who helped themselves, who didn't... Hahnneman - 6. Bruce wants a keeper who won't make mistakes and will make 1 or 2 outstanding saves per game. No big mistakes and a real nice snag on an open header at the beginning of the 2nd half. Hejduk - 8. Man of the Match. Conrad - 5. Very nervous to start the game. Communication was a problem. Distribution not so good. Put on some new shorts at halftime and looked much more solid and comfortable. Sanneh - 3. Wow. Slow, poor marking, couldn't judge high balls, no communication. Does he even get another shot. Armas - 4. We haven't worn red jerseys in years, stop passing them the ball. To be fair, he and Olsen were trying to play the same position and obviously getting in one another's way. Olsen - 4. Most active midfielder. Need to stay on your feet more. Dawdled on the ball. To be fair, he and Armas were trying to play the same position and obviously getting in one another's way. Davis - 3. Looked lost and out of his depth. At least get out of the way of the shots. Dempsey - 5. Especially in the first half, stood around waiting for his teammates to create him a chance way too much. Didn't contribute to the buildup at all. Clint ain't gonna make this team as a forward and needs to contribute more in the midfield. Quaranta - 6. 2nd best among 90 minute field players. Held the ball a little long and lost his composure a bit on a golden opportunity in the box. EVERYTHING went down the right side tonight thanks to Q and Frankie. Made a couple of nice hustle plays on D. Beasely - 5. Needed to take a little lost team by the hand. Waited 'til the teacher came in and then took Cuba to school. Cool classy finish to ice the game. Casey - 3. How can a man his size not win any air balls against Cuba? Always took one to many touches. No first-touch game. Really needs to be set up better and the team behind him wasn't gonna do that. Subs... Donovan - 9. What a strike. Arena surely said, "go win the game" and he did. Wolff - 6. Much more active up front. Created pressure, made a positive impact on the game. O'Brien - no rating. He was out there for the tour. Good to get him on the field. Maybe he'll get 30 against Canada. Overall, I though not nearly as bad as people are making it out to be. Some of these guys didn't belong tonight. You could tell they hadn't played together. But Cuba bunkered from the start and it takes a little knowledge of what your teammates are thinking to break that down (as witnessed by goals 3 & 4). Still, looking forward to seeing Gooch Saturday.
Davis actually played pretty well. He set up a tap in for Dempsey who kicked over from a foot out. He also had some good crosses.
Marcus (6)- Not much to say. Dude (6) - he was all over the park making runs, delivering some decent balls that should have been finished, tracked back well and defended as well as you can expect hin to. Conrad (7) - Solid. For being the only true centerback he did well, lots of responsibilty. Sanneh (2) - Bad game defending. Not the 2002 Sanneh anymore. Armas (5) - Typical Armas USMNT game. Nothing bad, nothing great. Olsen (4) - Great work rate but looked really rusty in a nat shirt. Dempsey (6)- He has been better, first 90 minte game and has lots of promise, scored..has guts. Beasley (6) - Better once he moved left. By his standards he was below par but did link up well once Lando came on. Davis (4) - Goal was his mark. I know he is better than that. Still first game so i need to see more. Casey (4) - did a target's job but not much else. Did he even take a shot on goal? Santino (7) - good work on the right. Fisrt game. Has mass potential to be our righty. Donovan (8) - great 15 minutes of work. 2 goals. lifted the team on impact. Wolff (5) - needed more time to rate O'Brien (5) - needed more time to rate
How do you figure that. The defender who was out of position to give up the oposition goal, and didn't really accomplish much else except get forward and lose the ball was the MOTM. I would have to think a sub was the MOTM tonight.
Yes he did. With the closest thing he had to service all night, he took a half chance off his chest, made spade and put a shot on goal with a toe poke as a defender hung right on him.
well Superdave, we never seem to be watching the same players. But the thread is open, put up or shut up my man.
Brad Davis did indeed play well tonight. Althought out of place in some instances, and being subbed out for JOB, Davis did well to take some shots and put in some crosses... which definitely helped get that "first-game"* monkey off his back. *Was this his first official cap with the full MNT?
Tell you what, I'll lay the blame for that first goal on DMB, Olsen, and Sanneh before I get to Hejduk. The midfield hashed up a won ball and made a terrible give away, and what in the world kind of marking was Sanneh doing? Then the half kick/half flail at the ball. And for the rest of the game Hejduk was up and down the right side, covering for Conrad when he went in to win the ball, fouling to slow down the Cuban breaks and at the end when things were questionable, went way forward and put several dangerous crosses into the box.
