well i dont think that EJ is as great as some ppl here think he is, but Once you get past Mcbride, we really dont have a out and out (good) foward to go to on this level. He's the only guy that may eventually step up into that role, but he's not there yet
I believe that the previous poster was overreacting a bit. He really should have put that header away. For as crappy as that Guat goalkeeper was tonight and during the Gold Cup, a simple header at his feet across the goalmouth would have sufficed as opposed to trying to pinpoint a shot in the corner of the goal.
Buy: convey Sell: vanney, twellman and balboa Hold: Marshall, Q, and Cunny, i feel sorry for the guy cause he had to play with twellman, probably would have scored if tt wasnt in the way.
If you watched (or listened) to the game you have to say Cunningham had the goal, but for TT not being aware enough to get the F outta the way.
Hey Casper, those are my opinions and if you don't like em . . . . .go fly a KITE!!! Manage your own portfolio I'll manage mine. Anyway, If he gets back into form he'll be on the WC squad. This was Guate, not Mexico. Is that better dark knight?
I've got some land in Antarctica to sell to all you jokers holding or buying TT. JP to Balboa: "Does he hustle enough or do enough off the ball that it doesn't really matter if he scores?" LOL.
Sell: Greg Vanney. Sell, Sell, Sell, Sell, Sell. NOW. And Twellman Hold: Albright, Dempsey. Albright had a much better outing than Dempsey, but its between him and Hedjuk and i'm more comfortable w/ Frankie. Also hold Cunningham-- The only time I saw him playing his game was right before he was about to be subbed out. He looked invisible for a lot of the time but he wasnt getting service. Neither of the forwards were getting great service. Right now though Arena's looking for a forward he can start and count on to make his presence felt even if he doesnt score. Josh Wolff might still have that spot. I don't think Cunningham and Twellman can play together either, because he needs someone to hold the ball that he can run off of. Twellman doesnt really play that game. Twellman's not McBride no matter what Balboa was trying to tell us. Buy: Marshall, Conrad, and Quaranta. In that order. I think we'll see Marshall in the Qualifiers from here on out. Possibly w/ Conrad. I think he proved he can play at this level and he wins out over Conrad b/c he's younger and faster. There's only one centerback spot open and I think they're both going to be fighting for it. Quaranta did not have one of his better games, but you know I don't think it was a bad game. He was really the only guy in the midfield besides Masteroni who was making an effort to hold the ball, slow the game down, spread it around, and relieve pressure. Those are his strengths and I think that puts him above all the other young midfielders because they don't have that tactical sense. Particulary Dempsey. I really do want to see him starting at right mid more before I put him as the starter over Ralston. And I think the thing we all need to take into account is that when he came on late earlier this summer he was also surronded by a better midfield. Take out Dempsey and put him w/ JOB or Reyna and I think he has a much better game. But I thought that he did manage the game very well --- he hung back a lot filled the gaps and made good tactical decisions.
Buy - Bobby Convey. He is not a fringe player any more. This guy is dangerous from all over the field. His free kicks were Mathis-like. He can make a run at an opponent and hit some lovely crosses. He was a head and shoulder over everyone on the field today. Hold - Chad Marshall He wins everything in the air. He made little mistakes. He needs to get some more experience in the National Team jersey but he is going to be doing very good things in the future. I can see a move to Europe in the cards for him. Sell - Satino Quaranta. I just do not see him as a right midfielder. Does he play some striker as well? He is too one dimensional on the right flank. I hope Mapp gets a shot or Beasley will be manning the right flank in Germany.
BUY- convey, marcus, conrad HOLD- TT, marshall (want to see more from both) SELL- vanney...hands down. forza inter
Buy: Chris Albright. Is it possible that he goes as the backup RB and Hejduk as the backup LB? Sell: Vanney. See above comment about Hejduk. I'm thinking Lewis goes as the starter at LB. Hold: Cunningham. I wanted to see a through ball played on the ground. Never got it.
I'm not completely sold on this whole Sonny Quaranta thing. He had a good summer in the Gold Cup (really didn't even play that many minutes) and has played reasonably well for D.C., but a lock or semi-lock for Germany? Don't know.
