OK, you have to be a relative/classmate/team mate/neighbor/close friend of The Lincolnway Legend. While Grabavoy had a better year than I thought he would, this was one of my bigger critiques of his. He certainly looked faster in LA this season than he did ever at Sportsclub, Lincolnway, or for IU. I also didn't think he worked particularly hard, but I'll admit he surprised me in this regard. I'll put Grabavoy in the same category I put Convey: I hope he does well, I'll cheer for him, but I reserve the right to have a measure of doubt in his future as currently advertised.
Please can someone please put a flaming torch into the thought of Chris Klein starting for us in Germany. Does anyone remember reading an article about the confed in france in 03 and they had all the awards and what not. So for the worst player, they didnt choose a New Zealand player, they chose Chris Klein. Awful shite if you ask me.
Very true. But you asked: And I answered that they are not looking at his credentials, just his improvement during this last season and his potential. You can call this "drinking kool ade" if you like.
Interesting thread. McBride is your classic leader up front at this point, a nice target man, plays smart, and doesn't rely on speed. He's a lock if we make it to Germany, and makes a nice partner for a speedster like Johnson. You're all putting him to pasture way too soon. My depth chart heading into 2005......... GK - Keller, Howard, Friedel, Walker (Kasey is now #1, and we'll need to see who Arena uses to push him, but it'll be either Howard or Friedel, not both) RB, LB - Cherundolo, Convey, Gibbs, Hejduk, Spector, Albright (Frankie understands Arena's system, Spector begins to be a factor in '05) CD - Bocanegra, Berhalter, Pope, Onyewu, Marshall (Pope is on the way down, Marshall will come on to take his place) DM - Zavagnin, Mastroeni, Armas (nice slot for veteran leadership) CM - Reyna, O'Brien, Lewis, Dempsey (I'd love to see O'Brien get back into the mix, but this job is still Reyna's in Germany) AM - Donovan, Beasley, Gaven, Mullan, Ralston, Martino (Beasley and Landon need to play here all the way through Germany. Work on some depth in the form of Gaven and Martino.) Target Forward - McBride, Ching, Casey, (McBride's job for many reasons, Ching adds nice depth, but where is the next generation?!) FW - Johnson, Buddle, Wolff, Twellman (I love Eddie's speed, and we need more of it.) The Gold Cup will give lots of players an audition, but right now, the '06 line-up for Germany is looking somewhat set, and is a nice mix of veterans and youth.......... G - Keller (Howard) D - Bocanegra, Pope, Cherundolo, Hejduk (Convey, Berhalter) M - Zavagnin, Reyna, Beasley, Donovan (Lewis, Gaven) F - McBride, Johnson (Ching) Things to watch.... 1. Can Convey, Gibbs, or Spector push Hejduk or Cherundolo to the bench?! I think they can and will. 2. Pope hasn't solidified his job - will Berhalter or Oneywu take it, and how soon until Chad Marshall is a factor?! They won't push Eddie aside yet, but Chad grabs himself a job in '05. 3. Can a healthy John O'Brien be a force again?! I'm not sure we can rely on someone who is rarely available. 4. Landon and DaMarcus - book it for '06. But who's behind them - are Gaven and Dempsey ready?! I love Clint Dempsey's game....he'll grab a reserve slot, and Gaven will contribute as well. 5. McBride and Johnson have jobs, but they're not booked to start. We do best when we pair a target with speed. Who will push them - Ching, Casey, Buddle. I don't like our depth here at all. Ching might be a factor, Casey has shown little, and Buddle needs to see the pitch. There's a job out there for someone to win in '05. Could Adu be the answer?! All in all, our problems aren't exactly serious one, and I'm mostly interested to see how we develop some forwards during qualifying and the Gold Cup. McBride, Johnson, Ching, and Wolff - solid perhaps, but we're not going to scare anyone with that group. I like our defensive corp as we're some 8 deep in talented players. Our midfield group is solid, and if Reyna and O'Brien are healthy, are stellar. We just need to develop the next wave for depth and insurance. We'll finish behind Mexico, but won't even need the last game to make the World Cup.....
Esky? He's nowhere near being a starter for the National Team. He cannot finish a wide variety of chances. He can only finish chances that are tailor-made for his left foot. He does not have great speed. This is even worse when you consider that he can't really go all out with the ball at his feet. He still has to improve his turning. He can't hold the ball. He's not great in the air. Twellman, who himself is on the outside looking in with regards to the National Team is a much better player. You don't even need to bring up the stats. You don't even need to point out that Twellman, in his two "slump" seasons has had stats equal to or better than Alecko's stats this year. Just watch them play. Twellman has better athleticism, can hold the ball decently, and can turn, and can finish and dribble with both feet. Most importantly, he can finish a wide variety of chances. Alecko benefited from playing with Jaime this year. If Jaime had Twellman to work with instead, they would have been almost unstoppable. I don't think this is an overstatement. Jaime is a master at making the other forward look good. He knows exaclty how to use Alecko to put the ball in the net.
