These are the kind of posts that just ruin BS. I mean actual information? C'mon. After watching Jeff here in Colorado I think he is exactly the kind of player that NATS need. Some speed up top. Scores, dishes assists, torments defenses. I dunno if he can stretch a defense like Josh though.
ghost is right. The only rule is that you take 3 GK's. People like to talk about taking 4 forwards, but it isn't a FIFA mandate. I'm still not convinced Arena doesn't take just 3 pure forwards, two of which would be CF/TF types. There are several formations that the US might well employ that only use one of the 'pure' forwards. Beasley plays wing forward for his club, he and Donovan up front in a 4-3-3 isn't a stretch by any means, with BMB or TT in the middle. Also a 4-5-1 with Donovan withdrawn behind BMB or TT isn't an unreasonable lineup. Or push Donovan up into a 4-4-2. The fourth 'pure' forward may well be 5 or 6 on the depth chart, so Arena may well elect to bring another defender or mid. Especially an M/F combo or a D/M combo, or even a LB that moves Lewis up into the midfield if necessary. Right now most people seem to be including Donovan, Beasley and Dempsey in their midfield. Every one of them plays significant minutes at forward at the club level, and they all have caps as a forward, except maybe Beasley (I just can't remember, I would think he does). Most people list, somewhere down their mid depth chart, Noonan who plays more forward the mid, Quaranta another M/F. And Arena has repeatedly said it's not the best 23 individual players. The deep roster spots, 21,22,23, need to bring some off the field strengths. Good team guys, good practice guys, good cheer leaders.
Re: Where is Wolff after last night? Exactly, the forwards job is to score goals. If Wolff is not scoring then find someone else.
interesting perspective. i can see a scenario or 2 where bruce compensates for a special case. josh wolff is not a special case.
Look pal, I've spent more time analyzing Jeff Cunningham's capabilities -- including charting actual game performances -- than you've spent on the P&CA board. One isolated statistic from MLS does not make an international forward. Brian McBride, for example, was not doing a whole lot of goal scoring in MLS just before the '02 finals, which led some of the geniuses on here to believe that he did not even BELONG on the squad, let alone start. Now tell me, how did that turn out? Jason Kreis is one of the top scorers in MLS history. Tell me, how did his national team career pan out? Any insight on that one? And then there's that great national team forward who, in many ways, most resembles Jeff Cunningham, Roy Lassiter. Boy, he scored in buckets in MLS. He sure had the cojones to -- ahem --put away a "game winning chance on the counterattack," eh?? Tell me, how did his WC performances go? Can you fill me on that? Oh, yeah, that's right. You're grounded in objective reality. Yeah. Right. Sure. Whatever you say. Keep on keepin' on.
Wolff is exactly where he was Friday morning. The #2 US "speed forward" behind a healthy Eddie Johnson. And, since EJ in still not match fit... There you go.
Jeffro quit being a candidate when he walked out of the stadium after being subbed out of the Rapids game by Clavijo. Bruce said at that time, without mentioning any specific names, that he is not interested in those who were not "team players". Since then Jeffro didn't have a sniff of the Nats. He was also traded by Colorado.
Wolff will be on the team. He had scored with the USMNT and at club level. His vision, speed, running to space, and passing means a lot to the team. Yes, I (like most) would like him to finish better. However, goal scoring oftens comes in bunches. At this moment, it's Twellman time.
Interesting stats...I would never have guessed that. What was interesting though was to look at the last two years. In that timeframe, the assists per 90 minutes is as follows: Landon - .46 Wolff - .37 JC - .18 We can argue for a long time about how far back you should look in a player's history to see whether that performance is indicative of current capabilities or not, but I would submit the last two years is more indicative. It's also interesting because that is the timeframe that Cunningham has NOT been a part of the US team (his last camp/cap was in 2003). The point that he wasn't give a chance is bunk. He was called into camp and did see some action (though limited) in 2002 and 2003. While his game time was limited, he was there in camp and got a good look by the coaching staff. Superdave makes the point of having JC come in for the quick counter when you are up by 1....Not sure why you are looking for the quick counter guy in that situation. What you are looking for is a guy who can help you keep possession and run down the clock. The example would be better if you were one down and needed a quick score. In either case, really, you want either Twellman or Wolff, both of whom can score and both of whom can help the team keep possession and are willing to track back on defense. NGV - those stats are interesting and I thank you for bringing data to the argument, it is always appropriate. It seems though that the stats are a bit skewed to Jeff's earlier years rather than his more current ones. BTW - I would NEVER look for Twellman or McBride to have very many assists. That, however, doesn't mean they are ball hogs like I accused Jeff of being. TnT and McB both score a lot of one touch goals, they are on the finishing end of crosses, etc. When they do receive the ball without a scoring opportunity it is much more of a hold the ball up and pass off to someone on the wings or help build up the offense; i.e. they have their back to the goal and are about 25-30 yards out and are looking for a safe pass. Jeff is much more of a 'create my own goal' type of player, in that respect he IS more like EJ and Wolff. Both EJ and Wolff, IMHO, involve their teammates much more than Cunningham and I would also rank BOTH of them as more skilled on the ball than Jeff. There isn't a lot of quantitative data to point to for that, but I'll take the judgement of the USMNT coaching staff on this one.
