Re: Jemal Johnson joins MK Dons There's quite a number of players in League 1 currently who are full inetrnatrionals mainly coming from: from UK + Ireland (excluding England), commonwealth CONACAF countries, other commonwealth countries (such as Australia) and African countries. It's not just any old 3rd tier,I'd say due to the genral strength of lower league football in England it is the strongest 3rd tier league in the world. The Championship and the MLS are very different leagues. You just have tolook at season length, squad sizes, national/local profile, the fact that the Championshipis subject to promotion and relegation, etc to see this. Any direct comparision is then quite difficult, but to me to say the MLS is as good as the Championship tends to flatter the MLS rather than to flatter the Championship. I think Jemal Johnson is worth a look for the USMNT if nothingelse. Whilst the USMNT still relies quite a lot on the MLS for players, I don't thinkit's a good idea to dismiss players out of hand jsut because they play in League 1.
Re: Jemal Johnson joins MK Dons I think he needs to play at higher level than the English 3rd division to be an international, so apparently I'm a meathead. That's my opinion. I can support it with expert opinions on the level of MLS and the professional leagues currently represented on the US national team (England 1 and 2, Germany 1 and 2, France 1, Scotland Old Firm, Spain 2, Belgium 1/UEFA Cup, Mexico 1, and MLS) Jemal may get called up for the USA B squad this summer, and good for him. But don't expect him to get a callup for the A team until he is playing at a higher level. And I have a feeling Bob Bradley will tell him as much. I'd be interested to hear your couterpoint, stated in a similar concise manner.
Re: Jemal Johnson joins MK Dons there're no point in comparing leagues. if MK DOns get promoted this year, now you're going to change your opinion and all your previous posts are pointless. I rather look for a player who's in form and have talent rather than just being bias and tell him you're not good enough because you play in league 1. How about the past two world cups? half of our roster consists of MLS players? we had 1 more MLS player in our roster in 2002 world cup compare to 2006. does that mean we did worst in 2002 than 2006? hypothetical question for you: you're coach Bradley, JJ performs well in Gold Cup. He's on Gold Cup best eleven. He shows he can play in right side. Your right side option is limited at best. MK Dons stay in league 1 next year. Would you call up JJ again?
Re: Jemal Johnson joins MK Dons Of course. And if Joe Enochs gets the callup and makes the Gold Cup best 11 ,then I'll call him again too. However it's my opinion is that a player with the talent to fufill your hypothetical is unlikely to be found in the English 3rd division, the German 3rd division, the Belgian 2nd division, etc. That's the fundamental disagreement here.
Re: Jemal Johnson joins MK Dons If every single US player in the Premiership and Championship without exception is good enough to play for the USMNT, then it seems complelty logical that a player in legaue 1 MIGHT be good enough to play for the USMNT, especially one who is doing well in that league, and that's not even saying that JJ should be playing in the Championship and Premiership. There are plenty of players in League 1 who are good enough to play in the Championship, just like there are plenty of players in the Championship who are good enough to play in the Premiership As it happens anyway Jemal Johnson has only this season come good in England anyway, hardly enough time to wonder why he hasn't earned a transfer to the Championship. Given his good form and the fact that he's out of contract in the Summer I wouldn't bet against him moving to a Championship club.
Re: Jemal Johnson joins MK Dons I'll contest this point. I think the US team is at the level where the Prem will get you a free pass, but not the Championship. Players like Frank Simek, who had a terrific run for Wednesday, was only involved as a fringe player, and Jay Demerit is behind players from France, Belgium and Denmark top flights. By that logic, League 1 becomes a dicier prospect.
Re: Jemal Johnson joins MK Dons first of all, Enochs is 37. JJ is still relatively young. you call up young guns for tourney like this for obvious reasons. We're talking about a player who played for Blackburn and Wolves. He's not Enochs where he spent all his career in lower league. This is his first year in league 1. You're just naive in that one. you even stated yourself. There're exceptions. So basically, all your previous arguments are now pointless since you even can see a possibility, a chance he can make it yourself. No one knows until someone is given a chance. if he racks up some goals and assists in gold cup as league 1 player, now you're going be like "yeah he plays in league 1 but sure hell he's better than John Harrington or Chris Rolfe on right side." He did all that as league 1 player? how can that be? How is that not possible? There's no fundamental crap. It's not science. there's no equation. if you find one, then prove it.
