Re: Who do you start at RB? And why? i love frankie's freakish red blood cell capacity as much as anyone, and his patented two footed tackles might be even more satisfying at azteca. but i gotta think that spectors higher quality crosses and more deft, possession oriented defending might yield better results. just about anywhere outside of azteca, it's a no brainer. but then, you might be right. frankie may not play pretty, but he may just be the machine made for azteca.....
Re: Who do you start at RB? And why? Since when and where has Spector shown himself to be "equally productive" at LB??!! This is one of the biggest myths on Big Soccer. As far as I know he was only a last ditch, emergency replacement on a couple of instances there at club level. He certainly never competed for a permanent starting position at LB. If he could play LB equally as well, I'm pretty sure we would have tried that already- especially over guys like Pearce, Bornstein, and Beasley!!! People criticize BB for many reasons, but trying guys out at different positions is not usually one of them. I'm pretty sure that BB does not rate Spector as a serious candidate for LB at all. And neither, apparently, does Spector. In a 20+ minute podcast interview with Spector this past Spring (on the US website) the interviewer opened with a comment about his versatility and asked him what his best position was. He said, hands-down, Center Back, but that he was feeling more and more comfortable at RB, and even mentioned enjoying playing right mid. In that portion of the interview, which lasted six or seven minutes, he never mentioned LB as a possibility. Only at the very end of the interview did he say something like, "but I'll play anywhere the coach needs me, even LB." It certainly didn't sound like a ringing endorsement of himself at that position. And it's easy to see why. He's right footed. It's one thing for a guy to feel "comfortable with either foot," it's quite another be able to make precise 20-40 yard crosses into the box with your off foot. That's pretty difficult to pull off. If Spector could do it, again, we would have seen it already. And if you take away Spector's main offensive threat, all you would be doing by playing him as a defensive LB is choosing a young, out of position, recently converted CB>RB above a veteran LB who plays that position every week in the French league. That doesn't make any sense to me. And if BB rated Frankie at LB, I think we would have seen that more recently as well. At any rate, if either is still a possibility, a WCQ at Azteca is not the time to experiment! As to the question, Spector starts at RB over Dolo because of the recent injury. Normally, I think, BB would go with Dolo because of his experience and attacking abilities. Dolo has carved a nice nich for himself in Germany as an offensive-specialist RB, who still plays decent defense. When he's at the top of his game he's very fast and has the best cross, by far, in the NAT pool. Spector, on the other hand, may be a little stronger defensively, and is just discovering himself as an offensive threat. It will be interesting to see how these two play out over the next year. Dolo could also be a very effective sub at Azteca- either offensively, as fresh legs to replace Spector, or as a fifth defender with complete freedom to roam forward on counter attacks. As for Frankie, I love the guy, but I don't see him making the 18 man roster. We only have 6 back up spots for field players. One automatically goes to the 3rd forward. A minimum of two will be midfielders- probably one AM (Felheiber) and one DM (Mastro). In defense, BB will definitely take one guy on the right (Dolo or Spector) and one guy on the left (probably Bornstein). If he takes another defender, it would probably be a CB (either Conrad or Marshall), but the fact that both Boca and Spector can play CB may let him get away with not doing that. In that case, I think he'd choose a third midfielder (Holden) over a 3rd RB.
Re: Who do you start at RB? And why? I checked the Sams Army web site. They show Cherundolo having played Mexico twice, both matches in Mexico City. A US 0-1 loss on 7/1/2001 and a US 1-2 loss on 3/27/2005. So the most recent time was 4 years and 3 months ago, when Cherundolo was in his prime playing years and a locked-in regular starter for Hannover. Spector has played Mexico only once, at Chicago in the US's 2-1 win in the Gold Cup Final on 6/24/2007, two years and 6 weeks ago. Neither Spector nor Cherundolo had a good 2008, with injury woes and lots of time on the bench. But I'd rate Spector's fine performances last month against the likes of Italy, Spain, and Brazil twice, as more important to the current situation than two games Cherundolo played many years ago. Now don't get me wrong. I very much like the idea of experimenting with Cherundolo at RB and Spector at LB. The perfect time for that would be September 5 in Utah against El Salvador. I wouldn't start Hejduk August 12, either. But if he is fit, he'd be a very good bench option given his terrific motor, speed, experience, and gung-ho personality.
Re: Who do you start at RB? And why? Spector has shown he can compete against the best in the world, so he should start.
Re: Who do you start at RB? And why? Spector. He is more solid defensively and his crossing was impressive in the Confederations Cup, which a strength of Cherundolo.
Re: Who do you start at RB? And why? Spector played a decent amount of LB at Charlton the season before he joined West Ham. He's also played there 4 times for the US - against Scotland in '05, and against Guatemala, Trinidad & Tobago, and Sweden in '07. You may have missed this interview. http://jlmd.blogspot.com/2009/02/american-in-london-part-two.html Anyways, I actually have never been very impressed with Spector when he's played out left, but given that he's probably played the position at a high level more than anyone in our pool other than Bocanegra, and given his own comments there, I would give him some more chances there. Although, Mr. Martin is right; Azteca is probably not the place to do it.
Re: Who do you start at RB? And why? Ok. I may have reached a bit saying equally productive. But I won't back down from the thought that he produced at LB when tried there. If my memory serves me, and in this case I know it does, he was given good reviews. I know you make the argument that we would've tried it already if he were capable of playing LB. When exactly would we have done that recently? He's been injured for most of Bob's tenure. Bob may very well never choose to have him play there, but my contention is that defensively he's still an upgrade over Pearce and Bornstein. Offensively, at LB, he's still an upgrade over Boca (and likely a defensive upgrade there as well). In my mind that makes him the best potential LB in the bunch, currently. It may not be the most desireable situation, but its likely better than the rest. And you still have the two best fullbacks on the field at the same time along with the best CBs. People may call it an experiment, but I'd contend that he's tactically smart enough , certainly athletic enough, and its doubtful you'd find any of his coaches who wouldn't trust him in any position across the back line. I don't believe that there's very much risk in trying it (with Spector).
