Waldo thinks it is a good idea... http://www.mlsnet.com/content/03/90min1017wynalda.html I do think he has a good point there about sharing runs with McBride.
[thinking thinking thinking] Um...I think not. A "soon-to-be" or a "has-been" (please don't start the Mathis debate again here)? I'll take the "soon-to-be/already-is".
here's this little gem: Mark Williams was not the best acquisition when you have some very capable young American players on the bench (namely Chad McCarty and until recently Brian Dunseth who is now languishing in Dallas). He also thinks putting the USOC final in a neutral site is a good idea. I didn't see this year's final, but from what I heard, it could have been better staged. But it putting the USOC final in a neutral site a good idea? Especially the week after MLS Cup? If it's four different teams, I can see a double header, but I don't think the game by itself at a neutral site is a good idea.
To be honest, with all the effort that US Soccer puts into promoting the game, moving it to a neutral site isn't really a bad idea. Outside of Chicago, no city has drawn big for the final yet. Crew winning at Crew Stadium got about 5,000 if memory serves correct, and now the Metros get a little over that going for their first title ever. I totally agree that a major cup final, MLS or US Open, deserves and needs to be played at an appropriate venue. GS is the second ugliest soccer field in the world (Dragon Stadium wins). It is truly embarrassing to have that small a crowd and a game played on that pitch for our national cup championship. HDC is our soccer mecca right now. It is a site befitting a truly important game. Giants Stadium, to be honest, made that game look second rate and minor league in every respect. Even MLS Cup 1996 (perhaps the greatest MLS game ever) would have looked pathetic on that field.
so why not mcbride for mathis? Edson is going to be really really great very soon. he;s already the best striker we have hands down. Actually, I really dont think we want Cletus in columbus either way. He's a basketcase. Hmm, maybe Edson to Dallas for a conditional pick?
Mathis has about 4 MLS games left in his career. He is going to Europe. Even if he wasn't, if you guys lose Buddle for ANYONE, that would be a HUGE mistake.
I wouldn't trade my left sock for Mathis. Mathis is just a headcase. People on here like to talk about Cunningham, but just think about this guy on the Crew for a minute and Cunningham looks like a choir boy. Plus he's not that good. He had one good year and everyone wanted to make him out to be this great saviour for American soccer. Buddle is already better then Mathis is right now and Buddle hasn't even begun to tap into his total talent. Although, this does sound like a trade Crew management would make, except they'd throw in a conditional draft pick because the Crew loves those. Everthing else he said was spot on though.
Wynalda says over and over that the team looks like it doesn't have a plan. Does anyone know whose job that is? Yes, in the back row Greg do you have an answer a$$hole?
Gee, I don't know; would I like to trade a bright rising young star for a declining head case with two surgically repaired knees? Hmmmm. This comfirms it - Waldo is on crack. He wants to be this new, brash, cutting edge American soccer commentator. Problem is, the stuff he says is either obvious or just stupid. Columbus played well early in the season and is playing bad now? Gee, ya think? Martino hasn't showed well lately? No kidding. Buddle started out on the right wing? No, he really didn't. Buddle ought to find a new team? Hey, just how does he do that, Eric? Crew should trade Buddle for Mathis? That's nothing short of hilarious, you crackhead. McBride and Buddle can't play together? Buddle was on an absolute tear for a string of games largely because of McBride's service. He knows what Stern John knows: McBride is the perfect running mate. And what's this imbecility about "sharing runs" with McBride? Give me a single example. The Crews' problem isn't too many guys competing for the same ball into the box, you moron: the problem is THERE AREN'T ANY BALLS INTO THE BOX. DUH. And how is it McBride is "competing" with Buddle for the "short post" or whatever-the-fcuk it is Brainiac said; McBride is playing 30 yards out most of the time now because the middies can't serve the ball ion. What game has this dumbsh!t been watching? If the Crew and the Burn were in the same division, the Crew would be ahead of them? Boy, now THERE is some professional analysis for ya. Eric, do us a favor: shut up. You're an idiot with nothing intelligent to say. Go get a job.
To paraphrase the distinguished gentleman from Indiana, when I look at Wynalda all I see is "big shoes, red nose, clown."
heh. Yeah, he definately is a clown, but I'd rather have him writing stuff like this that gets people riled up than reading Jeff Bradley say something like "#7 Digital Takiwara and the Digital Crawl, just for the heck of it." Bill disected the article well above. But still Wynalda makes a point that we have been saying on these boards all season, this looks like a team that doesn't have a plan or leadership. And really despite all the other BS in the article it is great to see that in print, but in a way he still pussed out a bit by not calling Andrulis out on it.
Point well taken. He beats around the bush, tries to encourage maybe our best young player to jump ship, criticizes the handling of another young player but never gets up the man parts to say "Andrulis has screwed up" His thesis, apparently, is the same as Greg's: it was the Soccer Gods that caused all these problems he describes. I have to disagree with you on one thing though: any moron can write stupid stuff that gets people "riled up". I bet Noah Dahl and Richter Boy would work cheaper, and as we've all seen both are more than capable of writing all the palpable nonsense you could want. Wynalda is hired to do these articles because of his experince and expertise; somehow, I expected more than just blather.
Bill, I disagree about Wynalda's worth--I have found some of his comments about PLAYERS to be sometimes insightful and usually valid. It's when he talks tactics that he falls flat, and that is the case here. You are absolutely right about this--he won't just come out and point the finger at Andrulis. And why not? I think Wynalda lacks tactical awareness--fair enough, since he never coached and apparantly never was interested in doing so--but it certainly hurts him here. He also displays a worrying propensity for developing his 'persona'--the 'tough guy making the tough calls'--even when there are no tough calls to be made. The Crew arent's playing up to potential? Gee, what a surprise. I still like his columns, but he sure needs to learn his limits. You and I can disagree about the parameters of those limits!
I didn't know that, but he also did play on the right side a couple times last season if memory serves. It was an attempt to get him out on the field somehow. But Waldo was complaining about how he'd been used this year by the Crew, and I cannot recall a single time he was wide right. It certainly didn't happen enough to make it worth complaining about.