May 8th I believe is the game. Doing a quick look at the roster, its always possible that Mathis or Donovan or even Earnie Stewart could play at A-mid. However, I think there is a very good chance that Convey could get time at that spot. I think Mathis is better suited as a striker and is still working his way into matchform (from the knee injury and hernia setbacks). Why do I think Convey might get the nod at A-mid? His contribution against Argentina was good when he played more centrally. Plus, the USA has plenty of outside defenders for this match. Hejduk and Bocanegra are on the roster. Armas and Mastroeni are the competition at D-mid so you have to figure Mulrooney will get a trial at outside defense.
I might also add that Arena has invited a good cast of outside mids: DMB, Klein, Cobi Jones, Stewart. The only real obvious strikers are: McBride, Donovan and Mathis. So that would seem to provide lots of options at outside mid, at outside defense, but not many options at A-mid unless he robs his forward ranks (I know Stewart and Jones could play striker but that usually isn't where they are internationally).
I think another possibility might be a lineup where Convey and Beasley reverse the roles they've played in the last few matches.
I don't see lots of outside defenders on the roster, so I figure Convey is slated for that left back once again. Boca, Califf, and Pope, (and Mastro, when he's in defense) play centrally. Mulrooney's few caps have come as a d-mid, right? So, we're basically talking about Hejduk, Garcia, and Convey as likely outside backs, with Convey the only natural on the left. Plus, Garcia's four caps are all as a sub. I don't know if Arena is ready to throw him for his first start in front of 50K+ Mexico fans! I'll be mildly surprised if the defense wasn't Convey-Bocanegra-Pope-Hejduk.
My take is that Armas and Mastroeni battle it out to decide who plays D-mid (unless Arena played a 3-5-2). Mulrooney has had all his USMNT trials at right back so I think that's where he's slated to play. Bocanegra has played inside with Pope but his most recent game was at left back. So I see Hejduk, Garcia and Mulrooney as definite outside backs and probably Bocanegra. And yes, you're right--Convey could still end up at left back. Certainly that has been where Arena has talked about him playing. To put it another way, who are the strikers? While Cobi and Earnie could play there, they are more likely to be outside mids. That means your only strikers on the roster are Donovan, McBride and Mathis. Mathis is stil playing his way into match fitness and I'd argue isn't ready for 90 against Mexico and what they'll bring. What I think is more likely is: McBride and Mathis start up top with Donovan as A-mid. Second half, Convey comes in at A-mid and Donovan replaces Mathis. This explains to me why there would only be 3 definite strikers on the roster--b/c Donovan isn't slated to play A-mid or play it the whole game. One last thought--I'm assuming it's a short camp. Otherwise, MLS rosters will be missing players for this week's games. While that wouldn't be great for DCU, it would really cripple some other teams (such as metro, San Jose). For DCU, I'd think Quintanilla and Stoichkov would get the start and we'd see Eskandarian (if he's up and about now) as a sub for Stoichkov.
This team is truly desperate if we are seriously looking at Convey at left back. Why not just put Kyle Martino back there if all you care about is dribbling ability. I am so sick of seeing Convey played there every stinking game when we could be looking at other players who might actually have a chance to play productively there in '06. We are flat out screwed if we have to go to Germany with players of Convey's caliber on our backline.
I am sure these guys will play this weekend and then report to Bruce after that. Out of the 4 games this year I think Boca played outside against Jamaica and Bobby the other 3. I would expect Boca to playe ahead of Califf in the middle with Pope.
3-5-2. That was what he used on Mexico in the World Cup. Arena loves to confuse people but ocassionally switching away from the 4-4-2. Pope, Boca, and Hejduk in back. Pablo, Armas, DMB, maybe Stewart and Klien Donovan, McBride
Call it whatever you want. If you think Convey is an international caliber outside back, you are out of your gourd. The only explanation is that Arena is looking to fill out his bench so he can start scouting who is really going to be playing for us.
Yeah because you saw how bad we did in the WC with HeyDude and Sanneh as the outside backs and they are far superior players to Convey.
Convey's good enough to be in that team. Left back, center forward, left wing, whatever. I guess his performances in training have forced Bruce's hand, while those of the other defenders like Suarez have failed to do so. I think young Bobby ought to be in the middle of a 5 man midfield behind the strikers.
What position (including formation) has Convey been playing this year for DC? How has been his play in general (offense and defense)?
We have played a different formation every game (I think). 3-5-2, 4-5-1 kind of. Convey ahs been at left midfield though he moved into the center for the second half of the last game. That was his most impressive stretch to me. He has been OK but we have played very defensively our two road games and Chicago packed in their defense pretty much when we had one home game.
Am I reading this correctly? Are you really comparing Convey and Tony Sanneh? If so, you have gone completely off the deep end.
