USA Vs. Jamaica My Top 3 good impressions: 1.) Eddie Johnson -- not because of the goal, but he made great runs into space and played tough D in the last few minutes of the game. 2.)Pablo Mastroeni -- I thought he kept things organized in the middle. Hope he sees more time on the field. 3.) Clint Dempsey -- It would have been nice to get a longer look....but he took it to the defense. I think he will be a great option off the bench in future matches. Honorable Mention: Cory Gibbs. The 3 least impressive: 1.) Ramiro Corrales -- what is he doing out there? Not #1 becasue of giving up the PK but he seemed out of position the enitre game. 2.) Tony Sanneh -- I think that the valuable game time/experience should have been given to somebody with a good cahnce of being in the lineup for '06. In a game where win/lose/draw doesn't matter it did not make sense. And he basically stunk. 3.) Chris Albright -- didn't do anything bad -- but didn't do enough to impress me anyway. What were your top impressions?
Who impressed me... 1) Clint Dempsey - I like his fight 2) Pablo Mastroeni - did a really good job all over the field 3) Chris Albright - can't believe I'm saying this, but I thought he did a very good job. He got the lucky assignment of Ralph, but defended well and moved pretty smoothly into attack. Who didn't impress me. Ramiro Corrales. - really in over his head. Landon Donovan - disappeared for most of the match Tony Sanneh - seemed disinterested and too many bad passes
Great impression... Eddie Johnson Strong impressions... Albright Spector Dempsey (although I wasn't as impressed as many seem to have been) Weak... Corrales Most of the rest were either usual performances or they've been around enough not to change anyone's mind in a single game.
Impressed Me: 1. EJ 2. Dempsey 3. Gibbs 4. Spector 5. Pablo Did NOT Impress Me: 1. Corrales 2. Ralston Ho-Hum LD, McBride, Sanneh, Gooch, Albright, Twellman, Keller
Forgot the one major unimpressive person... The ref! I thought he called a pretty poor and inconsistent game.
I think that Ralston and Donovan were incredibly mediocre! I agree with the Ho-Hum award going to one of these two. They are better players than what they did last night. They did not play bad....but they didn't play great either.
I kept waiting for Albright to f-up and he never did. Pretty solid outing, I thought. I'll take him over Mr. Step-over. Shielded the ball pretty well several times as he let it go out for US throw/kick. Won headers. No crazy, flying challenges, either. I liked what Spector brought. I'm not inking his name into the starting line-up but nice job. I wanted Mastro (I think that is who it was) to shoot first time (for a golazo, of course) that ball Spector laid off but I'll get over it. Mastro also impressed me. He played some nice balls and solid d. Deserved MOTM. (Eddie couldn't have gotten it, too, for the goal) Like some others, Donovan didn't impress me. No real glaring errors that I remember but he was invisible for the most part. I expect more. Corrales...The best thing I can say is that he has brought unity to the BS community. (Seriously, does anyone think he didn't suck?) Another thing that really bothered me last night was that giant black hole on the left midfield. I kept telling myself that DMB will be back and and that Eddie Lewis can still get the job done I shouldn't worry. That void still bothers me but I won't lose sleep. Dempsey did improve things, some.
Who impressed me: Johnson, Dempsey, Spector Who didn't: Corrales Though a more quiet game from Donovan - he doesn't need to impress me. He already has.
Impressed Me: EJ - his fininshing is getting better, but still has a long way to go to be world class) Albright - wouldn't be suprised to see him make a run at the position for WC06. Has the size and offensive skills needed at the international level. Has good speed. Continues to get better. He was the best defender on the field. Pablo - took control of the game. Good job of linking the defense to the midfield for parts of the game. Nice to see him back in form. Needs Work: Gibbs - He needs to get some meat on him. Good man marker, but tends to have problems with managing the offside trap. Dempsey - Too early to tell. Size and attitude looks good. Spector - Too early to tell. Size, skill, and attitude looks good. Not Impressive: Corrales - Similar to the Quakes, does some good, does some bad. Yesterday was bad. Gooch - Wow. Really bad game. Screwed up the first goal. Terrible distribution (just knocking the ball long). Looked nervous. Gets tossed from the game (which he deserved).
Disagree. He wasn't great, but he didn't do a poor job. His yellow cards were fairly consistant for both teams, but probably not needed in a few cases. He made the right call on the penality kick and the red card. Didn't really miss any major calls (I.e. penality kicks, offside). For the Jamaican goal, he didn't call the Jamaican player on the forearm to Gooch because Gooch was holding his shirt (debatable, but a good no call in my book).
