The attack leading up to shots was very good, the US did a great job passing. Once inside the box (in that section of the field), they either got fancy when they weren't supposed to be, did not get fancy when they needed to be, and missed glorious opportunities to score. A jekyll and hyde attack, if you will. Given that the US generated so many scoring chances, it can't be blamed on tactics or player selection. It's the players' -not just the strikers but the midfielders and defenders who had opportunities -fault for finishing what they worked so hard to bring up. Twellman could have done better, EJ could have been in the box more than just setting up plays (albeit, he was really good at doing that), I got no beef with Clark since he did bury one, Feilhaber missed some chances, Mapp missed his chip, Bornstein and Moor missed golden opportunities, and Kljestan missed a sweetly placed cross. US does a better job finishing there and maybe they win; but they didn't so they lost. I suppose that's the reason I'm both heartened and frustrated by this team.
Ditto. Johnson is just so much more athletic than the defenders he is up against. You gotta think he'll put one away on a counter. Twellman is nowhere to be found. Davies intrigues me. I hope he gets a chance.
Given that EJ played 181 minutes in the Gold Cup, if you can do the math, you see that's a good goalscoring record. Yeah, he scored a PK against Argentina...but it was Eddie who earned it.
Ah! Stupid of me. I forgot about the PK. That was very well taken (and sort of well earned). OK. Two goals isnt bad (in 361 minutes? between the two tourneys). Certainly not good, but not as bad as I was thinking. Still, I think that anybody who believes that he has distinguished himself is dilusional. I just can't fathom why the US cant produce better strikers
I'll add(?) to the discussion by saying that I agree with you in this. Some of the buildup play was really quite beautiful to watch, but the finishing left a lot to be desired. I'm not worrying about what losing games in this tournament means for us. I see a lot of positives and, admittedly, some problems, but I'm excited to see what this attack can produce with some of our more experienced players on the field.
What? The game is way, way harder than that. There's a goalkeeper there, not a potted plant. The free headers were more like "7 out of 10 for 'most' internationals," and "9 out of 10 for the Shevchenkos of the world."
I'm too bored to check, but has EJ not been subbed out in Copa America? I don't *think* so, but wouldn't swear to it. In any event, in international soccer, a goal every other game is a pretty great record. If he promises to do that from here on out, I'll promise him he can start every match. The Twellman experiment is getting bizarre. He just doesn't fit the US team. He's a poacher. Does the US need that? Well, yesterday we did, yesterday we created the chances...but for some reason, TT wasn't on the end of very many of them.
Good point. If there was any situation in which I thought Twellman would succeed, it was yesterday's: we had a ton of chances and needed to finish. And yet, I think he might have looked more dangerous against Panama in the Gold Cup than he did yesterday. At least he put himself in better positions in that game (even if he missed some good chances.) Charlie Davies, come on down! You're the next contestant on Who Wants To Be A Striker?
Because he laid off every ball but one first time, because I think he finally realizes he can't hold the ball at this level long enough to get off a good shot.
He has played all 180 minutes. USA (v. Argentina): 18-Kasey Keller (capt.); 2-Marvell Wynne, 3-Jay DeMerit, 12-Jimmy Conrad, 13-Jonathan Bornstein; 5-Benny Feilhaber, 19-Ricardo Clark (17-Kyle Beckerman, 79), 14-Ben Olsen (11-Eddie Gaven, 62), 21-Justin Mapp; 20-Taylor Twellman (8-Herculez Gomez, 69), 9-Eddie Johnson USA (v.: 18-Kasey Keller (capt.); 15-Drew Moor, 3-Jay DeMerit (7-Dan Califf, 65), 12-Jimmy Conrad, 13-Jonathan Bornstein; 5-Benny Feilhaber, 19-Ricardo Clark, 14-Ben Olsen (21-Justin Mapp, 71), 16-Sacha Kljestan (25-Lee Nguyen, 80); 20-Taylor Twellm an, 9-Eddie Johnson
usa can still advance and the results will all be in before usa plays colombia... colombia defense is in tatters, and they probably have an eye on the flight home after the match... IF usa is eliminated, we see the OLYMPIC squad... davies is problematic if usa still has a chance... his college days at BC he was a man amongst boys.... i suspect bradley would still go twellman and EJ, and bring attackers off the bench...meaning gomez and davies see sub time.... as to finishing...that's been the problem forever, getting the squad into a higher quality of play will improve the finishing... might be davies, might be some one on the u-20s... right now the usa best duo is ching with donovan... 2 guys need to emerge in the next 3 years
In all fairness, he did take like five shots yesterday. It just happens that most all of them were badly muffed. So, while you are right to criticize him for his play yesterday, I think you are mistaken to criticize him for his lack of attacking aggression. In fact, he is not particularly good enough to hold the ball up at any level. While he has dramatically improved this facet in MLS, his main method of "holding up play" is to play simple first time balls to oncoming teammates. He does this fairly well, and has gotten much better, but has never been strong enough, even in the mls, to "hold up" balls in the classical sense.
