MLS All-Star Game - Performances and USMNT Call-up? [R]

[SamsArmySam]

Who do you think made a case yesterday for a call-up?

Clark looked composed, aggressive, technical on the ball, and was more mistake-free than I remembered him being.

Jaqua looked fearless and physical, although I wish he'd pulled the trigger himself instead of laying off to Ronnie O when he had that half chance.

Albright looked dangerous getting up the flanks and into the box. Did well to get back and cover his D responsibilities, too.

Boswell showed strong 90 minute concentration and composure. Robinson looked solid as well.

Shame DeRo is a fur'ner.

[dark knight]

I wasn't that impressed with Freddy's beginning moments when he seemed to take a step backwards and return to the days where he tried to dribble past everyone. That giveaway at the back reminded me of the play of a certain first teamer in Germany. He was probably trying too hard to impress.

[socmanq]

I agree about Adu...was not too impressed, but he did carry the ball well a few times. Surprisingly enough, I was NOT impressed with Eskadarian. I thought he looked like he belonged in the MLS...not USNT material at all. I thought that Jaqua looked pretty strong, and would like to see him get a call up. Ching made some good runs, but did not impress overly. What was interesting was Nowak's choices. Since I do not get to see a lot of the MLS games, there were players that I was not at all familiar with. Wonder if Nowak would have called in any players from the teams playing today if they had not been playing. It would have been interesting, as he really played favorites with DC United. I am not complaining, we won, and that is a good thing.

[Caulfield]

He was probably trying too hard to impress.


No doubt. I would love to get to see him in the Real game as he will probably play better.

I would say Clark made the best case for a serious, long term look.

[MLS SupaStr3]

I have to agree with Clark. He looked like a great 2 way player and did a great job linking up the defense with the offense. I was also impressed by his tackling.

[rollo]

Albright was the biggest surprise for me. He seemed to have been used perfectly combining his previous forward skills with his defending skills. Perhaps he needs to be in a 3-5-2 to be most dangerous.

I agree that Clark was impressive. DeRosario has blossomed into a monster midfielder. I stil remember him being dangerous if dribbling "too much" for the earthquakes years ago. Seems that some good coaching and faith in a player goes a long way.

Still didn't see a the emergence of an impressive forward. Unfortunately the wrong O'Brien was impressive. Jaqua had moments, but this is what I have been seeing from him. Perhaps its just a matter of experience and coaching to get him to the next level. Would have loved to see Rolfe.

If Adu wasn't seventeen we would probably be bashing him or at least ignoring him. Given that he is 17, he did well. But I think Adu wants to be evaluated on now rather than potential, for that, sorry Freddie but you need to improve more to be an important USMNT player.

Perkins looks like the real deal.

[NGV]

My issue with what I saw from Adu in this game is similar to the biggest weakness I've noticed from him this year. When he gets the ball, he tends to slow down or stop in order to put some moves on his defender. The moves are usually very good - he beats the first defender a lot of the time- but he often fails to get past the second defender who showed up while Adu was playing around.

In order to take full advantage of his skills and explosiveness, I think he needs to be more ruthless and efficient with his first couple touches.

[the Next Level]

Guys - not to be facetious - but this type of naive fandom is part of our problem.

Everyone only likes the guy who doesn't give the ball away much, but guess what? Against a real defense, you HAVE to give the ball away. A lot.

You have to attack the defense. A lot. They are going to stop you 9 out of 10 times. The thing is, for a defense, 9 out of 10 times is not good enough.

The key is HOW you lose the ball on the attack. Yes Freddy's first give away was terrible, but beyond that the kid was excellent.

HOW you lose the ball is the most important thing for attackers. If the defense is sliding, putting balls out of bounds, fouling or first time hoofing, your attack is losing the ball well. If the defense is clean tackling or making clean saves and distributing, you are losing the ball poorly - attacking the wrong areas or in the wrong way.

[upupnaway20]

Perkins looks like the real deal.

Except his distribution was horrible. How many of his goalkicks went right out of bounds??

