Not in my view. Early in the season he had some good moments that resulted in scoring sheet stuff, but many of his possessions resulted in loss of possession. He had a few starts after that where I thought he was getting better in that area - starting to get more comfortable on the ball and make better decisions, but he hasn't had a start in a little bit and in his sub appearances he's tried to do too much in little time. If anything I think he has improved since the beginning of the year just in overall comfort on the ball, but it's inconsistent, and as I said, in sub roles where you need a goal, he tries to force things, and often to ill effect. He just needs more playing time. Unfortunately the early scoring sheet success has led people to expect too much. Even the all-star selection is expecting too much, and as I said, I don't think he's really ready for that and certainly not ready for USMNT.
I really enjoyed the second half of the Minnesota game when Almeyda played Cade and Jebo up top. I don't even mind if they are isolated and just have each other against the entire defense. Play brave and don't worry about making mistakes. Donovan and DeRosario made tons of mistakes but it was always worth the price of admission to watch them.
I have seen some signs of him pressing the last month. Happens. You get names to few MLS Teams of the week and selected to the MLS All Star game and expectations rise. Also, while he may get a little stronger, he isn't going to get much faster. His speed is good, but not great. Needs to learn to compete against just as fast defenders.
I think his speed is there but he is grabbed/impeded everytime he tries to run by a defender. He tries to play honest but defenders do not.
The thing about Cade is that it's not just speed. It's speed + strength. That's what differentiates him from a lot of other fast players. He can run by you, but to the extent that he doesn't you'll have a hard time moving him off the ball. I can see why the Quakes are discouraging him from going too hard on the weights though. Sometimes he looks a bit stiff.
At some point between MLS posting that lineup graphic and the actual game, Cowell was replaced in the starting lineup by hometown DP Diego Rossi. Probably a good move. Rossi almost had a goal in the first ten minutes only to be denied by an acrobatic goal-line clearance. It's amusing that most of the starters were from Seattle (clearly the best team in the west right now) and then there's... one starter from the Revs who are on pace to shatter the MLS points per game record Granted MVP favorite Carles Gil is currently injured but no Tajon Buchanan or Matt Turner (who would go on to be named the All Star game MVP with two saves in the PK shootout). You can see Cowell a few times in the highlights. Another teenager gets a bit more of the glory, 18 year old Ricardo Pepi with the game winning PK.
Cade did better than I thought he would and at least looked like he belonged. He's a bit of a one trick pony though (run fast, throw a shoulder into the defender to gain some space and pass or shoot) and he doesn't read the game all that well yet.
Hopefully Cowell gets nowhere near the national team in any kind of significant way. It's where professional players go to die right now.
I disagree, I think the thing that is changing the most about Cade’s game is that he has been trying to showcase his strength and chutzpah by doing a lot of stupid grabbing fouls and hard shoulder charges. So in my mind, he is playing dirtier rather than improving his skills to where he can be consistent throughout a game. However, in the attempted assist in the All-Star game, he did a little Chofis-like chip to the on-rushing attacker. I thought that showed he had learned something new there, but so fleeting to see moments of improvement like that.
What does this even mean? Playing for the US national team seems to be working out just fine for everyone from Gio Reyna and Brenden Aaronson to Matt Turner and Miles Robinson.
Well one good thing about Berhalter is that he seems to have recognized his mistakes. The USMNT is no longer trying to enact his exhausting anal-retentive tactical formations. This round of WCQ will tell..
Well, I never thought Lima was all that good, though Yueill certainly looks worse off for his time with the national team. I've just been wholly unimpressed with Berhalter. He was a mediocre MLS coach, so I really have no idea how his profile got so big that he got the national team job. And his tenure with the national team has not been impressive so far. And I really wouldn't care at all. Berhalter can coach the national team for the rest of time. They could lose every game they ever play and it would mean nothing to me. The issue is national teams stealing MLS players away for games that aren't involved in the soccer that I'm paying for. And the fact that the money made through these international tournaments benefits FIFA, which, as we all know, is not an organization worth supporting in any way, shape, or form. I take plenty of issue with MLS owners' practices, but if you have to choose the lesser of two evils, choosing MLS is a very easy choice.
FYI since it appears you don’t follow USSoccer stories, Gregg’s brother Jay Berhalter was a high-level exec for USSoccer when USSoccer decided to only interview 2 (?) candidates for the position of USMNT coach. Jay Berhalter was a leading candidate to replace retiring USSF CEO Dan Flynn until the scandal broke about all the upset employees inside USSoccer. Jay was one of the culprits behind the toxic environment at USSoccer
Watching the wolves-manu game this morning, and I couldn't help but note the similarities between Cade's game and Adama Traore. In my wildest dreams, he becomes a poor man's Mbappe, but then when I wake up, a taller Traore is far more likely.
That’s an interesting analogy… But I suspect that within 3 years someone will make Cade into a defender. He doesn’t appear to have the competitive drive of a forward, such as Matthew Hoppe or Ricardo Pepi.
Time will tell, but I disagree with this pretty strongly. I don't know how to it could see him battling with defenders, driving his shoulder into them, trying to use his physicality to win the ball, and say he lacks competitiveness. Also, someone with his finishing ability doesn't normally get turned into a defender.