I think we'll see a slightly skewed 4-4-2 with Martino playing a role like Stewart did at the world cup. Something like: Beasley---Convey--Martino ----------Clark---------------- That way Oguchi Onyewu (Olney, MD) who is compared mostly to Tony Sanneh can assume Sanneh's former world cup role pushing up into the space Martino leaves on the right from his right back spot. But to get back on topic, I thought Convey looked very dangerous last night. His defensive work rate also was very impressive. He looked much better in this role in midfield. The only problem here is who is he going to jump over to get a spot in the center. Between Reyna, JOB and even Donovan there are players that are more experienced and ahead of Convey on the depth chart. If he wants to play right now his best shot is at Left Back
I saw that too, but that isn't what I'm talking about. Once was when we cleared out a corner kick and Convey started running up the middle of the field. Stewart started yelling at him and pointing for him to hang back and on the left side more. The other Stewart situation was similar with us moving on the attack and Stewart trying to get Convey to go more outside from what it looked like. The Armas situation was also similar. It just appeared to me that Convey was not positionally sure of where to be. He had a few mediocre/poor plays as well. However, the move and cross were excellent. And he had a couple good sequences down the left side and played with a lot of energy. He just didn't look like he was sure of where his positioning should be in BA's 3-5-2 to me. Which of course will come with time and BA has shown that he thinks Convey merits fitting into his system (as opposed to say Kreis, Ralston, Twellman, and a host of other good MLS players that BA didn't think could get the job done) I fully expect the live take to be a lot different from the televised take though. Not just in seeing more of the off the ball stuff, but also just seeing certain things live and very fast while TV might have had replays to give more clarity.
i'm not sure that interpretation is any more likely than the idea that he came in for mastreoni and he had different responsibilities than mastreoni had and this required shifting responsiblities and making adjustments amongst players.
i also think stewart is being used by bruce as an "on the field" coach in matches and camps right now. earnie usually hasn't been available for this type of match and now is. i have noticed he (earnie) seems a bit more vocal with guys and seems to spend time working with guys on positioning and roles.
Tell you the truth that's one thing I noticed last night about Stewart - he was much more vocal for Arena than he's been on DC United. I thought it was a benefit to the team.
I can't believe this hasn't been mentioned yet on the United boards, but did anyone notice the eerily similar style of play that Mexico played that resembles a favorite club team of ours? - lots of possesion - seemingly endless string of passes throughout the field - 0-0 draw - all that possesion and not much to show for it Yup, that was our United in disguise last night...
Convey came in for Mastroeni but he did not come in to play the same position. He came to add more offense. And he did.
I would love that. With Cien retiring and the LA midfield non-existent for long stretches of the game, that would be a good fit. I've always been a big Bobby Convey fan.
Convey was closer to "very good" than sensational, but no one can deny he has some impact on the game when he came in. To be fair to McBride, Convey's ball had beautiful swerve, but hit McBride at about pelvic level (counting the fact that McBride was in the air at the time). Not the easiest ball to play. Agreed. This guy's got too much distributional skill.
I think it would help if he'd get the ball some more. Is he not showing for it or is he not getting any service?
Wait a year and you're getting Memo Gonzalez. He'll be a similar player to a young Bobby Convey. Left footed creative playmaker with a high motor and a ton of technical skill. Eventually he'll become your playmaking central midfielder--like we all hope happens to Convey here at DC United--so there's no need to fret the left wing. Memo is only a season away. -Digital
Both really, but the main reason is that he's not demanding the ball. Not only does he not show for the ball enough, he also isn't vocal enough to demand it yet. IMHO, I think he looks up to the USMNT players more than he should. While Donovan and DaMarcus are his elders, he's played enough with them and he's close enough in age with them to where he's vocal and gets the ball a lot. But with most of the USMNT, both they and he feel that he hasn't earned it yet, so unless he speaks up more, he's not going to get the ball enough. Convey needs to demand the ball. He needs to demand it from Etch, from Hristo, from Earnie, and he needs to demand it from his USMNT teammates as well. The coach is always partially at fault for not making sure the ball flows to his most dangerous players, but it's also Convey's fault for not showing to the ball, and more importantly, not demanding the ball vocally. Just my $0.02 -Digital
We can talk about convey and stewart and missed opportunities, not calling for the ball, being invisible at times. But the US midfield in the second half played much better (with Convey and Stewart) than the US midfield in the first half (with Mastroeni and Mathis). Also, that wasn't an attempt by McBride to pass to the far post off (or a blindside pass I think someone called it) of Convey's cross. After the game McBride indicated he was trying to shoot but he couldn't do anything with the ball b/c of the level it came in--too low and too high. And, as an aside--I just love attackers who drive low crosses in. So much harder for the keeper to judge and easier to get ricochets and misplays on. So if convey plays that same ball 10 times, good things would come from it 5-7 times I'd say. It was a very nice run. As for where to put Martino if Convey plays, I don't think that's the question right now. I see O'Brien as the guy who Arena will give the keys to at the Confed Cup and see how he runs things. And if not JOB, than Donovan (if Buddle or some other striker steps up). You can be a big Martino fan and admit that now is not his time. He's not going to beat out JOB or Donovan at A-mid and he's not strong enough or good enough defensively to win a role on the outside. I think that where Convey is being positioned right now (assuming the left back experiment is dead) is the same way Arena initially used DMB. He prepared DMB to be a second half offensive sub who had the speed, courage and technical ability to run at tired legs and make things happen. Given that DMB is hard to keep healthy, slotting Convey into this role (second half "go at 'em" attacker and reserve left outside mid), is probably a way to see a lot of minutes and also get some starts (since DMB takes a pounding and is still pretty small--tough but very small).
I wouldn't be too surprised if Convey ends up logging more minutes wide left than DMB does. Convey is much more durable and more dependable. DMB currently has a higher upside and a lower downside. It will be very interesting how things work out. I think we are very likely to go 3-5-2 this summer and that would make it pretty reasonable to expect a Mastro/Armas, JOB, and Donovan/Mathis/Stewart/Martino/Convey playing the middle. Assuming JOB actually plays this summer, I believe he had a quote saying he'd like the summer off.
Re: Convey vs. Mexico The fact of the matter is that Ray is on crack. The man continues to believe in Etch, which will ultimately be his downfall. DC needs to turn to Convey and Stewart. Hudson and Etch are done. I have completely lost faith in them.