Right, if the guy can't get himself up to start an Open Cup Final, what makes you think he is going to be motivated to come in off the bench? What I saw last night in the first half was clint staying in his usual forward spot waiting for service. Then in the second half he was coming into the midfield looking for the ball, just like he did all game last weekend against dallas, this is where he got himself into trouble. Bradley has been saying Mathis needed to produce, so against Dallas he came into the midfield and was trying to do everything by himself. I think during the half Bradley must have called Mathis out for not being active enough in the attack, so Clint said "ok" and wound up in the midfield again the second half. This is probably what pissed Bradley off, not that silly (crap) yellow card that Mathis was issued. Mathis is frustrated, Bradley is frustrated. Mathis won't be a Metro next year, even if he stays in MLS. I think that he knows this and is kind of just serving out his time. Thats what makes me sad about it. I hope he produces in the next few weeks, because I am convinced that this is a motivation problem and not a skill problem.
ESC were booing Mathis. I didn't boo (Richie Williams and Mamadou Diallo are the only Metros I've ever booed), but I shared their sentiments. I just watched the replay on MSG - those announcers are terrible. Every bit of their analysis was wrong; this just one example of many. I'm offended that Bretos and whoever the other guy is actually get paid.
I like those FSW guys but when Bretos started talking about how the fans were booing Bradley, I had to laugh. Gotta crash the bigsoccer.com boards, Max. I don't even follow the Metros and I was saying to myself, "Clint, this love's for you."
In recent games, for whatever reason - mental or physical - his first half performances have seemed more spirited. Makes me think he'd make more of a difference off the bench. Furthermore, penalties are an issue. And regardless of recent form he's still one of the top 3 penalty takers on the team and in the playoffs this might make a difference. (Frankly I was surprised Bob made such early substitutions last night with the spectre of 30 minutes of golden goal coming up if Metro pulled one back... says something about how badly he thought they were playing). Like I said, I haven't given up on Clint. He still has something to offer this team. Right now, though, he shouldn't be starting.
Mathis also appears wound up tighter than a drum, which may explain his newfound lack of poise around the goal and his missing PKs. The old Clint played with a air of relaxed confidence -- sort of "aw shucks, that didn't work but I'll get another chance in two minutes". Now, when things don't work he gets down on himself, down on the refs and down on his teammates. Now he hesitates to take shots, passing off instead or holds too long waiting for the perfect moment.
"Vision" is multidimensional. It's not only about putting passes into space, but anticipating those around you, particularly your own team mates.
In section 109, we were definitely giving Mathis stick for playing like a pile of dookie. When the Magee substitution took place, Mathis was ABSOLUTELY being booed off.
"Vision" is multidimensional. It's not only about putting passes into space, but anticipating those around you, particularly your own team mates.
Isn't there ANYONE out there who still thinks Clint can play? No, he's not as good as he once was. Yes, he is definitely better than Wolyniec, Moreno, and probably Gaven, and he's probably better than anyone else we could get with an allocation.
I do. I thought he had alot of bad plays last night, but I don't think he deserves scapegoating to this extent -- the whole team with a few exceptions was bad. Guevara barely seems to try much of the time or rushes bad passes or easily coughs it up but still seems to get a free pass here. But truth is, even if Mathis has completely lost it, I'm a fan for life. Way too many personality-less, joe-hustle, American players and not enough fat, smoking, creative players who may spend 90% of the game jawing at the ref but can still pull great plays out of nothing. I'm sort of surprised so many Metrofans have turned on him.
Oh, and one other thing. Whoever said that all of his teammates probably hate him? Mathis is a really nice guy, and I'm sure that he is in no way a problem off the field. EVERYONE, and I mean EVERYONE, has completely given up on Mathis. Well, I haven't. I think that he is still a special player and once he has a game where he scores a couple of goals, you guys will all be jumping right back onto the Mathis bandwagon.
I think he can still play almost if not just as well as he did in 2001, but needs a change of scenery and his confidence back.
I am with you. Difficult for me or shall I say almost impossible for me to accept the fact that a player's productivity can drop this much in such short time..... It is simply not possible.....
