I agree. I think the Cameron/Boca combo has a lot of potential. Tim Howard was fantastic. Orasco-Fiscal scoring made at least a dozen BS members commit suicide.
Some positives from the D tonight Cameron just had his coming out party. Edu can be a useful center back but he needs to play there at a club level to be more than insurance at the position. Fabian Johnson is growing as a defender Castillo was rock solid. He can provide depth at lb moving forward
Cant wait to see Cameron and Boca together. Timmy howard was boss. Not sold on castillo rather have Johnson on the left. We need to find a rb
Howard and Cameron, Men of the Match. Johnson was solid. Edu was OK, but had weak moments, too. Castillo exceeded my expectations in the 1st half, but really struggled in the second half. Orozco, lucky moment of the year award! Was that his (and Shea's?) first touch of the game? Congratulations on a hang-tough, professional effort.
Cameron had his coming out party. I expect him to take over Goodson's spot soon if not now, now we just need one more center back to replace Bocanegra eventually. One thing's certain: given health, I think he's going to continue to be at the front-burner of Klinsi's plans. He has to be. Edu played better than I thought he would under the circumstances. He's got the ability to play this position, but I'd feel a lot better if he played it regularly. Johnson didn't have one of his better games, but as Darke pointed out, Klinsi placed him on that unfamiliar side to keep Guardado away from the game. Mission accomplished. Castillo kept Barrera very quiet. Hernandez was much more of a handful for him, skinned him a couple times. Tale of two halves, really. Orozco-Fiscal was brought on by Klinsmann to counter the 2nd Mexican forward, and that was absolutely the right move, tactically. He acquitted himself defensively well enough and got himself the souvenir goal. Kinda glad it happened to a "hometown" (Mexican-based) player. Howard making those two big saves at the end... And of course the Pea slipped on a banana peel when it was all down to him.
Pleasantly surprised by Castillo, especially in the first half where he made some really nice defensive plays. Cameron and Howard Co-MOTM. Edu was good considering he was out of position, Johnson didn't look comfortable on the right but did his job reasonably. Overall I'd say very good by our backline and keeper.
Tim Howard is a boss. Cameron is now in the starting 11. Orozco......of all people......will forever be a legend in USMNT folklore
Great win and all, but we have to dial down the enthusiasm for how well Cameron played. He was beat a significant number of times by Chicharito and had some miscues with the ball that gave Mexico some quality chances, but was helped by poor service and worse finishing. He had some great moments but was a bit shaky. Of the four at the back I think he was best. Edu didn't stand out to me as much as Cameron, but didn't seem to stand out in terms of making an error. Castillo played himself back into contention for depth at LB tonight without question. Fabian needs to be on the left with license to go forward to really make his mark. As a unit, they produced a shutout that allowed a scrambled goal to win it, and you just can't ask any more of a unit than that. Howard, what more can you say. Big ones Tim. Big ones? Huge. The only thing I have left to say is, HOW BOUT THEM COWBOYS, em NATS!!!!
Looks like Stoke got a bargain on Geoff Cameron. He appears to be the missing link for us at Center Back. I thought Edu played well enough to get some more looks there. The 6 Defensive midfielders formation worked out great. Michael Orozco-Fiscal Big Soccer legend . . . and yes, gutsy move by JK to move Fabian Johnson to the right side (and start Castillo on the left) Johnson shut down Guardado. Howard was huge, more than huge. . .
If Edu can find a club situation where he can play CB regularly, I am all for keeping him at the position with the Nats. Will provide good depth and an option until our younger guys develop. Great Game for Geoff. Did anybody really doubt he could do it? Fabian was very effective on Guardado. Happy for Orozco. This should help erase his gaffe in the Olympics. I hope we don't see him for the qualifiers against Jamaica, as he doesn't add much to the equation against them. But a tough road game against a Central American CONCACAF opponent or a game at altitude, he is not a bad selection when other options are not available.
Bocanegra, assuming health and a semblance of form. That gives us a quick man/strong man combo, which in theory usually works.
Yeah, this is more-or-less my own opinion. He was brought into the game to counter Mexico's 2 forwards with De Nigris's introduction, and he kept De Nigris from strongly impacting the game, so it was a job done well enough, apart from the goal.
A solid performance all around with moments of brilliance from Howard and Cameron. I thought Castillo was really effective in protecting the endline and forcing early crosses which we ate up in the center except for a couple of times DMB hung him out to dry a bit.. For a guy out of position Edu was good. Johnson more conservative than usual but ok.
Cameron and Howard are co-MOTM. I hope Stoke plays Cameron at CB instead of CDM like they suggested on the broadcast. I fully expected Castillo to be a sieve, and he held his own. Edu didn't particularly shine, but he didn't let anybody score either, and that's all you can ask for when being thrown to the wolves.
I've said it before and I'll take this opportunity to say it again. Geoff Cameron will be one of our starting CB's in Brazil 2014. That is all.
This. Edu would be one of those CBs who a quiet game would be a good game. He has a low foul rate, good reaction time to the play in front of him and can be effective in the box but won't make the incisive pass or attention grabbing tackle that wins plaudits for other CBs.