As am I. The Scotland game showed us that we need someone in the middle to make things happen. Zavagning did well for a little while until he got shut down and dissapeared until he was pulled off with an injury , and Caroll did ok , I really dont remember him doing much, and Olsen came in fiesty , but didnt add much to our team. Hurry up Reyna/ O'brien
You really can't count on either O'Brien or Reyna to be healthy for the World Cup. I'd like to see Martino get more time as a deep playmaker.
Martino is way too weak on the ball for a center mid in international soccer , especially against palyerrs like gattuso and jarosik. Martino gets knocked off the ball way too easily.
Because there's nothing like a 140-pound guy in the middle of the field to show you won't get pushed around . . .
Who will be the first to say this is a blessing in disguise because he will be well rested for the World Cup?
But Martino is a stick. And he doesn't have nearly the skills of either of those two nor the experience.
Given that it's a fracture, which should heal just fine, this actually may be a good thing for Claudio to help keep him fresh/healthy for the Cup. Privately, my friends and I have (sort of) been rooting for something like this for McBride, also -- just a modest injury that will save him from 6-8 weeks of EPL wear and tear and may actually improve his chances of being healthy and in form for Germany. Just another way to spin it a little more positively...
You can't count on ANY player being healthy for the WC. Thats why a coach needs a ---good deep pool--- so he will be able to go with players who are fit and in good form. In years past the US wasn't very deep at any position. For many reasons the US is now able to replace--- almost--- any player from the pool. We all have our favorates and get frantic when the old tried and true players get injured or older but the USA is slowly getting to the status of a true soccer power that has a large pool of players who can get the job done if given the chance. The bottom line is: To compete at the world level you need a solid pool of "Starter Quality Players" , at least three deep at any position. I don't think the USA can make that claim at this point but at many positions we can and at most others were getting close.
Is it an unreasonable thought? You know the guy is going to get hurt at some point ... why not now, in crappy weather, with an easy-to-heal injury that will give him plenty of time to be ready for the Cup?
And who says we have to have one? The few times in a game that we absolutely HAVE to slow it down, maintain possession...something tells me that we'll have the guys to rise to the occasion and get it done. This is a World Cup; players often play above their normal abilities, they don't play like they're in a friendly. I am of the opinion - and I know I'm in the minority - that we do not have to have Claudio Reyna 'dictating' our pace or 'calming us down'. Any individual player, at any given time in the game, and at various times in the game, will slow us down or speed us up or maintain our possession or show for the ball or make the play. We don't rely on any one guy.
O'Brien isn't physically stronger than Martino, Reyna is only a little bit stronger. If we're talking about a replacement for those two in the deep playmaking role, Martino is the #1 choice. Otherwise we can choose to go with two defensive midfielders, or a diamond 1-2-1 in midfield, which is what I would prefer. But if we're talking about a player who can play the same role as Reyna and O'Brien, I don't see anyone other than Martino. That's why I'm saying I hope he sees some good playing time in the upcoming friendlies.
He would be my choice in a two defensive midfielder formation. He's a two-way midfielder but he's not a Reyna-type. He's not a playmaker. I'd also rather see him on the field than Martino. But as a straight swap in case Reyna and O'Brien are both unfit, I would like to have a player like Martino on the roster.
True, he lacks the creativity that Martino might bring. And he's a lot more defensive minded. Say Reyna retires after '06, Martino and Clark will be the two for the next world cup.
Reyna will probably miss all of the US friendlies. This puts a lot of pressure on Arena to find a ball controlling solution in his midfield. This may mean Convey at JOB's spot and a more two dimensional midfielder rather than a pure destroyer along side him.
How do you figure? He should be back by the end of February which means he might miss March 1st but won't miss March 22nd and will definitely be around for the May friendlies leading up to the WC. He was never going to play in the Jan/Feb friendlies anyway. I don't like the fact that he's injured because I never like to see one of our most important players go down but if he recovers fully by March 1st, it won't effect our WC at all and he'll be ready come June.
this injury is a blessing in disguise... he's out for two months, gets a sprinkle of action in march... plays heavily in april.... by the time june rolls around, he won't be run into the ground... the march 1 and march 22 poland and germany matches gives arena the option to test sans reyna... the 3 may friendlies are more than sufficient to get ready... all in all, what's the big deal here.... the injury is has some benefits.... the sky ain't falling..