Donovan[r]

The guy was just used so well tonight. He is such a great one touch passer and when he can get the ball at the midfield and run at people it is just hell on the defense. There is very little to find in his performance tonight that is bad. Very little. He simply needs to be tucked in behind the strikers.

Further, if DaMarcus is going to play go fetch like he did tonight his place in this team will be secure until he decides to quit playing. Just an overall very good effort tonight. I don't care who the competition was out there for Mexico, that was a very good team effort.

 

Man, if only he had burried that screamer from 25! He played very, very well. Inspired soccer, w/o doubt.

 

He was good. If San Jose drops him in behind Ching and Derosario we here in Colorado could be in trouble.

 

There are times like several moments tonight when you have to say, "How ******* good can this guy be?" But then he frustrates everyone by not finishing or at other times, playing indifferently. I hope he finally decides to return to Europe. In that environment he'll have to stay motivated; otherwise he'll be a pine brother. I never thought he was a true forward, and I have to credit Arena for devising a scheme that placed him exactly where he could be most effective. But Donovan's tactical challenge is understanding that not every opposing team's defensive scheme will allow him to rove and freelance as he did tonight. So at times he will have to be more of a true forward, and I hope his maturation as a player will give him the flexibility to do this. Now, if he can only finish more consistently!!!

 

On the postmatch thread, I commented that LD's workrate, speed, and intensity made him an excellent ballwinner. Many of our dangerous attacks came because his defensive work either stole the ball or caused a bad Mexie pass. I was reminded of that brief period when Leeds was running a 4-5-1 with Alan Smith as an attacking mid. Anyway, with LD and Beasley up front like that, any team we play is gonna have to put alot of effort just into getting the ball upfield, so it'll be hard for the US to get caught out.

Oh yeah...Landon played a lil' offense tonight too.

I know what you mean, but it would have been better if he had scored on the easier shot that he put right at the keeper.

 

That was the first thing I told my dad tonight.

 

Well, with the way Ronnie Ekelund's been playing lately it could certainly give the Quakes a much-needed boost.

 

LD was the star of match no doubt...HE never gave up, even on the final FK, which ironically was in the end taken by Convey, but you could see how much he wanted to redeem himself.......

 

i've always thought that LD should be in the midfield, but watched as BS posters pooh poohed that idea over and over again. what say they now?! he makes our team so much better from the midfield because he is NOT a Michael Owen who just goes full bore at goal constantly. He has other facets to his game that make him a perfect player to run at people from the midfield and his passing is wonderful. Finally, i hope that is settled. Of course, it won't be .......... but a brotha can always dream! oh by the way, old TT didn't disappoint today either, huh?

 

If Bruce takes anything away from this match it should be that Donovan should be playing in midfield. He was brilliant. I only hope that his coach at San Jose does not figure this out in time for the DC United game this weekend. As one person mentioned earlier, seeing him play midfield behind DeRosario and Ching would be beautiful.

For the record, Frankie played some inspired soccer this evening. When he plays for the USMNT the guy positively bleeds red, white and blue.

 

Interesting that FSW had a news item right after the US-Mexico game about Roberto Baggio's final international match with Italy today. As has been stated more and more, the place where LD fits best on the field is pretty much identical to where Baggio played for Italy. I'll grant the fact that LD is an above average forward, but his optimum place, based on his overall skillset, is and always has been as A-Mid behind two strikers. Now he may have not liked the idea of not playing as a forward in the past, and may have even demanded that he play as a forward with San Jose, but really it was/is just a matter of time before even he recognizes the obvious, and the same goes for Bruce Arena. I hope we officially crossed that line with Bruce tonight.

Okay, so I am patting myself on the back here a bit as Onefineesq did in his post above, and maybe I needed it after my foot-in-mouth Hedjuk bashing pre-game post, but seriously, it has really been pretty clear from the time Donovan put on the jersey for us. His touch, passing, vision, runs and speed on a dime make him most deadly in the spot he played tonight, and while I can't necessarily say that he is the same skill caliber as Baggio was, I can say that his effect on the US team can be as important as Baggio's was for Italy, and consequently we need to build our attack around him in that same spot.

 

Great game from Landon. I think the odd man out in all of this could be bobby convey.

You have to think that if Mastroeni keeps playing like he has been (Club and Country) he will get time in the central defence. If everyone is healthy who is going to be the odd man out? Pope? Surely not he's our best. Bocanegra? I really doubt it. If Mastro and pope play in the center, Bocanegra will play out left...

If Donovan is holding down the A-mid where does bobby go?

Maybe to the wings... but Beasley isn't so good on the right. Is Convey?

 

The #10...

That's one thing that I noticed. He wore that number when we played Denmark in January & then switched to the #21 against Holland & Haiti..

Whats up with that?

 

Reyna has first pick for #10 when he's on the team.

 

Ahhhhhh okay, thanks!

 

I feel extremely blessed to have witnessed in person Landon's performance. It was breathtaking and brilliant. It took him about 20 minutes to get going (I even yelled at him to "get in the game"....so you can thank me! ) But then he absolutely controlled everything. Mexico had no answer for him.

