Any thoughts on how our Crew boys will show. Cunny gets a second chance after an abysmal first run with the Nats. I think he'll get 30-45 minutes and be rather effective. I would think either Dunseth or McCarty will start in central defense alongside Califf. I expect a decent preformance from either. I don't think Martino will see time, though I hope I am wrong.
Martino = rookie of year + hopefully 7 subs allowed in this games = there could be a chance at the end, especially since this game doesn't matter. Someone, raise a pint of beer! Guess who's in the broadcast booth. And it's probably not Jack Edwards. Yeah, it's quite old news, but I just recently found this little bit: from http://kenn.com/soccer/index.html MINE EYES HAVE SEEN THE PINK SLIP Fans of Major League Soccer apparently won't have Jack Edwards to kick around anymore. While there have been rumors that he would be replaced on next season's ABC/ESPN2 broadcasts of MLS, apparently the decision will take effect immediately, as John Paul Dellacamera will be the play-by-play voice of the upcoming MLS Cup on ABC Sports on Sunday, October 20. The "speed move" may be surprising, as Edwards has "climbed the ladder" at ESPN, beginning as a Sportscenter anchor in 1991 and calling MLS games since 2000. If you had your fill of "Full International", apparently you weren't alone.
This was posted over in MLS news and analysis by jmeissen but I figured I'd bring it over here since Martino gets good press..... http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51498-2002Nov13.html
I learned never to go to a Nats game at RFK during the Honduras match last year. There is just something unsettling about US fans being outnumbered 3 to 1 in our own country...
I know the feeling...never again at RFK...that place can make the Rose Bowl seems like a home-field advantage.
OGHT...make sure that above all else, you are sitting down firmly in your seat for the duration of the game.
Connolly http://espn.go.com/soccer/s/2002/1114/1460808.html Towards the end he classifies Martino as a "can't miss future nat"
From US Soccer: JOINING FORCES: Three Southern California natives are teaming up after spending their high school days as bitter rivals. Nick Rimando (Montclair High), Brian Dunseth (Damien High) and Carlos Bocanegra (Altaloma High) spent four years battling each other as foes from neighboring towns. Despite being in a lower division, the unofficial consensus said Altaloma were the best side. Bocanegra and Rimando went on to be teammates at the 1999 U-20 World Championship in Nigeria, two years after Dunseth captained the U-20s at the 1997 World Youth Championship in Malaysia. D.C. RE-UNITED: Wednesday's training session was a walk down memory lane for Bruce Arena, as the former D.C. United coach was surrounded by eleven current and former members of the three-time MLS Cup champions. Ben Olsen and Nick Rimando were joined on the field by guest playes Jaime Moreno, Richie Williams and John Harkes. The reunion group also included Mark Simpson, the 1996 MLS Cup champion goalkeeper and now goalkeeper coach at United, and three former DCU staffers currently working for the national team.
Supposedly Bruce said he chose RFK for this match because he wanted to put the young players in a "hostile" environment. He wanted to simulate an away game that was NOT a home field advantage! He also said that he would NEVER AGAIN play a "meaningful" Nat's match in RFK. He obviously still remembers that game against Honduras too. I was sorry that we didn't get to see Dunseth & McCarty get time on the field, but happy to see Martino and Cunningham out there. I just wish that they could have gone in sooner. The announcers had high praise for Martino, and good things to say about Jeff too. Even mentioned The Crew's Open Cup championship I hate to say that Olsen looked good. Both Howard and Rimando played well, but not really tested (except for the first moments of the match when Howard had to come out while his D was sleeping). I was surprised El Salvador didn't play better. MLS is looking good right now. I don't know how I'm going to recognize Goos sans ponytail! I'm still geting used to Mastreoni's shorn locks.
Very entertaining match... ..its too bad Jeffy didn't get more time to see how he would mesh with LD and Mathis... Had LD's shot from top of the box gone in (about 85th minute), it would have been a classic.
