11/17: USA vs Jamaica WCQ post-match thread, N&A version {R}

Spector is silky smooth dribbling in traffic. Beasley, Convey, Gaven, Dempsey have more of a helter-skelter look to me.

 

TOO many posts to read so I'll just chime in with my thoughts:

- Thought the first 20-25 minutes, we dominated & should've had 2 or 3 goals. Loved our "killer-instinct" style right from the beginning.
- The ref was a JOKE!! Those two yellows on Onyewu were ****************E!!!
- Didn't like the time-wasting at the end. Understood it but didn't agree with it.
- Of the new guys, I really liked Onyewu & Dempsey. Thought Spector was a bit nervous in his debut.
- What was Corrales doing on the PK call. IMHO there was NO need for the challenge. We had it covered. Of course, the ref missed the Jamaican player slamming his elbow into Onyewu's face to break free.
- Was a bit surprised that Jamaica didn't come out with more "fire" considering it was "do-or-die" for them.
- All in all, a fair result IMHO. We started strong but blew our chances to make the final score, an after-thought.

 

I sound like a broken record repeating what has already been said many a time, but it is pretty neat when you your "B" team can outplay Jamaica's near-full squad (who was in a do-or-die situation), and we still expect the US to still win and are a bit disappointed when they don't.

 

Beasley ? Trouble in traffic because no first touch. He leaves his first touch too far away from his body too often. Of course when you are as fast as Beasley, it can work out well - just catch up to it. That's the old Cobi move...push it into space and run onto it.


But dribbling through traffic ? - not his thing.

In the few games that I saw Spector play for ManU in the Fall, the one thing that really stands out is how calm he is in both the dribble and the pass under pressure.

 

If it would not cost me the better part of $2000.00, maybe I would of.
-Round trip flight
-Hotel
-Rental Car
-Missed work
That stuff adds up fast.
Not to mention that this is the busiest time of the year at my company, and getting time off is not that easy.
If I was wealthy enough to be there on the 17th, I would of been.

I agree that fans should support their team, but calling my attitude self-centered is a joke.

You do realize that there has not been a meaningful USMNT match anywhere even close to the Northwest in ages...??
You also must have noticed that the east gets 95%+ of the USMNT matches.
Have you also noticed an ongoing lack of attendance at these eastern matches?

I'm willing to travel to some matches when I can fit them into my budget/schedule.
I have plans to be in Germany in the summer of 2006.

What I'm gettting at is that maybe the recent lack of attendance for the USMNT may have to do with a bit of over exposure.
You guys are use to getting 3 - 5 some what meaningful USMNT matches a year.
We might get a friendly every other...

The United States does not stop at the Mississippi river.

 

You get PK for dribbling toward the goal much like you get free throws in basketball for driving to the rim.

Now what great dribblers does the US have?

 

Great stuff - Pirate and the Pledge!

 

One thing I notice from the US players is that they round off their move whereas the good dribblers make much sharper cuts. In doing their thing, the Yanks seem to be very stiff at the hips, something that the NFL secondary and WR coaches and scouts are very aware of when ranking prospects at WR and CB.

The other thing is that - trying to visualize this for everyone - when most US players try to go around an opponent they would move the ball from an 11 o'clock position to 1 o'clock and that usually doesn't suffice.

A top dribbler would extent the range from 9 o'clock to 3 o'clock, making the defender guard "both hips".

The "Stanley Matthews" move that Arjen Robben killed Hejduk with in Amsterdam is astoundingly simple. You advance to ball toward 3 o'clock with the instep, then dip your shoulder and take the ball toward the 9 o'clock (or vice versa) with your outstep.

But this move doesn't work if you only move your toe to the left and right off the ball's middle as DMB frequently does.

 

Spector's moves were great, but you really have to consider that 1) he was very fresh going up against tired guys late in the game and 2) no-one (except for us) generally has any clue who he is so he has that unpredictability factor for opposing players. Most guys would not expect a US defender to have any kind of moves so it may have caught them off-guard. Would be more telling if he could pull off that kind of stuff multiple times in a given game.

Finally in regards to the last comment. Remember this is a guy who was a forward. He had that shot, but was obviouly considered not to be good enough even compared to the other U17's for that position. Perhaps Spector at RB and Karbassiyoon at LB could give the US our equivalent of Cafu and Roberto Carlos in a couple of years, really good defenders with midfielder/forward like ball and shooting skills.

 

We conceded a penalty in a WC qualifier against Honduras (Pavon - 53) on 9/1/01. The kick put Honduras ahead and they went on to win.

That was the last time we lost a home qualifier (2-3). During Wednesday's telecast Stone said that we hadn't lost one since 1985 but he was wrong.

 

CAN'T believe that Stone didn't know that stat!!

I was at that game & it was the LOWEST point as a USMNT fan that I've experienced. Unfortunately, it took the "worst day" in American history, 10 days later, to put the Honduras game in perspective & snap me out of the "funk" I was in.

 

You mean all these England based Jamaicans didn't know a ManU man?

 

Nobody mentioned that EJ was offside when the ball was struck on his goal. Ref freeze frames and slomo if you've got a replay/tivo. I think we got a little home cookin' there.

 

This says it all. Having been in C'bus during Michigan week, it's a bit of a miracle they had anyone at the game at all.