The United States national team is in desperate need of a goal in the waning minutes. After a foul in the area, the referee points to the spot. Penalty! One problem. For whatever reason, Landon Donovan isn't on the matchday roster. Somebody else has to step up and take the kick.
In light of Clint Dempsey's penalty against Chelsea yesterday, it got us to thinking: Who in the U.S. player pool would be the best non-Donovan option should the situation arise?
Given Donovan's command of penalty-taking duties and his penchant for being a part of every crucial U.S. match, this is likely to be nothing more than a hypothetical situation; however, it's always good to be prepared for a surprise scenario.
So who are some of the top options?
For starters, there's Dempsey. Had Petr Cech guessed incorrectly, Dempsey would be lauded as a hero for winning yet another match for Fulham. Granted, penalties haven't been his strongsuit over time, but he represents perhaps the strongest overall offensive weapon available for coach Bob Bradley.
As for the strikers, World Cup participants Jozy Altidore, Herculez Gomez and Edson Buddle are all viable options, though not one of them has converted a penalty kick for the United States as recently as Teal Bunbury, whose PK against Chile rescued a draw in last month's friendly.
What about some of the other midfielders? Michael Bradley and Stuart Holden come to mind as two confident, skillful options who would have no problem overcoming the mental hurdle of the penalty situation.
Then there's the captain: Carlos Bocanegra. Who better to shoulder the pressure of an intense moment than the team's leader?
Those are just some of the possibilities. Who would you want to see step to the spot if Donovan were not available? Cast your vote here:
I think the glare from Michael Bradley’s noggin would be quite distracting as well. I guess we’d need to scout the GK to see if he’s more susceptible to hair glare or head glare.
+1
I like to Buun…..buuuuu…..ryyyyy!!!!!!
Interesting to me that Holden is in the lead. I voted for him and wasn’t entirely sure why apart from this superb free kicks. I guess everyone gets the same feeling from him that I do.
Brad Davis!!!!
Donovan’s not 100% witness the MLS final the other year, but who is.
Domovsan must be in the high 90’s in terms of reliability as pk taker. Doubt anyone on team statistically is at his level from pk spot – someone do more research!
Speaking of ridiculous overblown wankfests…oh wait that was only what you are talking about.
Rest of us are debating a missed pk and who else might be good after Donovan as USMNT pk taker. According to poll folks seem to like Holden Bradley, and Dempsey…as commenters have said Cherundolo probably has taken more in pressure situations so personally I would bring him as # 3 after Donovan, Dempsey Is that wanking or just being realistic?
Agudelo
Yeah Dempsey 5 years ago is same player as today. Or not.
yeah, starting cm, free kick and corner kick taker on #8 EPL squad…he’s no leader. right.
On other hand, benched by last place Buindesliga team, bails for EPL rather than leads fight out of relegation…there’s a leader.
Actually I agree Mike has a leader’s mentality, but Holden’s got the leader’s accomplishments.
MLS is better than even a couple years ago.
Obviously not an elite league yet but still, was easier to score 15 when Jozy was around.
doubt it
+5000
Because…he scored last time he took a Ok a couple weeks ago, against EPL-quality goalies.
Which is more than we can say for pretty much anyone else on team.
Landon is rock solid though on pk’s to give him credit.
For #2 it’s still Dempsey in my book, even if one of top goalies in world Petr Cech yesterday – guessed right on him.
I am sorry miss or no miss Dempsey takes the penalty. He is the only one with the balls to say I am ready give it to me. I guarentee he fights anyone for that honor. This guy is not afraid!
Yea, holden seems obvious, but penalties are all about experience. Cherundolo can strike the ball just fine, and experience is key for those high pressure moments. Gotta be ‘dolo.
I think the whole “he was tired” argument is a weak one. All these guys are professional athletes who can run for 90 minutes with relative ease…stepping up and kicking a penalty isn’t about stamina. And if stamina does effect Clint (or any other player) that much after 90 minutes than I don’t want them anywhere near the spot after 120 minutes of regulation and overtime.
He’s been stopped more than once in PK’s. Ask any Rev’s fan.
With Dempsey i’m always worried he’s about to do something too “cute” and unnecessary…i feel like he’d be the kind of guy that would change his mind at the last second and not be able to get enough on the shot.
I feel like Bradley would more likely know where he’s going with the ball beforehand and put it there.
yeah you give it to Cherundolo or Bocanegro because we are talking about occasional PK. Defenders walk up and say “No one thinks I am going to make it so here we go.” they tend to keep it simple and generally score. That is my experience from club and college.
And by top three, I mean top four. Time to find myself some coffee and wake up…
Holden, Bradley, Cherundolo, and (despite that penalty kick–I mean, come on, you can’t judge someones abilities on one small moment in a long career) Dempsey would all be in my top three, no particular order. I don’t know what Bradley’s role at AV will be now, but all three of them have experience taking kicks at the club level. Holden in particular seems to have very, very good nerves.
What it comes down to, though, is what’s happening in the game. I don’t think that you can really plan ahead of time who takes a PK because every game is going to be different. If all four of these guys are exhausted or have taken some bad knocks, I’d rather have someone else take it.
he hit it hard and low.. good save and not a perfect pk
Jaime Moreno.
-DC United Bias.
Vince good job on the evidence, but there comes a point when we have to stop providing excuses for the kid. I’m not trying to throw him under the bus, but in the last year, i’ve seen no evidence otherwise than he’s allergic to the goal posts
I said Holden. He is the most technically sound player we have. I still fail to realize why everyone think Deuce can take set pieces. He can’t take freekicks to save his life and his penalties have been that fantastic. He scored one a couple weeks ago for Fulham which was convincing. I definitely don’t see how he is a lock for second choice penalty taker.
