Impressed: Pablo- Easily motm from my view. Albright- I dont say he was the best player but he was incredibly solid as a defender and was clearly the target the Jamaicans were trying to exploit. Spector- I didnt expect him to display that kind of touch as a "centerback" even one who has played some out wide. Exempt: Kasey Keller. One very nice save, couple decent ones, but not much from KK is going to impress me short of him saving the ball immediately after having his arms ripped off by a low flying Terodactyl. Somewhat Impressed: EJ- I give him high marks for his goal. Very nice. He did however, flub a couple of chances to the degree that they became non chances. Showed to me that while he should start from here on out, he needs to get a bit more consistent. Also though he tried to paint too fine a line on some of those low line drive passes into the box. Dempsey- Loved the work rate and the confidence. Good results from it defensively, poor results offensively. I know everyone is singing his praises here and that's fine, I hope he develops. But for someone who everyone seems to be claiming is a potential answer at forward he made a decent defensive midfielder at best. His passes were off... sometimes by a huge amount and his one long run with the double step over was a disaster. Gibbs- Shut down the left side and even more so the middle after he moved over. Didnt show much of an offensive spark but always seems to play lockdown defense in USMNT games. Would be an interesting left back choice if we went to a 3-5-2 with him, boca and someone wide right (though Im sure Spector will eventually be there too). Middle o the road: Mchead- worked hard, won some nice balls. Did his best to make space for EJ but never seemed to be in a spot to be an option for someone with the ball at their feet. Seems to be limited these days to clearing space and ball winnning more than an offensive threat. LD- Looked totally gassed at the end of the match. Was obviously the focus of everyone on Jamaica and it didnt help that the service to the front in this game was pretty poor and long ball dependent. Onyewu- Played okay in my mind. The PK wasnt his fault, but the run leading up to the PK was completely his fault. He mad a poor decision to try to step in front of his man when he clearly didnt have a chance then exacerbated the situation by crumpling on a swipe to the face rather than trying to recover. He played way too many long balls in my mind and while a couple of them were pretty nice, most of them sailed long into a random field of nothingness. No: Corrales- needs no explanation. Sanneh- Looked to be very out of position. When he had the ball at his feet he looked somewhat comfortable, but even then I recall a flub or two. Didnt make any glaring errors leading to goals but just looked to be in the wrong spot and a step off. Ralston- Asserted himself nicely in the first 15 minutes of the game. After that he just couldnt seem to get into the flow of it. I praised him for his play in the US Cup or whatever that was so I guess I have to take the other stance here.
You know, I thought of this myself last night, and thought, "Oh, no, am I gonna have to take back all I've said about Reyna?" I just might have to. I was hoping LD would provide a little more "calmness" ala Reyna when things got a little harry - he didn't, but I still believe he'll get there. As I mentioned before, he's only 22; this is only his 3rd game to captain.
they were also needed in the 2nd half of the Panama game, in Panama, and Reyna failed to provide it. let's be serious, nothing would have been different there with Reyna there, in a 10 man lineup. Panama clearly showed that.
