That really was pretty evident-refreshing that he cops to it. And nice to see him finding his way game by game.
Shouldn't part of the credit for the draft go to Cletus? W/O that red card we would not have the extra allocation that helped get Pope et al, and be 2nd in order to pick Clark.
Seriously though, the article does make it clear that Bradley sees Magee's style is being a poacher... exactly how he scored on the opportunity Saturday. It doesn't matter how goals are scored, as long as the opportunities aren't wasted.
My reading of the article was that Bradley wants Magee to focus on positioning/poaching goals in the short-term, to get acclimated to MLS play and comfortable with the team. In the long run he sees Magee as someone with innate goalscoring ability -- call it poaching if you like, but his role will also include getting on the end of crosses and finishing chances that other players wouldn't go for (i.e. being an all-around striker). For now he's doing all that can be expected but Bradley certainly has bigger things in mind for Magee than simply being the next Savarese.
This is the kind of coverage that we're desperate for from the times - make sure to thank Jack and the paper for a great piece. The part that amazed me about the piece - no mention of Eddie Gaven.
The next Twellman would be just fine by me. Right now the thing I'd like to see most of out of Magee is a little more speed. No, you can't ever learn blinding, world-class speed, but I do believe you can train your way into being a bit faster - especially when you're only 18 and still developing. I hope, and imagine, that Bradley has that boy doing plyometrics to get a little more spring in his step.
Well, I'm not sure if it makes up for that horrendous AP piece in Sunday's paper, which didn't even mention the streak or the leap into first. Dreadful. That being said, today's article was insightful, the kind of thing that should be in there each and every day of the MLS season.
Sure he has. When some idiot starts a thread re: "Have we blown next year's draft?", everyone can say "Eddie Gaven is next year's draft, moron." That's a dividend.
Gaven is still training with the U17 national team in prepararation for the U17 world championships this August in Finland. The team is currently in LA for games against Mexico and Costa Rica, and then going to South Korea for games against Argentina, Poland and South Korea in early June.
I wouldn't worry about Eddie Gaven not playing this year. Larry Bird and David Robinson didn't play in the NBA the year they were drafted. They turned out OK.