Is there anyone in MLS or otherwise, that is a big, strong target forward? It isnt Taylor Twellman, or Jeff Cuningham. Possibly Conor Casey, who just got some PT last weekend after injury, but I doubt it. Maybe one of this year's draft choices? James
I think it may be too early to pass judgement on the forwards you mentioned above. Twellman and Cunningham haven't looked very dangerous, to say the least, but then again, they have not been teamed up with certain players that are in Europe now who are are most talented at getting the ball to the forwards in great position. Remember, even McBride has had long stretches without scoring, especially when his "servers" were not the quality of those he played with in the WC, including his long time friend, Tony.
i think he means, who can replace mcbride as a target forward... these few games made it pretty clear that we need someone other than mcbride up front to provide that 'back to the net' holding service and the flick on headers...ya know the dirty work. i think someone to seriously look at will be edson buddle. the man is a beast...he is 6'-1" and he excels with the ball at his feet, he can turn and shoot on a dime. he will be a major stud in the coming years for the national team...
why are people always in such a hurry to replace mcbride? the best player to replace mcbride? how about that yank playing over there with everton?
well someday is has to happen... and it would be nice to give him a national team break for a year and develop a clone... wait, perhaps clone-aid can help?
I don't think you "replace" McBride...as we get to qualifying, you see who the best personnel are, and you develop a style to match....I don't think its wise for Bruce (or any coach) to stick with a system that clearly doesn't match players' skill sets....Italy (Brazil too) in which their forwards were downright puny, and they managed to do just fine.. Having said, Casey and Buddle are the early faves, if Bruce wants/needs a "target" type for 2006...Quaranta will likely not be seasoned enough at that point..
https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30337&perpage=15&pagenumber=1 check this thread out.
I'd say he is already. He was putting them into the back of the net at a pretty good pace last season (before he got hurt). I'm willing to bet he'll be one of the top scorers this season.
For 2006, Quaranta will be 22, as of right now he is already 6'1, 185 and may have a few more inches left in him. And to say that he won't be ready could be a little premature, who thought that Donavon and DMB would have been ready for 2002 in '98?
Except when have you seen Santino score a goal with his head? He's a ball on the deck type player better compared with Dennis Bergkamp than with McBride IMHO.
Not to nitpick, but I remember Italian forward Christian Vieri as being pretty physically dominating during the world cup... 6'2" maybe?
McBride won't need to be replaced for the 06 World Cup if he can stay injury free for the most part. He's always one of the most fit players in the MLS and with the Nats. Staying healthy will be the key for him.
Even if he's healthy, I think we're going to need to groom someone else behind him just in case of injury. The candidates-- Buddle Casey Jaqua Twellman Eddie Johnson The last two aren't necessarily the same type of players but might be able to fill in. If Buddle goes off in MLS and Casey can breakthrough for Hannover, it'll be between those two.
1st round pick of the fire this year i like eddie johnson to be the best of these by 2006 - and hell probably be playin in europe after next year
What you say is true, but I'll be very suprised if one of our young strikers hasn't leaped frogged McBride on the depth chart by 2006. McBride is a very good player. He's proved to be quite usefull and can compete at the highest level. That said our young we have younger players with more physical ability who are getting trained in a proper environment (not college). With the rate of our development I think we'll have an upgrade to McBride. McBride version 2.0 if you will
Jaqua is one of those guys who has been on the fringe of the youth teams. His amateur status and the glut of professional forwards we had on the U20 team in 2001(Buddle, Casey, Donovan) are what kept him off. He trained with Liverpool a time or two when he was a teenager IIRC and played at U of Portland.
Just consider that Buddle has been a pro since age 18 or 19 and so has Casey. Casey also played in the Olympics in 2000. We don't know if these guys are going to hit McBride's level anytime soon though either.