Lol, agreed. Kai has much better tactical awareness in front on net (though she's not back to her old self yet after injury). I remember LePeilbet's comments at the end of last season about defending against various offensive players and she said something about Kai's variety of runs into the box being difficult to read/defend. (The only other players she mentioned as being tough to defend were Abby and Marta) Arod has shown glimpses this season, but is still very one-dimensional.
Prove it or I call BS on you. Don't pull out the race card without proof. Is Eddie Johnson a skillful or athletic player? Is Freddie Adu an athletic or skillful player? Maybe if you take the fanboy blinder off you will see there are other better options than an average WPS player. I'll take Abby, Leroux (a colour player that is as athletic but with better tactical and technical abilities), Morgan, Cheney, O'Hara, Arod (who has more than twice the number of goals, 12 to 5, and 6 times the assists, 6 to 1, in WPS over Kai) and even Christen Press over her right now.
Mookie likes Kai. No doubt. A-Rod had a breakout season. It was better than Kai's. How was her first season? 1 goal and zero assists. Kai's first season? 6 goals and one assist. I have seen A-Rod and Kai many times. There are similarities to their games. Like wokeupfozzy said, A-rod is one-dimesional at the moment. Kai has more to her game than A-Rod at the moment. The reason Kai is not with the US is injuries.
The last time I saw Kai in person was at the 8/28 Freedom-Sky Blue match. She pounced on a poor Freedom pass and instantly chipped it over Ashlyn Harris and into the net. Maybe that's a one-off, but I get the impression that if A-Rod had had the same opportunity she would have sent the ball into the Beer Garden.
I'm not pulling out the race card. I remember after the men's world cup when there was a debate on whether today's top atheletes would have succeeded in soccer had it been their first sport. Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James. It was all the same "Oh they're fit and athletic but they'd NEVER had a "soccer brain." or "They'd be athletic but they wouldn't have technical skills. "Messi's small but he has a soccer mind and technical skill." You guys at like it's not possible Are we REALLY comparing WPS goals? Of course the system foward got 12 or so goals. Too bad they couldn't show up for the big show. Also did Miss Rodriguez play with a torn hamstring? I'm not a fanboy or fangirl (*holds sexism card*). What are these options that are far better than this so called "average" *holds back giggle* WPS player? Oh wait they're aren't many. That's why you have girl who couldn't hit a guy with a hotdog if her life depended on it. Leroux really? I mean she's alright but she still has a LONG way to go.
You don't have to guess on that. See: WAS-Philly playoff game. Right now, if both are healthy, I pick Kai for my team every time over ARod. I probably even pick Kai if she's just at 80%. Kai doesn't have to have a system built around her to succeed. It appears that ARod might--her college and WPS success has been on teams built around her. That said, right this very second, with Kai having played the WPS season with a torn -- not pulled -- hamstring, the forward I pick to start with Abby has to be Cheney. With Morgan getting the sub minutes.
No, the debate was that most of them are too tall and too big to be agile with the ball as well as they are not raised in a soccer loving environment (USA) to acquire the tactical and technical skill side of the game. You know how many colour South American (the Brazilians, the Colombians, etc...), colour European, and African players that have extremely high technical and tactical ability? Are you forgetting the assist number as well, 6 to 1? That shows the vision and tactical understanding that Arod has over Kai. Kai and Eddie Johnson are one dimensional players that both the USMNT and USWNT, at all level, are trying to stop developing or moving away from. Kai is a 27 yo player who's basically will not improve much more than she is right now. She is a technically and tactically deficient player, and once she loses that speed, she becomes a poor player. A Rod (23 yo), Leroux and other players are still much younger, just as good if not better, and still have an upward trajectory.
You know that Arod is the 3rd leading scorer and 4th leading assist getter in the WPS right? Me, Pia, and most of the WPS coaches would pick ARod over Kai every time.
But on a team designed around her and set up to get her the most looks. The same as when she was at USC. That's a huge difference to playing on a team where you are not the prime focus and still being able make your chances. eta: I still stick w/ Cheney over ARod on the USWNT for qualifying.
