Sorry Convey-lovers... (R)

[Jambon]

I can't believe what I'm reading on these boards. Convey played a good game? He sucked!

Didn't anyone notice how it only took Argentina 5 minutes to realize that there was no resistance at all on the left side. Didn't you notice how 90% of the attack went to that side for the rest of the game? That every Argie who found himself 1v1 with Convey on the attack dribbled right around him and in on goal? That he was almost never in position to effectively defend an attack? That Beasley (and others) was effectively forced to play defender all game long to cover for his ineptitude?

But he can dribble up the flank then give the ball away at the edge of the box. Woohoo! If I was the opposing team, I'd give Convey all the open space he wanted too. I don't blame Convey, it's simply ludicrous to expect him to play left back. But I'm stunned at the posters who can come on here and say that he had anything more than an embarassment of a performance. He sucked!

[1MADDOG]

Convey is a rookie to international soccer, and not to mention being a defender.

Convey had to defend against some of the best players in the world. The pace suprised him in the begining, but he adjusted as the game went on. I thought he was playing well the final 20 minutes of the game. I say give him another shot.

His inexperience showed when he knocked the ball out of bounds to allow an Argentine player to nurse a fake injury. The Argentines are known to resort to such tactics to slow the pace of the game down and for a breather.

[The Wanderer]

Originally posted by Jambon
He sucked!

In a game totally devoid of creativity by the U.S., he was at least trying to make something happen. The whole team sucked, and Convey sucked less. Who cares about his defending? He's not going to end up at left back anyways, it's his attacking that showed some promise.

[appoo]

Originally posted by Jambon
I can't believe what I'm reading on these boards. Convey played a good game? He sucked!

Didn't anyone notice how it only took Argentina 5 minutes to realize that there was no resistance at all on the left side. Didn't you notice how 90% of the attack went to that side for the rest of the game? That every Argie who found himself 1v1 with Convey on the attack dribbled right around him and in on goal? That he was almost never in position to effectively defend an attack? That Beasley (and others) was effectively forced to play defender all game long to cover for his ineptitude?

But he can dribble up the flank then give the ball away at the edge of the box. Woohoo! If I was the opposing team, I'd give Convey all the open space he wanted too. I don't blame Convey, it's simply ludicrous to expect him to play left back. But I'm stunned at the posters who can come on here and say that he had anything more than an embarassment of a performance. He sucked!

Um. What? Did you hit your head and start having illusions of David Regis? Thinking back...I can't remember too many times where he was defeated 1v1 (I can remember a few times where he made saving tackles though), I'm pretty sure that it was DaMarcus's job to come back and play D when Convey was pressing the attack. He positioning left a lot to be desired, but he improved throughout the match, and cna be forgiven for these kinds of mistakes considering this is the 2nd time in his life that he's played left back. And I'm not sure what game you were watching if you thought that Convey was constantly giving the ball away. I can't remember a single instant where he gave the ball away in a dangerous position. And once again I can think of MANY deft touches he made that allowed the US to keep possesion in the defensive 3rd. Perhaps you were looking at the wrong player

[BackOtheNet!]

Originally posted by Jambon
I can't believe what I'm reading on these boards. Convey played a good game? He sucked!

Didn't anyone notice how it only took Argentina 5 minutes to realize that there was no resistance at all on the left side. Didn't you notice how 90% of the attack went to that side for the rest of the game? That every Argie who found himself 1v1 with Convey on the attack dribbled right around him and in on goal? That he was almost never in position to effectively defend an attack? That Beasley (and others) was effectively forced to play defender all game long to cover for his ineptitude?

But he can dribble up the flank then give the ball away at the edge of the box. Woohoo! If I was the opposing team, I'd give Convey all the open space he wanted too. I don't blame Convey, it's simply ludicrous to expect him to play left back. But I'm stunned at the posters who can come on here and say that he had anything more than an embarassment of a performance. He sucked!

What channel were you watching? No one expects him to play defence in 2006. Try looking at what he does well.

[flanoverseas]

Arena singled him out as playing very well. Hmmmm.

[Scumby]

Originally posted by Jambon

But he can dribble up the flank then give the ball away at the edge of the box. Woohoo! If I was the opposing team, I'd give Convey all the open space he wanted too. I don't blame Convey, it's simply ludicrous to expect him to play left back. But I'm stunned at the posters who can come on here and say that he had anything more than an embarassment of a performance. He sucked!

I've read all eight pages of the other post and I haven't seen anyone who thought Convey did a good job at defending. Some have said he was ok, but that's about it. What we are saying is he did well on the offense. He made some great runs and passes and was dangerous on the attack. The one time he made a great run and gave the ball away there was no one to pass it to. I remember him dribbling down and beating two players to find space only to see he had absolutely no one making a run for him. He ultimately held the ball too long that time waiting for someone to pass to and lost it.

From his left back position he was more involved in the offense than Ben Olsen at attacking mid. I for one would just like to see him get a shot at midfield against Jamaica.

Scumby

[Jambon]

I'm willing to amend my assessment to say that Convey's DEFENSE sucked. I had nothing against his other contributions to the game that you mentioned.

But one thing that I haven't heard anyone dispute is that other players had to change their game to cover for Convey's weakness at back. That tactical retreat marred our performance greatly and was a big part of the ugliness of our performance.

