Players to Watch for USMNT - MLS Week 1 [R]

[appoo]

DC United vs Chivas USA


if Steve Guppy were American, he'd be our starting Left Back
Ben Olsen - he looks rejuvenated as a central midfielder. And could possibly add depth at that position for USA. Tencious, hard working, and most importantly, he seemed to love the physicality of the position.
Freddy Adu - no he didn't start but he looked pretty good when he came on. a far cry from what he was last season. He looked smarter, stronger, and more confident. Its something of an absurd thought but if he can continue to improve at the same pace I think he may have a shot at a late season friendly.

Columbus Crew vs LA Galaxy


Danny Szetela. Looked good playing on the right wing. Wing given the depth at that position for USA (or lack there of), a good season with his Bradenton Pedigree might put Szetela on the fast track for the National Team if he can show well at that position
Edson Buddle. What does he lack? Strength, size, speed, skill, technical ability to spare...just stay yhealthy and you'll get a chance for the open spot for Eddie Johnson's Runnign Mate
Chad Marshall. Ho Hum, another dominating performance from the best defender in MLS now that Ryan Nelson is gone for the riches of the Premiership. Mark my words, we're going to open up World Cup 06 with a starting center back pairing of Oguchi Onyewu and Chad Marshall

[warmblooded]

Obviously Buddle.

Kyle Martino looked very impressive and surely will be in the running for most fouled player in MLS this year.

I second Danny Szetela. That kid is tough.

Chad Marshall's positioning and awareness of using the offside trap was beautiful.

Knox Cameron is a moose.

BRIAN CARROLL! Quietly getting better and better. Reminds me of Pablo.

[miked9]

I only saw a few minutes, so we'll have to ask the Fire folk for more info, but...of the ten minutes that I saw, Nate Jaqua looked a lot like Ching. Is he worth a look in that target forward position?

Brian Mullan was all over the right sideline, and was severely pissing me off--which is a sign that he was being very aggressive, very effective, and with a bit of a chip on his shoulder. Looked like the Quakes best player. He absolutely torched Marshall Leonard for 90 minutes (not saying much, but still...)

Twellman had a marvelous second half. Dempsey, Noonan & Ralston also showed pretty well.

Albright looked pretty poor, from what I saw.

Mathis looked like Mathis. Sometimes dangerous, sometimes irrelevant.

[appoo]

then you prolly watched the last 10 minutes of the first half, the 2nd half he was not very good.

GAM is GAM but the guy that struck me was Phillip Salyer. the FCD rightback

[ursula]

I'll just comment on the possible DCU players:

Those who have an outside chance for Germany

-Olsen had a poor game for him; not as much energy as usual.

-Eskandarian also had a so-so game. He is coming off an injury but that doesn't explain his penchant for picking up yellows.

Those who might have a chance post-Germany and Arena

-Carroll is very quietly becoming a very good d-mid. Stealthy. A very good game.

-Gros also had a very good game.

-Adu was okay in a limited role but,

-Quaranta was very good.


Summary: A lot has been said about DCU but one thing that hasn't been said much is that Peter Nowak is quietly developing several promising youngsters, none of whom will play in Germany but they will start to get Nats time eventually.

[KGDG2005]

DC United vs Chivas USA


if Steve Guppy were American, he'd be our starting Left Back



Only if we wanted to get drubbed.

There was a reason he was dragged off the field at the 68th minute for Santino, looking like he was suffering from something akin to heat exhaustion.

He was getting torched and we needed to switch Gros to staunch the bleeding (to mix metaphors at this late hour). Personally I'm tired of all the hullabaloo (sp?) surrounding him. Yes, he sends in a nice cross. I would rather have a look at young Mr. Quaranta for long stretches of time now that he seems fit again and allow Gros to roam the left.

Bring Guppy in as a late sub if our situation is dire, but let these American kids develop so that they might actually be given an opportunity to strut their stuff on the international stage in the future.

Come on United (States and DC)

KGDG

[rkeane15]

This is a great thread. I assume we are doing this every week?

[Lord15]

My ranking of MLSers this weekend:

1. Twellman - sick second half against SJ
2. EJ - He's really playing with confidence. He was gassed by minute 60, but he looks much, much better than he did last year.
3. Buddle - please stay healthy!!!
4. Martino - looked completely fluid today (As did the entire Crew team)
5. Ricardo Clarke had a very good game.
6. Marshall - looked like Marshall. Get used to this kid - going to be around a while.
7. Szetela - That brazilian kid on the U-20s must be very good to keep Danny on the bench (if this is how he's been playing).
8. Noonan was smooth
9. Kelly Gray looked pretty good at right back (Better than Salyer, I thought).
10. Dempsey was off, but still good enough to make the list.

