Must be slow news and little to talk about. Did he really say anything new? I'm no fan of Hankinson, but Wynalda certainly isn't out to give the guy a fair shake. Wes Hart was terrible, Garlick was never better than Cannon and Fraser was good, but certainly past his prime, evidenced by some poor outings last year. Regardless of the absurdity of dumping Carrieri, he fails to mention what a sensation Peguero has been. He excites me, and de la Torre is not only more versatile, but a large improvement over Hart. There's no doubt this year's version of the Rapids is an upgrade on paper, in my mind. Furthermore, after all of 2 games, both ties, why does Wynalda feel the need to criticize Hanki - especially for things that are old news? If this team is a success, Wynalda looks naive and I'll bite my tongue about losing Carrieri. However, I don't think anything conclusive can be said about the team's success or failure two games in. Seems like an unnecessary diatribe by Wynalda.
DC's midfield had already broken down by the 7th minute of the 2nd half, and Gros played pretty well. And all that crap at the end: silly, immature stuff but I guess Eric thinks he's making points with someone.
Nick Sakiewicz, general manager for the Metros, announced that Harrison, N.J., is building a soccer-specific stadium for the Metros ... for the 10th time. How about a timetable? Sometime before 2018? Was there some more announcement about this last week? I know about the conference call announcing pretty much "nothing" about a month back. Anything more after that?
Someone should let him know that Saturday wasn't Fabian Taylor's debut; he played half an hour against Columbus on opening day.
Poor effort all around. His points on Colorado are a bit odd to say the least. He comments on the departure of three players (Hart, Fraser, and Garlick), and his decision to start Cannon instead of Garlick. Well what about the other decisions he's made? That team looks so much more balanced this season with the addition of De La Torre and Peguero. Combine that with Powell coming back, how can this team not be better? Plus Cannon is a much better goaltender then Garlick (admittedly, the decision to start Cannon over Garlick was odd...). As for Carrieri, who cares. That kid runs his mouth as much as Wynalda does (maybe that is why Wynalda defends him so much, might have a soft spot for him), and maybe running it so much has placed such a bad reputation on him, that not even his play can save him. As for DC's midfield in the second half, why no recognition of the Metrostars playing the incredible soccer? Bradley adjusted the style of play, spreading it out farther, and injected a huge dose of athleticism in Taylor that left DC unbalanced and down 3-1. Is it that difficult for him to give the Metros as a team any credit? Fabian Taylor accolades aside, he has been overly critical of the best team in MLS so far. As for his analysis of Chicago's woes, if you can call it that, why not mention the fact that the team is facing an even more difficult task then it was last year. Sure you lost Stoich, Wolff, Nowak, and Kovalenko, but only one of those players actually regularly for the team. This year, your backline is already weaker compared to other years (with the departure of Boca and Thornton, combined with lackluster play from some players, and some injuries) forcing the team into a more defensive posture to compensate. You can say that the team will get it back together because they have done it before, but Bradley isn't the coach of this team, and Sarachan has never been in the same type of situation before (again last year's team I feel was more well rounded). In other words, it is going to be a big test for Sarachan to show his coaching abilities, and for Wilt to patch up the team. The Fire have holes that they have to fix (including goal). Wynalda thinks he's hot stuff. He's just a whole lot of hot air. He is easily the best out of the ex-soccer player announcers. That doesn't say much as Balboa, Harkes, and even Lalas are poor at best (never have heard Tab). Hudson or the commentators from Tuesday's Monaco/Chelsea clash on ESPN2 would be best (both of their names escape me right now).
Also one final comment: Why exactly is it good for soccer fans if the NHL is going to be on strike? Does he think that all of a sudden all hockey fans will turn their passions to the MLS? Will MLS start having teams worth 300 million dollars over night? We should be saddened, because hockey is a fantastic sport, filled with passion and honor. For me, the NHL should be a warning to MLS about the plight of a league that overextended itself, and what happens when players get too greedy, owners act foolishly, and overall poor management.
His quote about Fabian taylor having the best debut in the league, what criteria did he use to do this? I remember little CARLITO scoring two goals to beat DC United in his debut in the home opener in 2002...
Soccer fans, I have good news: The NHL will still be on strike by this time next year. Idiotic statement. Why do soccer fans feel the need to bash other sports (baseball is too slow, we should be a 4th major sport instead of hockey). It makes soccer fans look like they have middle child syndrome wishing the worse on everyone else, not feeling like they get a fair shake. here's a newsflash. If the NHL goes on strike we won't suddenly have MLS games in there 7pm or 10pm timeslot on ESPN or ESPN2. And if we did the crowds would look paltry in comparison to NHL playoff crowds.
The decision to cut Carrieri is looking idiotic this week after having only David Castellanos on the bench as a striker when Spencer went down injured. Zizi Roberts? Injured again, yet taking a bunch of salary for very little production. Powell? Injured again yet taking a bunch of salary for very little production. Carrieri? Decent production for little salary. You do the math. We cut Roberts and do a little bit of financial shuffling we can afford to keep Carrieri and Fraser. Now there may have been other reasons for moving them, but that's not what the team is claiming, so right now the financial decisions made by Hankinson/Counce are looking pretty stupid, and I for one was glad to see Wynalda point them out.
Waldo has a bug up his posterior about LAG because he tried twice to play for LAG and Sigi cut him loose without a contract both times. He's still enough of an "amateur" journalist that he hasn't learned to be objective about certain things.
Maybe not. But it helps to understand their biases when you read their work. Otherwise you might be fooled into believing they are right.