Looking at the first four post WC '02 friendlies played by the US, a few trends have emerged. While it's useful to look at what specific new faces have done in the pitch in those matches, it's just as useful to look at what Bruce Arena has done, whom he's chosen to play these games and (sometimes more interestingly) whom, he's not played. In those four games (El Salvador in November, Canada last month, and Argentina and Jamaica this month), here's the roster Arena has played: -- A total of 22 players have been used (clustered by usual position): Howard Rimando Barrett Bocanegra Califf Victorine Convey Vagenas Garcia Cherundolo Mastroeni Olsen Martino Klein Cullen Beasley Mulrooney Ralston Donovan Mathis Cunningham Twellman It's very interesting (to me, anyway) to see who didn't play: Ryan Suarez, Brian Dunseth and Chad McCarty (all on the bench last night) never played one minute. Guess I'm most surprised about Suarez, especialy considering Victorine's unavailability for last night's match. Is it too early to read something into this...? -- Seven players started every match: Howard, Bocanegra, Califf, Mastroeni, Klein, Donovan and Mathis. Victorine started the first three matches, but was unavailable (injured) for the Jamaica game. Similarly, Convey and Beasley started three games. Ben Olsen started two matches. Other than that, no other player had more than one start (Cunningham, Twellman, Barrett, Garcia, Cherundolo). Part-time starters, who also made it into matches as subs were Cunningham (3 games subbed into; the only non-starter to have appeared in all four games), Garcia and Twellman (2 games subbed into), Olsen (1 game subbed into) -- Players who appeared only as subs were: Ralston (3 games), Rimando and Vagenas (2 games) Mulrooney, Cullen, Martino (1 game) -- General points Wide backs remain a problem. Sorry, but I'm just not sold on the Sasha Victorine experiment. Again, I bring up the Suarez no-show. The center of defense, on the other hand, looks pretty solid, especially with Eddie Pope still around. Other than a 90th minute sub for Bocanegra in the Argentine match, he and Califf played avery minute of these four matches in the center of the defense. And, for the most part, both of these guys looked pretty solid. Howard seems Arena's clear first choice over Rimando as 3rd US keeper. Look for a fair number of veterans to come in and shore things up for the early stages of quals, even if some of them won't be around in 2006. Earnie Stewart (much easier to use, now that he's in MLS), Hejduk, McBride, Armas, Lewis. This team really could use a veteran presence right about now, if you ask me. I don't see anyone right now who's even close to being able to replace Reyna or O'Brien as the go-to guy in the midfield. Unfortunately, both are plagued by injury problems. Bruce looked at, what 94 guys from '98-'02? I have a hard time thinking that he'll get near that number this time. But I would like to see a lot more experiments on our wing backs. It'll be a very interesting season in MLS, watching just who emerges from the pack with above average play that catches Arena's eye, especially in he positions that are still wide open (I wonder what kind of year Gbiandi will have in Dallas). Clearly, these four games have seen a few young vet players solidify their roles. A few '02 bubble players position themselves well for the 2006 team (Bocanegra, Howard). And some other guys perform well enough that you know they'll be back soon (someone like Klein, for example). But there are certainly far more questions than answers at this point. Thoughts?