Buy : Convey (has it ever been in question?), Marshall (long-term, though not sure if he'll make it to Germany'06), Hahnemann. Hold : Quaranta (he didn't play horribly but he didn't do what a flanker should ... not playing the position at DC is holding him back), Cunningham (IMO, he needs either a target forward to partner with or see a lot of through balls ... tonight, he got neither), Dempsey (played hard but just too raw for the World cup) Sell : Conrad (looked too stiff, showed less than average ball control and distribution, got turned in his box on the 90th min ... tsk, tsk), Albright (too slow out of the back, doesn't read the game all that well, lazy passing), Twellman (didn't work with Jeffro well, slow on the turn, missed another chance, won too small of a percentage of high balls even against a mediocre Guat team). I won't mention Vanney because he was a left-flank filler and not a serious candidate. Now I want to see a coterie of the Euro based Yanks : Spector, West, Philipakos, Demerit, Pierce, Corrales, Feilhaber, Russell ... or at least, 2-3 of them.
BUY He was unbeatable through the air. He's got a big body and has good speed for a guy his size. He doesn't get beat much and didn't tonight. SELL Just not impressed by him. Time and time again he made bad runs, bad passes and just bad decisions. He was not in good position very often and hurt the attack more than helped it. I can't remember the last good game he played for the USMNT. He needs a lot of seasoning. HOLD 55 minutes is not enough time for him. I'd like to see him again. I think he would have put away that shot that EJ sent wide.
Buy - Chad Marshall. Was very solid all game long and, of course, dominant in the air. Surprisingly fast for a big guy and plays smart and simple. This kid is like Gooch 2.0. Imagine those two on set pieces. (I also think Chris Albright, Marcus Hahnemann - despite the woeful distribution - and Jimmy Conrad helped their causes tonight.) Sell - Greg Vanney. I hate to pile on, but Vanney was atrocious tonight and it comes after a string of subpar games. When the coach converts someone from a differnet position to yours and starts him ahead of you, it's never a good sign. And when you dont' respond with a good game, that ain't a good sign either. Vanney's first cap came in a meaningless qualifier against Guatemala in 1996 so it seems somehow appropriate that another such game be his last cap. (Jeff Cunningham also just looks like he is out of place at this level. Love the guy in MLS, but I don't see him getting many more chances with the Nats.) Hold - Santino Quaranta. Admitedly, he didn't show much tonight but he pinches in centrally to show for the ball a lot for a wide mid, he uses his size well and he tracks back and works hard on D. He has the attacking skills and I'm willing to give him more games to show them. (I also think Taylor Twellman showed enough to warrant another couple looks but he needs to start putting the ball in the hole or that's it.)
Buy: Convey, Albright, Hanneman Sell: Vanney, Twellman, Dempsey (sorry man...maybe 2010) Hold: Cunningham
BUY: Steve Ralston Nobody out there tonight showed that they're going to take his starting position. I'd like to see Donovan or Reyna on the right side in Germany (I prefer Donovan in midfield rather than forward) but I expect Ralston is in at this point. I think Convey is also heading to Germany, but he'll probably get mired behind Beasley and Lewis as left-side-backup-guy. HOLD: Jeff Cunningham Not sold on him, but it would be nice to see if he's got any more chemistry with Brian McBride than he did with Taylor Twellman. Hard to tell from tonight's game. SELL: Greg Vanney
Analyst Report Taylor Twellman (OTC.OB: TT) SELL: TT is too slow, with insufficient skill and, fatally, plays far too obviously to be of any help in Germany. A target man that with a first touch of stone and no field vision might have chance if he can finish. TT can't finish at the WC level, as Balboa alluded to, because the game moves to fast for his feet and brain. TT is a great guy and work extremely hard, but that is just not enough. Brian Ching, when he gets healthy, is next in line for the McBride back-up spot. Bruce is worhty of praise for admitting that the team needs to improve by next summer. Let's hope that means more experimentation with young guys with upside. We all know what Vanney, Twellman, Ralston, et al bring to the table and it's not enough to make a difference next summer. We need to see what the young blood in MLS and in Europe can add to the mix.
I'm wondering if Cunningham is similar to GAM in that he needs good, consistent service to really take advantage of his talents?
