A curler would have brought the ball very close to the keeper. Only way a ball had a chance of getting to Arriola would have been a diagonal ball into Arriola's path, and that would have been a 50/50 that would have given the defender time to close on PA.
Yeah maybe here but not down in Colombia; the police have to surround the players during corner kicks and shield them. Family atmosphere my butt. Wife is Colombian. Married 32 years. They're the ones who told me to watch the game; I figured it would be a lot worse because the US just isn't playing well. But I didn't think it was that bad; I feel bad there were no goals and people paid good money to sit in the stands. And it was the American players I saw on tv signing the little Colombian-American girl's big birthday poster. I'm sure some Colombian players did too but that was some great PR.
https://dallascityhall.com/departments/humanresources/DCH Documents/pdf/CompClass_PolicePaySchedule_AttachB.pdf https://www.joinlapd.com/salary Adjusted for the cost of living, Dallas police are far better off. There are always excuses as to why California has problems performing basic services for citizens while administrators rake in ridiculous salaries. This place needs competitive politics very badly. Texas was so much better run in nearly every area, and its not a competition whatsoever. https://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/los-angeles/ This place is full of some of the best human capital in the world and they can’t even figure out how to manage the water supply they screwed up.
I’d call in both Zendejas and Arriola for the nations league. Cade Cowell just made the Olympic team.
Yes, we were field level and the Colombian players came over to where we were. Obviously the American TV cameras will be focused on the American players, who were definitely classy and family-oriented despite the fans. Zimmerman and another player brought their babies with them as they signed. Very cool. We have some good guys.
Status after Jan. Camp: First, I just put players in 3 categories — attackers (who responsible for scoring), midfielders(2 ways) and defenders. Stock ups for NOT showing in the camp: Booth, Milhalovic and Parades. Stock ups for showing in the camp: Cowell. Then there are no much change for all others.
Robinson had a bad day making bad decisions. I didn't doubt his ability at the level. A bad game in itself doesn't necessarily tell you anything. I honestly do not believe that Tolkin is going to give Robinson a run for his money. Perhaps Sam Vines.
Tolkin doesn't even need to make an excuse for a bad day. He posted a solid 7 rating in the metrics. And according to the gaffer who set the players up, Tolkin apparently did very well in what he was asked to do, in addition to in camp. Thus he's in line to carry over to March (deservedly so).
I don't know what argument you're attempting to win. If you're attempting to argue that Tolkin is primed to challenge for a real first team spot or to seriously impact the important end of the depth chart then I really don't know what to tell you. If we've got depth issues then maybe we can discuss it. That wasn't an eye-opening game by any means.
He already will be, apparently. Then challenging for the XI would be the next step. He's only 20, so we can give that situation time to develop. If he's already not as good as or better than Robinson doesn't say much for his future. ARob himself wasn't our starter until he was 24. Tolkin's 1 of 3 or 4 serious challengers to his spot by the end of this cycle.
I guess that explains it. I didn't think anyone could consider the notion Colombia is a poor man's Brazil, in the sport of football at least, a controversial statement. Proof is in their comparative accomplishments - 21 major titles to 1.
With respect, it sounds much like you're only seeing what you want to see, and drawing some very big conclusions from a reasonable performance in a C-level match. Take care.
I mean, that is a projection. I quoted the manager who knows what he asked of his own players. Then he's indicating he's carrying over to next camp, so he is #2 or 3 on the depth. God bless.
While I question the need for this camp, it was pleasant to see that most of the callups looked at least competent. THe SErbs and the Columbians are probably the best opponents we've played in a January window in a while.
The whole "We simply must get a look at Eryk WIlliamson before making the World Cup roster!" crowd, rightly or wrongly, has taken up the banner for Tolkin.
What a silly false equivalence. Tolkin was even named the best lb in the world 20 and under by one metric. He didn't just play but excelled at 19-20 this past season, doesn't have a glaring flaw, reportedly has interest to around 5m from some solid club in Europe right now, and did well in everything that was actually asked of him on Saturday. Ignorance doesn't make you more informed.
