Does anybody know what happened to the Maryland star Graham Zusi. Zusi seemed to play well scoring goals in preseason. Was not signed to a contract when season started. Started a few games and struggled with the physical MLS in the one game i saw on TV Listed as sub but not used Not listed as sub Has he been injuried or I HAVE NOT SEEN HIM PLAY IN MLS EXCEPT ONE GAME ... IF ANYBODY HAS SEEN HIM PLAY ... GIVE ME YOUR THOUGHTS If not good enough to play... why??? .... I thought after his career at Maryland he would play
Re: KC vs RSL Sat 8/29 7:30 PM [R] If he wasn't signed until after the season started, why did he start the season opener? Again, that is WRONG. http://www.downthebyline.com/2009/03/zusi-signed.html Date of the signing was March 17th, first game was the 21st. Therefore he was signed before the season started. Zusi is probably making the senior roster minimum, which is what most second round and on draft picks that make the senior roster make. The team does (other than GA, which the league decides). They decide who is going to be on the senior roster and who is going to be on the developmental roster. 1. That list does have GA's on it,both Myers and Espinoza are GA. 2. As for why there is a difference, maybe read on the Players Union website, cause that explains it. http://www.mlsplayers.org/salary_info.html There are bonus' in them, as the quote above indicates, but whether they are just for playing time is another issue. As for the conspiracy that he's not getting time because they don't want to activate the clause, Zusi has played only 169 minutes this year. Why would the team have an incentive bonus for playing time set so low that they'd be afraid of hitting it when he's played that little?
An incentive for PT only makes sense if you have a player with a history of injury or a veteran over the age of 32ish who, actuary tables would say, will be vulnerable to nagging injuries (see Wolff, Josh). I therefore highly doubt such a clause would be found in Zusi's contract.
I believe Zusi gave the ball away stupidly to give up the opening goal of the season (or one of them). Great way to start your career.
Zusi is a pretty good player but that does not mean he should be starting or a regular basis yet. He does make the bench often. He looked great in preseason but did not light the world on fire in his debut. I would not have started him that early myself, I prefer to see rookies come off the bench to get some game time before starting. He also had an injury if I remember correctly. Nothing serious enough to DL him but I think it did limit his practices for a couple weeks and that put him a bit back in line. A lot of rookies coming from college tend to hit a wall part way through the season as well. In practices and scrimmages he often looks absolutely fantastic. At other times he has looked completely mediocre/invisible. This is not an insult to him, it is just how seasons go for players in general and rookies in particular. There are times I would have started him or subbed him in when the coaching staff did not, but I am pretty sure they made those decisions based upon what they saw, not a contract. If he improves over the next year I think he could be a very good quality player.
TPBinKC Zusi is a pretty good player but that does not mean he should be starting or a regular basis yet. He does make the bench often. I just thought Zusi was a proven scorer at Maryland and in pressure situations like 2 College Cup game winners. With KC struggling why no play Zusi at forward for last 15 minutes instead of myers at defender kuhnscoot BigSoccer Member++ As for why there is a difference, maybe read on the Players Union website, cause that explains it. http://www.mlsplayers.org/salary_info.html Thank you for the explaination and link
I would not mind him getting in some more games either. I guess the coaches have not thought he was the best option to sub in late in games when he was on the bench. Not saying I agree with them but I think it nothing more than their evaluation of how he has played in practice as compared to others. I do think it is unfair to make that comparison with Chance at this point. Chance may be listed as a defender but practices at both mid and defense. He has practiced much more at mid than at d this year. Gomez was playing right mid and has tended to be subbed out somewhere between the 45 and 70 minutes this year. Zusi does not play much on the outside, at least with KC. Not sure if he did in college or not so he would not have been a good candidate to directly replace Gomez. The real question is if he is outplaying the other center midfield players in practice. Zusi, Jewsbury, Arnaud, Hirsig, Morsink and even Zoltan are all competing for spots in central mid. Not sure if have ever seen Zusi play forward this year, at least not for any length of time. I am not being critical of Zusi, I think he is a good player and has a good future. (hopefully I made sense here, I wrote this while I am on a webinar)
This is a common trend in the MLS. There are players that are studs in college and can't seem to adapt to the MLS game. Being a stud in college will get you noticed and maybe drafted but it's what you do at this level that will open doors. Look at Davy Arnaud, he is, I believe, the only All American from West Texas A&M, got here, got a chance, took advantage of it and now he's a regular on the team; I'm sure Maryland has All American soccer players every year, but it's all in the timing and the luck they have. Zusi had a chance on the first game of the year, didn't do too well then got hurt. I think some of us would like to see him and some of other youngsters get a chance this season since we're not really in playoff contention.
