Marvell Wynne: Born in the Wrong Country

I just watched Toronto FC lose to the Puerto Rico Islanders in the CONCACAF Champions League (a joke of a tournament in the first place), which means they are eliminated. One player who was noticably disappointing was Marvell Wynne. The more I watch Marvell Wynne, the more I think about how much of a better soccer player he would be if he were born in Europe. Now, one can say that about every player not born in Europe but for Wynne I feel especially sorry for him.

I believe I can imagine fairly accurately how he was coached growing up. He was always faster than the other kids, so coaches encouraged him to "hustle" and "always go fast/hard". I think these coaches let actual tactics and defensive positioning slip through the learning process because Wynne can always sprint back. Which is absolutely wrong. The more I watch him, the more I notice he is out of position. When the USA played Costa Rica, his awful positioning forced Onyewu over to the right to cover for him being inexcusably too far up the field when three Costa Rica players were on his side of the field. But Wynne caught up with them so it was all good, right? No. Costa Rica tore the USA apart with the give-and-go (no matter how fast you are, you can't outrun the ball) and scored their 2nd goal.

A good friend of mine is a big fan of Marvell Wynne. She always talks about how fast and strong he is. And it's very true. The kid has speed to burn and is very strong. But that's where the compliments end. The same goes for soccer announcers as well. After they get done talking about his physical attributes, they move on to a different subject. No one ever talks about his skill on the ball, his tackling, his crossing, positioning, or other nessessary skills that are crucial for an outside back to have. Truth is he has very little of that. It just goes to show how soccer is treated in this country. He played for UCLA for two years, a prestigious soccer college. I still ask why? Is that all one needs to be good at soccer in this country? Just to be faster than everyone else?

Wynne is the same age as Johnathan Spector. In my opinion (and hopefully most people's), I would pick Spector over Wynne any day of the week. Spector is a lot slower than Wynne, but that is the only thing Wynne has over Spector. All those attributes I talked about in the previous paragraph, Spector has them. Not only does he have them, he has shown them (most recently in the Confederations Cup). Spector is in Europe as well. I doubt Wynne will ever go to Europe.

Now look at a player like Micah Richards, an English right back who is currently starting for Manchester City. He became a full starter at 18 years old in 2006. He is very similar to Wynne as far as phyiscal traits are concerned. But it did not matter to coaches in England as a youth trainee. They still made sure he had the basics drilled in him. Richards is two years younger than Wynne but is a much more accomplished right back and is a candidate for England's 2010 World Cup roster. Unless multiple injuries occur, Wynne isn't going to South Africa next summer.


If Wynne was born in any other country, he would be a better player. But in America coaches took his speed for granted. Now he is suffering for it. At 23 he can still improve. But from what I've seen so far I truly think he is playing to his full potential.