Re: 7/5: USA vs Columbia: The Midfield [R] Gaven really sucks. He is bad at so many different areas. Dont get me wrong, he looked awful vs Argentina but I think he was even worse today.
Re: 7/5: USA vs Columbia: The Midfield [R] Gaven actually looked like a footballer today WOW Mapp?? ehhh nothing to say about him Adu and Nguyen have surpassed him. Million dollar talent yet lacks the vision to be a threat. Anyone who thought he should take Beezes spot is a hater or lacks soccer IQ We need to see more Nguyen obviously. Less of Beckerman and Sacha please
Re: 7/5: USA vs Columbia: The Midfield [R] Yeah, and that stupid three quarter field sprint he had back to the goal box to disrupt a Colombian tap in.
In the absence of a beautiful Clark goal this game, I'm going to try this again and see if I still get jumped on: Clark is not the answer to our d-mid hole. Sure, he can make fearless attacks on goal, but that's a luxury at the d-mid position. We need someone who can consistently create calm out of chaos and pass the ball ten yards to someone. That ain't Clark.
The word that came to mind watching was cohesiveness. As in lack of cohesiveness. I think what this match showed was the importance of Feilhaber in giving the team a creative and calming presence in central midfield. The only other player in the pool who can do this is Donovan and we're better off if he can play further up. I hope it is obvious by now that Beckerman and Klejstan aren't viable alternatives. Hopefully, Szetela will develop and give us a viable alternative to Feilhaber.
Answer = Clark. Our defense was relying on him a bit too much I think though. None of them tried to move the ball up. The pass sequence went Defender -> Clark -> Defender -> Clark tries to move up field but gets ball from defender. Repeat that until Clark sent the ball up.
Clark did reasonably well considering who he had around him. Note the error rate. The only guy who could work decently under pressure was Clark and he got flustered a few times, too. General lack of midfield field vision. Not surprising. The unforced error rate did surprise me, however, Atrocious. Good thing Colombia was as bad or worse.
In a game where no level looked good, the midfield was the worst. Unfortunately, in this sport, nobody can be effective without an effective midfield. Notice how the game changed a bit in the last 15 minutes (I'm not saying it was good, just better.) when Nguyen came in a added some energy techinical abilities. I think we also learned that, while much better with the ball than Mastro, Clark really needs a skilled holding/passing midfielder to play with.
I think Beckerman is going to have a very difficult time getting USA appearances in the future. He didn't get much of a chance, but he's already 25 and I think Feilhaber, Bradley, Mastroeni, Clark, Olsen, and Edu are all better. I'm not giving up on Kljestan yet. He's not all that fast, but he does have good first touch and good size. He needs more time in MLS, especially working on passing, which he did poorly today. His judgment also needs work. Gaven should only be back if he manages to improve in MLS somehow. Nguyen was lively, showed his skill and had good ideas with passes. He deserves more looks.
I watched very little MLS so these ratings are based solely on the play tonight with the past 2 games as a backdrop for some of the players. Clark - Pretty solid defensive effort until he ran out of has which seems to be a consistent trend for him at this level. A little too much was expected of him as he was playing both defensive mid and offensive distributor. But I do believe that he secured himself a seat on the NT bus. Mapp - Not as sharp this game as he has been but he did show some promise. He certainly appears to be our best crosser. Another guy who needs to improve his fitness. I think he will continue to be a part-time NT player until he does that. Klestan - I was fairly impressed with him. He is a bubble player for the team but if he can learn to be disciplined with his distribution he could find a home with the team. Beckerman - Looked lost and/or lazy today. Showed something against Paraguay but completely lost the plot today. Either he or Moor were the worst players on the pitch for us. Gaven - His NT career was on life support before this match. Redeemed himself enough to get a possible call-up as a bubble player in some friendlies.
Notice who left the game to make way for Nguyen? Eddie Johnson walked off and the US came to life. He's passionless, afraid to attack and an all around detriment to the team. This outing for him was even better than his game against Paraguay, but his chances are all used up. He's supposed to be a striker. How many times do we have to watch him not do anything?
The alternative to Feilhaber is Convey. In this game, I actually would have played Mapp in the hole behind the strikers. Otherwise, without Benny, the hole remained the hole. Gaven wasn't awful but he ain't much of a creator at this level either. He's another guy who may have been tried in the middle since he doesn't have speed to get past players on the outside. Kljestan isn't a wide mid and the Clark-Beckerman combo seemed all too eager to pass the ball pack. So, the Hardworking Bob added a poor formation to the existing youth, inexperience and the unfamiliarity of players. Kudos for the rare feat. Now, give you US sweater to someone who deserves it.
Not trying to start an argument or discredit Mapp here, but what has he done to suggest that Mapp should play in the middle of the field. It seems like his skills force him to the wing where he has the time and space to run at people. I haven't seen him show the vision and passing abilities that would make him a strong A-mid. Of course I haven't seem a ton of his MLS games. The ones I have seen he has been impressive but not in the ways, or at the things, that make for and effective middle of the park player.
He had played this position in the past, so to me, it was worth a look. Justin didn't have a good game however anyway. He was too tentative and, even if he had beaten his marker, there was no one in the box waiting for his cross. But he is at least a worthy part of the "youth experiment".