Craven Cottage Newsround

January 14, 2008

Eddie Johnson?

Filed under: General — weltmeisterclaude @ 10:12 am

Strong rumours from the Washington Post.  The answer to our problems?

22 Comments »

  1. No, NO, NOOOOOOO!

    He’s a buddy of Dempsey’s but he is inconsistent enough in MLS and burst on the scene with the National team with a flurry of goals but that was three years ago or so. Now he seems to struggle with the Nats. He’s also had a bit of an attitude problem and been dished off my several managers. He’s doing better now but he’s certainly not the answer to any of our problems. I could see him doing very well in Championship but not Prem.

    Comment by bqfootball — January 14, 2008 @ 1:57 pm | Reply

  2. Eddie Johnson is not the answer — not a Prem level player at all. He showed promise two years ago but has fallen off since. He’s an OK striker in MLS but against better competition (see his performance at last summer’s Copa America) he doesn’t get it done. He’d be another Kamara….

    In my opinion, the US player to sign is 17 year old Jozy Altidore (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqrrxho0Wb4)….

    Comment by ssartor — January 14, 2008 @ 1:58 pm | Reply

  3. He’s fast, but his touch is horrible.

    Comment by Ilya — January 14, 2008 @ 1:59 pm | Reply

  4. He’s not horrible. He’s coming off his best MLS season.He’s had his ups and downs with the national team but as far as club soccer goes, he’s always played well. I would take him in a heartbeat. He gets ripped on much like Landon Donovan does and I would take Landon in a heartbeat as well.

    BTW…no way we get Altidore. There are bigger clubs interested in him.

    Funny thing is, I remember when Demps was about to be signed and seeing negative comments on various forums prior to his arrival. Does anyone want to send Demps back to New England?

    Comment by Jason Gatties — January 14, 2008 @ 2:08 pm | Reply

  5. Oh and the Copa…are you kidding me? Eddie was the only one on that team that even played worth a sh*t. Eddie didn’t have any sort of supporting cast during the Copa, we basically sent our B squad. He played well considering.

    I will say this…I would take Twellman over EJ. Doesn’t seem like MLS is all that interested in giving up Taylor at this point though.

    Comment by Jason Gatties — January 14, 2008 @ 2:11 pm | Reply

  6. [...] American Moving To The Cottage? Posted on January 14, 2008 by Jason Gatties According to CCN and the Washington Post, Kansas City Wizards striker and USA National Eddie Johnson has left the [...]

    Pingback by Fulham: Another American Moving To The Cottage? « Try Gol — January 14, 2008 @ 2:26 pm | Reply

  7. This would be a horrible move. Hodgson said he only wants players that will make a difference, that he doesn’t want players that are just like the players we have now. Eddie Johnson is a fine footballer, but no better than what we have now. It would be another signing that would service primarily to distract us, raise hopes, and, in the end, do nothing save us from relegation.

    Comment by aekbaltimore — January 14, 2008 @ 3:14 pm | Reply

  8. EJ would be more of a Collins John than a Kamara. Either way, i’d avoid him.

    And Jason, do you really think Twellman could cut it in the EPL? Not terribly fast, can’t dribble, falls down a lot, excellent header of the ball. He’s a faster/weaker version of Kuqi.

    Comment by Nordy — January 14, 2008 @ 5:46 pm | Reply

  9. Geez, I feel like I’m on Big Soccer.

    I agree with Nordy’s Collins John analogy. He’s got some talent, but with plenty of question marks.

    Agree with Jason that it’s not really fair to grade him on his Copa America performance as he was playing with the B team. However, he did give the Argentine backline some problems with his pace. My biggest issue with him is that he seems to lack confidence at times. So many times when he’s playing for the US, he ends up checking back for the ball and never once tries to turn a defender.

    The one thing that we should all remember is that EJ has never had to fight for his spot in the line-up during his time with MLS. We have no idea on how he will respond with more competition for playing time. Freddy Adu looked like he was washed up at 17 until he got away from MLS and he has really responded well to being in a more competitive environment.

    Unfortunately, I think that with the combination of his lack of match fitness as well as have to adapt to life in London, he wouldn’t make much of an impact this season and we need players who can have an an immediate effect on the squad.

    Lastly, there’s no way that I would take Twellman over Johnson. Johnson is more talented and has the physical attributes to deal with the stronger defenders that you encounter in the Prem. Twellman works hard and a good finisher, but he’s really an undersized target man which doesn’t bode well for him whenever he steps up in competition. That said, I hope that he gets a chance to go to Preston, but the likelyhood that the Revs allow that to happen is pretty slim.

    Comment by George H. — January 14, 2008 @ 6:45 pm | Reply

  10. Last time I checked, McBride wasn’t exactly the quickest striker around either. Twellman plays much the same style that McBridge plays. Plus from a chemistry stand point, he would obviously work well with Demps.

    Personally I would rather have a good defender over Twellman or EJ, but if we get EJ, I wouldn’t complain. Again, I heard all this same conversation last season when we signed Dempsey and just like now, I was a lone with my thoughts and everyone thought I was an idiot. I was right about Dempsey and I would be right about EJ.

    Comment by Jason Gatties — January 14, 2008 @ 6:49 pm | Reply

  11. I’m with Brian. I don’t see any use for EJ at Fulham. His only useful attribute is pace. He’s been given numerous opportunities with the Nats, but is wildly inconsistent. He occasionally scores goals, but if you take a look you’ll find that the most of them are due solely to his pace. He’s also looked terribly tentative recently (although he did have a nice club season last year, which I still can’t figure out).

    I’m partial to Twellman for obvious reasons, but doubt the Revs will ever give him up. I’m also not sure he wants to leave. he had a bad experience in Germany earlier in his career, and hasn’t seemed terribly interested in leaving MLS since.

