A lot of players prefer to play a game every 3-4 days rather than training all week long. The travel though...oh man the travel...what a pain for some of these guys.
At this point Dolo looks like he is clearly out. If Fab does not play on Saturday he may also not be ready. If those 2 are not called Evans could sneak in given that Parkhurst has not played since the Danish break and has not gotten into an Augsburg's lineup.
Or JK might call up Fabian and Parkhurst anyway. Impossible to tell given his track record. We'll just have to wait and see.
If Fab physically can't go, JK will not call him up. JK can certainly decide to only have 3 FBs on roster (Chandler, Castillo, and Parkhurst) but Castillo tends to be fragile so it is a strong possibility that if Dolo and Fab are unavailable we could see (Chandler, Castillo, Parkhurst, Evans)! Lets pray that Fab is available!
I might be mistaken, but hasn't JK called up guys with injury concerns before? Again, I won't be surprised no matter who he calls up. The guy is completely unpredictable.
I'm thinking we might see: --------------------Timmay------------------ Chandler------Cam----Gonzo------Johnson -------------Williams-------- Zusi------------Bradley------Sasha --------------Dempsey-------------- ----------------Jozy------------------ No Jones, please, the reckless mofo' deserves to sit. No Beckerman, too slow. Gonzo for Boca is a stretch...but time to put Omar in the 11. Chandler gets cap-tied due to Dolo's injury. Benny for Zusi ??? based on Canada?...prolly not. Dempsey, Jozy, Bradley, Cam and Howard must start (at least the spine of any formation JK chooses is mainly intact).
Cameron? We assume CB, but professionally he's a fullback. Of course, it'd be a matter of picking your poison -- Castillo, Packhurst, Goodson, Onyewu, Evans, etc. One unimpressive defender somewhere.
Can someone please explain Zusi's possible inclusion to me? A pre-season form winger not fast, creative, or skilled enough to present anything going forward against CANADA, and now we're going to trot him out there vs. a pacey Honduran side?
Canada was a friendly with a "C" squad where he got no creative help from Evans, Beckerman, or Beltran, or any sort of classy finishing. He's helped us in the previous round of qualifying and is regarded as one of the better MLS players. Even if he doesn't start he has earned the callup.
When you are playing the wing in JK's system, you are expected to beat a defender one-on-one and get crosses in, not rely on creative help. YOU are supposed to be the creative help. Regardless of how he's done in MLS, what exactly has Zusi shown for the US? I can't recall a meaningful contribution. This is WC qualifying, no time to experiment. Christ, I'd rather trot Beasley out there if it came down to it - at least he's battle tested and used to a hostile environment.
I agree with you for the most part... but because of Zusi's right foot, and has shown good team work with Cherundulo on the right... he's the go to for the right wing,/CM pairing with Jones and Bradley.
What good is the good right foot without being able to create separation enough to get a cross in? That was his problem vs Canada, which is an indicator of the form he's in right now. I have nothing against Zusi in general, he just seems a terrible choice for this particular match. I hope he proves me wrong.
I don't disagree with you.... but in JK's mind, he's remember what he saw from him in Columbus...and he had a BEAST of a game... this is his hope... he will pull something similar off. I don't see JK risking putting in someone else but Zusi...unless it's donovan.
I'm sure his form is off for obvious reasons, but I didn't have a problem overall with his separation or crossing.
He completed 6 forward passes and wasted 3 opportunities infront of the net. He definitely didn't have a beast game. He didn't link anything up and if it wasn't for Dolo being dolo then Zusi would've looked even worse.
Do you disagree with the poster's representation of JK's requirement of his attacking wide players or do you disagree with JK's requirement?
Maybe I am remembering it wrong...but I remember being thoroughly surprised with his play that game, before he was completely gassed and had to get subbed out. All I remember is him having a great game, and hitting the post on a great exchange with Cherundolo. He had great chemistry all game with Steve the whole game!
Ya, I think everyone left with this idea that Zusi was having a great game because he had a bunch of Shots on Goals but in actuality he did shit all but waste opportunities. That game was dominated by Danny Williams who moved the ball around exceptionally well, everyone else looked rather shitty to be honest. Well, except our defense. Honestly, I don't remember Zusi having the best chemistry with Steve. I remember dolo being all over pitch in that game though.
Zusi wasn't playing winger. He was playing as a RM in a midfield diamond. Zusi is expected to work hard, maintain possession, put good balls into the box and combine with a RB in attack. He won't and can't attack and dribble at pace consistently. We didn't start the game with any wingers. The outside backs were supposed to provide the width. They didn't.
I don't disagree. This was the game that solidified Danny as a serious '6' for us in the NT pool. Before that he was used as a 'fake RM' played as a Dmid. Danny did have great, tidy, distribution, but his outlets were Jones, Torres, and Zusi, who would distribute, take and make runs to get open in dangerous positions. Zusi did very well, better than I ever hoped for (mabye thats why I look so highly on his performance). He had a great shot or 2, showed confidence running, combining first touch passes that ultiamtely led to some good chances on our part. Was he the man taking the shot? Not all the time, but he almost always had at least a touch on each dangerous play that we had. He also had some great service in the box. Bingo. JK wants to have CM's control the midfield, with wing play coming from Cherundolo (Chandler) and Johnson (Castillo). This is where majority of crosses will come from. He wants possession, and through passing to runs made by forwards/outside back/wingers from these CM's.
id like for us to go with our "attacking" formation 4-1-2-3 but, with injuries and travel fatigue we could go more defensive 4-2-3-1 i hope Fabian is good to go i dont want to see Castillo im all for starting Omar at CB what i would like to see dempsey - gomez - eddieJ bradley - kljestan williams fab - omar - cam - chand i wouldnt mind Edu over Williams. good reports for Edus play in Turkey Zusi over EddieJ Altidore over Gomez or EddieJ
Overall Danny didn't have much to do that game...similar to Beckerman recently. But hey, they both did what was required of them perfectly. Zusi forced the issue. Which is what was needed. It's a game of inches. If his shot doesn't clang of the crossbar we're calling him the next Messi...okay maybe not that.