Post GC, Pre-Copa evaluation of our Nats players

I'll try to do one of these again after the Copa (which is going to be mostly our U-23s and B teamers, what I suspect to be our not-quite-ready-but-a-few-might-make-cases-for-themselves-by-the-2009-hex-guys). But as the GC was definitely our current A team roster, I think right now is a good time to look at what we've got at the present in terms of players who played in the Gold Cup.

"Veterans" (including youngish guys who've been around the senior nats a while and/or have WC experience)

Tim Howard: Our #1 shirt-wearer for this cycle. No real question there. My feeling at this point in time is that he's a half-notch down from Keller/Friedel in their prime, and he might improve on that a little bit over the course of the cycle. He's clearly better than Keller right now.

Kasey Keller: See above. I think he found the right note to bow out gracefully on, and that's a semifinal win on his 100th cap in a tournament which we won.

Landon Donovan: Still our best field player, the most dangerous attacker we have, and I think the right wing, as a sort of almost defacto 433 style wing forward is the place for him. He's getting more space, and defenses are having a difficult time man-marking and double-teaming him out there, and Dempsey/Feilhaber are capable of playing the center of pitch, freeing him up to be used out wide. I don't think he quite has the nose for goal he used to, but we'll still see some goals from the run of play from him, and he creates a lot of danger and provides a lot of good quality service from out wide. I like him taking PKs, and I'm not wild about him taking set pieces. I'd prefer Feilhaber provide the service from the corners.

Demarcus Beasley: Speed and tenacity, the ability to create lots of danger on the counter, and, um, rather wacky touch, which he's always had, really. He's crossing and shooting from distance better, and he's got his confidence back and that's a nice thing to see.

Clint Dempsey: Next to Landon, our most skilled attacking player, slightly better in tight spaces (both a function of his particular style of close-in ball control skills and his larger, stronger frame, I think) and with a better nose for goal in the box. Pretty much what we already knew. He's also lacks Landon's speed burst and touch on the run (Landon's technical skill at full pace is the best on the team, IMO). Or to put it another way, Demspey doesn't need the space that Landon needs in order to be effective, but Landon's more effective than Clint when he has the space. Therefore, I think at this point Clint is the one who should be playing more centrally, and Landon wider, as I think it plays better to both of their strengths. I think we're better as a team when both of them are on the field as a result (with an in-form Beasley/Convey/Mapp on the left wing), and as understanding between them increases, the benefits will increase. Until we get a better quality striker, this grouping of three guys will be creating/scoring the majority of our goals over the foreseeable future.

Brian Ching: IMO he does what McBride did, albeit with less quality than McBride, particularly his finishing. I think right now he pretty much is what he's going to be over the course of the cycle, when he's not injured, that is (remember he's got a history of injury-proneness with his knee). For the moment (and hopefully only the moment) he's got to be considered our #1 striker by a small margin over... IMO Johnson, not Twellman.

Eddie Johnson: Very uncertain. Glad to see him score one finally. I can't say he's either proved or disproved either his supporters or his naysayers yet. Let's all keep a good eye on him.

Taylor Twellman: I guess he's on the team until we get ourselves some strikers (ie either some of our U20s prove themselves at the senior level or EJ takes it up a notch). He's no international level finisher, he can't turn defenders, and he doesn't knock down as many balls as Ching. What he does show is hustle and enthusiasm, and for the moment I won't knock him as a late game, lead-holding sub-on. A Cobi Jones WC 2002 role, if you will.

Steve Ralston: He's done.

Pablo Mastroeni: An ok player for leadership purposes as the team is rebuilding. I don't think he'll be necessary by 2010. Talent-wise, he's been eclipsed in the midfield by Feilhaber, Clark, and Bradley. I think he's still ahead of all the other guys in the player pool that we didn't see in the GC. In other words, my guess is he's still ahead of Beckerman and Klejstan and (definitely) Ben Olsen and Jesse Marsch.

Oguchi Onyewu: A monster against target forwards, his weaknesses against smaller, quicker, craftier technical types has been exposed. He started the tournament weakly and played incrementally better as the tournament went on, so perhaps he has just a bit more brains than we gave him credit for. I still feel that he is still developing slightly, but what I think we have and what we'll always have with him is just that, a great defender to shut down the monster target forward guys of any level (remember the job he did against Luca Toni and Jan Koller?... not to mention his total ownage of Jered Borghetti). We'd be better off with another center back when we're not facing one of those types. Also, I'm in agreement with most of you who say that Bocanegra and Onyewu as a back line pairing is not a particularly good match, each one is more of an athletic fireman and less of a stablizing presence, and needs someone more stable (ie Conrad, or possibly Demerit in the near future) to partner with.

Carlos Bocanegra: See comments above in Gooch's paragraph. He's more flexible and adjustable than Gooch, though, and less of a monster against the monster types. Most likely one of our top three center backs for the duration of the cycle.

