I respect that someone has been able to create a buzz for their favorite prospect, if only on this board. But I should add a caveat. Bussey was a big-deal athlete, but friends of mine in Dallas were very down on him as a soccer player. If we really have a shot, I say try him out. But San Jose needs proven MLS players. Prideaux fits the mold of the MLS veterans Yallop used to get us from worst to first. And he's versatile.
Hey Noah. Thanks for keeping the Carl Bussey buzz going! I'm not anti-Prideaux, but he's not going to bring something we don't already have. We need a dynamic attacking presence from the back line. Names like Milton Reyes come to mind. Why do you think Ray Hudson brought him in when he already had Prideaux? Because Brandon was going to be nothing more then a steady, "Jimmy Conrad" type of defender. There's nothing wrong with that, but we've seen that it doesn't help us create dangerous attacking movements. Zak Ibsen had a midfielder's mindset. His defense and passing out of the back were horrendus, but the guy could cross and he scored some fantastic goals in the run of play. If he had more speed and some decent defensive capabilities, then we wouldn't even be having this discussion. He didn't slow down, he just was a major defensive liability. It seemed that when Yallop told him to "stay at home", Ibsen was at his worst. We need someone with a "midfielder's mindset" that can play D. Perhaps someone like Mulrooney? I'm not sold on Russell's defensive capabilities. I don't think moving Mulrooney will be the answer either. We will struggle holding the center with him outside. Now here's why I think Bussey's the answer: You said so yourself, Carl is a "big time athlete". In Quake's history, we drafted two of those in the first round, Barrett and Mulrooney. Neither one set the league on fire their first year. Why should your friends in Dallas think that Bussey would? Just like Barrett, Bussey was used as a "utility man". D-mid, right mid, right back. Do you remember watching Eddie Robinson his first year and thinking "damn, this kid is good!?" I don't..... Did they even realize that Bussey had surgury in 2001 for his left ACL? For whatever reason, Gbandi got a free pass from criticism because he was "recovering from injury" and didn't play. Carl hurt his ACL in May, had surgury and played for SMU that fall. Not only did he play, he was the captain for the number one ranked team and was a finalist for the Herman Award (which teammate Luchi Gonzalez won). I've been told that no one "out works" Bussey. He trains hard and is hungry to win. If you get a chance, check out www.3rddegree.org and read about Bussey during the Burn's Chilean preseason tour. According to Buzz Carrick, who follows the Burn very closely, Bussey looks much improved (again, think back to Robinson's improvement from year 1 to year 2). What Carl needs is a permanent postition. He needs to be taught the nuances. He needs to learn how to read the game from there at MLS speed. His soccer brain just needs to get fine-tuned. You can't train pure speed. Either you have it or you don't. Bussey has it. We need it on the outside defense flanks (at least on one side).
I grew up with Carl Bussey, his brother and i were teamates, if he has a chance to come here, he has a place to stay, sign him up, speeed kills.
Bussey was AWFUL last year. Athletic? Yes. Awful too. Maybe he's better this year but he'd have to come a long way.
I am not sure if this is a joke. Pirdeaux best highlight was when Areil got one of the goals of the year a couple of years ago when he was getting mugged by that no talent yahoo. As far as picking up people who are going to make a difference, I would rather we try to sign someone from the A-League who might make the jump instead of proven MLS useless ones.
B.P. Am I wrong, or did the guy win an MLS Cup playing in the stingiest defense in what, league history? And didn't he also play some d-mid, that helped him get called into the national team camp? And is he not right-footed, but more frequently deployed in the center or on the left? And is he not experienced? And isn't there a good chance he'll be a 12th man for DC, when we only have 7 or 8? I'm not the biggest Brandon Prideaux fan myself, but this is the kind of player we need, pronto, not more prospects.
I imagine Dallas would be pretty happy to trade you Bussey for Alvarez, straight up. How would you feel about that deal?
12th men The real reasons for KC's crown was the play of the GK Meola. That and the big Dane up top who hit the net with few chances as that team was crap. If we are looking for players that can only provide pratice challenges for the other teams what do you think they will do against them when the points are on the line. Unless you are a relative and then I am sorry for insulting your kin, this guy is not worthy of the chase. If you look at the examples of other countries, take the F.A. cup for instance, lower divisions every once and a while have quality players that are ready to make the step up. If we don't take our chances with them we will be left behind not only now, but when expansion comes in the next little while.
Re: 12th men Uh, yeah... Why haven't the MetroStars won a Cup with Howard and Mathis? Or Tampa w/ Garlick and Lassiter? Or Colorado w/ Garlick and Spencer? KC in 2000 was, for MLS standards, a supremely organized team of veterans with a sprinkling of up-and-comers (Like Prideaux, who was just the type of player you described.) Sound like a formula that's worked for Yallop and the Quakes? And no he's not a relative - I'm not even a big fan. But when we don't have a single MLS quality outside back, and DC's got a versatile MLS Cup winner in his prime sitting on the bench, well that's the kind of player I'd be looking for. P.S. Ever heard the coaching cliche that it's easier to teach defenders to attack than teach attackers to defend? There's something to it.
Conversion Take the case of Pat Van Den Howe for instance and you'll see that teaching forwards that work hard to defend is the best basis for a solid team. Otherwise you just get a bunch of long-ball launching hacks. I don't understand your lack of vision here is the A-league useless in your opinion.
Reports are that Bussey is much improved, and I was one of those saying that unless he picked up considerably, he might be a long term candidate at center back. Evidently, he has taken a step up.
Which is not surprising. SJ fans were ripping Eddie Robinson during his rookie season, remember? It usually takes a year for college players to get use to MLS tactics and speed of play. Bussey should be up to speed this season. Carl struggled for a variety of reasons last year. No set position. He's been tried at D-mid, right mid and right back. If you don't get very many minutes and the minutes you do get are in different positions, you have a tendency to try and "over do" it to impress. Only one year removed from ACL surgury. Just take a look at Mathis for instance. It takes a while to get your "jump" back and to mentally let go of the fear of another injury. I bet this year Bussey feels much more confident. Expectations. Since he was a first round pick, fans and coaches expected him to be "ready for prime time" last year. He didn't adapt to the pressure well. When you come into a game with 10 minutes or less left, then you feel like you are constantly "in a hurry". Bussey didn't play well under those circumstances. When you make a mistake, there isn't enough time to rectify it.... By all accounts, Carl trained very hard in the offseason and has focused on improving the parts of his game that we lacking last year. He still needs to get more minutes (and earlier minutes) and settle into a more or less set position. If he can get comfortable, then you'll see his athleticism take him to levels others can't touch....