379 replies to this topic

[Titans Bastard]

Solid win for the US over Mexico tonight, 2-0. It was a bit closer than the score suggested because Mexico botched a number of pretty good chances...although Convey blew a one-on-one opportunity as well. Typically, the Mexican coach refused to shake Bradley's hand after the match.

Jonathan Bornstein looked surprisingly good at left back and Conrad and Bocanegra were pretty good as well. Our offense sucked in the first half as Mastroeni and Clark did nothing and Chris Rolfe was beyond miserable. Donovan played better in the second half including scoring the second goal in extra time after setting up Conrad's goal earlier.

Given that we didn't have all our best players and Mexico had pretty much their A team, it was good to see. The real issue in the coming months will be figuring out our best midfield and attack set up. The retirement of Brian McBride leaves a pretty big hole up front. It would be nice if Eddie Johnson or DaMarcus Beasley finds their form, but until then we'll have to cycle through various MLS options until hopefully we find a good pairing. We had a lot of problems connecting passes in central midfield, I'd like to see some other guys get a shot since Mastroeni and Ricardo Clark did not impress.

Wynalda had some pretty colorful commentary throughout the game...he handed down some pretty brutal evaluations of players ("Rolfe needs to get off the field") and it was fun to see him and Arena rag on the Mexicans most of the game. Anyone else catch the game?

Edited by URISoxFan, 08 February 2007 - 08:36 AM.

[biollante]

USA wins 2-0.

Mexico has no class:

"The sportsmanship -- it would be nice if you guys [reporters] and the Mexican press talked about it, because it's really poor," Donovan said. "When we lose to them there, we shake their hands and say, 'Good job.' There's none of that reciprocally, and it's kind of disappointing."

Indeed, Marquez gave the United States little credit for the victory.

"They were a little opportunistic and stayed in their own end for the majority of the match, but they did beat us," Marquez said. "Considering the tactics that they utilized, I think that is the credit I would give them considering the fact that on the field, they were not superior to us.""

http://soccernet.esp...=213283&cc=5901

The list of who was playing when is wrong in that link. Neither team looked great.

[Vinho Tinto]

Indeed, Marquez gave the United States little credit for the victory.

"They were a little opportunistic and stayed in their own end for the majority of the match, but they did beat us," Marquez said. "Considering the tactics that they utilized, I think that is the credit I would give them considering the fact that on the field, they were not superior to us.""

http://soccernet.esp...=213283&cc=5901

The list of who was playing when is wrong in that link. Neither team looked great.

I wonder if Kordell Stewart is Mexican

[The Allented Mr Ripley]

It will be interesting to see if there are any repercussions from Sanchez's sour-grapes attempt at tripping one of the US players immediately after giving up Donovan's goal.

[CJChap]

I don't think the U.S. looked great, but there were some good things in that game.

First, it was nice to see Landon Donovan start to wake up a little an attack, though I think they've really got to figure out what they're going to do up front because I think that's part of what's hindering him. He's not a striker.

Second, the U.S. broke in some younger guys like Borenstein who I thought after getting into the game and adjusting to the speed, played very well.

Third, they won with younger guys developing talent for the next 4 years, while Hugo called in a lot of veterans who will probably be retired in 4 years -- what's the point of that?

Oswaldo Sanchez is the gift that keeps on giving. What a scumbag. And I guess I'm thinking back just as much to when he made comments about Donovan's mother as well.

[Vinho Tinto]

Third, they won with younger guys developing talent for the next 4 years, while Hugo called in a lot of veterans who will probably be retired in 4 years -- what's the point of that?

Unless they put a dumb value on the Copa America (I'm assuming they are in it), I 100% agree. You see very few 34 yo attacking players on an international team (Karel Poborsky was on the Czech team last summer, but at least that was the WC), seeing Blanco in the middle was startling.

Oswaldo Sanchez is the gift that keeps on giving. What a scumbag. And I guess I'm thinking back just as much to when he made comments about Donovan's mother as well.

Their fans openly cheered Osama Bin Laden. At this point, we should be glad that the Mexican federation agrees to all the non WCQ being played in the US. Otherwise, these teams would only play twice every four years.

