The USA finishes unbeaten in semifinal-round qualifying play within CONCACAF, and on top of Group 1, after a 1-1 home draw against Jamaica in Columbus. Eddie Johnson gets the Americans' goal, scoring for the third match on the trot and his fifth during this brief stretch. Next up, see who we're playing when the Hex opens. Discuss.
I would have to agree. For the US, I look at this game as development. This game is going to pay dividends for the US down the line. Gibbs had a fine game, and Bruce getting Spector, EJ, Dempsey, and Onyewu into the game is going to pay major dividends to the US down the stretch. I'm extremely pleased with BA at the moment.
This game shows that the US really misses the speedy flank midfielders. Even though Gibbs was playing LB, he was more effective than Corrales. Ralston was effective early on but faded during the match. I would like to see Dempsey and Spector more in the match. Pablo, Gibbs, Albright, and EJ are the players that stood out for me in the match. And I agree with the eariler poster that Jamaica didn't play with urgency at all. Ralph was invisible and their midfield was not effective.
biggest dissapointment was Tony Sanneh, he is a veteran and i expected him to be dominant on our defense, he is not the cat that used to be, but looks more like a fat cat McBride also had a poor game, not sure what was the point in bringing him in for this game, he played very disinterested very nice game from the youngsters, I am looking forward seeing Eddie Johnson and Beasley together on the same field
Anyone notice Bruce trying out some bigger / taller players lately? Spector and Gooch are pretty tall obviously. I think in the last world cup, when playing Germany .. Bruce was thinking, "Hmm, I like my talent, but I need some bigger players". Maybe in '06 we play Germany in the final, and show up with a more taller, athletic, bigger team. Mixed in with a few speedy specialists, Landon, Damarcus, etc. I predict Convey, Eskendarian, & Cherundolo might take a back seat to Johnson, Dempsey, Spector, and others. Beastie
Lots of obvious signs for the hex: I think we need to let Albright replace Hejduk. He seems to bring everything Frankie brings without making many numerous defensive lapses and randomly bad crosses. Also Ralston could be the vetran rw instead of Jones or Stewart. Onyewu needs more exp keep bringing him in everytime and playing at least some, Spector just needs a chance. Spector could easily be the LB right now. Dempsey looks ready and is great to have on the bench since he could sub for nearly anyone. Johnson is a starting forward from now on, can't see him going back to the bench after these last few games. Corales could ... buy a ticket i suppose.
Good to read that Gooch, Dempsey, Gibbs, Spector and EJ getting minutes. This will really help for '06 and beyond. Even though it didn't like an amazing game to watch I'm looking forward to checking it out when I get home.
Except for the Corrales brain-fart. Seriously, Mullan, Mulrooney, Martino... all would have been better MLS-based choices than Corrales considering Gaven wasn't available. And it goes without saying that DMB, Convey, and Lewis would have been better as well. So that makes Corrales at LEAST the 7th best choice, 8th counting Gaven. Or Mathis! 9th best choice! The final 6 for the hex are: [result]USA, Panama, Mexico, Trinidad & Tobago, Guatemala, Costa Rica[/result]
Obviously the Hejduk bashing continues in whatever thread is up. But I'll defend him. I never liked Albright to begin with, and his little stunt during the MLS season that got him thrown out of the match doesn't help. We can't afford outbursts like that in Mexico City because we WILL be down a player. Hejduk may go in carelessly sometimes but I have NEVER seen him lose his temper. Plus, I don't think Albright is even near Hejduk's speed. There were a couple of times that Albright needed to be bailed out tonight, and yet if Hejduk gets beaten, he bails himself out because he can recover.