Thoughts on Past 4 games As I am not an annointed genius soccer analyst like many on these boards, I normally don't chip in to the post-match commentary. But I have had the opportunity to view the Argentina, Jamaica, and El Salvador games (missed Canada), all viewed only once, all on Telemundo, so I figured I might add my comments while I am waiting for our systems to reboot here at work: 1. These friendly served their purpose, which was to evaluate some fresh faces, give players an opportunity to play in competitive matches with a mixture of new and seasoned players. I think Arena did a great job getting players into the matches, and we certainly learned something from their play. I'll comment on inidividual players subsequently, but it was great to see Arena continue to give guys shots, even if their were some puzzling inclusions and omissions (i.e., why no Suarez? why so much Victorine?) and to experiemnt tactically and positionally to try to get talented palyers on the field. Of course, I have no view into training camp but you've got to respect Bruce at this point for putting together teams, take or leave some of his actions/inactions on specific players. 2. Player evaluations: Tim Howard - Clearly he is ready to step into the #3 keeper position, if not challenge Friedel and Keller. Big presence, did a good job, IMO, in collecting crosses and loose balls in the box. Good shotblocker. Glaring weakness was distribution, particularly in the kicking game. Carlos Bocanegra - I think has staked his claim to one of the spots on the left side of defense, either on the outside or inside in a 3 or 4 back set. His ability to contribute to the offense against Jamaica was a nice surprise. Landon Donovan - Great work rate, great pressure up top, great touch. His petulance in the Argentina match was unnecessary but forgivable. Still has yet to show a real killer instinct, though, which is disappointing. Positionally, he and Mathis interchanged well, I thought. They did not actually connect all that well, though. Clint Mathis - Disappointing. I'm a big Mathis fan, I think, as others have mentioned, he has better vision, presence, and fire than anybody else in the pool. He is a gamebreaker like no one else we have. I am not going to question his fitness or work ethic, as I can't get in his head, but I think he needs to improve his on field work rate at least a little, and provide better touch. Hopefully all of this will come through the MLS season. DaMarcus Beasley - Provides great defensive cover. Great speed and good moves, obviously. However, I thought he lost the ball too much, mostly by failure of not passing it (all of the criticisms levied at Cunningham apply equally to Beasley, I think) and he is so fragile and easy to move off the ball that I'm not sure he can be considered reliable. Bobby Convey - Great offensive skills, particularly on-field vision and passing, so-so defensive positioning. I think developing Convey as a left back is a great idea. Obviously he needs to get physically stronger and understand his position a little better, but I think it is a worthwhile experiment. In the central midfield, I don't think he will be ready for this WC cycle. Taylor Twellman - Worked hard, didn't show much, in my opinion. Hopefully he can make the best of more chances. Chris Klein - Count me in as liking the Klein at right flank experiment. The comparison has been made before to Sanneh, but Klein is a specimen with a strong work rate who can be relied on to be a role player. The question is how well will he compliment the real skill players... Crossing could improve. Steve Ralston - Acquitted himself fine, but certainly didn't stake his claim to the right side. Will be a useful positional player in WCQ. Nick Garcia - Showed good hustle and tenacity. Ball skills obviously left a lot to be desired. Danny Califf - I would consider this stint with the Nats to be impressive for Califf. Obviously, he is physically a great specimen, made no stupid mistakes, needs better balls skills and to continue to mature in the position, but a worthwhile experiment. Jeff Cunningham - Arena needs to convince Cunningham to play within the structure of the team. He doesn't have enough skill not to. Ben Olsen - Good to see Olsen back, but I don't think his role is defined yet. Center mid was not an experiment that worked, and even at right mid, I think he has only showed OK. Pablo Mastroeni - One of the pundits mentioned it, but he definitely plays defense with his hands too much. The center of the midfield didn't have enough shape in any of the games I saw, and clearly the combination of inexperienced mids with Mastroeni was a reason for this. Mastroeni needs to be more assertive as a two way midfielder yet. Still, I like his play. Sasha Victorine - Eh. Steve Cherundolo - Showed OK versus Jamaica. Still, I'm never that impressed. 3. Maybe that was useful or not, but this was what pleased me most about this camp was that Arena could have fielded a completely different team with players who weren't even on the roster for the Jamaica game: McBride Wolff Lewis Reyna O'Brien Armas Barret Pope Suarez Sanneh Friedel Sure, some of these guys are older, and sure, this assumes that a number of players can return to form from injury, but any one of those guys could contribute in the 2006 WCQ cycle. And that team could give a run to the starters in the recent friendlies. Depth is nice. Sorry for length.
