Thank Gawd We Got Rid of Julius James

[maninb]

He wears out his welcome in Houston and gets dumped to DC United for a roll of tape, and then procedes to play some truly terrible games before being nailed to the bench.....I actually thought the kid had some future...anybody know if he has personal/substance abuse problems or something?

[flatpicker]

^ substance abuse? Did you just pull that out of a hat?

I too thought he might have some promise...
but it's just a fact of sport that some people simply don't progress to where they should be.

[olegunnar]

Nice 1st rd draft pick

[Parkdale]

...anybody know if he has personal/substance abuse problems or something?


I appreciate the joke, but let's get serious. People can have attitude problems without it stemming from a substance abuse problem. sheesh.

[DOMIN8R]

Yes it was. Because we were able to trade him and get DeRo.

[[NBF]]

WTF, was Don Gaber smoking when he decided to get rid of the reserves?

Julius James, is the prime example why the league has some level of success now, but will lack credibility in the future when the league expands and shows that the technical talent is extremely rare and tactical consistency is even harder to come by.

This kid could of been a pretty good Centre Back for a 20 team league in the MLS. Instead he's being treated like cancer. Give the kid a break and re-sign him to TFC, we could use him more than we can use Garcia.

[TFC07]

;749146']WTF, was Don Gaber smoking when he decided to get rid of the reserves?

Julius James, is the prime example why the league has some level of success now, but will lack credibility in the future when the league expands and shows that the technical talent is extremely rare and tactical consistency is even harder to come by.

This kid could of been a pretty good Centre Back for a 20 team league in the MLS. Instead he's being treated like cancer. Give the kid a break and re-sign him to TFC, we could use him more than we can use Garcia.

Save money?

[BuSaPuNk]

;749146']WTF, was Don Gaber smoking when he decided to get rid of the reserves?

Julius James, is the prime example why the league has some level of success now, but will lack credibility in the future when the league expands and shows that the technical talent is extremely rare and tactical consistency is even harder to come by.

This kid could of been a pretty good Centre Back for a 20 team league in the MLS. Instead he's being treated like cancer. Give the kid a break and re-sign him to TFC, we could use him more than we can use Garcia.

I was thinking the same thing. Way better player than Garcia is. Bring him back at a reduced salary and have him in a backline of Wynne, Nana, James, and Gomez. (Only if Brennan, Serioux are gone)

[rocker]

Julius James was best at scoring goals for TFC, not defending ;)

I never saw anything in the guy from the day he arrived, except his awesome leaping ability. But his soccer IQ is so low he's lucky MLS exists to give him a job. The guy is 25 years old.. should be much better by age 25 than he is. I don't expect him to last long in MLS. Gomez is better and 7 years younger.

The funny thing is, he makes a very low salary... and if he was even a player with potential you have to think Dom Kinnear would have moulded him into something useful (they have a great coaching staff in Houston and a great system). But even he gave up on JJ.

[JonO]

Nice 1st rd draft pick
Anybody drafted after him doing much better?

[iansmcl]

^^^ That got me curious... quick Wiki and this is what I came up with. (These guys were drafted within 7, 10 and 2 picks of him (in order below). Don't really recognise any other names on the list but don't take my word that there isn't anyone awesome in there (that's came to MLS).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_MLS_SuperDraft
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Brunner
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Avila
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Espinoza

[ArmenJBX]

Eric Avila is a bench player, but from what I've seen, he's alright.

[VPjr]

1st, The Julius James draft class was a poor one. Keep that in mind.

2nd, he is a soccer athlete, not a footballer. He needs ALOT of work to ever be a serviceable MLS level Center Back. There is a lot more to playing that position than athletic ability, vertical leap, etc... Omar Gonzalez is a good athlete but not in the same class as James as a pure athlete but Gonzalez is a smart player who came from one of the more professional style college programs in the US.