All of you pimping Eskandarian and Twellman are smoking illegal substances. They are both WAY down Bruce's real depth chart right now. McBride, Wolff, Johnson, Ching, Casey, Mathis, and heck, maybe even Kirovski will get WCQ starts before Eskandarian and Twellman. (note: I'm not saying who SHOULD get starts, just saying who Bruce is likely going to use) Carry on.
I agree that Esky has some work to do to get significant playing time. However, I've heard from a pretty reliable source that Esky as well as Olsen will be getting the call up for the next camp. So it appears Esky will at least start to get a chance to see what he can do. The ironic thing about both of these players is I think they are system players who need the right system and the right players around them. DCU's system fit them both perfectly, but a 4-4-2 certainly isn't ideal for Olsen. It will be interesting to see how Burce would plan on using Olsen. He certainly out played KZ in the final, but he is neither an a-mid or a true d-mid. I doubt he is much of a consideration for the right either.
Pretty good post, but you are putting way too much on Mcbride. He's been consistantly outplayed in the last year by Ching, Casey, and Johnson. You ask where the next generation is, well those three can most most if not everything McBride can at this point, and they are all younger than 25 (I think). I'm not convinced Keller is the #1. He's been playing because he's been available.
I'd agree olsen and esky should deserve a look in the january camp....but that's a long way from meaning they see pt during the hex..... I agree too, mcbride is a nice serviceable role player, but casey or ching ore even eddie johnson need to emerge as a big forward... my suspicion is mcbride is on the decline and by June '06, I question whether his skills will be high enough.....agoos '02 equalling mcbride '06 is my biggest fear.... arena needs to find a forward pair....you can look at ching/casey...and align one of the 2 with johnson/wolff and I'd throw buddle in as the wild card.... after that, then let's talk twellmann or eskandarian.... and the is always the option of donovan as a forward, if let's say gaven emerges as a high caliber AM.... donovan and johnson... gaven and beasley... mastroeni and dempsey spector bocanegra onyewu russell.... keller... i'd like something like that to evolve june 2006...
Recent evidence would not support your position. McBride is currently playing as well as ever [though it may not last] while Casey struggles in the Bundesliga, Ching remains somewhat limited and Buddle was on the bench for his MLS side's biggest game in favor of the old, tired and never good enough [at the international level] Dante Washington. Your scenario coudl happen, maybe even is likely based on the aging process, but a smart coach will not automatically reach for the next generation based on this fear but will observe the player carefully. Especially when only EJ and Wolff are ready for prime time.
I don't think Bruce is going to automatically reach for the next generation, but in the same respect, just because McBride scores a goal when the game is already out of reach and his coach has some nice things to say about him, doesn't mean he should automatically be a number 1 choice. McBride has played poorly (well average) in his national team appearances this year, especially in the meaningful games. Ching, before his injury, was far more effective and Casey showed he is also a serviceable option. If we are looking forward to 2005 and 2006, failing to prepare the next generation for the WC over the next 18 months, based on a reliance on McBride would be detrimental to the team. McBride is certainly going to be a member of the team going forward, and will play an important role, but that role should be diminished compared to the role he has played in the past.
First, McBride's goal against Chelsea in the Carling Cup tied the score, so it wasn't "out of reach." Second, I saw the Chelsea game and the game this weekend and BMB is back to playing as well as he can. IMHO, though based on a small sample. My opinion is that McBride's average national form recently has been due to his lack of club time. With that changing, assuming his recent inclusion in the first team holds, I expect to see McBride play better with the Nats. This remains to be seen of course, but that's what I expect. I have only seen one game where Casey was servicable, as his performances with the Nats have overall been poor. Ching was good at times, but still not, IMHO, as good as McBride at his best. How is Arena failing to prepare? He has used Casey, Ching, Wolff, EJ and Twellman this year. Buddle was injured or he probably would have joined in. But anyway, I agree that Arena should prepare -- in fact compete the position. We shall see. It depends on Wolff's health, Ching's ability at the international level, Casey showing his poor international and reportedly poor club form are aberations, as well upon the aging process and BMB's status wih his club. I don't think you can say with a high degree of probability that his role will be diminished, especially since the HEX is only months away and BMB is currently starting in one of the two toughest leagues in the world. Actually, I certainly hope that BMB's role diminishes as long as the cause is improved play by the next generation and not the lowering of BMB's level. In any event, I think it is an exciting competition and I hope everyone does well, leaving Arena with some very difficult choices.
We are in agreement on this. I think his role will be diminished by the time the WC roles around precisely because of the continued development of the younger generation, which appears to have a greater potential upside than McBride.
Don't want to turn this into a Brian McBride thread ... but I gotta say he's the #1 horse in the '06 race. Old? Yes? Playing better than the other target man candidates? Also yes. Did you see Fulham's weekend game? They won 1-0 and McBride set up the goal with a classy flick. The guy is of true EPL quality. Meaning sure, he can be pushed out of the way by a younger player, but that younger player had better be class. Where is that player? I don't like the idea of a 34 year old World Cup starter but McBride is forcing me to take him seriously.