Frankie Hejduk: Everybody inside the US program says that Frankie's a great guy to have around, and he's got the stamina and enthusiasm to run all day, and that's great. That said, I am in the camp of those who feel he's been surpassed by both Spector and Simek, although I know that some of you feel otherwise. Therefore, I'm of the opinion that he is now irrelevent. And in a way, thank God, because technically, he belongs to the 90s generation of US players, the Lalases and the Balboas.

The Young New Faces:

Benny Feilhaber: I don't mind admitting that I'm a fan, and I have been since I saw him in person against China a couple of weeks ago. Technically a very gifted player, really at a new level for us in the center of midfield in that department. He's got silky ball control even under pressure, he plays with his head up and sees the field well, and his accuracy and weight when he strikes the ball, both on the pass and on the shot are more reminiscent of a young Brazilian than an American. What he needs, and really needs badly is first team experience, and as much as he can get. I think this summer's tournament schedule is doing good things for him, and Bradley's doing a good job in getting him about as many minutes as he can take, but he either needs to break into the regular picture at Hamburg or needs a loan spell to get regular first team action this next European club season. His brain farts are just due to a lack of first team seasoning, I strongly feel, and that's all. His instincts are all go-go-go for the attack, and I like those instincts as instincts, but he needs to develop a bit more of the Reyna-like ability to learn how to control the game, when to speed it up and go for the incisive pass or run (as he instinctively wants to), when to switch the field, and when to hold it up. He'll get better at making those smarter easy passes and a better knack for how to stay involved as the game stagnates in midfield as he gets more first team playing time. That's all he needs at this point, I strongly feel. My prognosis? Blue chip material, a star in the making.

Michael Bradley: Where I feel Feilhaber's skills are already developed to a high level and he just needs first team seasoning, I feel Bradley still needs skill development (for which I think he has the native ability) as well as first team seasoning. At this point, I see his native strengths are his aggressiveness and work rate (this is a guy who WANTS that ball!), his physical athleticism, his well-coached positioning, and his passing ability. Where Feilhaber strikes the ball rather like a Brazilian, Bradley hits it like a better-quality European. Which is very impressive, if you ask me. His problems are his ball control skills, his first touch and his control under pressure, which causes him to have to look down at the ball a bit too much and not enough eyes up the field. When he's had time and space to see the field, he's delivered some delicious balls into dangerous positions. When he's been pressured, he's been mostly disposessed. Therefore, he needs more ball control training. He also needs to improve his mental reactions defensively. A lot of the time he's just about a half-step slow to react to the play, and though he's well-positioned, he finds himself having to lunge in on tackles where he could dispossess a guy standing up, or having balls bang off his shins and knees that he could be trapping, were he reading the game a bit quicker. Fortunately, this is stuff that can be hammered out in training and with game time, and he's in one of the best coaching environments you can have (ie with a Dutch Eredivisie side and his dad), and all this stuff is coachable. Yes, I agree that his native ability is as a two way mid, not as a pure deep-lying destroyer, but as somebody mentioned rather well a couple of weeks ago, a great team needs both creators and dawgs, and where Benny I think is a natural creator who needs a good dawg beside him, Bradley's a natural dawg. Not just one who sits back in front of defense and dispossesses people, I mean, he can pass, and he'll exploit that even better when he can play more with his head up and eyes forward, but his natural strength is as a dawg, probably a skilled and intelligent one eventually. A very promising mid-long term prospect, and probably a good eventual partner for Benny, either late in the current cycle or early in the next, I believe. Therefore my prognosis is not a star, but a very good key player (a big improvement over most of our more ball-winning, "D-mid-esque" types of the past, probably equalling or exceeding an in-form John O'Brien), perhaps as early as 2008, but probably more like 2009-11, I feel. Right at this moment he's 3rd or 4th on my personal central midfielder depth chart.

Ricardo Clark: I think one of the mistakes of the Arena Administration (which on the balance I think served us well, let's not forget that) is that he didn't identify and make better use of this kid. I think he could've helped us in 2006, and I think he can help us a lot right now. In my mind, he's at least level with Mastroeni right now, and possibly better, and still with some room to improve over the current cycle. I think by the end of this cycle, by 2010 he'll be a finished product, and will be considerably better than Mastro (with either Bradley surpassing him in the end, or backing him up at the WC), making him a key player to have either in the first XI or as a key sub in all important matches for which he's available. On my personal depth chart, I have him as the first-choice ball-winning center midfielder to partner to Feilhaber in the near future. He's a different style than Bradley, more of a chaser, less of a passer, very energetic and dynamic, with the ability to control the midfield. My prognosis on him is that his level of play eventually falls short of the best we've ever had of that sort of type (John O'Brien), but better than everyone else, better than all the Mastroenis and Armases and Olsens and everyone else (even going back to Thomas Dooley). Such is the improvement in our national pool that I think he eventually becomes second-best behind Bradley, who I think will equal or exceed O'Brien. Whether or not that happens before the Hex and the World Cup is anybody's guess, but I rather think that he'll deservedly hold the top spot for at least two years, and quite likely through the World Cup.