[CJChap]

Yea, Mexico and the U.S. are both in Copa America. It's really stupid because teams like Brazil and Argentina won't even typically bring their top squad for that tournament so they'll bring a lot of younger players to get their feet wet. Then again when you've got that talent pool, you can do that.

Also looks like the U.S. will do similar as its going to have Copa America as well as the Gold Cup and I heard an interview with Bob Bradley who was talking about wanting to retain the Gold Cup title as a short term goal, so you might see that tournament as the one the U.S. brings their top squad for, though I think it would be better to battle test the better players in Copa America, playing in Venezuela, as opposed to the friendly confines of Gilette Stadium or Pizza Hut Park.

The next few months through the summer should be interesting for U.S. Soccer. What will they do with Bradley? Who is going to man the two teams in the Int'l tournaments this summer? You can interupt MLS and have the likes of Landon Donovan gone for both -- and I can't see Euro clubs being too pleased with their players playing in both Gold Cup and Copa America.

[Senorec]

Yea, Mexico and the U.S. are both in Copa America. It's really stupid because teams like Brazil and Argentina won't even typically bring their top squad for that tournament so they'll bring a lot of younger players to get their feet wet. Then again when you've got that talent pool, you can do that.

Also looks like the U.S. will do similar as its going to have Copa America as well as the Gold Cup and I heard an interview with Bob Bradley who was talking about wanting to retain the Gold Cup title as a short term goal, so you might see that tournament as the one the U.S. brings their top squad for, though I think it would be better to battle test the better players in Copa America, playing in Venezuela, as opposed to the friendly confines of Gilette Stadium or Pizza Hut Park.

The next few months through the summer should be interesting for U.S. Soccer. What will they do with Bradley? Who is going to man the two teams in the Int'l tournaments this summer? You can interupt MLS and have the likes of Landon Donovan gone for both -- and I can't see Euro clubs being too pleased with their players playing in both Gold Cup and Copa America.

It is true that Brazil and Argentina won't bring a WC lineup, but they tend to have there big guns there. I expect Ronaldinho, Kaka, Fred, Adriano to be there, same with Argentina re: Messi, Saviola and so forth.

IN regards to the game, I do think the US played well enough, but I dont think it was much better than in the WC. They still lack any sort of creativity in the middle, and it was shown more by Reyna's absence. The issue may be resolved with the inclusion of the Euro based players. And Mexico did botch numerous attempts and I had a problem w/ the US sitting back after Conrad's goal. They went into the prevent defense way too soon.

Good win though.

[CJChap]

Brazil's roster in 04 was hardley their best, other then Adriano...
http://www.peru.com/...?idSeleccion=24

[Vinho Tinto]

Brazil's roster in 04 was hardley their best, other then Adriano...
http://www.peru.com/...?idSeleccion=24

Yeah, I wouldn't expect the big guns in Copa. Most of the guys were chosen because they were playing in South America.

Fabiano and Diego had a great tournaments and parlayed that into Porto. Fabiano flopped in Portugal and is doing slightly better in Spain(He bombed out of Europe previously, so he looks like a guy who should just stay in Brazil); while Diego flopped at Porto and is now a top player in Germany. Wagner Love is in Russia now I believe. Luisao starts at Benfica, but stlll can't crack the starting XI for Brazil. I think most here know about Baptista. A true 2nd string lineup that won the whole thing.

[Senorec]

Brazil's roster in 04 was hardley their best, other then Adriano...
http://www.peru.com/...?idSeleccion=24

i stand corrected..but as you said earlier, it will be solid competition for the US...i guess i shouldn't mess with mr. stanfield.

[biollante]

I could do without Eric Wynalda. He is a punk without grace. I'm tired of his whining back stabbing comments.

[CJChap]

I love the Wynalda and Arena pairing if they can get past the bitterness. Once the coaching situation is figured out, I think that will help. Arena makes slipups like saying Beasley was playing for ManU instead of City, but for obvious reasons knows just about everything about the players in the U.S. pool.

As for the Brazil thing -- Its defenitly going to be great competition for whoever the U.S. brings obviously. I guess Brazil brings their B squad...because they can. It would be fun to see a Brazil(B) and Brazil © in the tournament just to see how well they do. Its scary how much talent is in that country.