But the problem is that he's of EPL quality skills and ever declining physical abilities to go with them. Yes he's very much capable of making the smart play, the clever flick and there is no shortage of work from him. But sports are notoriously unfair in the sense that Eddie Johnson can work half as hard, not know nearly as much and still be a better player. With the World Cup schedule being what it is and taking place in the summer, McBride is an occassional starter at best. Asking him to come back on three days rest at age 34 in the middle of June and perform like he did when he was 28 is too tall an order. Bruce can address this issue or ignore it like he did the Agoos issue (2001 MLS Defender of the year). There are some kids at forward with some talent and most of them have had very little way in the opportunities to show what they could do. Bruce needs to find out.
Beat me too it. There is no doubt BMB is having a nice run of form. But lets see how long he can keep it up. If the only 3 forwards we are counting on come June 06 are Johnson, Wolff and McBride, then imo, that spells trouble considering Wolff's injury history and McBride being 34. Bruce better have someone else to turn to. Who is that going to be? Thats what the next 18 months are for.
Believe me, I hate old forwards. Brazil knows how to do this right, every 5 years you bring up a new crop of 20 year olds to take the jobs away from the 29 year old geezers. But you know, the World Cup is less than 2 years away and McBride is getting the job done in what is probably the world's fastest league. I'm not saying we should rely on him, and I am saying that Arena should intensify his search to come up with a young guy to start in McBride's place, but I do see a realistic possibility that McBride will start Game 1 in '06. Seems to me that EJ and McBride are 75% chances to make WC '06 squad, Wolff is about 50%, and every other forward is a modest to extreme long shot.
Do you really think Bruce ignored it ? My take is that he looked at the alternatives and rolled the dice that Agoos would come up big. It didn't work out that way. The same issue applies here. Someone has to displace McBride - it won't be a situation where Bruce says "he's too old, next in line". Someone may step up in the next year and half or not. I think Bruce has done a pretty good job in looking for McBride's replacement - we've seen Casey, Ching, Twellman, EJ. We may yet see Buddle, Eskandarian, and Noonan. My guess is that one or more of this group will make a case during qualification and McBride is on the bench in 2006.
its mcbrides job, until someone takes it. i dont think casey has shown much at all. id like to see buddle, TT, and esky get a good run of games
Not this time, no. He gave the McBride wannabes Casey and Ching multiple opportunities. Casey was downright unimpressive. Ching was better but didn't show McBride's ability at link-up play. I would guess that Casey has pretty much been shelved but Ching will get more looks in 2005, along with somebody else, only I don't know who that will be. I really think this offense will be geared around runs from Eddie Johnson & Landon Donovan, and dribble attacks from Beasley. With that approach, a McBride-style player would appear to fit in very nicely.
I agree completely. I don't watch MLS much, so my only experience with EJ has been the WKQs. I know he has the size to be a target foward, and was wondering how well he filled that role? Is he any good at finishing crosses? Can he play with his back to the goal? Anyway, if he has those skills or can learn those skills (after all, he's only 20), he may be the long-term replacement for BMB. After all, why have a slow target foward when you can have a fast target foward?
My suspicion is mcbride, if healthy, is a critical player in the upcoming t&t and mexico hex matches.... even with mls in offseason, I'd hope eddie johnson partners him.... at some point in the hex, mcbride won't be able to play or usa has clinched 3rd, which gives arena the option to experiment with ching or casey in the mcbride role, or even put johnson in it and use wolff as the other forward... as to june '06, I don't like old guys, except as role players..a lot will depend on match-ups...what type team are we playing... the ideal scenario is either casey or ching raise their game to take the spot away from mcbride.....if things are close to even...mcbride gets the call.... an other option is gaven emerges as a big time AM, pushing donovan forward, and pairing landon with EJ would be very scary...
EJ is good at finishing crosses. He's good at scoring from the air. I think he just about equals McBride in both of those skills. What he still kind of lacks as a target forward is the ability McBride has to bring down long balls from the back. He's not that bad at it though, just not nearly as good as McBride is. He certainly has time to improve too. P.S. Try and catch some MLS games next year.
Of course. But right now McBride is playing as well as ever and none of his imitators have shown ability equal to his top level. Both events might happen, with McBride going down or others improving. But it hasn't happened yet, at least not IMHO. Right now, those are the only three, other than LD, that are good enough to start regularly for the USMNT. BA can't make water out of wine -- he has given caps to Twellman, Ching, Casey, Buddle and Esky, but none of them have yet demonstrated that they are at that level. Unfortunately, the next eight months are largely about qualifying. The USMNT does not have the most challenging road, but it still has to be respected. Finding a fourth or fifth international class forward will be a lower priority until qualification is assured. Even then, injuries and club conflicts will have to be considered. Forwards will get their chances to impress, but it's up to them to do it. BA can't turn water into wine.