And for those who used to argue that it was no big deal to have so many open roster spots, it's still better to play with your third-choice starter than with 10 men.
The tale of Juan Agudelo: How a prodigy beat the hype, revived his career June 30, 2017, 12:55PM EDT Jonathan Sigal MLS Soccer
Hmmm, this is a very good article with good quotes, but does it present the case that he "revived" his career? Or is it still the "what he might be" so let's wait. Is does not help that Heaps plays him and others all over the place - I feel Juan (and based on his comments of his mentality - or sometimes lack there of), needs that consistency and confidence. The quotes about his Nats camp seem different than what he does under Heaps - maybe a change in coach is what is needed for him? BB tweeted they have their #9. Does Heaps and BB still believe that?
Rowe was a surprise starter. He did well, showed good vision and some excellent one touch passes. He drew the foul that Acosta converted for the winning goal. A pretty impressive first hour. It will be interesting to see if he gets meaningful minutes in the Gold Cup.
I agree, I thought he played well. I was impressed by his ability to quickly pick out where the pass had to go. The US's had the most success on the attack when it went down his side of the field. My two knocks against him would be that he's a little slow a foot (at the world class level) and his passes weren't always that accurate. (I'm being nice RevsRule! )
I thought Rowe played well but really did nothing to separate himself from the pack. He seemed more reserved than when playing with Revs. Still, he didnt hurt himself. I have to laugh at all the comments on Dax. Yes he played well, but does anybody on these boards really think he's better than Lee? I dont. Arena has never liked Lee and suspect he's done on the Nats. I seem to remember reading that Lee took a pay cut to come back to MLS once Arena was fired. His thought was that he might get another shot with a new coach. I think it was Arena but not positive. Juan could suit up for the Revs today.... Might as well since he logged zero minutes yesterday. Only problem would be getting there
I would trade Lee for Dax in a heartbeat. I think Dax has had a bigger impact on Chicago's play this year than Bastian.
I thought Rowe on that play was fantastic. He put that cross where Dwyer was the only player that could get to it. It was a very nice finish by Dwyer - the obvious play was to take a touch first, or to let it run to the far post player (Bedoya?), but Dwyer's finish was very clever. Rowe overall was one of the best players on the field IMO. He got beat on the goal we gave up, but basically half of the team got beat individually on that play. I expect him to get starts in the knockout round.
I agree that Rowe has had a couple of very good games. His touch and speed of thought seem to step up to the needed level. I worry about his size and pace though, with the exception of the ill-advised slide on the Panama goal, he wasn't exposed. (That play reminded me of the first time Dempsey played for Fulham against ManU and was left on the ground searching for his jock by CR7, but the Panamanian was no CR7.) If Rowe keeps up this level of play his versatility could get him into some qualifiers and the conversation about last spots on the 23 to Russia. Interesting that posters on US Boards raise the question of how good he could be if he had a decent club coach.
Armchair Analyst: A few concerns following the US draw vs. Panama July 9, 2017, 11:58AM EDT Matthew Doyle
I guess on the list of things that Heaps isn't good at, I've thought of individual player development pretty well down the list he has been so demonstrably weak at team selection, tactics and in game adjustments. That said, there's no evidence he has helped players beyond their innate skill set.
Serious question: What would you say Heaps' best attributes as a coach are? He seems like he'd be good as a "motivator," a rah-rah, get in your face if you need it guy, but that kind of stuff only goes so far. I suspect that after 6 years, that's a "been there, done that" situation, and there's nothing else to say in that area that they haven't heard already. I think of past Revs players who were real leaders. Steve Ralston was the quiet leader, who would never be the guy to give the halftime speech, but he'd pull a player aside for a 1-on-1 chat. Shalrie Joseph was universally respected by his teammates and had a good "soccer brain." Going further back, Raul Diaz Arce led by example, an no one worked harder than him. Johnny Torres in particular used to say how much his taking him under his wing helped his career. I saw Leonel Alvarez run a practice as if he was the manager. Does Heaps have any of those "leadership" qualities?
I agree he's rah-rah. Not sure how motivating that is to actual professionals. He knows Coach-K. That has got to account for something. I expect he has a decent understanding of the analytics being produced. In that sense, Jay might make a good assistant to a real coach. It's too small a part of football to make him a successful head. Watching Pat Noonan and Matt Ries work the sidelines under Da Bruce's tutelage makes me pine for a Revs alum who actually went out and apprenticed at their craft like they and Ralston are doing. Unfortunately, the are all probably too familiar with the ownership and management issues to ever want to come back.
It was Bradley, not Arena. Lee's first cap was back in 2007, then nothing. He came back hoping he could make the cut under Klinsi but as we know wasn't able to get a lot of meaningful minutes for the NT. Under Arena he can realistically almost kiss his nats career goodbye.
As a coach? If I recall, in the first few years, the Revs attack under Heaps at least had a reputation for being exciting to watch. So I wonder what happened there. If I can go out on a limb, coach Heaps isn't great, but de facto player personnel director Heaps isn't that bad.
I went to the US v Ghana game in CT. When we got there they had us park in the back 40. After the game, as we crawled our way out, who's walking to the back parking lots....Stevie Nichols. I would have thought that working for ESPN and being a former MLS coach he could have gotten better parking.
My story about #USMNT roster moves ahead of Gold Cup knockout stage https://t.co/px9VFVHaSq— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) July 16, 2017 Rowe scored against Nicaragua and is released after group phase. I think he had a successful group phase. Agudelo stays with the team for knockout rounds.
Sad but I have to agree with you. Arena is as bad as JK about trying some players while cutting others a ton of slack. Lee can't get a look but I think he's better overall than Nagbe or any of the AMs called in for this cup. I also would like to hear the justification for sending Rowe home while keeping the likes of Pontius and Acosta? Im not buying this pre-arrangement with clubs crap since Juan is still there and we dont play till the 22d.
I think it's Arena's way of giving Agudelo more time to prove himself. I'm sure he wants to see how he does in knockout round competition against better CONCACAF teams. Rowe showed well and Arena probably has made up his mind on when/where to play him.
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