Why isn't EJ playing more minutes?

[Fussballer]

What am I missing here? He scored 7 goals in 7 WC qualifying matches and was a huge reason in the US winning CONCACAF. In 180+ WC minutes, he's played a total of 30 minutes. No wonder our offense has yet to find the back of the net. Ever heard the phrase "you ride the horse that brought you there?"

Arena still has a chance to redeem himself by starting EJ against Ghana in a 4-4-2 formation. If we see McBride all by his lonesome at top, we might as well give up hope at seeing our offense score a goal in Europe.

[FirstStar]

What am I missing here? He scored 7 goals in 7 WC qualifying matches and was a huge reason in the US winning CONCACAF. In 180+ WC minutes, he's played a total of 30 minutes. No wonder our offense has yet to find the back of the net. Ever heard the phrase "you ride the horse that brought you there?"

Arena still has a chance to redeem himself by starting EJ against Ghana in a 4-4-2 formation. If we see McBride all by his lonesome at top, we might as well give up hope at seeing our offense score a goal in Europe.

Why? Because ESPN hates soccer. That why. ;)

Either that or Arena got a really cheap hotel deal in Vegas for next week and is anxious to get back home to take advantage.

[TimB4Last]

Why? Because ESPN hates soccer. That why. ;)

Either that or Arena got a really cheap hotel deal in Vegas for next week and is anxious to get back home to take advantage.

Both reasonable explanations, to which I'll add a third.

BA wanted a point from Games 1 and 2, no more and no less. [I can understand the 'no less' part, but I've never been able to get a real good grip on the 'no more' part.]

Anyway, EJ nearly upset the apple cart in Game 1 with all his hustle. Did you see him actually attempt a shot or two?

If EJ plays v. Italy, maybe he scores, and then where would we be? I'll tell you, right in the 3-point soup with everyone else, and who needs that?

Where's your sense of drama? Where's your come-from-behind-against-all-odds fighting spirit?

We've been saving EJ for Ghana, obviously. All will be clear come Thursday.

[CbR]

you boys play checkers....Bruce plays CHESS

he is clearly saving Johnson and JOB for the Brazil game. Brazil will never recover from that suprising death blow

[onefineesq]

Because BA has lost the plot.

[DiscoWarrior11]

I'm pretty sure he didn't plan on bringing in Jimmy Conrad before the Italy game started... EJ was most likely going to see 25 to 35 minutes of time in that match...

instead, I think he'll start up top with McBride... we need the offense and our formation (2 forwards with donovan behind them) better show it.

[John L]

EJ scored lots of his goals in mop-up time late in the game after McBride did all the hard work of tiring down the opposing Defenders - But he's been terribly off form this Spring - The primary choice was always Ching - Until he got hit by ... "He got hit by a train" - BA

McBride was kept in for Defense on set pieces and his work rate off the ball - As the Italy game wore on deep into the 2nd half, Defense was just as important as Offense - Is Defense EJ's strong suit? - Hardly

Now, EJ instead of DMB woulda been something better

[mrliioadin]

Johnson has not been scoring consistently for the national team as of late. He is a strong attacking player that can create chances but...

Bruce was playing for the win against Italy until about the 80th minute. With 9 guys on the field the priority has to be defending, and hoping to counter.

Johnson does not defend as well, especially on free kicks as McB does. Too many people on these boards are showing their traditional american understanding of the sport and only caring about scoring goals.

Now, We haven't created enough offense... In fact we didn't actually shoot on goal against Italy, and Johnson would have created a spark to possibly sneak one... but the Italians were dangerous late in the game and we had to be sure we kept every one close on points in the group. You make substitutions as they are needed and Johnson was needed in game 1 but not in game 2. Now with the suspensions, I expect to see Johnson start, but he may also come off the bench. The other possibility is that wolff will start up top with McB since he is more experienced and equally as ineffective as of late (at least in games before the cup). The reason I believe Johnson will start has mainly to do with the speed of the west african's we're about to see. And the best way to counter it is with johnson's quick pace.

[onefineesq]

If, in a 1 forward system, we are worried more about the one forward playing defense, we're already fighting a losing battle. Forwards are paid to create chances ........ not to win defensive headers in the box. McBride has done absolutely none of the former. There is a reason we have no goals that we've scored, 1 point, and are last place in the group.

[scb74]

I was screaming at the Italy game to get EJ in the game (guess they didn't hear me). We could have used his speed to make long runs/send long balls since we were down a man in the second half.

