i got into a discussion with my friend (also an obsessive soccer fan) who swears that DMB is completely overrated. to paraphrase his argument, essentially: How can the US stake a claim as an emerging soccer power when DMB a player who loses possession quite often, whose best move is running with blazing speed right into opposing players to draw fouls, who doesn't have great touch, who can't cross that well, who doesn't score that often (nor possesses a great shot with which to score), and who does not possess great passing vision be considered a lock for WC 2006? my counter is that: beasley's hype lies much in the potential of what he could do. speed, quick interplay, defensive cover, versatility and are all qualities he displays often but sometimes inconsistently (except speed). if he learns better timing and improves his ball handling, he can be one of the best in concacaf. as far as losing possession and touch, i point to the portugal game as a case in point where his dribbling put him in dangerous positions quite often. i think his vision as far as quick play with other players is adequate to good (and getting better). i accept that his crossing is nearly non-existent. in fact, i haven't even seen him attempt a cross in the traditional sense. my friend, feels that portugal is somewhat of an anomaly due to underestimation by portugal. what do you guys think?
well...beasley's like what all of 20 years old...remember he does have many years to grow. also he did quite a bit against teams like holland allowing him to start and perform against portugal. one thing to remember about beasley. he was not healthy on saturday...let's get him healthy then decide what kind of a future he'll be. cyberthoth
"Running withblazing speed" is a great asset. DMB had a rough game against Argentina, but so have some other very good players. I think he is very good and improving.
Even with his injury he managed a few good runs down the left side. He is a talent that is for sure, I dont see how anyone couldnt see that.
As far as DaMarcus goes, I think that cyberthoth hit it on the head.....he has great potential, I think he needs to become more position oriented--he will and always will be an outside middie in my opinion, fast as hell, not enough vision to play in the middle and not enough attacking skills to take people on one on one or a great finishing power either.....needs to develop a beter cross----completely has the potential, the next several months should tell.....untill then the jury is still out for me... -PB20
Having seen him mature over the last two years have been great...His most underrated skill is his defensive abilities...No, he doesnt belong at left back, but he tracks back well and can play the wing in a 3-5-2...He isnt a great crosser per se and he needs to learn when to try to get by a player with speed (For example, the time he tried to knock it past the Argentine defender inside his own half which led to a counter), but he isnt afraid to take a player one on one and has speed that many defenders cant handle. Hes only 20 and has gotten better every season. He has a lot to learn and hopefully he will learn to correct his weaknesses. You cant call him a lock because he might just be as good as he is now and someone like Convey or even Brad Davis might improve dramatically...or some other young player might step up as well...Calling anyone a lock for 2006 is tough to do as our roster for 2002 shows.
How can DMB be completely overrated when he’s not that highly rated?? 1. We haven’t read anyone appoints him as the next USMNT savior. 2. We haven’t read anyone appoints him as the first US world-class player. 3. We haven’t even read anyone appoints him as a can’t-miss starter for 2006. Pretty much the consensus here (and in the media) is that he’s a 20-yr old with a lot of upside (speed, composure, toughness, being energetic, playing two ways, developing skills) but he’s also small and not as advanced as many foreign youth stars at this stage. How can he be completely overrated? The bottom line is he’s more advanced and skillful (in part thanks to MLS and national team experience) than Cobi when Cobi was a 20-yr old, and Cobi despite his limitations (so-so finishing, so-so on-field vision and heavy touches) turned out to be a very USEFUL player for USMNT. Give DMB a few years, and he could be next Cobi without some of Cobi’s limitations. We will see…
this seems a bit silly - so yeah he had a relaively poor showing v argentina, but only 6 months ago he was enjoying a splendid WORLD CUP AT 20 - id tell anyone who is so down on him to be patient - the evolution is not complete here if i had one major beef, its that he too often tries to dribble thru 3 guys in his own end instead of moving the ball quickly to a teammate and taking off down the wing - all the same im only too happy to let him develop ove this next cycle (which is not always pleasant i admit) - im sure he will be counted on in germany
At least he's not afraid to go at people. I can see the concerns over his production, but his offensive awareness is very good and he can pass. He really looks dangerous in MLS games, and will be a very good international player with time. All you heard from players and coaches during the World Cup was how the sport is becoming a young man's game and that speed kills. DMB is all of that....
