McBride
Johnson
Beasley
Donovan
Mastroeni
O'Brien
Lewis
Conrad
Pope
Cherundolo
Keller
..not too thrilled for this line-up Zzz.. Zzz..
FYI: the area code for the knot on McBride's head is 742HOLYCHRISTTHAT'SHUGE19
johnson wasnt very impressive tonight. he missed a lot of easy chances, and he let up too early on loose balls.
other than that, a good game to send the US off with some confidence.
2nd best game of the three
nobody just extremely impressed me...donovan and beasley had lackluster games as usual. im still not sure how the midfield will look in june.
also, the commentators (aka idiots) were saying eddie lewis is a lock at left back. he wasnt impressive at all. all the left footed place kicks werent good. i dunno, i just feel better with bocanegra back there.
johnson did let up early on some balls i thought he should have put in....again im still not sure how the lineup will look.
yes i would have to agree with everyone else, if we play like that in the group stage, we will lose all three matches!
My 2 year old daughter's coments on "Chello" summed it up...
"He's wearing earings. He's silly."
Can anyone explain the slow-down in the second half? How hot and humid could it have been in Connecticut? I know they're getting a couple of days rest but I sure hope they don't give out of gas like that against the #2 national side in the world.
Maybe it was the humidity..maybe those jerseys were made of Polyester and Wool..but every US player looked to be sweating profusely. I have to say I'm a bit concerned about their overall fitness as well.
i forgot to say...what'd yall think of the jerseys? i was confused for a while on why they were wearing red?
well red is one of the US's country colors. And I thought they were definately better than the other two, although the blue kit is nifty.
From USSoccer.com -- The United States took the field in Sunday's game in a red, limited edition "Don't Tread on Me" Nike jersey. The kits will only be worn one time and will be auctioned off for charity at ussoccer.com. Fans can also purchase the special jersey, which features a classic diagonal sash across the chest and a "Don't Tread" snake logo on the sleeve, at ussoccerstore.com.
thank god that is the last time they will wear those jerseys. i thought that they were very ugly. i like the "don't tread on me" emblem though.
Not only is Lewis a lock at left back, he may have become one of the most critical players to the US team after the Gibbs injury. Arena lost a lot of flexibility with that injury. (notice I'm not suggesting he is a great player necessarily).
Bocanegra is a solid player in the middle but will not see any time on the outside. He's too slow and would get eaten up by most wing players. Lewis isn't there for his offense, he's there because he has the experience and speed to defend on the outside. Nobody left on the squad can do that. Let's hope he doesn't get hurt or accumulate cautions. If he does you could see the US have to really mix change things around in order to defend the flanks.
Convey has played in the back but when I remember seeing him there, I don't remember him seeming too comfortable. Does anyone possibly expect to see him on the outside left with Beasley on the left wing? (If we play w/ 4 in the back)
Will will play with 4 in the back. I suspect it will be Onyewu, Pope, Cherundolo and Lewis.
Funny you should say that about Convey because that's what I had in mind when I said Arena will have to mix things up. The Convey "experiment" with him in the back didn't work out so well a couple of years ago, but he actually could be an option for left-back if need be. He has the speed and some experience back there. His biggest problem was poor choices of clearing the ball and giving it up at inoportune times.
It's definately not ideal and further shows why Lewis is actually so important. If Bocanegra has to be back there, you could see Convey start on the left midfield because his defense is stronger than Beasley's and he may help make up for Bocanegra's lack of speed. That would prevent him from getting caught up too far in the attack though.
I just suggest everyone prays that Lewis does not get hurt so Bruce does not have to make that decision. I dont really like the idea of Convey as a back because i think alot of his talent is when he has the ball and is running at people in the midfield. But yea he could do that at left back too.
If the situation does occur I think Bruce will start to look at Albright because of his attacking ability, Bocanegra (may be slower but is fairly decent), and then you could always put the experience of Berhalter in.
Personaly I am looking foward to seeing Onyewu play people his size...He is a beast.
did any notice how cheap the latvian players played.
I did notice too but they didn't seem as bad as the Venezuelans. Below is an explanation about how our guys dragged in the second half of Latvia.
Tired after a tough training camp and three exhibition games in six days, the Americans had three days off this week before leaving. They have a closed scrimmage against Angola on Monday ahead of their World Cup opener against the second-ranked Czech Republic on June 12 in Gelsenkirchen.
Friday, June 2, 2006 7:03 AM EDT
The Associated Press
By RONALD BLUM
...
"Playing-wise, we still need a little more time," midfielder Landon Donovan said. "We did a ton of running, and when you're running that much and you're that tired, you can't play well. You saw in the three games last week that everyone was dragging. Now we have some time to get our legs back."
who was that bradley guy who got in the game late? i thought the lineup was people going to germany? who is he anyways?
they explained who bradley was in the venezeula game. He is actually the son of Bob Bradley. His father used to coach with the Fire, and is now with one of the west coast teams. Not really sure who though. Anyways, hes 18 and plays somewhere in Europe. Bruce invited him in for an extra body for training during the camp. He got some minutes the last two games for his efforts the last few weeks.
His father coaches Chivas - LA if i'm not mistaken.