Hahnemann - 6 Granted he wasn't tested much, but when he was, he was unimpressive. He may get another try, but I think we've got better goalies in MLS. Hejduk - 6 mediocre. as usual. In other words, not National Team material. Conrad - 6 maybe he looked so unimpressive because he was freaked out that he was between Hejduk and an old bear just out of hibernation. Sanneh - 0 Oh what words should I use... slow, slow, slow, oh and stupid. Oh and did I mention he can't mark? Oh ya, he also can't judge the velocity nor the height of a ball coming towards him. In other words, he can't do anything a defender MUST do. I hope he never sees another minute with the Nats. God I hope I don't see him on the Fire squad for next season. Quaranta - 7 Thank God there's something good I can take out of this game. I think we've got ourselves a future starting forward in this guy. Some bad decisions today but that's because of inexperience. Olsen - 5 Didn't do much out there except getting that guy red carded, and deservengly so. Armas - 5 pretty evident his time with the Nats is up, or almost up. And his time with the Fire will soon be up as well. Davis - 4 Who? Dempsey - 7 Oh Dempsey... I love you for your skill but can you please put the ball in the back of the net at least 50% of the time? You should've had at least 3 goals today. Even though he frustrated the hell out of me tonight, I loved the way he was so involved in the offense. He was usually in the right place at the right time... just poor finishing. I think he has a bright future with the Nats. Casey - 3 Please, please stay in Europe. If Bruce loves him so much for his size, Jaqua would have done a hell of a lot better job than this guy did tonight, and in all his previous games. Jaqua's taller too and can move better. Heck, Ching is twice as good as Casey. I seriously cannot figure out why Bruce keeps putting this guy on the field. Beasley - 7 Still has a ton of skill and speed, but where was his fire tonight? Some bad passes, didn't chase the ball like he ALWAYS did, and pretty sluggish out there compared to his old self. He's still a very, very valuable player for us but I didn't like his output today (even though it ends up he got a goal and 2 assists today ) O'brien - needs to get more playing time. Donovan - 10 say what you wanna say San Jose fans, but he's our best player. Period. Wolff - 5 another player that aggravates the hell out of me. Never seems to get anything done on the field except for running around and looking like he's a good soccer player.
Hahnneman 5...only this low because he wasn't tested much. Couldn't do much about the goal, was a result of Sanney gaff. Hejduk 7...great runs and even made some quality crosses! Great effort from Frankie. Conrad 4...sloppy passes and didn't have much to do in the second half. Sanneh 1...ugly stuff, Gafftastic Armas 2...cuba's best passer Olsen 3...bad game and took cleats to the chest...double wammy. Davis 3...didn't really notice him on the pitch. Dempsey 8...good in the attack and applied a ton of pressure. Quaranta 8...nice on ball skills, beating his man, good crosses, deserved a goal. thisclose to having monster game. Beasley 7...if not for last five minutes he probably gets a 4/5. Casey 3 Subs Donovan 10...Sorcerous touch on free kick did exactly what the team needed. Wolff 5...more of a result of his lack of time in the game but he did do some nice things. O'Brien 10...just because he's playing again. Donovan= Man of the Match
I respectfully sugguest you to look at the play again and think about the responsibilities of an outside defender. While DMB should have done better with the ball, it was hardly won. The poor Hejduk header was at best a 50/50 ball, which Beasley should have just let the attacker have. Whild Hejduk, as he seems to consistently do, ran out of controll at the attacker with the ball and let the guy dribble past him way way too easily. That put Sanneh out of position as there is no way a cross should have come in that quickly. Poor header, out of position, Hejduk's fault. (What would you be saying if it had been Cherundelo or Boca out there doing what Hejduk did?) Then, for all his running, he put more crosses straight into the defender than anything else. Sorry, Hejduk does not belong in the best XI.
[above quote regarding Casey] There were many, many balls played through the Cuban box. No matter what quality the service was, he should have touched the ball much more.
