The Beasley LB experiment messed up the midfield and defense. Our CBs kept being sucked out of position also to cover for him. I couldn't believe it when BB actually said that he liked how Beasley did for that match.
Dummy, are you really going to believe Bradley for his word in a presser after the match? Why don't you look at his actions instead? Beasley was pulled from the starting lineup that Saturday in Chicago vs. Honduras. He came on as a defensive sub for Casey at the 76th minute. That sends a clearer message to me of his evaluation of Beasley's performance. IIRC, Beasley had to go to left back for the final 10 minutes after Bornstein cramped up and did a decent job that night, which got him back into good standing heading to the confederations cup.
Honestly the hype machine could produce more crap in a week then the City of New York can do in a year.
Beasley did sub on to cover LB while Bornstein actually moved up top and provided some good pressure. Beasley's defense was not great in that game though, but he was lucky to be facing a tired Honduran side while having fresh legs himself. He was basically able to catch up to plays after getting beat. BB badly wanted that experiment to work out.
The move was necessary. Bornstein was cramping and we were out of subs-he turned into a traffic cone. It was not a strategic decision to replace Bornstein with Beasley. It was tactical for what was left on the field. Moving the unhealthy away from the play.
I wasn't disagreeing with the move, merely pointing out that Beasley's play for a limited time at the end of that match really wasn't great. Mistakes were masked by the tired opponent. He really didn't deserve to earn back the LB spot based on the end of that game.
My point was the DMB came on for 15 minutes. He was replacing Connor Casey. Obviously he was coming on the clog the midfield and protect the lead. He was in the doghouse, for sure. I don't think Bradley intended for him to play in the back four that night, it is just that circumstances forced him there. He did not play bad that night and helped kill off the match, which to a veteran (mistakingly) returned some faith in his form in Bradley's eyes. He then gave him the chance against Brazil and DMB burned him. If he ended up being garbage that night, he would probably had not gotten any opportunity at the Confed. Cup.
The game changed quite a bit when Bradley subbed in Casey, Bedoya and Davis. Findley came to life. (Nice run when taken down just outside the box; beautiful feed to Casey in stoppage time) The USMNT started generating offensive momentum. It seemed to me like Bedoya's midfield play was the key. He was the playmaker. He was creative. He generated opportunities. He saw where plays were going and he positioned himself well. (Nice long feed from Davis) He just seemed to have a much better feel for the game than just about any other USMNT player out on the field that night, but only had less than a half to show it. I'm not sending him to South Africa just yet, but I was impressed with Bedoya. I'd like to see more of him - either in Tampa, Amsterdam or both.
I was getting ready to dismiss all of this, but then I noticed that you typed real deal in all caps and added an exclamation point in the title of the thread. Consider me convinced! For what it's worth, he looks like a promising player, but let's let him develop naturally before we anoint him as the second coming.
I don't have the quote, but I remember BB liking Beasley at LB after the Nashville game. I was always suspect because in Nashville, the Soca Warriors never gave Beasley any real pressure. Against the Ticos, it was clear Beasley had no business being at LB. Why people want to blame Torres or our central defenders for our defensive shortcomings there were beyond me. In fact, Costa Rica wasn't the first time Torres had to bail out Beasley, we learned that against El Salvador. It wasn't just BB. BS badly wanted that experiment to work out. People forget that at the time, there was a huge movement to move Beasley to Left Back, because frankly, Bornstein and Pearce had not been consistent, and Castillo was still Mexican. Some really intelligent bloggers wanted Beasley at LB, seemingly not caring whatsoever that Beasley had never really played LB and was completely too slight of frame to play LB. It was all pretty delusional stuff but it took an embarassing loss in a WCQ to figure something out that was completely obvious in the first place. Beasley, meanwhile, has gotten his form back, which is great. The one thing in the way of Beasley are the other outside Mids. When you look at all of them, Dempsey, Donovan, Torres, Rogers, Holden, Bedoya, and even Kljestan, all of them can play multiple positions. So far, DMB has proven that he is a liability at any position outside LM. The one thing helping him out is that Kljestan and Rogers's poor form have virtually taken them out of the South Africa squad, and that Dempsey will be injured for a spell, giving Beasley a chance to prove himself. Of course, this same string also gives a guy like Bedoya a clear shot, too. Bedoya looked good. I certainly don't think he's a lock, but I do think he is the real deal, and I furthermore think he could be the Mastroeni of this cycle.
I think even Ives had posted that he thought BB should try Beasley at LB. The experiment failed horribly, but BB still stuck with it until the embarrassment in the Confed Cup forced him to move Boca to LB. The BS tendency seems to always be toward more offensive players, but soccer is truly a sport where a team needs to be built on solid defense first if you want to win. Brazil has even become more a defensive team. I agree that Beasley is an unlikely choice for SA. This opens the door for Bedoya and others. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out, but I would like to see more proof than subbing in against a Honduran side that already had the game won essentially. Honduras typically is much easier to play against toward the end of a match due to fitness.
