What is wrong with you people! I question Roner ONLY because he models but I have to say that he is one of the most athletic players on the team. Unfortunately, I agree, he had an off night against Municipal. (His timing was off. I don't think he even plays right back.) Anyway, I have watched him a lot this pre season and I have to say he is raw athletic talent. He is one of the fastest guys, he can jump out of the stadium, he's is good on the ball, and he can play anywhere on the field. (I've seen him outrun LD. I don't think many forwards will outrun him) I think he will be one of the best players in the league by the end of the season. MARK MY WORDS!
Perhaps, but that won't help us for the beginning and middle of the season. Actually, I didn't think Roner did that bad on Wednesday. Nothing stellar, but he didn't make me cringe whenever he got the ball (like Ibsen used to).
Last year Roner played a total of 29 minutes in MLS. That sure ain't much to "develop" with, is it? BTW, didn't I see posts like this from Lucci's brother last year? Didn't Barclay fans say the same thing? The names Carrieri and Bower ring a bell?????
Actually, I'm hoping he gets more chances then those I named. Let's face it, 29 minutes is HARDLY enough to draw conclusions on. If you don't get much game time, you have a tendency to be "nervous" when you do hit the field (please see Eddie Robinson performances in his first season for examples). Last night, Roner jumped too early for balls in the air several times. Why? Because he was anxious. That's just a sign of someone that wants very badly to impress. I don't doubt that Roner can do it. I'm not "anti-Roner". But I wasn't anti-Lucci either....
Besides... Changing positions suck. It takes time to get used to and if you are just getting used to playing in general then it is extra difficult. What makes it harder is when people criticize you for trying to do your best...
This has been mentioned before, but it takes any player just out of college a year or two to learn the ropes and play at MLS level. Good example: Richie. I can't remember him being a major standout in his first year at San Jose.
      Almost everyone here complained about rookie Eddie Robinson after his only game played in 2001 (against the Fusion at Lockhart Stadium).       GO EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
True, but we saw Eddie in Open Cup action as well and he didn't impress at defensive midfield. He was lost there. Posters like Lindsey said "go watch Eddie at practice playing center back. He's very good back there." I thought Robinson was the "last man standing" on the roster that year. We had several good central defenders in front of him (Agoos, Dayak, Conrad). Maybe the d-mid experiment taught Eddie something, but he was miserable at that postition...
      I had forgotten that he played the defensive-midfield spot in that game against Miami. The only other time we saw him that season (aside from practices or Open Cup action) was being introduced as part of the team at the post-MLS Cup 2001 victory rally at St. James Park in San Jose.       I suppose that's why it seemed (at least to me) that he sprung to the scene from out of nowhere in 2002, even though he already had a season under his belt on the Earthquakes roster by that time.       GO EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
Don't forget Roner got a lot of time with the Portland Timbers, on-loan last year. PT is PT, and the Timbers were a good team last season. Training with an MLS team and getting actual playing time with an A-League certainly isn't a bad setup for developing a player. It'll be interesting to see how he makes an impact. He'll come into form.
I'm ok with Roner as a sub and he's better than Waibel but.......he isnt fast and he cant jump.....and you are outta your friggin mind if u think he can outrun LD.
I don't know if this applies to Roner or not. But d-mid is a great position to play to learn the responsibilities of just about every position. You have to be attuned to every defender's job, yet you still have to support and visualize every attack -- more so than just about any other position. When you play on the outside, you can hide from at least 50% of the match. When you're in the middle, you get a crash course on full-field tactics.