Not exactly a shocker. I thought you might have been referring to the El Salvador game, which would have been a suprise (at least where Reyna is concerned) - but realistically the US doesn't have a talented enough player pool to rule out someone like Reyna for 2006. I think Reyna will be 33 then, and even if it's not a "starring role" I would think he'd still have something to add at that point. Defenders often have a pretty good shelf life, so Pope isn't a suprise either. Attacking players seem to loose effect sooner, so I'd think someone like McBride or Jones are definately out (at least hopefully - not like they're bad or haven't contributed a lot over the years, but the national team is in big trouble if they can't find more effective and younger replacements for them when they're in their mid-30s)...
My guess is the writer picked a couple of names at random and put them in there. I wouldn't read anything into this. Sachin
I am not so sure Sachin. You may be right, but it seemed like the writer and Arena specifically discussed those two. One day it would be fun to play golf with Arena. I wonder what his handicap is.
Are you kidding me??? McBride is only players in US history to score in more than one World Cup. Not to mention the two game winning goals he had in Korea this year. Let me ask you a question, how many games did we win? Two. Don't rule any one out till Bruce has ruled them out, look at Stewart for crying out loud.
If he does intend to keep Pope and Reyna on, and drop most of the rest of the old gaurd, I'd say he looks to be on the right track. I could very well toss in McBride as well, along with our goalies, giving at least one experienced and successful old hand in every position. I'd say these three have really proven themselves the best of the bunch as far as US players go in the long haul. As far as the class of '98 goes, I doubt we'll see too many more than these guys by 2006. There are a couple of others you may be able to make a case for, but I'd imagine these are likely the guys we're talking about to give the team some maturity next time around. Of course, guys like Pablo, Beasley, Donovan, Wolf, Mathis, and O'brien will all be in their second cup and will be key players through their second qualifying campaign, so we can stop talking about them as inexperienced youngsters. If we can just come up with a couple more young defensive guys to round things out, and hopefully benefit from a surprise breakout player or two, we'll be in real good shape next time around.
Scoring a goal when up 2-0 should not be considered a "game winning goal" I realize some hockey (and now soccer) idiots put it this way. A better measure is the baseball GWRBI which credits the player who puts his team up for good. Frankly, I think this stat is mostly ridiculous, but it seeks to measure "clutch" play. It's designed specifically to devalue goals when up by 2-0.
The Portugal game is a great reminder that it's easy to underestimate the value of a goal scored when it's already 2 - 0.
If you want to pour through a zillion scores and see how many teams lose a 2-0 lead, go ahead. Whatever the figure, the entire concept of game winning goals becomes absurd in the face of this logic.
I would say that Pope and Reyna were picked out as they are the two safest names of the now old guard and that Arena fully intends on keeping them. There are other names on the fence probably... The other thing in the article that I had a laugh at was the part where Arena says that he can just let old games and incidents pass and the handball vs Germany is brought up. That says to me that this interview finds Arena very relaxed and happy, more so than in most other interviews. I'd say that if you asked Arena if DCU was jobbed in the 98 MLS Cup final, 70% of the time he'd still say yes. He doesn't just let past games go that easily.
I can't argue with that statement. I think it's more fair to say that any assessment of a GWG is of little value when the trailing team attempts to mount a comeback than it is to try to pick one of the winning team's goals as the "one true" GWG. To take the USA-POR game, I see little point in trying to claim any of the three USA goals as a GWG. All of them were important.
Maybe they should have a stat then called. "GSWHALBETOTBETGWG" Goal Scored While Having a Lead But Ended To Be The Game Winning Goal.
In all fairness, JOB's goal was more important than McBride's... And I would say that a game-winning goal should only count if you are tied and it puts you ahead and no more goals are scored. In any other situation, the goals are of equal value. Really, this is a dumb argument anyway. While I don't think that McBride is even in the top five all-around forwards that we have, there is no denying that he plays effectively with the USMNT and can usually finish pretty well. Combined with the fact that he has scored in two Cups... it would be hard to imagine that he wouldn't have a better-than-average chance of making the team in 2006, as long as he is healthy and in playing form. His skills seem to translate better to the international game than the MLS. Reyna is a certainty, and so is Pope. Reyna is versatile and an undeniably skilled passer, and Pope will be the only real veteran back that we will have in 2006.
I wasn't neccessarily ruling him out, I just think it's unlikely he'll still be at the same level of effectiveness in 4 years. If seems like he's still able to score goals at the World Cup level, it would be silly not to take him. But IMO forwards fade faster than the other positions, so I was just extrapolating what things may be like in 2006. Concerning Stewart, McBride will be older in 2006 than Stewart is in 2002 (and while Stewart wasn't bad, he wasn't exactly the key to success in Korea either). In all likelyhood the team will be full of people no-one would expect.
McBride's great at having a poor first touch and getting injured. He's going to be forced out by young pups like Twellman, Quarantara, Buddle, etc.
My personal thought is that within the next year or so Reyna will retire from international play and concentrate more of club football.I think sometimes he feels the strains of the traveling after an international match and it throws his club play off. As for Pope he will be a mainstay for 2006. After some nagging injuries he has really showcased his skill. I think its only a matter of time before he heads across the pond.
I'd say the only lock for 2006 at forward is Donovan, though he may move into the midfield by then. I think we'll have a lot of options up front with Twellman, Quaranta, Buddle, Casey, Wolfe, MAthis, and even Kirovski as possibilities. There may be a stud 17 year old who nobody's aware of yet. We'll have more options here than ever. Reyna, JOB, Mastroeni, Beasley, Convey, Thorrington, Olsen, and Klein are on my midfield list. Not sure how they'll line up. We got Pope in the back and, um, we got, um, Pope. I can see Sanneh helping Eddie in the middle and Cherundolo in a wide position. Can Heydude suprise us all again and hold down the other side? I think this is our weak spot. I'm cinfident a couple MLS guys will step up. A defense like that leaves us with the same goalkeeping tandem Keller or Friedel. I will say that only one of them will be on the roster for 2006. We have too many good young keepers. Brown, Howard, Rimando, they will be a couple other young guys pushing them. I think we'll stay in the top ten FIFA rankings until 2006, win our qualifying group with matches to spare and be seeded going into Germany.
"Heydude" That's awesome. Sanneh was the best US player at his position in the World Cup. I expect to see him back, maybe in the middle. Bocanegra is likely to get a shot at left back. As for McBride, I love this guy's work on the MNT. He scored four goals against El Salvador in the Gold Cup, and it was his awesome header--off a Stewart corner, that provided the rebound for JOB's goal. McBride also served the ball for Mathis' goal against Korea. If McBride stays fit, I would expect him to perform a role in 2006 similar to Cobis' role this last time.
Huh? if the other team scores 2 goals as well then their sure as sh!t isn't a game winning goal without the third. And I must be the last person on earth who put any value in goals scored past the 2-0 mark. What was that about a 2-0 lead being the most dangerous in soccer? Rubbish, pure rubbish.....D'OH!!
McBride may still be on the team in '06, but if his responsibilities include anything other than filling water cups and folding towels, the US is going to be in big trouble.