Buddle Rebuttals

With Brian Ching going down with an injury and Charlie Davies still some weeks away from playing in a competitive match, the question marks at striker have been dominating the USMNT roster conversation of late.  The proposed solutions vary, with Herculez Gomez being a name that has been thrown around lately thanks to the goals he's been racking up in Mexico.  While I personally don't think Herc is the answer at this point in time, he continues to be actively discussed amongst fans and writers across the internet (and deservedly so).  This past week, however, he was joined by another striker with MLS experience: Edson Buddle.  In two Galaxy games this season, Buddle has scored all three of his team's goals, instantly vaulting himself into the conversation thanks in large part to the craziness that comes with the tail end of every World Cup cycle.

Now, in the articles and comments I've read in the past couple of days (far too many, admittedly), there have been a couple of common opinions: that Buddle should be in the conversation for the World Cup at this point, and, from an opposing faction, that it's "just Edson Buddle", and that even a fine run of form in the coming weeks isn't enough to get him on the radar for South Africa.

I have problems with both of these viewpoints (hence the oh-so-clever title of this post).  I'll begin the first opinion, that being that Buddle should now be in the conversation for the 2010 World Cup.  I don't think this viewpoint is held by the majority of USMNT fans, but I saw it enough that I thought it was worth addressing.  The bottom line is that two games does not a World Cup resume make.  If Eddie Johnson scored three goals in two games in Greece, I really doubt that the same people calling for Buddle would make the same case for EJ.  Buddle is a new-ish name (in the sense that he hasn't really been in the national team setup of late), so naturally there's the additional allure of a somewhat unknown entity.  If, and that's a huge if, Buddle can continue his goalscoring exploits and put together a Gomez-esque run, then yes, I would say he deserves to be at least in the conversation.  But until that happens, I don't think I'll be considering the Galaxy striker in any kind of roster predictions.  He still has a lot of work to do before we reach that point (if we ever get there, that is).

That brings me to the other opinion that I saw frequently throughout my Easter weekend hours of leisurely reading: that even that aforementioned type of run from Buddle is just too little too late.  This irks me because it smacks of double-standards.  There's no denying that Herculez Gomez is doing some good stuff south of the border; he's putting the ball in the back of the net, the striker's main objective.  That impressive run has seen his stock rise exponentially, from MLS cast-off to World Cup dark horse.  Awesome.  But if Buddle did the same, why shouldn't he get the same love?  I see in a lot of places the reasoning that people simply aren't familiar enough with Buddle, and those that are understand that he just isn't up to snuff when it comes to the international game.  Okay, aside from the fact that that's somewhat condescending, what about the fact that Mr. Gomez wasn't exactly the toast of American soccer in the last couple of years?  Sure, he had a very nice year with the Galaxy way back when (psst...Eddie Johnson had a big year in MLS more recent than that one.  It's not the best supporting evidence), but he also had some rough patches in MLS as well (both before and after his knee injury).

If Buddle continues to put the ball in the back of the net at a similar rate, I don't see why it wouldn't be just as impressive.  He's putting himself in positions to score goals and finishing off his opportunities, not unlike Gomez.  Of course, a stat line doesn't tell the entire story, but I have a hard time believing that most folks out there are watching Puebla games every weekend and could give a good analysis of Herc's passing, hold-up play, etc. either.  I've also heard that Buddle's goals are more the product of impressive passing from his teammates; but are we really to believe that Herculez Gomez isn't benefiting from good delivery and build-up too?  I feel like the fact that Gomez is doing it in a league that isn't MLS somehow makes it more impressive, due to some kind of bias against the domestic league (or bias in favor of all things foreign).  But from the LMF and MLS games that I have watched over the past month, I honestly would feel more confident with a striker that's putting up numbers Stateside rather than someone plying their trade in Mexico.  Of course, both are impressive, but the slower style of play and less aggressive defending in Mexico doesn't mirror as closely the style of defending more frequently seen at the international level in comparison to that of MLS.  That somewhat wishy-washy logic aside, I just think that if Buddle can replicate Gomez' form, he has just as much of a claim to a place in the striker conversation.

With all of that being said, let me just make this very clear: I don't have a strong opinion one way or the other on Buddle.  He's done his job in recent weeks, but he's a long, long way from World Cup contention.  I'm not anti-Gomez either; I'm glad he's found a good situation in Mexico and has revived his career.  But I still stick by my belief that the best roster would not include Gomez at this point.  At the end of the day, though, I will at least keep both players in consideration at June creeps closer and closer.  If we're going to put one on-form striker on the radar, then we should probably do it for other ones as well.  Either fully embrace the end-of-cycle craziness with open arms, or resist it altogether.  Otherwise, we get these rambling posts from hacks like myself lamenting the double-standards.

So in the coming weeks, continue to keep an eye on Puebla to see if Herculez can continue his goalscoring run.  But at the same time, don't ignore what's going on in the domestic league; there just might be another on-form guy making a late charge for the World Cup roster as well.

With the question marks still remaining, beggars can't be choosers.