Its less than a week away, so what do people think we will see out there. I could see Bruce going with the following 3-5-2 ------Donavon---Twellman Lewis--------Mathis-------DMB/Dolo -------Convey----Armas/Masteroni ----Boca---Berhalter----Gibbs. ----------Howard----------- Having Lewis and DMB on the wings creates an asymetrical effect that could throw off their D. Also Lewis is playing too well right now NOT to be on the field. If you want somebody who can cross it, put Dolo out there in place of DMB. Convey can play the same position he did in the Mexico game. Armas and Masteroni are about eqaul, it boils down to personal prefrence, personally I would go with Pablo, but I have no well thought out argument for it, its only a gut feeling. The only reason I don't have Klien out there is that he plays well when we are running a 4-4-2, but I don't think he plays his best in a 3-5-2. And I put Gibbs in the backline mainly because of his height and athleticism, I mean its between its Gibbs or Califf, I go with Gibbs. As for Twellman up front, its either him or Kirvoski, so take your pick.
BA put together a pretty strait forward 4-4-2 in Con Cup '99. We've only really seen 3-5-2 vs. Mexico. I can see a tie-first mentality with a lot of people behind the ball.... Howard, Hejduk, Berhalter, Bocanegra, Califf, Lewis, Armas, Cunningham, Stewart, Mathis, Kirovski You're going to need DMB & Donovan for Brazil so they might get in as subs if behind in the second half.
----Twellman---Donovan---- ----------Convey----------- DMB-------------------Klein ----------Mastro----------- Vanney----------------'Dolo ---Bocanegra--Berhalter---- ----------Howard---------- Vanney and Cherundolo offer good enough distribution from the back that we should be able to develop well out from the wings. Twellman is the only true target forward on the roster, and both Donovan and Convey play well when they have someone to work off of. Also, this should be a good test of Taylor's skill. DMB is going to work like crazy against all 3 teams, so I'd bring in Lewis in at around 60 here to keep DeMarcus fresh and change the style of play.
I think you have it backwards...it would be better to bring in DMB late, that way the Turks are tired and have no chance in hell of stopping his speed and quickness...
The Turks are a tough team. That is why Klein will be in . Arena will probably like Califf with Berhalter in the middle and Boca on the left. I would love to see Convey as A-Mid just like you have him but I doubt it. I dont see DMB starting all three games with Lewis coming in as a sub. Maybe they alternate.
-------Donovan------Twellman---- ---------------Mathis---------- ----Lewis-----------------Klein--- ---------------Armas---------- --Gibbs--Vanney--Berhalter--Boca Gibbs and Bocanegra attack from the back really well so I put them on the wings. Mathis has a hard shot and distributes direct balls well, so I put him as an attacking mid with Lewis and Klein slightly pinched in and supporting the attack. Armas cleans up the midfield. Donovan is quick and we can use him to counter. Twellman is a scrappy forward who will fight for every ball next to him. His determination and aggressiveness will get us a lot of 50/50 balls (remember the Klein goal in USA-NZ where he won the ball on the ground?). If we're still looking for a result after the half, take off Berhalter for Beasley and go 3-5-2. Next sub would be Convey for Twellman and put mathis up top with donovan. Lastly, rest donovan (Mathis lone up front with Lewis and convey as two attacking mids) and put in Mastroeni.
I'd go with a 4-4-2 for the Turkey game: ----------------------Howard-------------------- Hejduk--------Califf---------Boca----------Vanney ----------------------Armas--------------------- ---Klein------------------------------------Lewis ----------------------Convey------------------- ---------Donovan-----------------Mathis-------- Subs: Martino for Convey, Twellman for Donovan, & Berhalter for Califf.
Why are so many people putting Gibbs in there? He only has 20 minutes or so playing for the nats. Arena is going to start him?
And for that matter, why do so many people have Twellman in there? Hell, I'm hard working too, but no one wants to include me in the CC lineup... Let's see some results from him at this level first.
Exactly my thought, just for fun: --------------------------------Howard -----------Heyduk--------------Bocanegra-----------------Berhalter -Klein ---------------------------Mastro-------------------------Lewis ------------------- Convey --------------------Beasley--------------- ------------- Mathis------------------------------Donovan------------
It should be an interesting match with the US as the favorites to win the game. This is how I think the turkish lineup will be.....if you are interested. .......................Rüstü Fatih.......Alpay.......Servet......Ergün Gökdeniz....Volkan.....Bastürk...Ibrahim ........................Tuncay ....................Okan Yilmaz You probably aren't too familiar with most of the players.
Aside from Rustu, these players are new to me. Care to provide an overview of who we should watch out for?