Off a recently viewed YouTube highlight compilation, the US "created" and should take credit for: 1) Johnson-to-Bornstein combination that ended when Johnny shot about 10 yards straight into the sprawling GK. 2) Benny-to-Mapp breakaway that Justin missed. Kjlestan's and Moor's headers were due to horrendously inept Paraguay marking in own penalty box when they had the numbers. Others were really quarter chances, including Rico's goal, Eddie's diving header and Twellman's shot off a bouncer. I'd say 4 chances that would result in 2 goals in most leagues and 3 goals in Italy and Spain. First of all, the US doesn't have "average" finishing. Second, Paraguay had its chances too - Barreto's semi-scuffed 8 yard shot off another Bornstein giveaway; Veron's header that hit the post while Johnny was doing his Mike Burns imitation; Keller's thumb save off RSC's low drive; Jimmy Conrad's (I think it was Jimmy) block of Cabanas's 12 yard rocket. Those were legitimate chances as well.
I think that was the point the person was making. IF we had average finishing, it's potentially a win for us. I haven't read all of the US/Paraguay threads yet, but so far I haven't seen anybody comment on this play accurately. A replay from behind the goal on the Univision telecast showed me something I would otherwise have missed. Although a Paraguayan player went high for that ball, the person who sent it toward goal and off the post was not a Paraguayan. He plays for the New England Revs. Blond-haired guy.
{We should develop a separate Brandenton just for forwards where we teach them how to finish they just constantly focus on ball in net} I was thinking the same thing. Why can't all the college kids, other leagues, and walk-ups be invited. Then pick the promising ones and work with them for a while to see if we can't find a striker. I really think we are limiting ourselves too much just depending on MLS; and, on top of that, the few strikers that we have been depending on do not look like they are going to (or are able to) step up. We need an effing striker. I don't believe in all US there is not one!
Our finishing can make a grown man cry. Or at least throw shit all over the livingroom in disgust. Seriously guys, this area is in dire need of something, anything but the Twellman/EJ mumbo jumbo. Hell just play with 6 midfielders.
EJ and Twellman Okay, from reading the posts the last few months, it has come to my attention that at least 75 percent(roughly) consider these two to be the worst U.S. forwards in quite some time. So, assuming these posters are at least semi-knowledgeable about soccer and the U.S system, the question is why does'nt Bradley give others a 3 or 4 game shot? Certainly it's not because he's stupid, that's a cop out. The guy knows soccer so what is it? EJ to me is like the youth player with all the raw talent in the world who has the touch of a brick wall and yet the coaches keep saying" don't worry, with more touches on the ball that will improve". Well, it has'nt. So why so many chances for these two?
Re: EJ and Twellman How can anyone say these are the two worst forwards in the US? They are both by far the best in my mind and have both played well in the CA. Both of these guys were the reason the US even got the 2 goals they got against Argentina and Paraguay. Why so quick to forget that? Yes they did miss some chances but they were few and far between. Maybe if the wing players on the US could figure out how to place an accurate cross or take a decent corner, this wouldn't even be a topic of conversation.
Re: EJ and Twellman Johnson actually played very well against Paraguay, and decent against Argentina. The kid definitely has some issues in this game, but anyone who says he was awful against Paraguay either has no idea what they are talking about or has given up and is no longer incapable of rational evaluation. Twellman was terrible against Argentina, and while still mostly useless against Paraguay, he made a couple of dangerous passes. Both are playing because there simply aren't any other options. The USA just doesn't have forwards who can finish. If Kenny Cooper hadn't gotten injured, I think you would have seen him starting at least one of those games instead of Twellman. I think he could have made a big difference in the Paraguay game. Too bad.
I'm surprised y'all think Twellman can't finish (and EJ has been scoring in MLS as well). Kenny's finishing is much better than Twellman's? Twellman's problem isn't so much his finishing, it's that he's not getting any easy finishing opportunities against tough opponents - and isn't good enough to really go get his own shots (or create shots for others for that matter). Wasn't it the midfield and defense that blew some of our best chances?