Friedel would have stopped the penalty and Howard would have stopped the first goal. Either way, it is irrelevant. Kasey's time with the USMNT is over. I can't and don't blame him for either goal. Could he have come out more on the first one? Sure. Could he have noticed teh Ghana player look right at Kasey's right before the penalty..sure. But IMHO most goalkeepers give up one of those two and probably both. It was reyna's bad turnover which cost us, not Keller. Thank you Kasey for Brazil and keeping us in so many games we didn't deserve to be in.
I agree, the goal was Reyna's fault, not Kellers. Reyna's lackadaisacal play in the back was emblamatic of his (an much of the team's) play for most of the tournament. How can you work for 4 years for one of the biggest events of your life and come off with this type of performance? If Keller made the save, it would have been fantastic. Unfortunately, he only made one or two fantastic saves all tournament. Overall, he was mediocre. I have no idea what Pope has done to merit starting let alone being on the team. I can't wait to see the tail end of Bruce's Boys.
On this particular goal, he was not to blame. It was a 1 v 1, with a well placed finish that went just over his fingers.
Anyone who thinks Keller played that first goal correctly is just wrong. I went into this at length after the Morocco game, after the CR game, and I really lack the energy right now to go into it again in detail....but you do not sit back on your heels on the 6 yd. box in a 1v1 siutation. You just don't. Period. You come out and attack and force the shooter into a lightning quick decision. Watch how long the Ghana player has to set up his shot. If you want to see how its' done, watch Cech on Italy's second goal. He was in a 2v1 without a CR defender on the screen, yet attacked the shooter and nearly stripped the ball. How many 1 v 1's has Keller stopped in the WC and the runup games? None. We may have had a shot in this tournament if we had played Howard. It's really sad, cause I used to love Keller, but except for the last 25 mins of the Italy game he played this entire tournament on his heels.....just as he did in the warmup games. I'm sorry Kasey that you tarnished your legacy so badly with your play in this tournament. I'll do my best to remember your good times...but it will be difficult.
Conrad looked great, just as I knew he would. Pope should not have played a minute in Conrad's spot. Pope = slow. Gooch = overrated, esp. on this board. Gooch is way to easy for a fast forward to burn past (witness the CR game), and his size and girth actually make him a liability in the back, because whenever he touches someone he gets a call against him. Unfortunately, that killed us today, although I think the call was a complete BS call. Boca looked solid except for one time, which resulted in the second goal. KICK THE FREAKING BALL OUT OF BOUNDS!!!!!!!!! Dolo was good, and was doing what he was supposed to do on the first goal. That was all Reyna. (Who is also WAY overrated here.) Oh, and Keller. He only showed up for one match out of three. That gets you sent home quick, unfortunately.
I blame Reyna for the first goal. What was he thinking, he was clearly jacking around because if you watch the replay, he was going to cut back and pass to cherundolo, instead of clearing it or passing quickly, you don't stop in the back. It wasn't Dolo's fault, he was starting to go up field. I don't think Keller is a bad keeper, but he's not a great one. I would have liked to have seen Timmy out there. I think Timmy is more athletic and more capable of stopping those shots at this point. Keller isn't a good 1v1 keeper for the USMNT. Everyone else on defense did fine. I think had we had Mastro, things might have been different. Carlos was the biggest surprise to me this cup.
Where is this second fantastic save everyone keeps talking about. The second shot by del Piero was hit RIGHT AT Keller. It was smoked, yes, but that is a routine save for any pro keeper. Keller made one DECENT save in this tournament.....AND REFUSED TO BUDGE AN INCH OF HIS LINE all tournament. He was not mediocre, he was bad.
i would love to see timmy out there. and hopefully with the loan to everton he'll get some much needed playing time. i was very pleasantly surprised by Boca this cup. very solid. he made me a little nervous in the qualifiers, but he's really calmed down this tourney. Conrad made me proud too. very good game. hope he gets some looks from the euros.
This has been exactly the problem since day one. He plays just fine and does nothing extra to win important games.
Gooch I think proved himself in this WC. An awkward moving backwards clearance that he did well to get even 30 yards out is his worst mistake? I'll take it. He shut down Koller when he was on him (Pope's main fault on that goal as Gooch took the near post run), shut down Lovenik (however you spell that), and shut down Toni who tore up the Serie A. If Middlesborough get both him and Huth, they're going to have the best and youngest pairing of CB's in the EPL. As far as this game, I was impressed with Boca and Conrad. I have to admit I doubted Conrad, but he proved himself nicely. Dolo was a little less, and if it weren't for Pope and occasionally Lewis' defending he was the worst. Sorry little guy.
