LOL i agree I'll add for not having all the players he may have wanted for this exibition of friendlies. The players that were there really stepped up, and to be honest it bodes well for the younger players and our future of soccer in the US. It was a young team, that performed well under adverse conditions. i really enjoyed this weekend.
Watson has crashed and burned at UNC. I was surprised that Sigi called up Preston Zimmerman over Bickford for the friendlies last month. Bickford was the top-scorer for the u-18s this year after only playing in one event (3 games). Zimmerman has been playing well with the 17s, but wouldn't it make sense to call up a more age-appropriate player? I saw the Nike Friendlies this weekend when he played against the 17s for the Concorde Fire in the 12pm game. He was ripping their defense apart on the dribble. I just learned today that that was his second game of the day after going the full 80 minutes for Richmond in the 8am game. You never would have known that he played 2 matches with the energy that he put forth.
Whatever, he will be a first round mls pick this year. Even if he isn't he is still quite a good college player.
Watson was far from crashing and burning. He was tied for the lead on points for the team and played less minutes than Ashe or Storey. The only thing that hurt Watson this year was the attitude of the UNC Coach when he heard Watson was considering going to MLS after this season. Based on the mintues played, he was the best player on the team this season.
Watson scored 6 goals in 20 games this season....hardly what is expected of a former residency player in college. As a forward his job is to score goals and he hasn't done that enough. He spends too much time on the field complaining to his teammates, coaches, and the referees, when he should be concentrating on putting the ball in the net. I don't know how on earth he could survive the MLS with his attitude combined with his lack of productivity.
Just rewatched the US U-17 6:1 South Korea today. Watson has too many of offsides. The goal he did is good, but he is not an instinct scorer from the one he missed (Adu->Ash squence). I don't think he has enough juice for our U-20 as the striker. The other two players who didn't have enough skill are Owens and Ash. Evem Memo is doing pretty good when he helds the ball in the tight space surronded by few defenders. Everyone else all have good technical skill on the ball.
One thing that Sigi would like to do if Gaven is healthy http://www.ussoccer.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=127208&itype=113&iCategoryID=0 I would like to see Jemal Johnson from Blackburn get a look but i do not think that will happen. I watched him during a half-n-hour highlight show of Man Utd reserves vs. Blackburn reserves on MUTV, where i got to see Yelldell, Johnson and Spector all on the pitch at the same time and he was clearly the most dangerous offensive player on the pitch. He is very skilled on the ball compared to the other players that were on the field and he is extremly fast. Its hard to tell how big he is but I would guess anywhere between 5'7 and 5'11. He is skinny but held the ball strongley with Pique and Spector on his back. He has an afro, a confident attitude and im suprised he has not recieved a look yet. EDIT: I just went back and checked his profile on Blackburns official website and he is actually 6'0.
I've been a tarheel fan for over 25 years, and I have only missed a handful of home matches in that period of time. Tim Merritt was without a doubt the best player for the heels this season, based on the minutes played. He was an inspiration in a team that was too full of individuals this season. Merritt was a phenomenal captain who led by example, scoring 3 goals and notching 4 assists. That's half of Watson's goals, and equal to his number of assists, and Merritt was a center-back! As far as Watson goes, I'd rather him be playing against us than for us.
Watson missed several games and was on the bench for most. He was tied for points with Storey who started almost all games. Also, coach had him playing mid most of the season which is not his position. You obviously have a biased slant on this. If you were a true UNC fan then you must've seen Tim Merritt blast his teammates on the Tarheel website when he was interviewed early in the year. And yet you say that Watson complains to his teammates?? Ok Merritt scored some goals. UNC also lost several games because the defense quit. Where was Merritt then?!? If he's the great motivator and leader you make him out to be why were there so many "crash and burns" on defense this year? Maybe if he was playing his position like he should've UNC wouldn't have lost those defensive fiascos with FIU or Duke, or Maryland in the ACC tourney. All come from behind victories for the opponents. I'm sure you'll find a way to blame Watson for that too!
You're brilliant and Ellinger is an idiot for playing Jamie in a world championship! What was he thinking! Maybe he was out of his mind thinking that Watson was the best strike partner for Adu. Come to think of it Rongren was wrong too to bring Jamie in so many U20 camps earlier this year. Even though he is still one of the leading scorers on U20. And the MLS. What do they know about talent?!? Why would they be wanting someone who was offsides in the U17 championships. And that Freddie Adu guy, I don't understand why he still wishes he had a strike partner like Watson. He even went out on a limb and mentioned him in several interviews this year, including the one on 60 Minutes. If only the soccer world would just pay attention to the posts on Big Soccer. BTW. Memo was a non-factor in the championships.
I've wondered about Johnson myself. Two things come to mind: First, it's possible that they've contacted him and he isn't interested. It's also possible that they like him so much that they've more or less said a spot is his if he wants it -- no need to spend time away from Rovers. I'm not sure I fully remember the history, but Whitbread wasn't exactly a camp regular but he did end up a starter at the last U-20s (and made the jump to the U-23s as well) nonetheless. Or, the U.S. may just not be interested, though that seems hard to believe, at least as a roster option.
A starter for US U-20 team should be someone who are close to a US Full National team pool then a college player. Ellinger also has Cila to play with Donovan, so we can assume Cila is as good as Donovan? The US doesn't need a striker who can constant run, but a striker who can run at defenders. In last U-17, we have Johnson and Quaranta, but this U-17 didn't produce any. Too bad, Rossi is not in US picture and we may still have chance to see Jemel Johnson.
Where are you getting your info? You should check Blackburns official site they have his birthdate in 1985. Also when i was watching Blackburn reserves vs Man Utd reserves on MUTV about a month ago and they referred to him as a 19 year old American.
Has Jemal Johnson ever played for the US??? Has he ever revealed that he would in fact play for the US???
ah sorry i think i remember the yanks abroad website listing him as a 1984 kid. He should def. be called up. He scored against the liverpool reserves twice i think in one match a few months ago.