Just off tonight's performance there are some guys that BA needs to call in Mapp (he could solve a lot of problems on the right and yes I know he primarily plays on the left but I think he is good enough to warrant a game or two) Spector (time to bring him in) Barrett (uh....he has to be better than Vanney) Adu (he AT LEAST deserves a look in a camp as he has played very well lately for DC)
Are you talking about Chad Barrett? For Greg Vanney? I thought Spector filled that. Barrett's not even the best American forward on the Fire.
i want some sort of battle royale between tino, mapp, and adu on the right. somebodys got to want it. im not a big proponent of mapp there, but tino needed to do more. ...hes still better than ralston, though.
I would like to see more from Connor Casey. There are some players in MLS who are raising their stock right now, such as Mapp.
there are like 5 things wrong with the premise and content of this thread................Never mind. What happened to the Agassi-Blake match is the REAL question.
do you realize usa went to a rerun at like 5-4 in the 5th set, in the midwest they did anyway. One of the worst calls ever. USA should hire that FEMA guy to make better decisions.
Adu is not a winger. not in a 3-5-2 or a 4-4-2. He is best as a A-mid and next as a more withdrawn forward. A distant third would be out on the wing....and its pretty distant.
need a right mid? How do I make 100 point, flashing type again? because if I could, I'd do that to these two words: BRIAN MULLAN.
Here are a few thoughts... Wade Barrett...the guy has been called in before. Was good went overseas then started to suck and has slowly improved. Certainly can't be worse than Vanney. Adu...let's face it one of the biggest problems tonight came from Dempsy's lack of creativity. I love the kid but he really doesn't have a place unless we play a 3-5-2....and even then I'm not sure. Adu is arguably the third best #10 in the league (if you count Donovan as a forward) It's unfortunate the 2nd best #10 is on Adu's own team. The kid isn't perfect...he's too small and makes mistakes but he has more creativity than Dempsy and for my money should be running the all-MLS team when Donovan doesn't. Martino...not for the usual #10 role he's played in the past but for a shot at RW. I still believe Santino has shown enough that he should be given a few more chances...but the position is still a serious weakness and if Santino can't be the answer perhaps Martino...who's been playing wing forward pretty well in a 433 might be the answer. Cunningham-Twellman...most of us hate one of these guys...but in my opinion both showed something. Twellman won a boatload of headers and distributed them in ways that should've been dangerous if only his teamates anticpated what he was doing. Cunningham looked very dangerous but always seemed to lose the ball. Serously both had their moments but looked uncomfortable...give them another chance and see if there are improvements...if not bring back the Ching-Wolff combo that we all know will never work but right now is better than Twellman-Cunningham Finally...West. I'm not even sure what position to play him...but he's always been fast and has been playing extremely well overseas. If he's a RW great if a forward great too...surely he deserves as much of a chance as anyone else on the bubble.
Spector... I'd much rather see Marvell Wynne but honestly I don't think either has a chance. Spuck Fector. Why wasn't Brad Davis part of the team? Or Ricardo Clark or Brian Mullan? You know, San Jose is the best team in MLS but none of their guys can even get a shot on the US team. Ching's the only one, and he's lost a lot of valuable time with injuries. Meanwhile, we get guys like Quaranta from out of nowhere who prove they're not ready yet.
I'll agree with a lot of what you were saying, but that boatload of headers Twellman was winning was against a far more undersized team than we'll ever see in the WC. A lot of us had wondered if an undersized back-to-goal guy like him would get many looks in on goal at a higher level of competition. Well the guy looks like he can't score them at the international level even when Guatemala's doing all they can to give him quality looks in. Cunningham? Certainly didn't impress me tonight. But the way this game was going (all over the place with no rhyme or reason to it whatsoever... not a tight defensive game, just a... non-game, really) I don't know that you can simply say he's done. We've seen this from Twellman before. The guy shows no ability to score at the international level. None. And you can't put him on the field against a big physical European squad on the basis of hard work and winning balls in the air because at his size he probably won't be winning those balls. Somebody please pack McBride in bubble wrap from here 'til June. PLEASE!
Davis is injured right now - pulled groin muscle. But your point on nobody from San Jose getting the call is one that we Quakes fans have pondered. Mullan, Clark, Eddie Robinson at central back, even Wade Barrett at left back. Any of them could have done as well as what we saw out on the field tonight. Throw in Ching and Davis when he gets healthy, and you'd have to think that at least 2 or 3 of these guys would get called in over the next few months.
I've been saying this for ages and hardly anybody until tonight was agreeing with me (aside from a couple of Quakes fans). He's not really a winger though. Not at the Nats level. More of a possession/distribution guy. Not really wide attack. Good guy to have in a game like we had the other day against Mexico, though.
not a winger? well, he doesn't play centrally, so that limits his options .... where did you see him playing. the man's a winger and a damn good one.