In fact take this line-up which I think is the most likely and tell us how Turkey matches up against the US players. Howard-------------------- Hejduk--------Califf---------Boca----------Vanney ----------------------Armas--------------------- ---Klein------------------------------------DMB ----------------------Convey------------------- ---------Donovan-----------------Mathis--------
The defence will be almost the same as in the world cup, but I think it is likely that Servet in the central defence instead of our usual 35 year old captain Bülent. Players to look out for: Gökdeniz is a 23 year old talent who got his debut for the national team in our recent match against Macedonia, and he did very very well. He is very skilled, fast and hardworking player. Bastürk, you probably know him from the world cup. Tuncay, is our biggest star on our very successful U21 team where he has scored a very impressive amount of goals (about a goal pr game in the EC qualifiers). He is actually their topscorer and he is only a offensive midfielder. He has been a regular in Fenerbahce all season. Okan Yilmaz also had his debut on the NT in the Macedonia game. He was topscorer in the turkish league with 23 goals. His 23 goals are very impressive since his club Bursaspor ended on the 15th place. 1 point from relegation. Okan Yilmaz scored more than half of Bursaspors goals in the season.
I think the US has to look to win the Turkey and Cameroon matches and hope for the best against BRAZIL since we may meet them again in the final. I think We'll go against the Turks with either a 4 2 3 1 or 3 5 2. We could see Mastroeni and Armas both playing in the defensive midfield and Mathis will start at defensive mid with Kirovski and Donovan up top. Lewis starting on the wing. Klein on the right with DMB and Convey coming off the bench. The 1st match sets the tone for the tourney so the win against the Turks is Paramount. Brazil gets guys who don't play in the first match as the US Bunkers in looking to steal a result. The A team goes back out to Dominate the Lions as we look forward to possibly meeting the frogs in the semis.
I think this looks good, but isn't vanney more of teh wingback with Gibbs in the middle? Although he did puch up a lot against NZ. Really, the question is, can Vanney play central defense? Why not Califf to get a big body in there against the turks who like to cross?
Agreed. Thanks for the breakdown. With regards to Twellman, I agree that for the most part, he has yet to show enough to justify the start. But then again, Cunningham and Kirovski haven't been lighting it up either. But I will say this. I REALLY like the Mathis at A-mid, Donovan at F and Twellman at F combination. Sure, Twellman is good in the air but not great. But with Donovan and Twellman running as much as they do opportunities would abound for Mathis to either create some beautiful passes, or for him to walk up a bit and shoot. Plus the two forwards to more than their fair share of the defensive work to compensate for Mathis' defensive work out of midfield. Has this combo played together before as the A-mid and two forwards? I don't think so off the top of my head, but I am not sure.
My lineup: .............Twellman..........- the best true striker ........Donovan..Mathis......- one amid,one for (opp can guess which one) DMB......................Klein...- best wings ...........Mastro/Armas....... - interchangable Vanney..Boca..Califf..Hejduk.. close ...............Howard.............. not close
I don't think I've ever seen that combo either (Donovan and Twellman up top with Mathis as A-Mid), though I do know that Mathis played some spectacular ball early in qualifying while an A-Mid. He sent that perfect through ball to Wolf to open up the scoring against Mexico (w/o Wolf and Mathis' stellar play in coming on for injured McBride and Reyna we probably wouldn't have qualified), and I think Mathis scored again against Honduras in the following game on a set piece as an A-Mid. Back then Donovan and Twellman, weren't in the picture, of course. I do like you're idea though. Kirovski can do more w/o great service, but he tends to be a blackhole when he gets the ball, Twellman does a better job playing w/his teammates and I imagine he could finally get the service he wants from Mathis and Donovan, who are our best MLS based passers. Interesting idea. I'm just hoping that Cunningham sees time only as a sub. He has been far less impressive than Twellman, to me, when on the field. Maybe his speed could be an asset as a late game sub in each game?
Yes I think this looks like a solid line-up. Although I liked the idea someone else had of starting Lewis and bringing on DMB as a sub.
I know nothing! That being said, I'd expect some experimentation. This is a pretty high profile tournament without any serious consequences for losing. Why not play Twellman? Or Gibbs or whoever? We'll need some depth to win this tourney. Expect to see all members on the roster to start one game. The real question is which game(s)? This is a great opportunity in a fairly big stage for some of our up and comers to show their stuff. And if we lose the tourney because of Twellman becoming a black hole, so be it. I'll cry in my beer and curse for a while, but I'll get over it. It won't keep us out of the WC like it would if this were qualifying. That beings said, I hope it all works out and we come home with the hardware!
At least Twellman is playing right now. Even if he hasn't produced for the Nats, he is in the middle of his season while Cunningham doesn't start for his team (when everybody is healthy) and Jovan is in his offseason.
But Cunningham has been playing regardless of injury and Jovan does not look out of shape. I still prefer to see Twellman.