Freddy Adu, left, from U.S., goes for the ball against Henry Gomez from El Salvador Freddy Adu, left, from the U.S., goes for the ball against Diego Henriquez from El Salvador
One from each group, the second place teams play each other home and away in a play off for the third and final spot.
Oh, I didn't know about the third place home and away... should be an interesting game vs Guatemala on Sunday. Good luck.
well folks, gonna take a break, got the guat's squared away to email my mobile when they're ready to send the goal clips, then it'll take me about 15 minutes to covert it and get it up. i put in a request for video of adu's bicycle kick, they said they'd see what they can do, hopefully they CAN do. will post here and at ameriblog
My personal theory is that he and his team mates logged onto Bigsoccer, read all the hysteria, and it got into their heads. Reading as a bunch of adults proclaim you the Savior of US soccer at 13 has got to mess with a kid. The other kids probably just feel ignored and unappreciated. If I was Ellinger I'd do my best to keep them all off these boards until the youth WC is over.
How does Glazier stack up on the US team? Key, middling or very replaceable? Just wondering about the effect of his absence on the Guatamala game.
hey is not key, although he did start both games at the d-mid spot so ellinger obviously thought highly of him...he has certainly gotten much better the past few months and claimed that spot. we have a pretty deep midfield so i gotta think that his replacement will be just fine. if ellinger wants to put in someone with that same d-mid mentality i gotta think he will straight up replace him with curfman, who can play anywhere on the field and would fit in fine at the d-mid position... but again, this is all from reading about the team. i have never seen them play personally so i am just going by what i read...perhaps gersman would know who else ellinger has played in that d-mid role before...
Ashe Corey <is the name corey ashe hard for people to understand? geeze>, up, from U.S., goes for the ball against Quentin Webstberg from El Salvador Freddy Adu, left, from U.S., goes for the ball against Henry Gomez from El Salvador
Danny Szetela likely would be the replacement at d-mid. He has been pressing Brian for that starting spot for a while and this is what Ellinger told us about him: "Danny is more of a central midfielder for us, and he is playing well the last two weeks. His physical size allows him to be a force to be reckoned with in the middle. He’s very good at combining with players, has a great work rate and a good quick burst of speed to get past people. He’s definitely a rising star in that younger age group (‘87s)." He's the youngest player on the team except for Freddy. There was a bittersweet article about Danny on these boards a few days ago. He lost his dad in the past few years. He will probably want to keep Curfman in reserve because, he can fill in at so many positions if needed. To confirm this, as I was posting the above our analysis piece made it up from Guatemala. Ellinger doesn't sound too happy here, does he? http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/NationalTeams/1047100719/view
I was listening to the internet broadcast and one of the announcers said something like: "all the US has is adu, and el salvador are marking him with 3 men" ... I dont know how great an analyst this fella is, but seems like freddy was heavily marked and got little help from his teamates. In any case, I thought freddy took the pks... ?
Based on the comments from Ellinger on TDS, he sounds pissed! And he should be as it sounds like the kids made the cardinal mistake of underestimating their opponent. Do that, and you get what's coming to you. After being outplayed the final 70 minutes, the US is lucky to have gotten the point and they're even luckier that the Guatemalans hold a lead the way freshmen sorrority girls hold liquor. Still, while the kids deserve some of the blame, Ellinger should get much of it as well. A) this is his third time in this little rodeo - he should know what to expect and have the boys adequately prepared. After a flashy win and all the media hype, a letdown for a bunch of 16-17 year olds was natural and he should have had them more mentally focused. He's too experienced a coach to have not anticipated this. B) If, after a year and a half of residency, you don't have 3 options on your bench to bring in to help get a goal, you haven't done your job right. The US needed a goal and yet we didn't burn all our subs and left a pair of forwards - Jamie Watson and Mike Harrington - on the bench along with an attacking mid in Steve Curfman. I know we were down a man but it seems questionable, at best, that he didn't use a third sub, even before the team went down a man. Regarding this post - How does Glazier stack up on the US team? Key, middling or very replaceable? Just wondering about the effect of his absence on the Guatamala game. If you rated the 17s starting lineup as pro prospects, Grazier would be last, IMO, and that's even if you included Kyle Helton, who started Wednesday but not Friday. Here's how I rate the starters as pro prospects, any why. 1. Freddy – No explanation needed. 2. Spector – ManU interest says it all. 3. Memo – A real playmaker 4. Gaven – Skilled, nice size and versatile 5. Ashe – Fast, skilled and left-footed. 6. DiRaimando – Solid crossers are hard to find. 7. Chevannes – Great athlete with big upside 8. Germani – Being left-footed makes him appealing 9. Owens – Kinda small for a center back, which hurts his rating 10. Marfuggi – Too early to project stardom for him 11. Helton - Ability to play either flank will help his appeal 12. Grazier – Capable and tough but nothing remarkable Heck, some of the other guys on the bench, like Szetzla, Valentin and Watson may even have better pro potential than Grazier right now. In otherwords, of all the starters, he's the one who will likely be missed the least, especially since he has a capable and apparently equal backup waiting for his chance. And, if Szetzla does struggle, Ellinger can move Gaven to holding mid and play Watson up top.