Re: Who do you start at RB? And why? Drew Moor. He's never let us down before, and has experience against Mexico!
Re: Who do you start at RB? And why? Personally, I start Spector at RB. However, Eric Lichaj has been getting preseason starts with Aston Villa. If he earns a starting spot with Villa, he suddenly becomes a geniune contender at right back.
Re: Who do you start at RB? And why? Both Reasons why he got my vote! Better positioning. Better shape. Better distribution. Better cover. Better skills. Just plain BETTER! Dolo is second to Spector in every aspect except (maybe) positioning.
Re: Who do you start at RB? And why? Heydude is 50 years old. I would much prefer Spector, who is twice as good, in great form, and only 23 years old. Heydude can't play at Spector's level.
Re: Who do you start at RB? And why? Not sure if this has been mentioned, but it's not like Mexico's entire team has been playing at altitude. All these based players have been playing in low lying areas. They will be just as gassed as the US players. I count at least 6 foreign based players, and only 4-5 Mexico City based players. I think that playing Mexico at Azteca is more about the crowd than anything this time around. It's not like we're playing Ecuador in Quito, when 3/4 of their team plays for teams in Quito.
Re: Who do you start at RB? And why? I wasn't aware that he had played left back quite as much as you said. But it is worth noting that all of the instances you mentioned occurred more than 2 years ago. At West Ham, he really wasn't in the running for a starting job at LB- that may have been mostly due to personnel and need, or it could be that he just projected much better at RB. As for the USMNT, I know that he had a lot of injuries after 2007, but he was called into camp a couple of times at least, and apparently not given a shot there. Given our lack of options there, you have to wonder why. I'm not sure when the interview you quoted from occurred. The one I listened to was during the camp prior to the two WCQs. And in it he certainly didn't give the impression he was under consideration for a LB position- quite the opposite, he seemed more concerned with improving his skills at RB, and that seems to be his future at West Ham. But don't get me wrong, if he looks to be better than Boca at LB, by all means give him a shot, after qualification is assured.
Re: Who do you start at RB? And why? Usually yes. But both if Spector starts, I don't know how affective he will be after the 55th minute. I don't worry about Frankie in that situation. He's one less guy we will have to worry about subbing out.
Re: Who do you start at RB? And why? Fair enough, and I hope it works out. I'd agree that he would be better than Pearce or Bornstein defensively, but I'm not so sure about being that much better than Boca offensively. Again, I have trouble seeing a right footed guy making pin-point crosses, at full speed, with his left foot. Brazil has occasionally subbed Dani Alvez in on the wrong side (keeping Maicon in place). He still defends and runs well, but his crossing suffers greatly. If Spector can pull that off, wonderful, but I think we need to actually see it before we start penciling him as the solution to our LB problem. Also, I generally prefer having guys play for the Nats at the same position they play at club, whenever possible, and I think Spector will be the starter at RB at West Ham this year. Also, the Boca-Gooch pairing was beginning to loose some of it's luster last year. Maybe because Boca was playing LB for club every week instead of CB? I don't know, but with DeMerit's performance at the CC, I'm no longer sure that Boca is the best guy to pair with Gooch. At any rate, you may be right that Spector is still in the running, but I hope we don't try it at Azteca.
Bingo. The real question mark is DeMerit vs. Boca at CB... Based on DeMerit's performance with Gooch in the CC, I want DeMerit at CB... Those guys ran a great off-side trap together (better than Gooch/Boca) and that will be important with the speed guys Tri will have as noted... I think Boca could be a liability speed-wise at LB... but he plays it at Rennes so he must be decent at it... Let's face it, he got torched a couple time by Fernando Torres in the CC... but Fernando Torres torches virtually everybody... We need Boca on the field - for leadership and for set pieces... I think he'll do fine at LB...
Re: Who do you start at RB? And why? I think for this game you go 5 across the back - Hejduk, Spector, Demerit, Gooch, Boca. The pressure from the Mexicans will be intense. If everyone will be thrilled with a tie, as I've read, clog the gaps and even use 2 defensive midfielders like Bradley and Clark then Donovan, Dempsey and lone forward as Altidore. Bring on a Bornstein for a defender late, Feilhaber and Davies to steal the victory if you think its there for the taking after 70 min.
Re: Who do you start at RB? And why? OMG!!!!!!!!!!! Can people just cool it with the altitude sh!t already?! Its not Bolivia, Argie and Brazilian teams can't match 50% of our fitness levels and they don't do too bad. Its just that simple. Yes its their home, yes is high, yes is smoggy, etc, but QUALITY is by far a more important factor. Not to mention that Mexican players have to play under the same conditions, including their European stars. If Spector did well in SA with little time to recover, I think we're going to be ok.
Maybe this hasn't been mentioned because people have moved on to a new thread, but... Frankie (sadly) won't be on the roster. But even if he was I'd say you have to start as many guys who were in the Confed Cup as possible. They showed real coheirson in the tournment and more importantly were last on the field together when they gave up a 2-0 lead. Confed Cup roster has something to prove and they play we together. Let them go out there and show Mexico that the Gold Cup was a fluke (as it was another team) and that the Confed Cup run wasn't.