After seeing the game against Holland and previous matches, it is pretty clear that the biggest hole for the USMNT is the right side of the field. I was glad to see Wolff back and playing well, and after seeing his combination with Donovan/Convey/Beasley/Mathis, I had an interesting idea. What if we used Wolff as our RM? He seemed to gel very well with the younger US players, and I think he's right-footed. I'm getting a little ahead of myself assuming the young players perform and are healthy, but what about a lineup like this: Wolff and Beasley as RM and LM, Convey as AM, Donovan and Mathis as attackers. Previously, I've noted how effective the Convey-Beasley-Donovan triangle is, and adding Wolff to the other side could give us a 2-pronged attack. I think that the game may soon pass McBride by, and I think we need to stop relying on target forwards as well, so that is why I didn't include him. One potential problem would be crossing, not sure how that would be solved. Thoughts?
Cherundolo at Right back. I'm guessing(hoping) a much younger player that we don't even realize is there (like someone sitting in Bradenton right now) will step up as a good right winger. And we could do much worse than Justin Mapp as our Right Midfielder
I think Ben Olsen should be remembered as an option for right mid. I have a feeling he's going to be in good form this season.
OK guys -- of the midfield of Convey, Reyna, Armas and Beasley, which of these do you want to replace with Ben Olsen or some unamed kid. My answer -- none of them. Maybe JOB replaces Armas for certain games, but that's our best midfield. What we need on the right is a right back who can provide better support. Or we need to play a team that is not as good as Holland.
we don't have any fullback that an support both offense and defense independantly. Which is why weneed a 352
We have a right mid solution in Donovan. At least for the forseeable future. He needs to pick up his game and this is the place for him to do it. We need his dribbling and passing skills in the midfield. Putting him there gets one more of our most highly skilled players onto the field as it opens up a forward spot. He has played well there in the past and it sure beats anyone else we have tried out on that side lately. vs. Poland: ..........................Howard..................... Russell..........Pope.........Gibbs............Boca Donovan.......Mathis.......Reyna.........Convey ...............Casey.................Wolff............. replace Russell with 'Dolo if you wish, but I really think Robbie would fit in. He deserves a shot at least. And I'm itchin to see Casey get a half with a good team around him.
The problems with this lineup: 1. You drop Beasley from the midfiel in place of Mathis. That's a bad trade based on what we saw yesterday. 2. You have next to zero defensive strength in the midfield. 3. Casey is definitely behind McBride on the depth chart.
What's worst about the right side problem is that we have two spots that are unfilled, the right back and the right mid. I think if we have a healthy squad, we could slide Reyna to the right to handle the midfield problem, but we still have the right back problem. I can't believe Cherundolo is worse than Frankie, but he's still not really top notch. I'm still in favor of three central backs, of which we have plenty, and a couple wing backs that take on defensive responsibilities as well. Dolo could play the wide right role in a setup like that, and Beasley is made for it on the left.
Unless someone else comes to the forefront over the next couple of months, I think v. Poland we should role with a 3-5-2. Period. Cherundolo on right. Our two d-mids should be Reyna and JOB/Armas. Our a-mid should be Mathis. DMB on the left, Cherundolo on the right. Wolff and Donovan up top. Let O'Brien's and Reyna's possession push it up to Mathis who uses the blazing speed around him to thread some nice attempts. It has to be clear though that Clauido needs to stay more right side to help Cherunodlo and Pope. He loves coming to the center, and if we are in a 3-5-2 he would need to stay more to the right. So I propose..... GK Pope Gibbs Bocanegra Reyna JOB Dolo DMB Mathis Wolff Donovan
How is this different from a 4-4-2 that we played last night except that you have replaced Hejduk with Dolo and the effective Convey with the ineffective Mathis? Really, if you are going to play Dolo on the right wing, the only difference between using the same players in a 4-4-2 is that you are more predicatable and you have reduced Beasley's effectiveness. Not good things in my view.
RB experiment If I were going to choose four players from our current pool of players they would be: 1.Mulrooney: I think that b/c of our depth at DM he would be a great W-back. He has the skills to defend, pass, and is great in the air. It would be wise of Arena to put him here. It is essential to get Mulrooney on the field b/c he is one of our most talented players. If you don't believe me ask some of his rivals in MLS. 2.Mastreoni: Bascially the same as above, but not as talented. He has the speed to stick with W-MF's in Concacaf, but I don't know if he could hang with the likes of International quality players. 3.Russell: I have yet to see this guy play, but I have heard reports that he is one of the best RB's in the league that he is playing in. Also anyone would be better than Frankie "mistake waiting to happen" Hejduk. 4.Klein: I think he has the size and technical skills to excel at this position on an international level. Hey if you are going to try Victorine at this position why not try Klein.
I'd like to see Pat Noonan get a shot out on the right or if Olsen can continue to get back into form this season he deserves another shot out there. As far as right back goes all I know is Cherundolo and Hejduk are not options!
the sooner bruce tries out rico clark, the better. i strongly believe he's going to be key during wcq and will be a part of the wc team.