Yes he plays wide but his crossing limits his usefulness at the national team level as a wide attacker. Now withdrawn a bit as a possession holder... that's a totally different story. Ralston doesn't do any better, that's for sure. Believe me, I'm big on Mullan. This board doesn't have much of a bigger Mullan supporter than me. His strengths? Quick thinker. Holds the ball in a crowd better than anybody in MLS, period. Distributes quick and accurately. Plays a great one-touch game. Good first touch. Tough enough and competitive enough to mix it up. Wins balls well, and tracks back to win balls. Good work rate. Good enough speed to cover the touchline, but not enough speed to dominate it. Weakness? Not a great crosser of the ball. And not as good 1v1 as the wide attack guys ahead of him like Beasley or (I hate to say it) Quaranta. Quaranta brings a whole other 1v1 element that has Arena interested. Not sure for how long though. Tonight didn't help out his chances.
Amen. There are many Quakes who deserve a look. Maybe with the time change Arena doesn't seem them play enough??? I'm not sure, but Mullan, Robinson, Barrett, Clark, Davis, all deserve a shot. Ching I think would be out there if healthy. He played great in the first round of qualifying. Unlike Twellman, he scored goals. 2 big ones too.
I think at this point, a healthy Ching will displace Twellman. But I'd like to see a healthy Connor Casey compete for it. I'll say one more time, I think Mullan deserves a shot more than any of the guys that all seem to be off the radar right now. My favorite of the Quakes, and I think his game would translate to the national team quite well. But at that level I just don't see him as an out-and-out 1v1 attacking guy like Beasley... or Quaranta could be. He could certainly do what Ralston's doing better than Ralston's been doing it though. I doubt Barrett will get a shot, but surely he could do better than Vanney. Robinson's behind Marshall and Conrad in the pecking order I think. Clark just might be seriously considered for the next 2010 cycle. If he keeps playing like a house on fire through the playoffs I'll join the choir that sings the "Bring Clark not Armas" tune, too.
The biggest thing I took away from today's game is the lack of creativity and distribution we have in center midfield. Outside of JOB, Reyna, and Donovan and only one of them really bases their game on creating out of the midfield. Dempsey does not play this role. Passing, controlling a game from the center, tatical awarness, and making the game run through him are not his strengths. Neither of the forwards got service today from balls being played from the center of the midfield. I honestly think that Masteroni played more balls to the forwards making runs or even just up to them in general than Dempsey did. So building on that I think we need to find an alternative to Dempsey for the fouth center midfielder spot and maybe two if JOB is injured come WC time. Looking at the American center mids in MLS and even Europe== you come across few. Kerry Zavagnin seems to have fallen off the radar. Benny Feilhaber, Jesse Marsch, and Kyle Martino are the only others I can think of. Feilhaber has the most potential, the question is just can he step up now or will he be ready in time? Marsch, I have always been impressed with, I think he's very underrated and could just be a very skilled late bloomer. Basically I think he would've brought more to today's game then Dempsey did. Martino is inconsistent. Sometimes he's the American Zidane, sometimes he's just nonexistent. I don't know he can handle the central midfield in the international game, but I think he deserves as much a chance as Dempsey. I think one of these three should be given a chance and personally I want Feilhaber cause I think he offers the most, but Marsch would be steady veteran leadership and Martino may just come good one of these days. Another guy is Clyde Simms who I also think would've been more effective than Dempsey. He really didnt have a good game. I think Arena originally imagined Dempsey as a right mid, but he didn't impress there and his balls to the wall attitude, always taking defenses on, dribbling skills, and goal scoring ability made Arena try turn him into a player who could fit into his system. Which he isn't unless in Arena's system he's on the wing. OR up top. Arena wants discipline, tactical nous, and responsibility in his central midfield. Dempsey doesn't exude any of those qualities. So we need alternatives to be investigated and blooded. Because I don't want to have to play a WC game where we have to start someone in central midfield due to injury who can't handle the responsibilty and doesn't have the ability to manage a game and deliver the ball to the forwards. I also think Arena plans on taking 5 central/defensive mids b/c there's cover elsewhere on the roster. For example I have Lewis and Convey as LB's. So the other side of the midfield coin is d-mid. And Armas. I can't stand Armas, I think he belongs on the roster about as much as Vanney, which is not at all. I want Ricardo Clark to have a shot and frankly I'd rather see Kerry Zavagnin playing than Armas in qualifiers. I also agree that Ching, Eddie Robinson, and Mullan are national team caliber. I don't know about Barrett and I don't think LB is open really. That's my two cents.