Join Now
Boy, Was That Ever Ugly
Since John (see below) is on the Thierry Henry story, I'm taking a pass on it, for two reasons:
First, because we really don't need two posts on the same topic and second because, frankly, there's just nothing to say. The referee is directly behind Henry and so has no chance to see what occurs. The linesmans' view is blocked, so ditto.
Soccer is a lot like life: it's unfair. Your heart breaks for Ireland, who've gotten the shaft in this whole deal from Day One, and after 500 or so years of misery you'd think the Irish could catch ONE break in something but I guess that's not to be.
So we'll move on to the brief moment when it looked like the US might actually be involved in the game yesterday:
Some people are dismissing this as a less than brilliant goal, and while it's not exactly the result of overall offensive strategy, skill and execution it is the result of good up front team pressure, which counts for something.
The shocking thing to me - particularly as an Altidore fan - is how much like a mediocre U15 forward this clip makes Jozy look.
He lopes along in the middle, apparently calling for the ball (judging by his hands), for no legitimate reason. He makes it easy for the lone defender to cover both him and Jeffro by staying close to the ball and at the same time a) blocks the legitimate pass that will beat the defender - the one to the teammate on his left coming into the area (of whom he is apparently totally unaware) - and b) limits Cunnys' one v. one options by taking away the space in the middle.
If you've ever played the game seriously, this is the point where your coach blew his whistle and stood there with his hands on his hips, smoke rising from his head, screaming "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?" at the forward while everyone else on the team studied the grass between their feet.
It's the kind of shocking lack of awareness and tactical good judgment that is holding the guy back. it's not his athleticism that's killing him professionally, it's his head.
Anyway, that lovely moment aside - and nobody does happy like Jeff Cunningham, whose megawatt smile could light Manhattan (or the HDC) - the US provided us with a depressing display of defensive ineptitude that is hard to ignore.
Let's start with Jonathan Spector.
I seem to have gotten this thing all wrong somehow; see, I thought the idea was that high=potential American players were going overseas to get better, but I'm apparently mistaken, since every time I see Spector he looks worse. If this trend continues, he'll be lucky to get an offer from the Charleston Battery.
And then there's Frankie.
I love Frankie Hejduk. You love Frankie Hejduk. Everybody loves Frankie Hejduk.
Now that we've gotten that out of the way, Hejduk is done. I love Robin Fraser too but I'm not in favor of handing him a USA jersey.
I don't know how anyone hits the wall that hard but he's managed it. The Crew played much better without him all summer long, and as soon as he came back they went into the crapper and it's not a coincidence.
And since the expansion draft lists will be public probably by Tuesday afternoon, here's a prediction: Hejduk will be on it and Nowak won't take him.
Doesn't get much worse than an international an expansion team doesn't want.
Either MLS or Bob Bradley is wrong here.
Ricardo Clark/Michael Bradley:
I'm combining the two of them because they looked equally inept with the ball at their feet. We can't possible replace either one of them, so we're going to have to pray really hard that they were just so stunned at the incompetence of the defense that they couldn't concentrate.
Stuart Holden/Bennie Feilhaber
They can both come back.
Jeff Cunningham
OK, so it wasn't the greatest goal in US history, but the guy was active and aware and worked his ass off, and even delivered some decent service to Altidore, who looked as shocked as anyone. Bradley is going to have to get Jeffo some games somehow and figure it out, quickly.
First, because we really don't need two posts on the same topic and second because, frankly, there's just nothing to say. The referee is directly behind Henry and so has no chance to see what occurs. The linesmans' view is blocked, so ditto.
Soccer is a lot like life: it's unfair. Your heart breaks for Ireland, who've gotten the shaft in this whole deal from Day One, and after 500 or so years of misery you'd think the Irish could catch ONE break in something but I guess that's not to be.
So we'll move on to the brief moment when it looked like the US might actually be involved in the game yesterday:
Some people are dismissing this as a less than brilliant goal, and while it's not exactly the result of overall offensive strategy, skill and execution it is the result of good up front team pressure, which counts for something.
The shocking thing to me - particularly as an Altidore fan - is how much like a mediocre U15 forward this clip makes Jozy look.
He lopes along in the middle, apparently calling for the ball (judging by his hands), for no legitimate reason. He makes it easy for the lone defender to cover both him and Jeffro by staying close to the ball and at the same time a) blocks the legitimate pass that will beat the defender - the one to the teammate on his left coming into the area (of whom he is apparently totally unaware) - and b) limits Cunnys' one v. one options by taking away the space in the middle.
If you've ever played the game seriously, this is the point where your coach blew his whistle and stood there with his hands on his hips, smoke rising from his head, screaming "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?" at the forward while everyone else on the team studied the grass between their feet.
It's the kind of shocking lack of awareness and tactical good judgment that is holding the guy back. it's not his athleticism that's killing him professionally, it's his head.
Anyway, that lovely moment aside - and nobody does happy like Jeff Cunningham, whose megawatt smile could light Manhattan (or the HDC) - the US provided us with a depressing display of defensive ineptitude that is hard to ignore.
Let's start with Jonathan Spector.
I seem to have gotten this thing all wrong somehow; see, I thought the idea was that high=potential American players were going overseas to get better, but I'm apparently mistaken, since every time I see Spector he looks worse. If this trend continues, he'll be lucky to get an offer from the Charleston Battery.
And then there's Frankie.
I love Frankie Hejduk. You love Frankie Hejduk. Everybody loves Frankie Hejduk.
Now that we've gotten that out of the way, Hejduk is done. I love Robin Fraser too but I'm not in favor of handing him a USA jersey.
I don't know how anyone hits the wall that hard but he's managed it. The Crew played much better without him all summer long, and as soon as he came back they went into the crapper and it's not a coincidence.
