Not much going for the U.S. right now, but the Metros/Equakes match yesterday got me thinking. The playmaker i.e. the true #10 has always been a favorite of mine. I love watching players like Zidane, Rui Costa, Rosicky work their magic. But the position has always been a problem position for the U.S. especially the lack of alternatives behind Claudio Reyna. Donovan has played there a few times but I think he works much better as support striker or a rightwinger. But watching Eddie Gaven's MOM performance yesterday made me more optimistic than I have been in a while. He's big, he's strong, he held the ball very well, had the confidence to run at the defense and set up the Metro's first goal with and excellent first-time ball. And the kid is only 16. I was impressed. So I am posing two questions: Will Gaven be ready for 2006 when he will be all of 19, and with the development of Martino/Convey/Gaven will the playmaker position go from one of weakness to a position of depth for the U.S
I think Gavin's long-term prospects are best at striker. He was totally underwhelming at attacking mid in Finland this summer.
He's tall but not big nor strong. But that'll come when he gets older and go to the gym more often. He'll held the ball better if he builds up.
And Gaven was also playing INJURED at that tournament. Beware of making a judgement on someone from such a small sample of games ......
I don't understand why people keep thinking size needed for a true #10 playmaker. Aimar is 5'7" - 135 lbs and arguably the best playmaker right now. Oh, yeah, and both #10 legends Platini and Maradona had Arnold's build.
It's not necessary, but it doesn't hurt. Zidane's strength and size are certianly an asset to his game. Once Gaven puts on a few pounds he could be like having an Aimar-like mind in a Patrick Veira-like body. Not a bad combination in my book. That's interesting about his injury in Finland. I too was underwhelmed by his preformance there, but have been impressed everytime I've seen him in MLS. The key again is that he is 16. His potential is extremely exciting.
There is no doubt about that! he is very exciting! and yes, he played injured at the U-17's. So did Freddy Adu. Both of those players were injured in the run-up to the WC when they were playing in England. It was reported when it happened, but never mentioned during the tournament because they didn't want to be crybabies. After the U.S. was eliminated, Freddy came out and said that he was just too limited by his ankle problem. If i were a metro fan, i would be loving life right now, because his potential is enormous (Gaven). Hopefully, i can be saying the same thing about Adu at DCU next year! LOL
9. Plus at least one Open Cup game. A lot of people rubbished Gaven at the Under 17s, but I thought he was better than many, particularily Memo, DiRamiodo and Ashe. What he lacked in that tournament, which he clearlyshowed in his last MLS game, was speed and quickness. Which could very well been a result of injury, which is now gone.
thank you for backing me up. plus, i've seen him at other u-17 games where he has shown himself much better than the 2 or 3 that people might have seen in Finland. I always have a problem with that personally. guys careers are defined over 6 or 7 WC games when they have played perhaps several hundred games where they have been very good besides that.
What is also encouraging is that he is developing under an excellent coach who seems to have a great deal of confidence in him and views him as key to the team's future. Hopefully this will prevent him from suffering the setback we saw with Quaranta/Johnson.
I see what you are saying, but give Huddy a break. Quaranta's problem is not confidence in the coach or the coach's confidence in him, but rather his confidence in his body! The guy seems to have medical issues at every turn and can't seem to stay on the field because of it.
Gaven I could have sworn I heard that Gavin and Szetela played as holding/d-mids, supporting Memo. Way out of position for his talent and previous experience. Didn't he also draw two penalty kicks. I didn't see those games but when I have seen him play for the Metros he has looked solid in attack.
G-A-V-E-N. Yes, he is very skilled at a young age and he has quite a lot of potential. There are players, though, that either grow early, plateau or just don't continue to improve and end up as average players when once they were so promising. We should be careful about putting him into the # 10 shirt 3 years from now when he'll be all of 19, going against the imposing physical mids of the world class teams we will face. Everyone thought Carrieri and Quaranta would be starting on the Nats right now the way the press was talking about them when they were drafted, and time has shown otherwise. I am cautiously optimistic about Gaven, but I don't want to rush the kid. Let him spend 3 full seasons in MLS and then we'll see. He can dribble and pass very well, and has good size. In his limited play with the Metro, 9 games but just 4 starts in league, he has shown well and earned a starting spot. That's positive, but let's not get too crazy. As soon as he hits 18 and starts to fill out, we'll see how fast he will eventually be and what kind of player he has the ability to turn into. If he could turn into a taller, healthier, right-footed JOB I would be pretty psyched about that. I don't know that 10 is his natural position, or that striker is where he will end up either. He is basically a right attacking mid. He doesn't spend a lot of time defending, but that's not to say he can't or won't develop that skill. I think a midfield of Gaven, Donovan, Beasley and Martino could be fun to watch in the coming years. BTW, in case you want to feel old, his birthday is October 25, 1986, the day Bill Buckner ole'd Mookie Wilson's slow roller allowing Ray Knight to score to beat the Red Sox in Game 6 of the 1986 series. Yes, he's that young.
Re: Gaven It seemed to me that Gaven and Memo were flipping back and forth between the attacking and holding midfield spots. Neither one seemed to have a real clear role though.
All good points. I certainly think he was one of the better players on the U17 roster - which was full of duds, IMO. He'll make a good pro, but I'm not convinced he'll be a great player. Consider me once bitten twice shy with Convey, who has dramatically underwhelmed me in his short career to date. But speed and quickness do not make a good #10. A good striker, yes, but not a number #10. I stand by my earlier assessment that his future is at striker. Gaven's biggest problem, IMO, is his propensity to dive and for theatrics. Hanging around Guevara can't help that tendency.
Re: Gaven You're right on both counts. In fact that's what I was going to bring up here, but you beat me to it.
Has he gone through a recent growth spurt? I know this sounds obvious, but when you are growing you are more prone to injuries and touches would be off. As for his future, would be be a plaer that could play right outside? We seem to have many quality forwards and attacking mids in our youth system, but not a whole lot of wingers. With his speed and skill I think he could make an excellent wing as long as he works on his defense (he can start by playing it).
Having watched his entire pro career to date, I see more of him as an attacking mid than as a striker, but we'll see where he ends up. It could just be that his dribbling through traffic and passing skills are ahead of his shot taking skills at this point; his shooting has been solid but not overly impressive. Some of his runs, especially through traffic, have been dazzling. If the shooting catches up or passes that skill, great, but right now I see him more in the role of a van der Meyde than a McBride.
Many soccer fans are really satisfy with MLS and the decision to hire a 16 years old with the skill and motivation of this kid, compliments to whoever make this inception a reality and I hope we can have few more wiz kids on our soccer league . It be nice if we could have the names and facts about Gaven and his inception on MLS. some of the experts could be really helpfull on this inquire....