Bradley: Mathis Must Show Up or Sit

Not necessarily. Clint’s blatantly silly foul (right in front of the ref no less) in the DCU game almost killed any chance of a comeback. Fortunately, Lisi and Magee bailed him out.

Nowadays, if he doesn’t off a good start in a game, his temper and immaturity can actually hurt his own team big time. It’s only natural Bob would have to think twice about automatically starting him.

 

is anyone surprised?...some of us have been on clint's case for months...he's wearin red and black right now though, so i hope he shows up and helps us get our cups, but you have to wonder...you'd think bob sat down and talked to clint, and if it went well, i'm not sure bob still goes to the media with these words...i think clint comes off the bench saturday and has that and practices to prove he belongs on the field for next wednesday...

 

I read the article but it seems more like a case of a writer looking for something to write about. And the title of the article isnt close to an accurate representation of Bradley's comments.

Don't you think Bob has been around long enough to know that players go into slumps? I just cant picture him threatening to sit the team's best player because of the mild slump he's been in.

 

Mathis should be no different than any other player. I would have benched him because of the distraction that is his mouth, months ago.

So the Yankees had Mr. October. Should we call Mathis, Mr. June?

 

Ozi was right

 

Mathis is 27 years old and a professional soccer player he should not need a coach to motivate him 27 games into the season. It is plain and simple. If he plays well, he will start, if not, his ass should be on the bench.

 

Re: Re: Bradley: Mathis Must Show Up or Sit

I second that.

 

I agree with Bradley. The team has done just fine and dandy without him the last couple of games. If he wants to bitch at the refs and not bury the chances that are given to him, then he should be benched. Hopefully the threat of sitting will light a fire under his ass and he'll go back to the Clint that we know and were waiting to see for months. I also agree with Jahmakya. He's a professional and considered one of the best strikers the US has to offer. If he needs motivation at this point in his career, and at this point of the season, then sit his ass down.

 

I've been thinking about this lately-a striking similarity.

 

You think they would go for this trade?? I'll take Fowler over Mathis anyday...

 

Robbie Fowler is certainly immature in his own way. And by his standards, he has underperformed (although until the move to Man City, he still possessed a phenomenol strike rate even with Leeds and Liverpool) following his shaky return to fitness from a major knee injury.

But he is not the type of player that Mathis is. Though loud and undisciplined off the field, he has always been disciplined on it (chalkline snorting aside). He doesn't have a record for winding people up (Graeme LaSaux excepted) and drawing stupid fouls. And he is quite a sportsman as well. In fact, he was commended specifically by FIFA for a display of sportsmanship versus Arsenal in which he basically refused to take a penalty kick that was awarded due to a bad call (a referee mistakenly ruled David Seaman had fouled him).

http://www.4thegame.com/news/story/17072/PENALTY+PRAISE+SURPRISES+HONEST+FOWLER.html

At that moment, he shook David Seaman's hand and apologized if it appeared he had dived - he had only lost his balance and didn't want the 'keeper to think he had made a meal of it. He also begged the referee to change his mind about the call and succeeded in convincing the referee not to assess a red card to "Safe Hands". Finally, he hit a lollipop shot, intentionally missing. Unfortunately, teammate (and noted dull bulb) Jason McAteer didn't get the memo and scored on the soft rebound.

Clint Mathis hits lollipop penalties too, but not for cause.

 

Interesting story!! Has there ever been another case similiar to that where the player refused to take the penalty or pleed to the ref to take back a spot kick call??

 

Read the article people. There are three quotes from Bradley, which say NOTHING. In fact, the only mentioning of Clint starting were inserted by the writer (note the ( ) around them).

 

Are you sure you read the entire article?:

"No, he doesn't (have to start). No, it's a fair point," admitted Bradley. "If Clint can still be guy on the front end who can be better and take chances and be dangerous, then (having him start) is a nice possibility," said Bradley.

"But if it doesn't happen I think these other guys have shown throughout the year that there has been many games when he hasn't played where they have done all right for themselves."

It's about time Bradley said something about Clint. I was beginning to think he was a mute. Maybe not starting against a patsy like the Burn might be the perfect match to sit him down and send a message.

 

as bad as he has played "Mr.june" aka clint mathis is still a threat to score. Other teams double team him to prevent a breakout goal. I feel that bradley should start him against a weak team like dallas this saturday. If after the 1st half is over he should be yanked if he misses a pk again or a easy chip shot. Until he is signed by a European team he is only a mls player. A very good one with a oversized ego.

