I like a healthy Gomez as a back up for Altidore. In a pinch, there's Dempsey as well. I'm happy with that. The RB spot is the most wide open, no one has grabbed it. I want someone with a motor who gets forward whenever the opportunity presents itself. This is not Parkhurst or Evans. Chandler I've given up hope on. Cherundolo is probably too old now. Fabian Johnson? Maybe, but I like him at left mid, and it would hurt the winger depth. Hopefully someone can make it obvious, like Farrell or Chance Myers. I believe JK is committed to Gonzalez/Besler, and I'm okay with that, but what about the two backups? It's not at all clear, but I'd be willing to think about Edu and Cameron as backups there and other positions as well.
THIS I like JFT, but his play is too slow. It's way too early to talk about Jurgen's legacy, but I'd wager that one part of it will be an increase in our speed of play. Connecting that idea to the GUA game, I absolutely LOVED the speed of play from Stu and Mixx.
To be fair, I will say that JFT was playing with a midfielder who looked and played like a stoner at Bonnaroo. Stuart and Mix were playing off each other well, as creative as JFT was, having Beckerman in there, it was like he was playing alone, and pensively. I still would like to see a Torres/Holden mid, and subbing in Mix to run at tired legs and destroy dreams. I think the only way Torres is going to bring up his speed of play is if he plays with a more dynamic mid.
I think another advantage of LD playing more centrally was it allowed him and Beaz to feed off each other. Even w/ Beaz playing fullback and Landon at w/drawn forward, they were looking for each other. As I said in another thread, those 2 guys have a chemistry that has been under exploited in the course of their NT careers. If a byproduct of whatever scheme we're running is to give those guys a chance to combine, then that's a good byproduct. Aside: I don't think EJ is in competition w/ Donovan&Zusi as much as w/ Brek. That's the real battle. And, I think EJ, given Breks minutes, would have similarly lit it up. Possibly scored. To me, right now, its -------------------------------Jozy -------------------------------Demps -----FJ--------------------------------------------------Zusi -------------------------Bradley------X Beaz--------------Gonzo--------------Besler--------Evans/Parkhurst X= Jones, Cam, Holden, Edu in that order. With 3 of those 4 going. Expecting Holden to skip over Cam, but not giving him that slot yet. Donovan could play in the FJ/Demps/Zusi roles. And, could, currently be bumping one of those guys. The battles: EJ is battling Shea for an outside mid spot. If Dono moves to w/drawn forward, then we could take both EJ and Brek Jones, Cam, Stu, Mo for the 2,3,4 CM spots. Parkhurst & Evans for the "if Cherundolo & Chandler can't go" RB spot. Though, there's an outside chance that Parky has a great year next year and claims it. If Chandler ever decides to get on a plane again, he'll be in the mix. Cherundolo could start at RB or not make the team, And, Herc holding on for the backup to Jozy spot. I'd prefer it if someone w/ more size got that spot. (and I've always been a huge Herc fan).
I agree that the RB spot is currently the most open spot on the roster, which is funny because a while back, I would have thought RB as our DEEPEST position. I trusted Cherundolo, Chandler, Parkhurst and Cameron as our top 4, with the prospect of Lichaj always a possibility. I actually like the Fabian at RB idea. He played there against Mexico last year. The more Beasley plays LB, the more comfortable I am with him there. If Beasley can hold down the LB spot, it opens Fabian up to play elsewhere. While I've enjoyed Fabian in the midfield, I think Landon's return mitigates the need for it. There are lots of other potential wingers that can emerge/reemerge, like Shea, Bedoya, and Johannsson. Regardless of position, Fabian has a place in the XI though. It's great having a versatile player like him.
Morales? You're going to rank him higher than Beckerman without even seeing him play in significant minutes?
You're right. Depending on how you look at it though Jones, Cameron and Edu all play a more defensive role while Bradley(and now Stu) go forward and provide the linkage between the forwards and midfielders. I consider the three mentioned DM's but you're right, under the US system they don't necessarily act as traditional midfielders. Anyways, if you're looking at those three and just those three as DM's then Beckerman has to follow them directly on the totem poll and quite frankly, I rate Beckerman higher than Edu.
