USA--Haiti Postgame (R)

Discussion in 'USA Men: News & Analysis' started by Shaster, Mar 13, 2004.

  1. Richie

    Richie Red Card

    May 6, 1999
    Brooklyn, NY, United
    We could not put more then 3 passes together.

    Ralston plays to far from the ball so he does not see many passes. He needed to be a close pass option. He played just too far up the field. Arena made no adjustment in his game.

    Hartmen did not have a great game. Some bad distributions from him.
     
  2. futbol571

    futbol571 New Member

    Apr 22, 2002
    Houston, TX
    Terrible squad selection (as usuaul due to favoritism) and even worse, actually horrendous, tactical decisions. IE: status quo from Arena

    If he wasn't the coach of the USA with many talents to chose from out of 300 million he'd be a coach at the local YMCA afterschool program
     
  3. Toejam Football

    Toejam Football New Member

    Oct 10, 2000
    Columbus,OH

    Yes but if two ofthose three field players are Messrs. Reyna and O'Brien , that makes a HUGE difference, especially since our lack of central midfield play has been a glaring weakness in both friendlies on "home" soil so far in 2004. Convey is not a central/ attacking mid and Armas may as well not even been on the pitch.
     
  4. RiverhoundsRule

    RiverhoundsRule New Member

    Dec 30, 2003
    Nick's Fat City
    Unfortunately JOB doesn't seem to be reliable. Maybe that's not fair, but he is hurt quite a bit. And Reyna's not gonna be around forever. Somebody's gotta step up.
     
  5. futbol571

    futbol571 New Member

    Apr 22, 2002
    Houston, TX
    Every team worth anything can PASS the ball. Without that a team is nothing.

    Arena continues not to call-up the best passers of the ball and even worse the ones he does have he makes them play in a system that does not let them play CREATIVELY.

    Futbol is about doing things the other team does NOT expect, Arena is unfortunately right out of the old Anglo mold of bad coaching and very very ugly and boring futbol.
     
  6. Ringo

    Ringo Member

    Jun 10, 2002
    Rough and Ready
    Club:
    Yeovil Town FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Mulrooney is 5-9. Landon's 5-8. Can't imagine height was the issue, especially since Mulrooney is about 98 percent more likely to be crossing a ball than to be on the receiving end of one.
     
  7. nyrmetros

    nyrmetros Member

    Feb 7, 2004
  8. SnakeEyes

    SnakeEyes Member

    Oct 7, 2001
    I'm not even going to discuss the actual game. The sky isn't falling but we didnt play as well as we should have.

    What I really want to know is how the broadcast looked on HDnet? Being out of town, in NYC, I watched at Nevada Smiths in standard definition.
     
  9. futbol571

    futbol571 New Member

    Apr 22, 2002
    Houston, TX
    Height is irrelevant in futbol, what sport do you watch?

    Brazil vs Germany - do you remember the outcome? If that was the case Holland would win the European championship every outing with headers. Sadly, they learned that winning means you need to play the ball on the ground and pass.

    Arena needs to learn this , put the best passers on the team and than encourage everyone to PASS the ball.

    Crosses and "long balls" - please. Wrong decade man.
     
  10. nyrmetros

    nyrmetros Member

    Feb 7, 2004
  11. ZeekLTK

    ZeekLTK Member

    Mar 5, 2004
    Michigan
    Nat'l Team:
    Norway
    Matchtracker said that Pope went down with a cramp or something, so I think that's why he was subbed out.
     
  12. United20

    United20 Member

    Feb 26, 2001
    New York City
    Doesn't matter if this was just a friendly, 1-1 vs. Haiti is flat-out pathetic. These guys are fighting for positions on the WC qualification team which begin in a few months, and they are sh%#ting the bed right now.

