Chicago Fire Kelly Gray - Kelly has really become a solid part of the Chicago back line, and has to be strongly considered for the Olympic team. Tonight, Kelly made a couple of very strong tackles on the ball, one in particular that denied Clint Mathis a shot on goal. He also had a nice little carry forward on the ball where he got past about 5 Metrostars before he dropped it off to a teammate. His skill, confidence, and composure on the ball all highlight the reason why transforming a forward or midfielder into a defender often makes sense. I imagine Mooch will be watching Kelly closely. DaMarcus Beasley - I thought tonight was by in large a down game for DMB. For whatever reason, he had a hard time holding the ball on the dribble or connecting passes to his teammates. He was ineffectual in this particular match. Metrostars Ricardo Clark - Tonight was the best I have seen Rico play in a while. He reminded me why my jaw dropped watching him at Furman last year. His control and composure on the ball in tight space, his ability and confidence to work out of a jam, his strength and tenacity on both sides of the ball all add up to a potentially world-class player. He switched fields beautifully, a couple of times finding players making runs all the way across the field and laying dimes to them. Then he showed that he's still young and miss on a couple of easier passes, showing he still lacks some concentration. There is room for improvement, and what is scary is that by this time next year he will already be the best DMid in MLS. Eddie Gaven - I focused on Eddie watching the game today, and the impression I walked away with was that he's an extremely talented young kid (much better than the player we saw in Finland) who is already more solid on the ball in the dribble than about 90% of MLS players. Occasionally he can use his creativity and strength on the dribble to make plays, and he can also occasionally find his frontrunning forwards with an inciteful pass. But, to be honest, I thought that tonight at least he tried to do too much, and didn't look to involve his teammates more. Two very encouraging factors play into that. One, he's young. Two, he's played with his Metros teammates on a regular basis now for a total of what - two months? This kid is going to be a player. Mike Magee - Magee came on as a substitute and didn't leave a mark. A decent free kick attempt, and that's about it. Nothing really notable, good or bad, that caught my eye.
I thought he had a very good game. Needs a little bit of working trying to strike long balls with the outside of his foot. Think he gave a couple of those away. Which player were you watching? The one that sprang Rasov for a shot off the cross bar. Beating his man on the outside with a cross into Daman who whiffed. The guy that cleared the ball out of the box to save the game for the Fire? The guy that when he lost the ball recovered it two out of three times? Who cut out a ton of passes and presented himself for the counter only to be bypasses by a barrage of long balls out of the back. He was showing. The reason he didn't look good was his teammates didn't involve him enough, or their passes were off a tad for Bease to get to. Not to mention NY pressure to prevent him facing up. NY did a great job in this regard. Ralph looked like crap until he scored. [Pope looked super IMHO] Bease is doing alright. He looks pretty composed to me and a hell of a lot more mature than last year. I've been watching him when ever the Metros are on FSW. Goodby Williams as a sub on the Nats. Armas will soon be toast. Your too harsh on the kid. He gave what he had. Give him two years. Actually Clint was doing alright coming back and setting up plays. I was suprised Magee subbed unless Clint had lost his wheels. I'd rate Magee's ball control a bit higher than Gaven at this stage, but Gaven's creativity higher.
I thought the basic problem tonight was that there were simply too many balls played into him with his back to the goal. I thought he dealt with it okay, but it does take away his offensive explosiveness. Credit the Metros for forcing him to play that way, but he and the fire need to work on ways to counter and get balls played into his feet. He had one excellent run and cross that Ralph fanned on at the near post. Damani Ralph I thought was terrible until he got that ball from Whitfield and completed the sweet finish.
Re: Re: U23 Players in the USOC Final (Fire v Metros) [R] I didn't get to see this one, but I noticed that Guevara committed five fouls, while only receiving one. That means El Lobo was forced back into the defense, which is presumably a credit to Beasley and certainly an indication as to why the Metros were shut out yet again.
Gotta love the young talent on these teams. Bradley sure has an eye. Magee, Gaven and Clark have all shown they belong and have all made contributions both in this match and all season long. Kelly Gray has improved under both Bradley and Sarachan. Based on the good minutes they've all been getting this year they should all get looks for the 23's and the younger guys should be locks for the 20s.