Impressed: Albright- My MOTM, was simply huge playing essentially a center-half role for most of the game. Mastroeni - A very good game from the d-mid role though I think he may be getting overplayed ever so slightly here on BS. Spector - Looked like a converted forward on his boogie through several Jamaican players. Didn't see a lot of time but showed well. Once he, passed a mark off to Gibbs like a seasoned pro so he could go pressure the ball. The must train folks well at either Man Utd or Bradenton. Partisans can pick which one they like. Watch the Spanish re-broadcast and he looks better in the second viewing when you can focus on him. Dempsey - Another player who looked better on the second viewing. This is one of those situations where the "touches" stat might tell you something as he was all over the freakin' field. Dempsey never looks like he's running hard, but on one end he's sliding to knock the ball away and prevent a corner and a minute later he's racing to the other end line with the ball at his feet. He needed to come up with a move to cut inside of that guy though. He does that and I think he gets an open shot on net. Neutral: Ralston - Played very well in stretches, disappeared in others. Gooch - Athleticism was extremely impressive and helped break up a few key plays. His decision making and passing were not real good. Donovan - Was a hair off on several different occasions that would have led to goals. He had Johnson free at the back post, but it was a tough off-balance play and he just slightly underhit it. He just missed a low Johnson cross in the 1st half that would have been a tap in, and just missed another (after Eddie's great split of two defenders) in the second by the same margin. For a player of Donovan's caliber and accomplishment, close doesn't get you any credit. Also Donovan had a play where he was 1v1 against Tyrone Marshall with Marshall the only thing between him and the goal. Cantor started yelling, and then Donovan pulled out and turned around passed square to another midfielder. There's way too much of this from Landon. It was the ideal situation to go at somebody and he just wouldn't pull the trigger. His buddy DaMarcus wouldn't have given it a 2nd thought. Johnson - In a similar vein, Johnson played very well and was very dangerous, and he impressed with his tracking back and of course a nifty left footed finish. What's so scary about Eddie is he's capable of playing as well as he did and leaving with you the impression that he could have played better. If someone could turn him into an expert on 1v1 situations with the keeper, he'd break Wynalda's record before his 24th birthday no problem. Twellman - Twellman fails to score again proof that he's the next Jason Kreis! I'm sure Taylor would have liked a different situation besides: down a man, trying to kill the clock and playing right midfield. You generally don't score too much in those sorts of situations. Tracked back like a nut showing the same hustle and determination and lack of proper tackling technique he always shows. Watching Twellman play defense is kind of like watching Hejduk play offense. You can't falut the effort but it's clear it's not what he's best at. Fortunately for Twellman, effort counts a lot more on defense than it does on offense, and Twellman's position normally doesn't require him to play too much defense. McBride - I forgot McBride. Quickly, McBride did all the things he normally does well (a loose touch here or there though), but never seriously looked like he had any chance to score. Disappointed: Corrales - After stating my frustration with his selection before the game, I was kind of rooting for him to prove me wrong. He had a few good moments. He blocked a long range shot (which looked high to me), defended well in a 1v1 situation and showed good instincts and awareness to cover for Gooch on the PK play. Put his passing was very negative and sometimes dangerously inaccurate. Rarely got forward and his offensive contribution was a silly half volley attempt that would have landed in row ZZ had he any power behind it. Finally on the PK, while he did well to cover for his teammate, the decision to lunge in there was a silly mistake for a guy whose been a pro as long as he has. If he does that to Eddie Gaven when he's playing the Metrostars, he gets the same result (except an MLS ref might not call the PK) so I'm not sure why he thought he'd try it there. it wasn't do or die, he could have tried to overplay the pass and give up the cutback. Poor play. Sanneh - Sanneh was fortunate twice when Corrales wasn't. He twice looked really bad on plays which could have very easily led to Jamaican goals (they both led to Keller saves). Once he got the ball tangled up in his feet, tripped and nearly fell down and in the process it spilled right to the foot of a Jamaican attacker who took two touches and the rifled a high shot that Keller saved. Then late he overplayed a ball to Marlon King drew air and stumbled. King went into the box, but thankfully, Donovan of all people was tracking back (you gotta love Landon sometimes) and bothered King long enough for Albright and others to force him into a weak low shot right at Keller. A Bruce favorite, don't know how much he's got left at this stage. He's 33 years old.
The problem for Landon is that the expectations for him are probably higher than for just about anyone else. Most fans, when asked to name a player on the USMNT who has the best package of technical skill, athleticism and tactical sense AND has the ability to take over a game would probably name LD. And I agree with you that he contributed last night in many ways that the average fan didn't or couldn't see merely by watching the telecast. One example is his ability to move into areas where he opens space up for teammates. Nevertheless, what fans are expecting from him is to put his imprint on the game every time out, and I do think he does drift a bit. During his best outings he seems to have an almost laser-like focus, and I didn't see that last night. If he could bring that focus on a much more consistent basis, he would become the world class player that many believe he is capable of becoming.
