I agree that Johnson has had the superior opportunties, but Twellman has screwed the pooch on some prime chances in the box. Ching and Johnson's respective goal scoring rates over the past two seasons(when each came into his own) are superior to Twellman's. Twellman 16G~2100MIN 9G~2,000Min Ching 7G~700Min 12G~1900min Johnson 5~1,100min 12~2200min Well, Johnson play a number games on a fractured toe this year so... Ching is better than Twellman imo. He's better in the air. He's better at the combination game as evidenced by his games with San Jose(who play a tighter combo game than any other MLS team). He's also scored in important WCQing games, which is good for the cv. I'd love to see Herc, Gaven, Adu get a shot at the forward slot--especially Herc.
i've been calling for the latter for quite some time now. i'm saying, just give Adu a couple matches and see what happens. but the naysayers come in, "the roster spots/match time is too valuable to waste on Adu." uh, ok, let me get this straight: we don't have any minutes for Freddy Adu, but we do have minutes (63 of them) to watch Chris Albright suck the night away as a right mid?? i know they don't play the same position, but please, just on basic principle ... someone help me out with that logic. what exactly was the purpose of bringing in an injured DMB for this debacle??? sh1t, i would have rather seen Adu play there, if for no reason other than to give DMB some much needed time off (and save him the travel). FA couldn't have been any worse than DMB tonight.
I don't think Bocanegra looked good in 1v1 situations. I also don't think Pope and Bocanegra did a good job closing down on the attackers in front of them on that third goal.
One last important note. Arena used a bad formation, started many of the wrong players, didn't use his subs properly and timely, and finally, the weather, much like the swamp in Ireland nearly four years ago all rendered this game a bad nightmare that is better forgotten then remembered. There are very few lessons that need to be learned from this beyond hoping Arena will use subs properly, keep injured players off wet fields in lost causes while playing out of position, and save the 3-5-2 set up for scrub teams playing in the USA, and not road games against teams with speed that really need to win. Seriously, I hate that I can't trot out my "Arena Coached National Teams have never lost by more than 2 goals, and haven't lost by more than two goals in more than three years" quote anymore, but all in all, the swamp and a few poor decisions by the coach put the players as a whole in a bad position, kind of reminiscent of Azteca (though the weather was fine). So let's take a deep breath, and move on (and hope that we can develop a possession A-Mid who can pull the strings behind Donovan, hopefully Adu, and fast because with no Donovan and/or no Donovan and no Reyna in the lineup, our attack is completely impotent).
i agree. and i'm a HUGE Bruce Arena fan. i loved what he has done (and hopefully what he will do in '06). and certainly he is allowed off nights -- he can't be perfect every match. but i do want to point out, that when Arena blows a match ... i mean, he really Chernobyls it into oblivion, such that the ENTIRE 90 minutes are completely useless to analyse. that's what's a little frustrating. sure, it's better that Arena have his stinkers in the run-up, rather than the big show. BA, take a match off, you've deserved it. you don't even have to show up against Panama. just -- AT LEAST -- just decide on a normal looking lineup, so we can have some sort of canvas for evaluating players. because when you trot out these ass-backwards, LSD-induced, mish-mashed starting lineups with everyone out of position ... again, it renders the entire 90 minutes useless. like tonight's CRC match.
And how many significant attacks did we make down the right side tonight? There's more to playing right back than defending.
I agree that he serves a purpose but I'm not so sure he's limited. We have witnessed his ability to make a pass, head the ball, and poach. What more do we get from any other forward not named McBride or Johnson? Will he create his own shot? Probably not. But, playing with Donovan and Reyna he won't have to.
Donovan - MLS All-Stars v Fulham, 2005 Edit: Apologies, this point was made by Voros earlier. Haven't finished reading the thread.
None, but was that the right back's fault? I thought it had more to do with playing a defender at right-mid (Albright) and a left-mid (Beasley) just inside of him. Would playing Dolo as the outside back in a 3 man backline or playing him as a right-mid have made any significant difference on offense tonight? I just don't see it. The former doesn't get forward much in a 3-5-2, and the latter, in addition to not being his natural position, still would have left him to combine with Beasley who had a horrible time trying to play in the middle. I stand by my statement that given the formation/tactics employed, we didn't miss Dolo this evening. He would have just been another player out of position.
I see a lot of posts about how our midfield failed to create chances for our forwards, and I suppose that's mostly true. However, how many goals did Costa Rica's forwards score this evening? One. The other two goals came on great blasts from outside the box. This is why I'm not buying lack of service as an excuse for our squad not scoring. We actually had plenty of scoring opportunities. Not sitters, mind you, but times where someone received a pass just outside the box and could have gotten a quick shot off. Not the worst tactic to employ in wet weather, on plastic surface. In fact, firing low shots on goal is probably the smartest thing you can do on a wet field. The majority of the time, these chances were simply not taken. Players either tried a cute little pass into a crowded box or dribbled laterally. The few times a shot was attempted, it was blocked because the shooter took a touch or two too many. Only Convey seemed to get a couple shots on target from outside the box. Now this doesn't just go for this game. It's a pattern on our national team. Besides Lewis, Convey (tonight at least), and the ghost of Mathis, nobody seems to have the sack to just let one fly from outside the box, or to take a shot without taking 14 touches first. As a result we look impotent, and predictably so. Pardon the rant. I'm a Gerrard/Gamst Pedersen fan who'd like to see a USMNT equivalent.