I really appreciate Arriola. The dude works his ass off and has an unbelievable motor. I agree he's often in very good position and seems to be a very smart player. It's just that last bit of additional skill with the ball at his feet that he's missing. This might seem out of left field, but I wonder if they've ever considered trying him out at LB. These two matches were kind of like a spring training baseball game. Lots of young guys from the minors happy to get a look. A few vets vying for a spot. A few gave reasons to pique some interest but drawing conclusions on anyone that we really haven't seen before is pretty dangerous.
The selection of players at the January camp has changed somewhat. January camp used to be more about getting players who could contribute a little now, so it featured players who typically had a few years as MLS starters under their belt and might have had lower ceilings. It seems to be much more about scouting future prospects now. If we were going by the same mentality as a decade ago, then Jalen Neal (yet to make MLS debut) and Paxten Aaronson (not yet a MLS starter) would not be anywhere near this camp. Instead we might see guys like Justen Glad, Andrew Gutman, and Brian White, and/or players like Jeremy Ebobisse and Brooks Lennon brought back for another look.
In the end one of our biggest issues at the World Cup was lack of depth at the 8 and fullback positions. This was exacerbated by LDLT clearly not being fit and good to go (as since he’s gotten more fit he’s starting to establish himself as a starter in La Liga), Tolkin is one of our best options at left back. He may or may not be good enough. But we very much need to give him some run to find out. Williamson is one of the options at the 8. There are others too, but we need to look at them all and see who are the ones who are capable of playing minutes at a World Cup behind McKennie and Musah. Berhalter clearly didn’t trust Roldan for this purpose and he felt like he had to roll the dice on LDLT. And McKennie was coming in not fit and not able to go 90. So yes we should have taken longer looks at Williamson, Pomykal, etc. They may not have been good enough. But we already know that to be the case about the backup 8s that we did take.
I think it’s a mixture. We had vets from the last cycle, a few MLS and other non top 5 leagues players that have looked like useful players but haven’t had a chance, and a few up and comers (projections).
It's also hard to read too much into this particular January camp, which was run by an interim coach and where the team didn't have much of a lead up in camp together compared to past years. Last year's January camp was primarily a fitness camp for MLS players for qualifying later in the month. The 2021 camp was very focused on Olympic eligible players because they had qualifying that March. What January camp is, will very much depend on where we are in the cycle. It will also probably depend on whoever the coach is, as different coaches are probably going to use it differently. We're also in a bit of an odd spot with alot of the MLS player pool, given that so many guys have gone abroad in recent years. You also have a bit of gap between the MLS vets (Zimmerman, Arriola, Roldan, etc) and a bunch of mostly U23 or younger players. That middle generation has mostly jumped to Europe. What's going to happen over the next four years is that most of the MLS veterans from this cycle are probably going to be phased out, and a new wave of MLS veterans are going to be phased in. And we play a ton of tournaments as it is between now and 2026. We have three Nation's Leagues, two Gold Cups, a Copa America, an Olympics, and likely 2 U20 World Cups. The European guys aren't going to be playing in all those tournaments, and January camp is helpful for building depth for when they aren't available.
I think he would be good at it but he's too good at attacker in MLS to make a switch. If he goes back to Europe it would be a good idea.
Problem was Pomykal and Williamson were both coming off major injuries and probably couldn't be counted on staying healthy or getting lots of minutes in a tournament setting. Way too many injuries last cycle.
People who are inclined to view MLS vets going abroad as failures, deemed his stint at Swansea as such. But the game I watched, he looked solid in isolation. And he was miscast as a second striker in their system. He needs and thrives on space, first off. So he should be playing outside. And if anything he should be moving back in the field. His best position is probably wing-back (on the right) using speed + effort to recover on d, then trailing to join the attack. He can overlap and send in crosses from space. At Swansea I was actually intrigued by that move they played a system w/ wing-backs. Then for whatever reason they used him centrally in an attack position. Plus he got hurt. So we can't read much in to his stint there.
Williamson was coming off the ACL tear and it definitely hurt his chances. But he was definitely healthy for the September camp leading up to the World Cup and for the tournament itself. Pomykal also has been unlucky with injuries over the last cycle, but he was pretty much healthy for most of 2021 and all of 2022. He played in 31 of 34 MLS games in 2021 and 33 of 34 in 2022. 2020 and to a less extent 2019 was when he really missed time. And again, it's very possible they wouldn't have been good enough either. But we already know that Roldan wasn't and that LDLT wasn't really fit to go.