    I disagree about Twellman being a weaker version of Kuqi though. Twellman has scored more goals in MLS in the past 5 years than any other player (and that’s without taking any PKs). He’s somewhat hard to define, but he’s basically a poacher. I think he could make it into the first 11 at a smaller PL club.

    Comment by robbyrevsfan — January 14, 2008 @ 7:10 pm | Reply

  12. Jason (or should I just call you Mrs. Cleo?), I agree that both McBride and Twellman play a similar style but what’s height differential between them? Sure, if you go by Twellman’s bio on the MLS site, it’s only one inch, but anyone who has seen the two can easily say it’s more like 3-4 which is a big difference. We already have enough undersized players (Roy’s runts, anyone?).

    Agree with you that we have more pressing needs to focus on (central defense & holding mid).

    Comment by George H. — January 14, 2008 @ 7:14 pm | Reply

  13. I was in favor of the Dempsey move… it’s all about attitude. I’m not even going to say EJ has a bad attitude, because people said the same thing about Dempsey. It’s about the cutting edge. Everyone who’s seem Dempsey play at every level know he has it.

    He ran at Columbus defenders the same way he ran at Italian defenders the same way he runs at Arsenal defenders. Doesn’t always work, but his attitude is to try for it because he believes he can.

    EJ? Well, for him, it depends on the competition. I mean, his supporting cast at the Copa was weak, but we really saw that ridiculous back pass ratio remain consistent. Just show me some brass balls EJ and I’m all about it.

    All the tools, enough of the talent… just show that cutting edge.

    Comment by El Steve — January 14, 2008 @ 8:11 pm | Reply

  14. Before EJ got his “turf toe” injury, he was the man. I thought he was going to single handedly take us to the WC finals. He was amazing. But he has never recovered his form. He’s just not there. Selfishly, I would say that if he is going to stay with the US Nats, then by all means, send him to Fulham and the EPL and lets see if he can get back to form.
    Is it in Fulham’s best interest? No.
    Altidore? I have very high hopes for him. He could become the finest player the US has ever produced. We’ll see.

    Comment by Derek — January 14, 2008 @ 9:24 pm | Reply

  16. oh hai guise.
    i agree with the people above that say we need some central defense or defensive midfielders before we need strikers.

    i know we have like a 0% change of getting him, but we are in need of someone like michael bradley.

    guy is a solid defensive mid, and a ball winner. plays on heerenveen rite now but with alfonso alves leaving that side i think he should weigh his options on another team. hes still really young and will develop his game further.

    and if youve been following him lately youd see that hes just now becoming a goal scorer (including a hat trick in a darby game).

    even with all that, thats not the best part of his game. the best part about MB is that his positioning is like, flawless. Hell always be in the right position to make an offensive play, or stop one on the defensive side, which is fulham need to do right now.

    we need to stop plays before they get to the point where they can wtfpwn us, and we accomplish that by stronger defensive efforts.

    either that or we need moar Jay Demerit. or even moar Simek for that matter ;P

    Comment by zomg warn — January 15, 2008 @ 1:55 am | Reply

  17. Thanks for the link Derik.

    I think I’ll actually make a post to reply to all of your comments. By the way George, I agree in that it does feel a bit like Big Soccer. Yikes!

    Anyway, there are some really good thoughts posted here. Appreciate everyones input.

    Comment by bqfootball — January 15, 2008 @ 3:20 am | Reply

  18. Jason: “Again, I heard all this same conversation last season when we signed Dempsey and just like now, I was a lone with my thoughts and everyone thought I was an idiot. I was right about Dempsey and I would be right about EJ.”

    Really, you were alone in thinking that? Because I remember some guy named Kris (which, not coincidentally, is my first name) who used to post at TFI who made several posts about Dempsey being a good signing.

    Twellman is indeed a similar player to McBride, but there’s a reason that Twellman has been unable to come anywhere near McBride’s success in international games. Partly it has to do with his size, but partly it has to do with his tendency to fall down a lot. He’s not very good at holding the ball and dishing off to support. Instead, he’ll try to turn, get nudged by the defender, fall down, then throw his hands up in the air in disgust when the ref fails to give him the call.

    I think Twellman’s good. And I’m a Revs fan. But I just don’t think he’s EPL-good. And Fulham needs players with no question marks right now.

    But if you disagree, you disagree. It’s a fantastically subjective game!

    Comment by Nordy — January 15, 2008 @ 2:47 pm | Reply

  19. Nordy, couldn’t agree with you more, -and I like the way you put this-, “that we need someone with no question marks right now”.

    He’s got to be proven. I posted that same thing today on another post concerning EJ.

    Comment by bqfootball — January 15, 2008 @ 9:26 pm | Reply

  20. The thing about EJ is, he’s more potential than results. And even the results are inconsistent. I personally want him on the club, simply because I’m a fan. But honestly, he wouldn’t be the first MLS player I’d try and sign. Who would?

    Jozy Altidore (ny), Maykel Galindo (chv usa), Juan Toja (dall), Wells Thompson (ne), Robbie Rogers (clb), then EJ.

    But that said, I think he’ll be an asset, and I like the signing.

    Comment by oi! — January 20, 2008 @ 5:24 am | Reply

  21. Eddie Johnson is the only player in MLS history ever to notch hat tricks in successive games.

    I think Roy could use a guy who could notch back to back goals in successive game ’bout now.

    Comment by Toady — February 13, 2008 @ 12:18 am | Reply

  22. Agreed. I think EJ will be fine. He’ll make an impact.

    Comment by oi! — March 2, 2008 @ 1:03 am | Reply


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