He seems to have lost his pace, he can't score during run of play, and he seems to have little, if any, motivation to do any better than he's doing now. He knew all eyes were on him from the day he signed in SLC, to prove that whatever happened in Germany wasn't his fault. So, he comes in, appears (and plays) like he's in god-awful shape, does little to justify Ellinger's faith in him, and basically has no impact. Even worse, in the games I've seen him play, he disappears for stretches so long that he makes Donovan's work rate look like Hejduk. If you took the name off the jersey, you wouldn't even look twice at him. Besides, if you want a slow free-kick specialist who plays no defense and dribbles too much, call up Preki.
I liked Mathis running up to the 2002 WC. He seemed to be a good finisher, however, I remembered being frustrated with him during the WC that I was happy to see Wolff in. If my memory may be serving me wrong, please let me know. Clint needs to be more well rounded then just a kicker. Besides, if we have younger talent with much more potential I trust it's better to start looking forward.
I don't think I've ever disagreed with something more on this site. These days, I'll take Reyna over Mathis every time in the center of the midfield for the US. Mathis offers the play that few (if any) other US players can (such as the 35 yard shot against Honduras in the friendly this year), but does so on such an infrequent basis that his cons outweigh his pros. Mathis' defense was never his strong suit, and I haven't been convinced otherwise by any of his RSL play this year. And as far as Mathis winning any head games...he leads RSL in yellow cards this year. If anything, it was Mathis' fire and aggression that made him a great player. To contrast, Reyna is playing well for club and country, and captained/captains both. He doesn't have the flair for the dramatic that Mathis does when he's on, but is a terrific teammate whose strengths (possession, distribution, composure) balances with those of his teammates, particularly Donovan and Beasley. And as an attacking player, Mathis has all of one more goal than Reyna does this season. He's also lost his explosiveness on the ball (Mathis was always more quick than fast.) It's a shame -- the guy could have been one of the best players on the upcoming 2006 roster.
With a player like Mathis it comes down entirely to a coach's taste. He might have been a fixture for years in another guy's lineup. Looks like it just isn't going to happen with Arena. Such is life. We should probably consider ourselves lucky to actually have a controversial talent in our player pool at all.
There is another side to this story.... that being Clint Mathis put himself on the tight rope with the incident, then failed to produce when given the start in the next match. It was that coupled with the incredible run that Hannover had which took them into the top 3 of the Bundesliga, was what put Mathis out of the equation. They had a system that was working and didn't want to alter it. He did score some goals for Hanover but didn't endear himself to the person that makes the selection/decides who plays. Having said this, I think Mathis still has a chance. He doesn't have the speed he once did, and IMO his 'prime' years are sadly behind. But that doesn't mean he can't be a crafty and extremely intelligent player that knows when to pick his moments and contribute. People that want him to play two ways, IMO, shouldn't count on that happening - he would be a primarily offensive player and need a holding midfielder to cover his gaffes. I don't think Arena wants to play an offensive player that isn't that great at tracking back.
I haven't seen that from Clint this year. Josh Wolff use to bring massive speed to the US. Want me to link him outrunning the Mexico defense last time in Columbus and call it a reason to include Wolff for 2006? I just haven't seen Clint making plays when I've seen him this year and the stats show he isn't making many when I'm not seeing him either.
Clint was all humble and repentant after his three-game suspension which killed RSL's chances of making any kind of run. So he gets back on the pitch against Harbour View and is back to his old tricks-- in the ref's face, pushed a player in the face during an argument. He didn't get called on it, but he hardly looked like the fine and three-game suspension made much of an impact on him. The "neck up/neck down" description is dead-on, but the neck-up part is far too important at the pro level and even more so on the Nats. We RSL fans are still waiting to see what $400K buys. Maybe a life coach or a therapist?
Which was technically this calendar year, but it was before this MLS year. And he took an amazing shot. Maybe we should put Kirovski on the team. Have you seen some of the rockets he has actually ya know scored? Unlike the Mathis shot which did not score.
