We added a new forward. Tom Heinemann #9 Position: F Height: 6-4 Weight: 180 Birthdate: 4/23/1987 Hometown: St Louis, MO College: Rockhurst University Last Club: Charleston Battery Forward Tom Heinemann returns to the Battery for a second season after appearing in 21 games in 2009 and scoring one goal. A native of St Louis, MO, Heinemann, 6-4, 180 lbs., 21 yrs., was a NSCAA All-America First Team pick at Rockhurst University. http://blog.dispatch.com/crew/2011/01/glidden_out_heinemann_in.shtml [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NE5siQrU2QE"]YouTube - #9 Tom Heinemann's Hat Trick[/ame]
[ame="http://vimeo.com/1294384"]PDL Soccer: St Louis Lions at Springfield Demize, Jul 3 2008 on Vimeo[/ame] Scores around 3:55, but from everything I've heard he was offside by a mile
According to Shawn, he had 14 goals for 2 clubs last year (Charleston Battery + Carolina Railhawks), and was with the Crew in 2009, but narrowly missed on making the roster. I like it. Some competition for Lenhart in the "tall guy" category. Now we can seriously go bash brothers with Lenny, Renteria, and Heinemann late in games.
I don't know how well he'll translate to MLS compared to USL/NASL in the goal scoring department but you can be sure he'll put in a maximum effort every time. He does have a surprisingly good touch and ability to hold the ball up but his best quality is how hard he works. He was definitely becoming a fan favorite at Carolina in his short time there and I'm pretty sure he was loved in Charleston as well.
Tommy was definatley a fan favorite down here. Great guy off the field, a beast on the field. He is a tall traget forward type that holds the ball well and created more than one goal by laying off the ball to another player. Here is an interview with him I did a couple months ago if anyone is interested http://give-em-no-quarter.blogspot.com/2010/10/one-on-one-withtom-heinemann.html Ill definatley be watching him and wish him the best.
Mikeeeeeyyyy! Long time, sir!! You're a lifer there or what?!?! BTW Thank 'yall' for young striker help.
I'm still here, Couldn't leave my Battery!. I punched out after 22 years and am now doing some schooling. Tommy really came around this season. He is a feisty player, not affraid to get stuck in, and gives 110% I dont know what your squad looks like but if you have a couple attacking midfielders and another striker up top, he will creat more goals for them. I wish I had a highlight clip of him while with the Battery but you can go to www.usllive.com click on the "full-length match" tab and then find the Battery matches and you can watch most the Battery home matches from 2010 Heinemann has some great goals. After winnign the Championship this year, the Battery loaned him out to Carolina and he made a big impact with them in a short time. If your looking for another young striker, check out Lamar Neagle. He was tommy's strike partner last year and together the were great. But dont wait, I have a feeling Neagle might be going to a Pacific NW club....
So, a big tall guy who can score goals in lower leagues. Didn't we waste a first round pick on something close to that last year?
Rubbish. If he is anywhere near being in First XI players then we're in deep shit. Very deep shit. This is beginning to really frighten me. Still, Bob will be happy; he'll surely follow orders like a good little robot boy and won't get any ideas about creating on the fly and other stuff that the coach can't control. Warzycha Death Watch. We're for sure better off with plowhorses like this than with, say, GBS. For sure. Bobby says so. Does anyone have any idea how bad USL II is and understand that the fact he scored some goals down there means less than nothing?
We were going to need to pick up a few players like this anyway to fill out the expanded roster for the reserve league, don't see why this particular move is bothering some people.
Because I'm paranoid, I think we aren't going to be any good next year, and I'm expecting a whole off-season of moves like this topped off with the coach's kid ending up on our roster.
That's a good point, and it's true, with expanded rosters we'll need players like Heinemann. I think folks that are scrutinizing this signing (myself included) are discouraged that we're filling the spots vacated by GBS, Frankie, Duncan, and co. with a guy who played in the USL/NASL for who all we know could turn out to be great, or Ryan Coiner part deux. I think it's easy to look at this situation and say, "Well he wasn't good enough to make the team a year or so ago and now that we've jettisoned half the squad, we'll accept a player that a short time ago wasn't able to crack the roster. That may not be fair, but we're down Guillermo and we've added Heinemann and the perception of that comparison is fueling the grumbling I think. With our spotty draft history and the fact that the CCL game is right around the corner, I'd say skepticism will run rampant until some higher quality players are brought in. I could be wrong, and I'm only speaking for myself, but right now the 2011 Crew is nowhere close to the level we saw the past few years and this move doesn't make me feel any better about our prospects heading into the pre-season. That's not to say that things aren't going to be filled out in the draft and other signings, but when so much change has occurred and we've only signed one Chilean defender and a minor league forward, I think pessimism is to be expected.
Konrad is a pretty amazing player. He didn't put up eye catching statistics at OSU but OSU doesn't really play real soccer. Put him on the field with others who know how to play and he is a lot more effective. I would be content with him on the roster. Looks more impressive than this wildabeast.
Shut the F*ck Up with this kind of bullsh*t. Last thing anyone wants to hear on these pages is people advocating us getting another Warzycha on the roster.
Nope but then I don't go by stats or youtube videos, I like to see them play before making a judgment and ruling them out. Not to say that he is not a heap of shit, just defending the guy before he even has a chance to pull on the jersey.
If he becomes a legitimate MLS midfielder I certainly wouldn't mind him. He certainly has a leg up on many college players coming up as he has been around the Crew training for years. I certainly wouldn't take him with our first round pick though.
Com'n haters, you can do better than that! Where's the complaining that this guy is going to be 24! "So much for getting younger. We need more 14yr old south americans." We have alot of spots to fill, including benchwarmers, reserve players, etc. I'll by anyone here a 5-way that this guy isn't making more than league min. Dooooooooooom!!!
Every team in MLS is picking guys like this up to fill out the roster. Our main problem is we have a lot more of "filling" out to do then most teams. This is not a bad move if they expected him to be on the bottom third of the roster. Also, he dude can't be making much so it doesn't seem to troubling. However, we do need to actually sign some legit first team players. I believe we can get 2 of those in the draft so we need to sign a couple more.
I understand the trepedation some you might have about a signing from a USL2 player. While not MLS standard, there are quite a few good players in the lower leagues and the games can be exciting. Heinemann reminds me of a young Brian McBride. Tough, can score with his head or either foot. He plays with his back to goal alot but has a good burst of speed and control of the ball. He can distrubute the ball well and is more than a physical match up for most central defenders. the guy works hard and I think will fit nicely in the Crew. here is a few lines from Tommy about joining the Crew http://give-em-no-quarter.blogspot.com/2011/01/heinemann-signs-with-columbus-crew.html
Kind of reminds me of the David Spade line about Stone Temple Pilots. "Stone Temple Pilots is out with a new CD. I liked them better a few years ago when they were called Pearl Jam". I like Tom Heinemann a few months ago....when he went by the name Steven Lenhart.
I wonder if this could potentially lead to Lenny getting traded. They are very similar players from all accounts