I was trying to figure out what Betis player has the name Toni then I remembered that it was Kroos' last La Liga game.
I'd be happy for him to get regular minutes as an established starter at Betis for the entirety of the upcoming season.
I didn't follow closely, but... I think Guido Rodriguez got injured, giving Johnny chances to get on the field. He excelled, but when Guido recovered, Johnny went to the bench. I also believe that Rodriguez is trying to get out of Betis to find a team that will pay him more. (He had some sort of deal with Barcelona that has expired, but I think he and his agent are still looking, perhaps at Germany?) If that happens, Johnny should have a good chance to be the starter at Betis (unless Betis get a lot of cash for Rodriquez and buy someone pricey...). If I searched, I might be able to link to some of that, but for now, it is just my foggy memory from a handful of articles I read in the past few weeks/days.
Johnny ended the season as a starter. He scored against Real Madrid in the final game of the season but there was a player offside on the play. Guido is not going to play anymore for Betis. He wants to get paid more and he already has offers. https://www.barcablaugranes.com/202...on-guido-rodriguez-future-amid-barcelona-talk
I think Johnny even ended up starting with Guido a bit at the end of the season. Either way, a full season as a starter will be good.
🟢 Dos equipos de Champions League, uno de la Ligue 1 y otro de la Serie A, han iniciado contactos por Johnny Cardoso. Sólo mostrando interés, sin propuesta. ✍🏻 Su cláusula es de 80M€, pero no saldrá por menos de 25M€.Verano muy largo.@4231_FC_ #RealBetis pic.twitter.com/EyfwqfphU5— Manu Colchón (@manu_colchon) June 20, 2024
Agreed. Although this is one of the few YA instances where I feel it makes more sense to stay put. Cardoso was the preferred option at Betis alongside Rodriguez. Now that Rodriguez has been sold, Johnny is even more of an obvious starter. Rodriguez leaving actually gives Cardoso more growth opportunity because he’ll see more of the ball. If Cardoso stays at Betis and ups his game a little for a full season, then it makes sense for him to leave for a CL side, preferably in Spain or Italy because he’ll have proven his great performance for half a season at Betis wasn’t some kind of fluke.
I evaluate the options on their merit. I would be more skeptical of ligue 1 than serie A. But typically feel like striking while iron is hot has merit.
❗️PSG, Juventus, and AS Roma have contacted Johnny Cardoso’s entourage to convey interest and know the conditions. Galatasaray has already offered €18M but Real Betis is asking for around €25-30M.[@PGonzalezMedina] pic.twitter.com/9uVKgwnGZ5— USMNT Otaku 🇺🇸 (@USMNTOtaku) June 24, 2024
I feel like I'm still missing something with Cardoso. I haven't watched him much at the club level, but I feel like with the USMNT, he's improved from quite bad to fine, but nothing special. Certainly not at the level where clubs like PSG and Juventus would be interested.
You should watch him professionally. I'd take him over Adams right now no problem. Cardoso is still getting acclimated to the team, doesn't speak very good english. While Adams is Berhalters guy, knows exactly what he expects and is a great leader. I'd say Adams is slightly better defensively, whilst Cardoso is far better with the ball and his vision as a 6 is unparalleled in our pool. And Cardoso consistently led his team in defensive recoveries so he isn't too far behind in that department either. Cardoso is also exclusively a 6, so he's not going to get minutes like Musah does at multiple positions.
I feel like it’s humbling to watch this player that is clearly valued across Europe and really struggle to understand why he’s so good. He’s been a tough watch for me. It’s hard to catch the subtlety in what he does but man he grows on you after a while. He’s so different than any other player we have.
Gio is the guy in our pool that is most similar IMO. Both are press resistant and really good at using their bodies to shield the ball and set themselves up. Both have very good positional awareness both offensively and defensively. Both are technical. Both have an elegant economy of motion about them that is not typical of American soccer players in general. Personally I think Gio is the more gifted of the two from an attack perspective and Johnny is the better defender but that may just be my bias showing through. Johnny appears like he might be on the better career trajectory ATM. Jessie Marsch had an analysis/rant about Johnny when he was still a talking head and before he was the Canada coach. Talked about how much better and more dynamic Tyler Adams is relative to Johnny. He was pretty brutal. He has, been critical of both Johnny and Gio. Frankly, I’m very pleased that he did not get the US job based on some of the player analysis I have seen from him.
Adams motor and ability to cover ground is unmatched. Johnny just uses his positional IQ extremely well. That's why Johnny is in La Liga and Adams in the EPL. Its also why to the casual observer Adams stands out and Johnny doesnt.
Yeah, agree with all the above. If he were more athletic he'd be on a top, top team. He can still grow into his style though and reach the highest levels IMO. For every Kante there's a Busquets. What I particularly love about his game is that you can tell he knows what he's gonna do with the ball before he gets it. He also has a few ideas in mind in case option 1 is closed down. Adams has improved in this regard a lot, but I think the multi-options piece is still missing for him.
Yeah I do think Cardoso is better, but I also think a lot depends on what a coach might be looking for with his system. Johnny is extremely comfortable on the ball in tight spaces, and a very good passer, and he picks his spots going forward well. And although he reads the game well defensively, he doesn’t have the physicality and athleticism that Adams does. I’d go so far as to say that if he had Adams’ physical tools, he’d be a locked in starter for a top 10 club. I hope that Berhalter gives him a real chance to supplant Adams moving forward. For me, Cardoso makes more sense against opponents that are going to bunker, or ones where we want to win the possession battle. Against teams where we plan to dig in defensively, Adams might make more sense.
Against teams like Uruguay,Argentina, Brazil, I wouldn't mind seeing a double pivot with Adams and Cardoso side by side with Gio ahead of them. Problem is they've never played together, so this Copa America probably isn't the time to try it. But allowing Adams to go head hunting further up field with Cardoso sitting deep and distributing would be interesting against really dangerous teams.
Yeah I said the same thing a week or so ago, probably in another thread. The main point is that we have options that berhalter needs to lose. If he keeps starting Mckennie, Reyna, and Adams every game in this tournament we won’t accomplish what we want to.