Notes:
- For only getting like 10 minutes, Chad Barrett looked very interesting.
- Didn't see Col vs. KC, and the weather was to bad to rate anyone in New York.
- The East is going to be brutal this year.

[voros]

- Didn't see Col vs. KC, and the weather was to bad to rate anyone in New York.
Ain't that the truth. Gaven did manage to create a good chance for Wolyniec with some 1v1 work on the wings (Wolyniec had his shot saved). Mathis had a gourgeous backfoot flick that wound up achieving nothing of consequence but was highlight reel stuff anyway.

But yeah, 45 MPH winds on a pool table equals nothing much anyone can do.

DJ Countess did come up with two monster saves to preserve the scoreless draw.

Twellman and Mullan had blinders as mentioned.

Among the rookies: James Riley had a nice run out as a sub and Aaron Lopez looked good for Chivas but I'm not sure whether he's a citizen or simply a green carder (I know he grew up here).

[Parmigiano]

Can we get a charity hotline or petition drive going on behalf of that guy who's pretty good over there in Columbus -- what's his name again, Buddle?

I think that's it.

In any case. Bruce needs some serious reminding. Hopefully, Edson will keep making his case obvious. Sooner or later....he might even get noticed.

[swedcrip34]

Ain't that the truth. Gaven did manage to create a good chance for Wolyniec with some 1v1 work on the wings (Wolyniec had his shot saved). Mathis had a gourgeous backfoot flick that wound up achieving nothing of consequence but was highlight reel stuff anyway.

But yeah, 45 MPH winds on a pool table equals nothing much anyone can do.

DJ Countess did come up with two monster saves to preserve the scoreless draw.

Twellman and Mullan had blinders as mentioned.

Among the rookies: James Riley had a nice run out as a sub and Aaron Lopez looked good for Chivas but I'm not sure whether he's a citizen or simply a green carder (I know he grew up here).

Lopez is listed as a green card by the MLS Combine Guide and Mexico only as citzenship (Ihemelu in contrast is listed both Nigeria and US). He was in ODP and has been here since at least 1998.

http://www.mlsnet.com/MLS/players/bio.jsp?team=cdc&player=lopez_a&playerId=lop165981

at the end says "green card", they don't put that in the bios of citizens. He's trained with Necaxa before. I haven't seen anywhere who'd he'd play for. I'd guess he's close to getting citizenship. But we shouldn't need more CB's for quite a while (Gibbs, Gooch, Bocanegra, Chad Marshall). He did play well considering he was probably a late add to the starting lineup for Costa Rican international Sequeira who couldn't get a visa (started in their last 2 WCQ'ers) soon enough.

[voros]

Can we get a charity hotline or petition drive going on behalf of that guy who's pretty good over there in Columbus -- what's his name again, Buddle?

I think that's it.

In any case. Bruce needs some serious reminding. Hopefully, Edson will keep making his case obvious. Sooner or later....he might even get noticed.
My theory on Buddle, even when he has a great game tonight, is this:

You know all that great off the ball work guys like McBride and Ching do, fighting for every 50/50 ball, pressuring defenders who have the ball, etc.?

Well Buddle does virtually none of that stuff. He makes good runs, don't get me wrong, but generally most of the work he does is about putting the ball in the net and as such he's awfully good at it.

I, personally, think such a player is exactly what we need at forward as the other guys all do plenty of work. But I think Bruce prefers the full 11 man pressure and defense.

Also, it always seems to look like he's carrying around 10 or 15 extra pounds. Not a lot, and I'm certainly not one to talk (though I'm not trying to make the National Team), and I guess he may just be built that way, but in any event that may be something else Bruce doesn't like.

I don't think scoring a couple of goals is going to change anything, Bruce saw him score 4 in person last year and he still didn't get a call up this offseason.

Both finishes tonight were very classy and clever, particularly the header which fooled Hartman badly. Though to be fair, the Galaxy defenders pursued the unusual strategy of deciding that Buddle was someone they could afford to leave unmarked on crosses and set pieces. A miscalculation...

