Is this right? Considering Hejduk got yanked at Gold Cup and Albright has played well. True, it's come during the Nat downtime and tryout, but I think Bruce seems prety serious. Last night was a pretty big step for him in showing some versatility, which is Hejduk's biggest advantage along with his stepping up for big games in the past. I would give Albright the advantage in defense and crossing, and his size would be a nice contrast to Cherundolo, if needed. that goes the same for Spector, too. I still suspect that they may both end up going. Spector looked nervous early, settled in, played better, but still made mistakes. I don't think the right side is really his thing. He still ahs a decent shot at the roster.
Spector made that one sweet looping pass down the line to Quaranta - I don't think we have anyone else who can make that pass from the back. Lovely. He wasn't perfect, but I liked what I saw of his skill & speed. If he was yelling at Quaranta (who had a very good game) all the better. Sigi said he had good organizing skills. Great opportunity to see him go the full 90.
I think most observers would attribute his shaky start to a youngster's nerves. Once he settled in, he did as well as anyone back there. And, you can't erase a forward's mentality even after he becomes a defender. He just seems to relish going forward. I thought I remember one sequence where he made a run, dished it off and then hightailed it toward the end line. In the EPL a more skillful/savvy player might have gotten the ball back to him. The big difference between him and guys like Albright is that with Albright what you see now is what you'll get next June. With Spector, we could be seeing a markedly improved player by June (assuming everything goes right at Charlton and/or Man U).
Zak Whitbread is the best passing defender holding an American passport. The problem is that he he's suffering in reserve hell right now for Liverpool.
True- Zak can ping balls with the best of them- I'm very impressed with his passing. Zak was never in the picture for '06, and I'm sure that he'll be playing first team ball (somewhere) within the next two years, so I hope he'll eventually be in the mix. But Zak is not as athletic as Spector, so that might hold him back with the USMNT. We'll see.
This echoes a lot of what I saw. Playing an outside back, a player relies on off the ball movement from multiple players; if there's nothing there or the runs are late, you put an outside defender in a difficult position -- pull it back to center where strikers are creeping up to poach a ball, take a player on with the dribble from a complete standstill, or send a safe but unimaginative ball up the sideline. I thought, especially in the first half, he was expecting offensive options that were slow to materialize and was adjusting to playing with the Nat's 2nd string. For me, the Albright experiment is over. Spector makes my Germany roster. And since I am Bruce Arena and all, I'll just make it so.
I thought he looked pretty green.......like he did for the U20 agaisnt Italy.........so he needs a lot of games at Charlton to get experience... Cherondolo is #1 for this position with #2 as Chris Albright who can also fill in at right halfback......
The talent was evident for all to see, he just needs to get more experience at the international level. He had some mental lapses with his passing. I for one do not think it is too late for him to make Germany. He has plenty of friendlies to prove himself. His versatility and our huge weakness at the outside back positions gives him a good shot. I would include him as cover for Eddie Lewis at left back. Vanney is not good enough for the international stage.
I think your spot on with the fact that he did have enough time with his teammates before the match. I am not sure when he came into camp, but he will show much better after getting sometime at the senior level. The kid plays in the EPL for a good reason. The coaches in England aren't blind (sans Kirovski) and a team like ManU would not have invested in him had they not believed he has talent. So I think we should probably revisit this thread after the January camp and a series of matches against other senior national team sides.
PLease people don't use the U-20 WC as a reference to Spector's development. He was injured and therefore, not at the top of his game. End of story. It was documented. Spector was out of place in the first 15 minutes against Panama but so were the rest of the US players. I thought no one came sprinting out of gates. It took everyone 15-20 minutes to settle in. Actually his play the first 15 minutes are no surprise given it was his first qualifying start. The same could be said for dozens of past, present, and future Nats who make their first qualification start. However, I thought Spector got better as the game progressed. He started to read the flow of the game, didn't let attackers between him and the goal and applied quality pressure. Spector's passing out of the back wasn't setting the world on fire but it wasn't his fault. You know the object is to play the ball into space and often I saw the US players making a delayed or neglecting a run all together. So it appears he is making errant passes. He did have some poor passes but not as many as some would like you to think. For a 20-yr DEFENDER he sure brings a wealth of knowledge and a willingness to adjust his play thoughout the course of a match to fit into the game plan. He's getting an education few 20-yr olds have an opportunity to recieve. While he may not be getting 90 minutes at Charlton right now but he is getting minutes and that is more that some other 20-yr olds in the EPL get, especially Americans. What I do like about him coming off the bench at Charlton is that he's been inserted into some other positions and is showing his versitility. We all know that our depth could be an issue in Germany so its imperative that we have a bench that has multi-functional players. Spector will go to Germany and he will show it won't be a gamble.
I'm in the spector camp too, due to his versatility, and I agree with sidefooter too with his possibilities as a holding mid.... young players continue to improve so I suspect by the time of the germany friendly, spector should be tested... say lewis a half at left back, and spector a half... those euro based friendlies will be the key, as I suspect player use by arena in those matches will be huge indicators to those in the final 20-25....