that's what i love about wynalda... he doesn't take his time or mince words he's just a straight shooter *#*#*#*# it if he's wrong... he doesn't care... he'll call it like he sees it may ty keough be fired, kicked out of his seat, thrown out into oncoming traffic and wynalda take over the color commentary
phone conversation: Wynalda: US needs Twellman Connolly: Count your Blessings. Man, you should be thanking you lucky stars that you still have a job talking about soccer.
i disagree. a color man can't take wildly extreme positions in favor of one player or another, while constantly putting down others. he has to maintain some kind of objectivity. wynalda too often says completely idiotic things which just makes me want to throw things at the tv. too often he comes off as an opinionated clown. as for the article, he basically called bruce arena a joke, which is fine, except that he isn't. when did the u.s. last play panama? someone dust off the history books. twellman's done absolutely nothing with the national team so far. he'll get more chances but if you're on the fringe, you have to take your chances when you get them, and so far he hasn't. personally i think buddle's much better than twellman, though i know the numbers don't bear this out.
Wow, those both were useless. Some kudos to Wynalda for being gung-ho. However, I have to admit, completely ignoring many arguments against his inclusion is inane.
if you want someone to patronize absolutely everything about u.s. soccer... ty, jack and stoner are more than happy to give you what you want eric's been the only one, outside of dir, to offer any analytical advice on a game in progress as it happens it also means that he will throw in his mind here and there... as opposed to preaching some sort of gospel he's willing to be wrong that's a huge and important part about putting your voice and face on the tv screen for live television... if you aren't willing to do that, you sound like an ass clown
I agree. He's also 10 times what Max Bretos is. Having the choice of listening to Dir or Max during the Crew game last weekend, I chose Dir, even though he was calling for the Burn. Dir is the best guy we have out there for analysis. Wynalda is just a has been trying to make his name by sparking contoversy. It's sad.
Umm...you are aware that the sports world is littered w/ ex-players, outstanding ex-players, that were complete crap as coaches and managers, right?
didn't say he wasn't... but wynalda is on the mls payroll... and it looks like dir's contract is finally up
ummm........What?? when? who?? how?? This thread is not about Wynalda being a manager or coach. What are you talking about? Wynalda recognizes the quality of a good striker because he is one himself. It's not exactly rocket science. Why don't you read the all thread before you reply.
the bottom line is this ............ is it true that the new guys have to be phased in to take over for a guy like McBride, who would be 34 at the next world cup, recognizing that there are very few players on ANY world cup squad who are the main man at that age. hell, Pele retired from brazil at 30. with that in mind, what is soooooo wrong with giving twellman a chance. we are acting as though we have a plethora of LETHAL strikers at our disposal, like Brazil. we have Mathis, Wolff, McBride, Donovan (who should be playing midfield), and now Brian Ralston??? are you kidding me? get Twellman and Buddle out there and let's stop fooling ourselves.
I did. Part of a coach or manager's job is evaluating talent. Just because someone played the game does not mean he can evaluate talent.
But no one ever mention anything about a coach. No one ever prove he is bad at evaluating talent. He has at least seen great talent in world cup and German bundesliga first hand playing and training with them. Not too many people have. Definitely not those of you who sit in front of the computer screen.
Strange... three different posts AGAINST Wynalda, and all three posters are... *gasp*... Columbus fans! ...
Playing doesn't mean he's infallible Wynalda is just like the rest of us. Except he has a far better reference point. Judging talent isn't related to your own ability or lack of as a player. Just because he had a good career doesn't mean he has some special insight into soccer. In fact, I know he isn't any brighter about the game than anyone else. Just has a better pedigree to speak from.
I like hearing what Wynalda has to say. He doesn't come off as condescending to me, just a straight-shooter. I'd rather have someone put their honest soul into what they do rather than be a tool. I don't begrudge the current tools we have, though, because maybe we needed those tool-like attitudes to get where we are media-wise. But boy am I glad we are evolving beyond that. Bring on the next generation of soccer media! A generational turn-over in our culture is a good sign of stability and growth. As far as what Wynalda says about Twellman, I partly agree. I don't think he is as good as McBride internationally, but I think he is a lot better now than McBride was at his age. McBride benefitted a lot from international experience with the Nats, so give Twellman the same opportunities. - Paul
Re: Playing doesn't mean he's infallible That's bullship. I am a goalkeeper since junior high and I am better at judging good goalkeeping than someone who isn't. Eric is far far like the rest of us. At least he knows what good talents LOOKS LIKE.
Actually, they do - well maybe not "much" better, but butter nevertheless - check out the Speculative: Buddle thread on Yanks Abroad. Buddle's goal production and shot accuracy are both higher than Taylor's.
Re: Playing doesn't mean he's infallible I would think that spending many years with one of the best reference points available to an American player would have to give one some insights into the game. Still, that doesn't prevent him from being wrong on occasion. I'm not at all convinced that Twellman is the man for the job on the nats, but has he ever been on the field with JOB and Reyna? I think Wynalda's comment is that Twellman only gets to play with a somewhat B national team. When Twellman is on the field, so are guys like Hejduk, Vanney, Klein, and Califf. those guys shouldn't be starters. (Except maybe Hejduk when were expected to lose. Then he plays his ass off.) Who would Twellman be most compatible with up front?
And your logic doesn't hold. Just because someone can or can't judge talent doesn't mean they are or aren't a manager. So, Wynalda's ability or lack thereof to judge talent has no correlation with anyone's belief that he could or could not be a good manager.
I love the Wynalda smack talk. Whether he's right or wrong the attitude he has is sorely needed on the MLS broadcasts. At any moment I think he's just going to start screaming at Ty Keogh calling him too stupid to live. When a young striker heads over the bar for the fifth time in the game, Wynalda will at least stand up and say, "Listen, I know the coaches are constantly telling you to head the ball down, why do you keep ignoring them?" Or "I hate to be rude, but has anybody here heard of the far post? Why do they keep firing straight at the keeper?" Or "Stoichkov's a 45 minute player." Or "What a classless foul. He should be in the locker room with a red." Or "Well, I saw him (Marco Etcheverry) at the Dallas Cup when I was 13 and he's now supposedly younger than I am. You do the math." Or STONE:"Now to Eric Wynalda with the 2nd half coaches corner." WYNALDA:"Um, there's no way I'm talking to Bob Bradley with this score line so here's Joe-Max Moore..." Or (heard at least four separate times this year), "This game's pretty awful..." They need to move him to the color commentary spot, bring Veronica back, and then lose Ty's phone number.