The real story is the quality of the back 5 (in season) vs. the front 6 (pre-season minus DMB) And therefore, I can honestly gauge nothing from the front 6. DMB had the worst game I've ever seen him play. And the rest of the guys were all in preseason form. Had Mastro not been injured a brief time ago maybe things would have been different as the game changed a great deal when he came on. I think what we need to take from the game is that if Gibbs can return to his starting form he had just a year or so ago, our defense is going to be fantastic at the cup. And the MLS guys once returning to form will provide key boosts throughout the tournament. The Poland match leaves me overly-excited at the prospects of the US being able to beat a full strength, and by all accounts, very good Poland team with 5 guys not in true "game-form" and one player who had a nightmare of a day. It's too bad we won't be able to field a full MLS squad if the Revs and LA do well in the CCC for the Germany match as it would have been a true litmus test to see where those guys are at. THis is going to be an exciting Summer. Now for the fun part.... my wishful thinking lineup to take the opening three points from the czechs... ------------Keller---------------- Dolo----Gooch----Gibbs----Lewis- --------Reyna---JOB------------- -----Beasley------Convey-------- -----Donovan----McBride--------- v. Italy ------------Keller---------------- Dolo----Gooch----Gibbs----Lewis- -------------Mastro------------- -----Reyna----------JOB--------- -----Donovan-----Beasley-------- -----------McBride--------------- v. Ghana (hopefully at this point already qualified.... screw you, it's my dream) going into the last match day we find the table as US 2-0-0 = 6 Ghana 0-2-0 = 2 Italy 0-1-1 = 1 Czech 0-1-1 = 1 -----------Marcus---------------- Spector--Pope----Berhalter--Boca- ------------Mastro---------------- -----Dempsey------Convey-------- -------Donovan/Reyna 45 each---- ----------GAM-----TT------------ ahhh.... to live in a perfect world....
I like that lineup versus the Czechs. Except I would have Pope in for Dolo... what's the rationale for replacing dolo with spector against ghana??
Pope in for Dolo ? He was probably our best player against Poland , and is our most consistent player . No way would I replace Dolo with anyone .
Well in my perfect world we would already be qualified, so that would be a game to not only try and win, but get everybody into a game. If qualification is on the line then the lineup against the czechs is what I would want out there.
How do they go from crashing Norway, Japan (1st half) and Guatemala after a 6 week camp to suddenly being in preseason form?
^^^ Sidefoot, I thought the exact same thing. EJ's the only guy with any kind of "rustiness" excuse. Dude, you need to learn the difference between wide defenders and central defenders in a 4-4-2. It's as important as understanding, I dunno, the difference between a shortstop and a 1st baseman. They're both infielders, sure, but the job descriptions are very different.
Norway, besides being outclassed, was also in preseason form Japan, that was their first game together on that trip, I dont know about their preparation besides that. And Guatemala was just destroyed This was their first game against players who were in midseason form. They held their own, but didn't do much special. The first half was dreadful to watch and the second half turned around, in my opinion, because of Pablo. I wasn't slagging our boys because of it, just saying that it will be exciting to see how well they actually play when they are in season and playing a lot of games. I for one was never falling all over myself from those games... though Dempsey impressed, and they were fun to watch. Which is why this Germany friendly has the potential to be a lot of fun to see as a measuring stick. Three friendlies and a couple closed door scrimmages does not get you in anything but preseason form. Go watch most guys in the MLB in the world baseball classic right now and tell me they aren't still in preseason shape, there's a sharpness that's lacking. And though lacking that sharpness, the boys still pulled out a win, in Europe, against a quality side.
MLS guys just looked a bit nervous. It was probably the highest level game many had played in in quite some time. There is so much pressure on players to earn a spot (and some serious cash and exposure if selected). In the second half players calm down a bit and Mastroeni and Convey made the difference.
Who would you like better for a holding midfielder when Reyna/O'Brien are out, Zavagnin or Peter Vagenas ? ... why Vagenas isn't in Bruce Arena WC plan ? i thought he is good and better than Zavagnin.
But that's not what you said in the original post. I also think that the Poland domestic players are just returning off their winter break. According to reliable sources, aka Galaxy fans and management, Pete sucks.
really ? i thought he is an olympian and i saw he scored the goal for Galaxy in good fashion ( i think it was in the first Galaxy- Chivas encounter )
thus it's ironic that the worst player on the pitch, for either team, was DMB, the guy who plays for the best club team (of the Americans). seriously, DMB was so bad in this game. thread starter noted it, i guarantee you, the more you watch it, the worse he gets. playing with that little confidence, it's gonna be tough for DMB to hold off Convey. but the good news is, Beasley can't possibly play any worse than that. it's impossible.
Barring injury Pope won't start for anyone this summer. We're still putting way too much emphasis on the results against Norway's youth team (some perspective here I saw this same team, their under 21s play against England's and lost 3-1) and a 2nd rate Japanese team. This is for Pope, TT and Dempsey. I hope all 3 do well against better competition but let's not jump the gun on saying they are it.
after all Pope is only the best defender in the history of USA soccer.WE would not want to put too much emphasis on his 2 world cups and 80 caps. Especially if he is completely healthy again. There are too many new and tastier flavors of the month out there to consider Steady Eddie.
I agree. Certain guys belong on the field at all times. He's one of them. Very capable dude. Besides.... They don't even play the same postion.
there should not be even a question. Dollo is a lock along with Donovan, keller etc .. he is very mobile back there, and along that right line, also caplable sending great crossing .....and another advantage is, he will play in his back yard
my dream lineup: ------------Keller------------ ---Dolo---Onyewu--Berhalter- --Dempsey-Reyna--O'Brien--- ----------Donovan---------- ----Johnson------Beasley---- -----------Mcbride----------
In the left mid, I actually like Noonan a lot. Convey is good to just from this game, and also has a better cross and speed than Noonan. But Noonan has a better finishing ability than Convey.