NGR: Wahl's Latest Piece on Gordon

Gordo's secret this year is he's tying his shoes tighter.

(Isn't he the one who stopped to tie his shoe when we were on a breakaway? Or am I getting him mixed up with Pass-Back Pete?)

 

No question, it was Gordo a/k/a Snowshoes

 

I thought he had concrete shoes.

 

He still remains the best player in the league for shooting in balls that are one foot in front of the goal line.

And from that article, I'm so happy that he's discovered a new workout that makes him a better player, too bad he couldn't figure that out during the Galaxy years.

It's also obvious that he had a problem being surrounded by top-level talents like LD and Becks, and felt overshadowed. Too bad it got to his head. But hey, now he can comfort himself, knowing that he's surrounded by the likes of regular joes like Fruitpie Lenhart.

 

Question of long time Galaxy fans. As it relates to the National Team, did Gordon and Gomez play in the same lineups much? Or was one of them usually on the bench when the other was in the game? Just curious if there was any chemistry between them when they were teammates in LA.

 

I read Wahl's Beckham book to get an inside look at the circus. I came away from that read a Gordon fan. Is the hate on this board just due to a shirtless episode?

 

Some are pissed that he beat us cruelly at least once, and possibly twice, in the dying minutes and for the exuberance of his goal celebrations against his former teammates. Before that he was pretty popular around here even if we did call him Snowshoes Gordon.

 

Yup yup. I think most are leaning more towards the celebrations, though. It is inevitable that some old players are going to score on us, the thing that was crazy was his celebration afterwards on our turf. Usually players as tenured as Gordon don't celebrate as hard against their old clubs but he seemed to be letting out a lot of frustration that game. Maybe he felt unappreciated and and used by the Galaxy.

 

We should have kept him, of course. He was cheap and he was great depth, and he was our longest tenured player. We traded him away to make room for Juan freaking Pablo Angel. To Chivas. Sometimes our star-studded attitude is a pain.

 

Of course, hindsight is 20/20. If you think back to that time Juan was still killing it in the league so we were hopeful he would be doing what Keane is doing now. That year showed how much we needed a top level striker to win another MLS Cup. That and some speed.

 

Good point about hindsight - - we let Gordon go before we got Angel (1/2 season?), because the first deal fell through at the last minute. It was kind of a mess, but maybe not our fault. I disagree about Juan Pablo, though, his age was showing in his performances in New York. But sometimes you have to take a shot.

 

Gordon didn't show much when he played for us although if I remember correctly even back then his goals/90 min rate wasn't that bad. He was grossly underpaid though, especially for a forward. And then traded to Chivas. Those two things alone could make someone a bit bitter, especially the latter.

I have to admit I will always have a remnant of a soft spot for him. Anyone who can come up with the "I'm Alan Gordon, and you are?" line upon meeting Becks gets some credit in my book!

 

I have no problem with Gordon. His career was stagnating, and this year has to be completely awesome for him on a personal level. So I don't care about the celebrations, we traded him, he didn't leave of his own choice, he can celebrate if he likes.

That said, I think just about every fan out there would have said "heck yes!" to Angel over Gordon. That move just didn't work out. We have all been frustrated by him because of inability to finish. It wasn't that his goal rate was terrible, it was that so many chances went begging...so many times a game you wished his first touch didn't let him down, that he was quicker to turn when in space, that he had something other than a pretty tame shot....he was just frustrating. I am glad he's playing well because I do think he's a really cool guy and whatever is clicking for him now is great. There was certainly no guarantee that was going to happen and I don't think we can second guess the move.;

Now let's go beat Vancouver, smash the Smurfettes, and leave him with warm-fuzzies from the season and no MLS Cup.