You really need to shut up when you don't know what you are talking about. First match of CC vs. Italy, Bornstein started at LB. Beasley subbed off Feilhaber in the 72 minute. Bornstein was not good that game Second match vs Brazil, here was the lineup USA: 1-Tim Howard; 21-Jonathan Spector, 15-Jay DeMerit, 5-Oguchi Onyewu, 2-Jonathan Bornstein; 12-Michael Bradley, 16-Sacha Kljestan, 10-Landon Donovan, 8-Clint Dempsey, 7-DaMarcus Beasley (4-Conor Casey, 46); 17-Jozy Altidore (22-Benny Feilhaber, 60) Beasley played midfield and Bornstein again at LB. Again, the stupidity you show, Boca was injured the first two matches with a hammy. Demerit and Gooch played so well together, Bradley played Boca at LB to get him back on the field, not because Beasley was playing poor at LB. Bradley, like Arena picks and chooses opportunities to play attacking soccer. Usually against the smaller CONCACAF nations and at home. Bradley did it in Nashville and Arena tried it with Convey among others.
oh well thank you for putting me in my place. My stupidity is amazing and you a such a knowledgeable genius when it comes to US soccer. I must now turn in my membership to the supporters club and terminate my big soccer account. You have proven me to be pathetic, thank you. Yes, I forgot the details from Confed Cup and the poor play coming from Bornstein not Beasley. It was definitely at a time when we couldn't get any good play out of that position. But Beasley did not play well in Chicago against Honduras -- I was at that game sitting close to midfield. Back on topic -- what is the answer genius? Is Bedoya the real deal? Is he better than Beasley, Torres, Rogers, or anyone else pushing for the last midfield spot? Please bless us with your great knowledge of uselessness
Fixed my post. The fact that Torres, Holden, Dempsey, Beasley, Clark, Jones, and Edu are all currently injured to varying degrees really helps Bedoya's chances of making the roster against Holland. I think the number of MLS callups will be limited, and we'll need bodies in midfield. Freddie Adu's recent sighting probably means he'll be called up, but the last couple weeks have made Bedoya at least a possible candidate for the camp. Still don't see any scenario under which he would make the team for SA though. If you had to call up healthy FIFA schedule based league players right now in MF (who are in contention)... its... Donovan (W/AM) Bradley (CM) Feilhaber (CM) Adu* (AM) Castillo (W) Bedoya Rolfe ? (W) Ryan Guy? (W) Jemal Johnson (W) Spector has played DM before too, but we need him somewhere on the back line more than likely. Everyone get ready for the Robbie Rogers trip to Europe?
In the Honduras game, Bedoya did the best Benny Feilhaber impersonation I have seen since Benny Feilhaber. He gave the USMNT the solid midfield play in the second half that we expected from Feilhaber in the first half. In fairness to Benny, he was out there with Beckerman and Kljestan. I would have preferred to have given Feilhaber the opportunity to play with Bedoya & Davis. Kljestan is a fine MLS player, but he will be a lifer there. He has shown repeatedly that he can not compete at the top level. Same goes for Beckerman. I don't want to come across as bashing these guys. I have no doubt that they have given it their best, but they have shown what they can (can't) do. Positions they take up on a USMNT roster are lost opportunities. Bradley is doing the right thing in giving looks to Tracy, Bedoya, Gonzalez and other young US talent on the rise. I'll go so far as to say that they Honduras loss will have been worth it if Bedoya, Findley or Davis make enough of an impression to eventually make it to South Africa or Brasil. Passe bem.
South Africa is probably going to be too soon for all three of them. Tracy lost his chance when he got injured for camp cupcake. He's out. Bedoya and Gonzalez will will have to jump past some people, and there really aren't enough opportunities for them to do so. All three could become important in the 2014 cycle.
I'll let you know on or around April 15th. None of them are good enough to just say "i'll take them over 'x' ". They have 9-10 weeks to get in good form and I would choose the one or two who is playing the best come mid-April.
I don't know about this. I think the main BS tendency is toward any new player which we don't know enough about yet, haven't seen enough of or who hasn't had a chance to dissappoint enough people yet.
I file Bedoya under the category of a player I want to see more of, but what I have seen so far hasn't been overly impressive. He's probably going to get a start tonight against Colombia, so I'm patiently waiting that maybe this is the chance we will see something excellent out of him.
IMO Bedoya looks like a guy who at present can handle the international game, but is not an impact player. Given that we have a glut of impact players in our midfield I think Bedoya will be a bench option for most of this cycle. However, early returns suggest to me that, given more time, he could certainly develop into an impact player for us.