[allaboutthesox]

I could do without Eric Wynalda. He is a punk without grace. I'm tired of his whining back stabbing comments.

Agreed.

The only problem with Donovan, although he is still young (25 years old), is that he lacks consistency in his game. If he would play with fire the whole time, he could live up to all the "potential" he was tapped with. The US played a defensive type of game. Although the US has won its two friendly games, I am not really sold on the direction of this team. Bradley seems to be another "Arena type" minded coach. I think the US should spend more time trying to be a little more aggressive on offense. However, Bradley has done a good job trying to get the younger players playing time to hopefully evaluate what he has.

On a side note, is it me or does anyone think that getting Eddie Johnson back on track is going to be key for us in qualifying and the next World Cup? He came onto the seen initially and was burning up the net. I think he had 8 goals in his first 10 games or something like that. It seems he lacks the confidence right now. He could be a great player or a Roy Lassiter.

I wonder if the USSF is still hoping to get Klinnsman to coach as well. I know he "withdrew" his name from consideration, but I cant help but to think he wouldn't have left the position as head coach of Germany unless he knew something else was coming. Granted they (German media) were all over him before the World Cup.

[Titans Bastard]

*bump*

USA will be participating in TWO major continental championships this summer after they accepted the invitation to Copa America. Both the Copa and CONCACAF Gold Cup draws have come out:

Copa America:
Argentina
Paraguay
Colombia
USA

Gold Cup:
USA
Trinidad & Tobago (at Gillette...US will likely play a QF at Gillette as well)
Guatemala
El Salvador


Gold Cup....easy. Copa America....not so easy.

We'll likely see rather different squads for both tournaments because MLS clubs won't want to lose their best players for that many games and European clubs won't want to see their players overworked during the offseason. Bradley has stated that his #1 priority is the Gold Cup and qualification for the Confederations Cup, so the Copa America performance could easily turn out to be a three-and-out (even before considering the warm support we will receive from the Venezuelan crowd)

Full schedule:
3/25 vs. Ecuador at Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL
3/28 vs. Guatemala at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, TX, home of FC Dallas
6/2 vs. China at Spartan Stadium, San Jose

Gold Cup:
6/7 vs. Guatemala at Home Depot Center, Carson, CA
6/9 vs. Trinidad & Tobago at HDC, Carson, CA
6/12 vs. El Salvador at Gillette
6/16 - possible QF at Gillette
6/21 - possible SF in Chicago
6/24 - possible F in Chicago

Copa America:
6/28 vs. Argentina in Maracaibo, Venezuela
7/2 vs. Paraguay in Barinas, Venezuela
7/5 vs. Colombia in Barquisimeto, Venezuela

[Phil Plantier]

Why accept the invitation to the Copa if we're not going to send a reasonable squad? Does Bradley have a different idea than Gulati about which is more important?

[Titans Bastard]

Why accept the invitation to the Copa if we're not going to send a reasonable squad? Does Bradley have a different idea than Gulati about which is more important?

We'll send a reasonable squad, just not our best squad. I'm not sure what exactly the roster limits are (23?), but I'm guessing we may see 7-8 players on both rosters. I don't think this will hurt us that much compared to other squads - at many positions the talent dropoff isn't that bad (which is basically indicative of the fact that we have lots of decent talent without that much elite talent). For example we'll probably see Onyewu, Bocanegra, Conrad, Boswell, DeMerit, Cherundolo, Spector, Pearce, Bornstein, et al in the mix at defense. Other than Landon Donovan at forward/A-mid, our attacking positions are pretty much open tryouts - Rolfe, Twellman, Ching, Cooper at forward, a bunch of guys in the mix at midfield - at this point it's very unclear what our Best XI looks like. The other thing is that we have some interesting U-20s who won't be in the mix due to the U20 World Cup which is sort of in between the two competition.


It's too bad that we're not sending our best team to the Copa, but it will be good to blood some players with question marks and to be able to sort through our national team pool to separate the wheat from the chaff.


As for Gulati....he's taken forever to officially name a coach. I have no idea what he thinks.

[Titans Bastard]

24-man squad for the Guatemala and Ecuador friendlies have been announced.

