GOALKEEPERS- Dominic Cervi (out of contract), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton FC) ] DEFENDERS- Carlos Bocanegra (out of contract), Dan Califf (FC Midtjylland), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United) MIDFIELDERS- Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Eddie Lewis (Derby County), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids) FORWARDS- Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Nate Jaqua (out of contract), Eddie Johnson (Fulham FC), Josh Wolff (out of contract)
USA Roster vs. Spain ---------Johnson-----Donovan------------ Beasley---------------------------Dempsey -----------Bradley----Mastroeni----------- Pearce--------------------------Cherundolo ---------Bocanegra---Onyewu------------- ------------------Howard-------------------
Landycakes is out..big surprise there so here are the forwards: Forwards: Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England), Nate Jaqua (no club), Eddie Johnson (Fulham, England), Josh Wolff (no club) I see us scoring at least 5 goals..no doubt
ugh - not happy with that! I know he is not the most skillful but what about giving cooper a shot - i love his size - not great in the air but what do you think?
Landycake's is still out? I would have thought that he would see some action by now. Maybe a hold out for the Argentina game? What's up with Jaqua? Might he return to Houston?
significantly better performance than the England game. In the first half we actually looked pretty good with Adu leading the attack for Johnson and i actually liked that formation of 4 2 3 1 if you replace the 1 with landycakes. The second half with Adu gone was just bunker down time, Dempsey and Bradley both just looked tired as the game wore on and should have been subbed earlier. I think Edu held his defensive midfield position passably though not great. Boca and Onyewu did well to hold Spain back until Gooch brain farted and got schooled by Xavi, Pearce and Dolo are our outside backs for sure. Hejduk is a yellow waiting to happen and by extension a red. Beasley didnt exist and Wolff should be done forever. Reading US men forum makes me laugh and cry at the same time, its funny that they overreact along preconceptions and take nothing into account that could affect performances or decisions. For example exhaustion from a long season, tired as game nears 90 min, or quality of opposition Unfortunately it is also sad that a relatively good performance leads to calls for completely untested youngsters to come in and save the shite that are the professional footballers of the USA. Even though there is no way that Conrad, or Szetela or Zizzo (names i have heard bandied about) would be better options.
I agree with your points - although I do like Zizzo off the bench - in the qualifiers he came on and brought some energy! Would be nice to see that formation with ladycakes up front. I think we will see him get the 100th cap Sunday night!
Fire Bob Bradley! Adu should have started against england, that decision just seems even more bizarre after yesterday. This team, except Freddy Adu, seemed content to concede possession and hope that a long ball might pop out for EJ to run onto, beat three spanish defenders, and score. In a world cup faced with a team with superior talent, this might be a legitimate strategy, ie conceding possession and counter attacking, but I fail to see the value of that strategy in a friendly. I hear that Michael Bradley had a great year in the Eridivisie, but he looks lost with the USMNT. Bradley needed to sub him out, damn. Eddie can not be our striker for the WC. We all need to keep ae fingers crossed that altidore works out as well as we hope.
I am going to get blasted by the board for this but here it goes There are time when i watch the Nats I just get this feeling that they expect to win, like an arrogance, which I guess is good in a way but not to the extent I see it. Like you said Metro - they wait for something to fall their way. Although the performance against spain was much better than England, lets hope they have saved their best for last! Although I am not dissapointed with this one - I thought it was a good showing - not great - good!
Amen Brother..preach it..Adu is he real deal. Edu is good at his defensive job. But Freddie makes this engine go. I would love to see Landycakes & Adu stringing passes for Altidore and whoever...I given EJ the benefit of the doubt but my man can't do it at this level.Cooper , Rogers someone please step the feck up. Agree with Bradley..wtf happened ? He looks lost out there. Watched the Arg vs Mexicant game..Sweet Jesus..I'm gonna start drinking now..thats all I'm saying
Another thing..why is Bob playing Eddie Lewis & Frankie Hejduk..now I love those 2 guys..they give 100%..but they will be very old come WC time..If thats the case..let's get McBride back in camp and for the record..that goal that Xavi scored was beautiful
I think they had a good 20 minute stretch in the first half, with Adu doing really well and Edu (our second best player yesterday) doing reasonably well. What was most disappointing about the England game (among many disappointments) was that even when we play piss poor, I expect americans to get stuck in, hustle, and play with some athletic aplomb. They did not, they bailed out of a few tackles I can remember on 50-50 balls with rooney and others. They just didn't want to mix it up. Yesterday, was a little better in this regard, but not much.
