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

I can't wait to see us play El Pescadito.




















Dive.

 

Congrats to Dempsey for getting his first cap and showing well enough I think to get a call back. Corrales on the other hand probably won't be getting another call-up anytime soon. It's not fair to judge a player on one Nat's performance but he really looked out of place.

Big shout out to Chris Albright, who held his own in my opinion and gives us another legitimate option at RB. He clearly was more defensive focused today and didn't get much opportunity to show his skills in the attack but that chance will come.

Gooch had a rough match today and I like Gibbs much better as a CB but I think both are still very much in the frame going forward.

Last, Spector was the most impressive to me, especially because of his age and poise. That dribbling sequence when he beat a few Jamaicans deep in their end was really eye-opening. He seems to have excellent skills and I would like to see much more of him in the LB spot before anyone else gets another look.

Job well done for this round (although a blow-out win would have been nice but that wasn't the point of tonight's match).

 

I thought EJ made some great runs and was a good outlet. I can't think of a better striker we have at the moment. I don't think Gooch was uninspired, he looked nervous and was unlucky with the ref. Got caught off once that unfortunetly led to the goal but don't think he had a poor game. Still a great prospect. Dempsey was a breath of fresh air and I'd like to see more of him and Spector.

 

WTF? Did you see the same game we all did. Excluding the goal. He made touch after touch on the ball to get out of trouble and to a teammate. 2 perfect headers to streaking Donovan. Clever touches to teamates completing passes, keeping possesion that no one else on our team did. He made great runs, sometimes not getting the pass. He had the skill and speed to beat defenders, then when we have 10 men stand a man up on the side line like he was a defender. Many times he should have finished? Huh? A striker doesn't score on every shot! That's like saying Donovan should have buried all of his free kicks. I'm not sold on Donovan.
He may not always have a great game but this one he played a great game.

 

I had to take a test at 730 and my I didn't have TiVo availible...can someone please recap the match?

If Convey can't beat out Corralas than his form must be even worse than I thought it was. Guess he has a long winter to think about it and do somethign about it.

I to want to know what happened to Eddie Gaven. What position did Spector play when he got in? from the thread I take it we were in some kind of funky 352? Can someone explain?

Can someone please report on how well Eddie Johnson created for himself and for his teamates?

finally, I was actually expecting a loss in this match. Jamaica must have been playing frenetically to win this match and we played a truly experiemental lineup. Good job in getting the tie.

 

My thoughts:

McBride: 7 He's America's Lion out there...knocking down balls, drawing fouls, linking up with EJ repeatedly...Ching and Casey will be on his heels, but still no one fills the target role like McBride

Johnson: 7 Impressive. His speed, his ability to pair with his teammates...he even played some D when it mattered...it may sound strange given he's scored 5 goals in 3 games, but I really think he lacked a little bit of that Killer instinct on a couple second half chances...take a page out of Ronaldo's book and put his head down and get to goal.

Donovan: 6 Some on the board said he was invisible...but I think when you get your opponent to start in an unbalanced formation to stop up the midfield, you've done plenty already to disrupt. Other than that, he looked good on set pieces, and seemed though like he was under instruction to put the brakes on the attack from time to time.

Corrales: 3 Looked lost and out of his league. Not sure why he was out there...someone care to fill me in?

Ralston: 5.5 He served the ball well from the right side. He served it early. He served it often. He played excellent defense, helping out Albright all night. You got exactly what you expected from Ralston.

Mastroeni: 7.5 Is it just me, or is Pablo not only an overall better athlete than Armas or Zavagnin, but looks better linking the backline to the attack, and looks much more comfortable going forward. In my mind that midfield spot is his alone. Great game.

Albright: 6 Well he had his hands full, but he came up big all night...made me hold my breath when Jamaica started to throw numbers forward. I think a winger with some real speed might torch him. However, he did the job tongiht.

Gooch: 5 Rough game for the big kid, but there will be better ones. Took a few gambles, and was mostly athletic enough to get away with it. A couple years in England will make this kid a fixture in the back.

Sanneh: 6 Took some inexplicable chances, but gets extra points for clearing out several hot crosses towards the end. Is a good veteran backup, but with all the youth coming up at back, we might not be seeing too much more of the big cat.

Gibbs: 6.5 Looked a little akward going forward...think he would be more comfortable at center back. Took a few knocks but held in there. I think he'll add invaluable depth to the back as the Hex rolls around.

Keller: 8 Didn't have to do much. Made the plays he had to. Would have given him a 10 had he saved the PK.

Subs

Dempsey: 7 How many times can an annoucer say his name in 20 minutes. What energy off the bench. And he actually looked like he wanted to take a defender on at one point. Refreshing. Looking foward to seeing him as a 2nd half sub to inject some life to the team (which we will need at some point in the Hex)

Spector: 7 Earned a high mark because of A) The mullet, B) He's 18 C) I like the way he carries himself...guess practicing against the likes of RVN and Co. will do that

Twellman: N/A Really wanted to see Twellman in a different situation...I'm a huge Twellman fan (even if many on BS are not) and hope he gets a chance to see some meaningful minutes in the Hex.

Overall: 6...unispiring...but Jamaica is gone, and we didn't lose. Call it Par.

(side note: did anyone see those screaming girls with the Wooster Soccer sweatshirts on? yeah that's my hometown.)

