USA - Mexico: Be Prepared for the Worst [R]

[appoo]

Goalkeepers (2): Kevin Hartman (Los Angeles Galaxy), Jonny Walker (MetroStars);
Defenders (5): Chris Albright (Los Angeles Galaxy), Dan Califf (Los Angeles Galaxy), Cory Gibbs (Dallas Burn), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Eddie Pope (MetroStars);
Midfielders (6): Chris Armas (Chicago Fire), DaMarcus Beasley (Chicago Fire), Bobby Convey (D.C. United), Richard Mulrooney (San Jose Earthquakes), Pat Noonan (New England Revolution), Kerry Zavagnin (Kansas City Wizards);
Forwards (5): Conor Casey (Karslruhe), Landon Donovan (San Jose Earthquakes), Jovan Kirovski (Los Angeles Galaxy), Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution), Josh Wolff (Kansas City Wizards).

For once, Mexico is bringing in the "name" players and USA is bringing in guys who are relativly inexperienced. The GKs, Albright, Gibbs, Califf, Mulroony, Zavagnin, Noonan, Casey, Twellman....none of these guys have ever played against the Unique wave-style attack that is Mexican soccer. They'll be playing in a packed Cotton Bowl in a crowd that will be 70% Mexico. This time around, the deck is stacked against USA and I fear a rout is in the offing. Why? This is my guess of a starting line up.

----Albright-----Califf----Pope----Gibbs--------
----------------------------------------------
--------------------Armas--------------------
----Hejduk---------Convey----------DMB------
----------------------------------------------
-------------Casey-----------LD--------------


Albright never played at this level before
Gibbs doesn't provide neccasary offensive support
Claiff not a good enough 1v1 defender against dribbling. And Mexican's are among the best in the world of this type of game
Hejduk in the midfield. Great
Convey is going to go on his attacking runs and none of the players behnd him are good enough to deliever consistent balls.
While Convey is going on his runs Armas has no easy outlet. Which is going to force him to attempt to deliever pinpoint long balls. Not exactly his game.
LD won't see the ball. Ever.
Casey in the air, and DMB runnning at people will probably be the only good threats we'll have. For us to be successful Convey has to play more conservativly than he likes to and Donovan is going to yell at his midfielders to get the damn ball.
Did I mention Frankie Hejduk in the midfield? And even if its not him it'll be Pat Noonan, who is another guy who has no idea what he's about to go up against.
3 - 0 Mexico. :(

[Atouk]

I agree with some of your points, but not fully:

In last year's shutout draw with Mexico, Califf started in a three-man backline along with Pope and Bocanegra. He has faced Mexico in a similar atmosphere. While Califf-Pope-Bocanegra is a bit stronger than Califf-Pope-Gibbs, it's not like Gibbs can't play.

Gibbs played against Brazil and Cameroon in the Confed Cup and a younger Brazil in the Gold Cup. I doubt he's not ready for Mexico's style.

Last year: Howard; Califf, Pope, Bocanegra; Hejduk, Armas, Mastroeni, Mathis, Beasley; Donovan, McBride.

Potential this year: Walker; Califf, Pope, Gibbs; Hejduk, Armas, Mulrooney, Convey, Beasley; Donovan, Casey.

So, if we go with that lineup, six of the guys are the same as last year and it depends on how much of a drop you think it is from Howard to Walker, from Boca to Gibbs, from Mastroeni to Mulrooney, from Mathis to Convey, from McBride to Casey, as to how much worse of a club we'll be putting on the field on Wednesday.

[Brushes Sand]

I have a lot of worries about this lineup, but the key development
of the last 48 hours has to be the exclusion of the WifeBeater (Blanco)
due to his outstanding assault charge in Dallas.

Gibbs shut down Van Nistelrooy. Now, with no Blanco, he can
concentrate 100% on Borgetti. A draw is now possible.

-bs

[Sachsen]

Thread title is "Be Prepared for the Worst" -- which is... what exactly? That the US loses the game?

It's Mexico, sure, so we always want to beat them, but losing the game wouldn't be the worst. Donovan breaks his leg, DMB tears up both knees, Convey's achilles goes pop... THAT would be the worst. The whole point of this game is for The Bruce to get a look at some MLSers for WC qualifying. Winning the game is a purely secondary priority.

No worries.

[IMOX77]

I have a lot of worries about this lineup, but the key development
of the last 48 hours has to be the exclusion of the WifeBeater (Blanco)
due to his outstanding assault charge in Dallas.

