Haji's effort was subpar tonight. It wasn't hard to see. It's extremely disappointing, because with only thirty minutes, you'd think he's be looking to make an impact. But he simply didn't make the runs, didn't hustle on D, didn't move very much at all. You can blame all sorts of things but he spent the game jogging. As a sub. That's on him.
You must have looked away when Wright managed to escape both center backs on a corner, only to watch the cross get fluffed. Should have been a goal. Most of the rest of the time he spent watching Arriola run around aimlessly and lose the ball in the end.
LOL. I definitely watched as he barely made any runs, and failed to basically chase anything. You've long established yourself as a lover of everything Europe, I get it. I haven't given up on Haji. But I think it is hilarious to watch that performance and blame others for the fact that he looked fundamentally disinterested out there, slowly jogging around everywhere. But you are eminently predictable, if nothing else.
It seems we are destined to see these performances through prisms that aren't unbiased. The sharply contrasting evaluations of the 9s, CBs, and FBs seem only to be explainable that way. It will be interesting to learn what Gregg saw.
Copying my post from the post game thread as it fits here: This will be my last comment on Wright's performance yesterday. What would I do when I get subbed in but some key guys that could support me are subbed out? I would BUST MY ASS to do anything I could to show I have something to offer this team.
You infer a level of effort from Wright (which you see as the only possible inference) that isn't what I inferred from his performance. I suspect I am not alone.
You are not alone. And gogorath in particular seems to be on quite the crusade against Haji, and anyone who does not criticize him for everything, for whatever reason.
WTF is this post supposed to even mean? "A long established lover of everything Europe?" Man, I think you might need to take a break from posting here for a while. Or maybe move over to Twitter and flame away.
Hey, gogorath, just because people disagree with you, it doesn't mean they are Europe lovers, or whatever silly name you want to call somebody. Everything is not a Europe MLS debate. You may be able to drown out other people's posts by posting 100 times a day, but you still need to accept that others have opinions different than yours.
From what I saw in the 2 games, Haji Wright is not the answer, but he might be worth taking to Qatar as a substitute. A striker should have a personality that says, "I'm gonna score no matter what gets in my way." Clint Dempsey had that. Eric Wynalda had that. HW doesn't have it. Still, he's strong and has decent skills.
I have a hard time judging him or anyone on that second half. We ddin't quite show up, as a team. That said, he has to prove it. And he didn't take the opportunity.
Looking beyond Grenada... What happens if Haji Wright gets the start @ El Salvador and has a goal or two? Similarly what happens if say Joe Scally starts that game and looks pretty good? Not saying either will happen, but they could. What do we take away from it if they do? Reminder that the US looked pretty damn unimpressive in their 0-0 draw @ El Salvador in World Cup qualifying...
The only person in our striker pool who has that has never gotten a look at striker for the US team, and is riding the bench with his club.
The Hoppe legend is ridiculous. This dude did not play this season he's way on the outside looking in. And I rate him.
I thought he was talking about Morris before the part about "riding the bench with his club." Hoppe's got flair. Not sure about bullheaded persistence that the original post implied.
My question is (and this is before the next two games) how do the other bigger forwards compare to Wright now that we've gotten a peak at him. Pefok runs the least of any, Pepi runs more but is in a recent slump, Dike seems like he can do everything Haji can but hasn't been able to stay uninjured and not sure if Sargent qualifies as a big forward but seems similar to Pepi for being in a slump. Honestly I can't get up or down on any as they all are too close to call. If none break out I choose the ones that press the most. Not the most important thing for a forward but better than nothing.