Justin Mapp: Fast, skilled, creative, offensively aggressive, he's got the stuff to change the complexion of the game, and has the added benefit of having some height in the box. Unfortunately he runs out of gas, and is rather lazy on defense. If we've got somebody solid defensively behind him (ie Spector) I don't think it's that bad, but I don't want to see him with Bornstein. My prognosis on him is a prime candidate for the supersub role in 2009/10, with Beasley, Convey or both holding down the starting role through this cycle. Some added unknowns like Nguyen could make it interesting as it goes on. This is another position of strength, clearly. (We've got almost an embarrassment of riches at some spots, ie LW, RB, central mid, GK, and yet we can't find a decent natural LB or a striker!)

Jonathan Bornstein: I'm up-and-down on this kid, as I think he's kind of an up-and-down sort of player. He's a natural left footer, got the speed, he's got the enthusiasm, he's not a midget, he tackles pretty well, he crosses fairly well, he likes getting involved in the attack, he's aggressive. His marking is so-so, he gets beaten too often 1v1, he gets caught out of position much too much, and he picks questionable times to go forward, and thus does not often enough make an offensive impact when going forward, not enough to outweigh the opportunities on the counter he gives up. Obviously, he's still developing as a converted fullback and therefore we'll withold judgement on just how good he will be in the long term. Right now I'm leary of seeing him out there unless he's got Beasley on the left wing. I'm fairly certain that with Mapp or Convey as the left winger in front of him, he'll get burned and punished with regularity. I am a little more interested in him than I am in the other LB's in the player pool (Heath Pearce, Todd Dunivant) but I have this sneaking suspicion that our best option at LB might be one of the guys we're currently using mostly as a RB, Jonathan Spector. Prognosis: Question Mark.

Jonathan Spector: Our most talented, skilled defensive player ever. Also one of the most enigmatic and frustrating. I've said before that Spector seems to want to do too much every time he's on the ball, and has been quite obviously coached in the English game not to, and as a result, instead of simplifying his game, he's gotten more indecisive, and that's hampering him. He's got skill on the ball, he strikes a very good long ball and cross, he's got more speed than meets the eye (though I rate him as marginally slow for a fullback, speedy for a center back), enough size, good agility. If he can learn to simplify his game (or else be as sophisticated as he wants to be... but that's a lot harder), then he'll be an excellent back, probably even better than Cherundolo (for one thing, while he lacks Cherundolo's speed, he's got better size in the back and arguably greater skills already, and still has plenty of upside to him). As it is, I see him as a key fullback for us, either on the right (behind Cherundolo for this cycle), or else on the left (where I suspect he'll be better and steadier defensively than Bornstein).

Frank Simek: This kid's solid. Not as dynamic as Spector can be, but solid, simple, and athletic, and solidity is something that's needed at the right back the way we're playing with Donovan way out front and with little defensive responsibility. He'll very ably back of Cherundolo, and it's very debatable as to which, Spector or Simek should be considered the first choice behind Stevie C. Personally, I'm of the opinion at this point that Spector should generally be the first choice on the left, and Simek should be the first to back up Cherundolo on the right, with Spector as an additional option, as long as Donovan is our right winger/wing forward. Late in the game he's really tended to command that right flank. It'll be interesting to see how he does against fresh legs from the opening whistle with the nats in the near future.

Jay Demerit: Need to see more of him in the near future, but from the glimpses that I've had of him in a nats uniform he's come on and solidified the back line, and that's a comforting thing to see. He paired well with Bocanegra. I'm cautiously optimistic.

Michael Parkhurst: Ok, I know a lot of you disagree, but my personal opinion is that he does not belong in the US picture as a center back. If we were to deploy a 3 back line in a 532/352 (a system which I do not espouse for our team), then yes, he could most likely be the sweeper of choice, but I just don't see him as an international center back. (I also have this sneaking suspicion that maybe, just maybe, he might be useful as a defensive midfielder should Bob be interested in talking him into attempting to convert, but I don't see any interest on Bob's part in such an experiment.) Apparently he IS on Bob's radar at the present, and he'll see more time in the Copa, and after that is said and done, we can revisit this, and we'll see if I'm right, or if the Parkhurst backers are right. I'll be shocked if he's ever a first choice central defender, though, honestly...

I'm not rating the current field a la Convey and Cherundolo and Conrad who were out with injury, and I'll withhold on the young guys who we'll be seing in the Copa until that's over.

Feel free to critique my assessments or add your own!

 

Yeah, my post does kinda take the dubious distinction of Most Longwinded Post Ever but I don't know how the hell else to have my say when we've got a young talented team that I want to have my say on. Thanks for reading!



And, hey, if you've got nitpicks, and wanna make a case for Hejduk, I'm all ears! That's why I started this thread...

 

He's got an infectious upbeat enthusiasm, and I was disappointed that he was injured for the '06 WC because of it (we really could've used that enthusiasm). When he retires, I'd love to see him stick around the national program as maybe a fitness coach. It'd be good to have him around camp, and what better guy could you ask for to run and train our kids? Don'tcha think?