DBAHO

QUOTE (Ozzie Ball @ Jun 29, 2010 -> 06:01 PM) I don't think Altidore has anywhere near the talent/skill/ability level that's required in order to develop into a player like Fabiano. He also comes across as a player with a low footballing IQ. I'd never bet on those players reaching their full potential. Yeah possibly, but IIRC Fabiano wasn't a guy who really came on until later on in his career when he joined Sevilla, and with the bigger sort of strikers, they usually don't really come into their own from 25 onwards. The footballing IQ is only something that's going to get better the more matches he plays, and for better teams in better leagues etc. Not exactly easy to look good for Hull when they're absolute s***. Obviously after what he produced at Hull this season, you'd say, this guy needs to really improve a lot if he's really going to make it. He could end up being more of a target man than an absolute striker when it's all said and done.

Needs more Johnny Drama in Golf Uniforms breaking Tom Brady's custom made Driver.

Joe Johnson's got bust all over him after his performances in the playoffs this season IMO.

Altidore's upside is a Luis Fabiano striker IMO. But that said, he's got a lot of work to do on his overall finishing skills still though. But the potential with his body size and speed is definitely there.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Jun 28, 2010 -> 04:47 PM) Obviously. MLS needs to improve before these players will and should stay longer. I'm just saying it would be nice if the league would be good enough to keep these guys until they are 24 instead of 21 or 22. My point is that these players aren't going to top leagues from MLS. If MLS was good enough to send players straight to a big 4 league, players would be more likely to stay longer. It's definitely a chicken/egg argument. Hard to get the players to stay longer without improving the league, hard to improve the league without keeping the good young talent longer. Basically the only way you can convince that type of players to stick around is to pay them more money. So it all comes down to finance basically.

Bet you were happy about Italy then.

I saw Brooklyn Dekker in person the other day at Wimbledon's, she's pretty hot to say the least, Roddick's certainly done well for himself off the court.

They made Ladd a qualifying offer today as well IIRC.

Adams is a better appointment that Cheeks IMO. A lot of people thought the Thunder's major improvement on defence this season was due to Adams. With him and TT on the same staff, the Bulls should be top 5 in D next season as a MINIMUM.

Better than Sam Smith I guess.

He won't get a max 6 year deal obviously, but I think most teams would love to have Yao locked up on a max deal for around 3 years.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Jun 27, 2010 -> 07:22 PM) I think MLS' goal should be getting close to those leagues though. Guys like Charlie Davies and Alejandro Bedoya (who will be key in the next cycle) used Sweden as a stepping stone instead of MLS. Davies worked his way to France's top league and Bedoya is currently a regular in Sweden. MLS needs to be strong enough that their players can go straight from it to a top European league. As it stands guys are leaving MLS to go to the English Championship and Netherlands and leagues of that caliber instead of straight to a big 4 league. Quite a few players are using Scandinavian leagues as their stepping stone instead of MLS. MLS needs to be an American under 25 league and an international over 30 league. They can keep bringing in big names after their prime, but the key is to be able to develop these younger guys longer here so the league improves. The thing is that these players are correct to go elsewhere to develop because it helps their progress. MLS needs to change that somehow. Well until they can improve the training facilities etc. that just isn't going to happen. And those European Leagues get a lot of money from TV rights that they can then pass onto their clubs, so obviously the MLS has a huge financial burden in that regard in terms of clubs paying their players. Unless the MLS could send a team to the Champions League one day, I think the best US players are always likely to go across the Atlantic to play in a better league. Altidore is pretty much the only one I can think of in the last few years besides Adu who went to a good league in Spain, but then again he looked horrible playing for Hull City in the EPL this season.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ Jun 27, 2010 -> 06:27 PM) What Jurgen said wont get much traction because English is not his first language so his comment was not as elegant as it could have been. What he meant (I believe) is that as long as soccer is pay to play in the US, you are excluding many of the most talented players. Conversely if you go to the city you see kids playing basketball for free, developing their skills. And I wonder if Jurgen has a shot to become the next US coach, I know there was talk before Bradley, but it kind of seemed like Jurgen had the fire again. I think the other problem that was commented on is that the US league is way behind many of the Euro leagues, and if the US really wants to start making an impact in soccer, its pro teams are going to need to become world class so that kids dream of growing up to be rich like Messi. Realistically, I don't think the MLS is ever going to get close to the likes of the Premier League, Serie A, La Liga etc. You just pretty much have to accept that the best players are definitely going to go to Europe from an early age if they're good enough. The US should focus on building more world class academies and improving the training facilities of the MLS teams and to try and improve the standard that way. As for the next US manager, if the US want a foreign manager, I'd say Klinsmann could be an option but he's been out of management for a while now. Capello should definitely become available, Sven - Goran Erikkson will become available after leaving the Ivory Coast.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 27, 2010 -> 06:17 PM) Yeah, I can agree with you. And I'm not ignorant, I know you watch a lot more soccer than I do. Yeah, well I mean you conceed 4 goals and you think well the keeper must have been just terrible, but this game was almost a carbon copy of the Germany vs. Australia game earlier on. Germany have got great passing b/w Ozil, Klose, Mueller and Podolski and you've got to press them for 90 mins. The last 2 goals, England simply were sending too many men forward too early on. Germany vs. Argentina I think could easily be the game of the tournament though. Ozil vs. Messi would be great to watch.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 27, 2010 -> 06:08 PM) Yeah, the third goal is what prompted my comment and was a huge, huge goal in that game. That first goal Germany scored was awful from England's perspective as well, and I'm not so sure James shouldn't have come off his line earlier to cut off the angle more. Howard's positioning on Ghana's 1st goal last night was worse than James' I'd say, and Mueller's shot was pretty powerful unlike Boateng's. Upson's and Terry's positioning on that goal kick was just absolutely terrible.

