If I was Juan Agudelo and I did not start when Henry is out in a critical game I would say either trade me elsewhere or get a new coach as I do not want to waste my National Team potential and my youth for a team that does not value me. I am real worried this might happen and he elaves us if he does not start or play much tomorrow. Hans is not the type of Coach to actually coach guys to make them better, especially our pups.
I don't understand the clamor to have Agudelo on the field as a starter. All campaign long, his contributions have been minimal. He disappears for large swaths of the game. He goes to ground very easily. He makes a lot of poor distribution decisions. The instances when he has made a big impact, he has come off the bench. What is wrong with that role? He simply is not an impactful striker in this league yet. I'd rather start Rodgers and Richards up top and bring Agu on for Luke after 60 or so minutes, as Luke has been fading in the second half.
Ideally we'd have a coach that was willing to put him in the game regularly before the 85th minute, but overall I'm with amr on this one. Agudelo has had ample chances as a starter and a sub to prove his worth this season, and its pretty clear that he simply isn't a very effective player right now for the reasons that amr listed. He is 18, if he honestly not only expects but demands playing time to the point of seeking another club then he has let his own hype go to his head and that is a dangerous ego to have as a player his age. He'll get better, and when he does he'll be rewarded with playing time, but I'm not in the camp that young players should be gifted minutes as a means for development.
I guess this will sound more in favor of The Nats than RBNY, of which i am a fan of both, but Agudelo is good enough to start in this league. He's got talent and he needs to play to get better. If RBNY aren't going to start him regularly then he should seek to play elsewhere. The kid needs games.
I agree. I think he'll try to force his way out. Not a good situation for him. While he might not have been impressive in some starts he's gotten, I think a big part of that is Backe crushing his confidence. Juan is without a doubt good enough to start in MLS. Hell, ply Rogers/Henry/Juan together. Too late now, but there was amply time to do that. What, Jaun isn't ready for a bigger part in the team, and in fact has had his minutes cut, yet Ream/Ballouchy/Rafa have played like shit, and have had regular playing time all year? Well Ballouchy's got cut recently. Bottom line is, for a talent like Juan, the reason to stay in MLS is to get playing time. If he's going to sit on the bench, then he mind as well do it where the coaching and training is a higher standard, in Europe/Mex. It's almost as if Backe has gone out of his way to not give Juan minutes. The international game is much higher a level then MLS, yet Juan gets more minutes with the NT. He got more minutes vs Ecuador in RB Arena, then Backe had given him at RB Arena in well over the month prior. Rotting on the bench, for a barely mid table MLS club, which has numerous in-house issues, and an idiot coach is not a good situation any way you slice it for a guy like Juan. If Backe had actually given him consistent playing time all year, and built up his confidence, playing him tomorrow wouldn't be much of an issue. And I'm not even talking about starting. Juan hasn't even been getting the 30 mins off the bench a game he should be getting. Add to all of that, that there is a long ass off season coming up, whereas Juan should be playing club ball for close to 11 months out of the year, will hamper his development even more. If he's going to get his courtesy 10 mins a game, go do it in Holland, where the practice/training is much more meaningful. I could very well see Juan not signing an extension, and leaving for free when his contract is up, which I think is after next season if I'm not mistaken. NY already won't get anything for Ream, as he's dead set on leaving, and they've rejected offers. I doubt they'll get a penny for Juan, unless they sell him in the next 2 transfer windows. Losing Juan and Ream, without getting a penny, would be ridiculously stupid business by NY.
What the hell you expect of him playing 10 minutes or less when he get sub, the kid must be feel like a leprous or something like that.....If I will be him I will demand my transfer or dismiss from the team....
No no no no no. Please take some time to research the career arc of Brek Shea. That is the model we want a guy like Agudelo to follow. Juan Agudelo does have raw talent. But it is very raw, and requires time to develop. Everyone is so desperate for a deadly American striker that they rush to get anyone who shows the slightest promise onto the field. Let's not forget that Agu has the chance to learn from one of the greatest strikers to ever play the game.
Very few MLS clubs are great at developing young players, and NY is not one of them. If it's all about development for Juan, just another reason to leave. Breks development isn't what it could have been had he been in a foreign academy. Young guys aren't in MLS for the development, it's for playing time.