I assume they were booing mathis. I however was cheering as loudly as i could. Bob taking out Mathis was the highlight of the game. I cant wait till he's gone.. or at least until he stops starting.
To me it seems like his confidence is shot... he doesnt take the risks he used to by trying to beat someone 1v1.... doesnt try the shot and gets rid of the ball to quickly... he plays like he doesn't want the ball half the time... I still think there is a monster of a player deep inside, the question is will we ever see it??
Is there anyone else who wants Mathis back on the Metros next season? Anyone? I know that no one will agree with me, but I would rather have Mathis playing for us than against us in 2004.
i think too many people feel let down by Mathis because of how good he used to be, so theyre harder on him now. i dont kno what he was like in 2000, I never even saw Mathis play until last year. so i dont know what i missed out on, but i kno hes still a good player now. In the 1st half he was our best player, he was quick, sharp and aggresive. in the 2nd half he made 2 horrible touches in a row, got carded, we went down a goal, every1 booed him and then he just gave up, which is just horrible, but of course everything he did after that point was garbage... he had already stopped playing. i think hes bi-polar. the service from mid-field has DEFINITELY been a problem. even Guevara slows up plays by dribbling too much and he passes directly to a player instead of giving a ball to run on to. Williams is a joke and Lisi is inconsistent. Our fwds rarely get good balls. As long as Mathis doesnt quit hes a good passer. if he does just sub him out. Mathis at Mid, Richie on a slow boat to Shanghai. i like him but i dont want him playing 4 us next year..i dont want him in MLS at all. he hates being here, id rather hav him in the 3rd Danish Division than MLS for the sake of his mental health. i think he'll be happier anywhere else and that will let him play better.
Ha! Exactly. The thing is Mathis hasn't even lost it. He's as fit now as he has ever been. It's my opinion that he is just having motivation problems. I think after last year and this year it is pretty obvious that the metro won't be inviting clint back, why should he be comitted to a team that is just waiting for the day when they don't have to pay him anymore? I don't think that clint will go to Europe this year; there has been to much bad press about him. He is, however, going to turn up somewhere next season (hopefully not DC) and make Metro sorry.
Mathis is garbage and has been for a while now. He couldn't find his way out of a wet paper bag. He looked lost last night. His passes were crap and lacked confidence in front of goal. Him and Amado haven't been on the same page all season long and it's obvious that they are frustrated with each other. Mathis goes next year. He might be able to shine in the A-League but i don't think he will even be close to what he once was, Not in MLS and sure as hell not in Europe. Another note: Richie Williams was washed up at mid-season. He turns the ball over too much. Juskoviak is a waste of space and was pure rubbish last night. They should both be gone by the end of the season as well. Bradley will figure something out for then but for now, he has to sit all three in my opinion. They played without them against San Jose a couple weeks ago and played the best game of the season. Bottom line....Mathis is freaking rubbish and has no motivation at all anymore.
I think that if a team has only one scoring threat, that threat is going to be easy to shut down. Mathis is the only Metro who can create his own shots, so defenses are going to be able to key on him. He's going to get shut down. What we need is for someone else to step up, take their game to the next level. Maybe we just don't have anyone capable of doing that. But the blame shouldn't all fall on Mathis. This has been my attempt to be calm and rational. Wish I had done it BEFORE I heaved my tv out the window.
this thread is ridiculous, Mathis is the most talented player on the team, if you don't know that he has the most talent and capabilites then you are plain stupid ... it's nice to find a scapegoat huh? Does he deserve some blame, of course, the whole team does ... who missed there assignment on the goal? Where's the finger pointing there? Right that person isn't the trendy player to hate so nothing will be said. (Not that anything should be said) Mathis to the A-League? Are you people that *#*#*#*#*#ing stupid? Clint's not producing like someone with all of that talent should, no doubt about it ... but all of this, not necessary. Funny thing is, if Cleetus does something magical, which we all know he has in him, 99% of you will be reaching for his d!ck. Mathis is Metro, support him.