With all of our midfielders healthy, who would you choose from Reyna, O'Brien, Donovan, Lewis, Beasley, Mastroeni, Armas, Martino, Klein, Olsen, Convey, and Stewart. I would go with: Donovan Lewis Beasley O'Brien Its hard leaving Claudio out, but this is a truly dynamic midfield. All four players can defend, are fast and can make plays with the ball at their feet. Beasley's crossing is the only weakness, but he makes up for it in other ways
The problem with this, other than putting Beasley on his off side, which is possible but problematic, is that, IMHO, if one is going to play Donovan in a central midfield role, I think you need the other central midfielder to be a destroyer type -- Mulrooney, Armas or Mastroeni. If I had to play a qualifier one month from now, I would go with (JOB at left back): Beasley Donovan Armas Reyna But it is early, and there are a lot of other possibilities.
Is Reyna ready in a month? I don't remember from the Wales' interview. I wish we still had Ursula's analysis of Arena's off-centered midfield. Basically, Arena funnels things to the middle where a destroyer is waiting to clean things up. So unless Arena is going to change how he plays a 4-man midfield completely, you need a great defender in the middle of the field. I'm not saying that this player should only defend, or be a liability in the attack, but the bottom line is, that player simply has to be healthy and fit enough to defend for 90 minutes. I'll limit my ideal midfield to the Confederations Cup, which look like this: Against Brazil - counter-attack key. 4 man midfield w/ 4 defenders. DMB - Convey - Armas - Donovan I like Convey and Armas here because they are quicker - not faster - than Pablo and Martino, which will be essential against Brazil. Convey has also shown more willingness to get involved in defense. Against Turkey - rough it up, we will hold possession a little more. 5 man midfield. 3 defenders. Wing play important. Lewis - Martino - Klein - Convey - Pablo - In a more physical game, I like Pablo. I also like Klein's height on the wing when we play 3 in the back. Lewis can get up and down very quickly and has the best hops on the field. Convey is in again because he defends well but gives K-Mart options in the middle. Against Cameroon - blazing fast game with lots of up and down play. Your most fit guys, especially on the wings, have to be ready to run all night long. DMB - K-Mart - Armas - Donovan Convey will be gassed, and I like K-Mart here because of the open field he'll see against Cameroon. Kyle in open spaces is extremely dangerous. Again I go with Armas only because of his quickness. Against Cameroon, he stays home while the other three mids and the outside backs pick their spots going forward.
I love your analysis above for the other games, so I will only try to correct this one. With regards to matching up against Cameroon I say we go 3-5-2. The five in the midfield will include DMB, K-Mart, Armas. I throw Donovan up to forward. On the right I say we go with Dolo. He needs a look at right mid to see if he can pull it off and this is a very good opportunity in a game that matters. His liability is his height and I think that is minimized in MF v. as a right back in a 4-4-2. To complement Dolo in a 3-5-2 I think we need a possession guy to go with Armas (ala Reyna). So I bring Convey back in. So my 5 is: DMB, Convey, Armas, K-Mart, and Dolo. That is one midget ass midfield, so it might not be a bad idea to go with Mathis and McBride up top and bring Donovan on later to add some height. Should be a blazing fast midfield though.
McBride's wife is due during the Confederations Cup, and as such he's not going to France. It's a nice idea, tho.
Nutmeg -- I really like your proposed combinations for the Confed Cup, although if Arena used different ones, I am sure they will make sense as well. I think the poster was thinking more in terms of one match for all the marbles, but it's a free country. P.S. Chris Klein is not among my favorites in the midfield, but I would take him any day of the week over Cherundolo as the right mid in a 3-5-2 because he can score goals and challenge a defense, while Dolo is good for throwing in crosses.
I really would like to see something like Beasley.................Donovan ........O'Brien....Reyna with O'Brien and Claudio holding and Beasley and Donovan attacking. Of course, that takes Donovan out of a forward spot. I think with both Claudio and O'Brien playing deeper we'd be able to hold some possesion, and Beasley and Donovan are probably our best 2 at taking players on with speed. Don't know how it would work, but something I'd be curious to have a look at once.
Controversial Reply! Reyna ousted? O'Brien as a mid? A destroyer? Get a clue! Allow me to be controversial... News flash: Reyna is our best possession player - EVER; how could anyone leave him off the pitch? Even as a Reyna naysayer I'd prefer him as one of the four or five in the middle. O'Brien is good, and although I'd prefer him in the back line, he must play the middle until we develop better skilled players. Landon Donovan is still one of the worst passers on the team and consequently doesn't belong in the middle... yet. Beasely only gets away with subpar skill because he's lightning fast and he plays wide. And PLEASE, can we mature as a soccer nation and stop using the words "destroyer" when talking about a holding mid? Any top country's holding mid or defensive midfielder is just as much an offensive threat and just as creative as most everyone else on the pitch. Sorry "destroyer" fans, but Armas and Mastro are hopefully being pushed out of the picture with below average creativity and/or ball skills for the international level. As many of you have pointed out, it really depends on the game strategy to determine a starting midfield, but if there were only four to pick today, here they are: Reyna, Beasely, O'Brien, and Donovan wide. Here's to our budding player pool and to hoping our talent develops even faster.
