All of this Wondolowski discussion in the best/worst decisions thread got me thinking, who are the best forwards in Dynamo history? Here are the goal-scoring stats of forwards while playing with the Dynamo (in no particular order): Brian Ching 125 app 51 goals Joseph Ngwenya 37 app 8 goals scored Oduro 44 app 6 goals scored Paul Dalglish 11 app 2 goals scored Jaqua 29 app 1o goals scored Kei Kamara 32 app 7 goals scored Carlo Costly 11 app 1 goal scored Ronald Cerritos 15 app 0 goals scored Luis Landin 16 app 2 goals scored Wondolowski 37 app 4 goals Ade Akinbiyi 14 app 0 goals Will Bruin 44 app 15 goals Calen Carr 22 app 3 goals Franco Caraccio 10 app 2 goals Abe Thompson 1 app 1 goal Jason Garey 10 app 0 goals Kei Kamara 10 app 1 goal Koke 7 app 1 goal Alejandro Moreno 34 app 3 goals Cam Weaver 51 app 10 goals Now keep in mind that the goal scoring stats don't mean they are better than another one, especially if some were penalties or tap-in goals. I know assists are important as well, but to me a forward is supposed to score goals primarily. My ranking: 1) Brian Ching 2) Will Bruin 3) Nate Jaqua 4) Joseph Ngwenya After that I can't really decide... The performances for the rest of the guys have been disappointing apart from a few bright moments. What do you guys think?
love these kinds of soccernerd threads. 1) Brian Ching - for # of goals scored 2) Dwayne De Rosario - scored as many goals out of the midfield then the 3 players i listed as my #3 and #5. 3) Nate Jacqua/Joseph Ngwenya - operated as a 2-headed monster. people forget they were good enough Dynamos that they earned European playing adventures. key word, adventures. 4) Will Bruin - will move into the #3 spot if he nears 20 this year. only a matter of time. 5) Alejandro Moreno - did a lot of off-the-ball work that i didn't appreciate until he left. from 2006-2009 was an integral part of a MLS squad that won either the MLS Cup or Supporter's Shield. that's not by luck.
Yeah I love these two. So based on performance with us only: 1) Ching, maybe not his current form but of all-time. 2) Jacqua just had a nice strike rate for us. 3) Ngwenya timely performance for us. 4) Bruin his strike rate is the same as Jacqua as of now. Honorable Mention: Daglish mainly because the importance of his performance, albeit short lived. Dero while not a forward, would be my number two all time offensive player behind Brian.
I wanted to include Dalglish but I knew he was a controversial figure. However, his two clutch goals were vital and contributed to us winning MLS Cup 2006.
Moreno drew many of the fouls that set up all sorts of set pieces around the box. He gets accused of diving, but his response has always been that he only dives when he has, in fact, been fouled as a way to make sure the ref sees it. Anyway, those fouls helped us.
me too. should have gone the trouthseth route an added him as an honorable mention. i always hated that he got pegged with the 'diver' label. a foul is a foul and he held the ball so well he often got violently displaced off of it. i remember back in 2006 during an away visit to PHP; dr. ludicrous, dre and i ran into Ale waiting by the curb for his wife to pick him up because he'd chosen not to take the team bus back to Houston. dude was seriously limping and when we asked him if he was OK, lifted his shorts and showed us a bruise from right above his knee to about half way up his thigh, nasty. then lifted up his shirt and showed us various visible scratch marks on his back, sides and arms. you don't get those from diving.
Westside's Order: 1) Abe Thompson 2) Ade Akinbiyi 3) Jason Garey 4) Luis Landin OH, you meant the from the top!!! Not on overall ability, but how they played for Houston: 1) Ching 2) Bruin 3) Ngwenya 4) Jaqua 5) Moreno DeRo I put as a midfielder but he did score some from the forward spot. Moreno did a lot of the dirty work the 1st 1.5 seasons.
Whatever else you may say about him, Ale gave everything he had. I recall that there were points in the season when he led the team in both fouls suffered and fouls committed.
I know I told everyone the story about the little old lady I followed in her car to a reserve match in '06. I thought it was a little old lady judging by her speed-turns out it was Ale limping to the reserve match. He apologized and explained it hurt too much to hit the gas. He got roughed up against the Screw the day before.