If you want to win a World Cup you should look at all your options. I hope to God BA keeps an open mind about Mathis. There is a lot of damage Mathis can do where he doesn't need pace. I think if he can play good down the stretch with RSL I would give him a chance. And if he played good with the USMNT, I would put him as a sub player on the WC team. When the team is losing or has trouble getting any offense, he would be a great player to come off the bench. Of course I'm not the coach. I think Mathis just get's bored with practices and likes to play in big games. There are a lot of players like that.
I think Bruce must view him at this point as at best having an outside chance at being a marginal player on the team/pool and tha given his supposedly poor attitude and conditioning, etc. he's just not worth it. Given his talent though, he could turn it around. He's only 28. He's going to have to make it happen at club level 1st. Unfortunately, RSL may not be the best environment for that being a weakish expansion team. That could change as early as next year but I think his odds of making the WC 06 roster are long. And by the next WC he'll be 33.
Hmm, the EPL website has Reyna as the EPL player of the month, while Mathis can't even make Real Salt Lake's Player of the Month. Seems you need to take off the Mathis-colored glasses to see who is playing like "they are done".
If WC04 proved anything it's that the physical demands at that level in terms of pace and fitness are extraordinary. Couple that with Arena-ball, which places a lot of emphasis on midfield pressing. The US team will not have any members who can't be depended upon to meet these physical challenges, and that leaves Clint out.
If Clint can continue to hit free kicks into the box like he did against DC the other night, there may well be a late game sub spot for him at the WC. No other American player can serve a ball like that. Period.
even if we are playing 10 vs 11 with him in the line-up? By the way, hitting one or two good free kicks does not make you a National team player.
Send him to San Jose, where there are players of skill who can get him the ball or where he can serve others the ball and he'll be fine. I've suspected the past few weeeks that part of the problem is that he's surrounded--with maybe one or two exceptions-by players with less skill. After awhile, that wears on a player. Real Salt lake, for better or worse, was built to defend and counter, a system that doesn't suit Mathis. Ellinger wouldn't know what to do with a Maradona or a Pele, except maybe make a defender out of him. First things first, get rid of Ellinger so he can go back to where he belongs: coaching a youth team. I wrote when he was hired that he wouldn't do very well because he doesn't know how to coach pro players. Ellinger, or the new coach, then needs to get some mid-fielders that know how to dribble and pass. I was at the game last night and Real was lucky the score wasn't even more lopsided. I don't beleive the Real Platers quit, like some writers have written. They're just not very good.
with Clint, there is always an excuse for his apologists.The others on his team are too poor, too short, too long ,too fat ,too thin.He has crapped on on every team for the last several years.SURELY, the other players and coaches ALL can't suck, can they?
By the way, Clint has hit more than one or two good free kicks. Thanks for the pointer though. And I said as a late game sub. Meaning we're down 1-0 or 2-1 and we need a late game offensive sub. That'd be the only role I see for him. What do you think?
Clint Mathis: Body by Fischer, Mind by Mattel He needs to up his meds. Seriously, the guy's head has held him back for his entire career. It's a shame that he's wasted his obvious talents. It's a joke to compare him to Reyna. Claudio Reyna, the consummate professional. You may not like his playing style, but he's been a starter & more importantly a leader on every team he's been on. The first American to captain a team in Germany (Wolfsburg), the first American to captain a team in the EPL (Man City), the captain for his country. When he played for Rangers the fans loved him and chanted Captain America. Contrast his career to Mathis's: lack of fitness, injuries (those two are probably related), cautions, suspensions, dissension, uncontrolled temper tantrums on the field, being asked to see a sports psychologist http://espn.go.com/soccer/news/2002/0917/1433136.html, and most recently the famous "tapping of the wrist" to let his Hannover coach know he should have been on the pitch earlier. One more time with feeling, sayonara, Clint. Oh, wait a minute, there's more, recently served a three-game suspension in MLS. Oh yeah, he's got it together now. I'm with Arena on this one. Clint is done on the international level. We can't afford to have a player with such poor self-control on the pitch. Not without a sports psychologist's note.