US-Costa Rica, the defense (R)

[superdave]

Bocanegra made alot of timely plays. Dolo as a back in a 3 man back line was a weird choice, but I have more to say about it in the Bruce thread. Keller was huge. Pope didn't cost us, but I still think Gibbs was the better choice.

[speedcake]

Supes, why the three threads? Has BS become some unsophisticated that we gotta have things spelled out THIS clearly?

[reddog694]

I hope this game by Steady Eddie quiets the international retirement/get rid of Eddie/send him to Alaska talk...

[speedcake]

A shutout in a tough world cup qualy. I can't complain.

[Cweedchop]

I hope this game by Steady Eddie quiets the international retirement/get rid of Eddie/send him to Alaska talk...

Agreed.

What is really shows is that players, even icons like Pope are occasionally allowed to play poorly without retribution..

I think the reason why Gibbs was left out tonight was because we'll probably see both Gibbs and Gooch running the middle on Wednesday.

Ain't it great to have depth? :D

[DCFAN96]

I hope this game by Steady Eddie quiets the international retirement/get rid of Eddie/send him to Alaska talk...

What are you talking about? He got turned a couple times and kept falling/slipping to the ground. He was shaky, as was the rest of our defense the first half. Theres not doubt in my mind that Gooch and Gibbs will be starting on Wednesday with Pope on the bench. If not for Kasey we easily could have tied or even lost this game, man marking was soft we left them too much open space.

[superdave]

Supes, why the three threads? Has BS become some unsophisticated that we gotta have things spelled out THIS clearly?
Omnibus postgame threads always suck. There are all these cross discussions, thread drift is a killer, etc.

BTW, there's a 4th one out there for ya. :)

[superdave]

man marking was soft we left them too much open space.
Yeah, but was that a midfield problem or a backline problem? IMO, it was more the former.

[lmorin]

The D was quite disordered a lot of the time. There were way too many lousy clears. Convey did well offensively and generally kept the opposition at bay, but the substitution of Hejduk for Convey was outstanding. Hejduk did a better job in close quarters than Convey. Steve was his usual self. Not great; not bad. I was not impressed by the within-the-penalty-area play by either Boca or Pope. Both have done and can do a lot better. Thank goodness for KK who saved their butts, what? 4 times?

[ursula]

.... but I have more to say about it in the Bruce thread. Keller was huge. Pope didn't cost us, but I still think Gibbs was the better choice.


Starting Convey was a good choice as he alternated from joining the defense to being a winger. Thus the team could adjust to the shifting tactics without subs- unlike CR. And Convey was an asset on defense.

Pope was much improved over last week.

In the first half I thought Boca (who otherwise played a good game) passed the ball back to Keller a copuple of times when Keller didn't want it.

Cher was fine though I wish we could find a faster right winger ahead of him.

[CPRoyale]

Pope 30-40 yards from goal. Very good at derailing Tico attacks.

Pope inside the 18. Atrocious.


Great point. He has a knack for heading the ball far and clearing the ball to the opposition. I would like to see him collect the ball more and feed to the midfield. He did stop a lot of attacks by the Ticos, and played solid D though.

[Nutmeg]

Kasey Keller put on his superman jersey today. Un-freakin-believable.

Steve Cherundolo was the best defender out there today. He shut his side down, which is all you can ask of a defender.

Eddie Pope rebounded with a very strong performance. He physically matched anything the Ticos threw at him. An Eddie-of-old performance.

Carlos Bocanegra is a center back. Carlos Bocanegra is a center back. Carlos Bocanegra is a center back.


Frankie played damn good soccer when he came in.

[Nutmeg]

"Except for when he got turned in the box and forced Keller to save him."

Not sure I can argue on that point, Mike. Pope looked good in shutting down the counters, but I couldn't tell who was getting pounded on the scrums in the box. I figured I'd find out if I decided to watch this one again.

[Dan B]

Pope 30-40 yards from goal. Very good at derailing Tico attacks.

Pope inside the 18. Atrocious.agreed

Keller was not the same guy who played in the England friendly. He has always been one of the great reflex shot blockers, and he saved our bacon a few times tonight.

Cherundolo worked the wing well, and didn't give much. He did get some good help from Ralston defensively.

Mostly C work from the rest of the defense including Zavagnin. We gave away too much space around the 18.

[ursula]

Only a couple of folks mentioned Keller- wow was he good. MOTM

defensive ratings:

Keller- 8 at least
Dolo- 7
Boca- 6.5
Pope- 6
Hedjuk- 6.5


Convey- 6.5 in his hybrid role.

[swilso01]

Absolutely, KK for President.

Roy Carroll should watch the tape for a lesson on how to save a ball that is past you WITHOUT having it cross the line. Sick save it twas....

[rgli13]

i thought our defense was deceptively below average today. in the first half costa rica was sitting back and relying on long balls and hopeful counters and our backline did an outstanding job with the trap.

but once costa rica committed to an attack and moving forward, it got real shaky. ralston and convey deserve credit for finally recognizing that and dropping back more, but the defense was really open in the second half.

dolo and boca are two locks in my opinion, but both are much more effective in a four man backline.

when the whistle blew they had gotten the job done, so ill stop complaining about our d in a shutout win, now ;)

[XYZ1234]

Except for when he got turned in the box and forced Keller to save him.
They replayed that about 4 times during the game. Eddie got turned and fell down.

I guess I'll be the wet blanket and say that Boca, Pope, and Convey all had some poor moments on defense. A second viewing might be in order.

Dolo was once again the best of the back 4.

[XYZ1234]

KK was man of the match.

That could have easily been 3-3.

[appoo]

"Except for when he got turned in the box and forced Keller to save him."

Not sure I can argue on that point, Mike. Pope looked good in shutting down the counters, but I couldn't tell who was getting pounded on the scrums in the box. I figured I'd find out if I decided to watch this one again.

all 4 of them.

plus Ralston