GK:
Brad Guzan - Chivas USA (MLS)
Tim Howard - Everton (England)
Kasey Keller - Borussia Monchengladbach (Germany)

DF:
Carlos Bocanegra - Fulham (England)
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover 96 (Germany)
Jimmy Conrad - Kansas City (MLS)
Jay DeMerit - Watford (England)
Oguchi Onyewu - Newcastle United (England)
Heath Pearce - FC Nordsjælland (Denmark)
Frank Simek - Sheffield Wednesday (England)
Jonathan Spector - West Ham United (England)

MF:
DaMarcus Beasley - Manchester City (England)
Michael Bradley - Heerenveen (Netherlands)
Brian Carroll - DC United (MLS)
Ricardo Clark - Houston Dynamo (MLS)
Clint Dempsey - Fulham (England)
Benny Feilhaber - Hamburg (Germany)
Justin Mapp - Chicago Fire (MLS)

FW:
Brian Ching - Houston Dynamo (MLS)
Kenny Cooper - FC Dallas (MLS)
Landon Donovan - LA Galaxy (MLS)
Eddie Johnson - Kansas City Wizards (MLS)
Chris Rolfe - Chicago Fire (MLS)
Taylor Twellman - New England Revolution (MLS)


Not too many shocks. I believe this is the first time DeMerit and Simek have been brought into a national team camp. It also could be our first look at Feilhaber and Bradley at the senior level. Both of them aren't ready to be assets, but we are very weak in central midfield and at forward, so it can't hurt to test them out. Bradley will be playing in the U-20 world cup this summer, but Feilhaber has a pretty good shot playing in either the Gold Cup or Copa America.

Kasey Keller is around for veteran leadership I guess. But hey, he's doing well for a guy who started games in the 1990 World Cup! He's also a few caps away from 100, fwiw. Guzan will be in the mix to succeed Howard when Timmy gets older or loses form, so it's not a bad call to at least get him in camp, although he may not play.

Our defense is our most solid area, we've got a nice balance - Cherundolo is our #1 on the right, but Spector and Simek can also play there. Bocanegra, Onyewu, Conrad, and DeMerit can handle CB while Pearce is a solid LB and Spector and Bocanegra can play there, too. Jonathan Bornstein would undoubtedly be in the mix at LB if he was healthy. It's nice to see DeMerit get called in, although I don't think he'll ever be more than a role player at best at the international level. Still, his rise from semi-pro ball in England to the EPL is a tremendous story.


The departure of the Reyna/O'Brien generation means that we really need to figure out what our best midfield setup is. Pablo Mastroeni is getting older and wasn't called up. Guys like Freddy Adu are still in the U-20 pool and since he'll be playing in the U20 WC, he won't be in the mix until the fall. Feilhaber and Bradley are as good choices as any, although neither get as much time with their clubs as I'd like. (Feilhaber has seen Champs League minutes though). On the wings I'm interested to see how Justin Mapp looks...I hope he gets time over Beasley, who just hasn't earned a starting role with the USMNT. I'd expect Dempsey to be played out wide right.

At forward we have a lot of so-so talent to sort through. Donovan is clearly our best forward other than McBride who is retired from international play. But we don't know who our #2 is. Rolfe looked bad against Mexico, but I guess we can give him another shot. Cooper and Johnson are young, although Eddie Johnson has been the domestic version of Beasley in terms of the regression he's had after exciting play a few years ago. Twellman and Ching I'm not very bullish on and I think are somewhat marginal at the national level - they are also getting on in years and probably don't have a long-term role with the team. They could be useful during WC2010 qualifying, but hopefully we have better options by the time South Africa rolls around. We have a number of interesting prospects in MLS, in the Bundesliga, in the Swedish League, and in Serie A, so let's hope a few of them develop into the attacking force that we need to have to be competitive against the top international sides.

[Spacemans Bong]

It is very disconcerting to see the lack of attacking players abroad. We're going to struggle to score goals in the Copa America.

[Titans Bastard]

It is very disconcerting to see the lack of attacking players abroad. We're going to struggle to score goals in the Copa America.

It's clear that American talent is very defense-heavy, but playing in MLS isn't the end of the world. I would kill to have someone like Dwayne DeRosario in midfield. McBride, Convey, and Dempsey are really our only accomplished attack-minded player abroad, but we do have a decent number of prospects.

