Maybe he'll stay and check out the DC match. Seems like DC have lived up to the "challenge" of playing without Bobby quite well...wouldn't you say?
Not necessarily. I don't like Dempsey nearly as much defensively as I do in attack. I continue to contend that he is best as a withdrawn forward allowed to get into the midfield at times, but generally staying in attack. His skill in controlling the ball in passing combinations can often be incredible. He's big, strong and skilled, so he seems a natural for the d-mid role, but in reality his defensive skills (tackling, marking, defensive decision making) are a good deal behind where he is when it comes to running at defenses and making one touch passes. Might be an ideal player for an attacking midfield role in the 4-5-1 Rongen played with the U20s. In Bruce's system, I think Clark (and Szetela) is the better long term fit for that role, though Dempsey can fake it. Joseph plays that role for the Revs and he's very good at it (unfortunately he's Grenadan). The problem the Revs have had is that essentially Noonan, Dempsey and Twellman are very hard to get on the field at the same time and still have them in roles they are comfortable with. Dempsey and Twellman have looked pretty good matched up together, but Noonan has not looked good out wide as a midfielder and that also forces Ralston over to the left side.
i say d-mid not only because of his size and speed, but more because i dont know where else he could play on the field. i seriously doubt that he could take either landon, or beasleys spots in the attacking parts of the midfield. maybe holding mid would be a better word than dmid
Nope. BA has too much time, and too many camps invested in Bobby right now at this stage of the game. He will keep getting called in no matter what, whether he is performing, playing or deserves it. Just the way it is. BA likes famaliarity, and the winter camp may be the last time we see anyone new until after we qualify (if we qualify of course).
I think Dempsey would be a box to box midfielder in Bruce's set up...basiclly playing how DMB plays, but in the middle instead of the wing.
From the back starting 2007 Gooch-Marshall-Dempsey...can you even imagine a US team with that type of size, toughness, spedd and actual skill playing at back? Boca left - Stevie C right (unless BA is coach then Heydude right)
They have two world cups to figure that out. I think Dempsey is good at making quick short passes with an attacker and then making a run to get the return pass, hmm I think that's called a one two. I think Dempsey is a great player to take the ball up the center of the field, pass to Donovan and make a bombing run into the box. With EJ, Buddle, Gaven, and DMB making companion runs waiting for a Donovan through ball or passing it themselves our attack could be world class. Add Freddy, Szetela, and Spector overlapping and you can see that 2010 could be a very good year for us. The lineup I most want to see: -----------Cannon -Marshall---Gooch---Boca(Damn you Fulham) -----Dempsey--Zavagnin(Damn you LA) --Gaven---Landon---Beasley(Damn you PSV) ------Johnson--Buddle(Thank you Anclueless) Maybe put Russell in and move Marshall to the left, Armas might replace KZ(gasp), Convey for Beasley.
Well I like Dempsey as a forward mostly. The idea would be that the other forward would likely be a guy capable of playing a lone forward role even though he would be paired with Dempsey. With Donovan in the midfield, Mathis either out of favor or in the midfield and Wolff looking a good bet to be a bench player at best, most of the remaining striker candidates as we move ahead are fully capable of playing the lone striker role: Johnson, Buddle, Twellman, Casey, Eskandarian. Think of Dempsey in a somewhat similar role to the one Martino played for the Crew down the stretch. A sort of creative forward: able to contribute to the offense in whatever way is called for by the situation. Dempsey has that triple threat where he can beat you in the air, beat you on the dribble and beat you with a pass and I think his best position is one where he's free to do all of those things. With regards to Clark, the reason I rate Clark ahead specifically as a d-mid, is that though Clark still has some weaknesses as a d-mid, they are weaknesses Dempsey shares (delaying a bit too long on the ball in your own half, bad giveaways, reckless challenges, out of position at times) when he plays in that role. Clark however seems to have minor advantages over Dempsey in other key d-mid areas (work rate, aggressiveness, tackling skill and technique, maybe a half-step quicker as Dempsey takes a slight bit to get going). I like Dempsey a little more as a prospect overall because he can do so much else besides fill a d-mid role. While Clark can contribute a little at times when he gets forward, he doesn't quite have the potential to be an attacking force like Dempsey has the potential to be. I mean you could legitimately envision Dempsey playing every single position on the field besides Goalkeeper. At the very least that's an intriguing option as a bench player.
Didn't see anybody mention Cobi Jones. He'll get called in for sure. Could even start. This is Bruce.
That is correct: Revolution stars worthy of national stage By Frank Dell'Apa, The Boston Globe Staff | November 9, 2004 http://www.boston.com/sports/soccer/articles/2004/11/09/revolution_stars_worthy_of_national_stage/
Gosh I hope Convey is NOT called in. I think that would send the complete wrong message. Bobby's current form doesn't warrant a callup... and he would be better served to stay in England and fight for playing time with Reading.
US Team usually stays downtown, I believe at the Hyatt. They have in the past practiced at Obetz where the Crew practice, though last time they were here they practiced at Ohio State over at the Jesse Owen's facility in the mid-afternoon.
That would make Armas a gimme. The other spot would most likely go to Curtin. Brown or Mapp would be a stretch at this point.
So far we have: Confirmed or nearly confirmed: Ralston, Reis, Twellman, Dempsey, Armas, Onyewu, Russel, Convey, Gibbs, Johnson Most Likely: Donovan, Buddle, Hejduk, Pope, Gaven, Cannon, Mastroeni, Howard, Ching, Jones There's 20 of 25 for camp which will be whittled down to 18 or 19 for game day. Am I missing anyone?
I know many on this board hate him or think of him as worthless, but Walker has been to every camp this year, no reason to think he would be left out at this point.
One of the New York papers reported last week that Walker was going to have shoulder surgery. (I think it was shoulder; could have been knee. Regardless, it was surgery.) This could keep him out of the camp as I would imagine he'd want to get that take care of ASAP so he's ready for January's nat camps and MLS preseason in February.