Sharks – At least we can agree on one thing – a 3-1 drubbing coming our way today. Let’s hope we both get proved wrong!

Melissa – I think I am higher on Riley than most, I would like to see him get a few chances, especially with Guerrero (and O’Brien?) out. Besides, its not like we have a plethora of wingers available.

I’m looking for Cunliffe to score tonight but without Garcia, the Quakes lose 3-1…again.

I vote for Guerrero for the “most dynamic” player on the team.

And I echo the previous comments … this is shaping up to be a very good blog!

1) I commented on another post about my hesitance on citing assists as any sort of stat worth merit. For baseball fans, I equate assists with “wins” for a pitcher. Yes, the public sees it as a measuring stick for a player, but the fact is, there are lots more factors that play into a pitcher getting a win (and a player getting an assist).

If a player makes a simple pass at the halfway line, and then the receiving player goes on a 40 yard run, beats two players, and slots a shot home, an assist is credited. Similarly, if a player puts in a beautiful cross, a player shanks a header at goal, which falls to another player who scores, the player who shanked the ball gets the assist.

The overall affect of this can lead to a player who spends all game making beautiful passes, crosses, and through-balls for his strikers, only for the strikers to muff every single chance. The player, no matter how nice the passes are, gets no credit, because he cannot force the other players to score.

So thats my soapbox for assist in general.

2) For Grabavoy in particular, I just haven’t seen the kind of creativity and vision that would be up to par for that position. And I am talking about in general, not just this season. Even during his time in Columbo and the Gals, I’ve never been a huge fan. Does that mean I had bias even going into this season? Probably.

I think it was a huge mistake to not go after Christian Gomez. Colorado loaned their DP slot out for two years to get him, something that we easily could have done. I think that with Gomez, we could be battling for a playoff spot. So does my dismay that we didn’t go after Gomez play into my skepticism about Grabavoy? Probably.

Like I said in a previous post, even if its not Gomez, I think an above-average linking player is the biggest piece in this goal-scoring puzzle. I have enough confidence (for better or worse) in Kirovski, Kamara, Johnson, Cunliffe, and Glinton that they can score goals if they are given opportunities.

I think Grabavoy is a nice player, one that would excel at the USL1 level. However, I just don’t see the abilities to be a true difference-maker in MLS. He has been in the league since 2004, and has yet to establish himself (in my eyes). Granted, he is only 24, so I suppose I should not throw him under the bus so early, but at 24, he should be at just about the peak of his development.

He very well be “the most dynamic” player on our team, but that is pretty faint praise.

Hope this cleared some things up. I appreciate the comments.

Sean