Charlie Davies - Hammarby
Johann Smith - Bolton (on loan to Carlisle)
Kamani Hill - Wolfsburg
Gabriel Ferrari - Sampdoria
Josmer Altidore - Red Bull New York
Robbie Rogers - Columbus Crew


Unfortunately we're probably going to lose Giuseppe Rossi (Parma) to Italy. He was born and raised in New Jersey, but he's been pushed to play for the azzuri. I'm not sure if he's officially cap-tied or not, but he's played for a lot of their youth teams and is as good as gone.

The U-20 world cup will help us separate the wheat from the chaff. But ultimately, you are right - I'll feel a hell of a lot better if one of our strikers develops into something resembling an international class finisher.

[Spacemans Bong]

It's clear that American talent is very defense-heavy, but playing in MLS isn't the end of the world. I would kill to have someone like Dwayne DeRosario in midfield. McBride, Convey, and Dempsey are really our only accomplished attack-minded player abroad, but we do have a decent number of prospects.

Charlie Davies - Hammarby
Johann Smith - Bolton (on loan to Carlisle)
Kamani Hill - Wolfsburg
Gabriel Ferrari - Sampdoria
Josmer Altidore - Red Bull New York
Robbie Rogers - Columbus Crew
Unfortunately we're probably going to lose Giuseppe Rossi (Parma) to Italy. He was born and raised in New Jersey, but he's been pushed to play for the azzuri. I'm not sure if he's officially cap-tied or not, but he's played for a lot of their youth teams and is as good as gone.

The U-20 world cup will help us separate the wheat from the chaff. But ultimately, you are right - I'll feel a hell of a lot better if one of our strikers develops into something resembling an international class finisher.

MLS is garbage, sorry. An entirely domestic corps of strikers will not achieve anything major for US soccer. The pace of MLS is slow and the defenders are clumsy and disposed only towards physical play. As Drunken Eamon Dunphy would say, Ching? Nothing player.

Edited by Spacemans Bong, 16 March 2007 - 12:06 AM.

[Titans Bastard]

MLS is garbage, sorry. An entirely domestic corps of strikers will not achieve anything major for US soccer. The pace of MLS is slow and the defenders are clumsy and disposed only towards physical play. As Drunken Eamon Dunphy would say, Ching? Nothing player.

I agree that we need to see some strikers prove themselves at a higher level of play; that being said, in some ways I'd rather see guys like Kenny Cooper and Eddie Johnson play a full season in MLS than sit on the bench or in the reserves for a European club (well, Cooper has been there and done that). We have some young guys with some promise on both sides of the pond, five years from now it will be interesting to see how each group turns out.

BTW, it sounds like you don't care much for the domestic game, but it seems somewhat likely that the Bay Area will be back in MLS by 2008 or 2009.

Edited by Titans Bastard, 16 March 2007 - 01:29 AM.

[CJChap]

Rossi has played at the youth level for Italy, but is not cap tied to their National team, but if he doesn't play for either Sr. team by I think age 21, then he is tied to Italy. An annoying situation for sure.

From all reports Johann Smith is one of the fastest players in the world, but that's where it seems to end for him. Here's a recent article about him....also note though, that there have been reports of racial chants being yelled at him during the game that's being discussed.
http://www.soccer365...21_138842.shtml

I'm real excited to see what the future of Charlie Davies the kid from NH who played for BC. He's currently wearing the 10 shirt for Hammarby. Though I think he's getting paid slightly less then he was offered by the MLS, I think he made a good choice to go play for a team that has no problem developing players and selling them to larger clubs for profit, whereas in the MLS he would have been stuck here had he showed his worth.

Ferrari is interesting. He toiled in the Red Bull youth system and suddenly signed on with Sampadoria and has been on their bench a lot, and gotten on the field for the last 10 mins or so against one of the Milan teams.

Feilhaber had a real promising beginning of the season and, as was noted, got some Champions League time, but since they struggled and the mgr was fired, he's been relegated to the reserves. Wouldn't be surprised if he ended up back in the MLS this summer once he gets the chance to discuss his future with mgmt after the season.

If you want some good info/updates on U.S. players in Europe, a good site to check out is http://www.yanks-abroad.com/

Anyone intrigued at all by Kenny Cooper?

