I haven't seen him play since the last Youth WC. IIRC, he was considered one of the best U.S. players in that tourney. But, apparently, it's all been downhill since.
Agreed. What will be interesting to me is what impact, playing in Europe will have on DMB and Landon's playing time. Clearly for the games that matter we will be seeing them, but there will be more home friendlies where they are no longer 'easily accessible'. It will be interesting to see how Gaven, Mullan, Ralston, Martino et. al. step up. If Clint Mathis (Clint in my mind means Dempsey ;-)) comes back to MLS, then he might get more playing time with Landon in Europe. Something I would consider if I were him and wanted to play on the USMNT. OTOH, I tend to view Mathis in more of a forward role, where his disappearing for long stretches doesn't have as much of an impact on the team.
can anyone remember if Arena had O'Brien playing an attacking midfield position or a central midfield position against Hondurus? And this isn't dependant upon where he lined up, but his reponsibilities.... I'm wondering if Arena tries him as a true Attacking Midfielder
I'd extend that to JOB and Reyna. When those four are playing together we have a midfield comparable to that of most top-ranking nations. Considering how well they functioned in '02 there's every reason to think that they'll be even better in '06. Of course, given the right situation that doesn't mean that Bruce wouldn't sub Lewis or someone else.
job----reyna LD-----DMB no disrespect to us, but that midfield does not equal most of the top ranking nations.
There's no disrespect in that comment at all. IMHO, that's the honest to God truth. Despite what some US fans might say this midfield isn't one of the best midfields in the world, perhaps one of the top three in Conacaf, perhaps one of the better midfields in this side of the atlantic, but definitely not equal to your Brazil's, Argentina's, Italy's, Holland's, Spain's, England's, Czech Republic, France etc. etc.
agreed, but im waiting to see the czechs midfield in action since arguably the best midfielder in the world, pavel nedved hung em up internationally. all of those teams have at least one player who can go out and dominate a game, with other great players around them: ronaldinho(with kaka, juninho, gilberto) aimar, zanetti, d'assendro, cambiasso totti, gattuso, zambrotta, pirlo davids, seedorf, robben, cocu, van der vaart xavi, vincente, joaquin, alonso, valeron gerrard, lampard, beckham, swp, bridge(though actually a defender) viera, pires, makelele, dacourt dont forget germany, ballack, hamann, scneider, frings or portugal deco. figo, costinha, cronaldo, maniche, costa
Current form of course your right. I don't think Reyna and O'brien will be both healthy and at their best in 2006. If they were it's very good but still outside of the top ten.
just outside of the top ten perhaps. Probably in the 10-20 range just like our team is probably rated as a whole. How do our other areas add up? I woud put our goalies higher in the rankings, our forwards lower, and our defence, well t hats a conundrum, too many changes lately.
In the absence of an analytical soccer press in this country--Soccer America and occasional columns from Grant Wahl and Marc Connolly excepted--at its best BigSoccer creates a sort of fluid soccer press that is conducted entirely by fans. That's pretty interesting, and I think this thread is one of the best examples of thoughtful analysis and conversation. Nutmeg, big thanks for opening it, and further thanks to the many substantive contributors. I'm interested in the respective roles of Claudio Reyna and John O'Brien. They are still probably the most purely skilled players in the country. Interesting that they are nothing like stars in Europe--valuable role players, nothing more. Their play in Korea was at a higher level, though. Arena's achievement in 2002 was making his entire team part of the effort there. Reyna and O'Brien played wonderfully in this context--remember Reyna's role in playing wide and shutting down Luna in the Round of 16. Even so, they weren't needed in every game; Reyna didn't even play in every game (did JOB?). Where in the Nats side do they belong now? What about as defenders? Both have played frequently as outside backs at the club level in Europe, and have experience and skill levels far beyond what anyone else can offer there. With Donovan and Beasley as locks in midfield, and fine options in the other two midfield slots, is it possible that Arena would experiment with Reyna and JOB in defense? I'm not advocating this--just curious.
As much as I like BC, he's not getting any PT and I think Eddie's WC experience would sway Bruce to pick him over those two. Don't forget also that Eddie's a great free kick taker. I don't see Adu making the team as just a fringe player. I think he either makes easy or not at all.
Many feel that RM is Szetela's best position. Marc Connelly said it once and I believe Sigi too recently. If he makes the team, I would be it is in this position.
i dont remember ever seeing reyna play the backline at mancity, of course i didnt watch him at rangers, but besides that fact i dont see him for any reason playing an outside back role. JOB either, theres too much ball talent when healthy to not be in th emidfield(at least one of them, if theyre healthy, and no one has overtaken them by 2006). friedel JOB McBride Donovan Sanneh Pope and all of these guys started every match, how many of these guys if healthy do you see in the first 11 2006?
Wasn't he the starting AM against Portugal? -----JOB----- DMB------LD-- ----Pablo---- I just saw Our Way and Bruce says, "As of right now, we're planning on Claudio being out and we're going with John O'Brien and Pablio in the midfield."
LD was a forward, ernie stewart was a starter with JOB, DMB, and pablo. Cant remember if we used a diamond or a box though
I'm pretty sure that at the beginning of the game when ESPN was doing starting lineups, they listed our midfield as a box with JOB and Mast in the middle and Stewart and DMB on the flanks. Of course, they listed the US playing a 5-3-2 against Mexico in the cup, although it was definitley more of a 3-5-2. According to them, JOB was playing left wing back.
when has espn ever specified whether usa was playing a diamond or a box... I think one hand, or even none might do the job...