Gibbs shut down Van Nistelrooy. Now, with no Blanco, he can
concentrate 100% on Borgetti. A draw is now possible.

-bs
Serious? Is it something to do with beating his wife? Maybee someone can give me the lowdown

[Rusty_Shackleford]

Serious? Is it something to do with beating his wife? Maybee someone can give me the lowdown
I think he beat up a bar-tender.

[geordienation]

I have a lot of worries about this lineup, but the key development
of the last 48 hours has to be the exclusion of the WifeBeater (Blanco)
due to his outstanding assault charge in Dallas.

Gibbs shut down Van Nistelrooy. Now, with no Blanco, he can
concentrate 100% on Borgetti. A draw is now possible.

-bs


Michael Pittman plays for El Cry?

[appoo]

I agree with some of your points, but not fully:

In last year's shutout draw with Mexico, Califf started in a three-man backline along with Pope and Bocanegra. He has faced Mexico in a similar atmosphere. While Califf-Pope-Bocanegra is a bit stronger than Califf-Pope-Gibbs, it's not like Gibbs can't play.

Gibbs played against Brazil and Cameroon in the Confed Cup and a younger Brazil in the Gold Cup. I doubt he's not ready for Mexico's style.

Last year: Howard; Califf, Pope, Bocanegra; Hejduk, Armas, Mastroeni, Mathis, Beasley; Donovan, McBride.

Potential this year: Walker; Califf, Pope, Gibbs; Hejduk, Armas, Mulrooney, Convey, Beasley; Donovan, Casey.

So, if we go with that lineup, six of the guys are the same as last year and it depends on how much of a drop you think it is from Howard to Walker, from Boca to Gibbs, from Mastroeni to Mulrooney, from Mathis to Convey, from McBride to Casey, as to how much worse of a club we'll be putting on the field on Wednesday.
my problem is that I don't think we're going to be able to posses the ball. Period. Donovan was electric in Houston, plus Mcride and Mastro helped out in possesion. Donovan's form has been off a bit and his MLS game doesn't translate to playing Mexico at all, he'll have to a different game to be effective. Convey HAS TO tone his game down like he did against Poland but I don't know if he will. Hejduk is a black hole, Armas no better. Califf is another liability in transitioning from defense to offense. And Gibbs doesn't have the neccasary skill to play LB. I doubt he'll be marking Borghetti, that'll Mr.Pope. And who knows what Albright will do out there. This is my problem. Lack of skill. The Triple Threat can not be left on an island.

[appoo]

I have a lot of worries about this lineup, but the key development
of the last 48 hours has to be the exclusion of the WifeBeater (Blanco)
due to his outstanding assault charge in Dallas.

Gibbs shut down Van Nistelrooy. Now, with no Blanco, he can
concentrate 100% on Borgetti. A draw is now possible.

-bsNo Blanco? Great, now we can go up against Luis Perez. If he was American he'd be our full-time starter at A-Mid. Wasn't he the best player in the U23 Tournament? I've seen him a few times and the kid is flat out AWSOME and he'll be terrorizing CONCACAF defenses for awhile now.

If we had Reyna and O'Brien on the field then I would say no problem, Perez will be nullified, with ease. Because he'd not only have to attempt to break through two very good markers, but he'd actually have to worry about the guy marking him turning around and sending in a perfectly weighted through-ball. But combination of Convey and Armas? No way. He'll have acres of room and alsmot zero defensive responsibility beyonf giving Convey's ankle a hack every so often.

I really don't like the roster Arena named.

[appoo]

and actually now that I think about this some more. This is the way I would line-up considering the roster Bruce named.


-----------Califf----------Pope------------Gibbs-------------
------------------------------------------------------------
----------------Albright-----------Mulroony------------------
----Donovan---------------Convey-------------Beasley------
------------------------------------------------------------
---------------Wolff-----------------Casey-----------------
------------------------------------------------------------

will Donovan accept his defnesive responsibilities? Can Albright handle man marking in the midfield?

Those would be my main 2 worries. None of our backliners have to support the offense, Convey can play his game because we'll have two D-Mids, Donovan sees more of the ball, we get El Lobo on the field.

[j&bontherock]

it's only a friendly match........

[Deuteriumoxide]

and actually now that I think about this some more. This is the way I would line-up considering the roster Bruce named.


