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Quick Germany thoughts
Tuesday, March 28, 2006 CC asked for my thoughts on the Germany match, so I thought I'd belatedly provide them. I caught this match on Tivo, as I was in Asia when it happened, so I only just watched it yesterday. I thought we played great for 70 minutes, and then the defense collapsed. People should understand that we never expected to win this game. We took a team with at most six players who could even contend for a starting job, and faced a pissed-off German "A"-team, in Germany. Come on. Here's my take on what the players did for themselves in this match (which is the only thing we should really be worried about). Secured a Spot on the Roster: Cory Gibbs. In his first match with the Nats since his injury, Gibbs looked great. He made some incredible tackles, and he possessed the ball beautifully. In my opinion, there is no way Bruce will leave him off the roster after this performance, which showed that Gibbs is in form. Made Their Cases to Start: Eddie Johnson, Bobby Convey. EJ is starting to look like the real deal again. Those who question whether he can compete with the world's best should note that he won an aerial battle against Michael freaking Ballack and the resulting strike would've been a goal against 95% of the world's keepers. (We Americans are doomed to see that Oliver Kahn in our sleep forever.) Johnson also helped to create the one goal we got. I think the McBride/Johnson tandem is looking more likely every day. Convey, for his part, had another strong game at left midfield, playing aggressive, creative soccer. One way or another, he'll see some serious minutes this summer. Maintained Their Status Quo: Steve Cherundolo, Pablo Mastroeni, Kasey Keller. These guys are good players. We already knew that. Didn't Look Lost: Brian Ching. He wasn't great, but he made enough positive things happen that I still think he should be in the mix for this roster, especially since Josh Wolff has been underwhelming, and he left this match early with an injury. Hurt Their Chances: Kerry Zavagnin, Chris Klein, Jimmy Conrad. Zavagnin, with his dangerous passes, lack of aggression, and lack of vision, seems to do more harm than good when he's out there. I just don't think Zavagnin is ready for the big stage. Klein had three targets available in the box as he came up the wing, and then he shook his defender by cutting the ball back with his right foot. But rather than hit the cross with his left foot, he tried another touch to set up his right foot. By that time, of course, the defender had a chance to recover and the attack died. It was embarrassing. Conrad wasn't terrible, but he certainly had a share of the blame for the German onslaught, and that won't help him any in his longshot bid to win a roster spot. Really Hurt His Chances: Greg Berhalter. Jesus Christ, was he always this bad and I just didn't realize it? You can blame some of the defensive problems on a lack of organization/communication, but Berhalter just got straight-up beaten way too many times. In my opinion, there is no way Berhalter should make this roster when you consider the other options we have at center back. Bruce had an interesting line in a recent interview. "We're getting really close," he said. "The last three spots are going to be difficult to decide on." I take that to mean the following 20 players are locks (assuming they're healthy): Kasey Keller and two other goalkeepers (probably Marcus Hahenemann and Tim Howard, but who really cares) Steve Cherundolo Cory Gibbs Oguchi Onyewu Carlos Bocanegra Eddie Pope Eddie Lewis Frankie Hejduk Claudio Reyna Pablo Mastroeni John O'Brien Clint Dempsey DaMarcus Beasley Bobby Convey Landon Donovan Eddie Johnson Brian McBride Taylor Twellman The players in contention for the other three spots (if I'm missing anyone, somebody please let me know): Jimmy Conrad Jonathan Spector Todd Dunivant Greg Berhalter Pat Noonan Steve Ralston Chris Klein Kerry Zavagnin Ben Olsen Josh Wolff Brian Ching Conor Casey If I had to guess, I'd say Bruce will take Wolff, Noonan, and Zavagnin. If it were up to me, I'd get rid of Hejduk, and take Dunivant, Spector, Wolff and Noonan. At least, that's what I'm saying right now. I'll try to do a better post (aimed at the less hardcore fans) devoted to the roster battles sometime before Bruce picks the team (ha!). Finally, CC also asked about Reyna's latest injury. Bruce doesn't seem to be worried about it, as it's a shoulder injury and not expected to affect his fitness. Reyna is perpetually day-to-day--it was the same thing four years ago. I don't know why, but I just have a hunch he's going to be OK for this World Cup. I'm not nearly as sure about John O'Brien. Post a Comment | View (4) Comments Good News Monday, March 06, 2006 Claudio Reyna made his return with Manchester City in the English Premier League this weekend, and by all accounts he played a strong 81 minutes and helped create a goal. This is fantastic news for the Nats. We probably won't see him in a U.S. uniform until May, but it's great that he's healthy now. We need him in that midfield. Sing it with me: "There's only one Claudio Reyna One Claudio Reyyyyyyyyyyyynaaaaaaaaaa There's only one Claudio Reyyyyyyynaaaaaaa" Post a Comment | View (6) Comments U.S.