[Phil Plantier]

Although I like the Jay DeMerit story, he looked like the worst player on the field in Watford's FA Cup win over Plymouth Argyle last weekend. It was only one game, of course, and he may have been hurt - he was taken off the field for a while in the first half. But the Plymouth attackers were just running over him.

[Spacemans Bong]

Although I like the Jay DeMerit story, he looked like the worst player on the field in Watford's FA Cup win over Plymouth Argyle last weekend. It was only one game, of course, and he may have been hurt - he was taken off the field for a while in the first half. But the Plymouth attackers were just running over him.

DeMerit's consistently shown his talent as one of Watford's better defenders (and Watford's defense isn't all that bad - they just can't score goals at all). So he was probably hurt.

[biollante]

Jay DeMerit is a strong defender but can over play at times.

[allaboutthesox]

Anyone watching the US vs. Ecuador? This should be interesting to see how the US plays since there are more European based players back. A bit off the topic, but damn I want to punch Eric Wynalda in his face every time he opens his mouth.

[allaboutthesox]

Wow! Nice goal Landon Donovan....42 seconds into the game.

[TheRealness]

Very entertaining game so far. Possession is quick changing, and each teams transition game seems to be working well. Howard is taking a few too many chances for my liking, but regardless of whether they win or lose this game is already playing out to be very exciting.

[allaboutthesox]

A couple of quick observations so far:

1. The US defense has more holes than swiss cheese right now.

2. Nice to see Beasely play more aggressive.

3. Eddie Johnson needs to think more about scoring when he has the ball. He is to talented to be second guessing himself.

4. The field is playing terrible right now. Second Half should be a lot better once the teams get a feel for the field.


Second Half:

Eddie Johnson out and Micheal Bradley in. I am wondering if Bob Bradley is losing patience with Eddie Johnson. If so, that will not be good for EJ's confidence.

1. Landon is playing extremely well for the second International match in a row. As I type this, he scores AGAIN!!

2. Felhaber is playing well for someone in his first cap.

3. The Bradley for Johnson substitution is seeming to pay off as Bradley is playing within himself at the moment.

4. Very solid second half. The Defense was a lot better in the second half, but too many times they allowed people to get in behind them on set pieces.


All in all, a very solid game for the USMNT.

Edited by allaboutthesox, 25 March 2007 - 01:01 PM.

[TheRealness]

What a shot on that 3rd goal. Just an absolute sniper.

Begs the question, Where was THAT last summer?

[allaboutthesox]

Agreed, where was that last summer? The one thing to remember though is Landon is still young and I can only hope that Landon continues to develop and that he is finally showing the promise he was hailed with when he was very young.

[Vinho Tinto]

Did they ditch the "retro" mid 90's blue uniforms?

[biollante]

USA 3 Ecuador 1 - Donovan scores a hat trick when it doesn't matter.

[dirtynine]

just ordered one of those blue uni's... I have a feeling they will be the Dave Henderson of USMNT jerseys.

[LTF]

Agreed, where was that last summer? The one thing to remember though is Landon is still young and I can only hope that Landon continues to develop and that he is finally showing the promise he was hailed with when he was very young.

I'm relatively new to all this, but I'm fairly certain 25 isn't considered "young" in soccer.

[Vinho Tinto]

I'm relatively new to all this, but I'm fairly certain 25 isn't considered "young" in soccer.

You are right, but it varies greatly by position. 25 is not young for a forward. For example, Michael Owen is now 28. During Euro '04, it would have been very odd to hear him referred to as a young player. Forwards age quickly due to the pounding that they take and the high level of athleticism needs to excel.

You can pretty much view how age relates to position by viewing any soccer formation from front to back. The forwards typically retire first, while a great keeper can play into his late 30/early 40s. Manuel Bento died a couple of weeks ago. He started for Portugal at Euro '84 at the age of 36; and finally retired from playing for Benfica after the '92 season at the age of 44.

[Cavalla King]

Couple of reactions to the game:

- I think Landon benefited a lot from Michael Bradley for Eddie Johnson substitution to start the second half. Bradley and Benny Feilhaber did a nice job of settling the middle, and allowed Donovan to play between the midfielders and the strikers. He's got the perfect skill set to be an attacking midfielder, and he showed it. Everyone will remember that third goal, but the second goal was a real showcase for what he can do from that position. He made a great run, and absolutely blew by the Ecuadorean defense (which may not be saying much, as they were terrible, but still).