Actually Freidel's shot-stopping in WC02 were over-rated. He did not have a single save against Portugal, played great against SK (giving up a late header goal notwithstanding), so so against Poland and Mexico (no big saves other than a meaningless PK by Poland), and did OK but not great against Germany. His distribution was definitely better, which may help us in this WC. However, he decided to retire so it's a moot point.
Which coach on the bench is responsible for the buzzer used to shock Keller for leaving the six yard box?
Throughout their careers Brad was a better shot stopper than Kasey. Kasey was better tactically in terms of reading the attack and thus wasn't forced into as many "tough" saves, but Brad could and routinely did make those tough saves, which is similar to Tim Howard. Tim doesn't have the distribution nor the tactical awareness that Brad has developed over the years but maybe in 4 years Timmy will have it. Either way, USA all-time WC GK ranking to me is: 1) Brad 2W-1T, stopped 2 PK, 1 shutout 2) Fat Tony 1W-1T 3) H. Keogh 1W & shutout 4) Kasey 0-5-1
The rumor was that BF did not wanted to play early qualifying games in Caribbean, he just wanted to start playing in final qualifying faze. KK was willing to play them all. But was not willing to do it if BF would be allowed to skip first part and then take starting spot. So BF was forced either play from beginning and compete with KK or retire all together
Our backline played very well. Ghana was very unthreatening. They got a bullshit PK call, and a goal off of a giveaway. One of the most irritating things about this match is how manifestly unimpressive Ghana was. There's no way we shouldn't have decisively beaten them. This Ghana team (minus the missing, suspended players) would have come in 3rd or 4th in CONCACAF qualifying. But we didn't play well, the coach REALLY didn't coach well, and they got the breaks. So a game we should have won 3-1 or so was 2-1 the other way.
What rumor was that???? Link please. Now, if you want to use the phrase "unsubstantiated bigsoccer speculation," then you're on to something. Friedel was a newlywed at the time the decision needed to be made, and he really likes his club team.
I guess a different thread, but Arena was horseshit this tournament. Player selection, tactics, player motivation the first game, the works. As much credit as he earned last time around, he deserves a butt whipping this time. That's why everybody else fires their coach after one 4-year session. Once is enough, then fresh blood is needed.
Can't fault keller for either goal. He could have done slightly better on #2, but he didn't play it poorly. Goal #2, a pk should be put away most of the time, nothing Keller can do. Goal #1, instead of guessing at least Keller was reactionary, and if you watch the goal in slo-mo, he had catlike reactions to exactly the spot the ball was going instead of guessing like he did against Morocco and goal #3 against Czechs. Unfortunately catlike reactions are no match for a well struck and well placed shot. Keller even cut down the angle properly...sort of, but he did do something wrong. He either needs to go balls out if he were to use that angle he did take and just make a sliding attempt to take the ball of the Ghanaian player's foot, or if he were to stop halfway like he did, he must use an angle a bit more centrally to cut the far post down and use his quick reactions to make a save on the near post rather than attempt an impossible save on the far post. But if you're gonna get beat, at least get beat far post, which he did. Still, it's Reyna's bad goof that put Keller in a nearly no win situation. A good striker will bury that almost every time.
Keller should have come harder on the first goal, but when your defense gives the ball away to a guy who can stroll in unmolested, take his time and pick a corner...he's generally gonna score. The penalty was crap, but Boca popping the ball up into his own penalty area was beyond stupid. Isn't, "don't kick the ball in front of your own goal!" about the first thing you learn when you play this game?
Depends what you define as important games. If Kasey wasn't playing in our WC qualifiers, I don't believe that we would have come first in our group. He was outstanding, especially on the road. However, while he made some nice saves, he didn't make the huge save that makes a difference in a match. He could have done better on the first goal, but he probably got surprised (like everyone else) that Reyna coughed up the ball. For one, I will always remember the game against Brazil and Panama...
Yeah. I love the comments that he played fine, except for setting up the PK for Ghana. Well, at the pro level, you are graded by how you do on the big plays, not being fine. If you aren't fine, then you shouldn't be playing...
Gooch is overated, just like Huth. Just like Johnson, everyone grades him on potential rather than his current state as a player. As a central defender, you need to learn when yo be aggressive and when not to. On the PK, he was too aggressive in getting to a ball that wasn't that dangerous. Also, he allowed the player to get between him and the goal. Dolo played well offensively and was fine on defense. I don't remember where he was on the first goal and why Reyna was on the right side of the field...
except that it wasn't a dangerous ball at all until Gooch got near the Ghana player and the ref calls it for a pk because he happens to be a giant. and maybe if our defense wasn't under pressure because our midfield couldn't hold onto anything..... i wish everyone would get off the defense's back. they were the one bright spot in the whole game.