Casey so far [R]

I thought he was solid, but never spectacular.

Who else can replace that isn't equally as disappointing up front?

 

There was an attempt at goal by Casey where he had the ball at the top of the box on the left, juked the defender who tried to slide tackle CC, then ripped a shot that sailed a few feet above the crossbar.

I thought he did OK. He got an assist at least.

 

I'd like to see more of Twellman....I know he is injured right now, but in general. When he come on to replace Casey in Dallas he got involved right away, barely missing on a few good headers. Plus, I think he is better then Casey with the ball at his feet.

 

You can't teach height/size, so Casey will get more looks than smaller forwards like Twellman. In CONCACAF we can run just about any sized forward out there and win, but looking beyond qualifying, it would be nice to have more size in the attack when playing European sides during the WC.

 

Casey reminds of, ironically, an old German player named Hors Rhubesch. Not terribly fast, not terribly skilled, but seems to be in the right place at the right time and deadly with his head.

 

I am not sold on Casey at all. He has not shown me very much during his time with the USMNT. Perhaps he was doing things in Germany that warrent his call-ups, but I have not been able to see any of those games. He just signed in the Bundesliga, so I guess he can play, I just have not seen it yet.

Come on Casey...show me what you've got.

 

Casey is the type of player who is always going to draw complaints but probably is always going to be productive.The great hidden part of the second goal was the movement of players. Casey makes comes back for the ball, draws a defender, McBride charges into the vacated space, Casey one-touches the ball into the space he just vacated, McBride lets rip. For anyone who has ever watched Mathis and McBride point at each other for long stretches of the match, it was great to see.

 

I dub thee - Conor Heskey

 

I think this is a fair assesment. Not sure what people are expecting from Casey---thusfar, he has played very well, and caused headaches to opposing teams. He wins balls, esp. in the air, has good control, and sees the field better than anyone except LD and Reyna. Plus, he's 22.

 

absolutely. but moreover, wouldn't it be nice to have two forwards who are real scoring threats? casey has a nice physical presence, and appears strong w/ his back to goal, but i'd like to see more quickness and an inclination to drive toward goal and take more shots.

 

Don't forget Casey's perfect 25-yard pass to Beasley to put him free in front of the goal. Beasley proceeded to flub the chance, but it was a great play by Casey and perhaps indicative of what he can bring to the team.

 

He played the ball to Wolff that Wolff touched on to DMB for the goal vs. Poland. While it would be nice for him to score, his value right now seems to be in winning balls and creating space for others to run in, like in the 2nd McB goal last night.

And let's not forget the brutal 2 footer he put on the Mexican goalie.

IMHO he's done well enough for a young player to keep getting looks.

 

Good reminder.

 

I don't disagree. But Conor just scored 14 goals in a pretty high quality league. I have faith that he knows how to put the ball in the net, even if he hasn't done so yet in three games. I mean, Twellman hasn't done that yet in at least twice as many games. Yet he shows up against mexico, puts one ball wide and one ball near the keeper, and the usual gang of Revs fans start chirping that he should start. I think Conor deserves some time.

As far as his best chances: I was at the Dallas game, and he put one header on a corner at Sanchez but flattened his mark to do so and got called. There was also a wicked low shot just wide on the play where he admittedly flubbed the first touch from DMB's pass.He probably should have scored, but he made a nice recovery and neraly did sso anyway. However, I thought his best chance was on the play where he got his card. He made a great read and run into a gap in the center of the Mexican's defense. Landon had the ball, made the same read and played the ball into the gap. Casey just missed connecting for a good chance 12-14 yards in front of the net. Would probably have been a goal

Relax. Time will tell.

 

Precisely, every World Cup, we've had to face TWO Euro teams. We'll need some tall players.

 

I think Casey has done better than any other new forward we've tried in the past couple years.

Does he look a little out of place? Sure... I can't think of any national team player that didn't look out of place in their first few games.

I don't worry that he hsn't scored in these few games. He scored 14 goals in the 2.Bundesliga last year and obviously has the ability to put the ball inbetween those white posts and underneath the crossbar. Sometimes people don't score.

However I liked his play last night. It was obvious he is used to a more physical game and defenders that don't go down when he sneezes and he got called for quite a few soft fouls... but I like his ability to crush a defender from time to time.

If we want to talk about bad first touches, we have to look at many on the USA team. Even out best players occasionally have a bad touch (Donovan included) - it's just seen more on the front line as you almost always have a defender on your butt.

While I watched his last couple games, I thought he reminded me of Brian McBride. He does a lot of little things and much of the grunt work that opens things up for others. I think he's a player that can make the team better.

Is he the finished article no. But there is something in his game that makes me feel he will get more done than players like Twellman and Razov.
Only time will tell.

 

For one, I thought Casey played well last night. Somtimes true quality on the field isnt about what you do with the ball, but what you do off the ball. He showed great movement on several attacking sequences, and he obviously knows how to get free. Most importantly, he showed a good understanding with Mcbride, and his flick to put him thru on the second goal was a thing of beauty. Some criticise his "skying the ball" after Landon's run, but if you will notice, he took a great, suttle touch before to get himself in to shooting position. The bottom line is this, he is a threat in the air and on set pieces due to his size, his passing is improving with every game I have witnessed, and finishing is a quality which inevitably improves witrh age (see Mcbride). At 22, Casey is far from the finished article, but he is a definite candidate for starter on our team, and given his experience in the bundesliga, he is only set to improve.

 

I like Casey thus far. Casey is tough SOB. He does not go down and he challenges everything. THe Hondurans were scared of him, just watch them back away from him on headers in the midfield. The Hondurans even focused on him forgetting about Mcbride on the first goal. Yes his first touch has much to be desired and he has not put one in the goal but he has 2 assists in 3 or 4 games. That means he is onvolved in the offense. He works hard on defense and crashes the net looking for a poach goal. I have not seen many NATS in the last 5 years see somebody crash the net after a crosss or shot like Casey. It will eventually turn into goals. Needs just alittle more time. I like him better than Mathis just becasue of his work ethic and physical play.

 

He has yet too score but his +\- must be about +4 i less than four full outings - that's nothing to sniff at.

We talk about the way he has imposed himself on concacaf competition yet he's used to playing against europeans - sounds pretty well rounded to me. And, as mentioned above, he creates space for other people which Wolff does well too, but they do it in different ways and may be best used in different situations.

I wouldn't say Conor has a bad first touch; he has bad first touches and good ones. There's a difference. The pass to McBride was an excellent first touch, and he had bad ones last night, too. So what would be nice is if he made progress in that regard, which is very reasonable to expect.

 

I just don't get it. The guy should have had 2 assists last night (if Beasley puts away the one on one with the keeper), and we're getting complaints about his play?

 

and here's a thought: conor casey has played in our last three games, all wins, with him, we beat poland in poland, we beat mexico in dallas, and beat up honduras in a game that amounted to a wcq tune-up. yeah, I gotta think
ba is on to something with conor casey.

while I'll admit twellman helped in the set up of the winner over mexico, I still think you gotta go with the big guy who plies his trade in germany over twellman at the moment.

I dogged wolff on another thread awhile back, but after his recent play in mls I gotta think, mcbride, casey, & wolff are the first choices up top.