great match, great result, Holdens Bolton closer to safety Good Knight england! ps, we were discussing Bolton as the ugliest team to watch in the premiership. Its Stoke....sweet jesus it is Stoke it hurts my face watching this game
I was really impressed with Stu's performance today - high work-rate, solid tackles, good free kicks and he went box to box for 90+ - He really made an impact. Next week Bolton play West Ham - with both he and Spector in the US squad I wonder how much playing time they will get next match. - on a sidenote - Hull play Everton next Sun so the same goes for Jozy and LD - could be a fairly flacid Yankfest next weekend
I'm hoping Guzan gets the nod versus ManU tomorrow and showcase his abilities and hopefully a trophy...even though it is almost certain IMHO Friedel will get the nod... Regardless: Beat ManU tomorrow Beat England later....
Or even better: Donovan-Holden-Edu/Clark/Jones-Dempsey Or Adu-Edu/Jones/Clark/Bradley-Holden-Donovan with Dempsey up top. Wishful thinking but it would never happen.
Well, Bradley's our best central midfielder (besides mbe Jones, who seemingly may not play again ever). And I'm assuming Dempsey will go up top if the team continues to miss Davies. But yea, ideally Dempsey would be in midfield for Beasley. Not sure about Adu though, it would be good to get a chance rate him in a US jersey sometime soon.
Anyone find it great that Donovan and Holden step in immediately to take corners and some set pieces and Dempsey now taking some dangerous free kicks? Time was Yanks were 'heart' guys and 'work rate' guys. Now they are becoming skill players.
This is a debatable point. It has been assumed that Bradley is the best CM (aside from Jones) because he has played in the Bundesliga, while much of his competition has not played at a comparable level. Clark will presumably get a chance at some point this fall, while Holden is getting a chance now in an arguably superior league and doing well for himself. I make this point not to necessarily disrespect Bradley, but to point out the reasons that this has become a widely held belief are not entirely based on merit.
I only opted Bradley out because with Holden in there, we need a more true defensive midfielder. Holden and Bradley together could be a liability on defense. We might be able to see in the upcoming game if Bradley uses Stu in the middle.
It think a five man midfield (standard 4-2-3-1) with two holding guys in Bradley and Edu, then Donovan-Holden-Dempsey would be interesting, and defensive enough for Bob Bradley.
That's interesting, Holden is well rounded like Bradley. The only thing Bradley is better at is maybe heading the ball, but like you say Holden is in a better league playing the same position. Pairing the two in the middle is really exciting because both can track back and defend, but both are able to pick out a tough pass going forward and love to crash the box. Not to mention their workrate, I think the only thing really holding Feilhaber back from starting is his inability to keep up the ridiculous workrate US team defending requires, but Bradley and Holden is a very very intriguing idea.
Bradley is a more physical presence in the center of our midfield. Holden was pushed out of position several times today; that doesn't happen to Bradley. Holden also won't win many headers.
The fact remains that Bradley is an established starter in the Bundesliga. While Holden played well today, one career match does not in any way compare to what Bradley has already accomplished in Germany and Holland. Clark has yet to even make an appearance.
I think that Bundesliga performance argument was and remains a fair argument, although it's possible it may not be in the future. I'm very glad that Holden and Clark are getting their chances at higher levels, as increased competition can only help the USMNT. But neither should we jump to conclusions based on the results of a couple of games for Stu, and no appearances at all yet for Clark. Holden and Clark may change the equation over time, but it's a little too soon to say Bradley is not still the first on the center midfield list, IMHO. But I'm thrilled Stu is showing well with Bolton.
I would love to see some extended highlights if anyone has an idea how. I was convinced that Holden woudl not get a lot of playing time at Bolton for a while for all the normal reasons. This is an indication I may have been wr.... wro.... wrrrrronn. Oh you know. Anyway, I have always felt that Holden had good potential -- I hope that he gets a lot more opportuntities with Bolton and keeps getting better.
MLS stats for both: Holden had .25 goals/90 and .22 assists/90 Adu had .17 goal/90 and .27 assists/90 I wouldn't call either "elite", more like promising talents. Dempsey for comparisons sake had .36 goals/90 and .20 assists/90. As to the slow speed of play comment. It was an isolated incident where Holden didn't read the situation and the need to pass it off. He had two close, safe options to drop the ball back to but held on two long, he was stripped and Wolves created a dangerous counter off of it. With more game time in England I don't expect to see this mistake much more from him. Overall I'd give him a 6.5
While I realize that many posters here have their own YA favorites, which is perfectly understandable, I don't think it's necessarily helpful to urge folks to follow one at the expense of another. That's not really the kind of forum culture we're trying to generate here.
Stats don't tell the whole story. Adu was always positioned as an attacking player, while Holden had stints as a defensive midfielder with Houston, as other posters pointed out.