Twellman is taking no prisoners

Actually, he is closer to 5'9".. I think the comparison to Kreis size wise is almost dead on.. TT definitely has more speed with Kreis at this point being a bit more polished on the ball but TT is definitely very good in the air.. That is the one thing I noticed about him right away during his freshman year at Maryland was that this skinny little kid was outhustling and outjumping players nearly 3 or 4 inches taller than him.. He scored somewhere in the neighborhood of 18 or 20 goals his frosh year at Maryland and at least 10 of them were headed goals...

 

I think of Twellman as a young Waldo. Unfortunately, I haven't seen enough of him to determine if that is a good comparison. What do others think?

 

I don't think Twellman has the subtlety and nuance in his game that Wynalda had/s. I don't think any American has that subtlety up top except maybe LD. I'm specifically thinking of the way Waldo loved taking on a guy deep in the box when he had him isolated.

 

Maybe the American Klose?

 

I hated Wynalda from WC 98 on. But please, the guy is still the most dominating forward the US have ever had. Twellman is not in the same league. Mathis came closest to Waldo's finishing but, was never the same after his long lay-off, now looks very ordinary. We'll see what Landon can do when WC qualifying starts. Landon is still not where Wynalda was during his peak.

 

Well, my drivers licence says I'm still 180 lbs. and I haven't seen 180 since 1995...

I've stood right next to the guy and we are eye to eye and I'm just short of 5'10"..

Don't believe everything you read my friend..

 

I think Twellman is a few inches taller than Kreis, and can jump better. My comparison to Kreis was more about his style of play -- i.e., he doesn't usually run at defenders, but gets himself in great position for quick shots and headers.

 

Ya, but Buddle is just coming into his own. He's been playing damn well! And SQ was in good form before injured and that with a crap team.

 

Are you trying to take credit for "discovering" a guy who was one of the two leading scorers in the league all year? Not to mention a dominating college player at a top program?

What an eye for talent you have. I can't wait for your next hot tip on a hot young keeper playing in the swamps of New Jersey?

Tons of people have been advocating a shot for Twellman by '06 well before he even came to MLS.

 

I think Twellman and Carrieri would be a great team up front.

 

I would have to disagree with this statement and the one about him being like Mathis... there is noone ont he pitch that works as hard to get to balls around midfield when the revs try to clear their lines... there is no one who has ever played for the revs (including JMM) who has held the ball up better in the middle of the pitch to allow the revs to start their move foreward... this is where most of the fouls come against Twellman... he ges hammered early and often in every game precisely because he has his back to the defense winning balls at the midfield... this impresses me more than anything else that he does (... well, except scoring;-)... it is a major difference between him and Mathis right now... he is more a possession forward and finisher... not the burner that Wolf and Donnovan can be... his speed is suspect but not his workrate and committment to all phases of the game...

I think that his game will translate well to internationals but, as has been pointed out, this does remain to be seen... it is a different game...


rand

 

Brian McBride was for the longest time on this board the favorite whipping boy -- how could this guy be a first choice starter for the USMNT when he didn't score in MLS? Meanwhile, his teammate, Jeff Cunningham, was creating orgasmic-like reactions among some on BS because he seemed to score frequently.

Hmmm....gee, wonder what happened to those two?

Never EVER underestimate the incredible difference a high workrate brings to the international game. Yes, forwards need to score, but the positon requires SO much more than that -- it requires constant checking, harassing defense to force turnovers close in, ability to hold the ball - so much more than finishing. Finishing is NOT enough.

Those who believe -- "It doesn't matter what a striker does for 89 minutes as long as he scored in the 90th" -- are embracing a very dangerous and flawed argument, especially when it comes to the international game.

Taylor Twellman, among his other virtures, understands this. This is a guy who is not afraid to WORK.

He could make a serious impact in 2006.

 

Oh yeah? I think it's plenty, although I agree completely with your workrate discussion, I just think you're overstating it. Without finishing, you lose (or perhaps tie, but nothing better).

Cunningham hasn't yet been successful at the int'l level because he just got there, getting only a few opportunities, all since Dec 2001 I believe. I think there's more to come from him.

 

I think it's a flawed arguement if taken to its literal conclusion, but considering it is a saying that basically just means that you'd rather pick your forwards on their scoring abilities rather than their defensive abilities and how much they run around, it's more of a philisophical disagreement.

Is finishing all that matters? Of course not.

Is finishing more important than defense and hustle for a forward? In my opinion, absolutely.

For any player these types of strengths are not one or the other. Players simply vary in the degree to which they demonstrate differing facets of the game. Very few if any players exhibit high marks across the board.

