If your playing 9v10, and end the game with a sub, your an...

[ArsenalArsene]

idiot. sorry Bruce, you let me down.

[Dooglas]

bruce let you down by tying italy with a man down?

come now :) ...althought i agree to bring EJ in, but he doesnt defend like mcbride.

[ArsenalArsene]

i'm not sure why, well maybe it's b/c i was calling for Johnson every 2 minutes from the 60th, but i'm really really ah...irritated...pis$ed...irate...incredulous...furious...etc

i wanted Johnson for McBride (better defender? fresh legs make for good defending plus Johnson has done more in 20 minutes then McBride in 180)

but ANY sub would have done, it's like lossing a NFL game with a timeout, it doesn't make sense to the point of wearing a dunce cap

[Frankgarrison]

Perhaps he was concerned the ref would give the sub a red.

[SLO-Gunner]

he didn't bring in Johnson because he knew that with a tie the US still has a decent chance of advancing.

[jegerpenge]

he didn't bring in Johnson because he knew that with a tie the US still has a decent chance of advancing.

And how is taking off an exhausted McBride and putting on Johnson going to make the team lose? I would say it would increase your chances of a win on a counter attack.

[SLO-Gunner]

And how is taking off an exhausted McBride and putting on Johnson going to make the team lose? I would say it would increase your chances of a win on a counter attack.

Maybe it would increase your chances of scoring but it would also increase your chances of giving up a goal since there was a good likelyhood that Johnson wouldn't track back...even compared to an exhausted McBride.

[jegerpenge]

Maybe it would increase your chances of scoring but it would also increase your chances of giving up a goal since there was a good likelyhood that Johnson wouldn't track back...even compared to an exhausted McBride.

Well you have to gamble a little to get all three points. I would say that going for the goal would outweigh a draw. Just tell Johnson that you expect him to go from end-to-end, leave it all on the field for 15 minutes.

[wwnyc]

And how is taking off an exhausted McBride and putting on Johnson going to make the team lose? I would say it would increase your chances of a win on a counter attack.

i thought johnson should have been brought on. both teams were exhausted (esp. italy since they used their 3 subs so early on) and it would have been interesting to see a beasley / johnson counter....

in any case that referee was terrible terrible terrible...i will be surprised if he gets to ref another game in the world cup.

[Stag133]

We drew with Italy, AND have a chance to advance to the next round with a win against a tough Ghana side.

Can't blame anyone for anything with a positive result like todays.
We were 10 times better than we showed against the Czechs.
We have a CHANCE now... thats all we can ask.

I give the whole team applause.

[SLO-Gunner]

Well you have to gamble a little to get all three points. I would say that going for the goal would outweigh a draw. Just tell Johnson that you expect him to go from end-to-end, leave it all on the field for 15 minutes.


And I agree with you, I would've liked to have seen Johnson come on for the win.

[DutchFootballRulez]

Johnson isn't so great with back to goal. He could've brought on Brian Ching to win headers and miss sitters.

[elknco1]

the last sub was saved for a possible injury most likely. 9 on 10 sucks but 8 on 10 sucks way worse.

[Martin Daoust]

We drew with Italy, AND have a chance to advance to the next round with a win against a tough Ghana side.

Can't blame anyone for anything with a positive result like todays.
We were 10 times better than we showed against the Czechs.
We have a CHANCE now... thats all we can ask.

I give the whole team applause.

Fair points, but consider if it had been Arsenal, in which case you'd care much more to begin with and it was Thierry Henry left on the bench.

Point is, Pope was destined to see red, he'd made a couple of very dodgy challenges as even the commentators noted that could have gotten him that second yellow late in the first half, and already down a man might it not have made sense to take Pope off then. Yes it would have meant gambling on Conrad making it through 45 minutes mistake-free in a massive match, but as it turned out he had to make it through 43 and will have to play the whole 90 against Ghana unless Arena does a major re-think.

Now if Arena does bring on Johnson or Wolff or just makes positive use of that third substitution then he can say I didn't want to waste a substitution at half-time on Pope. But he did waste the substitution which weakened us offensively and defensively against Italy and defensively against Ghana as well, irregardless of getting the draw and avoiding elimination. The USMNT are less likely to advance precisely because Arena wasted that substitution on the bench, whether bringing on Conrad for Pope at the half or Johnson or Wolff the last several minutes to run at and exploit all the open space out there.

This was just poor management the way Wenger dropping Henry at ManU and home against S***s was poor management that nearly cost us dearly...

[PsychedelicCeltic]

Maybe it would increase your chances of scoring but it would also increase your chances of giving up a goal since there was a good likelyhood that Johnson wouldn't track back...even compared to an exhausted McBride.
Johnson also wouldn't give up possession as soon as he got the ball like McBride did. Pretty important there - everytime they passed to McBride afterthe 65th minute, he lost the ball immediately.

