Can someone explain to me why frankie hejduk gets as much respect as he does? he is fast and a hard worker, but yikes! his touch is terrible as are his crosses. the one that led to a goal in the 90th min, garbage. i just dont see what the fuss is. anyone explain to me
Sure his technique is wanting. But what you have rather had? A David Regis with silky technique, yet prone to disastrous defensive mistakes?? Or a speedy, tenacious, 100 mph Frankie Hedjuk, who may have hard time crossing, but won't get caught out of position, makes dazzling recovery runs, and forces the opposition to respect his ability to get behind them on the overlap? Bruce Arena weighed in on this alterative, and took the correct alternative.
His crossing Saturday was bad - Frankie Hejduk stereotype-bad. But it looked much better in the Crew's previous games. From a technical standpoint, I thought Crew/NY was a pretty awful game altogether. From a strategic perspective, the Crew's right back got a lot of crosses off from behind the NY defense, a couple of which were troublesome. Now how about McBride's shot going for a throw-in?
At LB I would rather have Bocanegra and/or Barrett, JOB and possibly Convey in about six months. At RB I would rather have Dolo and/or Sanneh right now, Reyna possibly (just kidding) With regards to mr. Hustle and people not beating him at the back, go watch the Italy match. I am not freddie's biggest fan. I argued that he shouldn't have been included in the world cup squad because dolo deserved it more. Regardless, he has a spot on the team. Just not as a starter.
Hejduk has had two impressive runs of play in the last 5 years, and both were in the World Cup. He was, dare I say, awesome in WC 2002, and was one of the only bright spots in '98. As a nats fan, I prefer this trend to the reverse. Viva Frankie!
I've never really been a Frankie fan, because I do prefer to see guys who play with more skill, rather than getting by onphysical attributes. That being said, he has performed quite well in 2 world cups. I'm thankful he's put in the performances he has, when he has. Some players rise to big occasions, Frankie may have a bit of that in him. So, I don't wanna get too down on the guy. Still, I doubt he'll see much field time come 2006. We're still a bit thin at the back, but shouldn't be quite as thin as in 2002. He may make the aquad as a utility player, but I think his time in the sun is over.
Re: Re: Frankie Hejduk Exactly. Don't count him out for 2006, or at least in much of the qualifying run leading up to it, or even this summer's Confed and Gold Cups. He's got some guts and style on the big stage, and the mentality to not give a f&ck and not be intimidated, and just get it done. The 'Our Way' tape of WC 2002 showing him show Donovan how to throw elbows and showing him playing fake karate with the security guard, pretty much sums up the surfer dude/kamikaze attitude of ol' Frankie. And to the initial poster: what was wrong with that initial cross in the Metros game? It was perfect!
Frankie is one of the fitest players to ever play for the US. Now that he is getting consistant playing time I expect he will be ready for qualifying in 2004 and on top of his game. Frankie is a better athlete compared with Cherundolo. I don't expect to see Frankie slow down in the next couple of years. Now three years from now..... Lets just get through qualifying.