I remember that play. Sometimes, Landon is just too cerebral for his own good. You could just see the mental wheels whirring -- "Hey, this guy has the angle on me and he's fast. I can't cut to the middle because there's cover. If I stay wide he's going to body me up and push me wide. I'll probably lose the ball. I'll pull back, we can retain the possession, and we'll retool." So then he retreats, and the opportunity is lost. Maybe only a 10% chance that anything good happens, because Donovan was correct, he was gonna get his butt kicked unless the defender slipped or committed a stupid foul. But hell, it's worth it for the 10% chance. Those odds are a lot higher than when we attack the goal after build-up play, when Jamaica's defense are set. Sounds ... like ... Reyna. Yes, Landon is not always the anti-Reyna that we think. He does have his similarities. And you're right, DMB would have said "******** it" and headed straight for goal. Sometimes, you can overthink things.
Maybe they wouldn't have been different because Reyna's game is not what it was 2 years ago. He has provided it numerous times in the past, however. The point is, everyone is ready to anoint LD Reyna's replacement as both captain and field general. This game showed he isn't all the way there. Will he get there, time will tell.
This is where I was upset with Donovan. He still looked like he was the best player for the US, he just was not going full force like a caption should. There where several times when he did not finish his run through the ball. Where he instead slowed up and just stuck a leg in, instead of going in equal force to try and win the 50/50 ball from Jamaca like he typically does. It appeared to me that he was trying to play a good game, but wanted to ensure that he did not get hurt in a game that did not mean too much to the US. It is not like his spot is being threatened by anyone else. I fully believe that come the next important game, that he will again come in and get many of those balls. Dempsey had the opposite attitude when he came in. He tried to win every ball, and won many of them. He ran hard and never backed down from the physical contact. Dempsey showed better then I thought he would. He did enough to earn another camp before the next season, but is still a little raw for a full national team. He just needs some more MLS games to get the rest of his game to that next level. The bright spot was the speed of the game never appeared to be a problem for him.
Absolutely. Landon shied away from all contact, even more than he normally does. This game was crucial to the Jamaicans and to many of the U.S. players -- but not to Landon. He didn't want to get hurt by those guys, which was a distinct possibility given the size of the opponents and the wet field. I still think that Landon's positive contributions outweighed his unwillingess to mix it up, but there's no arguing that he played very, very soft.
I haven't rewatched the game, but I thought I saw more headers by Donovan last night than in any game I remember, hardly evidence that he played soft. The team was together for what, 2/3 days, played a desperate opponent in lousy conditions, with a line-up that will never be seen again (and I'm a Corrales fan), I don't know, I wasn't expecting a repeat of the Panama game. Stay Quakes! Go SSV Tony
I think this is kind of unfair considering he played all of 6 minutes and change. I think he only ventured past midfield 1 or 2 times. It was obvious from the get go that he was in there to run about and disrupt Jamiaca's attack near the midfield, not to score. he made and excellent tackle near the box stopping a possible shot on goal.
Arena did not impress me at all. Why can't the guy make quick in game adjustments like Jamaica or Panama have this round. Last night the US was controling the game in the first 20 minutes and Donovan had loads of space to set up. Jamaica makes the quick sub and closes down the center of midfield. On the other hand Arena leaves Corrales in until the 66th minutes when he's obviously not producing. Everyone saw the problem yet Arena doesn't do anything about it for over 2/3rds of the game. Dempsey comes in(finally) and turns things around. Also, why play Gibbs on the left like that without cover infront of him. Asking someone with less than average ball skills to play up and down the wing is stupid. Gibbs is a good defender but he didn't ever look dangerous going forward. Spector would have made much more sense in that role. Play Gibbs in the center for Sanneh. Once again, Arena skates by poor CONCACAF competition without doing a very good job.