Re: Where is Wolff after last night? As of today: McBride Johnson Twellman! Wolff Rolfe Twellman may be pushing Johnson right now, and Rolfe is probably pushing Wolff. But I think it's possible that all five will go.
The US always seem to play well with Donovan, Wolff, and McBride in Combination together as each player brings something to the attack. When Wolff got injuried Arena tried guys like Ching and Casey together with little success. Mathis also was on his way out BS all called for EJ because we new that a speedster was needed on the field. Donovan is not really a speedster striker, but rather a fast withdrawn forward or ACM. The way Wolff plays the position makes his teammates better and opens up the field. I would have no problem with Wolff and Twellman starting again in a big game in the WC. I thought together they pressured the ball well.
Re: Where is Wolff after last night? OK..I doubt that BA will take 5 'true forwards'. With Landon able to move into the attack, he has his fifth, plus Dempsey has also played forward, albeit at the Club level, so can serve in a pinch. Frankly, I would put Noonan in front of Rolfe for that last spot, just because he is capable AND he can also play midfield. But I think both Rolfe and Noonan are probably on the outside looking in right now.
Re: Where is Wolff after last night? I will if you think about for a moment the ridiculousness of comparing Josh Wolf to Garrincha. Holy cow!
I think someone said it earilier. Wolff would be the best player on our team if he could finish. I always get excited when I see him in the starting lineup. If he could just finish,finish,finish. Look at Dempsey's goal from the Japan game, look how many defenders Wolff dragged out of position by his run across the box. That left Dempsey a clear walk in to the box unopposed. Yes, I am the first to get frustrated w/ Wolff, but he does create.
This is a great point. Wolff frustrates everybody, even his fans (myself included), with his inability to finish. But you can't knock Wolff's 'soccer IQ', which is great. Wolff has a high workrate, but he doesn't waste his energy; all of his runs have a specific purpose, and it's b/c Wolff sees the entire field as a big chessboard, rather than a series of 1v1 opportunities. That means so much in WC play, where ALL the defenders are big and fast. Simply put, the US doesn't have a Ronaldo or Ronaldinho to fake out three defenders and beat the keeper with a cheeky shot. We just don't. We beat people with tactics, smart ball movement, and smart off-the-ball runs that create limited windows for other players. Do you think Twellman is going to score in the WC without other players creating these windows? Think again; he's not that type of player. We all wish Josh would finish more chances, but without his work, Twellman and Dempsey don't even GET their chances.
Since MLS and the USSoccer gives out assists for the set-piece takers, it's not exactly a fair comparison. Which is not to say that Wolff could serve corners and FKs like Donovan, Lewis or Convey either. Then again, Donovan won't win any headers in the box. To each is own.
While this is true in the abstract, it doesn't have to be the off forward who makes those runs. In particular, the US tends to play with Beasley attacking into and through the box, and Donovan attacking into and through the box. Beasley, in particular, plays more like a wing forward at times. More dribble attack or aggressive runs than hug the sideline and cross from out wide. A question I always have with Wolff out there along with Beasley and Donovan is: "Is he creating space, or clogging up the area DMB or LD were about to run in to themselves?" So, on this team, I'm not sure his role is as important. Now if you knock out Beasley and replace him with more of a wide midfielder, Lewis or Convey, say, then Wollf, or someone like him, becomes more important.
Re: Where is Wolff after last night? Yes, that's exactly what I did - I said that Wolff was as good as Garrincha ... oh, wait, I didn't.
I'd say Wolff is still on the team, as the 4th forward. The only guy I see that could change that at this point is Herculez Gomez. None of the other forwards in camp are up to the task.
Re: Where is Wolff after last night? Josh Wolf's lack of scoring has nothing what so ever to with Garrincha's. It was a stupid comparison on your part. Why am I not surprised that you can't admit to it?
Re: Where is Wolff after last night? He said that Garrincha was reguarded as the best forward in a World Cup without scoring a goal. His analogy is that Wolff could also be our best forward without scoring a goal. Its not his fault that some people do not have the mental capacity to understand straight forward logic.
You know, we could have said the same thing about Twellman until this latest scoring spurt. Now that he's scored, guess what? He's in the thick of the mix, according to many on here. Those who slam Wolff on here say he's "Bruce's favorite." What, coaches AREN'T supposed to have favorites? The question is, "What are the characteristics of those favorite players." For forwards it's-- --work rate --intelligence (under which is the concept of playing in a team and system) --defense --scoring Note: I put scoring last. Why? Because, in case anyone on here hasn't watched some soccer in a while, scoring is HARD in this game. That's why there are only a few goals every game. Well, duh!! And sometimes, believe it or not, scoring goals is not a function of your finishing ability, but rather the flow of the game, and the opportunities created in the context of a team system. In other words, forwards don't have total control over scoring. But those first three elements, well, forward DO have total control over those elements. Those are things that you can do if you never score a goal in a game, or in a tournament. Those are the three three elements that make Twellman and Wolff likely candidates for the final 23.