Quite frankly these are lazy statements that are devoid of both analysis and context. At least backup your opinions with some sort of example or match timestamps. Because your: "Arguments based on actual observation of reality." Ain't really holding up water with what the majority of folks are seeing. I don't see folks attacking one another for their opinions, but instead for the lack of insight behind them. That's sorta to be expected, in this part of the BSphere, but the ignore feature is also clutch and I think I'll just put that to work moving forward too. If you're looking for an example of actually defending your words, look to what @freisland posted earlier: No one's saying you have to be thorough like this either, but jeez. If folks watch as much footie as they claim, it shouldn't be too hard to provide a bit more detail.
I am Wes fan, and I think he can reach top half club in EPL or BL or Italy or wherever. His skills are apparent to me (technical and vision) and his energy is awesome. Stats back up the fact (to me it's a fact pass completion percentage, goals, tackles, duels won etc.) that he is a gifted player. With continued development he could be a very special player, even on a top contender team somewhere. That being said, as encouraging as the second half was against Wolfsburg, he also still shows these mental lapse. For example, on the third goal for Wolfsburg it was Wes' pass forward into traffic that was intercepted. Then, to make up for it, Wes was trying to win the ball back while tugging (gently) needlessly at the guy's shirt and got called for a yellow. Wolfsburg scored on the play from the free kick. Yes, his teammates defense was poor as well, but it was set in motion by Wes' questionable pass and stupid yellow. He's come a long way this season, and I think the mental lapses have not been as frequent these last weeks, so hopefully he'll grow out of it and get his concentration up. He is so much fun to watch and has really improved so much. He has become a key player for his team. Could a future coach bury him? Sure. And the sky could turn blood red tomorrow and we all turn into zombies. Not very likely, IMHO.
Watching Pulisic at Chelsea and reading someone defending Mount as an 8 with a high ceiling I thought about Weston playing that spot for them instead. He has just as much of an engine, is a better disruptor, doesn't have the killer outside shot, is a better combiner and a great header of the ball. I think he'd be an upgrade and that means there are probably other Premier league teams that could use him.
I mean no harm but you're coming off more self-important than usual today. A couple of mild jokes loosely calling that out do not constitute "personal" attacks." The above quote is just a little too rich.
I agree with Suyuntuy a lot but I also disagree with him on McKennie when he says Wes is an auto-starter for USMNT, e.g. This is not a USA forum so I will not take it further but I wonder if critics of Suyuntuy notice positive comments like that or just jump on anything critical. Why not ask him why he thinks Wes is an auto starter for USMNT? He must really rate him highly.
I saw that same post and thought the same thing. Mount as elite 8 and many saying McKennie has reached his ceiling. I just don't get it.
I'll admit I used to trigger on Suyuntuy's negative/realistic/objective whatever posts. But, I think we miss a lot on a forum when you can't hear how the guys saying it. It's been said here before but I believe it wholeheartedly: if we sitting around in a bar talking about this stuff there would be a lot less misunderstandings. So much is missed when you can't hear how someone speaks and can't see facial expressions. Not saying we'd all be best buds but you get the point. In general, people are more civil face to face.
I'll go off on a tangent and suggest that the average man is too influenced by media who fixate on taking the worst interpretation one can on a public figure's statements. In the billion$$$$ media business there's a reason for it - much too complicated to go into here. I just wish people would think about how they would progress more easily by taking what other people say in a positive construction and adding on to it rather than joining the "cancel culture".
Eventually he gets to his point, and it's often a reasonable point. I'm convinced he does it in a way to rile people up though.
This exact reason is actually why I kind of like online message boards. My tone in real life is very direct and strong. A lot of times I come across as extremely argumentative in tone. Here? I don't think I've ever engaged or been engaged in personal attacks. Just keep it to discussion only. I can definitely admit that to your overall argument I am more exception than rule. Personally I like hearing different opinions about players. I've learned more about soccer from hearing people with opposing viewpoints.