The official Jackson Yueill thread

I didn’t think he looked particularly convincing for either club or country. He’s missing a certain confidence, maybe it’s skill, I can’t be sure, but he’s not imposing himself enough on the game. Maybe Matias is giving him looks at different positions in order to maximize his potential. As ACM he plays better and can rip a good shot. In a more defensive role he seems to get lost, doesn’t really have the vision or distribution skills and seems prone to turnovers. This is an important year for JY, I hope he finds his best position and makes it impossible for Matias to consider moving him again. Trouble is, we’re overloaded now with attacking mids, and he seems less well suited for defensive duties.

 

It's not lack of skill, it was mental. Same for Cade Cowell at end of last season.

Baseball is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical. pic.twitter.com/s9sTNhHWDZ

— Yogi Berra (@yogiberra) June 21, 2017

 

Part of it, but it's also skill. Yuell is average at best dribbling and operating in tight space. He has good vision and passing skills, but teams have learned to pressure Yuell and let him have a lot of time on the ball (Note; They have done the same with Espinoza.)

I agree with you on Cade. It was mental. He was pressing too much and letting the game flow.

 

My point is give him a position and let him build his confidence. When you look at how many directions he was pulled in between club and country last year and all the roles and positions it’s pretty unbelievable. It doesn’t make much sense that he could suddenly become a much worse player. Matias has said he can play in Europe. You’re not saying Matias could wrong about something now are you??

 

We’ll, he’s not going to have to worry about USMNT call-ups for the next year, so his undivided attention should be on the Quakes this season…

 

Probably so though with McKinney out for a while(?) I suppose there’s a chance.

 

Ok, he wasn't poor, but, just not very good. I expected more from him.

 

I think he had some good games, some not so good, and some fair. The problem is that once the group-think sets in, you get confirmation bias. It's kind of the Jimmy G syndrome.

- "Jackson is making bad passes! He's having a terrible year!"
- (Jackson makes a bad passes in a game.)
- "See, there it is! Oh my god, every game! He's having a terrible year!"
- (Nevermind the fact that every player makes a bad pass or two per game, and nevermind mind that he also had many solid possession and passes in the same game. Those remain "unseen" because they are not part of the confirmation bias).

 

This is about 90% of the posters in the USMNT boards. Once a meme is implanted in the gestalt there, it becomes gospel and is quoted chapter and verse ad nauseum, and no heresy is tolerated…

 

Not just USMNT board but society writ large.

 

He didn't have a terrible year but, relative to the season before, he didn't have anywhere close to a good year. His good games were too few and too far in between his "meh" and "bad" games. That was clear to anybody that has watched him over he past few years regardless of confirmation bias.

Now, was the inconsistency in his play due to him not having a set position under MA but rather being deployed at different positions throughout the season? Yes, I definitely believe that it was a major factor as it seems to be a mental issue rather than a skill deterioration. I think most (myself included) have a harsher viewpoint of his issues last season due to the fact that he is not a 20-year old just breaking into the team and league but rather a "veteran" who is MLS seasoned and who has been improving year-over-year to the point of becoming one of the main cogs on the team. Therefore, fair or not, with a team that was lacking in talent, he was someone we counted on to be an impact player.

 

You're leaving out being yanked to nats team duty multiple times and again being asked to play even more roles, including captain. At least you acknowledge that he had some good games (and I think most of the last 5-10 games, w/o nats team interruptions, were good). The group-think here is generally that he was uniformly bad all year and that's just plain untrue.

 

He had a totally different dynamic in midfield to deal with. It wasn't the clearly defined roles he had with Judson...they had great chemistry together.

Remedi is a solid player but more prone to wanting to make something happen...but his bag wasn't to play the 8....got caught out more in transition.

Also, Jackson was sandwiched between Chofis at the time as attacking mid and Remedi kind of playing behind him...totally different role for him...basically a shuttler between Remedi and Chofis. I think the expectation was to make a 20 foot pass to Chofis.... The midfield was a mess. Almeyda had to abandon the strict man marking if Chofis remained in midfield...we went to a weird mid zonal space marking for a while then moved Chofis out to wing which worked well...but imo, the expectation was still to find Chofis dropping into the channel to combo with the forwards.

I agree, it did look mental... it looked like to me like Jackson had a reduced role from a playmaking standpoint...and a lot more to process and cover with Remedi's forays behind him. The chemistry was off, they seemed to be crossing each other up...which can lead to reluctance... losing faith in teammates to make the proper read...that can really rattle your confidence...you can't count on anything to happen the way you think it should happen...your basic disjointed crap situation.

I thought Jackson looked better in the last quarter of the season.

Hopefully his role is clearly defined this season and the midfield players have clearly defined roles....and please play Judson deep as primary protector of the back line.

 

And then the absolute disrespect by everyone except Jackson Yueill not acknowledging our end. @SJEarthquakes making it hard to be a fan lately…

— Crystal (@CCuadra8) July 18, 2022

 

This grosses me out, a lot. Players don't need to pay homage to a supporters group and the expectation that they do or it an act of "disrespect" is some absolutely next-level delusion. I really hope one day we will realize that fandom is a disease and not something to aspire to.

 

Well, I feel players should acknowledge all the fans, not just supporter groups. I know some people don't like me bringing up Seattle stories , but, back in the NASL days, I remember the Sounder players handing out flowers to female fans before the start of games, (and it wasn't just Mothers Day) and win or lose, at the end of the game the entire team would make a lap of the field clapping and acknowledging all in attendance.

 

I think it's great when players take some time to acknowledge fans. It's a nice gesture of appreciation. But twisting it into some expectation where they have to kiss the ring or risk your ire is, frankly, frightening. And it's a great way to make sure no player ever engages with you at all.

 

Circa 1971.

 

How quickly some people feel the need to rush to and vilify on social media in a situation like this is a bit sad, but, unfortunately a sign of the times. Why not just send a note to or call the front office explaining how you feel?

 

And then they drank their juice boxes! Those were the days!

 

Uh, this predates juice boxes, we are talking orange slices time.

 

I stand corrected - orange slices. Much healthier BTW.

 

Everything I learned in college about player nutrition (during my coaching degree in the 80s) said not to give anything to players at halftime except water or MAYBE something with electrolytes. So in the early 90s I stopped giving (allowing really) my players anything at halftime but water. We did do end of game snacks which were crappy for them (I let the parents handle that stuff).

I coached again after a long time away last year. No one is giving players oranges or juice boxes at halftime anymore. Not an orange slice to be seen at all.