My thoughts. Hejduk was the weakest link. I don't know how many times he fell down. He missed times things and kept getting beat over and over. I think Cherundolo should have started and when he came in he matched up better. Not great, but better. I think Steve also has better skills with the ball. Gibbs was outstanding. Great outing for him. Managed Ruud very well. Would have loved to have seen him with Pope. Berhalter. So-so. He's great with marking, punching out dangerous balls, all the dirty work stuff. But when he gets the ball and some space he doesn't have good touches and his decision making skills are less than stellar. Beasley was excellent in the time we saw him. He should have finished better but that's what happens when someone's trying to get back into season form. Excellent touches on the ball. A piece we missed in the first half. Convey was pretty good. Didn't finish that well, but that was a hard shot to slot. Not a lot of creativity out of him I thought. Liked playing wide a lot and some of his passes were off. A bit out of sync. Mathis was good of the bench. Provided the creativity we missed with Convey. He and Beasley worked well together. Mathis should have come on after halftime instead of a bit into the second half. Reyna did a great job. Great on the ball. Distributed well with what he had. Just not a lot of options in that first half. Armas did well but his touch is off. Hard time handling the ball. Overall it was a good outting. We had some chances and realistically should have come out with a tie but it wasn't bad. One thing I noticed is that the whole team had trouble trapping the ball. So often they'd let the ball bounce away from them after a pass or 50-50 ball that went their way. For the most part the defense did great. I was just that right side that was a problem (Hejduk). Again, can't say enough about Gibbs. It's a shame McBride couldn't do more, put with the absence of any set pieces for the US, half his game was rendered useless. I think the Poland game will be a good one and I think we should come away with the result.
USA played weak, Only Beasley gets my props this game! Reyna was not bad, either USA did not show like a team, we're technically not strong and we're horrible in attacking. Holland was not in a good day, tempo was way too low. Robben gave Heydud a lesson in football, loose him out your team, asap, please! 1-0 good score
Bad idea putting nobody infront of hejduk. Dutch owned that side of the field. Is Bobby Convey still 16? Because he plays like it. Keller was the man. I was expecting Howard but was not dissapointed in the end. I think we might have played better with Pope, Berhalter is not good. Corey Gibbs was very good. I think we are at the point that we cant be happy with losses. We should always expect at least a point regardless of who and where we play.
i thought it was the first time convey showed some potential with the full team. that was good to see. i thought he still took one too many touches on occassion, but hopefully the game will slow down for him as he gets more experience. there were several chances he could've made a great pass but was a step late in recognizing it. something to build on. i thought donovan was nonexistent. i didn't like how we pulled up most times instead of trying to take the defender on. he wasn't as aggressive he could've been. reyna was fantastic, best i've seen of him in a long time. he outplayed davids, which isn't easy to do. we were outplayed, but for the first time in a long time we weren't outclassed in europe. a step -- a small one -- in the right direction.
What? It was a horrible game! thanks to USA that did not come out off their own half for 75 minutes... and a tie? Based on what? that one good change you got? That all you did today, and i think its all you gonna do in the future... Where is the spirit? You actually played like Malta or San Marino Poland? Come on guys! Trust me you WON'T win that game, either...! Especially not if you play like tonight...
Not a very impressive showing by our boys today, but there were a few flashes and we finished up pretty well. The first half we looked timid and really tight - much probably to do with the MLS players not being very sharp. We played a few hospital balls and looked scared to make decisions on the field. In the second half, we opened it up a bit and put the Dutch back on their heels from time to time. Much more attractive game when it opened up, but still not much in the way of pretty play. Beasley was really dangerous and the rest of the subs seemed to feel free to push the ball up when they had the time and space. Finishing, boys. Finishing. Kasey had a stong match, as did Cory Gibbs (though his hesitation on the goal looked a little odd). Berhalter was relatively solid - in fact, three of the back four were pretty strong, compared to the midfield. Claudio had a very effective match keeping things in order in the first half, but we definitely opened up more once he was subbed out. Armas looked rusty and a little unsure of himself (an that giveaway early in the match was ghastly). Frankie was atrocious. He had an absolutely terrible game and got schooled by Robben from start to finish. Never got a chance to be dangerous by pushing forward like he likes. Not his best game, to say the least. The rest of the boys were pretty well nondescript, though I'll chalk that up to throwing some rusty MLSers in with guys who got together not long before matchday. Overall, not the best match for us, but there were a few flashes of positive play that I think we can build on. Hopefully the next few friendlies will allow us to build on this and we'll see where we stand as the spring approaches.
