I'm not sure he ever even tried to shoot with his head one time. Maybe a couple of times? Cade is 6'. I don't if Liga MX are in general as tall as MLS defenders. Not that it's all about height either. That was actually solid technique.
I think Cade "might" have lollypopped a bloop rainbow header in at some point off the top of his head...But someone with Chivas is clearly better at instructing him how to actually time and attack a header...that had actual snap on it... a legit 9 header with authority, the way it's supposed to be done. Happy for him and his US Nats potential...he'll definitely need that type of heading skill to have any chance. Sad for the Quakes, that they couldn't get him close to looking like that on the high stuff... If he can actually pull that off a few more times, his stock will go up...and might actually end up as a 9.
That was a damned good header... The first night I ever spent in Mexico (1997) was in Guadalajara. I've probably mentioned this before, but I wandered into a bar. Chivas were playing Club America and I watched the game on the T.V. Chivas won 1 - 0 and everyone in the place went absolutely ape-shit. They started cheering, throwing beers, chairs, etc. I though they would tear the place apart. I thought to myself, "I like this town!" I wonder if the rivalry now is still as heated as it was back then...
Cade had a better game tonight. Besides the header he had a couple of decent attacking plays. Still lost the ball many times and made played some bad final balls. Better though.
Cade Cowell check-in: Chivas played Club America at home last Saturday night. Cade started on the left side with Chicharito in the middle. He actually didn't have a bad game. Still frustrated Chicharito a few times, but they played Cade thru 3 or 4 times, and he did well with at least one of them with a dangerous cross into the box that Chicharito almost got onto. Another time he was on the right and he had Chicharito making a run down the center but instead of passing he took a shot to the near post that was a little wide but had little chance to go in anyway, with the GK parked there on the near post. Not a good angle to try to score there. He went out around 68' or so and the announcers said he had a "buen partido" and created some "peligro". Here's Chicharito with a frustrated "pass it here" to Cade after Cade ignored him and instead hit a cross to the far post, more or less to the GK. I don't think Chicharito has scored yet in his 5(?) or so games so far with Chivas.
Cade scored the tying goal for the Nats U23s against a very strong U23 French side in a friendly. Hopefully the Chivas training environment is paying off for him.
Initially I thought he hit the ball hard into the ground for a one-hopper, which would have been a good way to go, and I was thinking - Chivas is really working with him on his finishing. But turns out it was a deflection. I would have liked to have seen where the ball was going to go if it hadn't been deflected. We saw Cade in that spot many times last year and the shot either went high and wide or straight to the keeper. THE USYNT WITH TWO GOALS IN THREE MINUTES TO LEVEL IT IN FRANCE 😤 pic.twitter.com/tXAT0MYZwn— CBS Sports Golazo ⚽️ (@CBSSportsGolazo) March 25, 2024
That's his bread and butter move...he smoked his shot...that could have been trouble for the keeper to deal with. The poor defender did his job...he was side on... took away the straight drive to the outside.... but nobody had his inside coverage...tons of space and time to shoot. And I'm happy he's wearing the 9 jersey, because that's where I want to see him end up...he still has a ways to go with his 9 skill set, but hopefully Chivas can get him there.
The defender probably doesn't know Cade but he did the wrong thing there. You want to take away the cut-in, not the wide move to his left. Cade will occasionally cross with his left but he's not especially good at it and there were 4 French defenders in the box and only one other attacker.
Well, I didn't phrase that well, the defender does have inside position. he actually wants him to take the bait and try a speed move straight up since he is playing off him and would likely win the ball...he wants to force him outside, but not go completely flat or he risks losing the foot race. So you can't go absolutely flat to completely take away the inside cut. you have to force him the way you want him to go...and that's generally away from goal. 1 v 1 in space...you are trying to buy time so you can hopefully get a teammate back in the play to give inside cover against a hard inside cut. So I guess, I'm saying the defender played that the way most defenders are taught to do it. Of course, there's nuances to it...if you know the guy is slower than molasses and you've got major wheels you can play around a bit...and go completely flat, knowing there is no chance of getting beat for speed. The best defenders can play with the amount they play off the attacker and bait him...you can really set up an attacker ...force him to his weak side is always popular...1 v 1 is a big head game...
I think he set up fine initially but when Cade made his cutback move he fell behind and too far back. I think if you know Cade you know that move is coming. But Cade is fast enough that maybe you can't quite get to where you need to be in any case.
Hey Jazzy, it’s been a long time since your last Cade report. Is he still playing? (And darn, my Chivas tickets have not sold)
Haven't been watching recently. Chivas has had a good run of form - 3 straight wins. Cade didn't start the last one, started the one before that and was an early sub out, and started the one before that and played for 70 minutes or so. Not sure about assists but no goals. I think he's still stuck at 1 goal in 13 matches - 7 starts, 6 subs in Liga MX play. He does have a few goals in CONCACAF but most of those were against a weak Canadian team - Forge FC.
It might have been, but I don’t think it was as lucky as his 2023 goal. His (3?) CONCACAF goals were I think generally in front of goal. He’s had some success with little runs in the box from more central positions, and getting onto a thru ball. Didn’t happen with the Quakes because he didn’t float to the center like that very often and we generally don’t have much of an attack from the center. Everything comes in from the sides. And I think one of his CONCACAF goals was a header!
Cade update: Chivas is on a run of good form - 4 straight wins I think, but the last 2 games Cade has not started and the last game he didn't play at all. I watched his last start - against Puebla, where he was subbed out at 55'. Not great. He had a golden chance early in the game when Chicharito played him into space and he had a 1v1 with the keeper. But his shot was blocked by the keeper's leg. Unfortunately my Spanish isn't good enough to say for sure, but seemed the announcers talked about that play for a while after and seemed to be complaining about Cade's finishing. He is still at 1g, 0a in about 700 minutes or so in Liga MX. After that play, not much. Another shot where he was doing his trademark run from left to center of the box, but hit it straight into the body of the 2nd defender. I mean there was 0 chance that ball would magically go thru the guy's body. And then there was one embarrassing sequence where he let a ball go out deep in Chivas's attacking 3rd on the left, thinking it was their throw in but the Puebla guy had pretty obviously whiffed on the clearance. Puebla ball. If I was Chivas's coach I'd have him use his energy to press on defense. Just go full out. There was one play where he pressed the GK and at the end he turned on the jets. Those kinds of plays can result in turnovers and goals. It's an easy, low risk, high reward way for them to leverage his speed, which is still the best thing he's got going for him. Chicharito scored the 1st goal in that game on a nice touch on a long pass and finish with his left foot. First goal since coming back I think, and it seemed to be a big deal for everyone. However, he hasn't been in the lineup or bench last few games. I guess he picked up a knock.
Hah, I think the fans are up and down about him. One game he's booed off the field and the next game he does something good and they like him. I think at some point his reputation as a guy who blows chances is going to bake in a bit and then they may be a bit more consistently negative. But I think he's still on a long honeymoon. And maybe he'll start getting better with his final ball, we'll see... To be fair he does have 4 goals in all competitions, though 2 of those were against a weak team in early CONCACAF rounds (Forge FC).
My impression is that Chicharito is a forever hero in Chivasland and at this point can do no wrong. He actually looks pretty good out there - he seems to be in good shape, even if he's only scored 1 goal in 5 games or so.