Where are the goals? - Roster for T&T WCQ

[AndyMead]

http://www.ussoccer.com/news/fullst...?iNewsid=216673

Yikes. Only 3 of 20 players called in have passable international strike rates.

Ouch.

Forwards (by strike rate)
25/70 Landon Donovan
28/88 Brian McBride
0/8 Jeff Cunningham
0/9 Taylor Twellman

Midfielders
11/51 DaMarcus Beasley
8/64 Eddie Lewis
3/27 John O'Brien
3/28 Steve Ralston
8/106 Claudio Reyna
1/31 Bobby Convey
2/64 Chris Armas
0/3 Santino Quaranta

Defenders
1/8 Oguchi Onyewu
1/14 Chris Albright
1/36 Greg Vanney
0/6 Jimmy Conrad
0/39 Gregg Berhalter

[HogDaddy]

I was shocked by the low goal totals for this team. Reyna surprised me particularly. Only 8 goals for Captain America. Wow, I would have guessed much more than that.

But I'm not that worried. The goals will come. Perhaps this is the game Twellman breaks out. In fact, I'll make a friendly wager that someone who has 0 nats goals gets his first in this game. Taylor, Jeff, Tino, don't let me down.

And since I didn't see a prediction thread, I'll make mine here first. US 3, T&T 1.

[appoo]

He's a central midfielder.

[SlyFox11]

With the quality of the US goaltending lately, all we need is 1 or 2 goals, and we've got a super shot at winning.

That said, we do need some better strike rates....

[Davids26]

Beasley out:

http://www.ussoccer.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=221033&itype=113

Anyone see this?

[AndyMead]

He's a central midfielder.

He's an attacking midfielder who is absolutely toothless. He's the point guard that doesn't have to be guarded.

[Heathens '87]

Beasley out:

http://www.ussoccer.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=221033&itype=113

Anyone see this?


Wow! And we're not calling in anyone to replace him. I'm going to post this to a new thread to draw attention to it. Good find..........

[Bajoro]

Let's just tell Convey to go crazy and light it up.

[lurking]

If you sum up the goals, then sum up the caps, assume 11.5 field caps per game (10 starters, +sub), i get about a 1.6 goals per game clip for this roster.

Basicly, all over.

[XYZ1234]

(Reyna) He's an attacking midfielder who is absolutely toothless. He's the point guard that doesn't have to be guarded.Well, he's not an attacking midfielder anymore and hasn't been one for a few years but the rest is correct.

I'd guess about 3/4 of his caps were as the AM and that's not enough goals which is why he is a cmid now.

[appoo]

With the quality of the US goaltending lately, all we need is 1 or 2 goals, and we've got a super shot at winning.

That said, we do need some better strike rates....

what happens is they score first?

[sidefootsitter]

If you sum up the goals, then sum up the caps, assume 11.5 field caps per game (10 starters, +sub), i get about a 1.6 goals per game clip for this roster.

Basicly, all over. TnT is not an average competition. (Elo rank #84) The US should be able to score at least a couple of goals, as it did in PP.

[mickhayafe]

With the quality of the US goaltending lately, all we need is 1 or 2 goals, and we've got a super shot at winning.

I don't want a shot at winning... I want to CRUSH THEM

[warmblooded]

He's an attacking midfielder who is absolutely toothless. He's the point guard that doesn't have to be guarded.

Really? Wow, great... Are we really going to go here again re: Reyna???

Has Reyna's primary responsibility on any of his professional clubs been to attack or to produce? Maybe for Wolfsburg. But if that was what they expected, they got it wrong.

It's sad that there seems to be an either/or situation between Donovan and Reyna and the Nats on these boards.

Then again, the US won the Gold Cup. But God, did they win ugly.

[fidlerre]

Cunningham, if given more than 20 minutes of playing time, we get his first international goal.

Mark -- it -- down.

[AndyMead]

Really? Wow, great... Are we really going to go here again re: Reyna???

Has Reyna's primary responsibility on any of his professional clubs been to attack or to produce? Maybe for Wolfsburg. But if that was what they expected, they got it wrong.

It's sad that there seems to be an either/or situation between Donovan and Reyna and the Nats on these boards.

Then again, the US won the Gold Cup. But God, did they win ugly.

I don't care where he's played for his clubs.

He has 8 goals in 106 caps for the United States. Most of them as the a-mid.

That's a worse strike rate than such noted attacking forces as Alexi Lalas and Marcelo Balboa.

[warmblooded]

I don't care where he's played for his clubs.

He has 8 goals in 106 caps for the United States. Most of them as the a-mid.

That's a worse strike rate than such noted attacking forces as Alexi Lalas and Marcelo Balboa.

Well, sorry to thread-jack, but you are "going there".
What exactly are you worried about? "How are we going to score on TnT with Reyna on the squad?" Is that it? ...defenders scoring on set pieces... weird, I know.
OK, so your criteria for Reyna's successes or failures at the national team level is different from mine.
He is a quality player that has been surrounded by garbage players for most of his national team career. ...I know, it's astonishing that he has managed to have a top-flight career in Europe.
If he has been, as you say, the a-mind for the national team "most of the time", then I say, damn, he has to be the deepest playing a-mid that I have ever seen. (It's not for nothing that Agoos is arguably the greatest distributing center-back in US Nats' history.) Reyna has played a certain role for the Nats' by default, because no one else has been able to do it. I don't care if Donovan has deferred to, or is in awe of, or flat out hates to play with Reyna. The fact of the matter is that it's up to Donovan or Dempsey, or whomever, to figure out how to co-exist with Reyna, or to push him out of the picture.
Are you seriously telling me that if you're Bruce, you don't call in Reyna? Of course I respect your opinion Andy, but I don't get this.

[chrisinho]

That's a worse strike rate than such noted attacking forces as Alexi Lalas and Marcelo Balboa.

Who also lined up often on corner kicks and set pieces as target men while Reyna took the kicks. Hence their higher strike rate.

[Hatrick]

He is a quality player that has been surrounded by garbage players for most of his national team career. ...I know, it's astonishing that he has managed to have a top-flight career in Europe.
If he has been, as you say, the a-mind for the national team "most of the time", then I say, damn, he has to be the deepest playing a-mid that I have ever seen. (It's not for nothing that Agoos is arguably the greatest distributing center-back in US Nats' history.) Reyna has played a certain role for the Nats' by default, because no one else has been able to do it. I don't care if Donovan has deferred to, or is in awe of, or flat out hates to play with Reyna. The fact of the matter is that it's up to Donovan or Dempsey, or whomever, to figure out how to co-exist with Reyna, or to push him out of the picture.
Are you seriously telling me that if you're Bruce, you don't call in Reyna? Of course I respect your opinion Andy, but I don't get this.

Stop defending The Captain. He was meant to play A-mid in those games, but damn, those slow legs and square/back passes make him look like a C-mid. Let's move him to right back.

[soccrplayr21]

anyone know how many assists reyna has? the only time i even remember him scoring was in the 96 olympics in the first few minutes against argentina. oh yea i was there at a rockin legion field filled with 86,000 americans goin crazy.