 

LD has to stop with the turtle games-- disappearing into shell. US looked anemic in mid-field until ClintD came in. Dempsey made some good things happen on both ends. Equalizer was on its way until Gooch capped a miserable night with the red. EJ shoulda planted that last opportunity. Time for Esky. Gibbs played well. Mastro was my MOM

Played game but out of their league:
Ralston
CA

Ick:
Corrales



Ref was abysmal


Overall results to be expected starting a C+ lineup and subbing to B-

 

Betcha Jamaica figured they would be in with the US.

 

9088 ********ing people???? are you kidding me? we got outdrawn by most MLS matches!

 

First card was a definite maybe. The second--he had his hand out as the guy kicked the ball and he was very obviously trying to get his hand to his side as the ball made contact. Not a cardable offense.

Corrales on the other hand...WTF! Let Keller and the D make the play, bro.

LD--totally mailed it in. At least on offense. I told someone this week he was our best field player...Baby J made me eat my words tonight
Ralston--I am his #300,000,000 fan (and that's just in the US), but he played well tonight.
Chrissy Albright--his speed was just enough to prevent a goal on his side, but I don't want to see a minute of him during the hex.
McBride--good 2-way player
EJ--grown a$$ man, per usual
Gibbs out on the left--effective defensively, not offensively (surprise, surprise)
Specter and Dempsey--good to see them out there--not enough to go on, though Dempsey showed a bit
Pablo--pretty disruptive out there--I agree with the poster who said he had a good game

Bruce--Not sure about your choice of wing players, bro. Hell, the guy gets results, and what the hell do I know anyway If I knew anything about this game I'd be coaching it instead of watching on TV.



HEX, Baby! HEX!!!!!!!!

 

That could easily morph into a 5-3-2 with Gibbs wide left and Ralston wide right. I think Arena expected Jamaica to attack like gangbusters from the beginning, and he planned to sit back and counter with Donovan and Johnson when Jamaica lost shape. Instead, Jamaica concentrated on remaining compact, and Da Bruce was caught with his pants down tactically.

 

Agreed. I liked Spector too, but I was loving Dempsey's confidence and physicality. That guy is a player. Period.

 

Yes

 

ok, according to the match day roster Convey wasn't there. did he stay in England?

Next question: if Donovan was invisible as you people say, why no Kyle Martino? And if Corrales was so bad why didn't he play Mullan as an extra winger?

 

I agree with everything you said. Esky and EJ would be dynamite, but we would need a more developed Midfield to play that way. (I.E. No Corrales, No Sanneh, Gibbs not on the LW)

 

Well he scored which is always good. Wasn't quite the game or the lineup best suited to his skills, but he only got outplayed by a couple of guys (IMO Mastroeni and Albright had the best games).

Best word for it is "promising," which of course we already knew. Two key sequences in the 2nd half illustrate some of what he has to work on (particularly because his talent ensures that he'll see this situations more than most players). He was 1v1 with the keeper three times in the game. The first time he scored. The second time he made just an absurd number of tiny little touches trying to control the ball and the extra time allowed the keeper to come out and smother the chance. The final time he was 1v1 after he gorgeously split two guys on the sidelines after the US was down to 10 men. Instead of storming toward the goal, he kind of took a couple of baby steps and then tried to slide a very tricky ball to an onrushing Donovan. On a dry surface I think Donovan probably scores, but the ball didn't sit well and Donovan couldn't get there in time.

In both cases I would have liked him to be more authoritative with the ball and force the keeper to commit to a course of action early and then react accordingly. Instead he seems to waste time which allows the defense to track back and force him to do something quickly. It's a bit of youth player problem, which is actually good because youth player problems are only referred to as such because pros grow out of them. Eddie will too.

 

I thought I read somewhere that Gaven was doing something with the U20's. Could be way off, tho.
EJ played a heckuva game, I think. Did well to create space for himself. Woulda, coulda, shoulda had at least another goal or an assist but I won't condem him for not getting either. He scored, again.
I think Spector came on for Ralston but he played in the back with Sanneh, Gibbs and Albright. Showed poise on D and some nice skills on O. Well done. He and Dempsey will see more time next round, I hope.

 

did Spector play LB at all? I think that'll be his position come World Cup time. He's easily the most skillful American defender I've seen play left back for any club. (from when he starters for the Mancs)

 

Thats funny because its true

 

Yes and he looked good doing it.

 

that is something I've noticed about all of our younger players. Its like we have them coached to be TOO unselfish in constantly looking for teamates instead of, like you said, forcing the keeper. Ah well, he'll grow out of it soon hopefully. I think perhaps it might be a young player thing where they want to always defer to someone rather than keep the ball.

 

Albright was my MOM. Steady in all aspects.

EJ impressed me all night with his speed of play under pressure away from the goal. His finish was top notch. Yes, he could have done much better on two or three chances. But, I'm excited to see more of him when Beasley is on the field. I could see them combining very well.

Dempsey is fearless. Like that.

We've got some real dogfights developing for spots. Are there any automatic starters right now besides Donovan, Beasley, Bocanegra? Maybe Pope?

 

excellent.

can't wait for whatever Dec/Jan/Feb friendlies we line up. I'd expect guys like Eskandarian and Gaven and Marshall and Buddle to take part in them

 

No, he was a center back I think, with Gibbs as the left back. He came on for Ralston after Onyewu got red carded. We switched to a 4-4-1, Johnson moved to right mid, Gibbs took LB and Spector played in the CB (I think, it might have been the other way around). Had one impressive stint on offense where he danced around a few guys on the dribble. Not real active on defense, but like I said Gibbs and Dempsey shut down that side of the field pretty well and they decided to go work on Sanneh and Albright. Sanneh nearly obliged them.