Craig Waibel was just shy of great last night against the Revs. "Ah," you say, "What about the soft marking on the Revs' first goal?" True, that. But he was left in a tough spot by Dunnivant's poor play in that instance. Outside of that one play, he was a one-man wrecking crew. For the entire first hour, the Quakes refused to commit to the attack. Except one guy, winning tackles and leading the team up the field. In the closing minutes of the first half, he was nothing if not inspirational on a night in which inspiration was lacking everywhere else. He not only made a difficult open-field tackle, stripping the attacker and stealing the ball, he led the attack on the only Quake-esque transition of the evening. He made a smart pass into the area before his teammates muffed the goal-scoring chance. Until we were down to ten, Waibel was the only one willing to commit to the attack. And you know what? He looked good doing it. Don't they have some kind of award for the most inspirational Quakes player at the end of the year? My nomination right now goes to Craig Waibel. He may not have the most raw talent on a pretty talented team. But he's got a humongous heart, plus guts and smarts. He's not going to the all-star game, but I hate to think where we'd be without him.
I agree that this was possibly Waibel's best game this year. Dunivant sparked the "o" in the first half, but unfortunately seemed to forget he was a defender. Craig was pretty solid.
Geez, B. One would think you're trying to get something from Craigy.... Maybe his shoes or something.
We both wear size 12, so the rumor goes. Question: You know what they say about guys with big feet (wink, wink)? Answer: They wear big shoes. *** fwiw... Waibel is the one who made that wonderful seeing-eye pass to DeRo for the infamous non-goal. If LD had made that same pass, we'd be drooling over the sublime touch, the incredible vision, etc., etc., of the greatest American soccer player. Instead, it's just another highlight from a great match from our most underrated player.
I didn't like Waibel most of last year, but this year he has improved. I had to admit a few games ago (actually out loud to my son) that Waibel was playing well. I gave the guy some props after dissing him pretty hard. Glad to see another Galaxy "reject" doing so well!
Hopefully he'll use it to keep improving his offensive skills, they're night and day compared to last year. Keep it up Craig!
"Shrader: Quakes are fighting mad" - sjearthquakes.com "I'm not happy at all," says defender Craig Waibel. "Open the paper, tell me what you see. I don't see excuses, I don't see guys patting each other on the back. I hope everyone has a tear in their eye when they see us in last place. It stinks." Warrior attitude from a guy who doesn't take winning for granted. http://sanjose.earthquakes.mlsnet.c...tent_id=9666&vkey=news_sje&fext=.jsp&team=sje