[R} US vs England: Revs [R]

Well, at least Dempsey came to play on a day when the Nats have been largely irrelevant and over the hill. Players on this squad that I might want in my rec league, but not on the national team.

Yea every one was being outplayed out there. Great reactions from Dempsey to get that rebound and tuck it into the bottom near corner. I think's its safe to say that Dempsey is not only the most fould player in MLS but also on the national scale, every time he even got near the ball i see someone cup his legs off. I think twellman/noonan should have been out there instead of wolff. Not only because i'm a rev fan but he played horrable and i could see twellman or noonan capitalizing more on some of the chances he had. Oh well at least it left me with a 2:30 hour TV talegate for the rev match.

RRRREV IT UP

Hopefully the Englishmen will take notice that Dempsey is the real deal. Say what you will that the English didn't exactly bring their A-Team midfield or forwards, but they definatley brought some good defenders(Ashley Cole, anyone?) and that didn't really stop him. 'Celo, you're a good player, but knocking Dempsey was a bad choice.



Erik

One of the hallmarks of the US Nats of late has been their overall speed and fitness (England's got some monsters who can move with the nimbleness of Thompson's gazelles). Today they were second best. I know this isn't the US's best. That wasn't England's finest either, though.

Oh yeah - give Kasey Keller the gold watch and time piece. It's time.

Right on about 'Celo, too. I never realized he was a hater.

Should have at least been 2-2 (citing Donovan's early FK chance.)

Well that's the thing isn't it.

This kind of game gets scheduled for god knows what reason, because we can't win it. We lose it on the field, and we've "shown that we can't run with the big boys." If we win it on the field, then the next day the press has a field day with excuses about why the English lost, because they just finished a "long european season" and they "didn't have their best players available" or some of their players played at midweek or they had a long flight, and they're jet lagged or Beckham was out, or any of a hundred other stupid reasons that every national team deals with on a regular basis.

But we should still be putting a team out there that can compete and at least act like it has a shot at winning it on the field if we're going to do this. We should at least be putting the press and the fans in a position where they have to rationalize the result. Otherwise there's no point.

I agree with every point made. Great post.

Interesting. On the plus side I'd say Dempsey battled hard and finished his one chance, but overall he was ineffective playing a position that doesn't suit him (wide midfield). His flopping, slow play on the ball, and limited passing also stood out. In fairness, he didn't have much help in midfield either.

Battled Hard - agreed
Finished Well - agreed (he was the only one)
Position??? - I thought that all those posters on Bigsoccer who said play Dempsey out wide were wacked! But then again I think that most of what Arena does is wacked. Pope, Wolfe, Zavagnin ??? Good thing that we play in the lowely CONCACAF.

But ... I think that Dempsey's problem is that he doesn't battle hard enough!

He holds the ball too long, and gets chipped or hacked. But why? ... Because he does not retaliate. He doesn't have a nasty enough streak to take the retaliatory yellow. There is no "knock me down, and I'll punish you later". Then after you foul, pick them up and tell them they have another one coming. The nastiest players don't get fouled like Dempsey does. Think about it ... would you foul Dema like that? I don't think so.

Are we talking about the same Clint Dempsey that plays for the Revs? 'Cause he has a sizable surly streak. He just manages it very well (as opposed to say, Alan Smith).

Yeah, but I noticed that's how much of every US player plays. It could be that Arena just doesn't want his team to retaliate. If I were a coach, I would not want any of my players to get thrown out a stupid foul, but being a fan I would love to see one of our players hack down an opposing player occasionaly and send a message, but then again I think it also depends on the team they're playing.

except for the fact that maybe we shouldnt have scheduled this game at this point in time. but i believe it was for the best. it was a nice wake-up call in a game that doesnt matter before TWO games that do matter. id rather lose here than on saturday and/or thursday.

jeremy - dont ever say 'because we cant win it'. we have enough players in our pool to send out a great team at any given time and compete. ive played in enough games to know that the better team does not always win, even though they outplayed the opposition. if donovan finishes that 15-yd shot across goal and hits that free kick, we are up 2-1 and in good shape, and perhaps that second goal doesnt happen. things happen, and we have a chance to win every game we play; whether the chances are at 80 or 20 percent.

Reread Jeremy's post -- he wasn't saying the Americans are incapable of winning.

Well, indirectly I did say that the 11 men we put on the field to start the first half were incapable of winning that game.

And I believe it.

Thankfully, there are better, faster, younger players in our pool who are more than capable of winning that game. Even if they won it on the field though (which they didn't) the game would have been a loss for the united states in the media following the game, because England always has an excuse.

If you look at the French or Brazilian press, they're not afraid to rip their own team a new one when it deserves it.

On the other hand, the English eternally make excuses for their Soccer and Rugby and Cricket teams.

sorry, but I don't see what you're saying. They wanted to schedule a game against a quality opponent, to get whomever was in camp a good game. It may not have been England's A team, but they're obviously not bad. But do you honestly think that Arena cares one bit what the press is going to say about a friendly? I'm sure he doesn't, nor should he. His only concern should be about getting his players ready for the games that matter, or seeing who's ready. Besides, the general US press, if they cover the match at all, is hardly going to see losing to England as a disaster, and aside from wanting to be able to brag, what do we care what the English press says about a meaningless friendly?

I agree, especially in a friendly match.
You have to keep in mind that this not a real "showdown." There is a sort of gentlemens' agreement that in friendlies you don't do anything that might badly injure an opponent. And, that is the reason you did not see more agressiveness in this match. But even one of the English players commented on how our players were always in their faces. Our major problem in this match was our passing accuracy as it was too often off target. The English were superior in that respect, much to my annoyance.

As far as Dempsey is concerned, he is plenty agressive and tough when he is playing with the Revs. Generally, he does not lay on the ground and roll around when he gets chopped down. He believes in getting up and back into the game. Remember he played for about two weeks with a broken jaw last year. In this game he crashed through one English player, without fouling, and they both ended up on the ground yards apart. Clint was right back up and the English player kind of sat there and looked on in dazed amazement.

My cousin Ted Chronopoulos is better than dempsey when he played for new england.So forget about Dempsey!
Ted Rules !!!!

Ted was the best left-mid the Revs have ever had.
But, Ted better than Deuce...nope. Then again, we know you are just kidding. (gotta support family!)
Oh, and Ted did pull more hammies than any Rev in history too. Although Rusty was a close second.

Good luck to Ted in his retirement from playing. Is he going into coaching? Has he moved back to California?

(FWIW, I have a "Chronopoulos" Battery jersey! - He still has followers here in NE.)

Why are we digging up old threads? Whats with people feeling nastolgic.

I like cheese as well

You joined 2 days ago.

Not the best way to start off.

Off topic, since this thread is already a little odd.
Weber King, I'm all excited I got my new grill for tailgating this year..of course its a Weber!

I like cheese... and Chrono.

I have no idea if Chrono likes cheese, though.

Hell, he's of Greek ancestry. They just love their goat cheese and olives.