OK, so why does it seem like you have a tendency to drink the DCU kool-ade in every possible situation? Can't you merely state your opinion without making wild boasts, such as "Eskandarian is our best pure finisher?" Making ridiculous statements such as the above makes you look like a member of an @ss-licking society rather than a well-thought fan. I mean, Twellman's numbers in '02 make "Esky's" in '04 look pedestrian by comparison. One can be both a fan of a club/player and also well-thought.
no need to ring appooOnU's neck cause he didnt pick your mls flavor of the month foward appooOnU, nice thread...good posts. i agree with alot of what you originally posted, good toughts. im hopin for a good run of play through the next round of qualifying, with another few players comin in to solidify spots for the nats into WC play in 06. now is an exciting time, i cant wait. oh and i think we will tie mexico in mexico this round. were playin so well i dont think they can beat us, even away from home. forza inter
So, Eskandarian and his 13 career MLS goals aren't "the flavor of the month?" Personally, I wouldn't mind having Eskandarian get a look with the national team, even if he is the flavor of the month. I just don't understand why others mentally masturbate over a guy with his meagre credentials. On this we agree...
I've always like Buddle and thought he would be a load up front for the nats...but the fact is he hasn't stayed healthy enough to get a call-up....Eski has. That reason more than any other is why Eski is a better bet for a breakout year. I don't think there's much doubt Buddle is more talented and has a higher ceiling but is he a better striker...to prove that he needs to stay healthy. Also for those of you bringing up Twellman's stats...remember Roy Lassiter scored a hell of a lot of goals once too and did very little for the Nats.
the only comparison that can be made between these two is that the play RM. Klein is bigger, strogner, and much more skilled. Ralston never looked exceptional for the USMNT, while during kleins 6 starts he looked very very good.
My breakout player is Ned Grabavoy. Although LA will of course go out and buy a Central American AM to play ahead of Grab.
No Capano. Become a good steady MLS player first. That is a little too much to buy at this point. Good solid contributors is what I expect. LD goes over, proves to be a solid citizen (all Euros expect a whining 16 year-old to return) and a very good player. This should have been in the 2004 year in review, not 2005 predictions, although I still feel McBride goes to Germany if we qualify. Stewart is done with the Nats. Always the 18th spot available for Cobi on Bruce's bench. From your fingers to God's Blackberry and back down to earth to the muscles in their bodies. Reyna 5 games, JOB 3 games. Lets first see how Arsenal goes this week and if SAF keeps his depth chart unchanged in the January transfer window. Carroll is one bad goal away from reopening this contest thanks to Lyon last week. Maybe Freddy or Szetela get a look at the Gold Cup, otherwise not a sniff next year for any. Too many meaningful games in 2005, not enough friendlies for looks. If we are just throwing out names for making the bench in a qualifier, I'll nominate Zach Thorton.
Too small, not quick enough to be on the Nats, but a good player, good pedigree, should contribute to the Gals.
What you don't get by looking at his "meagre credentials" is that he improved dramatically over the course of the season in his ballhandling, passing, field vision, and even shooting. He's going to have to improve still further to be considered for a meanginful MNT game, but he might. He might not. Either way, there's no need to crucify someone for thinking that he will improve more. It's a totally different situation from Convey because Convey if anything has regressed in the past year. You can compare it to Twellman's year in 2002, but that was 2002. Twellman hasn't improved since then. Maybe Esky won't improve either, but this was a prediction thread. I think the predictions about JOB and Reyna starting 3/4 of the hex matches and Donovan and Beasley becoming European league stars were more outlandish.
We'll win the Gold Cup. Eskandarian, Eddie Johnson, and Marshall will be the big stars for USA. However. Mexico's Luis Perez will be the best player of the tournament from his A-Mid spot. South Africa will not be as though as Brazils U-23 and the US will face Mexico in the final match.. btw Luis Perez has not been a standout player in the Mexican National team. Recently we have had Francisco Fonseca who just got called up and has been scoring goals. He is the type of striker we had been lacking. He can be Mexicos star in that Cup. I will also like to add Alberto Medina to that list, he is similiar to Jesus Arellano but better accuracy at goal. And finally the MFL's newest sensation Juan Pablo "loquito" Garcia he has a similiar playing style like D'Alessandro. This season he has been a key figure with Atlas who have a good chance of winning the league title..
but he's a young player isn't he? I've watched him a few times before and have been impressed with his skill level and touch. He was fun to watch
Are you talking about Perez or Loquito Garcia Perez was in the U-23 squad that handed the U.S U-23 their arse on a silver platter but in Athens he was pathetic.. That was supposed to be his break out tourney.. Alberto Medina who is younger missed out because of injury. He is seen as the MNT top youth prospect..
