El Sabio
12 Feb 2007, 05:57 PM
No he escrito ultimamente en este sitio, pero algunos de uds quiza acuerdan de mi desde hace ya un tiempo. El juego de la semana pasada fue la primera en la era Sanchez, y como es un nuevo ciclo, y tal vez una nueva etapa en nuestro futbol queria escribir mis pensamientos.
1.) The team played pretty darn well under Hugo. Now in a meaningful game this doesn't mean much if you lose. But in a friendly it is a big positive. Sure you'd rather win, but friendlies are for building cohesion, understanding, and trying things/players out (more on that later). After reviewing the game, it is obvious, we utterly dominated, not only in possession, but in creativity, danger created, chances, & shots--normally the things that lead to goals and wins. All this against a team that puts 10 to 11 men behind the ball and has good size and athleticism to frustrate the opponent. In the first half we had the better of play although not by near of a margin as when we woke up in the second half. We succesfully: attacked down the left side countless occasions, & attacked centrally numerous occasions. It was almost ridiculous. The right side was not used as much due to the success of the previous. But with Medina having a decent 1st half it would have been nice to see him in their 2nd half, Kikin was kinda floating in centrally at times and is not a R mid anyway. Bottom line: the amount of serious danger we created (not just possesion and half chances), to the point were it is ridiculous not to score multiple goals, against an athletic bunker team is encouraging.
...But the lack of finishing is a problem leading to...
2.) Finishing wasn't good enough. We all know this, its a broken record. It is hard to understand how a player like Omar Bravo who is now an experienced goal scorer, both in national and international club competitions, can underperform so much in the seleccion. I don't believe its a question of the increased talent/ability seen in NT games ---sure US defenders may be somewhat more physical than the typical liga defender, but their talent is not a huge step up, regardless it doesn't excuse wide open misses. Bottom line: In terms of finishing, the team needs a push, just maybe Hugo as the master finisher himself can impart that on the forwards given time.
3.) Why call up all the older players? If you win you don't really learn much, they aren't going to be able to go for 2010. If you lose, you don't learn much. With a younger set of players in early and mid-20's you start to get them ready to play under Hugo's system for this next ciclo and can draw some conclusions eventually. Sure Hugo called up a few younger up and comers but still none of the older guard was neccesary. Bottom line: Calling in the old guard was a complete waste of time. Bad move buy Hugo.
4.) Sportsmanship sucked. I know we don't like the US team, heck I don't, but still, this is a sport and some level of basic respect should be kept. I think many of the players probably felt that way. But some of the senior leaders are so mentally affected (Oswaldo) by a feeling of indignancy, that they lose their heads, somewhat directing the team. Oswaldo is a great keeper, probably the best in Concacaf and one of the best in this hemisphere, but he lost some respect for that childish, lack of control, perdio la dignidad. The US doesn't always have great sportsmanship either but I am a fan of trying to rise above wrongs, though it is not always an easy thing to do, but thats the value in it.
5.) We're perhaps on the cusp of a very good generation of players for this WC cycle and beyond. Though that has been said before and sometimes can sound like a broken record, the U-17 WC triumph was a first and a huge step in the right direction for our futbol. However I do feel there is a bit too much "just wait for Gio, & Vela" spazz'ism occuring here. That is something that perhaps happens in El Salvador with a Cienfuegos/Arce, or Trinidad with a Yorke, but ultimately its no good to pin all your hopes on 1 or 2 players. As a program, as a nation, we should be beyond that. The mentality must be beyond that in my opinion. We must pin our hopes not on 1 or 2, but on 10, 20, 30... in other words the general rise of quality in the 1st division. And numerous new quality players coming thru, from which you pick the best. And to me it looks bright, with sure your Dos Santos, and Vela, but also the numerous truely promising players coming through in multiple clubs. We also have numerous 20-somethings who are looking darn good right now and will be good for at least 4 more years, like Salcido, Osorio, (even though they were well below par the other night) Marquez, Ochoa, Medina, Bautista, Guardado, etc...