He's a good secret weapon because of his speed.

I also screamed for them to take Pope out after his first card (guess they didn't hear me). I knew he was going to get his second.

Coach scb74

[SoccerScout]

What am I missing here? He scored 7 goals in 7 WC qualifying matches and was a huge reason in the US winning CONCACAF. In 180+ WC minutes, he's played a total of 30 minutes. No wonder our offense has yet to find the back of the net. Ever heard the phrase "you ride the horse that brought you there?"

Arena still has a chance to redeem himself by starting EJ against Ghana in a 4-4-2 formation. If we see McBride all by his lonesome at top, we might as well give up hope at seeing our offense score a goal in Europe.

I agree if we are eliminated by Ghana and EJ only comes in in desperation time with 15 to go, Bruce is to blame 100%.

BRUCE SMELL THE COFFEE.....180 minutes of soccer and we have ZERO goals scored by one of our players!!!!!

Thats one difference between here and Brazil or elsewhere...anywhere else the presuure would be enormous for EJ to come in and Bruce would fold...here Bruce is barely asked any questions...and when asked they are usually softballs.

[Soccernethost]

I wish Big Soccer had a yearly convention so I could drop a 500 pound bomb on it.

[Craig P]

What am I missing here? He scored 7 goals in 7 WC qualifying matches and was a huge reason in the US winning CONCACAF. In 180+ WC minutes, he's played a total of 30 minutes.
Your math is funny -- where I come from, guys who come in at the half have played 45 minutes, not 30.

In case you didn't notice, he hasn't been scoring at nearly such a prodigious rate since coming back from injury. He's aggressive and makes good runs, which is good, but his first touch is almost as bad as Beasley's and he doesn't do as many little things as well as McBride. For all of that, I'd still rather see him up top than Brian against Ghana.

[FirstStar]

If, in a 1 forward system, we are worried more about the one forward playing defense, we're already fighting a losing battle. Forwards are paid to create chances ........ not to win defensive headers in the box. McBride has done absolutely none of the former. There is a reason we have no goals that we've scored, 1 point, and are last place in the group.

All joking aside, the best I can see is this:

Bruce wanted four in the back and 5 in the midfield and that rules out Eddie. We've seen Eddie try to play the lone forward and he's not proven that he can do it in the international game. Eddie was excellent as a sub in the Czech match and probably would have been excellent as a sub in the Italy match except that we were down to 9 men and that ruled him out. He doesn't play defense anywhere near BMB's level and when you are down to 9 you are ALWAYS thinking defense first.

So, the question is why are we playing a 4-5-1 instead of a 3-5-2 or 4-4-2? That's what's keeping GAM off the field. Clearly, Bruce thinks we need more defense and a clogged midfield. So far, it's resulted in 1 point.

[JoeW]

Okay, here are just a few of the reasons why EJ hasn't played more minutes:

1. Ride the horse that got you there? Boy--is that a fallacy. The horse that "got you there is usually tired." That's why the pony express would often trade horses at each rest-stop. If you ride the horse that got you there, you've got a very tired horse. This is the philosophy that says: Jeff Agoos was money in qualifying so I owe him 3 starts in S.Korea!

EJ made this team not on his play in camp or his form in the warmups. If it was about that, than Taylor Twellman would be on the team ahead of EJ. EJ made it b/c he showed immense potential--b/c when he's on and in-form, he's frightening. Of course, he hasn't be on and in-form for about....a year now.

2. Arena was trying for a point against Italy and CR? Wow--now that's revisionist history. Arena (and the players) have said that post-CR, the game plan for that match was to attack, attack, attack. The idea was that by putting pressure on the Czechs and going forward, it would put Nedved further back the field, expose the lack of speed on their backline and tire them out while allowing the USA to dictate the pace of the game.

As for Italy, anyone watch the first 15 minutes and think the USA was playing for a scoreless draw? And after the red cards, we could have simply bunkered but the USA did earn chances and force play. Even the Italians admitted that--why is it so hard for some Americans to do so?

3. EJ has some strengths to his game and some glaring weaknesses. Yep, he offensively aggressive against the CR, calling for the ball, taking people on and taking shots. All good things by EJ. Also, none of those shots was especially well placed (just like the ones he took in the warmup games before leaving for Germany). One of the issues against the CR was that many of our attackers weren't moving off the ball. Umm...that's not a strength of EJ either--Arena has called him on it a number of times. EJ also prefers to face opponents and run at them--but with the CR denying Donovan the ball and basically bunkering, for any forward to be effective it was likely going to either be from some great combination play (um...again, not really a strength of EJ), the ability to function in a target role (again, that's not really EJ--he's tall but doesn't play like McBride).

