what young MLS players have impressed you most so far?

yeah clark looked damn good today

 

i think we should give clark more than 3 games before we start saying he should get a call from BA. Maybe during the offseason, if he has a solid year.

 

just for the record i didnt say anything about a callup

 

How about Meola at striker?


Oh, you wanted young players, my bad.

 

Maybe Meola can add some depth at Target Forward

 

Then let me be the first one to say it. "Call up Ricardo Clark to the full National Team!"

There, now it's been said and we can all go on about our normal lives.

Since our midfield is a bit crowded right now there may not be a place for him, but it is nice to have another young guy to push Mastroeni and Armas. Maybe it assures that even with injuries we won't see ABMOB again.

Scumby

 

Definitely Clark.

 

How tall is Clark compared to Armas. He looks much taller than Armas from what i have seen, but obviously, I haven't seen the two of them next to each other.

Obviously, Buddle, Martino and Clark are three impressive players.

Let me add the following:

Twellman (2 goals so far, good goal last night) - Keeping up what he did last year, something a lot of us doubted he could do after a couple of sub par showings with the USMNT.

West - I haven't watched all three Columbus games, but he has looked good in the two that I have seen. With the USMNT having such issues with the right midfield spot (i.e. Olsen recovering/possibly losing to much speed, Stewart aging, and Klein looking good, but not spectacular) West might get pulled in before others.

 

todd dunivant. kid is for real.

 

Agree on Dunivant. He's looked very good.

Ricardo Clark's been good.

Quaranta still looks like he has some skills.

I don't think Magee has played particularly well on the one hand, but on the other he has shown certain things that hint at some serious potential. MLS might be the right scenario for him.

Eddie Johnson impresses me.

Countess looked very sharp briefly until he got hurt.

Mapp looked good in his very brief appearances.

I'll leave out guys that have caps. That means Martino, Twellman, Califf etc. who I also think have shown well.

 

Have you seen Califf? He must've lost a lot of weight this off-season, because he does not look chubby like he used to.

 

You're right about Califf's weight.

Is Dunivant fast enough for the national team? I'm not so sure. On the Quakes I like Mulrooney and Ramiro Corrales. Neither of these two are speedsters either but both very solid. Mulrooney has never really gotten much playing time from Arena. Corrales is interesting because he hasn't gotten a call up despite this being his 7th or 8th MLS season but he's still only 25.

 

Califf has been rock solid so far this year. He held Donovan completely in check the last match and certainly should not have been dealt the foul that led to Donovan's PK. I think he's a lock in the future for the Nats.

 

He's not that young, but Kevin Hartman has looked better then Rimando or Howard this year. Did you see Howard almost gift Cunningham a goal this weekend? Talk about an embarrassing play.

 

Howard didn't realize Cunningham was lingering behind him while putting the ball back into play, and as he rolled the ball on the ground, Cunningham charged up from behind him.

But as bad as that gaffe was, his recovery was totally remarkable. The quick reaction that allowed Howard to push the ball back from Cunningham's foot saved the sure goal. The giveaway was a fluke that I'm sure will never happen for Howard again, but the save was something I doubt any MLS keeper would have managed.

Rimando has been on terrible form, but you're miles off the mark if you think Howard's play is down.

There's a big difference between Howard this year and Howard last year: he doesn't face as many shots, so he has fewer opportunities to make those spectacular saves. (Especially in the Columbus game, Hartman has been forced to make those saves that Howard had to make in 2002.) The two goals he has given up were both the product of bad defensive breakdowns-- a failure to mark Cunningham in the eighty-ninth minute of the first Columbus game, and a misplayed ball by Leitch that put three LA players running in on goal. If anything, Howard has been better this year than last-- it's clear that he has been working on his long distribution.

 

I'm glad to hear Clark is looking impressive so far. I haven't seen any of his MLS games, but he was pretty dominant when I saw him with the junior nats last year. Can't wait to see him for the Metros.

 

Not only that, but in judging his future as a keeper, it's fairly insignificant. He's unlikely to make a habit out of that kind of mistake, so really it's just a bad play, and not much more.

I think Howard has looked great, myself.

 

Thanks Dan.

 

In JB's Arena interview in Boot Room last week the Bruce said he has been watching Corrales and he is someone the Bruce is interested in bringing in.

 

I've liked Clark, Martino, and Twellman.

Keep your eye on Shalrie Joseph on the Revs. Got his first start against Dallas Saturday and played well. A big (6'3") midfielder who is very athletic. Had three good shots on goal -- not bad for a defensive mid.

 

joseph looks good, although he won't do bruce any good, since he's from Grenada

 

Quaranta showed well on Sat in Col. his assist on Etcheverry's goal was beautifull resembled the McBride goal v Mex in the WC. Santino really shields the ball well and is physicall enough to be the"Target" forward Bruce is looking for. He handles the ball well in traffic and has a solid shot-could work on his defense getting back a little more and is not incredible in the air but he really has no glarring weakness as he has good speed,agility and size plus he is only 18 or so.

 

Agree completely on Howard. I've watched his gaffe & save on Cunningham a few times and it's just an amazing reaction. .

 

Did you see the game this week? Howard was "off" bigtime.

I also thought that Adin Brown's footwork was at least as bad as Hartman, probably worse. Brown made several mistakes, including the first goal where he came out to "basket catch" the ball and got too low.....

I stand by my accessment, Hartman is in the best form of any MLS keeper right now. He's given up 4 goals in 4 games, two of them were PKs. He deserves a chance to show his stuff on the big stage.