-----------Califf----------Pope------------Gibbs-------------
------------------------------------------------------------
----------------Albright-----------Mulroony------------------
----Donovan---------------Convey-------------Beasley------
------------------------------------------------------------
---------------Wolff-----------------Casey-----------------
------------------------------------------------------------

will Donovan accept his defnesive responsibilities? Can Albright handle man marking in the midfield?

Those would be my main 2 worries. None of our backliners have to support the offense, Convey can play his game because we'll have two D-Mids, Donovan sees more of the ball, we get El Lobo on the field.

Allbright as a holding/dmid? =/ (where is the nonplussed smiley when you need it?)

I like a 4-3-3/-4-5-1

Hejduk-Califf-Pope-Gibbs
---Armas-Mulrooney
--------Convey
Donovan-Casey-Beasley

Mulrooney is considerabley less a black hole than Armas. (allthough I guess a small blackhole is still capable of sucking in all the matter around it)

I think two destroyer mids and four defenders will keep the score down. Mulrooney is capable of executing a pass or three to convey, and with donovan, casey, AND beasley all hanging around up top mexico won't be able to extend themselves very far forward.

1-1

[Scotty]

I think he beat up a bar-tender.

A female bartender?

[Rusty_Shackleford]

A female bartender?
No, it was a male bartender. He said the guy insulted him, so he punched him.

[Solid444]

The fact that Blanco is not playing is a huge bonus for us. This guy is a leading scorer in Libertadores and the leading Mexican scorer in the MFL. This will take some steam away from their attack. I really thought that is guy is capable to put in 2 or 3 against us. They also dont have Marquez, Torrado.

But us drawing against them would still be a miracle. Their defense is very strong. And we are talking about a defense that gives up about .6 goals a game since Lavolpe has been in charged.

In the middle they have 3 players that beat us in the 4-0 that play for the U-23. Luis Perez is a very good player and Diego Martinez is coming into his own (scored against Costa Rica). But probably the most noted additions are Rafael Garcia and Pavel Pardo. Pardo is an amazing player and will be able to feed the fowards with great balls (something they didnt have when they played in HOuston last year) and Rafael Garcia who is a specialist in centering from the flanks and when you have Borgetti's heading ability, it becomes a very dangerous combination. Bravo has had a great season with Chivas and is a very fast and agile scorer. I just dont see Donovan and Beasley break through this defense when they couldnt even do it against the U-23 defense that was far inferior. They have no one in the middle who can feed balls to the front on a consistent basis.

We also have to recognize that the team they played in Houston last year was just getting aquainted with Lavolpe's style of play which they are beginning to master. The way they played then compared to how they are playing now cannot be compared. Even if they do score (going against the .6 goals a game) i just dont see them holding mexico to one or even two goals. Sanchez has been a maniac in goal and with a stellar defense he becomes all that dangerous. Us doesnt have Howard which was a figure in houston last year. Also, Mexico has motivation in this game, this is not just another friendly. I was watching Protagonistas the other day and a couple of players were talking about the lack of respect that Donovan showed in Mexico (peeing incident) and they will not stand by that. There is nothing more dangerous than a motivated Mexican.

With Cuauhtemoc i would have said 4-0 or maybe even 5-0

But now i say 3-0

[sch2383]

Goalkeepers (2): Kevin Hartman (Los Angeles Galaxy), Jonny Walker (MetroStars);
Defenders (5): Chris Albright (Los Angeles Galaxy), Dan Califf (Los Angeles Galaxy), Cory Gibbs (Dallas Burn), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Eddie Pope (MetroStars);
Midfielders (6): Chris Armas (Chicago Fire), DaMarcus Beasley (Chicago Fire), Bobby Convey (D.C. United), Richard Mulrooney (San Jose Earthquakes), Pat Noonan (New England Revolution), Kerry Zavagnin (Kansas City Wizards);
Forwards (5): Conor Casey (Karslruhe), Landon Donovan (San Jose Earthquakes), Jovan Kirovski (Los Angeles Galaxy), Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution), Josh Wolff (Kansas City Wizards).

For once, Mexico is bringing in the "name" players and USA is bringing in guys who are relativly inexperienced. The GKs, Albright, Gibbs, Califf, Mulroony, Zavagnin, Noonan, Casey, Twellman....none of these guys have ever played against the Unique wave-style attack that is Mexican soccer. They'll be playing in a packed Cotton Bowl in a crowd that will be 70% Mexico. This time around, the deck is stacked against USA and I fear a rout is in the offing. Why? This is my guess of a starting line up.

