In the flow and words of Clint Dempsey (or maybe better) All this negative hate and dumb animosity clearly spells/ That some folks just don't like my boy Twelly Twells/
1. It was a joke. Note the at the end of the post. 2. I am not a moderator. I'll ask you the same question I asked you previously that you never answered, to wit: ---- We've met several times in person. I thought you were a decent guy on those occassions. Why the hostility towards me in this forum as of late? Seriously. Have I done something to you to make you go off on me pretty much every chance you get? If you have a problem with my opinions on BigSoccer, don't pretend to be my buddy next time you happen to see me at a post-game or pre-game gathering of USMNT fans. ----
Re: Taylor Twellman an alternate? It's not a question of "much more". Wolff doesn't deserve to be there at all. This is truly a mediocre/inexperienced crop of US forwards. Aside from McBride & Donovan (if he's a forward), no one really earned their tickets to Germany at the position. I rue the day Mathis went on the wane, and Eskandarian hurt is head. Esky was well on his way to becoming one of the best American forwards in the pool (At least I believe that was where he was headed, based on his tenacity, nose for goal and finishing- despite a bit of a sophmore jinx on his part). I think Ching has played well this season, but I don't see him contributing at the international level. Again, I hope I'm wrong.
There are few if any Twellman haters. What we have is alot of people who are sick and tired of the Twellman lovers.
Not sure whether this is already posted in this thread, but Donovan had some thinly veiled Twellman comments in the US Soccer conference call when asked about Brian Ching: "Forwards are on the field to score goals. But, in the World Cup, last time I checked, you’re not averaging three goals a game. So, you might get one chance or you might get two chances and you have to make the most of the. If not, and you’re not on your game and you’re not scoring goals, what are you doing for the team? Ching is a lot like Brian (McBride) in that way, in that he does things that you can’t really quantify, they don’t show up on the stat sheets but he holds the ball, he challenges, he works hard defensively. Obviously, all are qualities that Brian McBride has too and, as a forward, you want that because you want them putting you in positions to be successful, too. You also have the luxury of knowing that they’re going to score quite frequently.”
I'm still working out the details, but I'm fairly certain these comments also contain thinly veiled clues about the role of rising oil prices in a global conspiracy by a military industrial elite. I'm still working out the details...
I know my way around sarcasm pretty well, but I'm not following you at all. Is your point (a) you don't think that Donovan was taking shots at Twellman, (b) he was obviously taking shots at Twellman or (c) nothing really, just think it's kind of funny to say weird stuff for no apparent reason? Any answer is acceptable in my book, just mildly curious (and completely confused).
Yeah, that came off a bit rude. My point is, there's little reason to look for hints, insinuations, and veiled allusions when the answer is not really that complicated. I really doubt Donovan, who has in the past expressed the hightest respect for Twellman, was taking subtle shots, making veiled hints, or leaving subtle clues - just as I doubt we can learn anything substantive about what Arena hasn't said about Twellman.
Fair enough. I thought he was pretty clearly speaking to the differences between Twellman and Ching, but he didn't say the word Twellman, so there's always room for alternative interpretations.
Unless Twellman had been brought into the conversation previously, I'd read that as giving reasons why Ching would be there, rather than reasons why Twellman wouldn't.
Yup, why not give someone on the team praise, Donovan did that for Ching so everyone can understand why he's on the team. Nothing more, nothing less.
Anyone care to ponder what the outcome of last night's debacle would have been say if Twellman was on the pitch. In brief my thoughts (least cohesive game we've ever played) We won't get out of the group play round with what I saw last night. (did anyone on the US side understand the concept of one/two touch soccer?)
Didn't give it a thought. If it comes down to Twellman or Ching or Wolff being the difference whether we make it out of the group stage, we ain't getting out of the group stage. Is England really concerned whether its Andy Johnson or Peter Crouch at the end of the bench?
unfortunately our forward pool is pretty shallow, so we need to be concerned with who's on the end of the bench. because the ones in the middle of the bench aren't exactly stellar. i love mcbride, but the rest of them are just mediocre.
Johnson, Ching and Wolff all bring more than Taylor. Johnson is faster, a better passer, jumps better, has better dribbling ability. Ching is better in the air and better at combining with the players around him. Wolff is quicker, and a better passer and dribbler. For me, there isn't much doubt that those three have games that are more likely to be successful at the international level than Taylor.
while i might agree with you about johnson, no way that ching and wolff are yards better than twellman. i like twellman, but i don't worship the quicksand he walks on. i think you misunderstood. i think almost ALL of our forward pool is mediocre. were you watching the game last night? Wolff?? give me a break. about the only thing he does better than the rest of them is come back on defense. perhaps he shouldn't be a forward if that's his strength.
Ching and Wolff are yards better than Taylor. They don't sit around and pout about no service. Wolff, despite not scoring yesterday, was very involved in the plays and spread out the opposing defense. all forwards have bad stretches where it gets difficult to put the ball in the net. the question is: what else are they doing on the field to help out their teammates. TT has a tendency to disappear when he isn't scoring. Wolff at least keeps playing hard.
we must be watching different games because i don't see that at all. twellman is all hustle whether he's getting service or not. wolff isn't bad at that as well, i did say he's great on defense. ching. sorry. haven't seen crap from ching (with the NT) off the ball. i just don't see it. in fact, i usually see him being more of a liability if he's not getting service.
I can tell you which of the four I would have wanted in the game when we were finally flinging in a bunch of crosses with 20 minutes left. Twellman hands down. In the end, that is the only reason that I wanted him included in the roster. He would be the guy I would most want in there at the end of a game when we need a goal and the defense has shelled in. So, for the first 70 minutes, probably would not have made a difference or done any better than the others. For the last 20, potentially could have had a big impact. Certainly would have buried that header Johnson sailed over the crossbar. I believe that Bruce only chose Ching over Twellman in case Mcbride gets injured. Ching is more of the pure target guy that Bruce loves.