4. After the 2 red cards, the game plan and sub pattern goes out the window. You want someone with a great workrate (not EJ--he may be fast but doesn't have a rep as someone with a great workrate who covers lots of ground off the ball). You want a great ball-winner (b/c outnumbered, you'll always be under pressure, forwards will get almost no service, they'll have to fight for almost every ball they get). You NEED a strong defender (heck--just on corners and free kicks you'll have all 9 players back defending on the corner). Even if you aren't playing for a draw, everyone on the field at that point has to be able to defend.

5. Can he go for 90 minutes at an international level of pace? Look, one of the issues earlier with EJ was that while he was in MLS shape, he wasn't in international shape. Given what happened against Italy, given some of the previous gimpiness of other players we've put on the field (JOB, Reyna), it becomes critical that other guys you start or sub in early are players you think can give you 90 minutes.

6. I'd argue that EJ didn't start against the CR b/c the game plan was to use outside speed and inside combination play to break the Czechs down and spread their defense. Instead we gave up an early goal, faced bunkering and the players couldn't adjust. Against Italy, again the game plan got jetisoned b/c of the early goal and 2 ejections.

7. There is an argument to be made that EJ should have been subbed for McBride in the last 10 minutes against Italy. From where I sit, that's the only reasonable position one could argue for how he should get more minutes. Otherwise you're talking about playing a 3-man backline against the Czechs or Italians, or matching up Reyna as a D-mid against Rosicky (that would be sick) or Totti.

[swedust]

I agree with those who conjecture he would have had minutes off the bench v. Italia if not for the ejections. Honestly, I thought we'd see Wolff before Johnson as that last sub, based on his experience perhaps being a better match for the highly irregular circumstances (9 v. 10).

I have never been wild about Eddie Johnson, but I would love to become a believer. I want him to start v. Ghana.

[Metrogo]

Knock it off, JoeW, with your reasonable assessment of the Eddie Johnson situation.

I have never been a big Arena fan. I was anti-Arena before '02, but realized after our performance there I needed to shut up a bit and trust him. He easily navigated us through qualification. However, it was clear that whatever he was thinking in the czech game was wrong. It was a disaster and he deserved as much blame as his players.

Fast forward to the ITaly game, and every yahoo on here who has never seen a qualifying game is criticizing his and the team's performance against ITaly when it was a monumental and brilliant effort... OK, was Keller distributing the ball boneheadedly? Yes. Should Arena have used his third sub? In the last 5-10 minutes, sure. And the argument could be made that it should have been EJ at that point.

But everyone it talking like that last substitution was the difference between victory and defeat. Nonsense. Putting in EJ may bery well have put us at a greater risk for lsoing than winning. People are conveniently forgetting that ITaly was attacking in the final minutes, and it was extremely dangerous for us.

Then you have Tim, who admits to never having seen most of our players play before the WC, and who is on here claiming to know more (not to mention --somewhat worryingly for him -- suggesting that his words on big soccer effects the outcomes of games) than most of us who have been following the US for years and Bruce ARena.

Tell me Tim, if Arena was playing for a draw in the ITaly game from the outset, what was Clint Dempsey doing those fancy step overs on the wing in the first 20 minutes? Or do you "not remember" that either?

[Knave]

We've been playing defense first, offense third games thus far. That's why GAM hasn't seen much of the field.

Bruce is playing this WC a little scared. I understand why, but I wonder if it was the best decision. We'll know on Thursday.

[toomanywords]

I wish Big Soccer had a yearly convention so I could drop a 500 pound bomb on it.

Seriously. Every so often I start to think things have gotten sane around here, but fortunately I think the reaction to this World Cup will keep me from ever having that delusion again.

[flyerhawk]

Personally I'm hoping that we put in Johnson, Ching, McHead, and Wolff in to start the game. All offense all the time. Put Gooch by himself in the back because we all know that he is man against boys and he can shut down that measly Ghanian attack by himself. In the midfield I would put Beasley on right and Dempsey on the left with Convey as A-Mid and Donovan as holding mid. I would put Lewis in support with Donovan. A solid 1-5-4 offense should completely stmie the Ghanians(kinda like that guy in Band of Brothers who ran through the Germans lines. They'd be so shocked they wouldn't know what to do).



Just trying to fit into Big Soccer