Word.
Vince, I agree with your analysis. The only thing that I would add is that, if Jozy’s numbers are in part based upon his EPL and La Liga performance, his numbers are even more impressive because he faced much stiffer competition than MLS provides.
Have you seen how many PKs Landon has converted for the Nats? Of course he’s the clear #1…He’s missed a few PKs at the club level, but he very rarely misses for the National team.
its all about Dolo!
His confidence and swagger. You need that to take a penalty…although it was lacking on his face as he stepped up last night. I actually thought that he would miss it because he didn’t look confident.
I find it weird that people are using words like “ridiculous” and “overblown.”
I have not seen one comment, or even a suggestion in a news article, that Dempsey isn’t good enough or shouldn’t have taken the penalty. It was not a good penalty. So what? Lots of good players have taken poor ones.
I like Dempsey a lot and would probably take him before any other US player on my team, but the wankfest for the guy on this site is sometimes “ridiculous.”
Agree. Holden is our calmest player and is playing the soccer of his life so I’d trust him.
So can we make Friedel a 90+ min sub. He had great composure on that strike. 🙂 hehe
Messi, you say? Why would you want them to be like Messi? That guy’s kissed TWO penalties this season alone. And those weren’t saves, he flat out missed. From 36 feet away he was unable to hit a 192 square foot box. What a hack.
Jonathan, I was curious, so I ran the numbers (these are pro level games only so no youth teams):
Altidore 121 games played/30 goals 25% strike rate (1 every 4 games)
Bunbury 28 GPs/6 goals 21% rate (about 1 every 5 games)
Agudelo 6 GPs/ 1 goal (obviously, 1 goal every 6 games)
Now, it’s not a perfect analogy, but in theory, Agudelo and Bunbury should have higher percentage numbers with smaller sample sizes — and they don’t.
For Altidore, his 15 goals with the Metro Stars really help, but then all of Bunbury’s goals (except for the Chile pk) are MLS, too. Jozy has scored 10 goals for the USMNT in 32 games, so his strike rate for the Nats has actually been much better than his recent club play.
The argument for Agudelo would be to count his obscene U17 numbers, but then Jozy lit it up at the U17 and U20 levels as well — so that’s a wash.
The overall point is that while I agree Jozy can do better, I’m not ready to throw him under the bus quite yet. He’s had some production, and his strike rate is statistically higher right now than Bunbury or Agudelo.
You want to compare development at their ages? Okay, Altidore scored 15 MLS goals when he was 18. Bunbury scored 5 MLS goals last year when he was 20. Agudulo is 18 this year, so let’s see if he can match Jozy’s 15 goals scored in his first year in MLS — that’ll be a pretty good comparison.
I like Bunbury and Agudelo, but let’s slow down the irrational hype machine a bit.
(If I remember correctly, last year at this time the fan hype machine proclaimed Jose Torres the Great Creative Missing Link and that La Liga teams were lining up for him. That didn’t quite work out so well….)
HAHAHA
a “really hard kick”
that’s funny
+1000
1. Holden
2. Dempsey
3. Cherundolo
4. Bradley
To be honest, I wouldn’t mind any of these guys taking the penalty… just don’t let Jozy take it
Penalty kicks have nothing to do with skill, all about the mind game. You want the most experienced, clutch player at the spot. My pick would be Jermaine Jones or Bocanegra. Both veteran, gritty players who don’t seem fazed by too much.
Yes. It’s probably not quite as demoralizing as when Brad Friedel does this to you….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGkxvL65Tt4
Holden is not a leader? Consider what happened to Houston Dynamo after Holden and Ricardo Clark left. And if I recall correctly it was Holden who they were trying really hard to retain. And for a good reason. Just compare Dynamo’s performance during the season with Holden and their season without Holden.
agreed! You are too in the moment to be a cool customer when you earn the penalty yourself.
What makes you say that Landon is the clear #1 choice? I remember him missing big PKs in the MLS final and in the 2007 SuperLiga final.
My first choice would probably be Dolo, but, really, I’d want to see video of all of the PKs taken (for club and country) by all of the potential choices. I’m sure Bob Bradley has that video, while I don’t.
Because he does everything but score!
Of all his strengths, “clinical finishing” and “powerful shot” are waaaay down the list. Yes, this is distressing for our starting striker, but them’s the facts.
Jonathan, Vince’s assessment is right on the money. Jozy led the US in goals scored in the WC qualifying. And guess who scored for the US against Spain in the confederations cup? Nothing against Agudelo or Burnberry, but they are not even regular starters for USMNT. When one of them leads the US in scoring in a WC qualifying or score a meaningful goal for the USMNT against an elite opponent in a meaningful competition, then we can discuss their scoring achievements. At the age of 16, Jozy scored three times in seven appearances for NYRB. How many goals did Agudelo score for the same team last season at the age of 18? Jozy played in EPL and La Liga, while Agudelo and Bunbury are still breaking into MLS. Yes, Agudelo and Bunbury are exciting prospects, but let’s not act like they are a second coming of Messi.
hahah +1
Cooper’s very good. I saw him take a lot of PKs in his time with FC Dallas and he never missed or had one stopped.
Hopefully he finally starts utilizing his size advantage in MLS this year.
It’s not a judgment on Dempsey’s skill, desire or nerve to say he’s not your top choice for taking PKs. It’s a judgment on him taking PKs, PERIOD.
Some great goal scorers have not been good PK takers. Hell, on my son’s club team, our top scorer couldn’t hit a PK if you removed the keeper. Some people are good at it, some aren’t. It has always been this way