Marcus had a great game but as everyone has said his distribution is horrid Marshall looked like he deserves to be there and Conrad deserves some more looks Convey was alright, nothing great but solid GAM created some good chances but how did he not even get that header n goal?? I hope to never see Vanney and Twellman in a US shirt ever again. Twellman=Kreis
The result isn't a big deal really...new team not used to each other, wet pitch, sloppy game overall. Hahnemann showed well. As did Marshall. Other than that, the only thing I can say is that I would have really liked to have seen Cunningham play longer. He may not have looked good, but the lack of service and the reasons listed above contributed. Certainly no worse than Twellman. Hopefully there will be more chances down the road.
He might have looked a bit different if he was on the field with the first team.. Better service, etc...
Oh, and Quaranta did suck tonight. He wasn't average. He sucked. A big suck. Justin Mapp just saw the door crack open.
That was just lack of familiarity with his teammates. He's constantly lauded for great distribution with Reading.
Boca, Gibbs, and Marshall are all suitable starters. Conrad has a tendency to hack too much for my taste. Berhalter gets beat in the air too much and lacks pace. Thank goodness you only need 2 CBs .
Really??? I thought I'd seen some complaints on their boards about him booting the ball to no one in particular a little too much
That was not fun to watch. IMHO Tino and Dempsey were the two worst players on the field. They could not hold the ball, they did not get quality balls into the forwards. Dempsey should not be assigned play-making duties and Quaranta needs a lot of improvement before he can even displace Ralston on the depth chart. I'm no vanney fan but he didn't do enough to get dumped on. Twellman's touch was blatantly, and unusually, bad. Other than that I have a hard time placing too much blame on the forwards because service from the midfield was almost non-existent. Honestly I think the whole team had problems controlling and moving the ball well. Mastroeni played well, the one save from Marcus was beatiful. Other than that not much to say.
eddie johnson looked great besides the missed header. I wouldn't have even known he missed a game if i just came out from under a rock all summer.
So kicking the ball all the way down the field to the other goalie might be great in the cola but not in the international level.
Well... just proves that an entirely new first 11 was probably not Arena's best idea so far. Without a little bit of consistency and cohesion, your guys don't have much of a chance to prove themselves. That said... my player evaluations on the night, from about the 25th minute on when the cut into the match. Hahnemann: Helps himself make the squad Albright: Certainly not a good game, but hardly anybody had a good game... doesn't help himself. Still very much on the outside looking in. Combine that with the kind of game Hejduk had and he's got no complaints if he's left behind. Marshall: Kinda sloppy but no major mistakes, dominates his man in the air, uses the body well, doesn't look too out of place... helps his cause some on a sloppy night Conrad: Ditto to a lesser degree. Vanney: Proves decisively for the umpteenth time that he's got no business putting on a red, white, and blue shirt. Convey: Until the subs come on he's the only field player out there who looks like he actually belongs in this game. Shows he a pro. Mastroeni: Not a great job captaining the middle but doesn't hurt his chances of being selected. Dempsey: Just embarrassed those who call for his inclusion. He'll probably get a couple more chances to screw up before being left home. Time to straighten up and fly right, Clint... Quaranta: Didn't help his cause one iota. Probably didn't hurt it much either, but he's gotta take advantage of the chances he gets. Twellman: Good work ethic, slow decision-making, poor finishing. When you gonna learn, son? If he's gonna make it he'll need to do a lot more proving than he did tonight, and hope Arena's feeling generous about giving him another chance. Cunningham: Certainly didn't help his cause. Even EJ's miss aside he proved why he's behind EJ in the depth chart. Notice how much more cohesive the attack looked when EJ and Donovan came in? That just made all those kids on the bubble (ie DEMPSEY) look really bad.
haven - did you see the same game I saw? If Twellman had a touch he may be an ok player for the Nats. However, he can not even trap a ball. What foul are you talking about on Conrad? Convey was our best player in the first half. He wore down but how could he have hurt himself?
Well, since I SPECIFICALLY F'ING NOTED HIS LACK OF FAMILIARITY WITH HIS TEAMMATES, I suspect he was trying to launch quick counters, but Cunny and TT didn't know where to be.
Is Clint being mentored by the other Clint? Looks like he's working his way out of the pool, although it's still too early to completely write him off. Part of the problem in the attack was that there was no creative engine. Bobby had some nice runs and got a few crosses in, but where are the finishers?GAM is getting close, but is not quite there. TT has a nice work rate, but it seems like he's pressing too hard in order to make something happen. OK everyone, a one and a two and a... VANNEY SUCKS! Chad may not be selected for '06, but the promise is there. Conrad was decent as well. Albright did some decent things, but had one or two misteps. Jeff like TT was playing with a lot of pressure to produce. He didn't seem comfortable, but some of that may have had to do with lack of chemistry. Mastro was OK. Quaranta is a bit too predictable with his moves, but he deserves more time. MH looked good- he seems intent on locking in on the 2nd spot. I've heard that LD has actually been on holiday in Hawaii. The guy on the field the last few games is an android replacement who doesn't quite get it. Steve went in to say hello to everyone.
Yep. I was sorry to see him leave because he looked likely to score. It was pretty frustrating watching Quaranta send balls over the top that seemed kinda sorta intended for Cunningham but that were always 20 yards too deep.
Blah. I'm going to bed now, as I should have an hour ago. We're still going to Germany. I hope Dempsey's enjoyed his time with the National team.
i saw a team that obviously had never played together. twellman looks like he needs more time to see if he can adapt to this level of play. marshall looks like he could push berhalter and pope out of a spot at centerback, its nice to see we have another centerback who is good in the air
agree, except EJ missing the gimme header was gawd aweful. 3 v 2 and to screw up an easy header . . I almost tackled my TV after watching chance after chance missed because of their lack of focus. Twellman had the second biggest fcuk up on that cross where he decided to spaz-out and go for a field goal from the 7 yards out. And as for that unlucky guate strike off the post . . .I don't even want to know what I would've done if that went in and we actually lost this POS game. Gun shots maybe . . .
Hahnemann, Convey, Marshall, Conrad & Albright were solid IMHO. Dempsey, Twellman, Cunningham, & Quaranta were disappointing. Vanney SUCKED!!!!! One game does not "make or break" a USMNT career & I'd like to see this same group, with the exception of Vanney, in the final 2 WCQs to make a more honest assessment. I was VERY disappointed that EJ was not able to finish that header (GREAT cross from Landon) but I think it's pretty obvious that he's simply not 100% yet. Happy with the point. Fairly satisfied with the team performance, which got better as the game wore on IMHO.