suarez was sent home for some reason before the jamaica match - perhaps an injury (thats why olsen was sent home at the same time) as far as mastroeni id like to say this - i wouldnt be too hard on his slightly subpar showings in the 2 games this week - when pablo is allowed to simply do HIS job, he is excellent, but when hes having to do the work of 3 or 4 players obviously his level of play will drop some i agree on califf and klein - i love CKs size near the area disagree on convey at LB - i liked the eddie lewis experiment best by far and id also consider DMB there before BC
Didn't get to see too much of any of the games due to the lack of cable at my school! Anyways, I thought I'd throw my 2 cents in on a few players.. Convey...screw trying to make him a left back. The kid showed well in midfield and with the way Reyna and JOB get injured its up in the air how long they will continue with the nats. So keep the kid as a midfielder and develop him to take over for those 2. Twellman...looks like Kreis all over again Beasley...great skill, great pace, could u be any weaker though. Although, from what I saw it didn't seem to cost us greatly as he'd usually get the foul, but we've got to get the kid on the weights. Mathis...reminds me of Ryan Giggs. Only shows up for big games. In any case, this was a great chance for Arena to take a look at who realistically can play with the nats. The results weren't bad, althought the Arg game was emberassing to be honest. But the win in Jamaica is awesome, never easy to win there, and the Canada killing was good. Good to know we can put away the teams were supposed to and that's always a good quality.
IIRC, it was Beasley who tried and failed to beat 3 Argies in our half of the field that eventually led to the lone goal in this match.
IMHO, I think we see some definite early trends from these first four games. Barring injuries or a loss of form in the next year, these players seem to have moved up in the hunt for spots. Bocanegra-really no surprise here since he would have gone to the WC had he not been injured. Can play inside or outside in a pinch, contribute offensively and versatile. Significant upgrade to Agoos and could probably lap Berhalter in a 40 yard dash. Howard-early trend to be the third GK at a position where the only way he sees the field is through a miraculous injury to both Keller and Friedel at the same time..... Klein-two goals, can play wide in a 3-5-2 also which will rate highly with Bruce. I'd prefer to see him in a Sanneish right back spot, but the guy can cross, and we've seen that nice hard shot from distance. I'd like to see more quality here eventually, but against CONCACAF competition he will suffice temporarily. Califf--I fully realize that he has some limitations laterally, but compare Califf's performance against Argentina to his one last year against South Korea in the Gold Cup. He got raped last year against South Korea and besides getting stranded once 1 v 2 against Argentina, he was not completely out of his depth. His 23rd birthday will be coming up soon, and he has definitely improved. As such, I think he passed his first international test and will continue to get looks. Convey--Bruce read my mind and started him in the middle against Jamaica. The easier game for him to play centrally would have been against Canada, so Jamaica was a pretty tough test. I wouldn't say he passed completely, but he has shown enough flashes to be a guy who could very well be an option in the center in the future(thank you Jaysus!). He'll be the center mid for the U20s this spring and probably the U23s this fall and next year in the Olympics--perfect experience to groom him for the central role on the senior squad. Let's keep our fingers crossed on his continued health. Undecideds: Cunningham--shows promise and has been called up repeatedly. Definitely not out but definitely not in... Twellman--see Cunningham. Needs service to be effective, and has seen precious little of the type he saw last year with the Revs. Garcia--an offensive liability as a RB in a 4-4-2, but can he contribute against smaller finesse teams as an inside defender? Obviously, direct, physical teams like Jamaica will tend to chew him up. Moving down: Victorine--I thought that he showed little ability to contribute offensively and that we can get the same defensive production out of old stand bys. A very good MLS level player. Ralston---a damn shame we can't put Ralston's skills on Klein. This is Ralston's second shot, and this time he didn't even see the field. Suarez---see Ralston. Bruce sees him everyday in training, unless he got injured Arena has evidently decided that he's not ready. Puzzling, because even if you don't see him as a right back in a 4-4-2, he can easily play inside. Olsen--unless Beninho regains that past explosion that he had before his ankle surgery, I don't see a position on the field that he can play for us. Certainly centrally he's not an option, and without that old school burst, not even a right winger. It saddens me, because before the injuries he was a lock for the 2002 WC as our right winger. Potential to move down: Mathis---still no signs of the pre knee injury Mathis and I'm not holding out hope for that player to return. The problem as I see it---Mathis is no threat to win air balls, and when you combine him with an airball winner like McBride you have no pace on your forward line. I'm not sure Mathis has the work rate to play amid either. If another tough as nails finisher comes along, I could see Clint on the outside looking in. A shame, because I was one of his biggest fans. Locks: Donovan and Run DMB. Despite their inconsistent performances, these guys have the youth and talent to become much more polished, and are definite locks to contribute in WCQers. Still looking for another left back(I see Boca centrally long term), domestic right back(Hejduk?), and perhaps some competition for Klein at the right midfield spot. I think we should start looking for some competition for Mastroeni at dmid also.