    Arena has his work cut-out for himelf this time around. I'm with many points on this thread. We do need size, but we also need skills - like Mathis. If Arena keeps his grudge against Clint - he will be burn himself. Second, Arena needs to ditch his "re-callers" which he continues to call in camp - Razov, Kirovski, Armas, Hartman, and Califf. These players (fine MLSers) are not the solution they are only in the way of the real talent coming through. Finally, the US needs to put some consecutive forward passes together in the other side of the midfield and stop passing back to their defenders who put together 4-5 consecutive passes behind the midfield line - that puts fear into no one. US players rarely go at their opponents, and usually receive passes with their backs to their opponent.
     
  13. milkduds

    milkduds Member

    May 20, 2003
    Saint Paul, MN
    Thanks HDNet!

    What a treat to see the National Team on HDNet. How unfortunate that the play was so uninspired. For those of you that saw the Hi Def broadcast - I encourage you to email HDNet to thank them for showing the game and ask for more. I would love to see more games in Hi Def, especially when ESPN is not there.
     
  14. Parmigiano

    Parmigiano Member

    Jun 20, 2003
    You have to question a lot of Arena's moves in this game, and you can do so without bowing at every pause to his WC quarter-final result, for Chrissake.

    I don't understand what these games are for if not to get a look at interesting possible prospects. Yet they are not used for that, at all really.

    Until the entry of Noonan late in the game, I saw no interesting prospect for the Nats, just a bunch of stone-footed clutzes.

    Meanwhile, we get the same old fare of Armas, Beas, Donovan, Convey. I mean, we know these guys, let's see some fresh faces. They don't have to start, but for crying out loud, do you need to wait until the 75th minute of a meaningless friendly against Haiti to introduce a new prospect worthy of that name (Noonan)?

    And what's with Woly, Albright and Ralston. Do we really need to see this?

    I understand the argument that we need guys who can help us now to qualify, but these are clearly not the guys.

    To my mind, it's clear that Bobby Convey isn't the kind of player, at least now, that can hold down the middle in a 442. He's half the reason Haiti were completely dominating the midfield. They could have driving a tractor down it.

    Given that situation, what does Bruce do around the 64th? He takes out Armas for Razov. And guess what? That Swiss cheese midfield immediately gets grated and Haiti go one up. Even the drunk in front of me at the bar had predicted that one.

    A few minutes later, Bruce realizes his mistake and puts in Mulrooney to shore up the middle. But I'd have gladly taken the drunk's advice over his from the start.

    Perhaps I'm rambling, but a few more observations.

    -- I knew before this game that Gibbs ain't a top level left back, even an amateur like myself could see that. He doesn't have the skills to be an overlapping player there. End of story. Yet Bruce needed to have his little experiment. I hope it's over. Gibbs can be a stud in the middle. But please, don't put him a position to embarrass himself like that.

    -- Convey, good player, but unless he's supported by two other mids behind him like in a 352, he can't hold down the fort in a 442. He's a possession liability, despite what he brings with the occassional nice run.

    -- Donovan needs to be put out on the wing to make him run and play D and remember what football is all about. He's been spoiled at forward and just disappears way too much. Plus the guy NEVER takes on a defender, and then when he gets the ball in the box he turns and makes a negative pass. It's maddening. Of course he's a fine player, but right now he sucks and appears spoiled and is completely uninvolved.

    -- Woly, a joke. He had two clear chances in the first half that a Noonan or even a Kenny Cooper would have buried. But hey, Bruce is a genius and why second guess him, right?

    -- Beas, a horrible game. Can't be blamed that much, perhaps, since for long stretches the team tried to feed everything through him, and he was clearly not on tonight, plus they were marking the sh!t out of him, and hard. Still, his skills deficiencies were on neon display tonight.

    -- Ralston, a waste of time, just like against Denmark. If this is the kind of player we're going to "count" on in qualifying, well we may have some ugly surprises in store for us.

