Well, I poked my head in and took a look about for about 1.5 hours this morning at the USMNT open practice. First time for me to see a practice. I have no idea if anything I saw portends what we will see on Tuesday, but, to the best of my recollection, here it was. Corrections welcome, of course. Mods, if this isn't N&A worthy, please move it and accept my apologies. I got there a little after 10:30 AM. Team was broken up into 3 groups. 1 group of 10 field players, the remaining field players (9), and the GKs. Basically doing some light fitness stuff. Clarence Goodson was the only person I didn't see out there. And one group of 10 looked to me like the A team: Dolo, Boca, Dempsey, Edu, Jones, Johnson, Altidore, Torres, Spector and I think one more whom I couldn't identify or can't remember. Again, I don't know if how the players were divided up is significant or not. But that looked to be most of the A side to my mind. Team then broke up into groups to do 5 v 2 one touch stuff. We were short 2 field players, so a couple coaches jumped in to play, including JK, who looked the most energetic of the bunch, as he attempted the only tackle I witnessed the whole time! Team then broke up to do some full field practice moving the ball around. From the back, up through CM, and then alternatively out to the left or right wing, and then hitting crosses to the forwards for combo/shots or layoffs back to advancing CMs. Players would cycle through after completing their turn while another built up completed. Team was basically set up 2 deep at every field position, save CB, since Goodson was absent. Here's how it broke down: CB: Boca, Cameron, Orozco RB: Dolo, Parkhurst LB: Johnson, Spector CM (2): Edu, Jones, Beckerman, Williams RM: Zusi, Corona LM: Shea, Torres F (4): Altidore, Dempsey, Gomez, Boyd I have absolutely no idea if practicing this way is just standard fare, or offers any indication whatsover of tactics, formations, etc. Ran this drill for a while. Then broke up into a short field game on one side, and FK practice on the other, with some guys doing stretch work or juggling. I took off at that point. In terms of the stadium, pitch looked great. A dedicated section for Jamaica has been set up on green and yellow bleachers on the stage at the north end. Sam's Army has frequently been at that end for Mexico games, don't know if Nordecke will be Sam's Army or not, as that would put them right next to Jamaica supporters. Any insight there would be appreciated.
Are the guys you listed first the supposed starters? Because if so, it would be promising compared to Fri. ---------Altidore----------------- ---------------Dempsey--------- Shea----------------------------Zusi --------Edu------Jones--------- Johnson---Boca---Cameron---Chero --------------Howard---------------- That would be better than Fri without a doubt. Could be tough to tell from practice though.
Addition: Tim Howard came out with the team, but didn't participate in the workout, as best as I could tell.
I don't think the colors of the bleachers have anything to do with the opponent -- I think that's just the color they are. The ones in the south end were the same way.
I have no idea. I must say, the players would cycle through that phase, so the same XI was not working with the same XI on every buildup. They'd go down the right side one time, and while those guys were running back into position, then the left side and another set of CM's and forwards would go, and so on. As I said in my post, I have no earthly idea if the way they lined up (formation) during that drill means anything at all. And the order in which the guys were listed was more of me just remembering where they were than any order I could see. The division in the stretching exercise, to me, seemed more indicative. Or they both could be totally meaningless. After all, neither Howard nor Goodson was out there. And I expect at least one of those guys to play.
I must say, I can't ever remember seeing the bleachers unoccupied before game day, but I found the coloring suggestive. The bleachers at the other end were green, but didn't have the yellow. Nor were they obviously cordoned off from the rest of the seats like the ones at the North end, which to me was suggestive of them being for visiting supporters. At least that's what it looked like. I guess it could have been some of the support apparatus for the bleachers since they were taller, but it almost looked like a cage on the stage.
By the way... Klinsmann addressed the crowd, and after referencing Friday's loss, he mentioned something about being ready to "rock the boat.". So I expect tuesday's tilt to look just a liiiiiiiiiiiiiiitle different.
Goodson is suspended for Tuesday's game so he's already left the camp. Info courtesy of the MNT Blog at ussoccer.com: Camp Update From Columbus
That's exactly what they did a year ago during the open practice they held here in LA prior to the costa rica friendly. Seems like they do the same thing everywhere which would make sense.