I'll be the minority opinion. 8) I think DMB didn't have a good world cup. DMB was effective against a Portugal team that was obviously not ready for him nor prepared for our speed and aggresion at all. DMB had a bad game against Korea and was a non factor for the rest of the World Cup do to injury. Is 1 effective (but not great) game, 1 bad game, 1 noneffective sub game, and 2 sitting out games injured a good Cup? No. WAIT! Don't flame me. The reason Beasley had a bad game against Korea was because they literally fouled him EVERY time he touched the ball. And Beasley rarely got the calls. Why did Beasley have a bad game against Argentina? Actually he started off good in almost creating a PK for the US. After that Argentina sent him to the turf EVERY time he got the ball. Winning a string of free kicks in the middle third of the field does nothing for us. What does DMB need to do? He needs to become tougher, being able to ride out some of these challenges. He needs to be able to slot passes better and cross better. He needs to get a credible shot from outside the 18. What current USMNT player was actually a lot like DMB around 20-24? Cobi Jones. Cobi basically had speed and the "speed move". Cobi was a terrible dribbler, shooter, and passer but he's developed into a much better and tougher player. DMB needs to do the same. Right now there are only two players that are locks to be on the WC roster in 06 in my mind and they are Bocanegra and Donovan. I could definitely imagine a situation where DMB misses out. And despite all the hype about our young guys (Donovan, Convey, DMB), none of them are as good of midfielders as Reyna was at 20. Of course I believe Reyna was better in 92-96 than from 98-02 for what its worth.
BTW I watched a bunch of pre94 World Cup games a couple weeks ago (93 US Cup vs Germany and England and a couple games from 94). Its interesting to see how bad we played back then and how most of our game was revolving around sending through balls for a speedy forward like Stewart, Wynalda, or Cobi or watching Harkes or Tab try to beat players 1v1 on the wings. I'm not sure that the current young players are actually any better than the young players that were in that pool, but I do think they are more tactically sound. Reyna did make some nice dribbling runs and appeared to be an attacking playmaking of the future for us though 8(
This is simply not correct. Claudio, at 20, was a player that showed great potential, but tended to disappear from games. I watched him play frequently for UVa. Although he was obviously much, much more talented than the other college players, even at that level he would drift in and out of the games. He certainly struggled to leave his mark on any full international game that he played. We will never know what he would have done in a World Cup at that age because he pulled his hamstring on the eve of the 94 World Cup. Until he joined Rangers later in his career, a common knock on him was that he was soft mentally. Donovan, Beasley and Convey are way ahead of where Claudio was at 20, not because they are that much more talented than him(if at all), but primarily due to the fact that all of them have several years of experience as a professional, while Claudio had no professional experience at 20. I am a big fan of Claudio Reyna. I think he has worked very hard to make himself into the type of player that many of us had always hoped he would. But your assertion that he was ahead of today's group of players at age 20 ignores both the career of Claudio and the career of these players. Demarcus had one off game. His work rate and his quickness were still there. For some reason, his decision making was off on holiday. Still, the block that he made on the wide open Argentine player's shot was special. He needs to do a better job of preparing himself mentally for that class of opponent. He has done it before and he will do it again. Demarcus is not underrated. Demarcus is 20.
At 20 Claudio could dribble in TIGHT spaces better than any of those players (whether just to get away from pressure or in attack). Don't you agree? At 20 Claudio had excellent vision and frequently set up goals even in Spain (Olympics) where he had 2 assists in 3 games. I'd argue that only Donovan passes as well as Claudio did then. Don't you agree? At 20 Claudio was a threat to score from midfield which DMB isn't and I can't remember a Donovan goal from the run of play where he was playing midfield in a real competition (I can't remember one in a friendly either, but I'm sure someone will pull up some Jamaica friendly or some such). Convey is finishing better in MLS though and I wouldn't argue against Convey being as good or better than Reyna was. Do you disagree with that? Now where they all have Claudio is experience. He stayed at Virginia because of a promise he had made his dad instead of going pro when the Euros wanted him at 19 and 20. He didn't play in the 1990 World Cup though he was probably better than some of the guys that actually saw playing time there. I just think that Claudio had more raw talent than any of those 3 as a young midfielder. Drifting in and out of games, experience, and toughness he might not have had. However in raw midfield skills he was IMO better than those 3 are now. Also I'm not saying more effective. DMBs speed can do things Reyna simply couldn't against some opponents, etc.
To get of Reyna and back to Beasley; I think he neets a strong supporting cast to be a factor. With others are drawing the defense away from him, he becomes a factor when the ball is played back to him. He is not a factor when he tries to "be the main man" Argentina pretty much took him out of the game because nobody else was drawing their attention. I don't think much of his passing/crossing ability. His biggest asset is speed down the wing.