When they show the little lineup graphic before games, it usually indicates the shape they think the US midfield will take. Sometimes the graphic is shaped like a diamond. Other times, it's shaped like a box. Also, don't be a smartass
doesn't matter really as JOB clearly was not playing an attacking midfield role in that match. He was battling in the central midfield along with Pablo and doing his damndest to maintain possesion for USA in that match
This topic is far too convoluted with too many different discussions going on. I like the idea Nutmeg, but in the future I'd consider individual posts for goalies, defenders, midfielders, and attackers. Now, a few points: 1) Why have people written off Friedel for 2006? My understanding was he wanted a break from the Nats to focus on his club career. Keller, obviously, didn't have that concern as his play has been limited to Carling Cup ties and the loan to Southhampton. Keller played the majority of the WCQs up to Korea/Japan 2002 and it didn't stop Arena from going with Friedel. I expect a similar situation, Arena will go with the hot hand, and based on the fact that Friedel is the only keeper starting in the EPL right now I'd give him the nod. However if Carroll leaves via the Bosman and Howard regains his starting role he could challenge Friedel. There is no way that I see Keller starting in 2006 though based on his club options (MLS, backup, or lower division). 2) Frankie Simek wasn't really loaned out for experience. QPR came to Arsenal begging for a favor and a short term loan to get them over an injury crisis. To claim Arsenal's loaning out of Simek was part of a plan to develop him is disingenious. 3) I mentioned this after the Jamaica game but few seemed interested. I see Spector in more of a JOB role on the Nats long term. In fact, if you watch the Jamaica match again on tape you will see that Mastro was pushed back from his DM role and Gibbs was out at LB while Spector was in. Spector ventured much further up the field than either of those two in the last minutes of that game. He played striker through High School and has tremendous ball skills and a lot of confidence on the ball. Thats it, interesting conversation, although I must admit I laughed audibly when someone suggested Albright be the starting RB in Germany.
Nice lists...here are a few of my expectations for the coming year: GK: Timmy needs to re-emerge and bring out the best in Kasey for the Hex. While seemingly not challenging for the starting spot, Tim needs to regain his old form that won him Premiership Keeper of the Year. As long as Kasey stays healthy and remains solid...we seem to be okay in that department. Matt looks to be a major prospect for the 3rd keeper position if his form holds up. Afterall, he put up better numbers than Hartman and was very close to ousting him from the #1 GK position in LA. Had he done that, who knows where he would've been by now with more than a few years starting in the MLS under his belt. DEF: While we remain to have questionmarks on the outside...I have to politely disagree and I don't see Chris Albright emerging as anything more than a reserve for the right back position. Having watched him the entire season, I think that he possesses natural ability from that side of the field and can use his speed to his advantage. However, he often makes stupid decisions in the back. I am looking for the youth of this federation to boost us a bit and challenge for starting roles. With Spector playing well at ManU and having a solid debut for the Nats, he is a definite possibility on the back. Coupled with Frankie Simek at Arsenal and we have some promising choices in the back...the question is, can they mature in time to get at least 1 of the 23 spots in Germany? Only time will tell. I also am hoping to see Bobby start to show some more signs of the promise he showed vs. Mexico. Definitely his best game for the USMNT and he ran circles around their crap defense... MID: With Claudio and JOB seemingly ALWAYS out with something, the center mid could be a bit of a problem. With LD moving back to midfield and DaMarcus comfortable out on the left flank, we won't see JOB playing the role he has with Ajax (more of a left mid) and if he is healthy, will be placed in center mid. I look for Danny Szetela to hopefully get a chance to crack into at least a friendly, as he looks VERY promising when he gets into his groove (see: amazing cross to Duncan Oughton vs. Chicago). Also, I am looking even more forward to Eddie Gaven getting another shot. Will Earnie be able to handle another run? He sure looks like he's in decent form. Cobi still not ready to quit, either, as he has saved our asses a few times already. Never count Pablo out either, along with Mathis, who if he gets his act together, could be a major force in the Hex... FWD: McBride's new partner seems to be EJ, who has gotten off to an UNBELIEVABLE start with the Nats. A bit too cocky for my taste, but hell, if he scores...he can be as cocky as he wants! My worry is that he won't perform against world-class defenses, as he even struggled with Jamaica at times! Also, he doesn't seem like the guy who will work his ass off for 90+ if things aren't going his way. Ching had a short stint, but aside from the Jamaica and ES games, really didn't look that effective. Conor Casey appears to have fallen off the map. Any room for Alecko in this picture? TT showed promise against Mexico, but can we afford to keep calling him up and getting disappointing performances in return? Kiro, anybody? He hasn't been terrible and who knows...maybe Arena will take a page out of Sampson's book and play him at A-mid, where he seemingly has found a nice home...
I agree with ZiggyGalaxy that Albright is no better than a 2nd choice for right back. Right now I see the position as Cherundolo's alone. He's starting in the Bundesliga, and by all accounts doing very well. I don't see Albright or a younger back displacing him in 2005. We'll have to reassess in a year, of course. Also, from the limited accounts I read about Simek's time at QPR, it does not sound like he is ready to step in as a center back for the national team. In fact, it sounded like an open question whether his future is in the center or on the right, which is something people were speculating about before that 1 month loan. I just don't see anyway he overcomes older bigger, center backs who are playing more regularly in 2005. Karbassiyoon at left back is an interesting question. The odds are against him, because he's not yet in the position to get the playing time he needs, and in any case a 21 year old left back is a bit of a risk in the world cup, but you never know. It certainly seems that he's done well there so far, and it is a position that is in flux.
Wrong. JOB and Mastro are the two in the mid. Reyna is one in the right and Lewis is the one is the left and Donovan is the one in the front.