Namdynamo-- I am glad you are putting yourself at the level of a national team coach! kool has her opinion and you have yours! kai has never had great soccer skills and never will. the one thing she does have is speed and athleticism and you can't coach that. As i stated earlier Kai was put on the WNT as a project and she has done well for herself. Get back on the subject of the Thread!! Hell I want to know who picked the lame location for the match!
You need to figure out why people chose to attend the Phillies game instead. Then again I'm sure a national level coach can figure this one out.
It bugs me that people would throw accusation around with no basis of facts or understanding of what went down. First some of you accused the coaching staffs of excluding Kai from the team for no reason. Now you blame them for the scheduling problem. When the USWNT-China game was scheduled, no one knew that the Phillies would still be playing in the play-offs, do you understand?
I didn't accuse them of taking her off for no reason. I used her because the conversation came to how do you get a big draw. I thought she was a big draw due to the countless kids/adults who adore her, the big time interviews that she's landed, and her visibility. THEN people took it in another direction by putting her down. Some people are acting like she didn't accomplish ANYTHING. It's there on the paper go look at the "facts." There was always the possibility of the Phillies still playing, but no one thought about it because they were looking at the FACTS and numbers. And I leave you with this question, "How can you say something can't be done if you've never attempted to do try?" Fact are good but facts change or may be disproved. Even one of the Wright Brothers (Orville)said that it would take more years for man to fly shortly before their first flight. That's the biggest issue I have with this squad. I don't sense anything I didn't really see two years ago. Hence this mediocre friendly. That's what I was trying to get to before all the Kai hate came in.
The projected attendance for the mens game tonight at PPL park isn't very high (for them as of late) either. Disappointment all around for soccer in Philly right now.
They didn't really sell the amount of tickets they should have during the WPS season. Bad location choice for more than one reason.
I liked Kai on the WNT but I never saw her as a full 90 player. More like a super sub a la Del Piero in the 2006 MWC. I loved watching her come off the bench when the other teams defenders were already in their game midnset and then have her run circles around them. Perhaps because she isn't an super high soccer IQ player, she played a bit unorthodox, and usually it worked out. The defendrs rarely knew what to do with her. Now if she did that the whole game the better teams would figure out how to adapt. But at the tail end, when they already have their strategies in place;, perfect time to unleash her chaos.
Same answer. Kai, caps=67, g=24 Abby, caps=142, g=109 They have tried 67 times. Am I good or what? Same answer for 3 diff. questions!
You must not be that good because it just keeps going over your head. I'm NOT talking about Natasha Kai! hahaha What I'm saying is you can expect to stay on top if you keep using the same methods. You can only ride on Wombat's back for so long. Hope that leg stays together. Some of you claim to know so much about soccer but you're so damn dim. If only you'd used your knowledge of the game to actually go out and play it. Then maybe we would have a larger more talented pool of players to choose from. Who knows if you spent more time passing out flyers to the game as you did putting down a woman who has accomplished more in her lifetime than you ever will, then maybe there would have been asses in those seats.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxdCBQtJZ3o"]YouTube - March 6, 2009: Natasha Kai Goal vs. Iceland[/ame]
Brook--That was against ICELAND!!!!!!!!!!! ALSO any good defender does not give space in the 18--On a scale of 1-10 the defending was a 2. She volleyed a ball and hit it...How many defenders will let you do that in the box.
Can't help noticing reposting of those same figures. Riddle this for us then genius...who in the wnt's last say, 3, player pools comes close to abby's caps to goals ratio? ...grandma? Is that why she's still there? Now, consider the fact that kai *ding!ding!* did not play full 90 for most of those games...
Amy- 49(8) scores a goal in about every six games. Kai- 67(24) scores a goal in about every three games.
Who cares who the other 3 are. I do know, it' s not Kai. Do you suggest that if Kai play 90 minutes a game, she can score more or close to Abby's rate? I don't know if she can stay on her feet much less score. You are suggesting, on a team that has cried out for a decent 2nd fwd for years, all of the nat'l level coaches had just simply passed her over or curtailed her minutes and only a handful of you on the internet would know better?