F'in eh. We got a long way to go, but have still come a long way. Reyna was the class of the team. Rob Stone was wondering why all of the Dutch attacks came down the left side. Hmmmm...well...that's a tough question. Open your eyes, Rob, Frankie is just pathetic. Add Robben to the mix down there and Heydue is downright combustible. Robben is very impressive, now I know what all of the hype was about. is it me or does gibbs always seem to look like he is tripping every time he is about to kick the ball. a little unorthodox, but his style. did play a great game.
Sneijder1, isn't there a bridge somewhere you should be under? Or maybe a Dutch football forum you could troll at instead? If you think the US played bad then you should have some words for the Dutch team too. Regardless, no one wanted to take risks. That's the end result. Going down 1-0 wouldn't have been that bad if it was because we were pushing up more and trying to make thing happen and they gotten in a good counter on us, but that didn't happen. We shouldn't have had to wait until the last 15 minutes to start showing a pulse. That's how we should come out of the gate.
Ringo. Convey has been with the nats and in MLS for a few years now. He should have grown but he hasnt and probably wont. I hope that he is not brought into the poland game because he is not good. Thats all there is too it. I know he is young, but so is Donovon and Beasley, and they dont suck. So I think its time to give up on Convey unless we are playing Panama or American Somoa. As for the Kits. I might be the only person who thought they were great. Its about time the return of the complicated jerseys has taken place. I dont like the circled numbers though.
This post, NOT the poster, is the single stupidest thing I have ever seen on these boards. And that's saying a lot.
I think US is totally outclassed by Dutch team today. Dutch is clearly a much more talented team. This match showed US has a long way to go. US team have couple players like Hejduk and Armas who aren't even good enough to play for most Dutch club team. US was getting some attacks going late in second half because the Dutch didn't pressure any more. If they have kept up the pressure, there is no way US could be anywhere near their third of the field. Their defense is way too good. Tactically US didn't even play not to lose. Instead I think US was playing to lose. They were in damage control mode from minute one. They just want to get out of town giving up as few goals as possible.
Re: Re: US-Holland Post Game [R] I would be a little irritated if i were you too. You won't see a weaker right defense than you saw tonight. And as far as the Dutch attack?? Robben was your only real threat. And granted, you held possession but I think Stam had twice as many touches as anyone on your team, including Seedorf and Davids (who was totally contained by Reyna). The U.S. had a very average game and showed some off-season rust with their touches. The fact that the Dutch were unable to exploit the mediocre effort by most of the U.S. players does not bode well going into the E.C.. Call me crazy but how many scoring chances do you think you had? I counted about 4 and one was from a Stam 40 yard run. I hope with the addition of Pope and O'brien the U.S. will be able to challenge more in the middle third against Poland. Fortunately for us the Dutch did very little with the extra space.
The right back position is still a huge concern. Heyduk is a back up at best, he may bring something to the team but it's not his defense. Is Cherundolo the answer? Too bad Pope got sick, Berhalter held his own against van Nistleroy, Bocanegra did well although he did look a bit slow on occasion. Gibbs appears to be a quality player, needs more experience but he can flat out play. I thought he was the best defender on the US side. Armas is just too slow for this level, to top it off his first touch is horrible. Eddie Lewis didn't have a strong game, Beasley did way more with his half than Lewis did, he created chances off his dribble, put the dutch on their heels a bit. Convey's getting better by the day. Donovan was a bit of a disappointment, pretty quiet the first half along with BMB. Reyna was solid today, Davids is a great player and he more than held his own. Keller had a good game, did well corners. I thought the US did enough in the second half to deserve a draw.
