Funny you should post that....I saw on the Portland Timbers website that one of their players got an offer to go over to play (or at least try out to play) with Sunderland after their game in July. I was really surprised that a player from the USL would get that kind of an offer. I know Sunderland isn't at the top of the league or anything, but still, it's the EPL.
It's a good thing we didn't play them, Mick McCarthy would have been all over Clark, and probably Davis and Dero too, not to mention Califf and Ero. To borrow a Hudson quote, this is a man who would kill his Granny to get another bowl of porridge.
Not trying to troll, but I've been a fan of Clark and stated before the season that he would have a breakout year and Mulrooney wouldn't be missed. I'm glad to see that he has proven me right. I highlighted the one sentence of yours because I wanted to make sure you acknowledged the flipside. Mulrooney may have done a couple of things better, but the fact of the matter is that Rico has his advantages over Mulrooney. One is the obvious ........... Rico is a whole hell of a lot more athletically gifted than Mulrooney, which means he is able to cover more ground and physically recover from his mistakes more quickly. it also allows him greater flexibility in moving forward, as his speed allows him to still get back and cover his defensive responsibilities. He's also more skillful with the ball at his feet. Don't get me wrong, Mulrooney is good, but I never expected him to be missed once they picked up Clark ............... and he hasn't.
In addition to Rico simply being younger and having more years left to play, Mulrooney had his shot with the Nats and didn't make the cut at that level. Instead when he came back to the Quakes he didn't play as well as before he got his call up. If Rico continues to play as he has been, he's yet to get his call up and he probably does have the pure speed to compete at that level. All he needs is a bit more strength. We'll see. If Mulrooney wanted to come back to the Quakes today, there's only one starting player I'd part with to get him and it's not Clark.
Hmmm, now you got me curious, who would you part with? I think if I had to decide Barrett would be the one.
I agree, I liked Mulrooney a lot and appreciate all he did at san Jose, but the way Rico is playing Richard is not missed right now. If I had to pick one or the other I'd go with Clark.
"San Jose Earthquakes midfielder Ricardo Clark named Maggiano's Player of the Month for July" (Wednesday, 8/10/05) Mark Chung and Ricardo Clark were honored Tuesday. (San Jose Earthquakes) GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
One of the team's oldest players and one of its youngest in the same picture. GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
Nice comments by Dom; he mentionas the USMNT as the next step for Rico. For Rico's sake, hopefully Arena is thinking the same thing, I think he could help the team in next year's WC. His athleticism and speed would make him a good matchup in some of the games, and I have to say that Pope, Mastroeni, and some of the other guys playing defensive mid have not been that impressive this year.
I voted fr Rico on goal of the week, eventhough it looks like Kreis is going to get it for his 100th. I voted for Rico's goal just beacause of the pass that Dero made, it was a thing of beauty. It's obvious that Kreis will win it cos its his 100th but I thought that Khanos strike was better and Dero's pass made Rico's even better again.
That was a great goal, and it's wonderful to see this kid coming along so well. Bill Walsh always said that it was better to get rid of a player a year too early than a year too late. The 49ers were merciless in cutting guys loose who looked like they were in their prime. People would whine and moan, but would shut up when the team won year after year. It took guts to get rid of the players they did last offseason, especially popular players like Agoos and Mulrooney. But it seems to be paying off on the field.
Congrats to Rico for being named to the MLS Select team to play Real Madrid. He definitely deserves some recognition, but we'll miss him while he's gone.
Definitely well deserved by Rico.....somewhat worrying about how the team will fill the hole left, as O'Rourke sprained his knee this week. So for the USOC game on Wednesday we'll be without Rico and with O'Rourke perhaps still suffering from a knee injury.....I wonder who the backup to the backup is at defensive center mid?
Quite honestly, I'm not even caring too much about this game. I'm going into it expecting to see some non-starters. And it might do some people good to think that might be the case. With a league game on Saturday, it's likely we might see Jon in goal again. Maybe some other players starting. Anyone who comes to the game expecting to see all starters rather than "just reserves" might do some good to consider that before driving hours and spending tons of money on gas, and then feeling jipped (gyped). I'm a bit concerned about the game on Saturday. Probably Rico can do it. But he most likely won't be available to train with the team until the 25th , two days before the game. And he leaves after today's game. So.... I'm thinking he could do it, but it might not be easy.
Count on it. Dom has previously referred to the USOC as Jon's vehicle. Hopefully, LA will use Cronin, and Jon will justify/demonstrate why he was kept and Cronin was expendable. I couldn't believe the amount of people who were tripping about trading Cronin during the offseason, even though he had zero MLS minutes and most posters hadn't even seen him practice.
Yeah - I actually really care about the USOC game, but also look forward to seeing some of the reserves mixed in. I'd like the Quakes to make a run in the USOC, and break their streak of losing to LA. But, if I had to pick which game next week I'd rather see them win it's definitely the Saturday game, to keep them in position for first place in the West and push LA further down in the standings. If O'Rourke is healthy (which I'm hearing today that he is ok), then playing him Wed for Rico is fine. Give Danny some experience. As good as Rico is, that position is where we probably have the best backup (other than outside midfield). I think the team loses less by having Danny play for Rico, than they would lose by having someone else play for DeRo. In the scheme of things, San Jose will be without Clark, LA will be without Donovan. I like the tradeoff. Let's see Rico get into the Real Madrid game and make an impact, that would be fantastic.
Yeah, I do care about the USOC. But I'd care more if the circumstances were different. After that last game I'm a bit nervous for regular league play. I'm hoping it was just a fluke...just a bad night.... But I'm nervous. And things are still close in the West. We're only 3 points up on Dallas right now, but they have a game in hand, which won't be evened out until October. And last weekend, things very easily could have been different. Getting three points on Saturday would make me breathe a little easier. I wish we could have a season where we could really just make an all out run at both. But right now, I'm a bit more concerned about the league. Though maybe I'm just in a comfortable rut after all these years of NOT making serious run at both....
It was just one game, but in the LA-San Jose Reserve match in June, Cronin didn't look that good. Let in 3 goals, and at least one of them seemed to be one that should have been stopped. He was also beat on a couple of other shots that just missed wide. He's let up 12 goals in 7 Reserve matches (I'm assuming he played in goal on all of the matches, didn't bother to check each game result). Conway has let in 11 goals in 8 reserve matches. As you say, it will be interesting to see the matchup Wednesday.