Haji will get close to another 90 minutes, which will be good. I think Wright has a better build-up game than Dike or Pefok, but I haven't seen any hold up. He's a better passer than both, I think. I don't think he's much of a dribbler, but I haven't seen him really get caught up looking to shoot like Dike sometimes does -- Dike really needs to line himself up at times. Then again, we've seen ... one shot. Dike and Pefok seem to be better in the air. Perhaps we'll see more in the next game, but I don't see the sort of aerial hunter-killer that Dike and Pefok can bring. They like to bang. Not sure Wright does or has the bulk -- certainly has the height. All three have issues with either work rate or conditioning -- I think Dike just can't keep up the effort all game but will do it; Wright and Pefok don't seem wired that way, but then again, we've seen so little of Wright so far. I do like he clearly tried to take pressing angles in game -- clearly trying to improve. I like Dike's explosiveness, but that's personal preference. Not sure that'd be the right choice.
I think both players should continue to be in the picture either way, but that just makes the case for both to be in September camp.
Obviously its a moot point if he doesn't get on the field for whichever club he is playing at this fall. But he has scored as a pro in a variety of different ways, (nice chip, contested header) and has showed some flair and hit some really impressive balls in the Gold Cup. Always works hard defensively, but I really think his best attribute is his intelligent movement off the ball, always asking questions of the defense. I don't really notice as much that with the other 9s. Think that he would free up space for CP, GR, BA and TW. Needs to play/produce, obviously an uphill climb to get to Qatar, but not out of the question.
Hoppe’s situation is basically on the feilhaber Derby trajectory and I’ll stand on the top of that mountain. It’s a guy whose club situation is diabolical for similar reasons but can legitimately help us now. He is this cycles feilhaber. He would provide us with something different and valuable like feilhaber would have. Poor Benny was the initial case study. Hoppe is now the follow up. Very often…… very often…. And almost always id agree that club form is the precursor to being brought up for national team, but there will always be exceptions. There has always been exceptions, especially in developing powers. Hoppe is one I feel should be an exception..
I have always been on the Hoppe train because of what he showed when he was with the national team. But others (including, I suspect, Gregg) don't value those qualities within Gregg's system. And it is of course his choice to make. To me he looks like the sort of assassin we need, but who knows how sharp he is having played so little.
I agree with pretty much everything you say. I love the kids ability to find space between the center backs. Even though he's not really a burner, he has the skillset to stretch the defense vertically a bit. A major problem with all this though is that Gregg sees Hoppe as one of his misfit wingers and not as a 9, or at least he didn't when he was actually calling him in. So that would have to change even if he was playing well for club. In any event, it's beyond unlikely that GGG would ever call him in this cycle. Dude would have to absolutely go nuclear first couple of months of the season to get the call. I'm not sure what to make of Hoppe's career at this point. Part of me is worried that his confidence is gone and never to return. Hope he lands in a good spot this summer because another year like last would be devastating. Kinda rooting for him to end up on a team in MLS that is willing to play him at the 9, and he starts banging in goals there. That might eventually get him another shot with the Nats.
Hoppe had a 3 game stretch at Schalke in which he scored 5 goals. And thus the legend was born. Other than that he hasn't done a hell of a lot in his career. Even for Schalke II. [3 of those 5 goals were a hat-trick against a woeful Hoffenheim defense. They almost immediately completed the initial loan deal for Richards after that, and got back on track.] I'm not anti-Hoppe. It's just that I think legend has gone out of control. I mean, seriously..................don't tell me you want to select a player over other options because of "attitude." Clint Dempsey had attitude, but he had frickin performance level to go with it. He didn't get into the national team because of attitude. For his entire damn career in first team soccer Hoppe has 6 goals and 2 assists. He's not a 16 year old prospect. He's 21. You're not getting into the national team with that. Yes, and that's just like how Haji Wright couldn't get into the national team while he wasn't performing in Germany and Holland. He took a step down, and excelled in Denmark. Even that wasn't enough. He needed a second good season in Turkey. So let's hope Hoppe can find his level like Wright has. HOpefully he'll be loaned out this upcoming season.
He also was a bright spot in the attack during the GC and that got people excited. In any event, I don't see many people calling for his inclusion at this point. Let's hope he finds his form again.