Arena's ego is getting in the way [R]

Yeah, I'm a tad confused as to why he didn't use a 3-5-2, as well. If you're going to ever experiement with it, that game would've been the opportunity.

 

Wow. This didn't take long.

Something to remind yourself about before reacting to matches like this.

1) It's a friendly and... no... two things to remind yourself about

1) it's a friendly and
2) it's not like we're going to have a full squad... wait, there are three things to remind yourself about before posting a thread like this, number

1) it's a friendly and
2) it's not like we're going to have a full squad available for a match like this when our domestic league is in its offseason and our European-based players aren't goint to get released, and
3) it's only a friggin' friendly.

 

don't know why this thread is about Arena's ego... i figure he's just playing around in a friendly.

as for Convey... i figured he's playing as a withdrawn midfielder

 

I like his experiments. Convey is best suited at central midfield, but that position is too crowded. He has to move somebody to put every good players on the field.

Personally I like Albright better than Victorine at right back.

 

I don't know why there are those who are so opposed to that pairing in the midfield, especially with the apparent oddness of Mulrooney as the attacking midfielder.

I think he's been able to show with the Quakes that he has a much better than decent amount of touch, organisation and passing ability whenever he's had to play the position in lieu of Ronnie Ekelund in the last few years. Not to mention he's a good option on set pieces.

Maybe not the optimum choice for an attacking mid, but the best of the lot that's there. And he'd seem to do well in concert with Armas.

Anyway, those are my thoughts in theory. Anyone who saw the game, how did their chemistry look in reality?

 

Rumor has it that Bruce had Ty Keough sacked for a couple games because Ty questioned his midfield lineup on air.

How's that for ego and power???

 

1st half we didn't attack. Period. Ok we attacked, but that only happened when Denmark made a mistake in the midfield and we took advantage. Defensivly we did very well after the first 5 - 10 minutes or so. Those two did a fine job of bottling up Denmarks midfield into their own defensive midfield.

2nd half was a different story. Mulrooney and Armas basically did all the dirty work so that DMB and Convey could attack like crazy. I lguess the pairing worked well, but my personal preference would be to have an attacking force in the middle.

 

I don't know about the ego line but I like the experiment of Convey at left back for a couple of reasons.

1. As previously mentioned, when the squad is at full strength, there are plenty of AMs and BA knows what he has there.

2. Using Convey in Roberto Carlos role was an extra twist in this game. If you paid any attention at all, as the game wore on, especially in the second half, Denmark had no answer for Convey's attacks up the left side.

I hope Arena has enough ego to stand up for what he wants. That's what I want in a Nats coach. Also in this game, the team showed a nice adjustment at halftime, another sign of a good coach, and was clearly the better side in the second half.

 

It is about time somebody questions personnel decisions by Bruce Arena. He is a good coach, but I am tired of his favoritism to certain players. Let's just say if you went to UVA and/or played for DC United, you have a real good chance to impress Bruce. We all know if Santino Quaranta scores 6 goals next year, Bruce will bring him to full national team camps. Bruce has great qualities but his loyalties to certain groups of players is clearly evident and anybody who says otherwise is probably a DC United/UVA fan.

 

$60,000 to the schmoe who tells us who Brazil's left back was on the World Champion squad of 1994?

Hint,......he was as skillful a midifelder as any in the world,...but alas,...Brazil's midfield was loaded so it only made sense to play him at left back to put the best eleven on the field.

Answer anyone?

 

My guess is that Arena believes he will have Reyna, O'Brien, or Martino available in qualifiers so its more useful to have Convey get another games worth of experience at LB than play him in the center.

The dual holding midfield scheme could have worked out had Ralston been in the same form he showed last year. Instead he was largely invisible and made the US overly dependent on the left side.

 

Sgt,
your assertion is NOT supported by fact. Arena has brought in a ton of players from all over the place. As noted in the match 51 have earned their 1st cap under Arena.

Before you make a statement like that you should look at the specifics. In this case your personal bias casts doubt on your credibility.

 

we moved to a 3 - 5 - 2 at that point and Nick Garcia was covering the left defensive flank. Convey was in the midfield, playing along side DMB.

 

Leonardo, friend of Tab Ramos

 

That is the whole point! This was a great game to see if Convey could have played RIGHT NOW at central mid for the nats before qualifying starts.

 

apoo,
I'll have to watch the tape to check for sure but even if he did move up, it was still a good tactical position in which to use him. However, I seem to recall him starting several times from well back of the middle of the formation. It seemed like he would pull back to get the Danes to ignore him, they would and then he would go forward.

In any case, I don't think it is a huge point of disagreement because the main point of this game was to get a look at a lot of non-regulars to see if they were in the future.

NOTE: Ante Razov ain't in the future, IMO!!!

 

Completely agree. I like a midfield of Run DMB, Reyna, JOB and a defensive midfielder du jour.

Convey at LB allows us a lot of flexibility without making a change on the field.

 

I dislike both DCU and UVA and can therefore say without bias that this whole post is full of crap. People on Bigsoccer have never NOT questioned his personnel moves, often relying on the same unsubstantiated charges of favoritism that you do.

Help us out here: Name guys who played today because they went to UVA and/or played for DC United. For everyone you name, it will be easy to find someone lacking those credentials.

 

I think Chris Albright falls into that category.

 

Yeah. So does Eddie Pope and Bobby Convey. Now how do you explain Wolyneic? Or Razov? Or Mulrooney? Or Walker going the full 90? Or for that matter, the mainstays of recent the team like Beasley, Donovan, and Armas? I don't think any of those guys spent any time playing at UVA or DC United did they?

His personnel decisions are always open to question, but taking shots at him when at a time of year when he's choosing guys from a domestic league because his European guys in midseason form are unavailable is a bit much.

 

First off, that is a RUMOR. Doubt its true.

Second, if it is, God bless Bruce Arena's ego for getting Ty Keough out of the friggin announcers booth.

 

I would agree with you that some people are too quick to jump on Bruce, accusing him favoritism. However, I don’t understand why Bruce is so keen on Albright, even starting him on right back today. Albright’s passing ability is not that good to be an attack option out of the back or along the flank. He has no experience as a defender, and he’s NOT going to get any in the future playing for his club team. Is he so talented that he can be totally playing out of position for USMNT with no experience other than training camps or some friendly games??

 

If this was against Costa Rica, I'd totally agree and would be calling for his head. Who else could he have played there today? It's pretty easy to come up with a couple of names, but... which of those guys has he not already seen plenty of times (Hejduk, for instance)?

 

That doesn't make it favoritism. As Cello said, depth at both outside backs is a problem. Seeing if Albright, a big guy who has never lived up to his hype, could do anything at right back makes sense to me.