...for the Poland friendly. If its qualifying, sure, call him up, but not for this friendly. With the Quakes having some trouble scoring, and having injury problems, losing Ching, Mullan, and Donovan is too many of the Quakes scoring threats gone for a friendly. Did I mention its a friendly? Arena knows what Donovan can do, give Eddie Gaven or someone a chance, and definitely give Mullan and Ching playing time in the game. Tony
The manager of my fantasy team would really appreciate it too. Since I have Ching on that team too: double ouch.
a good plan, but doubtful... this is BA's last chance to get his side ready for WCQ '06 and LD is the center of BA's plans..... but you are right, LD could skip it...he is already a known quantity....
but, is it fair for the player who will get another national team cap which is very important for their career statistic....
It seems to me that you guys were a bit more magnanimous about the whole national team callup situation back in the days when you weren't one point out of last place.
Actually, I'm really lookign forward to seeing how the team performs without LD and the Brians. I wouldn't have minded even if Mulrooney had gone too! (I admit it - I just really want to see Tighe play!) Personally, I think getting done over by refs (last week) or injuries (our D... all season) or call-ups (US Poland; WCQ with USA & Canada) shows you whether you've got a "crumble" or "rise-to-the-challenge" team. And I think SJ will take a challenge and improve. I'd like to see Russell, Brown, Alvarez, and Tighe get a chance to show what they can do, and they might just get that this weekend against NY/NJ. Maybe I'd feel differently if we had relegation. but we don't, so... it will be neat to see how the team can play. Who knows, maybe we'll see Levesque? Will Walker be healed up? We'll be a better team fot it come play-off time.
I was critical of Rapids Coach Tim Hankinson a month ago when he would only release Mastroeni after a mid-week match against the Wizards. In Solomonesque fashion, Bruce Arena also released the three Wizards players Wolff, Zavagnin, and Meola from his week-long training camp. Sure it's a friendly, but I say let Donovan, Ching, and Mullan go. They all deserve the cap.
Also we've got games in hand over all the teams ahead of us! By the time the play-offs come things will even out.
There is not a single team ahead of the Quakes that they can catch merely by winning the games in hand. They are 10 points behind LA with three games in hand. They are 8 points behind Kansas City with two games in hand. They are 1 point behind Colorado with no games in hand.
That's probably right, but I'm pretty sure we'll make it to the playoffs, and I doubt the last team in west will, so again no burn at the playoffs. GO QUAKES!!!!
One point out of last....So above us are LA, KC, and Colorado....and below us is....oh gee! God damn! STFU! Nice attempt at smack ya tweed. You've posted enough on these boards to know better than to come on here and give a team crap about being 1 point out of last place when your spunk butt is in last place.
El Jefe's a good poster with a funny avatar, altho I do think he ought to take his original post in this thread to the rivalry board. Also, remember last season the Quakes were going thru their now-annual spate of midseason injuries and Yallop asked Arena not to call up Donovan for the New Zealand friendly, so there is precedent. Tony
Bull. The post was appropriate, and true. Many Quake fans on this board were a lot more gracious and nonchalant about callups when the MLS matches weren't critical. Some of the reaction to the post, however, including the name-calling, might be better suited for rivalries. Learn the difference between "trolls" and "posters who are fans of other teams who don't always post things we want to read." IIRC, that wasn't necessarily for the Quakes' benefit, but Landon's, since he was having bouts of exhaustion last season, and the constant bouncing between the USMNT and MLS was stretching him too thin.
BM: I don't recall calling EJ a troll. But I still believe his original comment belongs elsewhere; generally I think your posts bring a lot of common sense to the board, but we can agree to disagree on this one. You may be right about the noncallup, but I think I remember the Quakes suffering an injury or two in the game immediately preceding the New Zealand friendly and Yallop deciding he needed to call Arena. You are right that Donovan was exhausted, remember Yallop not starting him in the Meadowlands last year. tedwar