    In short, a miserable performance, mostly brought on by a miserable series of choices by the self-styled "mago" Bruce Arena. Don't get me wrong, I think Bruce is a good coach, but all his negative aspects were out tonight, such as stubborness and arrogance. Pig-headedness might be the best word.

    To conclude, this clearly was not the US out there tonight, despite a lot of first-teamers, and we clearly will see much better days. But anyone who thinks qualifying is going to be easy is crazy and perhaps would have been better served tonight by a 2-0 Haiti victory (the more just result, IMO) in order to jolt them back to reality as to the true state of US soccer. I myself am not impressed at all with US soccer at the moment and were I a betting man I would probably wager a fare sum on our NOT making it to Germany.

    I say this because, 1. These things happen to even the Frances and Hollands and Englands of the world and statistically we are very much due for such a comeuppance, just like in the Olympics. 2. Our talent is really thin. If we are missing Reyna or JOB, things can get ugly fast (And frankly, for all the neat young talent in the pipeline, I see no players waiting on the wings who can replace those two guys). 3. The other teams are getting better too, and perhaps more importantly, they have figured out how to play us better. 4. Arena's choices at the moment look really bad. You can give him the benefit of the doubt, and perhaps he deserves it, but to me he's gone overboard and to boot, he appears so damn arrogant every time I hear him talk. To me, that's a sign that he's got another thing coming in the Karma department. 5. The Fed in general seems to be making stupid mistakes a lot, such as Myernick and the Olympic fiasco, and the general pigheadedness that that situation has underscored. This, in fact, is the big underlying problem. Unfortunately, these problems don't begin to fix themselves until disaster hits. (That's why I was hoping for a Haiti victory tonight, to maybe wake up a few people. But unfortunatley, it may have to happen when it counts.)

    So is the sky falling? I probably am going overboard, and perhaps in the end we'll all be celebrating those great overlapping Albright and Ralston runs and crosses into Woly for game winning goals on our way to qualification.

    But allow me to say that these players just SUCK. They are what in Italian are called "pippe" or "brocche." SHITE PLAYERS who have no skill. Yet Bruce looks set to count on them for qualifying. Perhaps I'm missing something. Perhaps he really is the "mago" who some on these boards insist should not be questioned, that he knows something the rest of just can't quite fathom. Sort of like why Dubya took us to war for apparently a bunch of rubbish reasons about which we are supposed to suspend judgment because, well, the president must just know something that we don't.

    So let's suspend judgment. Woly, Albright, Ralston and some others there -- they will help get us to Germany. Bruce appears to think so. So should you. Don't fret it.
     
  15. doppelganger

    doppelganger Member

    Jul 6, 2001
    santa cruz, ca
    hopefully, with the start of the MLS, BA will be calling more players into camp as they get into form....bubble type players now that will play themselves into contention.....Albright, Razov, Califf, this may have been their last sniff in a USMNT jersey...ok, maybe Califf gets to stay for his 15 minute MOTM performance :Rolleyes:
     
  16. Deuteriumoxide

    May 27, 2003
    Rockville, MD
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Armas is A-team.

    He may not be on your A-team, or on my A-team, but lets face it, he is on the A Team. He was A team all through the last qualification cycle and he would have been A-team in Korea Japan if he hadn't blown up his knee.

    A-Teamers Present:
    Donovan, Beasley, Bocanegra,Pope,Armas

    You could even argue that Gibbs has reached A-Team status, because if its not him then who is it?

    A-Teamers Missing:
    Reyna, O'Brien, McBride, Mathis, The Keepers.

    Keepers aside those Yanks Abroad are injury prone. O'Brien has had like four first team matches since last April. Reyna is always hurt, McBride is constantly nursing concussions, and as much as I hate to say it Mathis is a orthopedic surgeons dream.

    If this is our BorC-Team we might have to get used to disappointing results.

    As for Convey not being a center mid... what the hell is he? He's not a left back... his time in Purgatory DC United has shown that he is not a winger... Convey is a center mid.