[DutchFootballRulez]

BTW,

If Wynalda refers to Essien as Adu's hero once more..I'm calling PETA and accusing Wynalda of leading a cult of feline slaughtering pretentiousdouchebags to overthrow the US goverment and the UN.

"He's being chased by his hero.."

Really? Zidane plays for Chelsea? When did that happen?

[CbR]

1. Clark is a pure athlete with skill.(and he's a CM who' not afraid to shoot from distance!) The days of seeing zavaghnin and ben olsen in midfield for the nats are thankfully over. Just stay injury free Ricardo

2. Adu is only 17...we must bring him along and bloody him as much as possible. He's not there yet, but hopefully in 4 years he will be.

3. jaqua looked way too slow.

4. Erpen has been solid for DC for the past couple years....we should consider looking into naturalizing him.(flame away but the rest of the world does it) The guy is still young(24) and could be an anchor for our domestic based NT games.

5. Eski doesnt have the skill to make up for his lack of size

[tab5g]

Nowak.

[FakeFlopper]

de Rosario is the man. I'd trade Landon for him in a border swap. :rolleyes:

Jaqua is very slow, his mental game is good but his last touch kept getting stolen. He has potential, but right now I'd go with Kenny Cooper.

I can't believe I'm saying this but Albright thrashed that poor rich guy. Get better and I won't have a problem with your callups anymore.

Clark is the real deal. I never understood what the hype was about until the game. Very solid and will only get better if he doesn't beasley.

Adu needs to stop thinking so damn much, everytime he plays trying to do too much I keep seeing Donovan-ess, and not the good Donovan. Shoot with your right foot, I know those tricks are cool and all but shooting with the other leg is more important.

[Rob Base]

3. jaqua looked way too slow.



That's just because the grass was too long.

That's meant as a joke, but the ball and the game did seem to move slowly? Was the grounds crew conspiring to slow down the game to mitigate Chelsea's skill? Like how many of our Concacaf neighbors do to the US?

As far as the topic at hand, I felt that Clark and Esky looked quick and eager to attack.

[sidefootsitter]

Jaqua was not tooooo s..l...o...w.... he just shouldn't be dribbling as if he was Freddy Adu 40 yards away from goal. He's a 6'3" centerforward and someone should inform him of that. (And while you're at it, inform Dave Sarachan too)

As to players - Rico Clark and Joe Cannon should have long been given more time with the Nats and Eddie Robinson is an option when you're facing more athletic teams (not that Arena wouldn't have selected Eddie Pope on a walker).

Albright showed size and speed but not much else. Nowak's formation hid his weaknesses perfectly. So did Mourinho's formation.

Brian Ching deserves the first stab at McBride's job and Freddy needs to remember to pass the ball occasionally and to remember that a decent defender isn't going to give him all day on the ball.

Josh Gros was disappointing because he never ran at anyone ... but he did run a lot.

And I missed Justin Mapp and Brian Mullan.

[JohnR]

Clark was good, Albright was better than I remember although probably not our World Cup answer, Freddy was not impressive live as he slowed the game down and missed his runners. Maybe he looked better on TV, as several people have written that he played well, but the consensus in the stadium was otherwise.

I thought that our defenders played well, composed and stepped forward well to win the through ball before it got through. But Chelsea was going 75%, that must be said. And some of their guys were quite poor, for example Sheva.

[USvsIRELAND]

If guys like Albright continue to make our WC squad we are never going to go anywhere. The guy is awful from an international player point of view, but he's a decent/good MLS player.

[Ghost]

If guys like Albright continue to make our WC squad we are never going to go anywhere. The guy is awful from an international player point of view, but he's a decent/good MLS player.

What's awful about him? The run on goal? THe solid D? The most accurate longball;striker wehave.The cross he put on Ching's head at the six-yard box? What exactly?

[macheath]

Boswell did well; still don't know if he can play consistently at the next level, and we have a pretty competitive backline coming up.

[NikeBlues]

Clark for me. This guy looks like what we need in the center of the pitch. Tough, good tackler, not afraid to shoot, I hope he becomes a fixture for the NT.