yes...correct....my memory isn't as good as what I was hoping...so I checked MLSnet. Talley, Aunger, and Gori seem to have shared the duties at right back. I wonder how else my head is distorting things.
I don't know why I have to spell this out. He's the boss. If asked you say the boss is a great boss, if you have a brain and want to be on his/her good side. Bringing up Beasley and Mathis as examples just shows how amazingly poor your reasoning is. http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/soccer/20060613-9999-1s13cupnotes.html Straight from the article: Understand that players rarely, if ever, publicly question Arena's tactics for fear of invoking one of his legendary tirades, not to mention a severe reduction in playing time http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/cup2002/2002-06-01-mathis.htm What professional players say about a coach in public is not good enough evidence for determining the ability of a professional soccer coach IMO.
So why the heck do you play with a four man backline and play central defenders if they are not there to prevent goals from being scored? Talley/Peay and Agoos were not exactly Roberto Carlos and Salgado out there, over-lapping like crazy to give the formation width. Pope and Llamosa may have been exposed more often by the lack of team defense played in front of them (although that is what Williams, Harkes and Sanneh were were supposed to be providing). MLSnet does not list records of how many shots/shots on goal our opponents had against us in that season, so it is hard to see how much additional pressure there was on the defense. Garlick had a putrid 68% save percentage (versus 67% for Simpson) so I guess that might account for a few of the 'extra goals', but it is sometimes a factor of the types of shots keepers are facing. BTW. Last season, Barca were 3rd in La Liga in GA. They allowed only 35. Valencia and Celta Vigo allowed 33. Real Madrid, with their 'balanced formation' (maybe now that they have Cannevero and Emerson - it hasn't been balanced since Beckham got there) allowed 40. In 2004/5 Barca led the league with only 29 allowed. Real allowed 32. In their worldbeater 03/04 season, Arsenal led the league with only 26 GA. It is not really that surprising when attacking/possesion dominant teams have low goals allowed totals. It happens almost every season in almost every league.
Yeah, it really hurt Bease going into the Ghana game. And Bruce was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo far off-base with his comments on Clint. Idiot.
It is a fact: Talley started 20 games for DC in 1998. His breakout games were in the Concacaf Champions Cup at RFK. Up to that point, he played sparingly. Sonora was not acquired until the 1999 season. Vaudreuil, Maessner, and Peay were the right backs in 1997. David and Maessner left in the expansion draft prior to the 1998 season. We acquired Geoff (babyface assassin) Aunger sometime in the spring of 1998, he played some right back for us that season. He started 15 games, and even was an all-star. Kamler had a few appearances that year in the back and started 20 games total, in a variety of positions. Gori even saw some time back there, but not much. As for Peay, he started 5 games in 1998, mostly at right back. Sanneh: never saw serious time in the back for DC. It was a huge deal leading up to WC 2002 that Arena was converting him to an outside back, as that was a position that he had never played up until that time. Tim
You were right. I was wrong using Barca as an example...I guess I'm going way back to like 98 in using them as an example. On the other hand, what speculation, other than sucking, can be drawn from poor save percentages by the keeper? One might be that the other team had few opportunities but the ones they did get were high quality, close-in...like breakaways and such when DC didn't get enough players back to defend.
Maybe I'm confusing Sanneh's time at Nuremberg, where I'm almost positive he was a fullback. Weren't Olsen and Sanneh on the field at the same time the later half of the '98 season, including the CCC and Interamerican Cup games?
My comment was this . . . The sentence on the end shows that I understand the ambiguity of the stat, but I was looking for something else to help justify the assertion that other factors besides the defense of Pope and Llamosa could account for the higher goals allowed totals. It is true, though not conclusive, that better goalkeepers tend to have better save percentages. It identifies a good shotstopper (i.e. Perkins, Meola or Reis).
Please make a list of all the WC coaches who have been retained after going 3 and out the past few Cups. Don't worry about wasting paper......
Sanneh played center-back and several roles in midfield for Nuremberg. But they used a 3 back system (IIRC) so it was a bit different. I don't know what position he played at Hertha.