- I used to think Ching and Twellman were about equal as strikers, and Twellman's injuries prevented him from getting a fair shot. Not anymore. Seeing both of them play in this game, and having watched Twellman with the Revs for awhile now, I definitely saw a big difference in their styles of play. They can both finish, but Ching showed his superior ability to set his teammates up. His pass assist on Donovan's second goal was brilliant, perfectly located and paced. He showed me a lot, especially considering he was playing with gauze in his nose after getting kicked in the face at the end of the first half.




Also, I'm looking forward to today's games. The men's national team is playing Guatemala in Frisco tonight at 9 (game broadcast on ESPN2). Also, tonight at 6 the U-20 men's team will play Haiti's senior men's national team. Though that one is not on TV, ussoccer.com is broadcasting the game live (a preview, full US roster, and link to the broadcast can be found here).

[CJChap]

And as a note to that U-20 game, if anyone is going to watch, keep an eye out for Gabriel Ferrari. He'll be paired with Altidore up top and I'm real interested to see how that works out.

If anyone watches please post their thoughts as I won't be around to watch the U-20 game.

[Cavalla King]

And as a note to that U-20 game, if anyone is going to watch, keep an eye out for Gabriel Ferrari. He'll be paired with Altidore up top and I'm real interested to see how that works out.

If anyone watches please post their thoughts as I won't be around to watch the U-20 game.

Thanks for the info, CJC. I haven't really heard much about anyone on the roster aside from Adu.

I've never tried watching anything live from their site, but I'm planning on giving it a shot tonight. If it works, I'll post my reactions after the game is over.

[allaboutthesox]

I'm relatively new to all this, but I'm fairly certain 25 isn't considered "young" in soccer.

It is not "old" either.


Tonights game versus Guatemala, the team seemed lethargic and tired at times. A lot of lunging at balls and turning their backs to head the ball. I am not sure what the future holds for the head coach position, but the team played very uninspired, which in turn may reflect on their head coach. Whether that is fair or not, I am not sure.

Edited by allaboutthesox, 28 March 2007 - 10:07 PM.

[biollante]

US v. Guatemala was dreadfully boring. Forget the game happened. Expect to see more defensive games against the US coming up. All is not lost, the US is still trying players out.

[Titans Bastard]

USA beats China 4-1 in San Jose.

All Yanks Abroad plus Chivas USA (the one MLS team with an off week) roster. China isn't the greatest opposition, but we played really well and showed a surprising amount of technical ability and ball skills for an American team. Starting lineup was:

------------------Howard---------------------
----------Bocanegra------Onyewu----------
---Spector--------------------Bornstein-----
-----------------------------------------------
----Kljestan------Feilhaber-----Bradley----
----------Dempsey----------Beasley--------
------------------------------------------------
--------------------Razov--------------------

Now that McBride is retired from the national team, we don't have any well-established Euro-based strikers, so we got a quick look at Charlie Davies (Hammarby) and Kamani Hill (VfL Wolfsburg) for the last 20 minutes or so, as well as PSV's Lee Nguyen, who is more of a winger. Davies and Nguyen are really fast and made a couple of impressive runs, but are still pretty raw. However, given the low-upside nature of many of our current national team forwards (Twellman, Ching, et al), it was really exciting to see the kind of tools on display. Razov was merely a placeholder, but as Chivas's best American striker he was really all we had available -- and he got the start so as not to overwhelm the young guys in their first international action...Davies in particular only made his professional debut about two months ago.

Feilhaber and Bradley both looked pretty good in the midfield -- Feilhaber and an assist and his first international goal. Beasley and Dempsey both had solid games, although Clint really could have had a hattrick if he finished better. Beasley was taken down in the box by China's goalie at the end of a run onto a great pass from Bradley, and then Beasley converted the PK. He took a nice free kick into the box in the second half that Dempsey headed in.

