Donovan's poor free kicks/corners?

[K-sWeise]

Man is he bad at them. I mean you have to consistently put these balls into play, or at least not short/into the wall. This is not just about yesterday either, this has been an issue for a while. Fine call it a bad streak, but then put someone else on the job at least for FK until he can get this figured out. Maybe nobody on our squad can do better? That would be a shame. Thoughts?

[fusion101]

Those were classic Donovan kicks. He can't get the ball over the wall which is sad. It would be better if he lobbed the ball in instead of trying to get pace on the ball. I think the only reason he takes them is because he is useless in the box on them so why not let him take them.

[K-sWeise]

Yeah I was thinking about that as I posted. But it would be better if he was a liability receiving good balls, rather than our chances being worthless because he can't put a decent ball into the box. There is no clear person who I feel is just awesome at FKs, if Adu saw some serious minutes he would be a good choice. Or Dempsey has been capable a couple of times if I am not mistaken for Fulham. I know you guys saw that free kick that CR had, when was the last time we looked like that? I suppose Sasha against Sweden if that counts.

[Elninho]

If we're going to insist on starting Beasley, then he should be taking our corners. His touch may be poor, but he (surprisingly) delivers a decent corner kick, good enough for Rangers and PSV to have no problem letting him take them.

[dirty_09]

ad and dempsey should take the kicks when there is a chance on goal. I dont know who could take the long one but if its gonna be donovon, for the love of god stop hitting one man walls.

[ty webb]

If we're going to insist on starting Beasley, then he should be taking our corners. His touch may be poor, but he (surprisingly) delivers a decent corner kick, good enough for Rangers and PSV to have no problem letting him take them.

Exactly right. Beasley is much better at these than Landy.

Landy is Terrible at set pieces. He hits many more bad services than good and rarely clears the first defender. Did he not pay attention to Becham in LA? He should have paid him for lessons. I have seen MANY youth players far more consistent and could hit a far better dipping swerving ball than Landy.

[Scotty]

Were his corners poor too, or just the free kicks?

[Bigrose30]

Exactly right. Beasley is much better at these than Landy.

Landy is Terrible at set pieces. He hits many more bad services than good and rarely clears the first defender. Did he not pay attention to Becham in LA? He should have paid him for lessons. I have seen MANY youth players far more consistent and could hit a far better dipping swerving ball than Landy.

BigSoccer: The place for hyperbole

[Cannons]

The really bad part is that he thinks he should be taking them.

This guy must have a massive ego and I'm starting to question his actual value. He's been a lock for so long that nobody questions his presence but when you think about it, he only shows up to play every now and then. Most of the time he's invisible out there. The question becomes why do we continue to start people that don't produce and if they are in no danger not starting, how do you motivate them if they don't motivate themselves? Donovan needs a reality check. Apparently the rejection in Germany hasn't brought him down to earth. Maybe missing a start would send him a wake up call

[ty webb]

BigSoccer: The place for hyperbole

It was actually the truth.

[HouseHead78]

People forget that LD has been a good set piece taker for a long time - and there's never a thread about it. Didn't he set up 2 goals in Poland. How many corners and free kicks have Gooch and Boca knocked in off his service? He nearly had a goal on one against Mexico. He had one bad game in this regard and now he should be off the team? Wow.

[ty webb]

People forget that LD has been a good set piece taker for a long time - and there's never a thread about it. Didn't he set up 2 goals in Poland. How many corners and free kicks have Gooch and Boca knocked in off his service? He nearly had a goal on one against Mexico. He had one bad game in this regard and now he should be off the team? Wow.

Read the thread again. No one said Landy should be off the team. We did say we have better options and that he is not consistent enough for our team.

Do you realize we played Poland (March 08) sixteen matches ago?

[cpwilson80]

Regardless of who is taking the free kicks, I don't want to see anybody take a shot on goal from a 30-yard free kick.

If it's 20-25, fine, but nobody has the skill to hit it from farther out, and it's a wasted opportunity.

[JohnR]

Watching the U.S. on Wednesday was like channelling my kid's youth soccer matches. The kid who has been on the team the longest gets to take all the free kicks. The midfielders pass sideways or back to the defenders, and since the defenders don't have confidence on the ball they lump it to the forwards. The forwards mostly jog around and are invisible in the match except on the rare occasion when the ball lands near them.

Whoever said the U.S. lacks a soccer culture?

[HouseHead78]

Read the thread again. No one said Landy should be off the team. We did say we have better options and that he is not consistent enough for our team.

Do you realize we played Poland (March 08) sixteen matches ago?

Yes - do you realize that Cannons did recommend benching LD in this thread? Do you realize that you're ignoring a large body of evidence that denies your claim that LD is a bad set-piece taker in favor of a tiny sample that proves you right?

[HouseHead78]

Watching the U.S. on Wednesday was like channelling my kid's youth soccer matches. The kid who has been on the team the longest gets to take all the free kicks. The midfielders pass sideways or back to the defenders, and since the defenders don't have confidence on the ball they lump it to the forwards. The forwards mostly jog around and are invisible in the match except on the rare occasion when the ball lands near them.

Whoever said the U.S. lacks a soccer culture?

This is OT....

But, I agree the game was bad - however I noticed a decisive lack of long balls to the forwards compared to recent games. It seemed we were definitely coached to build from the back. It just failed miserably.

[Cannons]

Yes - do you realize that Cannons did recommend benching LD in this thread? Do you realize that you're ignoring a large body of evidence that denies your claim that LD is a bad set-piece taker in favor of a tiny sample that proves you right?

He is bad at set pieces and has been for a long time. Benching him MIGHT get the message through that he has to win his position every game and that he can't take nights off if it's too hot, too cold of if somebody hits him once during the run of play. They don't call him Landycakes for nothing and he needs a serious wake up call. I wouldn't have even let him take the PK if I had my way.

He has the ability when he feels like it but there are simply too many nights where he just disappears. Playing him in the middle rarely works and if BB had anything between his ears except empty space, he'd know that by now.

[HouseHead78]

He is bad at set pieces and has been for a long time.

This is simply not true. He had a bad game this week. Think about all the goals the US scores on set pieces. Not hard, because people here all complain about it all the time. Now think about who serves up 80 - 90% of our set pieces.

[oncegifted]

Does no one take into account that the surface might have played a role in his sub-par set pieces? I seem to recall Becks hitting some similarly poor free kicks when playing on turf that he was not used to. Just an anecdote from a game I watched last year, but could have been a factor...

[DaPrince84]

This is simply not true. He had a bad game this week. Think about all the goals the US scores on set pieces. Not hard, because people here all complain about it all the time. Now think about who serves up 80 - 90% of our set pieces.


Donovan has never been a good set piece taker for the Nats... you can cite one or two matches, most can cite about 10 or 15 where he has been bad... *well not name the matches, but their are more bad set pieces than good ones*

and it is not just this week, this has been discussed plenty of times before