Here is my take. First of all Timmie made me nervous early in the game. He was yelling a lot and didn't look confident. This game probably proves just how good Keller is. The first goal Howard didn't need to come off his line. There was a defender next to Wanchope. So what if Wanchope got an open shot, stay back and let him take it. You only charge if you have a good chance at getting to the ball first, or it's basically a breakaway one on one. After what he did, the next thing is you better make the save cleanly, or knock the ball in front of you and hope you are your defense gets to the ball first. But unfortunately he parried the ball to the opposite side of where his body was, leaving the ball in front of the goal with nobody there. The second goal he was in bad position. A little too much up. Again he needs to stay back and give himself a chance with his shot blocking ability. Every GK manners are different, but I like the calm cool classy Kasey Keller. I hope Howard learned something from this game. Just because your on MU and one best GK doesn't mean sh!T in the western hemisphere. Now after saying all this I still think TH should make it on the WC06 squad. My other opinions are Ching, I have no opinion about him, because I couldn't find him on the pitch. I heard them announce his name in the lineup, and that was the last time I heard his name got mentioned. Convey, looks good of late but still can't find the back of the net if him playing in WC06 depended on it. Twellman, scored again, not counted again, still hasn't scored again, looked deadly again, needs another cap again. Pope, played pretty good, but made another mistake. We have to except the fact that he is not as good as he used to be, but maybe he can still make the last D spot on the team. Lewis, didn't look too good tonight, but he is still valuable to the team. Albright, played a diferent position tonight but he played better than some people might have you to believe. As for the rest of the players pretty much average or below. The main problem tonight was in the midfield. They just didn't do a good job getting the ball to our forwards or looking dangerous. We need another player besides JOB, or Reyna to do a good job distributing the ball.
The problem is somebody bought BA the movie Miracle on Ice. Now Bruce thinks that system players will win the WC for him.
HEY ARENA! Since your in a experimental mood, why don't you put Hedjuk up front with Ching against Panama. It would be totally rad! Their competiveness of who can catch the bigger wave will make them very effective.
I just thought that last night's performance was a total embarassment. I really thought that the US finally had the players - even second-tier - to go to San Jose and beat the Tico Scum. And to give up two goals that late... I think Tim Howard should not be in goal for the Nats again until he sees regular playing time - outside of the reserves.
Clint Mathis in midfield would have made a huge difference to the whole team. Without Donovan and Reyna in the middle of the park - Clint would have been the guy.......
Ok I'll bite. 1) In case you haven't heard, we've already qualified for the World Cup, thus the experimental lineup that included Albright at right mid. 2) When the US lines up in Germany next season, Albright won't be anywhere near the right midfield position, if in the country at all. 3) While a lot of people on this board see this game as a failed opportunity by Arena to judge some players, I go the complete opposite way and say that Arena learned plenty about some players and don't expect them to make much of a contribution. Arena already has his known quantities, what he was attempting to do last night was see who else he could depend on and I think he found some answers.
Ok, lete's consider what Arena had to deal with. 1) He honestly didn't have to call in any Euro based players, but he did for reason #2 2) MLS is smack dab in the middle of it's playoff positioning run and Arena did not call in a lot of domestic players (Dempsey, Ralston, Wolff, Armas, Donovan, ) who could have made a difference last night. 3) We were playing a Costa Rica team at home (never easy to do, even with our A lineup) that would qualify with a win. Thus, the mish-mashed lineup. Honestly I'm really suprised at the negative reaction to this match. Yes, it sucks that we got drilled 3-0 but it happens from time to time (actually it doesn't happen very often to the US - it's been 8 years since our last three goal loss, 8 years people) and I think Arena probably learned a great deal from this match on who you can and can not count on when the chips are down. I think it's much easier to learn from a loss like this than from any other result.
I disagree. Learning only the negative about players is not really good player evaluation. Setting them up for failure - which Arena inarguably did - when they're not assured at all of a place on your team, is just bizarre. My points: 1. Ching is very good at one-twos with his midfielders. Why play him with midfielders who aren't interested in that? 2. Flexibility at halftime: the Albright experiment was legitimate for one half but not for two. Drop him into defense and try something else. 3. Substitutions: you're losing in a foreign country in the rain on fake grass in a match that doesn't matter, and you don't use all your subs? You don't think fresh legs on fake grass in the rain would help you? Either Adu or Cunningham - and preferably both - should have been on this team. I can forgive any addition to the squad Arena made - he has the right to see who he wants to see play - but not using your subs is subtraction, and I don't forgive that.
I agree that Boca had a bad game but for goodness sake he's a 442 center back playing as a 352 outside back. Absolutely nuts..... What is BA thinking. I guess we are that thin at Left back that BA would try this.
We sucked big donkey d!cks but that is not why Convey looked good. Convey looked good because he is good and is having a standout year. You Convey bashers need to get your heads out and start giving credit where it is due.
Give Twellman a break. Let him play with the full-line up for once and see how he does. He made the best of his chances tonight, barely offsides 1st half, cleared off the line second half after winning the header. He's unlucky, but can still contribute. Not saying he should start, but he can help this team.
Well, 3-0 sucks. But that'll happen when the other team has everything to play for and you don't. Re: pairing Ching and Twellman together being "unfair." Maybe. But not if the only way one or the other of them is going to make the squad is to perform the McBride role. In that case, it's a very "fair" test of whether the player can provide the skills Arena's looking for. All in all, this match not a big deal.
Exactly correct: If Twellman has a role on this team, it will be with the US down a goal in the final 15 minutes when the offense consists mostly of repeat service into the area, and he comes on as a third forward...He will not beat defenders one on one and he will not beat the keeper from 25, but he has the knack for finishing service or, more importantly, for pouncing on balls that drop into the mixer. Overall, the team looked bad last night, although I though Lewis has a decent game...otherwise piss poor all around