Ok, that was mean to pull you in with that title, but I thought we could discuss an interesting idea. Several Dallas posters are getting the impression that Johnson is "too big for his britches". He seems to think he's not treated with the respect he deserves, even though he hasn't delivered at the MLS level yet. His constant "nagging" injuries and sometimes lazy workrate contribute to this impression. It seems like Jefferies has bent over backward to make him happy, but EJ hasn't improved at the rate expected of him. Let's say for argument sake that EJ is acting like a spoiled brat. What current coach in MLS would do a better job "developing" his talent? Installing discipline? My order: 1# Bob Bradley, Metros He has gotten Magee to show more promise that Johnson. That's impressive enough for me. Actually, Bob has a history of playing younger guys and helping them improve (Beasley comes to mind, especially on the defensive end of the field). He would give EJ a chance, but hold him accountable for his actions. Treat him like a man, but also expect him to act like one.... #2 Greg Andrulis, Columbus Boy, it was hard for me to put him at number 2. I don't think he's the sharpest coach in the league, but you can't argue with his success with younger players. Guys like Martino, Buddle, and West have gotten the chance to prove themselves and improve. It seems to me that Greg actually does a better job with rookies then he does with veterans. Father figure perhaps? #3 Sigi Schimd, Galaxy I'm putting him this high based on his experience at UCLA. He mentored a great many of the National team's attacking players. To be honest with you, I'm not sure how much he's done at LA with young strikers. He did have Mathis for a short time. Guys like Victorine, Mullen, Moreno, Bardales Jr., ect just have not proven to be potent attacking options. He has had to draft pretty low because of his team's success it should be pointed out. I thought he could take on Chris Albright and turn him into a more dangerous player. So far, nothing to write home about.... #4 Dave Sarachan, Fire This is more of a gut feeling then anything I've seen. Sarachan served for a long time under Bruce Arena, in DC and later on with the National Team. I think he knows how to nurture a young talent without letting him get "full of himself". He has shown a willingness to use young players at the start of this season and they are responded well for him. Guys not fit for this duty: Frank Yallop, Quakes He has done a great job developing young defensive talent. On the other hand, guys like Carrieri, Luchi Gonzalez, Barclay, Agogo, Bowers, ect have offered little positive impression on their "development". Ray Hudson, DC Up and down for young players. Quaranta was often described to have a similar attitude to Johnson last year. Ray really likes veterans over young guns and I'm not sold on his developmental abilities right now. Tim Hankinson, Colorado This guy is worse then Hudson when it comes to young guys. Beckerman should be playing at a "Martino" level by now, having learned from Valderrama. Tim just expects his players to know what to do, but doesn't seem to know how to help them reach that level..... I'm of no opinion regarding Nichols or Gansler. Can't decide if they would be good or bad for EJ.....
Can someone tell me what type of "News" or "Analysis" this is and why it is on the MLS boards and not the Dallas board?
Sure...be happy to! Let's see, this is about Eddie Johnson, MLS player and his possible attitude problem. I'm looking for analysis of the abilities of the other 9 MLS coaches to bring out the best in him. Would any posters outside of Dallas fans read this thread in the Burn forum? Not many. Let's spin this off a bit to help you "fit" this into this forum. Why is it that Donovan and Beasley have such different attitudes then Quaranta and Johnson? It seems like Q1 and EJ have been quite petulant at times.....could it be Ellinger's influence?
He's been ok..... It seems he's more adept at helping young defenders (guys like Garcia and Prideaux come to mind) then attackers. Brown and Gomez haven't become consistant yet.
Frankly, if you ask me, Eddie Johnson's problems have nothing to do with coaching. They have everything to do with Eddie himself. At some point, HE has to have an attitude that he has proven nothing at this level -- NOTHING -- and that all the plaudits at the U-17 and U-20 levels only get him a foot in the door. He himself has to make himself the player that everyone thinks that he can be. Mike Jeffries has lived up to his end of the bargain. He's been starting EJ. Now it's time for EJ to live up to his end.
Yeah, Jefferies has given playing time to EJ, but that's not all there is to developing Johnson's talents. What kind of environment is Jefferies creating? What kind of respect is he recieving from Johnson? It seems to me that Dallas creates "shooting stars". Players burn bright for their first season, then fade away. I would say that Vaca and Suarez teased us all with their trememdous starts, only to regress the last few seasons. Perhaps Rhine as well. Is this Jefferies fault?
I don't think "not fit for this duty" is an appropriate characterization for FY. Whether or not he would tolerate that attitude on a team where everyone, everyone works for each other is another question. Frank is excellent at getting the players to believe in the system. He has taken and "developed" some guy named Landon Donovan so that he is excelling. It may be different in that he has a different attitude than EJ but from what I heard Donovan was very cocky before playing in MLS. Anyways, Frank took another talented Dallas problem and got 14 goals out of him and even made him play defense, something he had never done in his entire life: Ariel Graziani.
Yallop doesn't give young offensive players many minutes (unless their name is Donovan). I think Yallop deserves some of the praise regarding Landon's development, but let's be honest. Donovan came to the Quakes with most of his current skills and abilities. It's a no-brainer to have him in the line up. Now his amazing workrate, let us give much of the credit to Yallop for developing that! If Eddie Johnson bought into the "Yallop system", then he might develop much faster, but I really doubt he would have played any more then Jefferies has played him. There is just no evidence that Yallop will count on offensive production from teenagers. Take a look at the amount of limited subs that Frank has used this season. Some games he has the starters go the full 90! Alverez has shown promise, but he's been left on the bench even when the starters look tired.....