-Poland Report and Grades Wednesday, March 01, 2006 Nice. Win. To beat a talented European side, a side that is expected to advance to the World Cup Round of 16, on European soil, is absolutely nothing to sneeze at. It wasn't perfect, it wasn't pretty, and yeah we got a little lucky on the goal, but it is quite an accomplishment to grind out a 1-0 win in tough conditions against a determined opposition. We're still far from where we need to be come June, but I think today's game was a very positive sign. Matt's Grades Kasey Keller: B- Kasey was his usual brilliant self when making saves, but his distribution was significantly off. A couple times he booted the ball out of bounds for no reason, and several of his other clearances seemed to have no purpose. I'm not worried but jeez, does anyone know what was going on with Keller's right foot today? Tim Howard: B+ The former MetroStar did very well as Keller's second-half replacement. He won't see any time this summer, but at least he got to play a little soccer today. (He's currently riding the bench for Manchester United.) Steve Cherundolo: A- Oh, Dolo. You're so good. Dolo seemed to take on the roles of playmaker, defender, and free-kick taker with perfect ease in this match. He looked great pushing up the right side offensively, and he didn't allow the Poles to develop any kind of attack up their left side. I give out a straight A only for a perfect performance, but Dolo came pretty damn close to that today. Oguchi Onyewu: B+ Gooch did the things we expected him to do today. He played brutally physical defense and completely disrupted the Polish attack. He was off on a few touches, and he never got the chance to show off his aerial skills on any set pieces, but Gooch played a very solid game. Greg Berhalter: B A quiet, steady game from Berhalter. He didn't do anything to stand out, but he didn't make any glaring errors either. On defense, the latter is probably more important anyway. Carlos Bocanegra: C In my opinion, Boca did not play very well as Berhalter's second-half substitute. He committed some bad fouls, had some awkward touches, and just generally appeared passive when confronted with an approaching Polish striker. I used to have Carlos penciled in as a starter. Now I wonder if he'll even make this roster. Eddie Lewis: A- Ladies and gentlemen, I think we've found our left back. Lewis has always been that talented left midfielder we could never find a spot for in the lineup. And we've never, really in our entire soccer history (unless I'm forgetting somebody), had a reliable left back. Watching Eddie out there today, it just seems so obvious that we've solved both problems. Eddie pushed up and joined the offense beautifully, while doing a fine job tracking back to defend. And oh yeah, he created the goal. Apparently, Lewis thinks it's natural at this point in his career (he's almost thirty) for him to transition from a left-mid to a left back. Great. You're hired. It's time to end any speculation about who will paly left back for this team after today's performance. And I think it's telling that Bruce left Lewis in the match for the entire 90 minutes--not even trying anyone else at the position. Kerry Zavagnin: C The defensive midfielder has to be a link between the defense and the offense, and although I admire how much work Kerry has done to improve his game, I don't think he's ready to contribute to a World Cup side at this point in his career. He had a lot of awkward touches, looked a little panicked in the defensive end, and didn't really show that he was capable of being a playmaker. I like Zavagnin, but we need a better option in this spot (i.e., Reyna, get healthy and get on the pitch). Pablo Mastroeni: B+ Pablo looked good as a late substitute for Zavagnin. He didn't really show much rust coming off his injury, and he distributed to Donovan and the rest of the offense very nicely. If Pablo stays healthy and regains his fitness, he's a lock to make this roster, and will probably see at least one or two starts in Germany (because Lord knows someone will be injured or yellow-carded out of there). DaMarcus Beasley: B- DMB had far from his best performance today. He showed flashes of the brilliance we all know he has, but he seemed a little lost out there in this match. In my