Hopefully Hugo can get a good amount of time to work with the team, a team with a mix of early and mid 20's, and we can see what he can do in Copa Oro and Copa America. I believe the future is bright.
1.) The team played pretty darn well under Hugo. Now in a meaningful game this doesn't mean much if you lose. But in a friendly it is a big positive. Sure you'd rather win, but friendlies are for building cohesion, understanding, and trying things/players out (more on that later). After reviewing the game, it is obvious, we utterly dominated, not only in possession, but in creativity, danger created, chances, & shots--normally the things that lead to goals and wins. All this against a team that puts 10 to 11 men behind the ball and has good size and athleticism to frustrate the opponent. In the first half we had the better of play although not by near of a margin as when we woke up in the second half. We succesfully: attacked down the left side countless occasions, & attacked centrally numerous occasions. It was almost ridiculous. The right side was not used as much due to the success of the previous. But with Medina having a decent 1st half it would have been nice to see him in their 2nd half, Kikin was kinda floating in centrally at times and is not a R mid anyway. Bottom line: the amount of serious danger we created (not just possesion and half chances), to the point were it is ridiculous not to score multiple goals, against an athletic bunker team is encouraging.
...But the lack of finishing is a problem leading to...
2.) Finishing wasn't good enough. We all know this, its a broken record. It is hard to understand how a player like Omar Bravo who is now an experienced goal scorer, both in national and international club competitions, can underperform so much in the seleccion. I don't believe its a question of the increased talent/ability seen in NT games ---sure US defenders may be somewhat more physical than the typical liga defender, but their talent is not a huge step up, regardless it doesn't excuse wide open misses. Bottom line: In terms of finishing, the team needs a push, just maybe Hugo as the master finisher himself can impart that on the forwards given time.
3.) Why call up all the older players? If you win you don't really learn much, they aren't going to be able to go for 2010. If you lose, you don't learn much. With a younger set of players in early and mid-20's you start to get them ready to play under Hugo's system for this next ciclo and can draw some conclusions eventually. Sure Hugo called up a few younger up and comers but still none of the older guard was neccesary. Bottom line: Calling in the old guard was a complete waste of time. Bad move buy Hugo.
4.) Sportsmanship sucked. I know we don't like the US team, heck I don't, but still, this is a sport and some level of basic respect should be kept. I think many of the players probably felt that way. But some of the senior leaders are so mentally affected (Oswaldo) by a feeling of indignancy, that they lose their heads, somewhat directing the team. Oswaldo is a great keeper, probably the best in Concacaf and one of the best in this hemisphere, but he lost some respect for that childish, lack of control, perdio la dignidad. The US doesn't always have great sportsmanship either but I am a fan of trying to rise above wrongs, though it is not always an easy thing to do, but thats the value in it.
5.) We're perhaps on the cusp of a very good generation of players for this WC cycle and beyond. Though that has been said before and sometimes can sound like a broken record, the U-17 WC triumph was a first and a huge step in the right direction for our futbol. However I do feel there is a bit too much "just wait for Gio, & Vela" spazz'ism occuring here. That is something that perhaps happens in El Salvador with a Cienfuegos/Arce, or Trinidad with a Yorke, but ultimately its no good to pin all your hopes on 1 or 2 players. As a program, as a nation, we should be beyond that. The mentality must be beyond that in my opinion. We must pin our hopes not on 1 or 2, but on 10, 20, 30... in other words the general rise of quality in the 1st division. And numerous new quality players coming thru, from which you pick the best. And to me it looks bright, with sure your Dos Santos, and Vela, but also the numerous truely promising players coming through in multiple clubs. We also have numerous 20-somethings who are looking darn good right now and will be good for at least 4 more years, like Salcido, Osorio, (even though they were well below par the other night) Marquez, Ochoa, Medina, Bautista, Guardado, etc...
Hopefully Hugo can get a good amount of time to work with the team, a team with a mix of early and mid 20's, and we can see what he can do in Copa Oro and Copa America. I believe the future is bright.