I like Beckerman in MLS, and I like that he knows and plays within role on the national team. But I guess my point is that even if all three of those DMs were out, I wouldn't start Beckerman. I would rather play another CM out of position, like Bradley or Stu. I also would rather play Edu, but we'll have to agree to disagree on that one! That being said, I hope he does well at the Gold Cup. Since I don't think Beckerman will make the World Cup squad and he's not getting any younger, I think this really is his chance to have an impact in games that matter.
Beckerman wasn't that bad. But comparing him to Holden is like comparing an above-average MLS midfielder to one of the better CMs in the EPL. Oops...was that too obvious?
Donovan has always been better than Zusi. I love Zusi's contributions, but Donovan was better than him a day after he got back from Cambodia. If Holden is fit, he's better than Jones. I think there's a way to play all three, but that might not be optimal. The real question you should ask is with Altidore what do we do with Donovan and Holden?
If neither can play wide (Donovan is a possibility, Dempsey cannot in Jurgen's system IMO) you drop Altidore to the bench. Simple.
What is up with all the hate on EJ? He offers a nice alternative to Zusi and in most cases, especially if Donovan is on the pitch, I'd rather have GAM Zusi: Better crosser, final ball and defender EJ: Better dribbler, 50/50 ball-winning, pace, goal-scoring
Altidore is on form for the Nats so he should stay in the starting XI. So should Dempsey for obvious reasons. Zusi is playing well so he's earned the right to lose the spot imo. Same for FJ so Landycakes should come off the bench. Eventually you can drop Evans and move FJ to RB freeing up Zusi to go on the left. Which leaves the right open for Landycakes. Other than that, let him sit. The team is going well. Don't mess with it for right now. Give the typical starters a chance to simmer down then consider adjustments, methinks.
This side could make the WC Semis --------Dempsey------Donovan-------- F. Johnson----------------------Holden ------------------Bradley--------------- ------------------Cameron-------------- Beasley----Besler----Brooks--Chandler -------------------Howard-------------- Altidore E. Johnson Zusi Jones Cherundolo Gonzalez Guzan Gomez Edu Castillo John Rimando
I thought Shea was heading back to Stoke. I was surprised when he was subbed in. Start Stu or Mix over Beckerman for Christ's sake. And start Shea over Castillo.
In my opinion, our best player is Donovan and our best midfielder is Jones, and you don't have either listed. That's actually...awesome. It's fun to have good players playing well. Before the Belgium game, I said I thought our GC team would have a good shot at beating the lineup Klinsi trotted out from the wcq camp. I know Guat isn't Belgium, but I'd say that crew who was out there in the 2nd half would have taken it to the '1st team' that faced Belgium. In the spirit of the silliness of a 6-0 win, and in homage to the years of absurd "Reyna to left back" posts, I'm going to say I would love, just once, to see Landon put at outside back. Toss him in at right back for Parkhurt. He's great defending wide, and the thought of him running overlaps and sending in crosses is pretty entertaining.
Jozy up top, Dempsey right behind him. Donovan on one wing, one of Holden (TBD how effective he'd be on the flank)/Zusi/Shea/Castillo/FJ on the other. Bradley and one of Holden/Cameron/Jones at CM. Holden definitely needs to start somewhere, just a question of if it's at CM or out wide. He's better in the middle, but the guy who replaces him at CM would also be better than the guy who replaces him on the wing. If Shea can nail down a starting job and have a good season at Stoke he's your LM, which frees Holden up to partner Bradley....Jones on the bench, Cameron on the bench or at RB.
Well that was fun. My question: has our b team ever routed anyone that bad? I know we have some massive wins in early wcq like 8-0 v Barbados in 2008 and some 6-0 score lines in the semis (v Cuba and panama). But I cannot recall our second line guys ever putting the hurt on a team that intensely. Or perhaps with LD in there we can't really call it the b team?