Sources confirm Tom's reporting, not that it needs it. Aaronson might soon be joined in Germany by another US U-20 international. Source says Borussia Monchengladbach is interested in San Jose winger Cade Cowell. No bid yet. Quakes want big money, which could make a deal tough. https://t.co/2GB2QcpsuK— Sam Stejskal (@samstejskal) November 4, 2022
I hope this happens. Get as much money for him as you can as I don't see him reaching his potential any time soon. He is way too limited technically and needs to go to Europe and a team that will have a clear developmental path for him as I don't see him ever achieving that here.
^ Agreed!! And then spend 1/2 the money on a Espinoza type for the left side (which allows Benji to partner w Jebo up top) and the other 1/2 on building fields at the fairgrounds None of it goes into Fish’s pocket!
My guess is that we're going to continue to play some kind of 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 so I don't expect a 2-forward system. So Espinoza on one side and Benji on the other but we need multiple good players at each position. So acquiring another good wide attacking player makes sense regardless. And I think Benji works better as a wide attacking player. But we need another 9 to spell / compete with Jebo, because, again, we need multiple good players at each position for depth and competition.
My latest issue of Content magazine arrived today. Mostly puff pieces on local artists but occasionally an article on local pols or athletes. Editor is Quakes fan. I realized I hadn’t looked at the prior issue, still sitting in paper bag it came in on my coffee table. So I paged through it . . . Will donate to the museum.
Wait, an actual print magazine!!? How quaint, and kind of cool! I think the daughter of a neighbor of mine used to work for them as a writer / editor. Either that one or a similar one (if there is a similar one). I may get a subscription.
I don't know, those quotes in the article sound pretty honest . "I was born with speed and athleticism but I need to work on my technical stuff"
Haha, is that in reference to the Pinocchio movie coming out on netflix? Altho, I was thinking of a WC Fields nose, not a Pinocchio nose.
I’ve never understood this thing where if you’re fast you have to play outside. I think he would really benefit if he were freed from from his defensive responsibilities. I’d love to see it.
I dunno, I’m not convinced Cade can be a target forward. Haven’t they played Jebo and Cade together up top? And I can’t remember anything coming of it, since Cade can’t head the ball. Can Cade jump, or are his big legs only good for running forward, not for verticality?
No header game, generally poor touch not conducive to back to the goal target play, etc. I'd say as a 9, no. As a 2nd forward playing off of a target, sure, but we haven't played a 2-forward system in quite a while, and I don't think Luchi will go to that either, but we'll see...
Alan Gordon was trash when he first came into thr league in 2005. Didn't get good until later in his career and found his way into the Nats. Cowell is still growing he will lose some speed as he gets bigger. He will end up one of the new hybrid target men eventually. That's how I would build him.
I remember when David Beckham joined the Galaxy, and he would put these beautiful crosses to the top 90 or thereabouts, and Alan Gordon would miss the shot over and over. The multi-million-dollar-man crossing to the $40k-man or whatever they were paying Gordo at the time. It was pretty funny. I always wondered how Gordo finally figured out how to put the ball away.
He got traded and figured out how to play or have no job lmao. By all accounts Gordon should have bagged 25 goals from those Beckham crosses.
Would love to see it if he could improve his finishing and heading. It seems like he is slowly improving his decision making as well so maybe in the future?
The decision making stuff is the most important. A lot gets made about his technical abilities, but I'm not all that worried about that. You can learn technical skills at essentially any stage of your career because you can practice them nearly endlessly. What you don't have the opportunity to practice as much is making decisions. Cowell's decision making let him and the team down numerous times in 2022. It's forgivable as he was just one player on a team of underperformers, but he's getting up to the age where his potential becomes unrealized ability.
I wonder how much can really be learned though and how much is innate ability. Even with technical skills seems to me it’s not just about having them but also knowing what to use when, the creativity. I think that’s where the “art” comes in over the science of learning the skills. As for decision making, right, how do you practice that by yourself? Need to get better at it while training with your team or in games. But again how much can be learned by trial and error and how much is innate - getting back to the “art” of it. I also think really poor decision making is often the result of pressing. If you are thinking about trying to make the right decision you will probably make a forced / awkward one. If you just “feel it” you are more likely to have better results. I think a lot of the bad stuff from Cade last year was just the result of pressing. If he can have a little success early next year and relax a bit he will start to play more instinctively and stop pressing so much and things can snowball on a positive direction. But another rough start and it could be more of the same.