Re: Re: Eddie Johnson has an attitude problem Not that he developed any of them from scratch, but Yallop has played Brian Ching, DoRosario and Mullen frequently since he has been in San Jose - all of them are young, all of them are offensive and all of them are (or have) developed since they started at San Jose. I guess Mullen is a stretch, but at least he finished a good shot last week rather than made a hash of it, and in interviews he has talked about being happy on his new team. Any team that lost so many key starters and emerged playing as a top unit the way that San Jose has reflects well on the coaches ability to steer his young (replacement) players into roles that they can handle and develop in. And for those who say that Landon had all of the skills coming in that he possesses now - he is playing much more of a playmaker/attacking midfielder role than he did coming over from Germany. In this role he is much more exposed than he is when playing off the ball and running onto passes. At the very least, Yallop has been working on his confidence and his field vision - there are many players with great athleticism and ball skills who lack the vision/tactical instincts to succeed in this type of offensive role, but are good enough to do well in a more rigidly-defined role.
Hell, if you can't even spell Nicol, it's good thing you don't have an opinion either way. Generally I'd say Steve is good with bringing along young players. Shalrie Joseph has emerged as "this year's phenom" and a large part of that is Nicol giving him a fair shot to compete with Cullen and Herndandez for a midfield role. Nicol has also gotten a fair amount (so far) from Pat Noonan, another rookie. As for "attitude problems," Nicol took charge of the situation with Daniel Hernandez making comments to the press, disciplined him enough to make him understand the seriousness of it all, but didn't hold a grudge and let him play his way back into the team. DH had a great game vs Chicago Saturday. Nicol has always been honest and direct with his players and very clear on what he expects of each of them. This combination makes me believe he could do an excellent job in straightening out Eddie if that was ever the case. However, he'd be the fourth forward at best here, so if he is upset about playing time, he won't get it here unless he's traded in a deal that involves Wolde Harris. Tom
Re: Re: Re: Eddie Johnson has an attitude problem Yallop doesnt like guys with attitudes. If EJ has a 'tude I doubt Yallop would try and work on him, hed ship him out and get someone thats his kind of guy. See Carrieri.
Give me a break. He put up those kind of numbers or better in each of his years at Dallas. Yallop had absolutely nothing to do with it. Not that I deny his coaching skills, mind you. It's just that your inference that he turned around someone who wasn't producing in Dallas is ridiculous. By the way, how long did Graz end up staying in SJ?
I'm not denying that Graz put up good numbers at Dallas but as I recall he was not doing that well and wasn't getting along with Jeffries when the latter decided to get rid of him. I mentioned him because of FY's ability to get him to buy into the system: i.e. everybody working for everybody else. As I understood things, Graz did not do that very much in Dallas. He scored goals, and that's it. In SJ he scored goals. And defended. (at least until the playoffs...)
And shipped him on out after the year! Yallop doesnt like attitudes. Great coach, but doesnt have patience for head cases.
To my understanding, Donovan was not very cocky before playing in MLS. He was when he first went to Germany and when coming back to train with the other U17s or U20s it caused some problems; coach pulled him aside and then pulled the rest of the team aside, and it all got straightened out, that Donovan changed his attitude. Then sitting on the bench cooling his jets in Germany further took him down. He's basically said he was scared when he came to the Quakes. I also think Yallop has done a great job in helping LD build his confidence; his playing this year seems to be years ahead of where he was last year. Though he's playing forward, he's really directing the offense and plays almost as an attacking midfielder. It's also reflecting in his Nats team duties as well.
Why are we asking those questions about the coach? At what point do start putting the responsibility for a professional player's career in that player's hands? The fact of the matter is that Eddie Johnson is now a professional player. He is now in the stage of his career where success or failure rides primarily in his hands. This ain't youth soccer anymore. It's Mike Jeffries' fault that Joselito Vaca is completely unsuited for playing center mid in this league due to his small size and his propensity for getting muscled off the ball? And I'm interested in hearing how Ryan Suarez has "faded away." Oh yeah, please explain how Bobby Rhine has "faded away" as well, considering that he has pretty much overachieved as a player with very marginal talent and who should be playing in the A-League. Finally, if we're going to lay the blame for Vaca's slight build and Suarez and Rhine's alleged "fading away" on Jeffries, do we not give him credit for Paul Broome's transition from a forward/wing to a competent left-sided defender who has done a very good job keeping last year's flavor-of-the-week, Chris Gbandi, on the bench? Or maybe Jordan Stone's progress from a high school player to one that's getting increasing amounts of time as a substitute? Speaking of Stone, people who regularly cover the Burn (*cough*3rddegree.net*cough*) will tell you that Jordan Stone has vastly more professionalism and maturity than Johnson does, despite being two years younger, and that he does a lot more to continuously improve himself as a professional player.
His production was not a problem. A combination of poor attitude, poor chemistry, and big money got him shipped off to San Jose. And obviously, those three things got him shipped out of the league from San Jose. There's a reason why he's been with so many clubs in his career.