Ellinger has nothing to complain about. I understand that he is trying to regroup his players, but when you work with young, untested players, it is an experienced coach's job to prepare them for the specifics of challenges that they have not faced before. Ellinger has been around long enough to understand that their first game is going to be full of adrenaline and that their next game will be an emotional let-down unless he is able to prepare them to avoid it. I can always tell when a coach has done a poor job of preparing their players for this very, very common occurance when they are surprised about their players' not taking the other team seriously enough after the second game. What in these player's careers has prepared them for this type of specific intensive three game qualifying? From what I could tell, the players played a below-average game, but battled their way to a tie on an admittedly off night. This is just my opinion, but Ellinger should be happy with the tie and instead focus in on doing a better job of preparing them for the specifics of how a three game qualification works. He's the one that has been there before, not them. I was particularly concerned by his comment that they didn't take away anything from the match except the point. This kind of lesson is huge for a kid that age and should be huge for a coach that hasn't learned it yet.
Well, they've played in foreign tournaments that were setup very similar to the qualfiers (three group games in 5 days). There is no way they can replicate the pressure involved in the qualifiers.
But he can talk to them individually and as a group before hand about the unique types of challenges that they are about to face. This allows him to "map out" the basic challenges for the players so that they can recognize them as they are happening and deal with in a organized, pre-planned way. Ellinger should not be surprised by such a basic, common occurance, particularly at that level. If Ellinger hadn't been there before, I wouldn't have said anything. Had Ellinger not complained the way he did after the game, I wouldn't have said anything. He made a mistake. Everybody makes them. I just thought that it was a rather basic mistake to be made by such an experienced coach and he compounded it by attempting to dissassociate himself with it afterward. He should have taken responsibility. That said, he has done a great job, overall, with the program, and I fully expect for them to rebound. I just think that it is important to look at situations like this honestly so that we can learn and grow from them. I didn't see Ellinger doing that.
Don't think these public comments might not have been for effect. The players have referred to him as something of a father figure and he is with them much of the year. Sometimes a dad needs to get a little terse with his boys to get a certain reaction, especially teenage boys. I'm also certain he knows his own responsibilities in the matter. He has a motivational role and I don't doubt, based on what he saw Friday, his comments are designed in part to motivate. Frankly, compared to comments I hear even from high school basketball coaches, these comments are fairly mild.
Agreed. There should be no excuses. The players know what is at stake. Did your reporter have an opinions on the lack of substitutions by Ellinger? El Salvador made an adjustment early in the first half bringing on an offensive player. They seemed to control the game for the most part after Dulce came on the field. Grazier (DMID) picks up a yellow card and gets a verbal warning from the referee later in the 1st half. Did Ellinger consider replacing Grazier with Szetela? This game was certainly a good learning experience for the team.
Man, did anyone see that bicycle kick? Freddy took a cross and tapped it up in the air with his foot, then fired. That's pretty advanced for a 13-year old. And Sandon, I would put Memo in front of Spector, although you're more of an expert than I am....