As with pretty much everyone else, I'd sell Vanney, for the obvious reasons. As for the rest...TT was disappointing but I liked his hustle while harassing defenders and his ability to win the ball in the air. To be honest, I was much more disappointed with Cunningham, by and large. However, IMO, it's unfair to judge many who played today because they played in a completely unfamiliar B squad. I'd like to see what they could do with Donovan, Reyna, etc. feeding the ball as well before making definitive judgements, especially given the bad field conditions/
Buy: Convey - he's getting better and better and it appears his confidence is growing. He'll be ready after a full season for Reading. He won't be a starter but he may get a chance to provide some late game spark in the WC. His versatility is also a plus. This would be an even better buy if we weren't so well-stocked at LM. Sell: Vanney... enough has been said about him. Hold: Quaranta - I was horrified by his performance tonight, but I can't give up on him just yet. I have seen him really hang with the first team and combine well with them, but he must have been really pressing tonight.
Buy : Conrad. Guatemala performance on top of Gold Cup and you have a player that's risen to those challenges. Agreed that Pope's spot is up for grabs. Conrad won't start in Germany, but he has great potential to have a future role with the Nats, hence buy. Hold : Convey. Convey's going to Germany due to general form, but against Guatemala he was a spaz. All kinetic energy, stunted passes, silly fouls. It was like watching Hejduk minus the reggae beat. Blame some of that on the ad hoc, unfamiliar cast of tryouts, but watching Convey last night was painful. Sell : This isn't Black Thursday, 1929, but...sell Albright, sell Vanney, sell Cunningham. Albright getting one memorable cross off is alright and all, but he had an equally horrendous lazy fat header right to the middle of his own goal that 9 times out of 10 gets buried in the back of the net. Slow, loses his mark, just a plain disaster waiting to happen.
Buy : Marshall. Goochesque performance solidified the defense impressively. I'm not sure he makes the final 23 but he sure made a run at it last night. Hold : Convey. I thought Convey was inconsistent against the Guats. He made some outstanding plays and some rather crappy ones in the match though I was very impressed with his creativity -- it seemed clear that our left flank was the more dangerous (when ball would actually make it to midfielders) and he was the reason why imo. Sell : Dempsey. I've heard two things in favor of clint -- one that he plays consistent for 90 minutes (or 89) and two that he has that certain something like Mathis. I agree and disagree. Yes, he played consistent for 90 minutes -- consistently terrible. He gave our offense no shape and provided essentially no creative passing to set up our forwards and was frequently dispossessed. When he shifted to right wing, he played even poorer that Tino and his "cross" was shameful. While I agree that he has the spunk of Mathis the comparison ends there -- he is a much harder worker but a player that has failed to demonstrate anywhere near the upside on an international level that Mathis ha[d]. I don't think Dempsey scores that cracker jack against Korea or really provides any danger outside the 18 for defenses to worry about -- his strength could be his tenacity and aggressiveness but it simply has not been successful at this level. The position that it would seem to me he may be best suited for at this level is DMid if he can work on his tackling and possession abilities -- at this juncture he is certainly not and Amid or right wing. At this point, it seems to me he is on the outside looking in for Germany.
Buy: Hahnemann, Albright, Convey (I guess) Hold: Cunningham (saddled w/ bogus early yellow, Twellman blocked his shot on open goal), EJ (good running, bad finishing), Marshall (good in air, slow on ground) Sell: Twellman, Dempsey, Vanney, Quaranta --Atrocious finishing by Twellman. Atrocious "no look" wall passes by Twellman--how many did he give away on that alone? --Atrocious crossing by Quaranta. Moon balls to Jupiter. Not a single dangerous cross in the air. --Atrocious, flat-footed defending by Vanney. --Atrocious hubris by Dempsey. Gave the ball away time and again with his patented slide-the-ball-behind-the-defender-and-pressure-him move that now has no one fooled. Bad passing, too. About all we got out of this is that Marcus Hahnemann is a capable shot-stopper and should be on the bench in Germany, Albright is probably going to be on the bench as Hejduk's backup (at least), and Convey is going to try to force himself on the team bus somewhere and might make it. As a Revs fan, it pains me to say it, but Dempsey and Twellman were playing in their own little worlds and did themselves a lot of harm in this match.
Buy- Convey. His last two games have been the best of his career. Here's hoping he continues his climb. Sell- Cunningham. We don't need what he brings. Plus, there's no excuse for standing around rather than pressuring their backs. Hold- Albright. Nice game. A couple of sloppy passes in our defensive third though. Need to see him against better competition. Too bad Ruiz was out.