It will take a collossal miracle for Corralles to be called up again, ref didn't impress me at all. How many of the cards were actually worthy? The Handball one and the tackle on LD looked pretty bad, other than that.. his pocket was like a toaster popping out cards (ok that was dumb, but you get the idea) all in all, the team looked too laid back, other than about the first 15 minutes
That had to be what he was in there for. What else would he have been asked to do. I think he provides a very useful role. Not an every game kind of guy but he could be useful to stretch the field. Would play rm with lewis at lm and we could really get a crossing game going (esp. with dolo and convey as outside backs).
At the game, I thought Donovan played well but it's almost unanimous on BS that he disappeared. Sometimes different impressions come out from the live viewing and the TV viewing and in the stadium I liked what he did. Did he create a lot- no, was he on the ball a lot- no... but he played a smart intelligent game and was involved in ways that you don't always see from the narrow TV shot in my opinion. I asked elsewhere, what did you expect from him. We only pushed 4 players forward all night- EJ, BMB, Ralston and LD. Gibbs occasionally forayed forward and proved why he's usually a center back. If Bruce wants to keep 6 plus the keeper deep, you won't see much from your creative, attacking midfielder.
I was extremely disappointed in LD. This was an opportunity for him to step and take control of the game in the second half, but he failed to do so. When we needed a leader to settle the game, he was missing. Good thing Mastro was out there. Dempsey, Albright and Spector all played themselves into future minutes. EJ cemented his spot on the team. Should be considered in the top 3 choices for forward Corrales cemented his spot on the list of former National Team players. Ralston again was inconsistent at the international level. Gibbs struggled on the outside, but fought the good fight. Gooch and Sanneh showed they aren't anywhere close to fighting for a starting spot in central defense. Mastro showed he still has something to offer in the middle of the field. McBride was McBride. The Twellman sub didn't make any sense. Why put him in to play on the right side? Didn't embarrass himself.
Believe me, it's not unanimous from me. I don't think he disappeared at all. He played a smart, solid game. People around here expect spectacular, exciting football from him every time he steps on the field - and when he doesn't do it, he's chastisted for "disappearing."
Most Impressive: 1) EJ-no brainer. I saw he's left after the game to go train with ManU for 2 weeks and then PSV for 2 weeks. Watch him in Dallas while you can folks. 2) Mastroeni. A fantastic game. The Rapids should move him back to D-Mid on a full time basis. Besides destroying the Jamaican attack better than in Chris Armas' dreams, he made some very good offensive plays when called upon. It was his ball to EJ for the goal. 3) Albright. I hate to say it, but the kid did very well over there at right back. He was marking fast, experienced Jamaican players and didn't get beaten. Unimpressed: 1)Corrales. Well, we saw it coming. Does BA watch MLS? 2)Sanneh. Why play him out of position? He is what he is, despite Andrulis' attempts to move him around. 3)Gooch. Sorry kid, can't get yourself sent off in a WCQ. He'll learn.
Had that been Wayne Rooney or Alan Smith that ball was laid off to it would have been a great assist by Spector.
I thought Gooch had a pretty good game. He handled the ball well in the back and other than trying to get the foul called he didn't really screw up. This guy gives us a pretty big psychological edge when it comes to other teams crossing it inot our box. On the red card he was unlucky his hand was already there and when the ball was kicked near it he reacted it wasn't the best reaction but it didn't hurt that much. Spector and Dempsey didn't have any glaring errors, but weren't out there long enough to get a full assessment. They made the most of the time they had. Eddie Johnson had a good game, got the goal, but could have had 2 more. Still he's a great prospect. Albright...whenever I see that he's in the starting line-up I want to kill Bruce, BUT he had a great game by what I think of him. He had no real errors and like someone else posted shielded really well. I hadn't been that big of a fan of Mastroeni, but after his performance last night he has to be on the qualifying roster from here on out. Ralston and Corrales both shouldn't ever be called back up they just don't have what it takes at the next level. Twellman didn't have a chance to make any impact on this game, I would have liked to see him up top for a little bit. Give the kid a chance he knows how to put the ball in the back of the net.
Impressed: 1. Albright 2. Pablo 3. Spector Depressed: 1. Carrales 2. Sanneh 3. Gooch Supressed (by the crappy midfield play): 1. Donovan 2. McBride 3. Johnson Pressed (busted their butts while on the pitch): 1. Dempsey 2. Johnson 3. Twellman
He has already impressed on a national level. That said, when you're wearing the band you should be making noise, whether that's by getting touches or being vocal. You should not disappearing into the fog that shrouded the stadium last night. Even when Onweyu was ejected, he let Sanneh do most of the "talking" with the ref- something I feel should be left to the captain. He had a solid game with the touches he did get, but not one worthy of a national captain, and especially not this national captain.
did anyone else listening to the ESPN2 broadcast think it was funny that they said LD slept with the captains band under his pillow? wonder if it's true? cracks me up anyways.