Richards starts at forward, gets winning goal. RBNY wins. Gets into playoffs. How could it be done without Agudelo on the pitch???? What are these people thinking???? What if he leaves????
Last night was a perfect example why he is not getting a lot of playing time. Game awareness He came in to (beyond the sub to delay time) kill off the last couple of minutes. RB player gets ball in the defensive zone (I think Lindpre). Juan is around the midfield near the touchline. He is making an aggressive run forcing Lindpre to make a long ball (risky) pass to the forward moving Agudelo. Philly defender moves in to potentially cut off the pass,but Juan adjusts his run and ends up getting fouled. End result was no harm, but Juan should have been moving toward Lindpre to allow for a safer pass, easier possession maintenance. He's gotta smartin' up.
How dare you say something like that? Don't you know he is an MLS All-Star and the greatest attacking talent the USA has seen in a decade?
I really don't get it, he even made a mention of how he needed new studs on twitter a few months ago, and he still slips at least once or twice a game! amr you're starting to sound like you want the kid to fail just to spite the people who support him.
not at all. I think he is in an excellent position to develop into an amazing player. He has Backe, Titi, and now Klinsi around him. My frustration comes from people demanding he play, all else be damned; and suggesting that he is a reliably dangerous weapon. Watch him warm up at games. The phrase "going thru the motions" comes to mind. He just needs a little more maturity.
Richards is not a center forward, he is best suited on the right side in a 4-3-3 formation or right mid in a 4-4-2. I don't see how playing Dax over Richards in the Mid was better. The guy doesn't realy do anything. Of course our # 1 choice is Henry with Rodgers but Agudelo should have started. We had many many chances should have been easily a 3-0 game with no one to put it in the net.
Its clear from this post that you don't really understand the game well. How else could you come to the conclusion that Dax didn't really do much? He set up Solli to deliver the cross that resulted in a goal. The 3 missed chances we had were the result of 2 great saves by Mondragon and 1 whiff by Rodgers (a striker BTW).
I never get this argument. Why is it Backe's job to develop someone for the US Nats? His job is to put the best team on the field for RBNY. Judging by results that combination is Henry and Rodgers by a mile. The kid has talent but he is very raw. Not sure why him being a sub at age 18 is such a bad thing. The fact that someone in his position gets so much playing time on the Nats says more about how weak the Nats are at that spot then anything else.
You'd rather start Richards up top and we're supposed to accept your judgements on who understands the game well and who doesn't? There is a great quote from someone from like the Guardian that at the end of the day we are all just stumbling in the dark when it comes to soccer knowledge. I don't agree with your assessment that Juan disappears for long stretches - I think he works his butt off when he's out there - I actually think he might need to work on getting better about picking his spots to be more effective, but I'm also not totally sure why he seems to be missing something. His pace is just okay but he seems to accelerate well. He doesn't stretch the defense off the ball like Luke does and he could work on his first touch and decision making. But I do think that he's still figuring out how to be effective and he's not the only attacking player that has struggled to figure out his role on this team. I also think Backe made the right call last night as it clearly worked - but Juan should have come in much earlier for Luke than he did.
Not only did he set up the cross for the goal as amr mentioned, but he also played a great long ball up to Richards that set up the play where Rodgers shanked the sitter from 5 yards out. He kept possession well and intercepted a good amount of passes, don't really know what else you wanted him to do out there...
He was everywhere in the first half - and I thought he had a very good game, but he also ran out of gas in the second half and I thought wasn't as effective. Makes you wonder why we looked so good in the first half - was it because Dax started? Because Solli and Richards get in each others way on the right? Henry has been too static lately? Because Tainio and Dax together are much better than Ballouchy and Dax (duh) at putting pressure on the ball and getting after folks in the midfield? I thought Rogers was off his game last night, but we still looked great. Probably helped that a number of guys like Solli and Miller were in much better form than we've seen.
re-read soccer fan's post and my response. He/she said that Dax didn't do anything, and that the 3 misses were because there wasn't a player on the pitch who can put the ball in the back of the net. My response was addressing those observations, not making an argument for or against starting Dane.