Apart from Pulisic and Reyna, we don't have that kind of player. Weah doesn't have the same toolkit, he is more of a power winger.
That Guendouzi guy remains me Hedjuk’s hair style and energy. Of course, he is 1000X more skillful, the French National Team skillful.
And, as with Hejduk, he has a very distinct personality. It's just that, unlike "Hey Dude", Guendouzi's personality is, shall we say, not 100% compatible with building a functioning team.
His 13th, actually. No, really. This season he's had 8 league appearances and 2 EL games for Marseille, and he had 2 CL cups of coffee and 1 Copa del Rey cameo for Barcelona last season. The Barcelona matches don't really count, but if even you don't realize that he's got significantly more PT, maybe it's a sign that KDLF's breakthrough is something people have become accustomed to. Edit: Which is a good thing IMO.
He looks very dangerous at times. Yesterday he still sometimes seemed positionally uncertain off the ball. But the way he puts defenders on their heels is very Pulisic-esque. He deserves to be a regular in-camp winger for the USMNT along with CP, Weah, and Aaronson. He deserves the number of looks that two certain lesser players have gotten.
True, but people need to remember he's only 20 and in his de facto first pro season. Positional uncertainty is to be expected in a speedy dribbler like that and doubly so in a team that takes the kind of risks that Jorge Sampaoli's teams tend to. He'll get better I'm sure.
Well, yes ... but he's also picked up a second, and potentially at least a third, dribbling move, unlike the wonderful Frankie.
this an internal debate I have. My thinking is: if you’re 20ish and you aren’t a good ball striker, then you won’t ever be one. So guys like Konrad and Pulisic won’t ever become a reyna or Busio type. I don’t think that’s something that can be developed once your that age. a guy like Caden Clark, who has drastically fell off in form, is someone who strikes the ball as good as anyone in the pool at age 18. Just an interesting soccer development area I’ve thought about.
I believe you are 'partially' correct, and yes it is a good debate topic. I think with lots of training a player can be serviceable still (with either foot). Maybe not bomb from 30-35 but do ok/well from top of box, to a few yards further out. I saw McBride improve a lot later in his career. I believe Dempsey did as well. It takes a lot and lot of work but yes- a player can raise their shot 1-2 levels. But it is unlikely you can turn Konrad into those Polish or Russian guys who could absolutely bomb the ball from 30-35 yards in the 70s (and way before the funny swerving Adidas? ball was introduced in the 2006 World Cup). When I was still 19 an old NASL (later MISL) pro named Derek Smethhurst, from South Africa, tried to teach me his shot. He had an absolute cannon and was known for his hard shot. He tried to teach me to extreme lean away from the ball (vs. knee over ball to keep it down). Leaning heavy to the side (not backwards, or slightly over ball) and required learning to totally rebalance myself. The idea (I guess) was that the leg would be totally straight upon impact and not bent at knee (to any degree)- generating more torc. You had to lean away from the ball (on the side) to generate the straight leg effect) When I could pull it off, I did generate more power- and you could still keep the ball low (worm burner as we used to say), just barely above the ground. Its been so long since I played, maybe coaches coach this now- dunno. But in my college career and international soccer touring time, I had inconsistent technique and occasionally could nail one from 25 yards but sometime not. But I did improve. So, from my own experience as well- I think technique can be improved.
Good post. I kind of equate to baseball pitchers. If you aren’t throwing 94+ by 22 you probably will need to craft your off speed pitches, control, etc. I don’t think it’s necessarily all technique with good ball strikers, it’s more of just body control and Innate ability to produce force.
Yes, the baseball pitcher analogy is a good one. I will point out that OCCASIONALLY (not frequently, but it does happen) that a 23-24 and even 25 year old pitcher can discover a 'faster fastball' and this is usually through some mechanical change that must be practiced over and over. KC Royals have helped a couple mid-20s guys discover another gear through technical changes Same thing as shooting a soccer ball. But yes, your point is valid and this is not easy to accomplish. I'd be happy if Konrad could learn to shoot well from edge of box, because he doesn't seem to have any problem advancing the ball to that point against anyone
His shooting was his ace-in-in-the-hole. He is like an Alex Mendez, always on frame. Those types of players are 1-trick ponies. I still think and hope Clark can continue to develop his game a be a complete player. At leat physically, he is better than Mendez. Clock is ticking.
I have that same memory of McBride in later years--he became dangerous beyond the McHead reputation, hitting balls cleanly and accurately with those things he jumped with.
Admittedly I thought he would be ok after his surgery. But it hasn’t happened. But Caden strikes a ball really well. His off foot goal vs Toronto is something not a lot of guys can do. He’s been bad recently. But he’s an excellent ball striker.
Watching the pregame chat. They mentioned that DLF wasn't called by GB in this last window. One commentator said he should have, the other said, GB wants his forwards to be more vertical. I don't get it, GB instructs DLF to pinch in, yet his excuse for not selecting him is because he is not vertical enough?
We already have CP...oh, he was hurt. We always got Reyna...oh, he was hurt. Well there's always Weah...for that one game anyway. And we had enough wingers with Arriola! Ok, I'm being facetious. I think he is good enough to not be denied a call up for very much longer. It's amazing to me that we have so much talent that we are still assimilating into the team. My only thought is that the coach may be slightly overwhelmed. by it all. I wonder what he is doing today.