Bud and Monster, you guys with your silly man-crushes on each other...get a room already! Back to the real debate: 1998 vs 2006 pseudo-Position by pseudo-Position 1998 Jaime v 2006 Jaime. Young, motivated, pre-injury Jaime was pure gold. Lassiter at his peak v Eski 2006. Roy was one-dimensional, but that was one seriously awesome dimension. 1998 Etch v 2006 Gomito. Etch played zero D, but was deadly. Gomez is fantastic, but the pre-poopypants Etch wins out. Richie Williams vs Brian Carroll. I say that is BC by a wide margin. 1998 Harkes vs Gros. Harkes could cross, but rarely ran. Gros is all hustle and little cross. I'd call that a draw. Sanneh vs Adu. Not totally comparable, but the Big Cat was lethal. Adu may emerge into a better player by years end at his current pace. 1998 Olsen vs 2006 Olsen. Different players, different positions, different roles. Old master Ben would school the youthful boy with the french pastry game. Defenses: 1998 vs 2006. Edge goes to 1998, even with the weak right back rotation. Goal: Garlick v Perkins. Perkins has truly impressed this season. We'll see how it finishes out, but for now, he's a cut above Garlick's finest hour. Coach: Bruce v Nowak. Gotta give the edge to Bruce in that one. Nowak may emerge as a superior coach eventually, but the 1998 team got things done. Cheers, Tim
For Hertha, Tony was primarily a d-mid when he played. Olsen only played sparingly in the CCC. He and Sanneh were on the field for the Interamerican second game, but again, that was in a 3-5-2. We played 3-5-2 at most three times that season, as I recall. The other times that Olsen and Sanneh played at the same time, they would be where Olsen subbed in for Harkes, generally. Tim
This debate has gone a long ways, no? IF this team can close out the season by winning EITHER: supporter's shield mls cup ...and then puts a humbling beating on each team it faces next spring in CONCACAF, then I'll say they are better. Until then, they are just looking very good.
Pope was certainly more athletic than Nelsen and Boswell, and he possibly could have been great on a world stage, had he chosen to make the move to Europe. But he wanted to stay here and play. My impression of him is that he has tons of talent, but lacks the killer instinct and ambition that Nelsen and Boswell have. And perhaps the leadership and organization skills. I agree that time will tell us more about this comparison than we know right now.
Also in Bruce's attempts to get the best 11 guys out on the field, Harkes played a bit at right back, as well.
Indeed. Slipped my mind for a moment. I remember it being an entirely unimpressive effort on Harkes' part. I also remember that he later went over to Nottingham Forest in the off-season on loan and played right back for them, as well. His effort there was equally suck worthy, as well. Tim
Heck you could probably add all the names of coaches that went through three WC cycles in the modern era with their team and still not have to use a pen...
Again - I disagree with the player comparisons you make. For instance, why compare Olsen now to Olsen then when they have totally different roles? This is how it boils down in reality: Perkins is better than Prestheus Namoff is better than whatever right back we had then. Boswell is a toss-up with Pope. Erpen is better all-around than Llamosa, but I will give Llamosa points as a better defender. +Agoos is better than any left back DC fields today. But we don't play with a left back. +Josh Gros is probably a better all-around player than Sanneh, though Sanneh was a bit more refined in the attack. But don't forget TS could also be VERY raw. +Today's Ben Olsen is probably better than yesterday's John Harkes at this point in his career. +Freddy Adu is probably as good as the young Ben Olsen was. +Brian Carroll is better than the underrated Richie Williams +Gomito gives up very little to Etcheverry when you consider that Jaime Moreno and Gomito split the Etcheverry role in the new team. +Esky is a better soccer player than Lassiter. There is no question about it. If you are giving points to the old MLS for technique and flair and creativity, than you have to pick Esky. If he played in this era, Lassiter would be over in Scandinavia with Brian West making more money and scoring more goals than he ever could in MLS. Pure speed (even with decent timing) is not enough anymore in this league. +The current team completely lacks someone like the old Jaime. The new Jaime is nothing like the old Jaime - he is more like Etcheverry in a more advanced role and with a bit more of a tendency to play defense and score goals.
Oh, I know where you are going. That and $1.50 will get you an autographed copy of Captain for Life. Tim
The problem is that a part for part comparison breaks down when you compare a 4-4-2 and a 3-5-2. There are a lot of roles that differ between the two. You honestly can't compare Ritchie and BC because of this. ABMOD had no help in central midfield, while BC always has Olsen and sometimes Gomito helping. But ABMOD had two defenders helping directly behind, while only Boswell is behind BC.