His touch on the ball is sublime. It just really stands out, especially live and in person, that no matter how the ball comes at him, horrible bounce, hard, awkward, he just handles it with ease, all the while looking around figuring out what to do with it. I see similar balls bouncing off players, ricocheting off their shinguards, etc. Not so with Landon. Then when he makes the pass, the receiver doesn't have to work very hard to receive the ball; he can handle it with ease because it's placed so perfectly and with the right pace.

We were in the perfect position for his shot that hit the crossbar, about 3 yards behind him and in perfect line of the ball. It curved so sweet, beat the keeper. We just knew it was going in. Beautiful shot.

I too hope Bruce leaves him there and lets him run the offense from that position. No more being an out-and-out forward. Hope the Quakes do that too.

 

Pretty much agree with all that has been said except for the fact that I think he played an exquisite playmaker last night and should not be called an attacking midfielder. The game ran through him and he ran the game. In fact, this was the first USMNT game that I thought the US played exquisite soccer at times, including Portugal and Germany WC02. The one negative comment I would make concerns LD's shot when solo on the keeper. It was a prototypical US shot seen multiple times every week in the MLS. Why don't they all copy the good European strikers who place simple balls on the ground to the far post? Casey did later in the game, but for the most part, the US shots were up where the keeper could get them. Low far post, Lads. Play the odds correctly and make it look simple.

 

I was thinking this about half way through the second half as well. Not taking away anything from the way Aramas or Kay-Z played last night, but with Reyna and O'Brien back there, I think we'll be more dangerous than ever.

That was the best I've seen Donovan played in a long time. Clearly the best player on the field. Here are a couple things that made this work:

• Forwards that pressure the defense
  I had originally thought a while back that Donovan would be best as a second striker running off the other (with McBride as the other forward and Mathis as A-mid.) My reasoning was that Donovan could pressure defenders up top, while Mathis and McBride would not. Against possesion based teams, denying defenders time on the ball means they can't develop their rythym, there are more turnovers in midfield, and the US can counter attack from midfield.
  
  Last night, Wolff and Casey did a great job harrassing the Mexican backline, and with Donovan and Beasley up top in the box mid, they also provided a second layer of quick pressure. I lost count of the number of bad passes from the Mexican back line. This enabled us to quickly attack with numbers, with the ball on Donovan's feet from 40 yards out -- his most dangerous place on the field.
  
  
• Defenders with good ball skills
  
  On the flip side, with Pope, Mastroeni, and Convey in defense, we have three defenders who can at the very least make a pass out of the back, if not start an attack. Instead of balls being kicked out of the back seemingly at random, we held possession and dictated the pace of the game. This gets Donovan much more involved in the attack.

This formation definitely warrants a further look. Such a great performace by the US, and we got the goal and result we deserved. And it was against Mexico! I'm in a very good mood today

 

Did anyone notice how Donovan's game picked up after he hit the crossbar with that left-footed screamer? It's almost like he started believing in himself and suddenly he had the confidence to hold the ball and dribble at defenders. Too often over the past two years it seems as if he played one and two touch almost exclusively instead of attempting to take players on. If playing him in the midfield rather than at forward allows him to feel as though he can hold the ball and create a little bit then by all means let's keep him there.

I also want to add that Mastroeni was unreal. SO SKILLFUL coming out of the back and so smart, brave, and effective in the tackle.

I also wanted to inquire: does anyone else think that the US is more dangerous in attack when Wolff is in the line-up? He had a rather quiet game, but he always seems to combine dangerously with others at least once or twice and perhaps the threat of his speed up front opens up space for others. Casey, Convey, Zavagnin and Twellman also did well for themselves in this match.

 

It does seem that way, but it strikes me as a real stretch to give Wolff any credit in this particular instance.

Twellman aside, our forwards were the weak link, and the prime reason why we did not score 3-4 goals. Bad touches, indifferent combination play, and no evidence of ability to finish. If we took this very same MLS All-Star team and stuck Ruiz & Damani up top, Mexico would still be removing the balls from the back of the net.

Oh, yeah ... Donovan was a joy to watch. Like a puppy dog removed from his leash.

 

I think the most tantalizing thing about Donovan's game yesterday was that it seemed like a little window to the future opened and all of a sudden you could see what this team was going to look like in 2006, 2008, 2010. It's going to be fun to watch.

I suppose you could argue that Mexico didn't play well but I'd say that performance from the U.S. compares favorably with any country on any continent. We were that good. Kudos to the lads and to the Bruce, who had the vision to try that formation.

One last comment: We can say, "Landon should play in that same spot for the next 10 years," but Arena doesn't think that way. If there's one thing we should have learned about Arena by now, it's that he tailors his lineups to fit each opponent. I think he's going to use this formation and this performance as his main blueprint going forward, but don't be surprised if Donovan turns up at forward again in certain situations. (He played what, three or four positions in WC 2002?) I sure liked him as a true no. 10 last night, though.