Martino's minutes

it especially doesn't make sense when you compare Martino's and stewart's respective impacts on their club teams.
Must be that whole "continuity" thing, I guess. But Martino still should've been with his club yesterday.

 

I'm baffled as well.

 

We saw the difference when Martino and Convey came on the field. It's time for Bruce to let Ernie go. Even at right mid there are a couple better options. I thought Ernie served us well in the past and I'm grateful but it's time for him to hang up his international cleats.

 

I think Martino should have been allowed to play with the Crew last night. It makes no sense to hold him back from an MLS game if you don't even plan on starting him.

As for his minutes, well, I think he will see a lot of them in the Confed Cup. He is more unknown internationally than most of his counterparts on the USMNT, I think he will change that in 7 nations in the Confed Cup.

 

Old Guard vs. New

I think I agree.

But ... NZ was gassed the last 30 minutes. Richie Williams would have looked good coming on fresh against those guys. So I'd hold off on pronouncing too strongly that Martino & Convey were waaay better than Stewart. Although yes, Earnie hasn't shown much at all in '03.

As usual, I wasn't all that impressed by Convey in MLS action the night before, when he got his full 90 minutes. He always seems to play better with the national uniform on. An anti-Twellman, so to speak.

 

I agree that Martino should be getting more looks than Earnie at this point, but not so fast on "hanging up the cleats" for Earnie. Remember in the Venezuela game when Earnie came on and made a HUGE difference in spurring the attack and making play more cohesive? I think that game showed that his future lies in coming off the bench and keeping momentum going for the US. And he probably would have shown a lot better today had that been the case.

 

Re: Old Guard vs. New

Because he has a coach that puts him on the field in a position that lets him use his talents to their fullest. Also he is playing with more talents people, which often has a big impact on players.

 

I agree that he should have been with the Crew.

MLS is much more important compared with friendlys.

 

I have to agree with this sentiment. It makes noooo sense to me to have Earnie play 7/8ths of the game, and have Martino come in at a time that he really will be lucky to have 5 quality touches and really not get into the flow of the game.

I'm not one to criticize BA because I think he really has hit shiite together when it comes to personnel, but I think he fouled this one up. He should have released Martino to the crew if only to keep him match fit. I know he was kept physically fit with the national training regimen, but he missed a match that could have kept him sharp and ready to show to the Turks and Brazilians what we know he can do.

I'm not sure after that game what his role is for Bruce currently. A creative spark off the bench?

 

Wasn't that Martino's first senior cap? Bruce will rarely start a player in his first "full international" (Cherundolo at Honduras is the only one that comes to mind right now). He has a system for integrating players into the team. So far, it's worked pretty well, no? Not saying you have no right to criticize the sacred Bruce, but are you really surprised? Dating to Bruce's early days, people have been clamoring for the "youth movement." Bruce has never subscribed to that philosophy. He gradually integrates a player into the team. For fans, it can be frustrating. But Bruce seems to know what he's doing in this regard. I trust that the right decision was made, even in light of Earnie's stinker on Sunday.

 

Nope... I remember Martino getting some minutes in a USMNT match much earlier in the year. But like this one, Bruce gave him only a small amount of time. I can't remember the match...

 

Martino's first cap was in November against El Salvador in DC.

 

I stand corrected. Thanks!

I still think Bruce gets the benefit of the doubt here. Maybe it was a game-time decision who to start? Maybe he took a bit of a knock the day before? Maybe Bruce wants to get as much time to evaluate Martino off the pitch as possible (remember that Bruce puts a lot of stock in chemistry)? Maybe Bruce and Andrulis agreed that, the best thing for Martino, was for him to remain with the Nats? Maybe Stewart swiped ABMOD's incriminating pictures of Bruce? The bottom line is, with Bruce, you know it wasn't plain stupidity. It was surely a reasoned decision -- we just don't know the reasoning.

That said, I love watching Martino play, so, as a selfish fan, I would have liked for him to remain with the Crew!

 

EXACTLY. It doesn't have to be so black and white (Martino #1, Ernie quit) but let's get Martino some minutes for pete's sake!

PS Ernie's better on the right side. Why was he in the middle? Bruce does make mistakes. Oh well, now isn' the time to worry about it TOO much.

 

I thought he would pull a half and half situation with Stewart and Martino, Im suprised he took as long as he did to get Martino in.

Cant really think of why he didnt play Martino longer, other than maybe his plans changed.

Still as things stood he should have released Martino.

 

I read an admitted rumor that stated Martino was a bit too big for his britches at this early young stage of his career, and, if true, maybe Bruce is just bringing him along very slowly so it doesn't all go to his head.