[voros]

Lopez is listed as a green card by the MLS Combine Guide and Mexico only as citzenship (Ihemelu in contrast is listed both Nigeria and US). He was in ODP and has been here since at least 1998.

http://www.mlsnet.com/MLS/players/bio.jsp?team=cdc&player=lopez_a&playerId=lop165981

at the end says "green card", they don't put that in the bios of citizens. He's trained with Necaxa before. I haven't seen anywhere who'd he'd play for. I'd guess he's close to getting citizenship. But we shouldn't need more CB's for quite a while (Gibbs, Gooch, Bocanegra, Chad Marshall). He did play well considering he was probably a late add to the starting lineup for Costa Rican international Sequeira who couldn't get a visa (started in their last 2 WCQ'ers) soon enough.
He can apparently play some d-mid as well. Again, not really a National Team prospect just yet, but someone to tuck away for a rainy day. We'll see if he keeps it up.

[bigtimebuck4]

how many goals will buddle have to score to get INVITED to a camp??? 30???? 40????

[Bruce S]

how many goals will buddle have to score to get INVITED to a camp??? 30???? 40????
not sure what you are on about. Buddle has been injured for like the last XX years.When he was healthy Bruce A had him in to a camp.If he can stay healthy andf have a good year, everyone in US soccer is well aware of him.

[Clint Eastwood]

how many goals will buddle have to score to get INVITED to a camp??? 30???? 40????


My feelings exactly. Buddle will get a look at some point this year. Gold cup perhaps?

I watched 2 games yesterday. DC-Goats and Crew-Galaxy.

Several Observations:

1) Ryan Suarez is awful
2) Matt Taylor is awful (what's with the Baggio haircut? Was he trying to make himself look foreign?)

3) Virtually every American on the Crew looked good (that's everybody on their game-day roster other than Simon "Carrott top" Elliott).

Razov, Buddle, Martino, Szetela, Marshall, Busch, even Robin Fraser

4) Interesting for the future: Brad Guzan has game, Knox Cameron is indeed a moose. Big Big boy.

5) VERY INTERESTING: Santino Quaranta. People forget how young he still is. Younger than EJ still, you know? Hopefully his injuries are behind him now and he can show us what he can do. Esky and Quaranta up top. Hmmm. very interesting.

6) VERY INTERESTING 2: Todd Dunivant. Not a great game last night, like everybody else on LA. However, LB is a problem area for the USMNT. I'm keeping my eye on him.

[sidefootsitter]

I'd give big kudos to Steve Nicol and Dom Kinnear for having fielded two aggressive, if sometimes too aggressive, teams with excellent first touch, hard running, reasonable shooting and more or less free of the dreaded safe-pass. This is the way to get MLS to attain higher levels of play, by improving the quality of its rank-n-file.

By comparison, in a few minutes that I saw of Chicago-Dallas, the Fire was a bit too lackadaisical rolling the ball around in midfield with the token pressure from the ex-Burn.

PS. With better finishing, Twellman should have had a hat-trick.

PPS. I didn't think Wade Barrett looked that bad either but then the Revs tattooed Onstad's goal in the second half.

[sidefootsitter]

Matt Taylor is awful... I'll say something nice about Taylor.

First of all, he kept on working hard and was able to get into a position to get shots on goals. Those shots were not well taken but I expect him to improve, having only gotten an opportunity to play full-time this season with the Chivas USA.

Also, in the first half, he couldn't dribble his way out of the proverbial paper bad but he began to feel the pace of the game a little better and made some nice cuts before aiming at the net.

Is he raw at this point? Very much so.

But at the same time, I thought that Pat Noonan got by in his initial two years in the league based solely on his athletic ability. But last night, Pat played like a different person. Whether it was due to his short stint at Chelsea or the recent USMNT camp, or both, he appears to have grasped the fundamentals of his position over the winter and is now a legitimate USMNT candidate. Perhaps with a full year of pro-experience, Matt Taylor can do the same.

[United20]

Buddle, Buddle, and more Buddle. Can he stay healthy with some luck? Everyone knows his talents and the Gold Cup would be a perfect stage for a possible amazing combo with EJ.

It was the first week doesn't provide much in quality, but Jose Burciaga Jr. is another one that could make some waves at LB. Still Spector is the future LB.

[fidlerre]

Also, it always seems to look like he's carrying around 10 or 15 extra pounds. Not a lot, and I'm certainly not one to talk (though I'm not trying to make the National Team), and I guess he may just be built that way, but in any event that may be something else Bruce doesn't like.
If he lost 10-15 pounds he'd look like Martino. The guy isn't overweight at all, perhaps watching on television you'd get that impression but when the guy takes off his jersey after the game...there's no extra pudge there. He's perfectly sized for a forward...