6/7, USA v Guatemala -- the defenders and keeper {R}

[lmorin]

Discuss

[Dirt McGirt]

Gooch looks worse then he did a Newcastle simply shocking!:confused: Jay Demerit just seemed so much more composed than both starting CB's.

Borenstien looked overmatched and a step slow. Heath Pierce I hope you were watching.

[Lloyd Heilbrunn]

Messiest,ugliest shutout in soccer history.

Guess Gooch learned absolutely nothing at the WC, just braindead, physically gifted with no smarts or instincts.

[giffenbone]

Tim Howard is solid between the pipes.

My only gripe was he had a few moments of Kasey Keller distribution.

But clearly the #1 keeper and just getting more and more comfortable back there.

[united6953]

My only gripe was he had a few moments of Kasey Keller distribution.



WELL THATS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HAVE KELLER AROUND TO INFLUANCE TIMMY

[Dr.Phil]

How did Boca and Bornstien look?

[giffenbone]

WELL THATS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HAVE KELLER AROUND TO INFLUANCE TIMMY

lol chill out

[shooter6065]

How did Boca and Bornstien look?


Bornstein had a poor game. Boca was his usual solid self. Onyewu was given a phantom yellow card but he made some serious mistakes this game.

Are there any Gooch fanboys left? His Newcastle performances were not a mirage....he just ain't that great. Boca, Conrad and a healthy Gibbs are our best centerbacks. Period.

[bostonf4lyf]

How did Boca and Bornstien look?

boca was solid, played safe, distribution was eh- not as bad as gooch's. bornstein didn't offer much in the attack, and let his man have too much space a couple times, no real mistakes from him though.

overall, the defense was unacceptable against a team with one true striker. we have to become a wall back there to make our whole midfield play more confident. also, i think mastro would have helped the defense if he was in the game

[mdfc]

How did Boca and Bornstien look?

Boca almost passed the ball into his own net which is bad, but other than that he was solid...Bornstein improved as the game went on

G:eek: :eek: ch....you may be putting that passport away

[toh2007]

defense has too many lapses.

Gooch needs to put his hands by his side. Same thing happened when he faced Koller, too much hand checking and pushing. Why is he trying to deny Ruiz so far away and with his back to goal. Lay off a little.

Demerit is our most composed defender. He played well the last 10-15 minutes.

Heyduk defended ok, pushed forward well though.

Timmy did what was needed. He did not allow any second chances.

[Karl K]

Here, I'll jump to Gooch's defense.

First, I think the Guatemalans are expert divers. There were a number of occasions when Gooch bellied up to them and the they fell down like they were shot.

Second, what WAS that first yellow card for, really? It was heat of the battle stuff. There was nothing bad that happened there.

Third, I think the refs see his size, and that glare, and automatically think he's a masher or a thug. I think he gets a bum rap, frankly, and is actually not as physical as some other defenders who get away with a lot more.

That being said, he does get caught out of position. These are things he can improve upon. But if the refs automatically think he's going to deck everyone he touches, well, that's just not fair.

[ClarkC]

As punishment for failing to stick with Newcastle, Bob Bradley announced that Onyewu would be forced to wear his IQ as his uniform number during the Gold Cup. I tuned in to see if this rumor was true, and it was: He wore #22.

[olephill2]

Mastroeni in a CDM role definitely would've helped shut down Guatemala's attack.

Oguchi Onyewu needs to get better. I'm tired of his overly physical play, his suspect positioning and his mirage of fouls. He wasn't bad in the first half, but he lost it a bit in the 2nd.

Carlos Bocanegra was solid. Had a few moments of poor distribution (almost an own goal in the 1st half) but defensively he was, like I said, solid.

Jonathan Bornstein didn't have a great match. He really gave way too much respect to Guatemala's right sided attackers and didn't close down well enough.

Frankie Hejduk was very active and was the best of our defenders, IMO. He got forward well and worked his tail off, and rarely got beat on defense. But because of his size, he's not going to win any air balls, and during that short period where we had him at center back, I was very nervous.

Jay DeMerit was solid, but we didn't really get to see him long enough to analyze his play. I still don't like his insistence on long ball play to the forwards (he's used to it from club play), but defensively, he was solid.


This match has made clear to me that Jimmy Conrad is the center back we have, at least along with Bocanegra (Gibbs not included because of injury). Conrad is a very SMART player, with excellent positioning, who uses his brain to avoid stupid fouls and to avoid getting beat, and I'm confident that if he was in there today, we would've been much less shaky in the back. Conrad is also Captain-material.

If I were the coach and Conrad was healthy, he and Bocanegra would form my first choice central back pairing. Given that Jimmy's out, I'm really looking forward to seeing Jay DeMerit in Onyewu's place on Saturday.

[sidefootsitter]

The first yellow was for the kick. It was semi-deserved.

The second was ... uh ... kind of leaves you speechless ... I didn't see an elbow ... El Loco dove.

Anyhow, in a game like this, you have to talk about the distribution from the back and the offensive participation from the fullbacks.

If so, Frankie Hejduk may have been a Man of the Match.

Way to build for the future, Bob.

[FakeFlopper]

Gooch was awful overall. Too physical at the wrong times, and not decisive enough when soft balls got played into the box.

Boncra was very timid considering he just had a good EPL season.

Bornstein did a great Albright impression tonight. He also showed me how good he is at passing the ball to Howard.

Hedjuk!!!! Man was a beast today. Yellow card or not, he was solid. How old is he?

Demerit surprise me. He was collected and cool when he was in. I think he'll get away with more than Gooch just cause of size.

I think this definitely opens some eyes. Gibbs has a shot at becoming a key peg in ths squad if he recovers and finds his form. Gooch needs to not be so physical against guys that are a foot shorter. Simek and Spector have pretty good shots at making a statement now. Our defense is our weakest link, and I don't think that's a good thing considering we have pretty young inexperienced guys as holding mids.

[USA4Life]

Hejduk looked great as nothing was coming down his side. It helped having Donovan in front of him too....
We all missed Hejduk in the world Cup. Hejduk just kills guys out there. The US needs more guys like him who will instigate and not back down to rough play.

Bocanegra blasted too many balls into the 20th row of the stadium. His distribution leaves much to be desired. He was better than Gooch.

Bornstein is ok and has a future. He just needs experience.

I liked having Howard in the net. You just have a feeling that he can do something special to save a game. He is just more athletic than Keller.

Parkhurst needs to be given a shot. The guy is a good player and would help with the distribution.

[eric6854]

Bocanegra blasted too many balls into the 20th row of the stadium. His distribution leaves much to be desired. He was better than Gooch.

I was waiting for someone to point that out. Seemed like the only guy in a US jersey Boca wanted to send the ball to was the one in row M. I expected a helluva lot more.

[casoccerdad47]

I was waiting for someone to point that out. Seemed like the only guy in a US jersey Boca wanted to send the ball to was the one in row M. I expected a helluva lot more.

What bothered me was there appeared to be a couple of times when he could have played the ball back to Howard instead of playing it out of bounds.

[flem16]

The first yellow was for the kick. It was semi-deserved.

The second was ... uh ... kind of leaves you speechless ... I didn't see an elbow ... El Loco dove.

Anyhow, in a game like this, you have to talk about the distribution from the back and the offensive participation from the fullbacks.

If so, Frankie Hejduk may have been a Man of the Match.

Way to build for the future, Bob.

The second was a blatant yellow. I shouted at my TV as I watched him take out the Guate player who was going in a completely different direction from the ball. He knew what he was doing and it is painful to see that the lessons haven't been learned.