This has probably been mentioned before but who would you rather have if you had to choose one? I, at first thought EJ, but based on stats in MLS Ching's conversion rate is much higher than EJ's though they both scored 12 goals. Any thoughts?
Depends on what you want in a forward. If you need someone who can hold up the ball and create chances for teammates, you want Ching. If you want someone to stretch the opposing defense, you want EJ. They're really quite complementary players, IMHO - the strengths of each are the other's weaknesses. Ching lacks pace, but EJ's passing and holding ability are not up to par.
Who would I partner with Donovan? Ching. Who would I partner with McBride? EJ. Or, Id partner them up top together. Like arguing which is a better club, a 3 wood or a 7 iron. They just dont serve the same purpose when building an attack.
Not a Ching fan, he scored some big goals for us during our qualifiers but really didn't so much other then that, the games he scored in he actually was having pretty poor games. Yes he has nice stats but a lot of those goals are tap ins or gimme's set up by Donovan. EJ has the speed and isn't a push over, I'd much rather have EJ in the lineup he is more of an all around threat.
Um... EJ was completely unable to beat players on the dribble against Panama, and his passes were poor. Ching has better touch. Still, I don't think they'd be half bad paired with each other.
i gotta ask, how many times in his short time on the field did EJ have a 1 v1 situation or make a pass? i was watching i dont remember any
They're two different types of players that I don't think would do half bad up top against jamaica, with landon or maybe eddie gaven feeding them the ball.
Out of the twelve MLS goals Ching scored this year, most of them were shots he worked hard to get -- either combining with teammates using quick passes, or destroying his marker by making space where there was none to begin with. He had a couple of 'tap ins' but even those can be attributed to his great sense of when and where to run. And -- he can strike a ball with power from distance, which is something the US team sorely needs. I'm not saying Ching is better than EJ. Like just about everyone else here has said, they're very different players and both very, very good.
Two 1v1 situations - lost the ball once, made a safe backpass the other time after trying but failing to fake out the defender. At least four passes, two of which were safe backpasses and the other two of which were hospital balls.
eddie has only just turned 18 and is clearly more skilled than kyle martino ever will be. Kyle is a fine player tho, and should definitely get called into the jamaica camp.
As has been said before, they are different styles of forwards. However, EJ has the size and strength to play at "target forward", Ching does not have the speed and quickness to stretch defenses. In saying that EJ usually plays better when paired with a "target forward", as he does not like filling this role full time. However, EJ will share some of the load with a "target forward", alleviating some of the beatings players like Ching and McBride take. IMO EJ is the perfect forward to pair with any of the "target forwards" (Ching, McBride, Casey), as he has the speed and quickness to stretch the defense, but can still show for the ball and do some of the heavy lifting.
Going back to the original post... where he asks "who would you rather have if you had to choose one"... I'm going to take this and say... if I had to build a team and I could "draft" a player and these 2 were the best available... which would I take for my team. I would take Eddie Johnson - he's younger and faster which are 2 things you cant teach or develop. I also think in the end he's going to be a prolific scorer. Now if it were for a partner on the national team... It would depend on who that partner is... as we've been discussing so far ... I think they'd actually complement each other very nicely.
You can't compare. EJ is faster, more agile, can dribble, take a player one on one, jump higher. It's easy to score 12 goals when you have the golden boy of US soccer assisting on most of your goals in SJ. Not to mention Mulrooney, Agoos and others. Who does EJ have in Dallas? And i don't care if all his goals (which was 4 goals in about 30 to 40 min of both games combined )with the US were from close range but Ching would have never got to those balls. All good goal scorers find themselves in those spots but he got there because of his speed!!!!
That's odd. I seem to remember Ching managing to score a goal or 2 for the national team even though he doesn't have Johnson's speed. Come to think of it, Brian McBride has scored a few for the national team also, and he's not fast. Landon had the primary assist on 4 of Chings 12 goals. Donovan got a secondary assist on 2 others. Just for fun, lets look at it other side too. Donovan scored 6 goals this year, and on three of those Ching got the primary assist. Hmmm... seems like they work well together doesn't it? Not all good goal scorers rely on speed. There are many many ways to make a contribution and excel on the field.
Exactly! Anyone remember Gerd Mueller? Chunky, not fleet of foot, and couldn't jump. Only managed 500 or 600 goals in his career. It's instinct, being in the right place at the right time, and cold-hearted, clinical finishing. A garbage goal on a tap-in and a blast from the top of the arc are both simply a goal at the end of the day. Both BC and EJ need to learn to bury the easy chances (but that's a note for another thread). Nice to see these types of threads! Some depth in the US player pool! Don't pinch me and wake me up!
WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT WHO SCORES. EVERYONE COULD SCORE. EVEN BRAD FREIDEL HAS SCORED. THIS IS ABOUT WHO IS BETTER AND EJ IS BETTER AND WILL GET BETTER. CHING IS OLDER AND IS PROBABLY IN HIS PRIME RIGHT NOW. EJ HAS A LONG WAY TO GO AND LOOKS GOOD.
WITH THE USMNT I HAVE ONLY SEEN EJ TAKE 4 SHOTS. I HAVE ALSO SEEN HIM SCORE 4 GOALS. I THINK THATS A GOAL PER SHOT.
I like Ching, he's definately earned his way into the mix. But, I from what I've seen, EJ could be a great fit for the Nats. He can definately be the bighead in a 442. And, it seems that the strength of the USMNT is still counter attacking with speed. Put EJ in there with another speedy foward, with DmB & Landon on the field & we could be slicin' and dicin' on the counter. Also, from what I've seens of EJ, it looked like he passed well on the move. Maybe he's not as good in a static situation, but (to me) he sure looked good when he was moving.