 

I think Bradley should start Clint against Dallas to see if there was a attitude adjustment on Clint's part and to see what he will bring to the table... if Clint doesn't show up to play, sub him out a halftime for the Nuge and sit his a$$ for the USOC final.

 

Well, yeah that part is true, but the bigger picture re: the arc of their careers is very similar. Both came on in a burst; have suffered knee injuries; have been rated at times as their nation's most gifted finishers. Even the "God" part to a degree

But they also have done stupid things that have undermined their status. If you read some of the Houllier quotes at the end of his stay there, you could substitute Mathis, OZ and Bradley in some of the stories. And that's why I think in a lot of ways he's our version of Fowler.

 

Thank you Dan!
This author really took liberties with Bradley's quotes by titling the article the way he did. Yeah we all know that Clint needs to step up, but where did Bob say "Mathis Must Show Up or Sit?"
The Nigerian - Iraqi nuclear weapons documents has more merit than this article.

 

I guess so. But it was only a very short time at Liverpool (once he was no longer starting) that Robbie Fowler started losing his commitment - he never had a good relationship with Phil Thompson and he felt like he was being disrespected by the team. I did not disagree with Houllier about partnering Heskey and Owen as a first team pairing and I think it was time for Fowler to move on. But I don't think that you could make a total case for Fowler's make-up based on that half-season. He needed a fresh start somewhere else.

Even since he has moved on to Leeds and Manchester City - there have been no outbursts, no criticisms of his work ethic and no reports of a terrible attitude. In fact he has stayed almost completely below the radar.

I think that Clint would be a mess if he were on another team too. He is much more individualistic.
as a player and doesn't seem to know how to fit into a side. He has had a couple different coaches and he has had problems with all of them. Fowler doesn't have that kind of history. He ran into troubles with the "Houllier administration" period. And when Houllier comes down on you (just witness Westerveld, Sanders; Anelka, Nicholas or Ziege, Christian) that is it. Case closed.

Robbie Fowler may be used up now - but I don't think that you can attribute it to a problem with his commitment or mental state. I think most of it has to do with eroding physical skills and especially the improvement of team defense and overall defending in the EPL.

Fowler never used to play much of an all-around game. He was the typical "fox in the box" forward who would hang around in the center of the field and benefit from a strong and/or active partner (such as Stan Collymore) and hard-running players on the outside of the formation (such as Steve MacManaman and Titi Camara) providing him service. He is sort of like a Vanilla Romario.

Now that he is called on to link-up, drift deeper and play more of a defensive role in addition to his offensive duties, it is harder for him to "disappear" on the field and drift into the seams where he can poach goals. Defenders are more aware and he no longer has the luxury of a free role. Also, the loss of his acceleration (he never had tremendous pace) and some of his skill on the ball simply prevent him from taking and/or finishing as many shots.

Clint Mathis, on the other hand, still plays in a league in which he gets room on the ball. He has always tended to drift deep into the play and start his attacking runs from midfield. He was never the poacher that Fowler was, although he is a decent finisher. Clint relies more on his athleticism than Fowler and he has always preferred to create his own shots more than just float and wait for service. As a result, I think that Clint is even more subject than Fowler to an erosion of productivity if he never can fully recover from the knee jobs.

Clint Mathis does try hard on occasion, but even that often works against him, because he has never gelled that well with his teammates. In fact, he often looks like he is playing against the Metrostars system even when he is at his most effective. Fowler's skills are more complementary than spectacular (skillwise/athletically) and his field awareness/positioning and anticipation are excellent. He was a dream to work with in his heyday with Macca, Barmby, Camara, Collymore, et al.

Clint Mathis would do well to study tape of the old Robbie Fowler, because Clint could probably extend his career by learning how to play more in that style. But presently, I don't think that they have as much in common as you might think.

On the other hand, Jovan Kirovski is a guy that also has a little of Robbie Fowler in his style of play (not suggesting that he is anywhere near as good).

I think that if Robbie Fowler was on the right team in MLS (one with a decent playmaker such as Metrostars with Guevera or New England with Cancela) he would score 40 goals (provided he didn't get hurt obviously) next season. He is one of the best shotmakers the EPL has ever seen. His release is quicker than anything MLS defenders are used to and his positional sense is such that he could compensate better for his lack of footspeed/explosiveness than he could in EPL, where defenses simply don't give him any room in the box. I am not arguing that every EPL striker could have these kinds of results - I think that Robbie Fowler has a skillset that is not common in MLS.

 

I am not sure, but what I know for a fact is that the MetroStars are not happy with the writer misinterpreting Bradley's quotes. Take it for what it's worth.

 

yup. more goodies from the world of internet journalism in regards to soccer.