We need to get a mod to remove the mention of that hotel ASAP. I don't want those Jamaican fans getting any ideas about ordering pizzas Tuesday night.
I think you dramatically underrate Mastroeni's ability to "play big." When Pablo and Eddie Pope played together against Mexico in Dallas, Pablo was a bigger defensive presence, including in the air, than Eddie was. In Colorado, Pablo and Nat Borchers (who I think can make a claim that he's getting screwed - he's been way better and absolutely more consistent this year than Suarez, Califf, and even Gibbs) worked together extremely well to shut down big attackers. I'm pretty confident that he and 6'4" Gooch Onyewu can do the same.
ok, cannon (if its true that keller is back in england for southampton) sanneh, onyewu, gibbs, convey ?, mastro, donovan, ? mcb, ej the question marks, no idea based off what soccer america reported.
I also remember him giving up a penalty on a cross into the box against Grenada because he could not handle Jason Robert's size
I forgot about Jason Euell as well. He's certainly a guy who has the ability to dominate at the CONCACAF level. On paper, these guys probably have more talent than us up top.
Based on what has been reported, I would try the following line up. ----------------------------------------Cannon------------------------------------ Allbright-----------Gooch---------------------------Spector---------------Convey-- -------------------Mastro-------------------------Dempsey------------------------ -----------------Donovan--------------------------Martino------------------------- ----------------McBride------------------------------EJ----------------------------
Actually, I'm rather hoping that Albright, Califf, and Suarez all play [poorly] and then we never have to see these steaming piles of feces on the national team again. On the other hand, Arena has a history of sticking with other piles of [national team] shyte like Agoos; I'm not sure that Albright/Califf/Suarez all screwing up will indeed remove them from the national team.
the more I think about this, the more I think dmb & eddie lewis will be here. ralston & dempsey will probably make the subs bench as back up.
Agoos has had his fair share of gaffes, but it would be a miracle if any of those guys even got remotely close to achieving what he has on both the club and international level.
Let me clarify. This isn't a projection of what Arena is going to do. This is what I would do if the players listed were given to me. And let me say something about experience. Do you want experience to help bleed-in younger players and to learn your system? Fine - I'm all for it. Do you want experience to teach the younger guys what you expect as far as professional behavior and how to conduct themselves in training and as teammates? Again, fine - I'm all for it. Do you want experience to act as your coach on the field in training - to yell at the younger guys, tell them where they're supposed to be and correct them if they're doing something really out of line? Guess what? Again, fine - I'm all for it. But I draw the line - a big fat 100 foot wide line - between playing experience over better players. If a player is more experienced and better, by God, put him in the starting lineup. If an experienced player has somebody behind him who is a better player - sit the experienced player's ass firmly on the bench come gametime. Nothing in sports is more overrated than experience. At the end of the day, it's the team that is better, not the one that has been there more times, that wins the game.
You're kidding me. That was a BS, home-cooked call in a downpour on a field that had the consistency of split pea soup. I like a lot of what you post, but here, we agree to disagree.
Hear, hear. Let's not forget the '91 NBA Finals. The Lakers, with Magic, Worthy, Pat Riley, and so forth would teach the Chicago Bulls the value of experience. Because after all, Michael Jordan was just a scorer, not a winner. After Game 1, when the Lakers pulled out a close victory on the road, the chorus became a howl. All crap. The Bulls had the players. Jordan, Pippen, Grant, Cartright. In the end, nothing else mattered. They blew out the Lakers the rest of the series and left Magic Johnson speaking the truth, "Those guys were better than us."
Fair enough, but if you watch the replay you'll see that it really was not that bad of a call. Mastro gave him a Tito Santana style "flying forearm" to the side of the head.
Your mission: determine the roster for the US Men's National Team You had rations for 5 days. It's day 12.
I would certainly prefer Spector to Suarez or Califf by what I have seen this year. I also think it is a great opportunitty to "blood" him. Dempsey is in the same boat. A young guy with a lot of talent that has a chance to play in a meaningful but not critical game. Martino has not blown me away this year with his play in the MLS. I could see using Mullan, Ralston or Clark in the midfield instead and switching them with Dempsey in the box.
dude, I seriously am not trying to be a jerk here, but spector? really? the kid is in camp for the atmosphere, prefering him over suarez and califf is ridiculous. I'm in no way defending either as nat quality, but spector is here for the same reason gaven and ej got called into a few camps at first, to practice with the big boys of the usmnt, nothing more.
Dang, I didn't know (or had forgotten) that you were so firmly in the "better player" over experience camp. It's good to see that there are still a few of us out there.
I don't want to belabor this point, but I separate what Agoos accomplished as a club player from what he did as an international player. Can you imagine the recrimination if a player/lightning rod like Armas made even one of the kind of errors Agoos made with the national team? There would be calls for him to be drawn and quartered! But Agoos, after gifting Jamaica with a goal in 1997, was forgiven, and given another chance. After being sent off at Azteca, people forgot about that one, and Agoos was given another chance. After the tragedy of the last World Cup, fans [and typically DCU fans] gloss over that series of errors and poor plays. Again, I always have and always will term Agoos' club career as an unabashed success. But to state that Agoos was a quality international is simply not paying attention to the reality of his national team career.
Not sure what to make of this roster. No Gaven, Pope, Bocanegra, Gibbs, Sanneh, or Hejduk. Why Mullan?? Didn't have a great year IMHO. Arena said that he was taking the Jamaica WCQ "seriously" but after seeing this roster, I don't have a great feeling about our chances on Wednesday night. What about Russell?? Thought he was a shoo-in. Anyway, based on the roster, here's my opinion: --------------------------------------Keller------------------------------- Albright-----------------Califf--------------------Onyewu-----------Convey ------------------------------------Mastroeni----------------------------- --Ralston--------------------------------------------------------Corrales-- ------------------------------------Donovan------------------------------ -------------------Johnson---------------------------McBride------------- Subs: Spector for Convey, Dempsey for Corrales, & Martino for Donovan or Ching for McBride. I really don't know what to expect from this group but I'll be in C-Bus supporting them 100% either way.
I try not to go overboard on this stuff. You can only dress 18, so there are alot of reasons a guy might get called into camp that have nothing to do with any chance they might have to get into the match. But Ryan Friggin' Suarez is one of the most puzzling call-ups I've seen.
You are definitely NOT being a jerk. You are just expressing a different opinion than I. I have only seen Spector play 4 times. Once in person and 3 times on tv. All have been in the Man U backline. He has performed more than adequately against a higher level of competition than I have seen Califf(when not hurt) and Suarez compete against this year. If this were a critical must-win game would I choose his talent over the others experience? Well, actually I am not sure of that answer. But, it is not a game we have to win. It would be nice to eliminate Jamaica, but it is not imperative. I would rather start the development process with him that will payoff with huge dividends in the future rather than award playing time to 2 defenders that will not be helping us either in Germany in '06 or Africa in '10.
I agree, in principle, if spector is as good, or will be as good, as everyone makes him out to be, then bring him into a camp for some experience. I'm just surprised that arena has him here now and that man-u released him early (if he's here all ready) for this. suarez makes no sense, that's a given. califf makes little more sense.