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Wondolowski named MLS player of the week

Chris Wondolowski (ISIphotos.com) 

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Chris Wondolowski has been the key factor in San Jose's surprising success this season and he delivered arguably his best performance of the campaign with a hat-trick in a 3-2 win against Toronto FC on aturday. The stellar outing earned him MLS Player of the Week honors.

Wondolowski helped the Earthquakes move a step closer toward qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since the club returned to San Jose. His three goals against TFC give him 12 on the season, including a league-high seven game-winning goals.

In case you missed it, here are the highlights of Wondolowski's performance:

 

What did you think of Wondolowski's game? Think he merits a U.S. national team call-up? Think San Jose can do some damage in the playoffs?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. That is exactly right. I watched him play many times in Houston too and when he got his chances with the first team, he didn’t look ready.

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  2. He never showed up when he -did- get the playing time. I saw him play many times in Houston, and he simply never reproduced his reserve form. I’m genuinely surprised he’s done so well at SJ. Glad for him, but still surprised.

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  3. wow, i didnt realize he was 27. quakes are on fire. makes me ashamed not to have seen them as a bay area resident. i’ve only seen them at the coliseum. I wont burn my galaxy jersey from when i lived in LA, but go quakes nevertheless.

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  4. With all of these friendly’s coming up, its pretty hard to justify not calling him up at least for one game and letting him play 1 half.

    There are plenty of American forwards with better touch, technical skill and passing ability but very, very few that have a sense for the goal that Wondo has. Couple that with his heart and determination and its just too hard to keep him away from the national team.

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  5. Wondo is great at finishing all types of shots – headers, tough angles, long range, marked closely with multiple defenders on him – you name it he finishes it. He also plays some of the best defense out of any forward I’ve seen.

    The reason it’s taken him so long is that Houston did a terrible job evaluating his talent (not surprising considering they also thought Landin was DP-worthy). It’s funny b/c SJ completely took advantage of Houston twice last year – first in the Cam Weaver for Wondo trade and then in the Ryan Cochrane trade.

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  6. I thought Wondo played many games in the past with the Dynamo against international competition and did well with it as well. He has the experience, just not recently. I say call him up out of curiosity.

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  7. He’s not uniquely athletic, but he has a great soccer brain. His touch and passing are all good, but I don’t know how well it will translate to the next level. He never seems flustered, so his confidence should help him step up.

    Good finisher, so it can’t hurt to bring him into a camp.

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  8. Wondo has been a big part of the Quakes success this year. He not only scores goals, but he’s happy to play anywhere on the field – he’s played central midfield and outside midfield a number of times, and does the defensive work required to succeed at those positions. His performance against Toronto was not just a good offensive performance, he made a possible goal saving sliding tackle on Chad Barrett in the box and had several other good defensive plays.

    Having said that, it would be good to see him get a callup to reward his play, but the fact that he’s already 27 and has relatively little professional match experience would seem to play against him making any real mark at the International level.

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  9. I don’t think he merits a call up at this point but he does deserve a raise for the upcoming season if nothing else. I just hope that he doesn’t pull a lame duck Ryan Johnson next season.

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