If you didn't see the NAT game, we won in overtime. Kind of reminded me of the Dallas game. Anyway, we stunk most of the game but we starded doing much better when Dempsey and Noonan came in (Revs to the Rescue). Noonan set up Donovan for a header that almost went in and Dempsey injected some life into a very flat US team. I'm not sure we would have the result we have if they handn't all played. Guess they won't be availible Friday now.
I woulda appreciated a little more description in the title of this thread... I haven't seen the match yet and I had no idea that this thread pertained to the Gold Cup...
Get real people. While the thread title was a little vauge, it doesn't take much to put 2 and 2 together. I can't believe that I opened a thread with an "R" in the title, and it actually had a result in it! The game was today, the thread was posted just after it, and the "R" is in the thread title. If you are a US fan, recorded it on telemundo and are watching the game later, then you shouldn't come to the soccer boards of the Nats or the teams that the players came from. Then again, don't answer the phone, cause someone you know might just call to celebrate the result. To get back to the thread .... Yes, I thought that Noonan and Dempsey were a highlight in an otherwise frustrating game. The biggest factor in the game was Prendergast. I can't believe that CONCALAUGH assigns him at all any more. He must have pictures ... Noonan wasn't dazzling, but he provided good service. One that Donovan should have put away. Dempsey made great penetrating runs through the Honduran defense. This was something that Donovan or Beasley were afraid to do all game. They seemed rooted to their respective spots. Ralston also played a good part, and was unlucky not to score on his header that clanged off the post. What this game really showed, is that Arena made a big mistake in not taking a chance on Taylor Twellman (just coming back from injury). This game had plenty of opportunities for the US that just wouldn't go in because there wasn't a finisher on the field. Of course, taking Twellman as well as Noonan, Ralston and Dempsey (+ REIS) would have been a bit much for one team to lose to a US callup. Just shows why this tournament should be scheduled differently, or why we should suspend MLS while it takes place.
I will say this however: in those moments of sanity where I didn't feel like throwing my coffee table across the room or otherwise screamed obscenities at the TV, I thought "Twellman would have burried those chances Donovan flubbed." The Magpie
And this, friends, is why it's not necessarily a bad thing to have a guy who's better at poaching than he is creating on your squad.
Absolutely so I don't destroy my living room furniture. As it was, a few magazines bounced off the TV last night, especially with Landycakes/Baby Jesus' indifferent performance, the punk ass thug play of Honduras, and Peter Prendergast's efforts that lend even greater support to suggest he's bought and paid for by Jack Warner.
Probably, but would he have assisted on BOTH goals? I think not. LD was somewhat invisible for most of the match, but he still ended up with an MVP performance - twice he delivered the ball to an open man in point blank range. The Rev contingent was definitely threatening when they came in. Dempsey had some nice weaving runs up the middle, Noonan's header to Donovan, Ralton's clanger off the post, etc. Why Arena starts Wolff EVER is beyond me. What has he done in the last 3 years to justify a spot in the lineup? Arena seems fixated on the pre-injury player of years ago - he hasn't repeated those results in a LONG time. In this whole tournament, Wolff has done nothing but screw up every time he gets the ball. And while raving, is Frankie Hejduk horrible or what? What a disastrous, mind-boggling play to put the US in a hole!
Could it be he started Wolff so he could save Noonan and the few other forwards he has left to play the final? His current GC roster of Forwards is sure very anemic. It's clear that many of those playing in this Cup, by their poor play, have gotten their last meaninful call up for National Team duty--one of those being Wolff. Good discussion on all that on the USMNT Board.
i gotta say, i like when noonan gets some time for the nats. now, demps on the otherhand......well, if you've ever seen the not-very-watched 'oxford blues' with rob lowe and ally sheedy, Oxford Blues (1984), you might have a better appreciation for this comment.... summary: A young American hustler in Las Vegas spots a rich English Lady. Smitten, he pursues her to England, where his only chance of getting together with her is to enroll in Oxford and join the rowing team. to me, clearly not exactly the same scenario, but there are some similarities. lowe's new jersey character (Nick De Angelo) believes that being american means that brashness, scheming ways, anger, etc....can make a winner out of anyone and get them what they want if they just keep banging away. he soon finds out that some things are not meant to be in the world of tradition, hierarchy, class structure, etc... the young sculling jedi finds not only that 'character' in competition is the only thing that really creates stamina, winning, longevity...but that competing 'angry' is detrimental to your long term objectives....anger is a short lived burst of energy keeps your teamates from trusting you, makes you a loose cannon, and unpredictable. in demps' case, some of these things we see as positives when he's playing with the revs. however, i don't think his 'game' is working real well with the nats. clearly he has raw talent and a couple goals to show for it. but, when he came into that game last night...team behind....chippy affair....unpredicatble ref....all i could see was 'red card'. when he got tangled up with that honduran dude and then hovered over him while he was down with a little knee thrown in.....i'm thinking it's just this type of selfish, immature attitude that's going to cost the nat's someday if he sticks with the team. personally, somebody he has respect for is going to have to step in and change the direction a bit.....b/c i'm looking at the possibility of him being just a slightly better version of mathis right now....and i'm not diggin' it.
I think that is just a stage of development he needs to go through. Most of the others have already learned the "composure" lesson the hard way. Honduras was playing a pretty nasty game (everytime they gave the ball back after a stoppage, they managed to send the ball as far away as possible!), with a lot of dangerous, sneaky fouls and a lot of diving. And, as was pointed out, the ref wasn't doing a good job of handling it. This was a great game for Dempsey to learn something about playing in a hostile climate (right here in the US of A!). I'm sure he'll be hearing all about the episode you refer to in the film session.