Just read the result of the US/Canada friendly. I noticed Bobby Convey listed as a defender. Did anyone watch this game on PPV? And does Convey usually play defense? Is he better than Suarez on defense? What's up? What I really want to know is if Suarez will be called up for the Argentina game in Feb. the one that will be TELEVISED.
Convey plays on the left side, Suarez on the right side. A couple of people on other threads have said that Suarez came down with food poisoning.
I saw the game. Convey played left back, Suarez usually plays right back. Convey played well, but he's really a midfielder. Of course since he's 19 he wants to play any position just to get on the field with the Nats.
I heard many times that Bruce would try Convey out in the back. I guess he says Convey similar to the way Ajax see Obrien - really solid player, but not quite as good as the starting A-mid. It is a nice luxury to be able to have such a skilled lefty playing left back.
I saw the game. Victorine was again in the spot Suarez would want. First, it'd be hard to evaluate Victorine against this offense. Canada really didn't have much, although I thought Ryan would've matched up well to what they did have. Victorine did fine, although I'm waiting to see how he matches up against players who are first team and are used to playing against real defenders (i.e., it'll be interesting to see what happens againt Argentina). Second, I get the feeling that Arena sort of wants players to run counter roles -- he wants big, defender-type midfielders (e.g., Klein) and well-rounded, ball playing defenders who can carry it up (e.g., Sanneh). Unfortunately, the US isn't Brazil and doesn't have too many Roberto Carloses. So it'll be interesting to see what happens if, say, Victorine doesn't play any D for LA this year. Third, I also get the feeling he's going to be running a sort of rotating back line, where the weak side defense is helped by a wing middie dropping back. That way the 3-man backline (assuming Mastroeni is a d mid) isn't exposed so badly. That's one reason for getting Convey and Victorine in the D a lot. I've got to believe that Suarez will get his chance. There aren't too many true defenders in this league that can make it on the Nats and he's got too many advantages to not give him a chance. He may be the next Petke, granted, but he also may be the next Pope.
Word has it that Suarez came down with a nasty case of food poisoning during camp. This would explain why he wasn't on the roster. BTW, if you'll take a look at the post-game analysis thread in USMNT news and analysis, most posters aren't too impressed with Califf and Victorine. Whether Suarez will get the start against Argentina will remain to be seen, but expect him to get a start before the Confederations Cup.