I'm just theorizing, i.e, speaking out of my #ss.

 

Thanks to Cafrine for setting me straight a bit (all be it, in a different thread) on Stewart. I completely forgot about his positive effect in that game against Venezuela. That being said, other than that, I haven't seen an impressive performance of his since his oopsie 2 goal, should have been a hat trick, game against Honduras in September of 2001. He had that nice volley against Portugal that was saved in the early going, but other than that I don't think he's done jack squat since that Honduras match. I'm rightfully corrected in terms of overall effect in that Venezuela match, but really what has he done since the fall of 2001 other than that? Nada.

Unless he does a really sweet job in the Confederations cup (which I do not expect), I think it's time he focuses on club ball w/call ups pending injuries, only.

 

I know this is a Martino thread but:
Ernie will help us out with WCQ in the way that he gave us a boost in Seattle. I hear he is great with the younger, less seasoned players also. Bruce is definitely going to use that card as we approach the horrors of WCQ.

I think our midfield NEEDS Martino to get some PT other than garbage minutes. He is such a good distributor and we don't necessarily have a bunch of those types of players lying around.
Martino didn't look too sharp because he entered the game so late that he was trying to do to much 1 v 1. If Martino starts a game, gets in the flow, then we see a more comfortable playmaker and consequently a more potent attack. As opposed to the anemia our offense suffered from on Sunday.

 

Not having seem him enough with the Crew, to make a sound judgement on his MLS form, I must say, his limited time with the Nats has left me unimpressed.

He hasn't done much of anything to suggest he should get more minutes. I know Bruce loves players with long hair, but I don't see how he can compete in the middle of the field with the other players competing for that role. He has a ton of work to do to match Convey, who has work to do himself to solidify a starting role for himself.

Maybe Bruce felt it was important for him to be with him, rather than back with the Crew, because, IMO, Bruce is taking pretty big leap of faith even taking him to France.

Its a pretty big jump to go from college, to playing Brazil after only 1 year in MLS and half a cap.

 

What's in Bruce's Mind?

I think Arena simply made a mistake. When he was releasing players for their respective MLS duties, Arena must have imagined that Martino was going to get substantial playing time, if not the start. Apparently Arena decided that Earnie performed better in camp, thus relegating Martino to the bench.
I suppose if Martino comes in at half time (it wasn't as if Stewart was tearing it up) and gets a legit chance to play himself into the game, it was worth having Martino stay in Richmond. But since he came in so late the game, we all have to keep asking "What was Bruce thinking?" I bet Andrulis is wondering the same thing.
Like I mentioned before, Arena made a mistake. Now is a good time to screw up, I suppose.

PS Why was Earnie in the middle? That is the second time this year Bruce has put the wrong guy at attacking mid. Remember Argentina? Olsen at attacking mid? That didn't work. And Sunday it was Stewart at attacking mid. Once again, oops. I respect Bruce's creativity. We just have to bare with his mistakes. We are getting nitpicky a wee bit, it's not as if Arena is suddenly the dumbest coach on Earth. He's still one of heroes. Him and Dug Martsch.

 

Re: What's in Bruce's Mind?

It seem Bruce disagrees with you. From his conference call

On a previous statement about ‘bloodying’ some of the younger players:

“Well I don’t know if 'bloody' is a good word. I think whatever we’ve done with these players is good, it’s a positive. I told the team minutes ago: I don’t even know what the lineup is going to be for Turkey. So at this point I’m not sure how we are going to use our 23-man roster. They all need to be prepared to play. I told them that. It’s the same thing I told them in the World Cup. We played 19 players in the World Cup out of a 23-man roster, and two that didn’t play were goalkeepers and one was injured, so I think we’re prepared to make full use of our roster here. And whether guys get a lot of minutes or not I think it’s still a positive. An example is Kyle Martino. I think just having him with us, giving him the opportunity to witness this type of competition is going to help him develop as a player. Using the word bloody, I used it in a positive fashion. I think its going to help all these guys develop at this level as well as giving me the opportunity to clearly evaluate where every player is.”

 

Good reply; it's always nice to hear it straight from Bruce's mouth.

So, does Bruce not think Martino is Nat team material yet? Is Martino on the roster to get experience in others areas BESIDES the playing field? Hm. If that's the case I suppose that's not a terrible idea. But considering the nature of soccer, I like the "sink or swim" idea of bloodying players. Get them on the field and see what happens.
Anyhow, I still think Arena made a mistake wether he states it or not.