Arena wasn't trying to win the game. He was trying to look at new players, or old players in new positions. I'd bet the substitutions were figured out ahead of time. Spector and Dempsey were given the expected sub appearance as their first caps; I'd bet they had been impressive in practice. Twellman was thrown a bone once it was late enough the third sub wasn't going to be needed to cover an injury.
Arena wasn't trying to win the game? I don't buy that at all. You can take a look at new players and still coach a smart game. Even if the roster was thin, and this was a glorified friendly, he's still trying to win the game. His choices were suspect and his tactics were very questionable. Giving up a whole side of the field isn't smart tactics in any game. You don't gain as much in player evaluation if you're using faulty tactics. And sticking with players who aren't cutting it is just a bad move. Arena has a tendancy to be slow at switching out players. This wasn't a one time thing.
Then we're going to have to agree to disagree. I know he didn't say so in the press, and I'm sure he would have liked to win, but it was a secondary priority. This game was a very rare opportunity: the US could treat it as a friendly but face a decent opponent who badly needed the game. A great time to experiment because you get to see guys under real pressure. As for the formation the US was in, I've heard about four different ones from different posters.
I know I was kidding around. He had pretty much no chance to show what he could do. The only time he might have had a chance, Dempsey missed him (ball never bent like Dempsey wanted it too).
its funny how many of us are surprised with the game albright played--I counted at least a half-dozen terrific plays that probably stopped 1 v 1's against Kasey (who of us would've said he'd be the best defender beforehand?). Corrales played himself out of the rotation pretty quickly, I was hoping Dempsey could've done better on his long breakaway, and pablo has definitely assumed the leader position at the D-mid IMHO. as for gooch, definitely a disappointment, but I imagine he will learn and get better. spector came on and played smart and looked liked he clearly belonged--no nerves whatsoever, very impressive even if his play was just steady (gotta keep telling myself he's 18!).
I agree it wasn't a must win but I still think he plays to win. Even more reason to pull Corrales sooner or to just start Dempsey. Why so conservative. No one was surprised that Corrales played poorly, that was a waste. People can call the formation what ever they like but it was obvious the left side of the midfield was wide open. I just don't want to see Arena conceed the whole side of the field like that. Albright and Gooch were the only 2 surprises for me. Albright was much better than I expected and made Arena take notice again. Gooch was a disappointment. Not just the cards. Poor judgement and he looked scared. Sanneh was really poor.
Ralston's game would have probably been better if there would have been somebody on the left side of midfield. but overall it wasn't a great performance
I'll argue that Gooch didn't look scared but rather timid. Some reports I've heard from Belgium are that while gooch is a physically imposing specimen... he's also very shy. At least until he feels comfortable and at home. After he feels comfortable - he seems to step it up a notch... just a confidence thing. If Eddie Pope had been tehre I think Gooch woudl have been fine. Heck if he'd played in the center with Gibbs I think it would have gone a lot better. But no- it was with Sanneh who hasn't seemed very interested since he has returned from injury (and Germany).
I want to say one thing in defense of Corrales. Noone in his right mind would mistake Corrales for Chris Armas, yet Arena asked him to play Chris Armas's role. If you asked Donovan to be Chris Armas, hed look like crap too. Which is to say that yes, I thought Ramiro looked like crap as well, but I think that was at least in part he was put in a position that was terrible for him.
I agree that he would have been better off paired with Pope or Boca. I've been saying this for a long time that you can only effectively evaluate new players if you have them play with most of the first team guys, and if they play under the regular tactics and formations. I still expected more. He has time but he's still 4 or 5 on the CB list. Nothing is gained from playing Gibbs in the role he played yesterday. We still don't know if he can effectively play LB behind a LM. He didn't play that yesterday, and I doubt (at least hope) we will see yesterday's tactics again. What's gained by playing players in roles you know they can't handle? No surprises here.
I don't think Coralles was playing an "Armas" role, when you have Maestroeni on the field. He may have been thinking be conservative on attacking and to let Gibbs go wide, but what he did still makes no sense. He made less runs forward the Mastroeni did and mastro was playing CDM.