Clark's play has been rightfully praised week in and week out. Dunivant has received less praise but still has seen some filter his way. Gbandi had a horrible break with the ACL tear but is playing now and I thought played an outstanding game today for Dallas. These rookies I bring up not just because they're playing well, but also because they can play spots that the Nats currently have open competition for. Clark could certainly play on the right side of midfield, and Dunivant and Gbandi are both left backs. So the question is, assuming they continue to play as well or better than they already have, at what point do you call them in? Dunivant and Gbandi aren't all that young and if they're going to have a nats career you'd guess it would start sooner rather than later. I believe the knock on Dunivant is that he's a bit slow, and Gbandi of course has missed a lot of time to injuries. When do you suppose any of the three will get callups?
I have heard a lot about Clark and watched him carefully yesterday. I would say he looks promising as a defensive midfielder, but he looks like he will need to be a bit more robust physically. The best people at the position- Dasailly( when he played there), Davids,Dunga, Viera-even Armas- they are Very,VERY strong guys.Now Clark looks smart and skilled, but I think a year more of filling out and getting stronger will help a lot.There are many things you can't do- get faster, get more skilled, but getting stronger IS something that can be done.Remember when Landon had all the ingredients, but was getting pushed around? He went into the gym and came back with a new body! I suspect Clark will be a good one for the USA, but I think he is about 1 year away for reasons I said. As for other positions, he looks good at defensive mid, and he doesn't show the requirements for other midfield positions.
Re: Re: Clark, Dunivant and Gbandi Clark doesn't play like a rookie. He has a lot of poise for someone relatively inexperienced. But I think he has to correct his tendency to bend down when he has the ball, which makes him fall down a lot.
Dunivant has decent(somewhat) speed(players with acceleration may cause him some problems . Though he has a knack for figuring out player's(whether its his speed , quickness , and whatnot) strength and then stopping them). But he is smart and understands the game , and plus..he uses solid positioning. Has a magical foot , and that is for sure. We will have to see. I think he is ready Gbandi looks intrigueing. 1 year away , and then cap him. 1 year or so away , Bruce S is on the spot
Re: Re: Clark, Dunivant and Gbandi How old is he and we're saying he's a year away? Let's face it, he looks like he could be a great one, not just a good one for the US. He needs to work on his decision-making and shooting from distance, but I'm not worried about his strength. He just needs more first team experience. He's already close to or ahead of Armas and Mastro in a number of categories, including ability to connect passes, maintain possession under pressure and blow past people on the dribble.
Clark is 20. (Feb. 10, 1983) And just incase anyone was curious.... Dunivant is 22. (Dec. 26, 1980) Gbandi is 24. (April 7, 1979)
I haven't seen GBandi play so i'll withhold any kind of opinion on him, but I have been impressed with Dunivant. Defensivly he is all right. I mean, he is better than Convey was as a Left Back. But what I like about his game is that he has good speed going down the flank (who said he was slow?) and he he delievers better crosses than anybody in the MLS. I'm curious to see if he can do anythign with his right foot though. Clark physically is a stud. He already looks like he is stronger than both Armas and Mastroeni becuase of his size. I'm nut sure what position he is playing though, because if he is a defensive mid then he leaves Richie Williams and his defenders hanging dry every so often.
Dunivant had some problems with Damani Ralph's pace a few weeks back. Just one of the few negative observations I made about him. I agree his defense hasn't been great just yet, but it's been pretty good. But his various attacking skills from left back have been really impressive. His crossing in particular. I think that's the distinguishing point for him and the nats. When you have a dedicated d-mid like an Armas or Mastroeni, it's important for your fullbacks to get forward and cause problems and Dunivant's been causing all sorts of problems for defenses.
hehe, I think Ralph would give anybody problems with his speed. Your right about everything you said though. I've been resigned to the fact that either O'Brien or Convey were gonna end up being our left backs (for some reason, I just don't trust a player like Vanney in a qualifier type situation)..thats what I like about Dunivant. He might give us an alternative
Dunivant has a monster throw-in. I know that impresses more at the youth level, but this guy has put SJ strikers in 1v1 by throwing over top of EVERYONE. I haven't seen anyone in MLS that can throw longer. It's almost as dangerous as a corner kick (and speaking of corners, notice he takes all the corners from the right side? The significance of this is the fact that Richard Mulrooney has consistantly been a league leader in corners taken. The fact that Yallop lets a rookie swing them in this year is telling...) If we had Dunivant on one side and Gooch on the other, we could throw in to the far post on almost any field. What a weapon to develop!