----Albright-----Califf----Pope----Gibbs--------
----------------------------------------------
--------------------Armas--------------------
----Hejduk---------Convey----------DMB------
----------------------------------------------
-------------Casey-----------LD--------------


Albright never played at this level before
Gibbs doesn't provide neccasary offensive support
Claiff not a good enough 1v1 defender against dribbling. And Mexican's are among the best in the world of this type of game
Hejduk in the midfield. Great
Convey is going to go on his attacking runs and none of the players behnd him are good enough to deliever consistent balls.
While Convey is going on his runs Armas has no easy outlet. Which is going to force him to attempt to deliever pinpoint long balls. Not exactly his game.
LD won't see the ball. Ever.
Casey in the air, and DMB runnning at people will probably be the only good threats we'll have. For us to be successful Convey has to play more conservativly than he likes to and Donovan is going to yell at his midfielders to get the damn ball.
Did I mention Frankie Hejduk in the midfield? And even if its not him it'll be Pat Noonan, who is another guy who has no idea what he's about to go up against.
3 - 0 Mexico. :(
http://www.claybennett.com/images/archivetoons/chicken_little.jpg

[miky]

it's a friendly,and on my view it's always a chance to revitalize your training and strategitical errors.and also boost your confidence, but in this one i see mexico winning by 3- 1 over the usa.

[CeltTexan]

Gentlemen

Remember amigos mios, el-tri and their argentino TD still must overcome the tremendous ammount of pressure from the media back home.
As this is the second year in a row, el tri has traveled to El Norte; the FMF, the sporting public, the entire nation is again up for this encounter! The argie and his lovely lads know what they have to do. That grinds on the mexican man. At the bar, the el tri fans admit that if its penalties or the like it makes them uneasy. Not nervous, just uneasy. Anyone remember Boca-Cruz Azul in the Libs. That translates to the pitch and however small, the team as a whole is affected. This match is again in Texas no less. The crowd will be pro el tri and we shall see how Dallas area Panchos act. Dallas has a huge youth soccer comm. I wonder if SUM has reached that potential fan base.
Basically The Bruce is testing and El Gaucho is on the hot seat just beacuse its Yanks-El tri. Being the TD of Mexico is up their with the Italian, German Brazilian post. The only thing more dangerous than a motivated Mexican is a motivated Jew....c'mon Solid you know this...Jon Stewart gave up soccer, got motivated and that's worked out for everyone.
Again it will be tough for the ref with all the passion and hacks.
Wolff must turn up money like the Cold War encounter. It'll be a goal late that will win it for either side. Klein had a deliverd cross from Cobi last May here in Houston and didn't sell out his cranium. I want to see how Casey brings a German mindset up top with Wolff.

1-0 (Casey 81min)

[Solid444]

Gentlemen

Remember amigos mios, el-tri and their argentino TD still must overcome the tremendous ammount of pressure from the media back home.
As this is the second year in a row, el tri has traveled to El Norte; the FMF, the sporting public, the entire nation is again up for this encounter! The argie and his lovely lads know what they have to do. That grinds on the mexican man. At the bar, the el tri fans admit that if its penalties or the like it makes them uneasy. Not nervous, just uneasy. Anyone remember Boca-Cruz Azul in the Libs. That translates to the pitch and however small, the team as a whole is affected. This match is again in Texas no less. The crowd will be pro el tri and we shall see how Dallas area Panchos act. Dallas has a huge youth soccer comm. I wonder if SUM has reached that potential fan base.
Basically The Bruce is testing and El Gaucho is on the hot seat just beacuse its Yanks-El tri. Being the TD of Mexico is up their with the Italian, German Brazilian post. The only thing more dangerous than a motivated Mexican is a motivated Jew....c'mon Solid you know this...Jon Stewart gave up soccer, got motivated and that's worked out for everyone.
Again it will be tough for the ref with all the passion and hacks.
Wolff must turn up money like the Cold War encounter. It'll be a goal late that will win it for either side. Klein had a deliverd cross from Cobi last May here in Houston and didn't sell out his cranium. I want to see how Casey brings a German mindset up top with Wolff.

1-0 (Casey 81min)


1-0 *falls off chair and rolls around in uncontrollable laughter*

[appoo]

http://www.claybennett.com/images/archivetoons/chicken_little.jpgsince when is predicting a loss the equivelent of saying that the sky is falling?

Let me say this right now. Our best team is every good as Mexico's best team and if I had to pick one team to sweep the Other team during the HEX I would pick USA.