On Suarez I think we have to conclude from this little campaign (last 4 games) that Bruce sees Ryan as a central defender more than a right back, and as a central defender he's currenlty lower on Bruce's Ursuline than Boca, Califf, and Garcia. Tenuous evidence to support this: Vague comments from Bruce that Ryan is a tweener. Can't remember or provide link to the exact article, but I know I read it. (can anyone help here?) El Salvador game: Nick Garcia not in camp. Suarez makes matchday roster but never gets into game. 3 other games: Garcia in camp, Suarez never even makes matchday roster.
I'd add that it was nice to see Boby Convey driving in those great crosses on corner kicks. Okay, I didn't see the Jamaica match, but it certainly sounded like a great cross on the US goal from the articles I read. And I noticed his ability to do this consistently in the other games, as well. Wonder if it's something he learned from Etcheverry. I've always thought that corners in soccer are a lot like free throws in basketball. There's no excuse not to have players who can consistently drive a dagnerous balls into the box on corners (or who can hit most of their free throws). Yet, so often, we see the US taking lame corner kicks. If Convey can keep doing this, I think it'll be a feature of his game that will help keep him on the pitch.
I suggest that during the last few games, three sets of attackers have been identified. In one are Donovan and Twellman who have worked hard, to little or no avail, to obtain service. In another is Mathis who seems to be botching service all too regularly and also seems not be be looking for it hard enough. In the third group, also by himself, is Cunningham who works really hard, does some wonderful things, but (as they say in kindergarten) does not play well with others, i.e., he keeps the ball until he loses it. I don't mean to identify anybody by high or low talent. It's just the way things seem at the moment. More stability, perception and better ball holding by the midfielders would probably clarify things a lot for the attackers.
It seems to me like the reserve centerbacks are starting to sort themselves out in Bruce's mind. I don't really agree with the ordering, but it appears they fall out like this: Bocanegra Califf Garcia Dunseth Suarez McCarty I'm still not sure about Califf - sure, he's better than he was in the Gold Cup, but I still don't think he's very good. Bocanegra has been better than I expected. Maddog McCarty appears to just be a practice player, and until he finds a permanent position on Columbus' backline, I can't disagree with that. Why haven't we seen Suarez and - more importantly, in my mind - Dunseth? Both of these guys are better than Garcia, IMO. Dunseth has a bit of an overpursuit problem, but other than that has turned into a solid, reliable player for Columbus. He's better than Clark, who regularly erased Ruiz in league play, and [Clark] is probably the most underrated back in MLS. So why can't Dunseth get past the practice field for the US? Other Columbus youngsters who haven't made the expected impact so far are Martino and Buddle, who have both been sidelined with injuries. Cunningham has been exactly what I expected - not good enough.
This is a pretty fair assessment. While you put Donovan and Twellman in the same category, they are not the same but rather complementary. Donovan is an excellent creator for both himself and others. He is a good finisher. Twellman is (at the International level) only a fair creator. But my assessment is that he will be an excellent finisher. His ratio of chances/goals in MLS is better than anyone elses. Taylor will not beat two international defenders off the dribble like Cunningham does - 1 out of 4 times. But given chances, what he will do is score.
Point taken, but I was referring to Beasley's weakness, not the fact that he took too many players on in that instance. My point was that his weakness didn't seem to cause us great damage because most of the time he got the foul.