On defense, Bocanegra and Onyewu both turned in solid efforts and Onyewu used his height to head in a Feilhaber corner kick in the second half. Bornstein is really fast and was able to use his speed to recover from his mistakes. If he can solidify his positioning, he can definitely be a great left back. It's important to remember that he was only recently converted to LB from the midfield/forward role he played in college. Spector was replaced by Simek in the second half and both looked solid if unspectacular. Both guys have a good chance to establish themselves as regular EPL defenders over the next year or two. Simek is strictly a RB although Spector can play anywhere in the backline, which provides some nice versatility. We'll never have to see Albright again at RB, and by 2010 one or both of them could be challenging Cherundolo's spot in our Best XI.


Anyway, I guess it doesn't mean that much because China isn't very stiff competition. Nonetheless, it was good to see promise from the next generation of American players, which has more potential than our current national team pool. It was also good to see Beasley and Onyewu have strong games given that they are both looking for a new club.

[Titans Bastard]

USA to play Mexico at Azteca on September 9.....

the first friendly we'll play in Mexico since 1984. Let's hope we can improve on the 0-1-19 career record we have playing in Mexico -- but I doubt it. Azteca is a fucking hellhole on so many levels.

[allaboutthesox]

Watching the US vs. Sweden game today and the US is down 1-0 early in the second half. So far the defense looks really slow and lethargic. It also appears the US still hasn't found the ability to finish very good opportunities.

At some point I am wondering if Bradley will explore the tandem of Altidore and Adu up top on the USMNT. Those two seem to play well together in the U-21 World Cup. I understand that there is a big difference between U-21 and the Men's team, but if Bradley is going to start looking at younger guys, why not Altidore and Adu? I am not sold on Kalani (sp?) Hill and Charlie Davies as the answer.

Edited by allaboutthesox, 22 August 2007 - 03:11 PM.

[allaboutthesox]

US loses 1-0 to Sweden today. I hope some of our other friendly matches scheduled for the rest of this year have a better result.

[Phil Plantier]

This match seemed a little strange - the pace was pretty slow, and the US' best chance was about 40 seconds into the game. Sweden definitely deserved the win, but their goal resulted from a blatant push-off. The US showed some decent attacking instincts, but there were no strikers (Ching failed a fitness test, Dempsey and Donovan were better on the wings than up front).

[CJChap]

I think it's time to bring Jozy Altidore into the fold. Yea, he's young. Yea, he's inexperienced and I understand that he might not be at the level overall of some of the other forwards/strikers on the squad, but you're building for 2010 and the more Int'l experience for him is only a benefit. Beating Sweden or Switzerland isn't all that important in the grand scheme of things.

Plus he has shown the ability to be a very good finisher in the MLS as well as in the U-20's. Something we've always lacked.

[Joe D Reid]

Agreed. Two of the things the USMNT has lacked has been a true finisher and a dead ball specialist. Not coincidentally, those are the two best ways of getting the ball in the back of the net. Any potential for developing either of those things has to be seized--there will be pleny of unselfish, high workrate guys to surround them with.

[allaboutthesox]

I think it's time to bring Jozy Altidore into the fold. Yea, he's young. Yea, he's inexperienced and I understand that he might not be at the level overall of some of the other forwards/strikers on the squad, but you're building for 2010 and the more Int'l experience for him is only a benefit. Beating Sweden or Switzerland isn't all that important in the grand scheme of things.

Plus he has shown the ability to be a very good finisher in the MLS as well as in the U-20's. Something we've always lacked.

Agreed, I also believe that Adu at some point needs to be paired up front with Altidore on the National Team. They worked really well together in the U-20 World Cup. Altidore does a very good job of finishing and if he doesn't score, his shots are normally on target. Dempsey up top is not going to work, even with anyone else up front with him. Phil Plantier said it best that Donovan is better as an attack CM and Dempsey is better on the opposite side of Beasley. I thought that Johnson had discovered his scoring touch as well in tournaments as well as in MLS play. I was wondering why he was left off the roster to begin with.

I suppose Bradley wants to see the younger players play, but if that is the case......bring on Adu and Altidore. The defense looked really slow and lethargic. Onyewu looked really slow and lost on defense and Bocanegra seems to be playing as if his confidence in himself is really low. Borestein is not the answer I think for the other defensive spot. We will see how it goes with WC qualifying coming up next year.

Edited by allaboutthesox, 23 August 2007 - 07:54 PM.