Bom. Silly new uniforms, illiterate commentators, a network stuggling with it graphics. One of the things that consistently irritated me (and hurt the team) during the series of pre-WC 2002 friendlies played in Europe was the team's tendency to play the ball back and play it square inside within the defensive third. Do you think that some veterans may have learned? Do you think that maybe Reyna or Lewis or Armas or Mathis or Hejduk may have said, "Hey, guys. Let's keep it simple at the beginning and play it forward and wide"? Well, today we saw a succession of mindless backpasses and lazy square balls to the middle. Lewis and McBride may some egregious blunders. Mistakes happen, sure. But when lessons appear to be forgotten..... I was disappointed that Arena burdened the most limited player with the most difficult assignment. Hejduk's lunges constantly found him either to far up the park and leaving acres of space behind him or simply losing goalside positioning. He was atrocious versus El Salvador at Foxboro last summer. Anyone who could fog up a mirror with his breath knew that he would be the victim. Keller played well. A couple of shaky GKs but he played well. Gibbs was PRESENT. Nice job. Berhalter finally realized after 20 minutes or so that he isn't Beckenbauer. And the team figured it out as well. Boca's crossing needs to improve. Armas did OK but a team with more urgency will eat him up, I sense. Convey showed spark and initiative. On his very clear chance, a more experienced or more shrewd player would have played the first touch away from pressure. Yes, even in front of the keeper. Beasley needs to improve his shooting. Donovan should have dropped deeper more. He chose not to find the game, it seemed. McBride was isolated. A game like that, in which build-ups were not panning out and some space was conceded, cried out for a long range shooter like Mathis much earlier. Reyna was class. They settled down and played OK. I'm tired of seeing O'Brien and Pope miss games.
Overall, a good outing. I thought once we decided to open it up, Beasley made things difficult for the Dutch. I think we solved the left back problem today, but now we have a right back problem. If Berhalter plays at this level consistently, can Pope move to right back. I believe he started his career in that spot. I like Gibbs height in the middle. Just wondering what the line up would have looked like with JOB healthy?
Ok I agree that that was a little too far, but I do believe Convey should not be making mistakes he made today. I dont think we should keep giving him a break under the "he is developing" clause. He has been developing since he was 16 in MLS. At this point, he should be developed like Donovon and Beasley. There shouldnt be "things to work on" anymore. That being said, Convey does need to grow up and become the star of the team like he was susposed to be when he was signed by MLS and played against Brazil when he was 16.
No. Not the solution. Sampson forced him to right and left back a couple of times, notably at Costa Rica.
Us played 10 men behind the ball all the time and only got chances in the last 10 minutes because the coach put back the geriatric defense that played against Scotland in Scotland. Leavin Heitinga to do the most defense work while running back and forth across the field covering the right flank. All in all A lousy uninspired Dutch team that just played an absolutely boring game to the end. Against an little US engine that wanted to but couldn't. I was under the impression that Bruce Arena was going to play at least a little offensive. This was just a 10 men defensive block with an really uninspiring Mcbride playing Gilligan up front. Even when they got out they lost the ball so fast it was hardly worth the effort. I really hope this is not the best the US can conjure up because it isn't much to look at.
What are you talking about?? I'm not on the Convey bandwagon but I thought he played a decent match. Was Donovan on the field today? Convey is young and is only going to get better. He didn't play great but he showed some attack and was stopped by a good save. He had a much better match than Donovan, McBride, Mathis, Lewis or Armas not to mention that other "dude."
Re: Re: US-Holland Post Game [R] Just out of curiosity, who exactly is Holland going to beat based on tonight's game?
The two main things separating the US from the elite class of national teams 1. our ball skills for the most part are not as fundamentally sound as most of the worlds, certainly not the top euro countries --- but I remember '90 so this is light years ahead of that. 2. We don't have international quailty options at every position (ie Hejduk, albright, cherundolo for right back) but we have filled most of the holes....to quote the late, great Carl Sagan....Small Moves, Small Moves