Rico's game really wilted last year when he moved from central midfield to right wing. So while I'm a huge fan of Clark, I don't think that's a good idea.
Guys, the best option right now is to switch to a 3-back system. We have no right back. Hejduk is garbage. Same with 'Dolo. Sanneh, except for his play in the WC was the worst American player in the qualifiers after Regis. That all is fact. I'd rather deal with the problem of finding a competent right winger, than having a RB who we all know will be a negative possesion player. Same goes with the LB spot.
I don't care who is on top of the depth chart. You don't build depth by only playing the guys on the top of the list. Reyna doesn't equal zero defensive strength in the midfield and Arena is going to have be able to count on defensive efforts from all of his middies, might as well start demanding it of them now. Armas isn't good enough, we don't need to field more than one designated DM, and frankly, that is why I like a four back defense. Although I am open to a 3-5-2, but every day Arena goes without deploying it the less anxious I get that it is going to happen. I don't like taking Beasley out of the midfield either, but this IS only one of many upcoming friendlies and the whole point is to work out who works best with whom and who wants it most. If Mathis keeps improving in the B1 then his play will carry over to the national team. He should have started yesterday, didn't, but will get his shots. Here: ..............................Howard........................... Russell.............Pope...........Gibbs...............Boca Donovan..........Reyna........Convey...........Jitterbug ..................Mathis................Casey.................. You're right, that looks better.
Actually it's an obvious, though potentially good, solution. The question is whether the US midfield can function without him. If we have Reyna, I think the answer is yes if we don't lose Convey and Beasley to injury.
Some interesting thoughts, but mostly stuff I've seen bounced around. My whole point in suggesting Wolff was to get a discussion started about his possibility as RM, not to start another thread about why we need a better RB. I don't think a single person has talked about Wolff... And, to break my own rule, to those who suggested Olsen deserved a look, I agree with that, I hope he can become a major factor for DC and maybe the USMNT this year.
There might be a friendly where it would make sense to drop low enough into the depth chart (somewhere between 5 and 8) to look at Casey. The problem is that most of those types of friendlies are in the US. Maybe the end of the Poland game. Actually, he provides "next to zero" defensive strength. Of course all middies have to play defense. Reyna has a decent work rate, though lower than JOB and Armas, and probably Convey, and can, like JOB, harry the opposition and slow them down. But unlike Armas, he is very unlikely to come up with the ball. I should have said that your formation is vulnerable up the middle defensively. Reyna cannot be qualified as a "designated DM" or a destroyer. He is a holding mid. The predominant fashion for clubs in the top Euro leagues that use four backs is to have two central mids. Often, this can combine two holding mids like Reyna and JOB. Equally often, it is one holding mid and one destroyer like the US used against Holland. Occasionally, one dmid or holding mid is combined with a Paul Scholes like player who plays more forward. As for Armas, I thought his pluses outweighed his minuses. His passing was not very good, but he was rusty. His passing will be back to the basic but not turning over level. You shouldn't be, Arena stopped using the 3-5-2 two years before the World Cup but then went to it several times in the Cup itself. The reason he can do this is that when you play a zone defense, the differences between the 3-5-2 and the 4-4-2 are not radical. If anybody can point to anything Mathis did on the field yesterday that indicates that Arena screwed up by not starting him, let me know.
Two reasons for this. One, Wolff is a lead forward not a winger. Second, Wolff is not as good a midfielder as Convey, Beasley or Reyna, who he would displace in the midfield.
I think Wolff might be able to play there. He's got many of the requisite skills. But he's not going to play there with his club, so he'll be too weak tactically for it to work. And Martin...I might regret this after my 2nd viewing, but my immediate reaction is that Reyna contributed more defensively than Armas.
This is a very important discussion... A couple of suggestions to "narrow the focus".... - The chance of Reyna and JOB both being healthy and in form for selection at the same time becomes less likely as every month ages both of them. - Discussing 352 for friendlies or qualifiers under the Bruce is a waste of bandwidth. If he goes with one, fine, but I have come to the conclusion that, with the exception of Korea, 99% of the 352 speculation over the past 3 years has been wasted bandwidth. - Assuming 9 out of 10 times bruce deploys a 442, it's also safe to assume he's going to use a target man in front, and right now my depthchart there is Head, Casey, EJ, Cooper. Obviously, this means Casey needs caps fast. EJ is not ready, who knows if Cooper ever will be, but he's on the radar for sure. - Assume the other forward selected is going to be based on the form of our candidates, the opposition, and combination with the midfield available for selection. Thus, impossible to rank, but the pool is Lando, Cletus, Wolff, (gulp) Razov; obviously two more guys need to filter through in to this short list, because Wolff is prone to injury, Razov can't hit the broadside of a barn, Lando might be needed in midfield, and Cletus is Cletus, sometimes on fire, sometimes fat and sassy. NOW with those caveats in place, I will be able to continue with my assessment of the "right side problem". ....to be continued -bs