Pretty damning indictment of the Gold Cup that after watching it for the past few weeks this B2 game looked like a Champions League final in quality.
If they keep leaking goals like a sieve they'll have to press to score which should help Josh. Still want him to leave, as I don't think Bremen is doing him any favors but at least he's a nailed on starter for them.
I know recently the it thing to do is bash, write off, or throw shade at Sargent - myself included - but it appears he’s just put his head down this preseason, worked hard, and it’s paying off. Good to see him score a brace today. I think we should all applaud him. Let’s hope this form continues.
The US fan obsession with the striker flavor of the month is the best part of this site. Sargent for a bit, then he stinks. Dike is going to dominate the EPL. Nope he stinks. Bring Zardes back cuz he scored a goal against Qatar. If altidore gets hot for Toronto he's an option for qualifying. I've said it countless times but everyone needs to chill with Sargent. He's 21 and like 5 guys younger than him did better in the Bundesliga. RELAX!
I will say that for this game in particular, Josh often occupied space more like a RM in a flat 4, even cutting inside to overlap outside the 18. He was in no way, shape or form a "striker" in this game. At most he was a RW in a morphing 4-5-1/4-3-3. And, to my eye, based on a massive data base of 1 game (and my general impression of his play) it's a good look for him - at least at this level. I 1/2 joked earlier that he should reinvent himself as the Murican Mount, but I have a feeling (his feynei goal notwithstanding) he is going to find more success in general - and perhaps even in scoring goals - if he's encourage to cover more ground in the midfield and keep making those late runs.
Agreed. Here, less than other places, tends to take a more level headed approach with the flavor of the month. However, we still fall victim to it, myself included. I do have to tell myself repeated he’s 21 and Bremen have been crap since his arrival.
Doesn't seem like many have completely written Sargent off to me. One thing to keep in mind though is that flavor of the month at that 9 spot might be relevant at this point considering WCQ starts in around a month. In any event, Josh will be at qualifying and he looked great today, I don't care if it was B2, he showed quality.
I didn't say anyone wrote him off. I said everyone loves the shiny new thing, until they don't. Zardes (who I actually like) isn't even talked about, then scores a goal against Qatar and is now a possible starter. And if you go back over the threads, the Sargent consternation is pretty entertaining. Unless you're Haaland, you're not a star at 21. No, Sargent doesn't need to turn into a right wing, or a right mid, or a DM, or a left back. He'll be a striker, he'll be a good striker, and he'll likely be the best striker we've ever had. Just gotta wait for more than a year.
This will be interesting to watch but he has played relatively little as striker recently. Time will tell but my prediction is his future lies a bit further from goal, for the most part. He’s not going the Chris Albright route, but I bet he ends up not playing CF much if he stays at a higher level.
Double-edged sword. He may be more effective further away from goal, but end up having a lower professional ceiling. Anyone know if he's currently playing the wing because they have better options at striker, no better options at winger, or both?
Fullkrug is a seasoned pro, fwiw. He seemed to be the lone/central striker today as well as last week. The site I just looked at called it a 4-1-4-1 with Josh as the RM, which looked pretty accurate to my eye. Both games this season have lined up fairly similarly. I think Josh played striker in the Feyenie friendly 2nd leg but Fullkrug was not in the side and Josh wasn't in the team for the 1st game.
I concur. Even if he only ever scores 5 goals in the Bundesliga every season (provided he gets promoted and stays up) he could easily do that for the next decade and still be the top American goalscorer in a top 5 league.
Kid puts in a shift and he's still in my Starting XI. What he's proving at this point is that he can score on second division teams. Which is good enough to be top choice, together with all he has shown when playing with the NT. Hoppe showed well on the wing/wide forward role, not as a striker. He's sort of taken the Jordan Morris role.