QUOTE (knightni @ Jun 27, 2010 -> 05:40 PM) Sacramento. They'd prefer Hedo over Deng I'd say. And as Balta said a few days ago, they've had major financial issues.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jun 27, 2010 -> 05:28 PM) I didn't say he was the problem. I said he had a terrible game. Oh boy, Jurgen Klinsmann just said that soccer, like basketball, needs to develop in the "lower class environments." I think he is probably correct, but I can see that being interpreted wrong and turned into a big s***storm. The chances that Germany scored on were so clear cut though, besides the 3rd goal, James really couldn't have done much more. All of the England pundits on BBC said he was there best player, which pretty much says how s*** the rest of the team were.

If Vizquel keeps hitting, there's no way Teahen goes back to being the everyday starter at 3B anyways.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Jun 27, 2010 -> 02:50 PM) http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baske...,0,520664.story TIFWIW Meh that's a Chicago Tribune story so I don't take much stock in that. That's what Miami is going for basically, whether it happens we'll wait and see. But James, Wade and Bosh all playing together is still a possibility. Even if they don't get James, they could get Rudy Gay and have this sort of lineup; PG - Chalmers SG - Wade SF - Gay PF - Bosh C - Haslem? That's still pretty good to say the least.

James wasn't the problem, it was England's back 4 as a whole, mainly John Terry who was woeful. That's probably the worst England performance I've ever seen in my life, Capello is a goner. Going to be a very interesting 24 hours here.

QUOTE (Lemon_44 @ Jun 27, 2010 -> 11:33 AM) i agree. I don't get all the LaRoche lust. He's a decent player but the only way I want him is if Haren comes with him. Teahen was starting to hit when he was in jured. His return will have a similar effect of adding LaRoche and he's already on the roster. If they are going to make an addition, make it a worthwhile one. Obviously adding Haren doesn't make sense for the Sox considering the prospects you'd have to give up and when the rotation has been superb lately. Branyan would have been an interesting candidate but he got moved back to M's today for 2 minor leaguers.

QUOTE (knightni @ Jun 27, 2010 -> 07:32 AM) Trade Deng, sign Lebron, Wade and Bosh. Works for me. Who's going to take Deng's contract and allow for the Bulls to have enough cap savings to target 3 max FA's which is exactly what Miami is doing?

That dance reminded me a little of Carlton Banks back in the day.

Robbie Findlay is a poor man's Emile Heskey.

He's the brother of our 1st round pick IIRC. Seems like we're targeting a lot of size as well.