Early ratings- Keller-6-no worries in net Onyewu-4-why even argue?that could've been a straight red. Sanneh-5-a lot of stumbles Gibbs-5-a tough job - he had a lot to do tonight Albright-6-suprised?I am. Corrales-3-ouch. Mastro-7-an Armas-like performance (in a good way) Donovan-6-really did well he was thightly marked Ralston-6-the Ralston line moves up GAM-7-coulda had two more... McB-6-solid up front Dempsey-7-a sizzling debut with one bad giveaway in stoppage time Spector,Twellman-NR-nice individual moves but not in long enough to make a sound rating
Things we learned in the second half: E.Johnson may be auto starter from here on out. Just simply solid subtle touches all over the field. Beats 2 men. Then makes a defensive stand when we have 10 men. Impressed Albright has moved up. I still want to see R.Russsell at right back. Physical right back. When Albright stays at home doesn't wander. He plays some solid defense especially at end.. I still think we can do better. His touch is off and can't really add to the offense on international level. Spector with his short stint showed some class and just knows the game. Told Gibbs to slow it down a bit. Then helped spend some time with some nice skill. Gibbs is second string. Solid unspectacular performance. Still confused as to why he played so high. Doesn't have the ball skills or speed for that. Central/Wide left defender he will stay. I like Dempsey. Alittle nerves but just good on the ball. May have dropped Martino down pecking order. Wish we saw him with 11 men. He had trouble linking up because we were missing that extra man. Ralston: Saw some posts saying he had a good game. I don't think so. It's not what he did it's what he can't do. He didn't have any glaring gaffs or goofs, but I kept on saying to myself 'only if Ralston had more speed he'd be running onto that ball' Or if only Ralston had a clever touch to get by that guy' He's the type of player that doesn't make mistakes because he's just slightly underskilled and under the speed line. He's not in many positions to make a mistake because of this. Onyewu: He will be a good one. Just not yet. Has some good ball skills and has a physical presence but was slightly out of position many times. Not a Pope or Boca, they know where to be and when to be there. Sanneh had a solid first half but bad second. Lost alot of speed and couldn't head the ball forward. 3 times easy headers were headed backwards or straight up keeping US under pressure. We have better options. Sanneh and Berhalter fight it out for 4th or 5th central defender. A game we thought we'd have. Inexperienced, some talent shown then a rookie red card.
I still think it was a big mistake leaving Gaven out of this game. He would have learned alot more in a starter or sub role in this game than saving him for a U-20 game later in the week against some 19 year old Mexicans.
Many positives except for Corrales. Every minute Dempsey was on the field he added more value than Corrales did in his whole appearance. Spector belongs, Gooch belongs, Ralston made a case to be called up again as did Albright, the biggest negative was the lack of touches for Landon.
Seriously though, isn't that a good sign. LD didn't have to really take charge. The team played with a side that had never played together. a first time starter got tossed with 2 yellows. 2 other guys got their first cap. we started albright, corrales, and ralston. all that and we STILL carried play and the team was never in any real danger. I'm loving it.
I don't know if this is true or not but either way it still would have been better for his national team chances if he had told them. If he is ever invited back for the nats the terrorists have won. I mean that, they would have to take out about half the MLS markets with WMDs.
I realise it's early in the thread, but did I just watch a different game than every one else? Seriously? WOW, I'm so confused I'll have to watch it again sober(ish) just to make sure... I can't believe I had such a vastly different impression from 90'+ than everyone else did... Guess that has to do with expectations, et al..... Well.....
Expectations? What kind of expectations can you possibly have with Corrales, Albright, Ralston and an out of position Sanneh all on the field at the same time? Not to mention Gooch and Johnson making their first starts....against a team that HAD TO WIN (I don't understand why there was no urgency on the reggae boyz' part) I expected a 1-0 win for us...which is pretty much what we got, as Jamaica was never really a threat outside of the PK. If we had a team with most of the regulars I would have predicted a 2-0, 3-0 win...
Dempsey, Spector, Gooch........I am so excited about these players. They are a different type of player, they all have a bit of a libero quality to them, strong and subtle and calm. Man I am stoked for the future. I have one complaint about our team tonight. We had nobody who could turn on their man. EJ perhaps, but he gets behind more than turns. I wonder if Eskandarian can contribute in the future. I think that Spector will play a significant role in Germany.
Keller - 7 - Made a couple of nice plays. Onyewu - 4 - He has yet to impress me. I believe he's still a year or three away from his potential. Sanneh - 4 - would be rated lower than Gooch except he didn't get a stupid red card. Gibbs - 5 - Better than my recent memory of him. Still lacks the ball skills necessary for LB spot. Albright - 7 - (MOTM) Although he offered nothing in the way of attack, his defense was very solid. Corrales - 3 - I don't like bashing our players so I'll blame Arena for this one. Mastro - 6.5 - A mixed bag. Donovan - 6.5 - very sad that his only open players to pass to were always behind him...his talent deserved better. Ralston - 6 - See Mastro. EJ - 6.5 - with better finishing he would of had a match winner...great goal though. McB - 5 - hard to shine as a striker when the midfield plays so poorly. Dempsey - 6.5 - Very promising start to his USMNT career. Spector - 7 - Perhaps he didn't play enough minutes to garner a 7 but I just can't rate anyone on the pitch higher than him. I'll have to watch the tape to be sure but I can't remember a single mistake. His move in the 89th was oozing class. Twellman - NR - I really think this guy will be McBride's replacement sooner or later. I love his hustle. Arena - 6 - If this line-up ever appears again he'll be lynched. Ref - 4 - Some bad yellows but he was even at least. Columbus - 9,000 - As in the number of fans that showed up. No offense to those who showed up, but that was horrible.