I posted this here because I think Revs fans include a high concentration of anglocentrists AND homers. Even given the age difference I'd rather have Joe Max, so there's my vote.
You'd rather have Joe Max as what? Because as a soccer player, while I certainly respect JMM, nobody in their right mind would put him on a field right now over Bake. And both Bruce Arena and David Moyes, for example, agree with me. It's perfectly OK to be a homer. But you're pushing the envelope. It's not even close.
C'mon, we can't have a loon? The Maine fans will be disappointed. Bet he'd be good on the wing though... -- ba du bump -- Yeah, that was pretty bad. The Magpie
If I was in the Premiership I'd want McBride. If I was in MLS I'd want Joe-Max. McBride's game is well suited to the bump and tickle of the British game. They love big guys who can knock the ball down and shoot well. MLS is more suited to someone with Joe-Max's pace and combativeness. I'd also prefer that Evan save his jokes...at least until he works up some better material.
Well, seeing as this is the Revs board in the MLS: Team Forums, I figured that part was self-explanatory. Perhaps I underestimated the Anglocentrism.
Well seeing as I'm neither David Moyes or Steve Nicol I thought an explanation was in order. Personally I don't really want either one of them here at my house. I'm sure they're both nice guys, but the dog goes wacko when strangers come over. Getting back to your question, it seemed you were trying to discern which player we all thought was better, and I was trying to make the point that the two are so different that the playing situation determines which one I would want. And since neither player is British, what does Anglocentrism have to do with anything?
Brian McBride: 1999 - 25 games, 5 goals, 10 assists, 20 points 2000 - 18 games, 6 goals, 5 assits, 17 points 2001 - 15 games, 1 goal, 6 assists, 8 points 2002 - 14 games, 5 goals, 5 assists, 15 points Career - 137 games, 50 goals, 42 assists, 142 points Minutes played per goal: 235.8 Minutes played per point: 83.03 Joe-Max Moore: 1999 - 29 games, 15 goals, 8 assists, 38 points Career - 77 games, 37 goals, 26 assists, 100 points Minutes played per goal: 181.05 Minutes played per point: 66.99 There just isn't a comparison - at least in terms of MLS production. JMM has ALWAYS been the more productive player. McBride scored 17 goals for the Crew year, and has only scored 10 in one season since. JMM should get 10 goals and 30 points this year if he can just manage to roll out of bed every day.
I've always been surprised how "ordinary" McBride looks with the Crew - he doesn't even seem to be their primary threat! FWIW, I think the same thing is true about DaMarcus Beasley. If you ONLY saw them in MLS, you'd be pretty unimpressed, IMO. Of course, last season was misleading, as I think most WC players around the globe were overworked and had disappointing league play as a result.
What I see when I watch McBride play with the Crew is a guy who is always two steps ahead of his teammates. He knows where the ball wants to go before anyone on his team has the sense to make the run. In England, having teammates run off the ball is not such an issue, and so he shines.
In the run of play, both players are very combative and give a great effort. JMM is more willing to go in with a tackle while McBrittle is better at settling and distributing the ball to his teamates IMHO. McBrittle is more injury prone but JMM can be marked out of a game easier by physical opponents. The main difference between the two is their style of attacking. JMM is a poor mans Paul Scholes. He lurks around the 18 yrd box and is good at launching long range shots. Oh course once and opponent figures this out, they mark him tighter in this area of the field and he becomes far less effective. McBrittle obviously is more of the classic target forward working in the box. His offensive effectiveness is more reliant on the crossing ability of his wingers. If you put McBrittle on a team with good crossers then he actually becomes a dominant force. No matter how you knock the rest of his game, he is one of the best strikers in the world in the air. He has an ability that allows him to possibly be double marked but still win a head ball and create an opportunity. JMM doesn't have this one dominant aspect to him game. Therefore, if I was building a team and had good wingers, the strikers on my short list would be Shearer, Veiri, Van Nistelroy and McBrittle. If I didn't have good wingers, then it would be either/or.
I knew that despite JMM's overwhelmingly superior MLS performance, people would automatically pick McBride because he's scored a few goals in the "Premiership" - whatever the hell that is. See above references to David Moyes, for example, who is now name-dropped likes he's Franz-frickin' Beckenbauer. This is not to discount McB's goals at the World Cup. But I think most of us have a more sober assessment about that now; all the hype is about scoring against Tottenham and Sunderland. More Anglocentrism? Your first response was "If I was in the Premiership..." Well you're not, you're on a Revs fan board. And what exactly is "bump and tickle" and how does that suit a different type of player from one who is combative?
I'll take McBride But I would still rather keep Serna. Not that there appears to be much chance of that happening....
Re: I'll take McBride HERE's a guy with balls - and I agree with you. Except that Moore is such a fit for New England, and Serna apparently is not.
Noah, Don't hate me cause I'm beautiful. If you're looking to provoke why don't you just say something controversial like "MLS is better than the Premiership, and you're all asses for thinking McBride is better than JMM," instead of flailing around here trying to be clever by setting up BS polls to confirm your worst suspicions about this forum's posters? Or continue to flail...that's pretty amusing too. John