"C.J. Brown, a guy I have never been extremely fond of, played tough, hard-nosed defense on big...." Everytime i read something this guy writes i want to punch him in the face. not like downtown CJ Brown? seriously what is his problem?
I suppose that this is the time that I'm supposed to tell you that all soccer coverage is good soccer coverage, but since I agree with you, I won't. I guess we're just bad fans.
Why are you bad fans? Seems like having differing opinions on players' abilities & contributions is part of being a fan - for you, me, and Huebner. The day when everybody agrees on each & every player's talent level is the day when there's nobody on the team.
I can't believe you guys are big C.J. Brown fans. He has been along for the ride for much of his time with the Fire. He couldn't hack it on the U.S. National squad, a squad that year in and year out are short on backliners. Explain what is so good about C.J. Maybe I am just missing what you have been watching.
The issue is not if Brown can play well at the International level, but if he can play well for the Fire, and he can. You're the same guy who attacks Ante Razov CONSTANTLY. He is our all-time leading scorer, a great player and since you seem to measure everybody by how the play for the Nats, let me inform you that Razov was our leading scorer in Qualifying before getting injured. In fact his GAA (Goals/Assists per 90 minutes) is higher than McBride's and almost at Wolff's. Both of their's are head and shoulders above Donovan. I don't know what Fire team you are watching, but maybe your fat glory-hunting Manchester United "fan" ass is too busy fondling yourself at the thought of Jeff Garcia.
I was very excited with the play of CJ in year one and saw him make great strides through year two. It was shortly after his first go round with the Nats that I thought he stopped making these great strides. I still don't know what happened. Did his fall from US NAts favor affect his confidence? Has he topped out? I'm not certain. Can he play well for the Fire? Yes, but he also makes mistakes that put the opposition into a great scoring opportunities. Somehow, I thought by this point those mistakes would stop happening. A fellow Chivas fan once told me that the hardest thing for futbol fans is to admit that their favorites have reached a level where they are replaceable. That is, where the team around them will only get better if somebody can be brought in to replace them, to upgrade the talent level at that position. As somebody who was/still is a CJ fan, I realize that he is one player who they will need to replace to grow. Of course, with MLS's budget rather than a transfer system, that may be easier said than done. As for Razov, he can be infuriating to watch, even with all the goals he's scored for us. Maybe some of you love him unconditionally but I'm not in that camp either. Well, there's an brilliant example of sticking to the issue.
He's our goon on the blue line. Everyone keeps their head up when CJ's bearing down. Whoops, wrong sport.
OUCH. Very ouch. CJ is a rock for Chicago. He hasn't played well for the US? Better for us...we get to keep him.
*sigh* Don't worry. You're just dealing with the prospect of missing the playoffs for another decade like the rest of us.
Don't get me started on Razov. He went to Europe, and was found out as a guy who could not play at the next level. He is a very good player in MLS, and yes, he did do very well on the international level before getting hurt. His stupid red card earlier this season, for an intentional handball, after he already had a yellow card, hurt the Fire...while he was being selfish. For a guy that gets as many GOOD scoring chances as Razov does, he should score more than he does. If you don't agree with that, there is no hope for you. He has gotten better at actually putting his shots on goal. There may be hope for him yet. See...it is possible to make a point, and not make a fool of yourself. Try it sometime...gohawks4!
You can never say anything good about Razov or Brown with out a back-handed compliment can you Fred? Nobody gives a damn if Razov can play in Europe. Nobody asked that.
Fred, I send you an email now and then, but I would just like to reiterate that I really appreciate the fact that you cover the Fire. Of course, I don't always agree with what you write, but you do write with passion and conviction, and for that I congratulate you. gohawks4, I enjoy that Fred posts here. don't ruin it for the rest of us. Thanks in Advance.
I like Fred coming here too. I don't disagree with all he says like about the Razov hand ball, but I wish he wouldn't have the mind-set of "I'm on the radio and you aren't so I am smarter than you" that is so oftenly used by Mike North.
I've thought that he was better when under the guidance of Francis and Lubos. He seems to have drifted a bit since those days, but hopefully he'll pull it all together. He makes some bad tackles, but I don't see him out of position very often. He doesn't get burned like we did to the Metros defense, he's just too rough sometimes (although our team does need an enforcer.) I'd say he's above average for the league but not as good as Carlos.
I don't think he was "found out" by any means. He did pretty well in Spain actually. I distinctly remember him scoring a hat trick over there as well. As of this moment, Ante has scored 11 goals. 9 regular and 2 penalties. That's almost 38% of the total goals (27) that the Fire have scored this season. Razov also has 4 assists on the season giving him a total of 26 MLS points. The next highest is Josh Wolff with 4 goals and 4 assists for 12 points. Dema Kovalenko has 7 assists... no goals. I find him frustrating as well, but if Ante Razov scored on every opportunity he had, The Chicago Fire would never lose and would have been the champion every year since 1998. Razov would also not only have proven himself as someone who could play at the next level, but would be the greatest striker in the history of the sport. Thank god he was here during the World Cup.
On the contrary, I think Fred doesn't fall into that trap very often about any sport and when it comes to soccer, he has often said that he considers himself more of a fan than an expert. Of course, like all fans, Fred also wants to fix anything that's wrong, and that's where fans usually dig in to protect their stated arguments. Good point Bunge. Maybe CJ is one of those players who plays best as a sidekick rather than as the leader of a unit. That's exactly what's so frustrating Iceblink. He has the ability, he has the instincts, the opportunities are presented so many times, yet he is streaky. He's not consistent and that's the difference between world class and "mere" MLS star. Who knows, maybe one day, Razov will step up that one more level and the Fire will never lose. On the bright side, almost every time Fred has mentioned Razov's missing the net often, Ante has usually responded with a couple goals - look out DC!
Oh. My. Lord. Do you have any idea how bad the team he was playing for was? I don't care if you were Fernando-freakin-Morientes, no pure striker was gonna score early and often for that team. Racing de Ferrol...next level. You funny. No hope for me then. Maybe we should break down opportunites/goals for the 'great' strikers of the world. I'll guarantee you Ante's a lot closer than you think. Bottom line: HE SCORES FOR US. What more can you freaking ask.
Oftenly? Keep posting Fred. Just don't get offended when in the heat of a good argument we use the word moron. You can too! It's fun!
I am probably the least sensitive guy you can meet. If you listen to all the cr*p I take from Boers and Bernsy, you would understand what I mean. And, as for being an expert, as JT mentioned, I am still learning the game. I by no means am an expert. I love this board because I can learn from it. I am off to see Razov and Brown shut down DC United.
Huh? Wasn't that you saying that the mean ol' nasty "Barn Burners" ruined your Fire match viewing experience with some profanity? Well, you saw it. DC was shut down. Personally, I think Boca has a hell of an off night, and CJ looked pretty damned solid to me.