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The more I think about it..the less disappointed I am in this match..but then the more I think about it..the more I am.

I know it was just a warm-up..and that with 5 substitutions the US was just trying to spread around some PT..and just shake off the dust.

I just wasn't really impressed with anybody individually.. I thought Cherundolo had a good game.. but I wasn't really too happy with anyone else.

Thoughts?

You thought Cherundolo had a good game? Did you happen to see the slight mistake he made in about the last five minutes? haha

terrible

WC FEVER? Not in this country anymore. All we'll talk about for the next week is how bad we were tonight.

Yes, Cherundolo had the best MATCH of any US player out there.. and..I think if you think back..yes he mishandled the ball..but there was no one getting back to help.

I seem to recall the "man of the match" Mastroeni streaking in late just in time to watch the score.

Bottomline..we didn't gel very well (which is hard with so much subbing) but still.

I know we still have three more matches before WC.. just wondering if anyone else had seen this.

ehhhh..

it wasn't a good game to watch...i watched it anyway, but i think arena knows what he's doing. these warm ups mean NOTHING!, but if they can be used to prepare for the WC then they'll be extremely useful. with 5 subs you won't see a lot of gelling anyway, but there were still some nice combos with donovan and beasley. john o'brien had some on-the-point crosses and lob passes (i.e. the one donovan should've buried) and the defense looked strong for the most part. the lame goal at the end was just the US thinking the game is over (OK, think about scrimmages at practice...do you really go 100% when you know coach is calling the game in a couple minutes?) i trust bruce... and i trust that a goal like that will never happen in the WC. and yes, cherundalo had a nice game, better than i expected. I would've liked to see eddie johnson finish one of those chances, but i still think he'll be a standout. Convey didn't look so bad either, maybe with a little more consistency he can get some good minutes down the road.

Quote Sheet From Coaches And Players

MORROCO MORROCO! Middle East soccer at its best, and i don't care what any one of you say b/c guess what...Final Score: Morroco:1 USA:0, nil, nada, nothing, or in arabic "Sifr" But i must say the match was very evenly competitive, and USA had more chances on goal and are a great team when it comes to big games, its just that they are not consistent and if you wanna be 4th in the world, a 1-0 loss to Morroco and inconsistensy just isnt gonna cut it. Friendly or not, the U.S. just aren't cutting it.

The whole point is, put the ball out for a throw, or even worse, a corner, and the US probably escapes unscathed. yet, he decided to try and dribble past a forward when he was 1 v 1 in the back, not exactly the smartest decision of his life.

Whether you're six or thirty-six, when in doubt, clear it out. Back to the basics.

Fair enough..I just think it's a bit harsh to focus solely on that when he really had a pretty solid match overall.

Again.. we were switching people around and Morocco was basically packing it in. ::shrug::

The one thing I see lacking is the presence of a "dynamic player" who can create on his own when possession breaks down. All top flight countries have at least 1 player of this description and the contenders have multiple options. What we need is a young,healthy, motivated Clint Mathis,but those days have passed unfortunately.

The US looked like they were playing with three defenders (3-5-2) for much of the game. At the end of the game, it looked like a 1-7-2 formation. How often will they be in that formation during the World Cup? I can't see having a 3 man defense against Italy or the Czech Republic. So why practice it now? In a normal game against Morocco, it probably makes sense. But I thought the point of these games was to practice what you will use next month. Or am I missing something here?

I am not that upset about our defensive breakdown at the end. We were pressing forward trying to punch one in and they got us on a counter. What bothers me is that we couldn't create more dangerous chances than we did, even if they were packing it in...I think we can play defense well enough, but how will we score?.

I actually agree about Cherundolo - I thought he had a really strong game with that one exception. Several of the players were invisible, or had terrible touches (Beasley), and when we got looks at our forwards they were just standing there awaiting service. The team seemed tight. Maybe they were afraid of injury or nervous about screwing up.

Pretty poor for the most part and not fun to watch. I disagree that the subs kept the team from jelling! These guys play together alot and subbing in one guy for another will not (UN-GEL) the team, they are after all professionals. The injury could have been the only argument about jelling. The "warm ups" as they have been called are very important, don't kid yourself! These guys are fighting for any opening. Trust me when i say these guys are not happy with just being on the team, they want to start and play full time.

Convey was all over the field and looked good with high energy. I also thought Cherundolo played fairly well as did the whole D. However, we looked weak in mid-field and Beasley seemed to not be himself. I also thought Landon played like Landycakes, I hope he steps it up! Claudio going out seemed to hurt our organization and possession in the middle third but I thought Pablo filled in nicely and made no glaring mistakes. I and surely any US soccer fan expected more......touches were messy and we did not do a good job of getting the ball to the forwards. For me it was a dissapointing performance. Morroco was probably the strongest team we play before the real test. It better get not just better but a world better before June or I will be watching my second favorite team play through the worlds best tournament!!

i agree im reallly impressed with convey's play lately. i would really like 2 see him in the starting line-up come world cup time.

An ironic post-game incident: when the game was over, espn switched over to a WNBA game. During this game, the commercial breaks were filled with FIFA cup promos. One in particular was a pro-USA bit with something along the lines of "other teams don't look forward to playing you anymore."

Felt a little bit embarassed for our home team after watching that sketchy game that had just occured...

Overall: Dissappointed but ok...now lets see what Bruce can do.

Who looked good:

The D (maybe minus Gibbs, he didnt do bad just not great.)

John O'Brien, great to see him back on the field in better shape, lets hope he keeps it up.

Who looked off:

Donovan
McBride
Reyna (while he was there)
pretty much all of our big time players

MAN OF THE MATCH:
BOBBY CONVEY....when he got on the field he changed everythinge and gave our team most of our offensive chances in the second half.

So now we wait until friday....
I hope Reyna sits.....Because i dont want it to get worse....
And that Ching goes down.....BRING TWELLEMAN

Is anyone a little upset that we just lost to Morocco...Im sorry but with a loss to this side will only mean one thing once we hit the world cup...dissapointment - I just hope they can beat Ghana now - i shouldnt even consider the Czechs or Italy