So, you could say that USA and Australia national teams are roughly of the same strength. Yes, USA has a more acocmplished resume, but generally you could toss them in roughly the same bucket. Each team is led by an attacking midfielder/forward. They are roughly, in my opinion. of more or less equal value. They each have their own strengths and weaknesses. For example, Cahill is a superior header of the ball, while Donovan is a better creator. Donovan is more accomplished on the internaitonal stage, while Cahill has had a better European club career. So, my question, who would you rather have on your team - Cahill or Donovan? For which team - national, club, or whichever?
Personally, i don't think Donovan or Cahill are remotely close to the same type of player. I'd love to have either one.........and it's a close call. If I have to have one I go Cahill, but I'm also an Everton fan. So I know how much that guy has meant to our squad over the last 5 years.
Quick note - I never said they are same type of player. I said that they play roughly same position, and to me, seem roughly of same value...
Yeah, for the US's style - Donovan. For Austrailia's - Cahill. For Everton, Cahill is more valuable than Donovan, but if Donovan keeps getting better, that'll be a tougher argument to make. Each player's worth is entirely dependent upon the team's playing style.
I probably would take Donovan but should take Cahill. As an aside, I'm still in awe of Cahill's vertical leap and have been for some time. Yes, he completely lost his man and was virtually unmarked, but the sheer height he got on that header against Wigan. Holy guacamole that guy's got some serious hops.
Let me try to put this in a little perspective. Tim Cahill has scored 41 goals in 153 EPL games (.268 per game). Brian McBride scored 44 goals in 161 EPL games (.273). Cahill and McBride are similar players and quite comparable in terms of productivity. Does anyone believe McBride was anywhere close to the player Donovan is? Different styles complicate the analysis but I think the answer to that is rather obvious.
Cahill does that against everybody. He's scored 41 league goals in 153 league games for them, which is awfully good for a midfielder not named Lampard. And I'd bet a large percentage of those 41 goals have come on headers. What's odd is that Cahill has nowhere near as many caps as you'd think he would. He's only been capped by Australia 37 times.
I think part of the reason for low caps is Australia's relatively low number of meaningful internationals. Up until this WCQ cycle, their qualifying campaign really consisted of one home-and-away series. There was really no reason for Cahill to fly to play American Samoa and Tuvalu.
I don't consider Cahill and McBride remotely similar players. McBride was a target forward, and Cahill is a midfielder.
I think we're forgetting that this is Donovan's first year in the EPL. Generally speaking it takes players a year or 2 to adapt. The fact that he has stepped into the Everton lineup almost seemlessly is pretty incredible. Let's revisit this a year from now.
People really need to stop thinking of Cahill as a midfielder. What defensive duties does he have . . . ? He's not a midfielder anymore. The reason that his goal scoring rate is low is because he used to be a midfielder. But now that he has shown Moyes and the world that he is one of the best headers-of-the-ball in the world, he's deployed much further upfield.
Im not sure how you can reach that conclusion. Cahill has been a scoring threat in the worlds best league, on a highly competitive team for several years now. Not taking anything away from Donovon, but he couldnt hack it in Germany, a league which doesnt even deserve a comparison to the EPL.
Dumb statement. Its the type of statement I've only ever read from conceded Eurosnobs or American soccer haters.
Its a good thing im niether huh? I live in hawaii and have paid serouis money to travel to the mainland on several occasions to see my yanks play. Just because i acknowledge the skill of a player whom isnt american doesnt make me a snob. It makes me intelligent. Or does it hurt your baby ears to hear any bad comments about landycakes?
Cahill's heading prowess has been on display for years. Until Everton's frontline got depleted by injury, how often did Cahill play as a forward? I wouldn't bet on him staying as a forward once the injured forwards become available.
I think it is unfair to compare them. They bother have entirely different qualities and are both key players for their national teams (arguably THE key players). If Donovan signed permanently for us, he could become a key player for Everton too, just like Tim Cahill is. You guys may argue about Cahill having so few caps compared to Donovan, but your forgetting, Cahill was unable to play for Australia until he was nearly 25 due to the fact he had represented Samoa when he was like 14. Since then, Cahill has also had 3 massive injuries, that have taken huge amounts of playing time out - if my math is right, its basically 18 months. He also does not play in any of the meaningless friendlies or whatever, that Donovan is likely to have done for the US. So for me, the international caps argument just doesn't fly. Cahill has proven himself in the EPL for a number of years and is one of the best attacking midfielders come forwards in the league, his strike rate is quite fantastic and he always pops up when you need a goal most. Probably one of, if not THE, best headers of a ball in world football - especially for his height.Donovan has not had the same opportunities to prove himself at the same level for a prolonged period. If he had been given the same time, he may well have done, and might still do, heck I hope he does!! For us hopefully!! Anyways, Cahill is a huge player for Everton and Australia, he is a massive influence in the dressing room, and is a real fans favourite as he truly loves the club and works his socks off, wearing his heart on his sleeve every match, even when out of form. He's probably Everton's player of the last decade, and has in my view, been the key cog in Everton's revival under Moyes. From what I have seen, heard of Donovan over time, he is a similar character and is already growing to be loved by the Everton faithful, he has just not had the same opportunities to prove it. I'll leave it to this, both fantastic players, both key players for their countries and right now, both big players in Everton's current run of form. I'm going to enjoy them both while they here, hopefully a long time, and hope they can come together and propel us to trophies and up the league.
Just for the record, Cahill did play in the defensive midfield a few times the past few years due to injuries, and occasionally plays your typical CM role. So comparing his goal-scoring record to McBride is incorrect.
I think that I would take Donovan because of how much of an impact he has for the USMNT from his mid position. He is a factor in so many goals from set pieces, pks, goals, assists, wasn't he a factor in like 75% of the US goals in qualifying. Not to mention Donovan also has very good work rate on defense. While Cahill is a very good player in his own right, I just think Donovan plays too big of a role for the team and I'm not sure Cahill would replace all of that production.