Somehow I feel the Mexican top youth prospects are not break out as good as US top youth prospects. I still remembered a kid named J. Rodriguaz something supposed to be future star of Mexican playmarker. I don't know where he hid nowdays. Beside Marquez and Torrodo, no much youth darlings really break out. But I do like Fanseca. He is 25 something? So there is no way the overhype can kill him at this age.
Our last top prospect Marquez is a starter in Barcelona Torrado had bad luck in Sevilla but he is now at Racing Santander and if he can finish the second half of La Liga with a good performance he can easily join a bigger club since he has offers.. Juan Pablo Rodriguez was part of Atlas golden generation which included Marquez, Osorno and Zepeda.. Only Marquez was able to shine.. You make it seem like the U.S has a batch of World Class prospects.. He is similiar to Luis Hernandez.. virtually unknown players that have a good season and then make it to the national team where they excell more than in their club..
Ya. Marquez is only standout. I remembered that Torrado was inquired by bunch of EPL clubs. In case of quality defenders, we don't have Marquez yet, but we do make up with numbers--Boca (Fulham), Cherundolo (Hanover), Onyewu (Standard), and bunch of young defenders in Man. U., Arsenal and Liverpool are on the horizon. The kid Spector may come at the Marquez class. Then Donovan (Leverkusen) and Beasley (PSV) are not doing too shubby either. I haven't see one Mexican youth prospect on Marquez level yet.
I think Landon and Beasley fall into this category. Landon won the golden boot and Beasley the silver spikes IIRC in the 1999 U-17 championship. Landon's played in the WYC, the Olympics, the World Cup, won two MLS titles and now is headed to Germany. Beasley is on PSV and kicking ass. Also, Spector's only 18, 19 and already he's on Man U. Add in the guys from the above post as well as some other MLSers (Chad Marshall, Freddy Adu, Danny Szetela) and we do have a pretty good load of prospects.
Looks like a good group of talented players.. let us see if they can dominate the concacaf region in the upcomming wcq... Indeed, he is the only player we have that you can say is World Class
Like i said above lets see if they can dominate the Concacaf WCQ.. Yes but they are still only prospects untill they are actual starters or make a diffrence in their squad.. I could also name Santiago Fernandez and Giovanny Dos Santos (Barcelona) but untill they prove themselve sin the first team they will remain prospects..
Grabavoy is actually fairly quick. He can't sustain the pace for very long, and he doesn't usually cover a lot of the field, but in short bursts he can catch you by suprise. He kept up with DMB over 40 yards or so in one of DMB's last games for the Fire. Personally I think he's as good as a midfield prospect as Convey. Grabavoy is extremely soccer smart and is one of the best passers in MLS. Hopefully he gets a chance to run the Galaxy, or is traded to the Fire.
His disappearance was a mystery to me. Sigi made a big deal about trading for Grabavoy and mentioned him as a player of the future and then when Sampson came in Grabavoy was never heard from again. He was supposed to be injured but then his name stopped appearing on the injury report but he never played. I can't remember the last game he played in or how many minutes he played under Sampson. I hope for his sake that he either plays or is traded to somebody who will use him like he should be used.
Actually, Sampson started Ned Grabavoy in his first two games, then he didn't even make the bench for the next few games. I don't know if he was injured or Sampson didn't like what he saw (he did sub Grabavoy off early in both starts).
Look, Apoo is a big boy; My pointing out that "Esky" hasn't done much of anything is hardly crucifying anyone. Apoo will survive, [I'm sure] to drink more DCU kool-ade, and I'm sure you'll drink it, too. "Esky" had a good year, and I merely hold out on anointing him the saviour of the national team. Be careful here, mouth-breathing members of the Convey @ss-licking Society will be all over you for this. [Important Disclosure: I am not Twellman's biggest fan, nor do I think he's the saviour for the national team] Perhaps Twellman hasn't improved; Here's where "Esky" and Twellman diverge: Twellman has a BODY OF WORK to show his qualities as a finisher. Want to throw out the 23 goals in 2002? OK, how about his 15 goals in 2003? He did have "only 9 goals" this season, but in my mind, his average of 15 goals/season looks a lot better than "Esky's" mammoth average of 7 goals/season. Twellman, while perhaps not the most compelling prospect, has two good to great seasons, and one "Esky-esque" season to precede him; Eskandarian has one good season. Again, my opining is not congruent to "crucifying" anyone. Cheers!