Uh, remember the chatter about how Gibbs didn't belong (at first)....not sharp enough, nervous, not skilled enough (maybe) for int'l use... Gooch is the future.....get used to it...he had a bad or uneven game on a wet field.....he'll see more time in '05...he'll be in mix at '06 and own one spot in middle from '06-'10 (at least)...
not dissing him..... but he looked out of place at left half. I heard a few people around me make that comment during the game. He just didn't look comfortable.
Haven't seen not skilled enough, and when you read his club reports the skills are apparently amazing. Just a growing pain game, he'll be ready soon.
I don't think he was helped by the fact that his partner back there was Sanneh, who really isn't a natural centerback. I believe that if he was back there with Boca, Pope, or Berhalter he would have shown better.
I have always loved the idea of having a dominate imposing force on the backline, who could be a threat on corners/setpieces, and I think Gooch can be that player. (A larger Sanneh if you will), but I think his achilles heal might be pace.. Put him up against a upper caliber, quick striker and he will get exposed quickly.. He has lost weight since his stints at Metz (around 214 lbs in a Soccer America interview back then?) lets keep our fingers crossed.
Agreed, and this was a pretty weak game for Sanneh. He didn't look bad, just uncomfortable. He got a unlucky with the yellows. Both of them were questionable. To get two like that is bad luck. Usually if a ref gives you one weak card, you have to really earn your second. I was mostly disappointed that we didn't get to this catapult we've been hearing about on throw-ins.
We've found Gooch's weakness: just like Gerry Cooney, he has a glass chin! He went down like a sack of potatoes when Ricardo Fuller swatted him to get away from his grabbing right before Corrales PK-provoking foul. Gooch had a poor game for a first cap seeing how he contributed to our opponents' goal and later got thrown out (not saying both yellows were fully deserved, but the 2nd was a pretty obvious call). But he's still on the short list of contenders for a starting slot on the full Nats.
Yeah, growing pains. So now comes the interesting part- when he gets in his next game, how does he act, what will he have taken to heart? Looking forward to it.
I only saw the second half, so my view is skewed, but I thought he was much better than Sanneh in the back, if that is worth anything (I don't, like before '02, think Sanneh should be on the team).
I'll buy the growing pains thing, but the goal for Jamaica was his fault, straight up, and a great defender would never get turned like that on a throw in. I think he can improve on his passing, which was obviously extremely poor, or at least all of his long balls were to no one. His short passing was OK, didn't really see any giveaways there. In the air, he won some good headers...he has potential to give us something that maybe a Gibbs or Berhalter can't there, or maybe even Bocanegra. I think obviously it was not a great start, but at the same time it wasn't atrocious...much could certainly be attributed to nerves. Now how about Spector? He certainly showed, in what little opportunity he had, that he was once a forward. Didn't see much on defense from him beside allowing his mark to get a cross off, but no big problems or positives. Maybe that is the defender we should be hyping.
We tried to hype Spector last year and people just kept bringing up Jovan Kirvoski. Plainly put, Spector is a stud and has another 15 years (or more) ahead of him at the National Team level. Does Gooch's card carry over only to the next WCQ match or the next international? Because I expect Bruce to have a friendly sometime in Janurary to see what sort of shape players are in and I think that would be a good match for Gooch to play in if he isn't suspended.
gooch did well considering the field tongiht and the uneasy partnership with sanneh. he earned the 1st yellow by way of a rediculous call. and the second well, ya it was deserving, but jeez...its just unlucky. hell do well in the future for sure i have plenty of confidence in him forza inter
I didn't realize he had such a bad game as a sub against Panama--oh wait, you mean his SECOND game. Carry on.
his passing? i thought that was one good thing he did tonite. his long passes were all on target except 1 i counted. compare to pope or any centerbacks we have, he's our best passer.
Good point. But if you sum it up, we have an 18 year old showing poise with an older, more physically matured player showing jitters, and I think that is telling.. I like them both, but Spector iseems like the real deal. I hope Gooch rebounds, which I am sure he will.. But the level of talent is obvious..
I agree with you, but I think he will learn from that mistake about when and where to dive to earn a foul, and that is not around your own box. I think in the long run we'll be talking about him in the same breath as Pope in his prime, but he's obviously not there yet. It will be a nice opportunity to see him develop over the years to come though. I just hope he can latch on to some higher profile Euro team that will allow us in the the States to get some firsthand viewing of his development. TT
Wow disagree with everything here. 1) I don't care how big you are... Ricardo Fuller is also a big strong individual and he caught Gooch right in the face. No way that's not going to make him lose a step or 2 - not a defender we have that wouldn't have been taken aback by that. 2) If you watch, there were plenty of people in the box to pick up Fuller. Unfortunately it was Corrales who made the move... and he played Fuller about as poorly as was possible. There was absolutly no need to give up a pk in that spot. 3) The 2nd yellow may have looked obvious, but Gooch's hand was up before the ball was hit (for leverage it appeared) and was not stuck up to try and block the ball. Unlucky - not stupid.
Gooch is getting a lot of flack for this game, but there was enough good stuff from him to think he will get many more chances to show he belongs. His positioning and support play were often very solid. I thought his passing, both long and short, was superior to Sanneh's, which is significant considering how experienced Sanneh is. He could have done better against Fuller on the PK play, but he wasn't entirely at fault since Fuller is a pretty good player and did foul Gooch on the play. Gooch had come out wide to cover for Albright and Ralston, who seemed out of the play for some reason. Corrales made a much worse play considering that Fuller was in the box at a poor scoring angle and that the US had enough support in the center of the box. Considering the field conditions, the poor play of Sanneh as Gooch's central partner, the pressure to attack aggressively that Jamaica must have felt, and Gooch's youth and inexperience, he showed enough potential in his first start to get more time. I'd like to see him play with the US's primary backs like Pope and Boca.
Bingo! How well do you expect the kid to play when he's put alongside Sanneh? Tony's experienced but was making his debut at CB in a WCQ in which Jamaica has to win to stay alive.
he didnt look too good to me defensively, which i hope is not representitive of how he really plays, but his long balls were excellent, i hope that is the norm for him.
That would be like saying, if and when JOB plays left back, we blamed any possible poor play on the fact he were making his "debut" there.
It did at first, but I have a clip of it... if anyone knows where I can post it or make it available for download... which changed my mind. I think it was just unlucky.