[DigitalTron]

Here's at least one vote for Convey. IMHO, he did the neccessary defensively and added a lot offensively.

http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/NationalTeams/1044751065/view

-Tron

[terp fan]

Poor Bobby lovers, he was terrible today because his first job as a defender is to defend not make a bunch of runs and leave the team exposed. All that running forward is fine if you are playing a position that has cover or playing with an outside midfielder who can cover for you. Bobby played the way he always does but that's not a defenders primary job description. Bruce take a note that the experiment is over move Bobby to an attacking position and stop embarrassing him and exposing the team.

[The Wanderer]

Originally posted by terp fan
Bruce take a note that the experiment is over move Bobby to an attacking position and stop embarrassing him and exposing the team.

I think that's what we're all saying....he did well attacking and he needs to be in the midfield, preferably in the middle.

[dl]

Originally posted by 1MADDOG
Convey had to defend against some of the best players in the world.

I seriously hope you don't think that the guys that lined up for Argentina today were "some of the best players in the world."


I think his game looked A LOT better once he was allowed to forget his defending and moved into the midfield (late in the game). I feel the same about the whole offense late in the game. If you push players up, you're going to get more of an attack.

[appoo]

Originally posted by Jambon
I'm willing to amend my assessment to say that Convey's DEFENSE sucked. I had nothing against his other contributions to the game that you mentioned.

But one thing that I haven't heard anyone dispute is that other players had to change their game to cover for Convey's weakness at back. That tactical retreat marred our performance greatly and was a big part of the ugliness of our performance.

I disputed that in this thread. And I'll dispute it again. If you count them up, he was probably out of position 3 times total. The other times you saw DMB or Bocanegra (I REALLY hope your not getting this idea of people covering for Bobby from Ty Keugh, the dude has no idea what he is talking about) defending at that spot was when Bobby was upfield attacking. Like he is supposed to.

[The Wanderer]

Originally posted by dl
I seriously hope you don't think that the guys that lined up for Argentina today were "some of the best players in the world."

Well, when La Liga and Serie A clubs come calling to buy some of them for millions of dollars in the near future, we won't say I told you so.

[flanoverseas]

Originally posted by terp fan
Poor Bobby lovers, he was terrible today because his first job as a defender is to defend not make a bunch of runs and leave the team exposed. All that running forward is fine if you are playing a position that has cover or playing with an outside midfielder who can cover for you. Bobby played the way he always does but that's not a defenders primary job description. Bruce take a note that the experiment is over move Bobby to an attacking position and stop embarrassing him and exposing the team. This type of criticism happened before the World Cup with Sanneh and Regis, people accusing them of leaving the team exposed.

Do you really think that he was doing something that Bruce didn't want him to do??? Do you think Bruce told Convey: "Make sure you don't leave your position, and NO RUNS up field.", and that Convey just went ahead and did it anyway??

We've seen this system for 5 years now. The outside backs are expected to contribute on offense and make overlapping runs. An example where he DID tell his outside back to stay home was Heydude in Korea. That guy was told to stay home, and he did.

Convey was under orders from the coach to do what he did.

[Delta Blues]

Originally posted by flanoverseas
Convey was under orders from the coach to do what he did.

Yes, and since Olsen was our OCM with Klein on the right we had absolutely no chance at holding the ball in midfield. So many turnovers, and many simply inexcuseable, led to a great many counters which exacerbated the problem of Convey and Listerine making forays upfield. With a true OCM like Donovan or even Convey we'd have been much better off. Also, Beasley was hurting pretty bad yesterday, so I think our midfield was simply overmatched, and overwhelmingly so until we moved Landon back and let Bobby come up late in the game.

Kevin

[Foosinho]

Originally posted by flanoverseas
The outside backs are expected to contribute on offense and make overlapping runs.

All good teams at this level need to be able to do this. I'm constantly amazed at the number of people who think basic high school style tactics will work in international games. Heck, even well-coached HS teams know to get the outside defenders pushed up when they've got the ball.

The better MLS teams (2002 trophy winners LA and Columbus, for example) do this too.

[Northcal19]

Originally posted by flanoverseas

Convey was under orders from the coach to do what he did.

Arena must have ordered him to play like crap then.

He is a young kid, playing out of position, but I think he pretty much proved yesterday that he isn't an international calibre left back. He wasn't pushed upfield when Beasley scrambled back to he far post to dispossess the unmarked ( well actually there were two unmarked Argies occupying Bobbie's spot), he was just nowhere to be found.

And what did he add to the attack? Did he test the keeper wit a strong shot? Did he hit a post unluckily? Did he put in a cross that should have been finished? Did he slot a through ball?

He did nohing. Hopefully hwill be better in midfield for the NATS. He's young, and has plenty of time to develop.

[The Wanderer]

Originally posted by Northcal19
He did nohing. Hopefully hwill be better in midfield for the NATS. He's young, and has plenty of time to develop.

You need to watch the last 20 minutes again. Apparently you only focus on crossing and shooting, and well, let's just say that there's a whole hell of a lot more that goes on in soccer than those two things.

[Northcal19]

Originally posted by The Wanderer
You need to watch the last 20 minutes again. Apparently you only focus on crossing and shooting, and well, let's just say that there's a whole hell of a lot more that goes on in soccer than those two things.

Like defending. He was particularly bad at that for about 90 minutes.