How long can Bradley think that CD and LD are in the right spots? CD is looking to hold the ball and create when he should be making the Runs. LD is stuck on the wing unable to make his usual runs because he has to defend the flanks alll day, and his cross power is weak.. What is Bob thinking?
They're both central attacking midfielders and played anywhere else they're not going to be at their best. One plays one sits but no one wants to hear that, of course.
dempsey is playing up top for fulham and is in great form. he was also more dangerous as a forward with the revs.
Dead on, dempsey produces against the best, donovan does not, I don't like saying this but with dempsey as our withdrawn forward, donovan plays wide right or sits in my opinion unless we add a third forward.
I forget what game it was, but Donovan did well on the right wing in one of the earlier games this year. The crossing needs to improve for everyone. Outside of that I felt like we did well vs Brazil. The ref gave them the game.
someone give me an arguement why we shouldnt start ching and johnson/altidore up front. i dont think we should but what has donovan done as a striker. does the U.S. have a fast one-on-one stiker who can shoot from deep. i am not calling to sit donovan and demps, but someone tell me why thats a bad idea instead of playing true strikers.
it should be altidore and johnson/ching(he's slow but hold's up the ball well. actually wolff did very well. wasnt expecting that. but why was dandy landy on the right and dempsey up top? i think the missing pieces jozzy and freddy. and bradley should be taken out. we saw again what a liability he was with his horrible tackles. he reminds me of paul scholes in that manner but at least scholes can make things happen.
That was funny, I thought you said Wolff did really well. I was at the game and I really didn't notice him playing. Huh?
he did play well. he created chances in the first half and never lost the ball. he actually looked quick in one of those runs he made in the second. then he got tired and was subbed off. the guy who didn't play well was convey. he had an oppurtunity in the second where we were on a break but instead of putting a through ball to johnson/dempsey i cant remember or laying the ball off to landon who would have found johnson/dempsey he decided to take it on his own. never knew convey was so selfish. but that has showed in the last two games. and i dont think its cuz he's not in form.
I agree , Wolff held the ball much better than Johnson and hustled causing hurried Brazilian passes, he did contribute positively, plus he should have been granted a penalty as well and that refereee was an idiot.......Dempsey is effective up front and he actually can shoot the ball whereas Donovan again was gone for long stretches of the game and letting him take free kicks is a joke.......Bradley played very well, he held the ball very well, sprayed decent passes all over and in general deserved accolades for his game and that penalty should have been called a dive since contact was incidental and the ball was touched at least from where I was sitting.......I know I would not have gone down with that challenge......we deserved a tie, take away the own goal and the penalty and the goals we scored, both earned I would say it was a very good game to watch......watched it on DVR after and it reinforced my opinion as was iterated by the announcers as well........ Johnson is a dolt on the field......he has no business in international football.....he never goes to meet a ball, he can't dribble and he can't shoot..he does not hold the ball well at all and in effect is a detriment. He is responsible for a resurgent brasil since now no challenges from our up front people giving brasil more time to pick us apart......I would take Ching or wolff or Twellman any day over stumbling Johnson....man is a joke.....
I'd put Dempsey on the right and LD up top (slightly withdrawn) with Ching. This combo has worked well. When Altidore is ready for prime time then he takes Ching's position straight up. To me this formation works well (see 2nd half of the Gold Cup final) in front of 2 holding midfielder which is some combo of Bradley/Feilhaber/Rico. You have a dynamic attack with Beas on the left, Dempsey on the right, LD in the middle withdrawn and a true striker who can hold the ball up top. We can attack from all over and have no one out of position. That's always a good thing. Also Feilhaber and Rico are good with long distance shots when they have the opportunity.
that bradley foul was a clear cut penalty. he grabbed batista and then stuck his foot out. i think u would have gone down as i would have if i felt a guy holding on to me and then try to kick you. ya i think johnson is done and i think bradley shouldn't start. twellman is just as bad as johnson. wolff played well but too bad he's on the downside of his career and moved to europe too late.how old is he? our missing pieces are really just adu and jozzy and a center back if gooch continues to struggle. the own goal was gay but lucio's header was his fault.
The problem is that Bradley can't seem to figure out a way to get both of them on the field, and playing effectively. Just like Arena was undermined by his inability to figure out how to get Landon and Reyna both on the field and both effective, I predict that Bradley will either solve the Dempsey/Landon issue, or it will undermine his stint in charge. And right now, I'd bet on the latter.
they are not out of position, Dempsey produces up top, whether or not he plays like a true forward or not, he produces and thats what you want from a forward and Donovan's best world cup was in 2002 when he was playing on the right.
Well, since he's only been in two, I don't see how "best" is dispositive. In any event, Stewart was on the right most of the time. So you're not correct anyway.
I've been extremely critical of Wolff over the years. Never liked him one bit. That being said, i thought he played well yesterday. Donovan needs to be in the center of the field.
I cannot figure out how somebody as strong and fast as Johnson can step onto a field where a strong fast attacker is needed, and completely disappear. I think he has had his time and should be invited back.Sorry EJ
I tend to agree with the topic poster, that both Dempsey and Donovan were out of position yesterday. Regardless of his form up front lately, Clint Dempsey is best when he is facing goal and has space to dribble and create. Too often with the National team, Dempsey has been forced up top with his back to goal & has been swarmed by 2 or 3 defenders, leaving him little room to do anything with the ball. Dempsey has become much better at turning and shooting since he moved to Europe, but I still think playing him as an out & out striker is a bit of a waste of his talents, despite his finishing ability. Donovan, in my view, belongs in the center of the pitch. Landon is the only A-teamer in our pool that can dribble through tight traffic. He also doesn't see enough of the ball when forced out to the right, and too often has to track back to defend. Given our dearth of strikers and the need to have two competent two-way central midfielders out on the pitch at the same time (Benny & Clark or Benny & Bradley), I think a 4-4-1-1 is probably our best formation given our personnel, with Donovan as the withdrawn forward and Dempsey out wide right playing the winger role.
He had a couple great runs that were missed by his teammates. Kind of hard to do anything when you are going into scoring position and no one will pass you the ball.
I would like to see Cory Gibbs (Charlton Athletic-Championship League) suit up again and fit into our defense. He is a 6'1" Defender and has great pace and field presence. I believe he is one of our better defenders (top 4-5) and for some reason gets looked over. I would also like to see Jeremiah White get a call up. He is a 5' 8" RM/CM. He has great pace, wonderfukl skill, and is very creative something our midfield could use some. Although he may not play for a large European club (AGF ARHUS- Danish Superliga) he could help with our attacking aspect of the game. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRoaga6wrYE -Jeremiah White
Ok how bout if i say he played better in 2002 world cup. In 2006 he played in the middle and didn't do much for us. am i right in saying that?
Dempsey scores again for Fulham playing up top. You need goals dempsey produces them. what more can you ask of from a forward.