Every coach has his own idea of just how far in one or the other direction he is willing to go.

 

My point is that when it comes to the continuum of

finishing--ball holding--checking/combinationplay--workrate--defense

if you skew too much to one side in your forward play, then you are going to be unbalanced.

Brian McBride can finish nicely, thank you very much; but the fact that he does all of the OTHER things on the continuum extremely well, makes him more appropriate as a national team forward than, say, Jeff Cunningham. It wasn't that Jeff didn't get enought of a shot; it's that for THIS cycle, he didn't do all the other things at the level necessary.

Maybe next time.

Meanwhile, as a national team coach, you should NEVER settle for the just the pure finisher. Bad choice, very bad. There should be at least three or four guys in your pool who can do all the things on the continuum.

Twellman happens to do all of these things, a kind of game it takes some forwards years to figure out. This is not unexpected in a kid as intelligent as he is. That he understands this, and acts on it, can only help his future Nat prospects.

 

Never say Never

Gerd Meuller was about a pure a finisher as you could find and he made a nice career for himself.

Klinsman was a guy who prowled around the box and was notorious for having very, very few touches on the ball at all. Yet, if he touched the ball in the box three or four times, there was a good chance he'd end up with at least one goal.

The international game is filled with guys who could be considered pure finishers who made great careers for themselves and represented their countries well.

Paulo Rossi from Italy ring a bell?

 

Gerd Muller was one of the great holders of the ball; once he had it, few could take it away from him.

Klinsman was a great back to goal player, a great shielder of the ball.

Meanwhile, nearly two decades have passed since Rossi’s era; the model striker in the international game is now Vieri or Del Piero, deft handlers of the ball and complete players, not lurkers or pure opportunists. Defenders are just too good, and marking is simply too physical.

One of the headlines on the World Cup final could have been

Ronaldo seals Brazil victory with 2nd goal after his aggressive defense forces turnover

Not a lot of drama in that headline, but it sums up the new century in international soccer.

 

I guess a lot of it depends on what you consider finishng. If it's just shooting, then sure it's a limited skill. I consider shielding off a player in the box, turning quickly to take a chance, getting into position to finish and a few other things all part of what makes up a great finisher. It's a combination of skills and instincts that make a guy a great finisher. A great finisher does one thing really, really well; he scores goals. To do that takes more than a great shot, more than a single skill. A great shot alone will never get anyone recognized as a great finisher since the guy will never get it off.

So, yeah, a guy who can only shoot is not a guy who is all that usefull. You'll have trouble finding him on club rosters much less staring for national sides. But none of the guys I mentioned, along with many others, were ever known for much other than scoring goals. None of them were particularly known to play defense, play much in midfield, set up too many others. They all played at their best in the box, scoring goals for themselves. To me, that's a finisher. And the game has been filled with them and will continue to be.

 

i just want to say that twellman will be the man for the us team in 2006, i played against him when i went to high school in america and he was at sluh and he was the same, a poacher extraordinaire, he has that nose for goal and if he gets the call in 2006 i believe he will do the business for team usa.

 

To me, it’s interesting that you mention players as exemplars of the “pure scorer” who are no longer in the game.

That says something, no??

Again, Rossi and Muller were of a different era; Klinsman is more recent, obviously, but he can be considered last of a breed. The international game is different now – not necessarily better, or more entertaining (in fact, it’s probably LESS entertaining), but it is certainly different.

In my mind, the three best coaches at this last World Cup were Hiddink, Scolari, and Arena. Hiddink built his entire squad around the concepts of superior conditioning and endless work rate. Both Arena and Scolari felt the pressure of playing guys who were “pure” finishers – Mathis and Romario, respectively – but made their decisions on deploying (or not deploying) such players comfortable in the knowledge that they knew what qualities HAD to be present on the field.

For Brazil, only Ronaldinho was exempt from playing a lot of defense, but this guy was a demon off the ball, working VERY hard to get himself into space where he could receive, particularly on turnover from a very defensive oriented midfield, and then make the offense go. Rivaldo and Ronaldo were expected to play high-pressure front-line game, defending hard, and that’s what Big Phil got from them.

That he asked two of the world’s most skillful players to play that way, speaks volumes about the international game in its current state.

The Brazilian public and press did not like this approach, but did they argue with the results?

Last I looked, they did not.

 

Well, I could list guys like Vieri and Klose as modern examples. Batistuta is a good example that is aging but has shown well recently. I just used older ones since they have more impressive resumes. Watch for Smith to become a poacher for England.

Is defense and hustle more emphasized in modern soccer? Yes.

Has it completely squeezed out poachers? Not yet.