Re: Controversial Reply! Reyna ousted? O'Brien as a mid? A destroyer? Get a clue! Images of monster trucks in advertisements voiced-over by loud announcers normally reserved for used car dealership commercials come to mind when I hear the word "destroyer"...
how about a 352 with Beasley and Donovan wide Convey in the middle and Reyna and JOB playing behind? I think that would be a blisteringly ,sp?, fast lineup with good possession players too.
Re: Controversial Reply! Reyna ousted? O'Brien as a mid? A destroyer? Get a clue! there is no doubt in my mind that if healthy, ricardo clark is our holding midfielder for the next decade
Re: Controversial Reply! Reyna ousted? O'Brien as a mid? A destroyer? Get a clue! That is so laughable. This one sentence blew any credibility of yours out of the water.
Give me a break "soccer addict"... 8000+ posts must make you Bruce Arena then. Donovan has gotten better, but he gives away possession far too often; that's why he's more effective up top than in the middle of the field.
What is the fascination with DMB on the right? Anyhow,I think we play 5... Lewis-JOB-Donovan-Reyna-Cherundolo Assuming a full recovery by CR.
No fascination. More like a lack of options on the right. Beasley can definitely play there effectively. As can Reyna and Stewart. Klein is a player that I like as well. He is a good two way midfielder and gives Bruce another big body. If only Olsen could get back to his old form. Thorrington could be the answer if he ever gets away from Huddersfield. He has the ball skills, speed, and creativity that you would want out of that spot, but like all of our more talented players, he seems to be very injury prone.
I don't know who you're looking at, but I don't think it's Donovan. I don't see him giving possession away on a pass hardly ever. You must have him mixed up with someone else. His passing is top-notch.
That is exactly what I am looking to see. Donovan plays on the right side in the Earnie Stewart mold. The big question is if Convey is ready to take over the middle. Hopefully the next few games will give him the chance to prove that he can. Sub Lewis in if you need crossing. Great combination of possesion and counterattacking play.
Re: Controversial Reply! Reyna ousted? O'Brien as a mid? A destroyer? Get a clue! I'll start with something positive: Controversy and different opinions are perfectly acceptable. Also acceptable. LD belongs more in the middle than he does up top. This way he can be in the middle of everything and it makes it a little simpler. He plenty makes up for his "subpar skill." They can use the word destroyer as much as they want b/c you're allowed to post your uneducated opinion. We are not like every other country when it comes to soccer and we'll use our own vocabulary instead of another country's. IMO, DMB should be on the outside. JOB (my elfin buddy) needs to be on the outside as well.
Re: Controversial Reply! Reyna ousted? O'Brien as a mid? A destroyer? Get a clue! The word is used to distinguish between players like Reyna/JOB and ones like Armas. To me there is a difference between these two sets of players and destroyer, for me, is a good word to use as a short-hand for those differences, even if it isn't used in Merry Old Engelande. I guess you never saw David Batty play. Or most of the hacks the Italien Nats put out there like Gattuso, Ambrisini etc. Or David Albelda play for Spain. Anyway, we would love to have a guy that can destroy and create, but there are very few Edgar Davids. I see no evidence of this -- though I have only seen Ricardo Clark play briefly and I haven't heard that Davids was joining the USMNT.
Re: Re: Destroyer v. Holding mid Not Davids - rather O'Brien and/or Reyna as central holding (defensive) mids with more offensive-minded players like DMB, Donovan out wide, and maybe Convey or Martino as central attacking mid. How about this midfield (with the rest of the lineup thrown in for fun): ------- McBride --- Mathis ----- DMB ---- Convey/Martino ---- Donovan --------O'Brien ------- Reyna ----Bocanegra -- Pope -- Sanneh ----------Friedel / Keller
I agree with those that envision JOB and/or Reyna as defensive mids for us - if Davids is your ideal model, they're both pretty effective defenders with skill. Armas / Mastroeni may be slightly tougher, but there's a reason that various coaches have appreciated the defensive abilities of each of these guys, as well as appreciating the added two-way threat they offer. And Landon Donovan is the best creative passer in the pool right now. A large portion of his turnovers come while he's attempting a very dangerous pass, which many other players may not see or have the confidence to attempt. Goals from the run of play are rarely scored without a risky pass that succeeds.