All-Purpose, Never-Ending Soccer Thread

I was always a Donovan fan, but I've been bothered by his play in the last year or so. But I think we've got at least two years, possibly four, to see if he's willing or able to change. He's too young and talented to give up on completely. Players do change, and they do grow. It's not often that one truly sheds the "soft" label in sports, but it has happened.

 

anyone watch the U-20s on sunday? i confess i was watching the american football.

 

The Baby Nats actually started to play a bit once the pressure was off. Rogers was eating fullbacks for lunch, Altidore was underwhelming and Adu's brace reduced the Earth's kitten population by a couple thousand. Long, direct balls were all the U.S. needed to unlock the Panama back line ... not shocking given the level of play. At this point, losing to anyone other than Mexico (or maybe Costa Rica) should be a surprise.

Guatemala paid the price for packing and hacking against the U.S. They shat the bad against Haiti and missed out on the Mini-World Cup.

 

NO!!!!!!!!! NO!!!!!!!!! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?!?!?!?!?!? HE WASN'T DOMINANT AGAINST A EURO C TEAM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OFF-SEASON!!!!!!!!! HE'S DONE!!!!!! HE'LL NEVER SNIFF THE RED, WHITE AND BLUE AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Come on, Trooper. It isn't about Denmark. It is about Donovan and his inability to show up during the WC '06 and then show the exact same thing in his very first chance to play after.

I like the guy and think he's a great talent. He just has no heart.

 

In the immortal SJ tradition, I'd just like to say "Fuckabuncha Mayor Lee Swaney."

 

Just wanted to point out: Reyna to be announced tomorrow at 1 PM.

Everything I have been told personally says no to the DP slot. Ives says yes. So, I could very well be wrong.

 

How on Earth does Reyna rate the DP slot? I hoped teams would use that to make a splash (ala Becks, but on a smaller scale). Reyna doesn't rate a splash, barely a ripple.

 

Yes it was. Great game ended by a great player.

P.S. Nice goal by Wayne Rooney as well.

 

Looking at the British papers, it looks like Claudio makes a little over $2 million per year. Certainly, the weak dollar has something to do with the high amount. So, if a guy like Claudio, a mid-level starter on a mid-table team makes that much, how are you expected to bring him (or anyone like him) over for less than $400k?

 

Webster, I agree in theory to the premise you provide but I still side with I_W. He isn't worth the money that was spent on him at City. Now, he's going to come and take a DP? Seriously?

My "source" said no on the DP. Of course, that doesn't mean he's right.

I think the other part of this has to do with the whole player allocation pot. By giving Reyna the DP, there is some 125K allocation left over for someone else. Again, who the feck can you bring in for that?

 

Here's the thing -- if RBNY is looking at the DP as a holy crap, make headlines signing, who are they going to get that the mainstream sports fan knows? At best, they know Becks, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo and Zidane. And if you don't get those guys -- you are probably talking about a typical twilight of his career guy.

My feeling was always that they were going to get one guy that speaks English (to be the face of the franchise) and one guy that speaks Spanish (to bring in the fans).