Hahnemann -- 5 -- nice save on the header. MAde a nice kick save on an offsides play. Though he went to the ground a little quick on the goal, but likely wasn't going to matter. That shot looks a lot easier to stop in slow motion than it was in reality. Frankie. -- 5 -- a vintage Hejduk performance. Conrad -- 3.5 -- played better in the second half, but gave up a lot of space in behind himself in the first half, causing some problems in the defense. Subpar distribution. I don't see a lot of upside here. Sanneh -- 1 -- A valued longtime member of the USMNT. I'll never forget the World Cup. Take care. Armas -- 4 -- D was solid. We didn't pay for any of his bad passes, but against better competition we will. Olsen -- 4 -- not a huge impact either way. Davis -- 5 -- Don't know if he has a future, but nice crosses. Dempsey -- 6 -- I really don't know what to make of Clint yet. He'll score and then miss two open-netters. He doesn't seem to have any sort of natural position. I worry about his speed at this level. But he always manages to do something. Quaranta -- 5.5 -- a little bit of flash over substance, but has nice skills. Looks dangerous. Hopefully gets to the point where he is dangerous. DMB -- 5 -- You know what I love? When DMB is streaking down the field, has guys making runs out in front of him, and he pulls up and hits a back pass. When did Claudio Reyna get a new body? Casey -- 4 -- I like some of Casey's game. It's too bad he doesn't seem to be able to score. Donovan -- 10 -- If you can't give that a ten, what can you give it to? JOB -- 5.5 -- not a lot of touches, but showed the old JOB on a couple of isolated touches. His thought process from first touch to creative pass is uncannily fast. Wolff -- 5.5 -- And I don't much care for him.
Don't wanna be too critical but Landon saved our bacon. The dog crap pair: Ben Battlebot Olsen & Queeranta were the worst - some of the worst I have ever seen pull on a usa shirt. The cuban should have kicked Olsen in the head & maybe shake him out of his Nowack somnambulistic trance. Queeranta messed up so many "sure goals" he should be made to forfeit his pay & report to A league. Pure DC Crapsuckitude at its finest. Puhleeze Bruthy no mo DC playas, kay?
This is pretty close to my take, also. About DMB--it was a tale of two halves. I'd rate him a 3-4 for the initial 44 min, but after that, I'd have to give him a 6. I also like some of Casey's game, but I would never pay to watch him play, as most of his game is, IMHO, way below Nats level. Sanneh was no worse than Conrad. Conrad is just too slow. Armas a 5; a normal Armas job. Quaranta and Dempsey both had opportunity to be stars/MOM, but missed them. Good thing Landon was able to pick up the pieces.
Did you watch the game. Hejduk couldn't stop the delivery of the cross because Beasley stupidly coughed up the ball. And did you watch the balls Hejduk served into the box last night? I know it is not his reputation and he had lots of space and time to hit them, but nearly every ball was dangerous, with one going right to Quarenta's fees 10 yards from goal -- unfortunately, Quarenta tripped. And you liked Casey's performance? WOW!
The guy might be a Red Commie Troll, but actually, I've got his back. For the rest of the country that doesn't get to see DCU often, that performance by Olsen and Tino perfectly reflected what they do; Olsen runs around a lot and accomplishes little and leaves people wondering "what if he didn't hurt his ankle" (answer; he'd run around a bit faster and still accomplish little) and Tino is a horror show of "potential" and stepping on the ball and falling down in the box. And that was one of the best performances from Tino in the last couple seasons. Sanneh - 2. Would be lower, but I give him credit for comedy value. Casey - 3. He should defect to Cuba. Armas - 3. Point deducted for his putrid Spanish Telefutura interview. I actually miss Richie Williams. Frankie - 4. One point added for the cast and obligatory yellow. Olsen - 4. He tries. Davis - 5. Worth another look against crap CONCACAF sides in the hopes he can become a younger Ralston. Tino - 5. At least he didn't wear the gold boots. Conrad - 5. Deserves praise just for taking the field with Sanneh and Frankie on either side. Brave. Beasley - 5. Going through the motions, which is enough vs. Cuba. Dempsey - 6. 2 points deducted for the missed goals, but he just finds a way to impact the game. Marcus - 6. Good positioning on the one save he had to make. Subs: Donovan - 7. He and Castro just own Cuba. Wolff - 4. We have enough forwards who can't score. His days are nearing a merciful close. JOB - 10. Simply for not getting hurt.
Hahnemann -- 5 -- goal NOPT his fault solid game. Frankie. -- 5 -- some noce runs and got into the game as it went on. Conrad -- 3 -- poor poor game. Sanneh -- 4 -- not his best game. Armas -- 5 -- nice to have him back. Olsen -- 4 -- not a factor. Davis -- 5 -- Worth another look. Dempsey 5-- Nice goal could be a option from the bench. Quaranta -- 4 -- slipped and fell all over the field no real impact. DMB -- 5 -- not his best game and really off until LD and JOB got in there... But hey he's DMB and he's da man in his worst game he got a goal. Casey -- 2 -- He's a goal scorer who can't and dosen't score on the nats and his club why is he here??? Donovan -- 10 -- How did he fail in Europe??? One must ask that question when he comes off the bench and scores 2 goals in 3 min..... GREAT game. JOB -- 6 -- when he gets back in there at full force there is no one better tha JOB. Wolff -- 5.5 -- had a header that almost went in.. And that one play is worth more than anything Casey has done in 6 games.