You know, I always tell myself before every US match that I won't visit the USA forums on BigSoccer because there are so many idiots. Yet every time, like an idiot myself, I still venture over there only to say to myself, "Don't go back there." Here's the latest nugget of wisdom from that forum. The first poster states that Martino actually hurt his chances because of yesterday's match. Now, seriously, how can any conclusions be drawn from yesterday's match yet alone conclusions about a debuting player grabbing 15 minutes playing out of position? So many idiots...
I was disapointed not to see our Crew boys get more time out there but oh well. 3stripe and I were thinking for a moment that Arena was copying the Andrulis substitution method which says to put in subs so late that they can make virtually no impact on the game. As soon as cunningham got in we were saying how we hope he wou;dn't just take the ball into a group of defenders and fall down like he did at Gold Cup. Sure enough, on his first oppurtunity he did just that. Martino was out of posistion, and had a couple strange first touches, but I don't think he hurt himself. I was most impressed with Boca and Barret throughout the day. I was not very impressed with Klein at all except for the one cross, and I thought this was a game that Donovan should have dominated but for long periods he was invisable.
Hang, agree with you with the substitution pattern. I thought that with 7 subs allowed, we'd see subs coming in at the 60 minute mark; not 75. Also laughed when I saw Jeff taking on 4 defenders, then slipping and losing the ball while having a wide open Klein to his right. Seemed so familiar. Martino had some bad touches but I think he was part of the play that set up Donovan's late shot over the crossbar. I thought Olsen looked very good and Howard made a solid save on the only breakdown the Nats had on defense. Mathis did a good job as a playmaker and had two huge shots saved by the keeper. Victorine did a good job coming up but I felt like I was watching pre-WC Sanneh back there on some of the attacks down the side. Barrett got involved in the attack from the left side but I wasn't impressed at all with his crosses. He's done much better at SJ. I remember seeing about 4 groundballs in a row from him. I think the game was very physical and we got away with lots of contact when winning the ball. It did go both ways although El Salvador seemed surprised by it.
this happened immediately after hang turned to me and said "let's hope that jeff does more than hold on to the ball until he falls down." oh well.
FF, I have no sympathy for you. If you insist on reading that crap, your IQ will start to plummet. Fair warning. Olsen obviously figures into the future, but that was a known. The guy gives it up out there, no mistake. Howard, IMO, is the next big time US keeper. Rimando is good, Brown is improving, but Timmy has something special. (Did anybody notice, at the very beginning, when he had to make that one big save, how he immediately hopped up and started talking and gesturing to his defenders? He wasn't screaming at them for screwing up, though he had every right to do so - he was gesturing to the effect that "It's OK, just calm down, it's OK" Class act) And yes, Mathis had a couple very nice passes; he also had some stinkers, and anybody who thinks that he is a budding big-time distributor or playmaker needs mental help. His two nice passes yesterday, added to all his other ones over the years, makes a grand total of, what, three? And would someone please tell me what Califf was doing out there? He had some decent stretches interspersed with some terrible mistakes. Get rid of him. Some of the other guys - well, this is the team ElSal is grooming for the Olympics - essentially a U23 with three overage players. It was good to get some guys feet wet, and was a good excuse for Bruce to bring some guys into their first camp, get the nervousness out, etc. Beyond that, it really didn't tell us much. That was NOT the ElSal team out there anymore than it was Team USA. That aside, I have just one question: Why is it that, whenever he plays for the US, Jeff Cunningham falls down a lot? I swear to God, if you put together a tape consisting solely of all of Jeff's appearances, it would look like the Keystone Kops or something. What the hell is going on?
bottom line, if you're going to use cunny, he needs to start. He needs a certain amount of touches to get his legs under him and do something spectacular. I'm pissed that he only got ten minutes yesterday, I think he's got a legit chance to make the team in 2k6, but not if he's only going to get ten minutes of time.
I have a feeling Califf is gonna be the next Agood. Arena really seems to have confidence in him (i say this cause he wasstarting him in the first game of the Gold Cup, and now this game too.) He plays that central defense role, and is prone to one or two huge mistakes a game. I just have this fear that until somebody just comes and steals that position from Califf that Arena will continue to Pencil him in. Keystone Kops, sad, funny, and true at all once.