Re: Jemal Johnson joins MK Dons I think this is perhaps were we're talking at cross purposes. All the players are good enough to have some sort of role, albeit in some cases verging on the periphal. Simek's form at Wednesday should've earned him a call-up mjuch earlier, at the moment he's coming back from a long injury and hasn't had the same form for quite a while. Jay Demeit is firmly behind Bocanegra and Onyewu, but he still has his role as an a relatively experinced backup player in the squad should he needed to be called upon. I'm not saying that Jemal Johnson should start, just that he's worth looking at to see if he can play some sort of role. He can play both on the left and right wings and as a striker (though it seems he only really found his feet once he started to play as a winger). Given his versatily and the paucity US strikers who actually do it at internatioanl level, he seems worth a punt.
Re: Jemal Johnson joins MK Dons You must be arguing with that other guy. The one who said it's impossible for a League 1 player to be a US international. What I'm saying is that it's quite unlikely, because better players are typically found in better leagues. I feel this is a pretty commonly held opinion, and not the least bit naive or obtuse.
Re: Jemal Johnson joins MK Dons And he'll get his punt at the gold cup. I got roped into this starting on the post-match El Salvador threads, when Bob Bradley was criticized for not having players like Jerimiah White and Jemal Johnson available as wide options. I'll state my opinion again, for clarity. If he's good enough to be a US international, then he won't be long in League 1. And thank you for the intelligent and respectful discourse. It certainly is a welcome change.
Re: Jemal Johnson joins MK Dons dude there're only 11 players in 1 team. 2 center backs play each game. we can do the math here for this one. Demerit's been called up to qualifiers so I assume from your logic he's consider A team player. How about Spector? He's not even playing as well but he's a Premier league player... how come he's not playing? Maybe because you cant field 7 defenders at a game. how about Pearce? He was doing pretty good in Denmark and got the call up. Now all of sudden he's a German 2 bench warme. He's been starting each game for us. How can you logic that? Sometimes it's just the way it is. If we dont have enough players in that particular position, chances are you'll get the call and start. Same with the right sided midfield position, besides dempsey, who else is out there? We need to build depth for 2010 world cup from our current core. Left back and Right sided position are two positions we hardly have any. Empty your mind man.
Re: Jemal Johnson joins MK Dons Well if you wish to go past the first eleven, none of our Championship players would make an 18 man gameday roster with everyone healthy and half of them wouldn't make the final 23 man roster (based on Bradley's past and recent lineups), so it depends on how peripheral a role we're talking here. Obviously that doesn't mean a Championship player necessarily will be relegated to the fringes - Hahnemann and Simek simply play positions where we have a lot of depth, while Demerit and EJ aren't standouts in the league the way the former two have been at times. But it does mean that simply playing or even starting in the Championship isn't enough to guarantee a roster spot. I'm not sure what that says about League One, because I'm not certain quite how far the drop in quality between the Championship and League One is, but given that we have a Bundesliga II benchwarmer starting at LB, I'd say that Bradley would not deny a League One standout an opportunity to make the team if he plays a position where we're really hurting.
Re: Jemal Johnson joins MK Dons http://www.itv.com/Sport/Football/N...ws/Dons-boss-rules-out-top-two-879074981.html
Re: Jemal Johnson joins MK Dons Our left back have a question for you. Pearce: "If I am good enough for national team, how come I am still a german 2 bench warmer?"
Re: Jemal Johnson joins MK Dons Yeah just to clarify my Pearce's point. I didnt know Hansa Rostock were doing this bad. They're going to be in German league 3 if they dont start winning some games. but dont worry folks, according to Bigrose30's logic, Pearce will get a transfer to top flight b/c he's a US International starter! He's wont stay in league 3 for long.
Re: Jemal Johnson joins MK Dons I don't think he's good enough for the national team. I hope Jonny Bornstein gets the nod Wednesday. I'm a well known anti-Pearce guy.
Re: Jemal Johnson joins MK Dons You keep using the word logic. I don't think it means what you think it means.
Re: Jemal Johnson joins MK Dons Thanks for prowazekii for keeping this on topic. Can you guys stop arguing and let it go already....3 freaking pages. Go out and work or do something else besides sitting at a computer arguing with someone you don't even know.
Re: Jemal Johnson joins MK Dons theory/logic/formula/equation/science... whatever it is..you just dont like to see our national team player associated with division 3 even though he's a prospect and have potential to be league 2 player...however, Bradley has show you he doesn't give a damn what league he plays in...if he cant find the player he needs in that particular position in higher leagues, he'll go to lower league to look for the player he needs to fill the role (see Pearce) even he's bench warmer.