UConn is not a bad soccer school but, from what I'm told, that program isn't exactly a big talent producer. The coaches run a very disciplined system and alot of emphasis is placed on athleticism. Julius was a very good fit in that system but its a giant step up from college to pro for virtually every graduating NCAA player (maybe only the top 1-2% of each draft class finds the transition somewhat seamless)

[Yohan]

Anybody drafted after him doing much better?
curiously enough, only draft picks that are getting decent MLS time this year more than JJ are late rounders. Geoff Cameron, Steven Lenhart and Brandon McDonald

[Canary Canuck]

Isn't Julius like 24 or 25? It's not like he's a young pup. It's too late for anyone to expect development at this age.

[jloome]

His reading of the play and positioning were just awful.

Of that class, Cameron could end up in Europe if they kept him as a defensive midfielder. Instead, they've put him into the centre back role at Houston, which is a mistake.

Lenhart is effective for Columbus, Avila is starting in Dallas, Brunner is a bench player for Columbus but will eventually be a starter. Amazingly, the Red Bulls cut him to sign Andy Boyens.

I think James might've survived here if they'd groomed him to replace Danny at target forward. He's big, strong, fast, good with the ball at his feet and has a retarded vertical.

[Yohan]

Of that class, Cameron could end up in Europe if they kept him as a defensive midfielder. Instead, they've put him into the centre back role at Houston, which is a mistake.
Ricardo Clark > Geoff Cameron at DM. though next season, Cameron will probably go back to his natural DM role.


Lenhart is effective for Columbus,
yes. as limited blue collar sub/reserve. he's not skilled enough to rely on to score a lot of goals.


I think James might've survived here if they'd groomed him to replace Danny at target forward. He's big, strong, fast, good with the ball at his feet and has a retarded vertical.
except JJ can't finish. he'll end up being a target man version of Chad Barrett

[Mattsp71]

H Brunner is a bench player for Columbus but will eventually be a starter. Amazingly, the Red Bulls cut him to sign Andy Boyens.

If I remember right Brunner was first offered a senior contract then Red Bulls wanted to sign Andy Boyens so Red Bull ripped up the first contract and then offered him a dev contract. He declined the dev contract and signed with Miami FC, it goes to show how bad Red Bull is run.

[werewolf]

OG in the 26th min vs. Costa Rica.

[werewolf]

Red card, 65th min.

[TFC_Chris]

^
Not deserved by any stretch of the imagination. The guy who he made contact with went off with a hand injury but he grabbed his face as if he was elbowed and the ref bought it.

[felipe]

Julius James is just another example of why great athleticsim and good skills don't equate a star soccer player - there' s just way more than that to it.

To compare JJ ( a player with no soccer IQ or work ethic) to Barrett or DD, players' with a very good ones is ridiculous...JJ will never be the player Chad is, or DD was.

[Davenport]

Julius James is just another example of why great athleticsim and good skills don't equate a star soccer player - there' s just way more than that to it.

To compare JJ ( a player with no soccer IQ or work ethic) to Barrett or DD, players' with a very good ones is ridiculous...JJ will never be the player Chad is, or DD was.
FFS.....I hope I'm never the player that Chad "is".
Do you EVER watch a game and take note of a player's contributions...or lack of ?

[jloome]

Ricardo Clark > Geoff Cameron at DM. though next season, Cameron will probably go back to his natural DM role.

yes. as limited blue collar sub/reserve. he's not skilled enough to rely on to score a lot of goals.

except JJ can't finish. he'll end up being a target man version of Chad Barrett

HOw you figure? He played up top three times, scored once. Pretty good for a non-finisher.

[TFCtoMUFC]

^^^ That got me curious... quick Wiki and this is what I came up with. (These guys were drafted within 7, 10 and 2 picks of him (in order below). Don't really recognise any other names on the list but don't take my word that there isn't anyone awesome in there (that's came to MLS).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_MLS_SuperDraft
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Brunner
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Avila
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Espinoza

Brian Edwards :hump::hurray: