1- Fair enough. 2- You would re-tool our defense 15 months before WC10 with a basically uncapped (how long ago was it?) international based on "would like to see what he could do"? See, this is why I feel you aren't picking who's better than Pearce... you're picking who's best from what's left without him. And no, he's not uncapped, but he is definitely out of the swing. 3- I also like Parkhurst, but he does concede a fair amount of air that Boca patrols, important air. Even the Gutaemalas, teams with quick forwards as opposed to big forwards, send danger crosses. And let's face it: you are overselling him. They guy has been beaten lots in a U.S. shirt - pick any Olympic game. I do find him to be the heir to Cory Gibbs' smooth criminal role, just not yet. 4- Oh dear sweet Moses.
I have watched every one of those olympic games more than I care to admit (damn you nbcolympics.com). And I saw Parkhurst beat a grand total of once. I think it was against Nigeria, and it was a sick move, where the Nigerian somehow tight roped the endline and got a great pass into the box. In my mind, it was 1/4 Parkhurst's fault and 3/4 an amazing play. So I think your premise that he has been beat a lot in a US uniform is wrong.
If the WC was our next match, I would say Marshall is too late to the game, but we have a lof of meaningless games until then. It doesn't hurt to throw him out there, and if he meshes well, then why not?
You're tilting your judgments. You give yourself away with that assessment of the endline play. That should NEVER happen. Parkhurst and Edu were both underwhelming at the Olympics, though in the latter's case it is obviously understandable. Parkhurst had some troubles in each Olympic game, but battled well and eventually came out just below average on my scorecard. He can play better than he did in China across all areas.
I vomit at the thought of Boca getting burnt (more frequently and with less capability to recover than Pearce) and Beasley or whoever are left mid is, being left with nobody to give a good overlapping pass too. Boca's offensive contributions are limited to headers on corners, and that's great, but moving him outside merelt to get another tall guy on the field is ridiculous.
We are just beginning the hex. We have 15 months til South Africa. This is time for "ifs" and "why nots"? And why is this even a big issue? Since Pearce took the job, the #1 defense (or with Hejduk in for an injured 'Dolo) has played nine games and allowed four goals (England 2, Spain 1, Cuba 1).
Generally, yes. And he squeezes his side up the pitch better than any other wingback we have. I would like to see his crossing back to top form. Still, we have to remember the guy's horrid club situation. He usually comes into USMNT camp having not played. I'd expect he will be much crisper for us after he moves this summer.
How the sweet Christ does a thread about a game where Boca scores turn into an LB for USMNT discussion? Oh whatever,I'll play .Spector needs to get called into a camp or play at Confed Cup.
Thought he was one of our poorer performers against Mexico. But we have not come to bury Pearce but to praise Boca...
Spector's already earned about 4 times as many first division starts as Jovan Kirovski ever had during his time in Europe.
Do you have a link for that? I'm not trying to antagonize, but I would be shocked if that's true. And now I'm very curious.
It is true. I'm really not sure if it was ever posted on the US site (that's not how I learned it), but I'd imagine it got a mention either there or on the USMNT blog. I want to say it was last summer or fall. Maybe someone else saw it back then and can help?
Hmm oddly I thought Bocanegra was worse against Mexico (though they did combine for one potentially major mistake). And Kljestan was clearly the weak link that day, with ... you sour on him yet because of it?
While I can assume that we share a common lust for Tina Fey, I don't agree with much of the rest of this post. Bocanegra had a big mistake against Mexico that nearly cost us, so did Pearce. On the plus side for Boca, he was also credited with something like 12 clearances in that match. There really was no plus side for Pearce. I don't think Kljestan was clearly the weak link that day either, he was just doing a different job than we expected, especially after he had just scored a hat trick against the Swedes. He didn't offer that much going forward, mostly because he was hanging back to fill gaps while Bradley charged forward. I have no problem with hit, as Bradley did some really good things offensively, not even meaning the goals. We controlled the center of midfielder, largely because Kljestan intercepted a ton of passes in there. Anyway, I would like us to try Bocanegra out there some point. I think we have pretty good depth at CB, at least in terms of guys who might get the job done. I don't think Pearce is a particularly good defender and I just don't really care that Bocanegra might not offer that much in the way of offense from the position as long as he can lock it down on defense. How many goals and assists has Pearce provided anyway? If it is less than the number of times he's been made to look a fool by speedy, skillful players, then we should look elsewhere, and why not to a guy who happens to play the position on a team that could well qualify for a Champions League spot for next season?