The recent performances of Zusi have caught my attention and I wanted to ask KC fans a few things: - Is involved in the offense for most of the 90 minutes, or does he tend to fade from games? - He seems to be lining up on the outside of midfield, but does he drift into the center frequently? Do you think he would be just as effective lining up in central midfield? - How much of an improvement are his performances this season to those of the previous two seasons? Does he seem like a completely different player?
Like most players he fades in and out. He tends to stay wide. Not in the formation we play no. No he's just finally getting consistent playing time.
I think it is a combination of this and his confidence is on the rise. I think he is beginning to really develop as a player and not be afraid to try a few things. Previously I think he deferred to other players and got rid of the ball a bit too quickly. He isn't the sort of player to beat two or three on the dribble, but his passing has improved and his set pieces have become noticeable. I see him as one of the starting XI every week now, I wouldn't have said that back in March.
His new confidence the last few weeks reminds me a lot of the confidence Jewsbury is now showing out west these days. Amazing what a little bit of success can do. As Cal would say: "Cheeky!"
Yeah he does. I have never spoken to him one on one but he was at the press conf last week and he isn't a big dude ... very softly spoken as well.
When my son and I were at the Gold Cup game, of course Zusi was down there near between M3/M4. I won't ever bug a player on his off time for autographs..etc. So on the way out, just game him a quick hand shake and told him good game the other night and walked off. My son (he's 12) walked by, game him a low 5 and it's all he could talk about back at the hotel. He thought it was awesome having players out there with the rest of us normal folk. The 1st ? tonight was if he was playing against Philly tonight.
Yeah, I actually watched the Gold Cup game with Zusi and Milos, unintentionally. I got there during the anthem and decided that instead of trying to find a bleacher, I went to the corner and stood. Robb and Sacha showed up right next to me and stayed for a while until around the 35th minute (guessing). Immedaitely, and I do mean immediately, they were replaced by the aforementioned players. They stayed there (briefly left at half time) for the rest of the game. Great great guys. I actually asked Graham about his disallowed goal. I couldn't tell what happened exactly and hadn't watched the recording at that point. He said he felt it was probably the right call, as disapointing as it was. Never heard Milos speak before. He speaks very good English. Some guy from Florida asked Milos if he liked it in the U.S. I couldn't hear what he said, but he got really really animated and gave a lot longer response than I figured he would've. From his expressions, he seemed pretty happy. Reallllllllly curious what it was that he liked. But I felt like a creeper trying to lean in and listen. Talked to him about his youth career a bit. The best part was some girl ran up to him, after noticing that they were both wearing large white watches, and proclaimed, "Lets take a picture of our watches!". He complied. If she's any of yours, she's hilarious. Milos left around the 89th minute, but made a point to shake hands with the guys he had talked to and to say goodbye. In case your were wondering, he was clearly rooting for the U.S. I was actually talking to the Florida guy about Dempsey's missed chances and Milos interjected and said he felt the Dempsey should have 2-3 goals. Flame, I'm the exact same way. I deep down wanted a photo, but they had to give multiple photos at half-time and I just couldn't ask them. Let them enjoy the game. Need to thank Milos for putting up with me asking him some questions.
I think most people are like this -- its nice to see them around, nice to say high but I just want to respect that they are just guys watching a game and having a drink. You get the guys, the pro hunters with binders that give these guys handfuls of shit to sign and I want to stab em It'll all be different if I had a kid old enough to want to meet them. Getting your picture taken with Teal or Kamara for a five year old -- that'd be a real fun thing to put on a night stand in their room.
George Brett has been very adamant about his hatred for autograph hunters (not to start a Brett discussion). Says it sucks the fun out of giving out autographs. It'd annoy the crap out of me to if I was an athlete. I mean, I think it would be really awesome to have kids who look up to you asking for your autograph. But then you have these jerkwads that just want it for the money. Don't care about your skill, your accomplishments, etc. Zusi and Milos got flooded a bit during halftime, but beyond when they first showed up, people didn't really ask for photos or autographs when the game was on. Even Milos was ok with having to take the photo a couple of times (kid, you do realize you could get TWO players with you in the photo).
George Brett hates everybody. I have seen him tell off kids asking for autographs. He is kind of a dick.