I would like to see Convey get the start as A-mid, but I don't know if the Bruces experiment with him at LB is over. Personally I hope it is. I also hope that Convey picks up his game and plays more like the 2nd half of the Colorado game. He has to do that more though.
The Bruce played 3-5-2 in the WC and it worked. Don't mess with success Why else would 3 DCMs: Mulrooney, Armas, and Mastroeni all call be included on the roster. There is also an abundance of center backs with Califf, Garcia, and Pope all called in. I am concerned that another real forward other than McBride wasn't called in. Mabye Stewart can fill in if McBride goes down. --------------McBride ------------------------Donovan --------Beasley Convey--------Armas----Mastroeni------Klein ----------Bocanegra---Pope---Garcia ------------------Howard Hejduk or Stewart may start too. This lineup has some muscle and is clearly defensive by nature. It looks like an away qualifyier. Convey, Garcia, and Klein make me nervous, but the experience will be vauable down the road.
Why should Convey start at Amid for the Nats when he can't even beat out Marco Etcheverry for the same spot with DC?
What a very good question... while it seems that there are several answers to think of for this one... 1. We're paying Etcheverry a lot of money to play Amid. 2. DC doesn't have a real "left" mid to replace Convey 3. Hudson is giving Marco all the chance in the world for him to prove that he's worth the money we're paying him. 4. Arena doesn't have the problem that Hudson has with respect to salary caps and "big" names and egos. those are just the top of my head. Of course, there are some who don't think Convey should be anywhere near Amid... or left mid because they believe that after 3 years in MLS he hasn't produced anything... regardless of the fact he's only 19.
This sucks plain and simple. We've got a game against Dallas on the 3rd and another game vs. the Scum on the 10th. Not to mention Spurs on the 14th. Why should we waste them in some meaningless game? Earnie certainly knows Mexico and Convey has played against them too, IIRC. Even if he hasn't, so what. Club before meaningless friendlies, folks. Sachin
Okay, a bunch of issues here. 1. Jambon, this isn't an all-star team, pick the 4 best backliners in MLS. If that were the case, Jeff Agoos might be in the mix. Arena is thinking about 2006 (and qualifying that starts in a year. He's looking at how good could some players potentially be in 2-3 years. Convey has excellent quickness, very good speed, good control and vision. We used to have a backline (other than Balboa) who went into palpitations if the ball was at their feet and someone breathed on them. We still don't have a backliner who can surge forward and take people on. Maybe Convey is that guy. Frankly, I'd rather see him at A-mid than the backline but part of this roster is about potential. Which is exactly why Arena was giving PT to DMB prior to the WC. And exactly why he's giving PT to Mathis now. No-one will argue that Mathis is match-fit and he's in form and one of the 10 best Americans right now. But if he regains form and touch, he's capable of brilliance. So Arena includes him not b/c of where he is now but b/c of where he could be. 2. Why isn't Convey at A-mid for DCU? TCompton covered part of that. Let me mention a couple of others....Hudson keeps getting advice from England (when Convey went to train with Newcastle) that he should be kept at outside mid. And let's face it--Convey has had some very good moments as an A-mid for the P-40 sides, the U19 and pre-Olympic sides. Oh--and the second half of the Argentina match where he pushed up and played more centrally. And DCU's best play last season was when he and Etcheverry were pushed into the center of the pitch as twin A-mids. Plus, there's process of elimination. Martino? Promising but physically overmatched at this point internationally (needs to get stronger) and his most recent match against Clark shows that. No-one with Colorado, NE, Chicago, Dallas, LA, KC has shown they should be the A-mid for the National team unless you mean Joe Max Moore or Preki. Mathis may play there (and even he'd tell you he's not 100% and not in-form). Donovan will probably play there some. But we've just named all the MLS sides--the A-mid options are limited at the moment (unless you rob our forward corps). 3. Sachin, this is not a meaningless game. Not only is it Mexico, but this is seasoning for the Confed Cup (which isn't meaningless). And Concacaf Qualies start all too soon. If Convey is going to be a contender for outside defense or A-mid or whatever for quals and bigger stuff, he needs trials now.
TCompton and Joe W bring up good points. Stopper4 I guess we should all expect a 19 year old to beat out Etch for the Amid spot. (catch the sarcasm there?) Convey basically runs the show for the u-20's no? Why not give him a shot here, its a friendly. Besides who else would we put in as an A-mid. Stewart hasn't done great there in the past, inject something different. Is Donovan going to be there? To me he has proven more effective as a striker, not A-mid.
a very good point. I would hate to lose our guys for a match which doesnt mean anything except revenge by mexicans against a half strength MLS based nat team. But personally I dont think Earnie and Convey have done a ton for us this year. And I would rather have them training for a few weeks with the nats and come back better players for the mid season push. But we do need Earnie vs. the Spurs just because everyone wants to see him. But at least he will be available for the Rovers match, I hope.