Wrong. It ended up a shot under pressure forced wide. The goal came on a Mas wiff. Bease was unlucky and you overstated the case. There were basically three defenders in a triangle. The font two were too far apart (seemed closer due to TV angle) to consider supporting each other. He easily ignored one, and as I posted elsewhere beat the other with a move. He was unlucky with the supporting defender who extending a full leg just managed to to to poke it away. Perhaps Bease's second touch on the move failed him just a bit as it was early in the game. He saw he was in a 1v1 twice rather than 1 v 2. He get's through the first guy and forces another commitment springing someone free, or allowing him to beat another. Didn't work out. He had the guts and the skill to try it. Not many do.
Aside from the fact that they are both blond strikers, I don't think this holds water. What I vividly remember from the that disastrous US Cup (97 or 98) where Kreis got his early caps is how little he resembled the MLS star he'd already become. He was notably hesitant, looked less skilled than he was and seemed to think his regular MLS style wouldn't work for the USA. In the 100 or minutes Twellman has had, he's looked pretty much like the guy who scored all those goals from the Revs last year. However, as Wanderer said, he has to have someone to get him the ball, or all he'll do is pull a defender out of position from time to time. Presumably, as he matures, he will add versatility. Now, I don't see him as much beyond the super-sub role, unless everyone else gets hurt.
Speaking of pulling defenders out of position... I'm was shocked to watch a tape of the Jamaica game and two, count 'em two, Jamaican defenders went after Nick Garcia leaving Carlos Bocanegra open for the first goal. Considering Nick had 0 professional goals, and only a couple of assists, I was absolutely shocked. Mainly that Nick wasn't one of the two or three players playing back to defend against a counter, but also that the Jamaicans tried to throw a blanket over him. Curious indeed.
Have to agree that the experiments have been great and that Arena has probably learned an awful lot already that will help in the future. I'm wondering if Arena sees Suarez as this cycle's version of CJ Brown? Strong defender, not the fastest, not the best on the ball -- good MLS player, not Nats caliber? Current best XI? -McBride Donovan Beasley JOB Olsen -----Armas Reyna Boca Pope Mastroeni ---------Friedel
Re: 94 guys?????How many times???? We just completed World Cup 2002 last year, and we are less than two months into 2003. When exactly would a better time to experiment? In any event, you may want to consider switching to decaf.
can we seriously consider armas as one of the best 11? move mastroeni to armas's place and insert sanneh and i think you've got it. also as much as many, including me, want to switch to a 3-5-2 i don't think it's going to happen. thus current best xi: mcbride donovan JOB beasely olsen mastro boca pope sanneh reyna
nice post, Ritik Nice post, Ritik. Really liked your points and reads on the games. But then, I'm not an "annointed genius soccer analyst" either. Couple of comments. Klein. Wow! Great aggressiveness and fearless letting his cannon loose. Great to see that from a US midfielder. It's been too long! Beasley. I wouldn't be surprised if he had specific instructions from Bruce to "take players on 1v1, don't worrry about losing the ball." This is the perfect time to take risks when the stakes are so low and develop your skills further at the international level. The man has already proven on the World Cup stage that he can integrate with his teammates effectively. I think we're reading too much into these friendlies in terms of his style of play not being well linked into the team. Mathis. I read somewhere recently (Connolly?) that Mathis rededicated himself to soccer on New Year's Eve. Now while you may be shaking your head and asking, "Clint, what the hell were you dedicated to BEFORE New Year's Eve?" To me this is a very good sign. It means he recognizes the need for improvement. I also got the sense he sees himself as the underdog needing to prove himself again to the world. My gut says that Clint will excel with that kind of F-you mentality. And my gut is not unlike Clint's gut, so we should take what it says seriously. So Clint, if you're reading this, you suck.
Why isn't Maestro playing right back? He's better there and that's where we need him. That's all he played for the nats and for Miami until he subbed in when Armas got hurt against Uruguay. Granted he did well at center mid in the WC but why can't we move him back to right back?