[GriffinGunner]

Playing Devil's advocate, to a degree, here:

Fair points, but consider if it had been Arsenal, in which case you'd care much more to begin with and it was Thierry Henry left on the bench.
You're comparing Johnson to Henry? :eek: Let's be honest: While the fresh legs argument carries a lot of weight, it's not as if anyone on the US bench carried the calibre of abilities to be considered a game changer. And when you consider Arena's position, AT THAT MOMENT, pulling the trigger could've equally spelled trouble.

Point is, Pope was destined to see red, he'd made a couple of very dodgy challenges as even the commentators noted that could have gotten him that second yellow late in the first half, and already down a man might it not have made sense to take Pope off then. Perhaps if Pope and others were given proper notice then this wouldn't have been an issue. I don't think Eddie's first yellow was warranted, and the ref was inconstent in calling the style of play. Yeah, he called most every sliding tackle, but then rarely hit on the upper body play of the Italians. As more than one pundit has said, though, the ref is obliged to find a way to help keep players on the pitch by ensuring they know what's right and wrong under his watch. He's not simply there to pull them off.

Now if Arena does bring on Johnson or Wolff or just makes positive use of that third substitution then he can say I didn't want to waste a substitution at half-time on Pope. But he did waste the substitution which weakened us offensively and defensively against Italy and defensively against Ghana as well, irregardless of getting the draw and avoiding elimination. The USMNT are less likely to advance precisely because Arena wasted that substitution on the bench, whether bringing on Conrad for Pope at the half or Johnson or Wolff the last several minutes to run at and exploit all the open space out there.
Wrong! The USMNT are in danger of not advancing because they played like crap against the Czechs and still have no offense. And, IMHO, given Pope's play as of late I wouldn't have been surprised if he gave up another goal against the Italians. For all we know his dismissal galvanized the remaining players enough to hold out as well as they did.

I agree that Arena should've used the sub, but I'm sure as hell not going to blame the entire US tournament on that inaction. Too many people, too many games and too many other factors involved.

[surfcam]

Playing Devil's advocate, to a degree, here:


You're comparing Johnson to Henry? :eek: Let's be honest: While the fresh legs argument carries a lot of weight, it's not as if anyone on the US bench carried the calibre of abilities to be considered a game changer. And when you consider Arena's position, AT THAT MOMENT, pulling the trigger could've equally spelled trouble.

Perhaps if Pope and others were given proper notice then this wouldn't have been an issue. I don't think Eddie's first yellow was warranted, and the ref was inconstent in calling the style of play. Yeah, he called most every sliding tackle, but then rarely hit on the upper body play of the Italians. As more than one pundit has said, though, the ref is obliged to find a way to help keep players on the pitch by ensuring they know what's right and wrong under his watch. He's not simply there to pull them off.


Wrong! The USMNT are in danger of not advancing because they played like crap against the Czechs and still have no offense. And, IMHO, given Pope's play as of late I wouldn't have been surprised if he gave up another goal against the Italians. For all we know his dismissal galvanized the remaining players enough to hold out as well as they did.

I agree that Arena should've used the sub, but I'm sure as hell not going to blame the entire US tournament on that inaction. Too many people, too many games and too many other factors involved.

I don't think he was making a direct comparison of EJ and TH14, but rather stating that you have a person with fresh legs and can be a good goal scorer sitting on the bench when he could be used on the pitch.

IMO, after the debacle of a performance against the Czech's, take the chance and try to get the win. Do everything possible and don't leave a potential goal scorer on the bench.

[ArsenalGooner]

I don't know- I thought Arena could have brought on Wolff to maybe get on the end of a long ball and run into space- but I'm not sure exactly what Johnson would have brought to the table- it's not like the US was enjoying a great deal of possession at the time so I don't know that Johnson would have been all that effective.

I have not been impressed with his ability to move the ball on his own, and I do think that while Wolff is certainly not the finisher Johnson is, he is able to creat more space for himself with better runs...

Also, someone touched on it earlier- McBride was playing well at the defensive end of the field- why take him off?

[GriffinGunner]

Perhaps Arena has a case Bobby Cox-like loyalty to select old-timers? I certainly would've loved to see some fresh legs come on and simply run silly pressuring the Italian back line, but I wasn't certain on who and where.

One thing's certain, the US lacks a potent offense and I think for some strange reason we're seeing the stylistic differences between CONCACAF and other regions show up in spades during this WC. It plays out like some hybrid of Italian countering with a tepid impression of Dutch midfielders trying to move the ball upward en masse. Mexico's success in the region stems from the deeper pool of greater talents, allowing them to look like Brazil-lite against Panama, etc. None of the teams from the region have a bonafide set of strikers and full support. It's maddening to me (obviously) and I wish there would be some focus on developing better offense overall.

Really questioning the absense of Twellman from the roster about now.

[cooper7d7]

What about Olsen :) or JOB?