Haji is too indecisive in big games. He is smart, and capable. Surely calculate lots of potential attacking movements. But in the end, his indecisiveness make him do funny, head scratching things. Remember his chance versus England (or Wales?), where he got relatively open chance to do a power shot but doing it so weak that it looks more like a pass to goal keeper? I bet he is thinking about the option to shoot or pass (I believe someone -not remember who and too lazy to open replay- is running into open space in front of opponent's goal), and it ended as an ugly hybrid between the two. I just cant fathom that he did in again in Netherlands match. Decisive Haji would just swagger and put the ball between Noppert legs or some sort. Haji needs 2 crucial factor that he has to incorporate to be able to serve as a go to striker 1st - Sharper and quicker decision. He has to hardwired that scoring instinct to his reflex. Otherwise, he will be very inconsistent. Sometime's very good, but sometimes do an impression that makes Zardes proud. 2nd - Once he is sharper, he needs to be meaner. He's big and fast. With physical factor and VAR in WC, I think odds are in the favor of striker than defender. Just push forward and who knows opposing defender will do a Zimmerman. About the wonder goal. I think it's not purely luck. He did score using heel flick in club level, so I am sure that was his intent. Nonetheless, ball contact and trajectory might not want he exactly intended. Hey, a goal is a goal. Now the ultimate question is, could he master those two before next WC.
Most of his touches during his hold up play were clean. Dude has had 5 caps with the USMNT, you guys act like he's been playing with the USMNT for years.
2/3 of those caps were among the most consequential of the last 8 years, so it's inevitable he'll be judged more strictly
What do you guys think, does he have a fair shot with the NT going forward or is that role mostly going to Sargent and Pepi?
You can't say. I am critical of him now but I'll love him like a doll when he sets the world on fire with his club.
I got no idea, but Wright still seems "not quite" to my eye. Weah, for instance, didn't have a super-breakout WC, but looks more confident and comfortable on the field. I think Pepi is feeling his oats in N'lands and it will be interesting to see if that translates. I also think Jordan has to be in the convo, and Dike has the chance to add his name too. We have a half-dozen "ok" lower-top-level strikers when we need 2 or 3 "excellent" top level strikers. I'd love to be Wrong about Wright (see what I did there) but my guess is he's as likely to have Green's career as anyone.
I was the one who thought he deserved the call up but I agree that he didn't have great wc compare to others. Probably one of the worst one behind Shaq Moore & Ferreira and Robinson. However I also blame Greg not calling him up early to get use to the speed of game. I mean some of these things you guys talk about might be avoidable. Anyway he is still developing to be honest. Hopefully he's late bloomer like Mcbride . We need more depth in this position.
Hoping that goal boosts him once he returns to Turkey. I wanna sew him finish the season with 20 league goals.
I've slowed the video down to 25% and still cant understand what had happened between Wright's heel and the ball on that goal. Almost like a soccer game glitch that happens in real world scenario. A miracle goal if you will. Miracle always inspire. Let's just hope that one miracle goal inspire Wright to work and train harder, and create reproducible "miracle goals". One can only hope (pls dont burst my bubble lol)
A game being more consequential doesn't automatically make it a better indicator of of a player's abilities. Julian Green's World Cup goal came at a very consequential moment; its long term significance was nil. Wright played 135 minutes at the World Cup. 106 of those minutes came against England and the Netherlands, national teams with very strong defenses. That's not enough time to make judgments about his level of play and potential - not even close.
I wasn't making judgements about him based off of those games. I'm with you that so many people are knee jerk reactionary and a player will be all-star/sux depending on the day. But like Wright, Julian Green and his career were put under a microscope by fans in the lead up to and after his world cup debut. Those minutes mean that much more, and because of that they're weighted a lot more in the minds and hearts of most fans. Wright was very, very lucky to make it to the world cup and he'll have to be very, very careful not to (or try not to at least) parlay that into a move that's above his abilities.
That is the thing even before the goal he had decent tape from the WC. And his goal scoring record over the last 2/1/2 seasons will be the main metric that gets him a move to a mid table Budnesliga/Ligue 1 level club.
For those who remember what was it exactly that had him doing poorly at Schalke and in the Dutch league? Was it just too much competition or bad performances or injuries?
His Ered season was no super terrible. He got a decent number of minutes, got a goal and an assist on a terrible side. It's kind of a write-off season, really. I think the Wright/Green comp may prove to be pretty accurate. He's likely good enough enough to hang at the lower ends of the Bund or EPL (if he gets lucky) but he's going to have to keep upping his goal-nose and ability to battle if he wants to land at a higher level with regularity.
Back in October, I noticed that "Darwin" was suddenly trending on Twitter. The reason was that he had just missed an open goal from five yards out against Ajax in the CL - thousands of people were gleefully ridiculing him online, and ridiculing Liverpool for signing him. Anyway, he then scored a little later in the game, and has five league goals in 600 minutes this season. Seems like the dozens of goals at Benfica may have been a better indication of his ability than the single misplay that received broader attention than any of those goals. Obviously, I'm not saying that Wright has anywhere near the ability or potential of Darwin Nuñez. But the fact that he's had a good scoring record for two years in a solid European league (and in the best Scandinavian league the year before that) counts for something. It counts for a lot more than the last play you happened to watch.
In Holland, he was playing for a very poor relegation-bait side that spent the bulk of the season in/just above the relegation places, which is no great surprise: they scored the fewest goals in the Eredivisie that season and had the joint-4th leakiest defence. It will not surprise anyone to learn that they went down the following season, capping a miserable season that included setting the unwanted record of the Eredeivisie's worst-ever defeat in a 13-0 thrashing at Ajax. As for Schalke, they put the "dys" (or should that be "the dis") into a dysfunctionality that's all their own, of the kind that makes Hamburg look like Villareal. No doubt he made several mistakes of his own, but it is is genuinely hard to soar with the eagles when you work with turkeys.
Who is his comp? Dike: C'ship Sargent: C'ship Pepi: Eredivisie Vazquez: MLS Hoppe: C'ship Wright has a World Cup goal and is playing at a level that compares to the others'.
He's also scoring at that level - 9 goals and 1 assist in 12 league games. People can argue about the quality of the Turkish League and that's legitimate, but he does seem to have acquired a nose for goal in Denmark - 13 goals and 2 assists in 37 games - and even more so in Turkey - 24 goals ad 3 assists in 47 games. And the Turkish League is higher-ranked. He won't be lacking for suitors, most likely the bottom end of Ligue 1 or the BL or better teams in Tier 2 leagues. Whether they're good ones for him is another matter.
It would be very surprising if he doesn't have the option of a move to a "better" league. Ligue 1 would probably suit his game best, if he can get on a fairly free-wheeling side, although moderate success in the B1 would be most telling.
Very true. Then again, it was only 3 years ago that he was being written off completely. In that particular context/perspective, if this is his ceiling he has recovered pretty well - it's not as if being a starter for Antalya is much less than being a starter for Wigan or Arminia Bielefled is it? That's just the football. If I'm on $1 million a year at Antalya (which he may be), I'm telling my agent "clubs in the Algarve, the east coast of Spain or the South of France only. Anyone else, it's for $3 million only"