JK could bring in an entire new team, if he wanted to. Based on some posts I've read in the last 2 days, there's a percentage of BigSoccer that would be pleased with that.
Additional context from MLSsoccer.com: COLUMBUS, Ohio — The US national team got to work again on Sunday, two days after losing to Jamaica, 2-1, in Kingston. They traveled most of the day on Saturday, then took the field in front of roughly 3,000 fans in an open practice at Crew Stadium. Here are five things observed and learned on the day. 1. The Crew Stadium field is in pristine shape, and that’s important. The Americans felt the rough playing surface hindered their possession game. “You take more touches trying to get the ball under control, and they’re so athletic they’re on top of you and tackling you when you did that,” Clint Dempsey said. The Yanks should be able to move the ball better on the Crew’s carpet. 2. Brek Shea looks sharp enough to start. With all the talk about needing more width on Tuesday, a lot of the drills were designed to get the ball wide and cross it in, and Shea seemed to thrive on the left side, picking out the onrushing strikers. Assistant coach Andreas Herzog was heard shouting “Good, Brek!” more than once. 3. Steve Cherundolo trained in full, but Michael Parkhurst isn’t going to give up the starting right back role easily. After missing out on the game in Jamaica with a hamstring injury, Cherundolo went through the full hour and forty-five minutes on Sunday. Parkhurst went through most of it but sat out the end with the other players who went 90 minutes on Friday. “I think I helped my cause,” Parkhurst told me. “I think I had a solid game. I didn’t contribute as much offensively as I wanted to, but I don’t think I hurt myself. I’ll be ready to play again.” 4. Will Carlos Bocanegra or Michael Orozco Fiscal slot in next to Geoff Cameron? Clarence Goodson, who started against Jamaica, is suspended for this match, and in training the veteran Bocanegra and newbie Orozco Fiscal assumed his duties. “We’re all pretty comfortable playing with each other, so whoever slots in is going to do fine,” Bocanegra said. 4a. Reminder to journalists: Bocanegra is fully match fit. While talking to the media after training, Boca was asked if he thought he could go a full 90. “Yeah, well, I’ve played seven games already,” he replied. There seemed to be some confusion that while he was waiting out his transfer away from Rangers — eventually to Racing Santander — he wasn’t playing. But he was. Yes, he was playing in the Scottish fourth tier, but it was playing nonetheless. 5. If things aren’t going well, Jozy Altidore will "improvise." Discussing the lack of width on Friday, the AZ striker mentioned that he and fellow forward Herculez Gomez started drifting wide to try to spread the game. Typically, the two forwards shouldn’t be the ones providing the width. “You gotta do what you gotta do,” Altidore said. “You have to improvise on the field. When you’re on the field you gotta try to do your thing and be effective. You can’t wait for somebody else to do it. If no one was out there, you gotta take it upon yourself and try to create something.” ************************* 1) I really hope Brek Shea is starting. Signs are encouraging. 2) Looks like Boca is getting the go. I hope it's him over MOF. Curious thought: will he get the armband back from Howard? 3) No idea on RB. That should be interesting. If I had to guess, going with the veteran who I suspect would have started on Friday barring his injury. 4) Self awareness from Jozy. I like it. 5) Still no idea on the midfield apart from Shea, though it seems like Edu/Jones is a possibility, which leaves RM as the giant ? along with where Clint plays.
The rules (see List of Players on pg 23) have a non-binding list of 50 players 30 days before the qualifying begins. Any player can be added up to a day before any given match. Then the Coach names an 18 for a particular match. So, yes. The rules allow him to bring in an unlimited number of new players up to a day before the match. JK was not "stuck" with the players he'd called into camp and could have replaced Goodson or brought in a new crop of midfielders for the second Jamaica match. That might have looked like panic and, if he thought someone could have helped, he'd probably have called them from the get-go.
Referring back to the OP's post as to what looked like our first XI group, I do wonder if Klinsi isn't planning to use Spector as a midfielder tonight. I'm kinda hoping he will.
Not a bad idea. Spector or Cameron for Edu or Jones. Cameron looked pretty good for Stoke in midfield.