    This "It was our C-Team" crap has to stop... because with our depth, our A-Team is just two injuries away from our C-team.
     
  17. Freddy Garcia Lives

    Feb 28, 2003
    Tumwater, WA
    Consistancy

    The USMNT is inconsistent in their manner of play. We seem to go on streaks where we look unstoppable (early final stage of WWC for '02) to looking like a team that deserves a Fifa ranking of 150 for whatever Fifa rankings are worth (see midle of WWC final round '02). I just think this up and down nature is not going to help in reaching Germany. I know all the reasons, (no Euro players available, MLS off-season) but still we need consistancy and a way to put a few more in the nets.

    Friendlies mean very little, I know that. I'm not about to call for Arena's head or to reinvent the team, but still we can't just dismiss a bad outing. Look at Frances attitude since the last WC. I believe they haven't lost a game since (I could well be wrong). They are not going to have to worry about what team is going to show up in UEFA qualifying. That is the consistency we need.

    I'm proud of what we did in the '02 WC, but even still we finished with a .500 record (2-1-2) and almost let Portugal come back on us. It was great, but didn't by itself make us a powerhouse. Games like Haiti show we lack the kind of depth that we need. But then again, it is just a friendly, maybe I shouldn't lose any sleep over it.
     
  18. SignGuyDino

    SignGuyDino New Member

    Aug 6, 2003
    Fletcher, NC
    The HD broadcast was stunning. I am happy as hell to see a whole bunch of MLS this year in HD. Wouldn't mind seeing rugby on HD either, hope HDNet can pull that off, too.


    That $999 HDTV 40 widescreen set and tuner deal from Dish Network is the freaking bomb!

    The most stunning thing I saw with the HD was the excitement and happiness of the Hiatian fans when they scored...I don't know if I ever saw an entire American fan contingent that 100% into a game before.
     
  19. jcrocker

    jcrocker Member

    Jun 1, 1999
    Springboro, OH
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I was so excited to watch the game on HDNet and now I almost refuse to ever watch a Nats game again. I cant take it.

    We have little vision, no anticipation, no creativity and midfield possession. Hence we were outshot 20-3 by Haiti. How pathetic. They looked like they were playing for WC qualification and we looked worse than amateurs. Are these guys really the best in MLS? What the hell do we have a league for if we cannot develop any talent?

    John Wolyneic - ridiculously bad. one of the worst forward performances i've ever seen.

    Steve Ralston - jeez just bring back Chris Henderson or Jovan Kirovski (oops he did)

    Carlos Bocanegra - uuuh you really play first division in Europe? i dont see any confidence with the ball at his feet.

    Landon and Damarcus showed little effort and had no results. No shots from either tonight.

    Want a positive???? Sanneh is 1000x better than Hejdude and its his first game in a year and a half.

    Please bring Edson Buddle and Jeff Cunningham up. How I would love to see:

    Buddle Cunningham
    Donavan
    Beasley Mastroeni Olsen

    enough of the over 30s bring on the youth!!!!!
     
  20. SignGuyDino

    SignGuyDino New Member

    Aug 6, 2003
    Fletcher, NC
    Maybe we really should recruit some of these Hiatians into MLS...











    (Dino starts running for his life now)...
     
  21. SignGuyDino

    SignGuyDino New Member

    Aug 6, 2003
    Fletcher, NC
    Oh, the encore broadcast is on HDNet now...and extreme cagefighting after that...
     
  22. jcrocker

    jcrocker Member

    Jun 1, 1999
    Springboro, OH
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States



    I will fret it.

    Woly is pathetic. How can he be the third best striker in the US? He is slow, poor footskills, and cant beat any Haitian defenders on ground or in the air. What good is he?


    Albright is useless too. He was a joke upfront. He cant cross, he cant dribble and he barely kept up with the Haitian attackers. This guy was a top prospect. He isnt panning out. Give it up.