opinion he tried to do too much on his own instead of linking up with Donovan and the strikers. It seemed 3/4 of the time Beasley got the ball, he dribbled it for a few minutes only to have it tackled away. I expect Beasley to be spectacular in June. He was nowhere near spectacular today. Bobby Convey: A- Wow. Is this the same kid who played for DC United all those years? Playing in England has clearly done wonders for Bobby's game. Based on today's performance alone, fans might think Convey was the star and Beasley was the up-and-coming youngster trying to find his way. With great crosses, great skill on the ball, and great hustle (he tracked down balls on the right side of the field, in the snow, from his LEFT mid position) Convey showed that he too is a lock for this roster, and is probably even a candidate to start somewhere in the midfield. Clint Dempsey: A- Clint is fast becoming one of my favorite players on this team. He had looked fantastic in all the friendlies leading up to this match, and he looked great again today in a starting role against much stiffer competition. Forget the goal, he drew a lot of fouls, continued to look impressive dribbling around people, and seemed to be one of the few players creating chances for the offense. Assuming John O'Brien isn't 100% (and I think at this point, we all assume John O'Brien is never 100%), it appears the battle is on for the starting right midfield position between Dempsey and Convey. Both should, however, see playing time this summer. Landon Donovan: B+ It took Landon a while to get into this one, but once he did he really looked good running at people, drawing fouls, and running the offense. I'll admit, I was scared watching the first half and wondering where the hell Landon was and why he wasn't touching the ball. But he found his game just in time. Getting into form with his MLS side when they start play a month from now will only help. Taylor Twellman: B+ It was really a "B" performance, but he gets bumped up to a B+ for being opportunistic enough to get in the neighborhood of Eddie Lewis's cross, thus allowing the Polish keeper to punch the ball directly into Twellman's forehead, resulting in the clearly intentional one-bounce ricochet into the onrushing Clint Dempsey for the only goal of the match. And actually, that's what Twellman does best--he gets himself in the right spot. Say what you will, it's vitally important for a striker to do just that. Still, it seems pretty clear that Twellman has a long way to go before he'll be compared to Brian McBride (by people other than Eric Wynalda). Eddie Johnson: B Johnson had the opposite game from Onyewu. He didn't do the things we expect him to do. Johnson usually makes perfectly-timed runs where he appears out of nowhere into a ton of space, receives the ball, and often deposits it into the net. He only had one such run today, and when he received the ball he fired a harmless shot into the side netting before he had really turned and figured out where he was in relation to the goal mouth. Johnson didn't really make many mistakes, but he didn't have an impact either. He probably deserves a "B-" but he is upgraded to a "B" because he is still getting match-fit and was not supposed to play as many minutes as he did today. (He got called into extended duty because Bruce decided to play it safe with McBride when he "tweaked a groin"; as the announcers said). Josh Wolff: B Wolff is an enigma. He always looks OK out there, but he never seems to be part of any scoring chances either. I always remember his assist to McBride against Mexico four years ago, and it makes me believe there is always hope for him. Then again, I remember Clint Mathis's strike against Korea, and everyone knows hope is lost for that individual. Wolff, as a late substitute for Johnson, had another quiet outing today. Everyone seems to think Wolff is a lock to make this roster, but I wonder if Bruce shouldn't be taking a good look at the rest of the strikers--maybe throw Brian Ching back into the equation. I don't know. It just seems that with the roster battles as competitive as they are, we can't afford to waste a spot on someone who just might be good when the time comes. I realize this blog has taken a different turn, and I promise I will do the roster battles post eventually. But these are the kind of posts I had in mind for this blog. I just meant to do them after I had caught up all the non-fans on the current state of U.S. Soccer. So for those of you who had some trouble following this analysis, sorry you've had to learn a little on the fly. Like the U.S. National Team, I promise you'll be ready come June. Post a Comment | View (7) Comments  December 2005 | January 2006 | February 2006 | March 2006 | |
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