And since the expansion draft lists will be public probably by Tuesday afternoon, here's a prediction: Hejduk will be on it and Nowak won't take him.
Doesn't get much worse than an international an expansion team doesn't want.
Either MLS or Bob Bradley is wrong here.
Ricardo Clark/Michael Bradley:
I'm combining the two of them because they looked equally inept with the ball at their feet. We can't possible replace either one of them, so we're going to have to pray really hard that they were just so stunned at the incompetence of the defense that they couldn't concentrate.
Stuart Holden/Bennie Feilhaber
They can both come back.
Jeff Cunningham
OK, so it wasn't the greatest goal in US history, but the guy was active and aware and worked his ass off, and even delivered some decent service to Altidore, who looked as shocked as anyone. Bradley is going to have to get Jeffo some games somehow and figure it out, quickly.
Post a Comment
Total Comments 38
Comments
-
At the very end - did Feilhaber miss hit the ball/shank a shot that goes to Rogers and Harkes says something like "great vision to play the ball out wide"? If that is the case, Benny must have caught Harkes banging his g/f and Harkes is trying to make up for it by kissisng his ass. Embarrassing.Posted 19 Nov 2009 at 08:40 AM by OzweegoSC 
-
Harkes was making a joke.Posted 19 Nov 2009 at 08:54 AM by chad
-
Re: Hejduk. Hitting the wall is a good analogy. It's actually quite common for an athlete's abilities to suffer a sudden, otherwise unexplained drop-off (i.e., not injury-related, etc). A player loses a half-step, their batting stroke, etc., and their performance, at least compared to their previous abilities, falls off the cliff.
I heard this from one of the former co-owners of the Denver Nuggets, in evaluating talent. The owners were agonizing over whether to offer a long-term contract for Alex English, their all-time leading scorer and the face of an otherwise invisible franchise.
English was enormously popular in Denver, and a consistent all-star. One day, however, it was just...gone. Not injury-related, etc., English relied greatly on wonderful skill and technique, all of which also demanded exceptional coordination. One day, it was simply gone, and it was painfully obvious that it was never to return.
Hejduk is almost the opposite. He relies more on effort, supreme fitness, a tough (if sometimes reckless) mentality, and sheer force of will. But his skills on the ball were never more than average, so he can't really fall back on technique to extend any drop-off. A loss of a quarter step and any fall-off in his limited technique, and it's over. Sad, but almost inevitable.Posted 19 Nov 2009 at 09:20 AM by Martininho
-
Any reason to be concerned with the lack of playing time for Guzan? Other then and odd Carling Cup/FA Cup/reserve match here and there, the guy has no choice but to sit in Big Brad's shadow.
Match fitness for keepers is different than outfield players, obviously. But with a shaky back line, you need a keeper on his game, getting you out of jams like Howard has done time and time again.
Keepers do get injured. If -GFB- Timmy went down in the next seven months, the entire US Soccer community should collectively serenade a certain bald man from Ohio to come back to international duty.Posted 19 Nov 2009 at 09:27 AM by GFame7
-
Can you please not call him "Cunny". Please.
You know, I really meant to go back and change that but then I forgot and now, well, now it's too late.
Sorry. Won't happen again. - BAPosted 19 Nov 2009 at 10:10 AM by Seanin
-
I wouldn't worry about Guzan too much. He saved 4 penalties in one game vs Sunderland in a recent match, and the fans on Villa Talk have a 15-page Brad Guzan appreciation thread going right now where they say he's at the very least pulled even with Friedel.
They're not just praising his shot-stopping, either. Apparently, he's really coming on with organizing defenders, commanding the penalty area, etc.
Against Denmark, he had a patchwork defense in front of him. That can make any keeper look bad.Posted 19 Nov 2009 at 10:11 AM by trainwreck
-
I think Jozy's D-pad was just broken. A new controller and he'll be fine.
Posted 19 Nov 2009 at 10:18 AM by wheezl
-
Soccer is a lot like life: it's unfair.
You're missing the most important point about football and any other human activity: life is unfair, victory and merit are not causally linked…Posted 19 Nov 2009 at 10:18 AM by Gnafron
-
Frankie's a great guy, no doubt, but he's not what he used to be; well, neither am I; but the fact is he was never more than a decent defender at the international level, anyway. It's his attitude that everyone has always loved, that includes coaches, players and the fans.
As for the Irish, maybe people will understand now why Enya sings such sad songs.
"Whiskey in a Jar" is about as happy as any Irish folk song gets, and the protagonist in that one ends up in prison.
Yea, but Tommy Makem and the Clancy Brothers can sure make you be happy about shooting you some redcoats
Now our fathers oft were very bad boys.
Guns and pikes are dangerous toys.
From Bearna Baol to Bunker Hill
They made poor England weep her fill,
But ould Brittania loves us still!
Posted 19 Nov 2009 at 10:25 AM by oldguyfc
Updated 19 Nov 2009 at 10:43 AM by Bill Archer -
I do not recall when was the last time I saw USA play so poorly in the second half. It was like watching a bunch of amateurs running around the field chasing the ball and on occasions when they got the ball, there was absolutely no movement away from it to open up passing lanes.
I agree that Heydude is done and we should show Bornstein the door too. Maybe move Dolo/Spector to the left side and pray real hard??
I think a 4-2-3-1 might work for the USA if Baldy wants to stick with Rico and Jr in the middle. Push Donovan and Deuce out wide and put in Benny/Torres as linkup passer with Casey or Coop holding the line and it might just work.
Dear Josie -- you are no longer playing in the Bush league. Time to improve.Posted 19 Nov 2009 at 10:28 AM by railhawksfan
|
Post a Comment
|
Total Trackbacks 0