I don't get it either, woodsy. I suspect, however, that if Jozy comes through, they may see Eddie as our only decent crosser of the ball to find jozy. I suspect we may be seeing a lot of eddie in qualifiers. If we can't find a better back up right back than Frankie Hejduk, maybe we need to keep cherundolo off the pitch for the next two years. Just pay him not to play for hannover.
yeah I agree Metro..when Freddie was leading the attack..I felt very confident..When he left..you could feel the air being let out..too bad LAndycakes was injured Again yesterday they did play a lot harder, but I re watched the England game over the weekend..they did not go in hard for 50-50 balls at ALL..terrible..I can see getting out played..but you should never get out hustled..
Yeah..but when Beas gets healthy..I think he can get those balls into the box..Shite he plays in Scotland...thats how we score most goals in Scotland..down the wing..cross into the box
metro - not going to lie - had to look up aplomb! Someone has to step up and score some goals - I would like to see Cooper get a shot - he has got size, just sux in the air!
i dont agree about zizzo yet, yet being the operative word, after this season during which i fully expect him to play a significant role for Hannover I think he will be challenging for a spot on the bench at the very least. Which is good because i don't think we have that much on the right if we stick with Donovon up top, all there is is Clint. Can we recognize that Mike Bradley hasnt stopped playing since summer 2006? He had the gold cup and U-20 world cup last summer and then the veen season before that, I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt that he didnt all of a sudden become a terrible player, that perhaps he is just exhausted and needs a break, i think Dempsey also falls into this tired category.
fair - i just like him in the Olympic Qualifiers - he probably isnt ready for the 1st team yet! Although some of those olympic games - i could have created a spark!
I will say that I did prefer the MNT better against Spain than I did against England. Like I said before it seemed like the MNT was in awe of the English and for this very reason didnt hustle as much. Against Spain they didn't feel the same way and hence they played strongly. Spain was made to feel very uncomfortable by the Americans hence the Xavi goal. Had the American defense been any weaker then the goals would have looked more like the English goals. Xavi really had to work it to score. This is a promising sign and I hope that coming into the Argentina game, the MNT will have shored up more holes in there defense. I never like to predict scores but I really expect to see a good game on Sunday. Hustle, speed and ALOT of strong defensive plays.
No Tevez has asked for time off, Basile the Argentine DT, has given him both these friendlys off and the games against Ecuador and Brazil.
Is Taylor Twellman's career with the USMT over? I understand the negatives (injury-prone, doesn not finish well), but he is not as injury prone as Brian Ching, who keeps coming up in conversation, and his near-misses have far more potential than Eddie Johnson's. Johnson shows he has one asset: the odd, long clear when we are playing nine men behind the ball (read Bruce Arena Area, when speedy Landycakes became a star). Johnson is fast, I grant you. But shouldn't the USMNT have evolved at this point where they can build up from the back with solid mid-field play? Twellman has acceptable pace, can play with his back to the goal and make a turn, or play straight up. He presses action like Adu and can work in very tight spaces. He would not be in the starting 11, and he would not be a lone striker. But coming off the bench in a 4:4:2, he could add life where otherwise little exists *. He should at least be in the conversation. (Adu provided the only life on the match and deserves all the compliments received on the telecast and here. But EVERY compliment should be based off comparison to the rest of the team. They looked SO flat (that means you Clint Dempsey) that he looked insane compared to his team, but another outfield player compared to the Spanish.)