Not every forum is a rivalries forum Bob. Read how Martin correctly criticizes my thoughts. What I said about Clark does indeed have very little to go on. But it is all we have. One could add to them that if Mulrooney comes back in time maybe Arena will use him at d-mid.
I think the second point here is more important...Clark's had one cap. One need only look at Donovan and Beasley and their various positions over the years to see that Arena will experiement often. I wouldn't rule out the possiblity of Clark playing dmid or center-mid at this point. Of course, the bigger issue here is that Carroll is in camp while Clark is not. That, more than anything, is why Carroll has a leg up on Clark right now for a roster spot.
assuming by attack you also mean having a strong outside shot. sans mathis, we're remarkably weak in this area compared to most national teams.
Brian can put his hair in a pny tail faster than Rico...it would take him months Everything? Seriously? Maybe Brian thinks faster...they both had a camp, Carroll played a lot, Clark hardly at all
He's only played in one game. And that was as a two way mid in a 4-3-3 against Panama. I think that will best fit his game. He's another who IMO will impact this cycle before it's all said and done. Clark and Martino are my sleepers for CM in WC '06.
I haven't seen Clark a whole lot this year, but the few times I did see him, his strong outside shot was highly inaccurate and was pretty much wasting his team's scoring opportunity. Just because someone is willing to shoot from outside doesn't make them have a strong outside shot. So I'm just curious: was this just an aberration? Those that watched him all season long - is he usually pretty accurate or does he usually waste opportunities? [Please note: this is a genuine question. I'm not dissing Clark in the least.]
Should I even bother bringing up the fact that this squad had only 2 players -both on the defensive side - without the European club experience? And Eddie Pope was a very experienced international defender by that point anyway. Having a "leg-up" on Clark these days isn't as difficult as it sounds.
Should I even bother bringing up that the squad had only 3 guys without MLS club experience? I confess you are a genius for being able to recognize that alot of the US's best players will have spent time in Europe, since best players have the best chance of getting the jobs that pay the best, which are currently in Europe.
Why does Mathis have to be such a lazy piece of crap? We could definately use a central MF with his type of skills. He has to be the biggest dissappointment in the last 4 years.
More than having a strong outside shot he gets forward from a deep position with tremendous acceleration and with or without the ball at his feet playing a pretty strong combination game. Add an excellent passing game in the form of through balls and it's no accident the Quakes' central midfield was so consistently dominant.
Mathis is like a hot girl. Since he has the looks everyone is always willing to bend over backwards for him. He is always given the benefit of the doubt and multiple chances, no matter how badly he screws others over. Then one day. Bam! The looks start to fade and all of a sudden times up. In desperation that person tries to do all the things they needed to do all those years they were hot, in order to still be hot now. Too late. Can't go back. Wind up looking like Joan Rivers. Freaky, and the butt of a lot of jokes.
He has the best outside shot of any MLS d-mid and part of the point of shooting from distance is to open up the field a bit more. There are some games where he shoots too much though imo. 6 shots on goal from 31 attempts. 3 goals.
Just to add some fuel to this discussion - while BA hasn't used Dempsey as a d-mid yet, he has experience playing that role with the Revs. Not saying he's a chance to start, but some of the 'depth charts' I have seen at d-mid go 5 or 6 deep and I would put Clint ahead of a couple of them. The next question would be how deep BA went at any position for a 'dedicated' position player: you have 20 field slots for the roster right? That tells me that if you can only play one position you better be the starter. Not saying you can't or won't go as a backup, but that will be the exception for sure.
Hunh? Dempsey's second cap, T+T, a WC qualifier, a straight up swap for Mastro when he came up injured leaving a midfield of Dempsey/Beasley/Lewis/Donovan. Of note at the time, Dempsey, with one cap, was the only midfield sub dressed at an away qualifier. I also seem to remember him playing beside Mastro in a box, Columbia or Honduras, maybe? And it seemed to me that the formation against England was more of an offset box, with Dempsey deep left next to Z, rather than a diamond with him playing a wide left mid.
the d-mid from the revs arena would really prefer is joseph... still, I think arena prefers the stay at home d-mid who rarely ventures forward.. I'm beginning to think is JOB is healthy, arena won't go with a direct back-up for mastroeni... and this might heighten the chances for dempsey to make the squad, as a carroll making the squad means only ONE more mid in the mix, which might be a true RM leaving dempsey as an alternate