Seriously, what has Buddle done this season to deserve a call-up? I'd rather see Cunningham called up. Buddle has been crap this season.
Are you fvcking serious? That line-up was horsesh^t for the 70 minutes until red card, Donovan and then (5 mintues later) Wolff and O'Brien came in. DK, please stop it...
I haven't seen the Crew that much this year, but Buddle's got real talent, is still a very consistent finisher, and his current malaise is somewhat mitigated by the "Gred Andrulis Stench of Death" that has haunted the Crew this year. I have watched Buddle over the last few years and just think he is one of those guys that will really benefit from being surrounded by quality players all over the field. I don't know if he can cut it or not at the international level, but I would like to see him get a real shot at it. He may lay a giant turd. But this is Casey's 5th or 6th turd. In a row. Time to give someone else a chance. Back to the game, my other biggest concern is that Bruce seems insistent on playing our best left sided midfielder anywhere but the left side of midfield. DMB ROCKS as a winger, but is simply not a striker or a playmaker. Why can't Bruce accept that?
Agreed. The replay definitely showed that he was behind the man when the ball was played. Very well done on Dempsey's part.
I have got to agree with this. Casey was basically a lone forward out there, and that is not his game (similar to McBride). While he did not play well, he did not stink the place up and had one good chance on goal in the only half chance he got. For the most part, our midfield was aweful until DMB dropped back to help out and Casey got very little service, and did OK with what he got.
PLAYER RATINGS TIME 1–Marcus Hahnemann-6 Ok performance not really tested tonight 22-Tony Sanneh- (-1) TERRIBLE. Worst performance by a US Player in the Arena era. Should not come anywhere close to a USMNT CAMP let alone game ever again. 12-Jimmy Conrad-5 not bad. Didn't really notice him. Got no help from Sanneh and in essence covered the whole left and centre. 2-Frankie Hejduk-4 Man can still not cross a ball. CLEARLY #2 on the depth chart behind Cherundolo. 15-Ben Olsen-4 typical Olsen. Hustles. But clearly not an option for the USMNT any longer. (gotta ask where the hell was Chris Klein tonight. He should DEFINITELY be on this team) 14-Chris Armas-2 What can I say. He was a rock for years. But even the best rocks erode and clearly Armas' skill (which was never high to begin with) is dimishing. CLEARLY #4 on the depth chart behind Pablo, Dempsey and Reyna 21-Brad Davis-5.25 Not bad. Got better as the game went on. NEEDS TO PUT BALLS ON FRAME. inexperience showed early. Deserves another shot albeit in a friendly with nothing on the line. 8-Clint Dempsey-6.75 This guy was about 2 feet away from a 10 rating. Skill showed well tonight. He looks to be in terrific form. Did well all night minus the finishing. 9-Santino Quaranta-6.1 Didn't look that bad at times. He went at people which is what most of us like. Deserves another shot albeit in a friendly or at least surrounded by the regulars. 7-DaMarcus Beasley-8 LOOKED much better when surrounded by better talent. His one year at PSV has done WONDERS for his game. 11-Conor Casey-2.5 laid balls off well. Not much else he did tonight (other than get injured, again, making way for LD) 5-John O’Brien-6 gets that just for getting back on the field. 10-Landon Donovan-10 perfect rating. US is simply a different team with him on the field and more importantly he makes Beasley more dangerous by a factor of 10. FK was a thing of beauty. 16-Josh Wolff-6 gets it in part cause he replaced Olsen and cause he was dangerous. Bruce Arena-3 His plan almost blew up in his grill. And he must be questioned for the inclusion of Armas, Sanneh and Olsen.
I am almost certian that it was Davis that was responsible for the Cuban goal. The look on his face after was one of guilt.
It did come fromthe right, but to me it seemedc Beasleys weak flick attempt started the problem, and it was Olsen who lunged and got beat.
Didn't watch the Crew-United match last weekend, eh? I just want to say that after being away from this forum for so long, it's nice to know I'm not missing anything worthwhile. There is an amazing level of dumb going on here. Have a nice day.
If the consensus is that he got an 8, he will have just shattered the world's record for most cheap giveaways by an attacking player getting an 8.
No. He was pretty effective when he was hugging the touchline. It was when he got into the 18 that scared me. No way he was complete and utter crap. I've been saying that since his last two games. He sucks. I disagree. I thought there was attitude. Heyduke and Olsen and Dempsey were flying all over the pitch. That said, there was no finishing until LD came in for Casey Odd that I'm so calm about this when if this was Metro at least two chairs would have already been broke, but I'm OK with this. We learned some things. This is when you expirement, which Bruce doesn't normally do. Dead wrong. Just ITN style wrong. THey showed it about three different times Well, you know how I feel about Landon, but he played well today and boosted the side - this is how he ALWAYS should play (not just against weak teams) and he doesn't. And as I said, I think they were working hard, just not working effectively - there's a difference.
"JOB didn't do a lot, but his speed of thought from first touch, piece of vision and then creative ball is abssolutely first class. But why he got sent out onto that yuk field, I don't know." Quote JOB is the man, plain and simple, can't wait to see his skills in this tournament
Sanneh may have been terrible, but worst performance in the Arena area for the USMNT has to go to "own goal Agoos" in the WC followed by "Agoos pass back" against Jamaica at RFK.
Olsen lunged as a mid-fielder should when a defender is behind him. After the poor header, Hejduk ran straight at the ball and when Olsen lunged he lunged as well and put himself out of position when he missed badly, then stood there as the man dribbled past. In a three man defense it is his responsibility to slow that play and he didn't, which is typical for Frankie. If it were another of our outside defenders he would be crucified on these boards. Sanneh was out of position, but that cross should never have happened. BTW, the Beasley header was poor too, but it was worth the risk as he had Olsen and Hejduk backing the play.