I used to agree with your friend, Terp, until the World Cup. I was joyfully proved wrong that Beasely couldn't play well at the internatinal level (I was never impressed with him as an MLS player, mush less a national team player). I think given his performance in Korea, he must be a consideration for the foreseeable future.
I'd say that all of our young players (see "Adu, Fredua") are overrated at this point. Of course, I think it's because we are so desperate to finally do something internationally in soccer that we build them up to be saviors. DMB, Convey, Mathis, Donovan, EJ, etc. are all nice players, but when I read posts like "the next Roberto Carlos" (I think that one was in reference to DMB, but maybe Convey?) I cringe. I have to admit I used to call DMB "DaCobi" as I thought he would be nothing more than a one-dimensional "speed move" practitioner, but his game has grown immensely. All of those players can actually run at opponents with the ball, which until recently was so rare in our game, and that skill leads to the hype. The next World Cup campaign will really show what they have got.
answer to your question is yes. He let the World Cup go to his head and his performance has slipped. I have yet to see the kid do anything near offensively productive. We have better players then him, sit him on the bench. If he wants to use his blazing speed, join a track team.
How many yellows did the Argies accumulate? PI is a factor in alot of yellows. I haven't gone through the 2nd viewing necessary to having an informed opinion on this, but if he really got fouled that much, I would expect one or two of the yellows were for PIs which fouls on DMB contributed to. And players with yellows can't make aggressive tackles from behind.
Back in November 2001, before the BS crash (or the "crashes" plural), I started a thread called "Top 10 Reasons Why DMB will make the J/K Roster." Some respondents agreed with me...some thought I was nuts. Well, this thread is deja vu all over again. But I was VERY right then...and I'll be right again here in THIS post. To wit: If healthy, in-form, and not waylaid by a serious injury over the next cycle, DMB will start and STAR for us in the Germany '06. Top 10 reasons why?? Here they are. 10. He has a tremendous work rate. 9. He is a tenacious defender. 8. With his rubber band body and loose limbed physique, he has tremendous balance -- he could be a tight rope walker if he wanted to be. This is why he has to be creamed to be knocked off the ball. 7. He gets fouled a lot. But most of the fouls occur when he gets tripped as he blows by guys, and as a result will not likely cause serious injury. He will create red cards and PKs for the national team of incredible significance before his international career is over. 6. He is a tough little son of a gun--sure he takes a licking but has he been seriously injured?? He gets UP and PLAYS. 5. He will be a seasoned international veteran...at 24!! He will have had 6 years of 1st division professional experience. Think he won't learn how to whip in deadly crosses in the next 4 years?? Think again. 4. He has a hard heavy accurate shot for which he needs very little set up time. See 90+ minute Gold Cup winning shot against Korea...NEAR POST with the keeper PROPERLY positioned!! 3. He knows how to play tight space on the ground soccer -- the idea that he can't pass is ludicrous. 2. He will have played alongside the OTHER great phenom, Donovan, for EIGHT years, and the two of them will have an understanding that will be priceless. 1. He is really, really, REALLY fast -- and will likely not lose this speed over the next 4 years. In fact, he will learn better ways to apply it. Those of you out there who want to consign him to the ash-can now, at 20, are COMPLETELY off your rockers.
No way you can call a 20 year old who showed as well as he did at the World Cup overrated. Besides, who's overrating him? I haven't seen anybody saying that he's a top player in the world of international soccer, ready to take on all comers. What I see people say is that he's a super talented kid who's already shown an ability to be a difference maker at the highest levels. How you can argue Beasley is anything less I can't imagine. He plays both ways extremely well, something necessary for a midfield player. We often get tied up worrying who's going to be playing defense in midfield or who's going to be playing offense in midfield, Claudio Reyna himself mentioned on more than one occasion that to be considered a strong midfielder in the top leagues, you must be able to do both. Guess what? This kid can. The only way the Argies stopped him was to hack him down after he beat them repeatedly and he still made a spectacular saving play on defense in the second half. I'm not even going to go on. As long as he's healthy, the kid's a lock for the roster in 2006, and will likely be a starter.
Re: Re: Re: Is DMB overrated?[R] We're sick of you playing the race card, Mike. You're just bitter that Jimmy Balls-Alot out of Enid wasn't accepted into the P-40 program. It's not because he was red, ok? It's because he sucked.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Is DMB overrated?[R] You would think so, but I'm betting race card. The Fire still make DMB carry all their bags....it's disgrace.
I'll agree with everything you said except that. He has many a times got himself stuck in traffic. And too many of those times he has brought it in on himself by not giving up the ball earlier. For everything that has said about him, positive and negative, I think DMB has been steadily improving.