Dunivant doesnt just have a good left foot, he is composed on the ball as well. He makes smart runs, can cross and is a threat to score too, as he would have if not for a nice save by Countess. His distribution out of the back is spotless. Gbandi is also good at getting forward, but I really havent seen enough of him yet.
Clark looked good venturing forward yesterday. However, I had a hard time noticing him on defense and thus cannot comment on his defensive skills. Can anyone elaborate on this point?
Very quick, closes down excellently. Haven't seen enough tackles from him to get a good read yet. Is young and not that big yet, but looks to have the body that will develop. Only 5-10, but that's much better than 5-7. It's hard to pick up but Bradley is running a very dynamic midfield so it's very hard to pigeonhole players into holes. Obviously ABMOD is more defensive minded and Guevara's job is to attack, but there's large amounts of flexibility for the forwards and fullbacks to mix and match in midfield to spring attacks. When he has the right personnel involved (IE, involving as much of Mathis, Guevara and Clark as possible and as little of Lisi and Regan as possible) the quick, short one-touch passing is glorious stuff to watch and not stuff I'd ever guess Americans were capable of uncorking. Mathis looks to be in heaven while playing it, as the main goal is to eventually get the ball on Mathis' foot in the 18 yard box and let him take care of the rest. Anyway, the point being is that I think for the time being Rico Clark is playing on the right side of midfield, but given lots of freedom to act centrally both in attack and defense.
I have seen Clark more then the other two so I can truly only comment on him....... Clark is very fast physically and mentally and very strong on the dribble. Ideally he would play right midfield for the nationally side, because he provides alot of cover on the right hand side, tackles strongly, doesn't get caught out of position and has good touch. Will be a nice foil to Beasley on the other wing.
MY fellow Quakes fan make some very good points about Dunivant, let me add another. On the Fox Sports Bay Area broadcast Saturday night, John Shrader mentioned that Dunivant has already tied the San Jose record for starts by a rookie (Jaimie Clark in 1999 I believe Shrader said). Which points to the lousy drafts/how bad the Clash/Quakes were, and to how Yallop uses his younger players. Yallop has been consistent in bringing younger players along slowly, so the fact that Dunivant has started, and played well enough to keep his spot, speaks volumes. I don't know if every Quake fan would agree, but I think Dunivant is a lot further along at this stage in his career than Wade Barrett was. Tony
As has been mentioned, Dunivant is an absolute fiend when getting into the attack. His pace along the left side makes me forget that we lost Barret, and I'm not being fascetious. His throw-ins, corner kicks, and crossing are all first rate. If not for an excellent save by Countess, he would have had two goals already this season, and with two assists, he's tied for points with number one draft pick Alecko Eskandarian; a forward. Gbandi, might I add, looks like a promising prospect as well, but time may be running out for him if he doesn't get capped within the next year.
One other thing, in 1v1 situations Ive never seen Dunivant turned. If a guy gets a ball on the outside, hes going to stay there, no cutting into the middle.
As a Dallas fan, I am excited about Gbandi, but really hacked off about the game on Saturday. I will admit though, that SJ was the better team and looked as if they wanted it a lot more than Dallas did. I do think both Gbandi and Dunivant are looking very good as potential nats, but I am guessing Bruce will want to see their progress over the course of this season. By the end of the season, I do think both will get a strong look, provided they continue to play the way they are now. One plus on Gbandi (though heard and not seen) is his ability to play inside, outside, and possibly as a d-mid. We do need some quality left backs to start making names for themselves so convey and/or obrien don't have to play there, and I think Gbandi and Dunivant are really possibilities in the next year.
Actually, as I mentioned, a few weeks ago Damani Ralph beat him by going wide around him and accelerating to the line and cutting back in. He did a much better job on Joselito Vaca on saturday. Dunivant doesn't look slow, certainly, but he doesn't look really fast either. Technically though he looks excellent.
Just visited MLSnet and figured I'd update this thread a bit: Watched Dallas at Chicago and Gbandi did not have as good of a night tonight, but probably wasn't the main offender for the goal explosion either. Looked dangerous at times, but honestly, Dallas' other young fullback, Phil Salyer, had a much better game. I didn't see San Jose at Los Angeles, but MLSnet gave Todd Dunivant Man of the Match for his performance. I wonder how many fullbacks have won the award so far this year. From MLS' recap: "The 'Quakes put a stranglehold on the midfield, winning a number of balls and forcing giveaways which they turned into dangerous counterattacks. Todd Dunivant, active all night long down the left flank, again got well forward before cutting a pass back for Arturo Alvarez, but he put his shot over." Once Vanney heads back to France, you have to figure Dunivant will get at least a short look by BA if he continues playing this well.