It is ridiculous over there. People whine and complain Bruce never gives new guys chances - he does and they complain he played Tino and Davis. They whine he never experiments - he takes a game against a weaker side in a tournament that doesn't matter and tries something new and they scream bloodly murder. Who in their right mind thought we would dominate this game? We ran out a bunch of guys who have never played together with a new formation - of course it would be a tough game to watch. However, we won 4-1 and got to see a bunch of new players - I call that a win-win.
One thing I noticed from watching the Nats practice last week is that a few of the players Arena brought in are maybe a half a step slower than the best. I thought that Olsen, Armas, Davis, and Sanneh were all on the slow side. I couldn't be sure about Casey. He's an odd one. Maybe he'll do what Sanneh did the last WC cycle and suddenly "get it" right before the WC and play wonderfully. One can always hope. But back to the slow guys. I see them- including Ben as being somewhere around 25-40 on the depth chart of Arena's player pool and due to injuries possibly one of them will wind up going to Germany. Right now they are on the outside. However due to these Gold Cup games being every two-four days we'll be seeing all the players Arena brought in multiple times and Ii think THAT will be telling. Many of the newer players looked nervous last night but we will see them again. How will Olsen respond in his next game? It's how he plays in future games that may have Arena putting him as a first alternate for Germany as opposed to having no chance. As for Tino (Cweed- yeah that shot was nice.) he's got a real chance for Germany if Arena really thinks he can help at right wing besides forward. That was a beautiful assist to DMB for goal #3. But like Olsen let's see what tino does in future games against possibly tougher competition. One thing about Tino: In talking to Red&Black and myself, Tino said about the Nats, "I want it (make the team) real bad. I love it here." You could really feel he means it too.
I hope you're right. Aside from some 16 year old, Quaranta has more upside than almost anyone in MLS, not just DC United or the US Nats pool. If he can start to achieve what he's got inside him, it's great news for DC and the US. I think you're onto something there.
Casey is not a speed demon. We have a few on the team like DMB, Donovan, and Tino come to mind. I'm hopeful that last night's performance was just a case of Cuba being the wrong kind of opponent for his style of play. He might be more suited for a more aerial game against taller opponents, where the ball isnt played on the ground as much. He knows how to be a good holding forward, and will battle with anyone. I've seen him have some wonderful matches with Mainz. I certainly think he's worth keeping in the pool. (It's not like we have tons of options...)
Not to take anything away from Coach, but give the kid major props for working out so hard in the off-season (before Coach was hired, btw). He's matured and I expect so much from him this year that I got his MLS Cup jersey for my wife (it fits my right arm). Repeat, give the kid credit, not Coach. GM
Dear Mods: PLease allow us to talk USMNT here and not have to deal with the freaking maniacs over there
Believe you me - no one wants him to succeed more than himself. I woudl love to see a local Highlandtown boy make it big. I do think a lot of it was him growing up and having his beautiful little girl. But I still think Nowak is the perfect coach for him. Tino can't slip back into comfortable ways b/c Nowak would kick his ass if he did.
Dear DC Fans: I sympathise with your apprehensions about the National Team Boards, I really do. I'd sooner drink straight from the Anacostia than venture over to those boards. However, I don't want to see the DC United board become the US National Team Boards in terms of content. Discussing the performance of DC players specifically and the team in general is about as far as I'm willing to accept because there are many non-US National Team members of DC United and many non-US National Team fans among DC United's fan base. I'm sure many of these fans of DC United have little to no desire to intimately deconstruct the performance or non-performance of someone like Carlos Bocanegra or Connor Casey. Therefore, I would hate for our board to become filled with threads about the US National Team, just as I'm sure many around here wouldn't like all the talk to become about the English National Team or the Argentinian National Team. Thanks for your understanding in this situation and if you have any comments please feel free to send me a Private Message. Or you can just run off and call me a despotic authoritarian, who is following in the footsteps of Mugabe!
Rev, Meridian and The Knave- I liked your post above rev and it got me to thinking that perhaps we should be allowed to have one -1 - uno- thread on this here board about the recent USMNT game. Those games do have relevance here as compared to the English team or what-have you as both 1) DCU tends to have players on the team and 2) many of us are interested in that team most after DCU. I also don't want a proliferation of threads on Coner Casey and the like. I don't want trolls in this forum posting ********. I would like a thread where we can talk about those guys in the context of the Nats. I would presume that still most of the talk would be about how our favorite sons are doing- even if they are a spry 45 year old like Freddy. But if perhaps the talk went on tangents that assessed Chris Armas I would hope that would be okay. As a poster who stupidly goes over to the USMNT boards too often (I know I know- stupid!) I'd actually value the comments of my fellow posters here. We have an established dialogue here, one that I value a lot more than the yahoos on that other board. I think the level of discussion is higher here because we've taken the time and effort to understand each other better and so I'd like to think what everyone here thinks of the Nats and the non-DCU players therein. I guess rev that my request is not far from what you wrote above. At any rate that's my request. If you don't want that I'd understand.