    Ralston is average. He cant create his own shot and he never threatened the Haitian defense. For a veteran player he did nothing to motivate our attack. He is not Earnie Stewart.

    This team has taken huge strides backwards. We need to bring in creative, fast, bold players. Why were we playing for a result? Cant we put on a show on our own soil? or did we, by letting the Haitians make us look so bad?
     
  23. milkduds

    milkduds Member

    May 20, 2003
    Saint Paul, MN
    Now to the game...

    Where to begin? While the picture on the TV was great, the play on the field was awful. I'll be interested to see how Wagman rates the players on soccertimes. I'd be surprised if there are too many than earn better than a 5.

    Player by Player - my ratings with some thoughts...

    Walker - 7 - He inspires confidence and may not be too far from the big 3. I thought he was excellent in the first half, including two key saves.

    Sanneh - 5 - It would be nice to see him play the way he did in Korea some day. I thought he was ok defensively, but he did not help much getting forward.

    Bocanegra - 4 - Not one of his better games. He was beaten on a few occasions. I think he assisted the goal if I saw correctly

    Pope - 5 - He provided some decent cover for the rest of a shaky defense, but he needs to be more commanding in the back. Leg cramp forced him out late in the game.

    Gibbs - 4 - I would like to see him back in the middle for the next game with Bocanegra out left. He seemed uncomfortable out there.

    Ralston - 4 - Another disappearing act for much of the game. I know we don't attack too much down the right side, but he needs to get more involved. I used to prefer him to Klein - lately I'm not so sure. Will Olsen ever be back in the picture?

    Armas - 4 - He broke up some attacks, but often gave up possession right away.

    Convey - 6 - The one guy, in my mind, that looked like he was working his butt off. He was all over the field, but his teammates had a hard time finding him or getting open for passes.

    Beasley - 5 - Showed flashes of the good thinkgs he can do, but overall not that strong. He led a few decent attacks - which is more than most others - but played the ball back too much.

    Donovan - 4 - Maybe this is a little harsh, but he didn't seem to be doing too much out there. He took a couple of good kicks on set pieces, but was very quiet overall.

    Wolyniec - 5 - Another guy who had a pretty good effort out there. He played a couple of dangerous balls and fought hard to win balls in the air and hold the ball at times.

    SUBS

    Hartman -5 - I think he's a good keeper, but he looked a little shaky on clearances. Can't be faulted too much for the goal.

    Albright - 4 - Gave the ball up too easily and let his man get behind him a few times. I'm ready for a new experiment at RB. That throw-in was comical.

    Razov - 5 - A couple of shots on goal. The header was a good attempt.

    Noonan - 5 - I would like to have seen more of him. He was definitely making more of an impact than Ralston - with only a few touches.

    Mulrooney - 5 - Fought hard in his brief outing. I like him better than Armas right now as DCM.

    Califf - 5.5 - Late-game sub for Pope. I don't like .5 in ratings, but I'll make an exception for Califf because of the chested goal. Use your head, buddy.

    Kirovski - 5 - Got off a decent shot and played one or two dangerous balls in his brief time on the field.

    Lots of mediocre play tonight. These are just some of my opinions. Let me know if you saw some players differently.
     
  24. dna77054

    dna77054 Member+

    Jun 28, 2003
    houston
    Re: Thanks HDNet!

    I just get my HDTV today. Unfortunately, cable company could not make it out today to hook up the HD. My question is: Did the broadcast have any sort of static display ( like a game clock) that could cause problems with "burn-in"? It really pisses me off how most stations constantly have their logos on the screen screwing up projection TVs
     
  25. flux82

    flux82 Member

    Aug 9, 2001
    Mississippi
    Edson Buddle, Kyle Martino, Ben Olsen, Eddie Johnson even? You never know until you try... and those thinking that Johnson is not ready just to watch Woly, who hardly every starts for his club team, and tell yourself that it can't get any worse.
     

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