Guy was a legend in this league and I think he deserves his own thread. 6x all-star 3rd most assists all-time 57 goals 17 caps for the USMNT Anyway, great player with a great 15 year career.
I have thoroughly enjoyed watching him in MLS. I don't expect he's the last to announce this season as his last (with Jewsbury and Grabavoy and Wahl for sure headed out).
You forgot to mention his greatest achievement, which is being just a little bit ahead of Landon Donovan in 2014. While certainly not his fault, him making the 2014 roster when he had no business doing so, will likely limit the popularity of this thread.
Who gives a shit? The guy is a legend in this league. Show respect and leave the Donovan/Klinsmann crap out of it.
MLS will always have legends like Brad Davis and Jimmy Conrad and Steve Ralston and Ben Olsen and Ned Grabavoy. These legends are what will always help define what MLS is, and what it can become.
It was not Brad Davis' fault that Jurgen was such a ScheissKopf to Landon. He's always been a good MLS player, some seasons very good. He was smart, tough, consistent, and gave his all. And in his prime could connect on some beautiful crosses. I refuse to let 2014 muck up the memory of people who were nothing more than collateral damage.
Maybe Davis should have been 24th, maybe not. Even if it were the case, that's still pretty good. That was a deep player pool to be chosen from, especially as an older player.
I wanted Donovan and the WC, but I never had anything against Davis and was happy he got to go. Definitely an MLS legend. Nothing but respect.
Much like Ralston. You kind of wish he had a Clint Mathis moment that we could all relish at his retirement. Still, a really consistent player for more than a decade.
That's a really good comparison. Davis falls a little short, but 3rd all-time in MLS assists is nothing to sneeze at. Ralston MLS: 378 games, 76 goals, 135 assists Ralston USMNT: 36 caps, 4 goals Davis MLS: 392 games, 57 goals, 123 assists Davis USMNT: 17 caps, 0 goals
This clip of his performance in 2014 against Germany sums it all up for me But seriously though good pro, good solid career. The kind of player MLS needs as a backbone to continue to grow.
Brad Davis had an obedient first touch (something even our current young players across our nation STILL CAN'T F'N MASTER), an incredible dead ball capacity, won silverware for club and country and could score as well as set up his teammates. Good on him for having such a solid career in MLS and for the National Team. My buddies and I recall him hitting the final PK to seal the United States winning Copa Oro 2005. That was a fun moment! You forgot your soccer for a moment there when you stated that a left footed, wide middie, who is selected by a coach specifically for one reason and that is dead ball deliveries somehow was the player that pushed Landon Donovan off our U.S. Brasil2014 final roster. Everyone knows that Mix got the #10 jersey and Julian Green got to actually play at forward, those two picks by Die Fraud are the players you want to lowtalk, not Brad Davis. Peace.
That Davis to Ching cross and finish will go down as one of the most iconic plays in MLS history. Twice champions, twice runners up. It was definitely a mini MLS dynasty there for awhile.
What should be ther definition of a dynasty? to me it should be at least 2-3 championships in a dominant 6 years in a league. But of course your milleage may vary. For example, New England Patriots has been an NFL dynasty since 2001 even when they "only" have won 4 SuperBowls.
Davis and Ching overlapped with the ClashQuake champions (the MezoSmurfs, I call them, as distinct from the ProtoSmurfs and NeoSmurfs). If you count them, and you should because if Houston was an "expansion" team, my cat is the King of France, that's six finals and four titles in 12 years.
Landon Donovan was on the Earthquakes MLS Cup winning sides. So was Manny Lagos. Troy Dayak. Jeff Agoos. Ramiro Crrales, Junior Agogo, Jimmy Conrad, Jamil Walker, Ian Russel, Roger Levesque and others that overlapped those Cup winning sides. And yet not ONE of these MLS players were on any of Houston's Cup winning sides. So that is that. Now specifically talking about the 2005 Earthquakes that were moved by AEG to Houston, there were several key additions to the Houston team that went on to win the MLS Cup in 2006. Those key additions were Adrian Serioux at centerback which really did bolster the defensive back 4 and of course Stuart Holden who as the year progressed played a bigger role each week. Nailing one of the decisive penalty kicks against Reis and the Revs in the Cup Final PK shootout. Players from that 2005 Earthquakes that did not make the move to Houston and were core players from that 2005 season were Troy Dayak, Ian Russel, Danny Califf, Mark Chung, Jon Conway, Roger Levesque and Danny O'Rourke. The core of De Ro, Brian Ching, Brad Davis, Brian Mullan, Eddie Robinson, Wade Barrett, and so on did make the move but they moved to Houston, which our sports culture here really welcomed the moved football team in Blue, something our sports culture has had to endure on our own end in losing our NFL team because of the owner. Us, the soccer passionate folks here on Houston helped push this AEG Relocation Project to something that those AEG suits could never had imagined. A packed college gridiron Robertson Stadium in their new city, a rather sadly ironic point if thinking of the loyal SJ die hards since AEG cited playing at a college gridiron stadium as why they moved the team from Spartan Stadium in the first place. Everyone following MLS in those days knew San Jose had really done well to have a very proud n passionate soccer fan base. Certainly the type of support that earned their stripes after those late 90's seasons to then get Landon and winning. Really, if San Jose is moved by AEG to a college gridiron stadium in Miami or St. Louis or f'n Des Moines Iowa, that team is not winning MLS Cup 2006! HA! But those guys did make the move with Dom, who added some talent to make his team even stronger moved and became MLS Cup champions specifically because of the move to Houston and no other city.
He wasn't here for long, but I really enjoyed Davis' short spell in KC. I won't soon be forgetting this one: Absolute professional on and off the field and I wish him all the best in his future endeavors.