Sticking to just the DCU players I really was disappointed w/ Olsen's play. He was slow to read/react to the game on several plays and he left his feet on several tackles. Fortunately, he made a play on most of them (maybe he's the next Mastroeni?), but he could have really left the midfield exposed if he hadn't made the tackles. I thought several of them were fouls that went uncalled. Someone mentioned earlier that it's a tough position to look good at. I would have to agree. Tino looked very good. I think his versatility really will help him. He can play on either wing and up top; whereas a Chris Klein is an exlusive r-winger (I guess Rlaston can play both sides). Klein, on-form, has proven to be a stud though. I'm very excited about Tino's improvement. Perhaps he's entering his Eddie Johnson development phase. I'm reminded of Jaime many times when I see Tino w/ the ball. Someone else mentioned that Tino, as he matures, will slow down his running w/ the ball. That would be nice, but I like that he's willing to take folks on 1v1. He had a nice move where he crossed from the right wing after a 1v1 play, but the cross was a little long. I thought he really made something out of nothing on that play. Most wingers would have just dribbled to the corner flag.
Thank you! I've always had a similar view, but never came forward to express it for a variety of reasons. As Skip said, for the most part we know each other around here, or at least know the views/tendencies/biases and respect them. There's a lot of great conversation and humor as well as analysis raised on these boards, and while I don't think we need anything too serious, it would be great if a thread on DC Nats players could take whatever tangent it naturally takes freely.
Tino The compliment that the Bruce gave Tino - "that he showed more comfort on the ball then many of the young players we see here" - is about the kindest and most positive one that he gives. Especially to a young player. Remember that this is his favorite comment to make about Claudio (that and the one about controlling game tempo). I would not be as optimistic if he had said "he had some good touches" or "he had a good chance or two". If Santino wants to get to Germany, his "comfort on the ball" may be the very most important skill to demonstrate. Especially considering that his likely role would be one similar to Cobi's over the last few years. He has his best chance to make it onto the team as a forward-cum-midfielder who can help ice games by dwelling on the ball, who should also be capable of adding an attacking spark over the last twenty minutes (the kind of spark one needs to turn a safe draw into a great win). If a player like 'Tino does not impress Bruce enough - he will take Cobi to Germany. 'Tino's off the ball movement runs a close second to comfort on the ball as an important attribute. We have all seen how much more effective Donovan and Beasley are in conjunction with one another and with players they are comfortable with (Ching, McBride, etc). Play them with guys who they don't gel with (Mathis, Twellman, etc.) and things are a lot more disjointed and Landon stops asserting himself. If 'Tino shows that he can mesh with DMB and LD from the get go - in terms of knowing when to support them, where to make supporting runs, when and where to show for the ball, how to lead them with a pass - it will stand him in much greater stead with Bruce than a single great pass or goal in a low-tier friendly. The fact that Tino got this chance at this point in the cycle is very revealing. Look back 4 years ago and this is precisely when Landon and Beasley began making important appearances and finding a rhythm with the senior team. Even though this looks like the "D+" team - it is very likely that some of these players are going to play a larger role than we expect, come next Summer. Bennie I honestly think that Bruce uses these camps to give "borderline/cusp" players like Sanneh, Armas and Hejduk (and Vanney and Olsen) a competitive indicator of what they are up against in terms of competition for places on the squad. This is a respectful way to let them down - if they are unable to competitively adjust. And a good evaluation to see if they can compensate mentally/competitively to their obvious physical decline. Last cycle, Jeff Agoos was clearly declining physically, but mentally he was very sharp and was still adding skills to make himself valuable (think about how important he became on set pieces later on in the qualifying cycle). Bruce was still wrong to rely on him too much in the young man's game of Summertime full internationals. But it was an understandable mistake. If Olsen wants to make the same impression - he will have to do more than play doggedly. He will have to play very smart and show that he can have a settling influence on the play around him. That is what Bruce expects from his limited veteren players. NO MENTAL MISTAKES, even if they get beat occasionally from a sheer physical standpoint. You might lose a 50-50 challenge - but if you are out of position to even lose the 50-50 challenge, that is real bad. Especially when it comes to defending set pieces.