Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Gamenight
The U.S. and Jamaica will kick off shortly. By the time you read this, they will have likely wrapped the game up. Here's my prediction of what you saw...if you watched! [Game over: U.S. ends with a disappointing 1-1 tie.]
JOB: He made his expected appearance at the 70 minute mark. The crowd cheered wildly and he worked 20 injury-free minutes. He even gave a distribution to the wings that lead to a goal. On to Germany! [I think I nailed that one! Who cares that no one could finish tonight. And I didn't count on a couple of bad miscues by John by we'll let that slide. Welcome back. And you know what? You better get in form because you have a bit to go based on these initial 20 minutes. ]
The Team: Of course, this was of secondary importance to JOB's appearance. Well, the team cruised to an easy two goal victory. Of course, all the hacking in the second half made it more of an injury worry than a worry about the scoreline. [Half right. You can always count on Jamaica to hack their way through the game although Frankie set the tone early with a boots up sliding challenge that deserved a card. If we played with our second half team the whole game, we would have won by two. But tonight was a night for showcasing who can cut it and who can't. And there were many guys out there tonight who can't cut it and will make Bruce's choice easy. In fact, outside of LD, Dempsey and Pope and maybe Pablo, everyone else made a case for lifelong MLS employment.]
Taylor Twellman: He couldn't be stopped. He has only one mountain yet to climb (scoring against world class defenses) and Jamaica certainly didn't provide that! [Totally wrong. TT is back in the slump. Actually I don't think he's in a slump at all. He can only score with good service and there wasn't much of that tonight.]
Josh Wolff: Lest their be any confusion, Josh was a handful. He didn't score, of course, but he was a vital cog in the offense. [1/4 right? Josh was certainly better than TT but also didn't do much as we played so shaky the first half. But he does show flashes, and we're lousy at forward depth (can you say Freddy Adu for the last time, or even Chris Rolfe) so I say book your plane ticket to Germany, Josh.]
Bruce Arena: Bruce knows better than anyone else that this game would yield no clues as to performances in Germany...but it did show who was "in form" and who was still injured. As such, the favorite for the last man on the team, Pat Noonan, looked healthy and ready to punch his lucky ticket to Germany. [1/2 wrong. The game did yield clues as to who could perform in Germany. See TT's comments above. But it was a showcase for who was fit. Noonan looked fairly healthy to me and did enough to make the team. Just barely. And if Ralston wasn't an injury waiting to happen, Noonan would be off the team.]
Brian Ching: The striker laid an unexpected egg. He knew he needed at least a goal and wound up trying to create too much...and we all know that's not his game. [1/2 wrong. He didn't get that goal he needed but I thought he possessed the ball well and one touched the ball well and opened up some free kick opportunities for Albright. Just having Ching in the box makes me feel good about our chances.]
Tony Meola: See ya Tony! Thanks for the memories. At least we didn't pull you from the nets and put you at forward. You gave us a nice save but also showed the mental lapses that you're famous for. No problem. You're a Jersey guy and now you're headed to the soccer HOF. [Tony was a little slow off the line on their goal. And he didn't get that signature punch save we were all hoping for but you got your 100th cap nonetheless.] (Bostrom)
JOB: He made his expected appearance at the 70 minute mark. The crowd cheered wildly and he worked 20 injury-free minutes. He even gave a distribution to the wings that lead to a goal. On to Germany! [I think I nailed that one! Who cares that no one could finish tonight. And I didn't count on a couple of bad miscues by John by we'll let that slide. Welcome back. And you know what? You better get in form because you have a bit to go based on these initial 20 minutes. ]
The Team: Of course, this was of secondary importance to JOB's appearance. Well, the team cruised to an easy two goal victory. Of course, all the hacking in the second half made it more of an injury worry than a worry about the scoreline. [Half right. You can always count on Jamaica to hack their way through the game although Frankie set the tone early with a boots up sliding challenge that deserved a card. If we played with our second half team the whole game, we would have won by two. But tonight was a night for showcasing who can cut it and who can't. And there were many guys out there tonight who can't cut it and will make Bruce's choice easy. In fact, outside of LD, Dempsey and Pope and maybe Pablo, everyone else made a case for lifelong MLS employment.]
Taylor Twellman: He couldn't be stopped. He has only one mountain yet to climb (scoring against world class defenses) and Jamaica certainly didn't provide that! [Totally wrong. TT is back in the slump. Actually I don't think he's in a slump at all. He can only score with good service and there wasn't much of that tonight.]
Josh Wolff: Lest their be any confusion, Josh was a handful. He didn't score, of course, but he was a vital cog in the offense. [1/4 right? Josh was certainly better than TT but also didn't do much as we played so shaky the first half. But he does show flashes, and we're lousy at forward depth (can you say Freddy Adu for the last time, or even Chris Rolfe) so I say book your plane ticket to Germany, Josh.]
Bruce Arena: Bruce knows better than anyone else that this game would yield no clues as to performances in Germany...but it did show who was "in form" and who was still injured. As such, the favorite for the last man on the team, Pat Noonan, looked healthy and ready to punch his lucky ticket to Germany. [1/2 wrong. The game did yield clues as to who could perform in Germany. See TT's comments above. But it was a showcase for who was fit. Noonan looked fairly healthy to me and did enough to make the team. Just barely. And if Ralston wasn't an injury waiting to happen, Noonan would be off the team.]
Brian Ching: The striker laid an unexpected egg. He knew he needed at least a goal and wound up trying to create too much...and we all know that's not his game. [1/2 wrong. He didn't get that goal he needed but I thought he possessed the ball well and one touched the ball well and opened up some free kick opportunities for Albright. Just having Ching in the box makes me feel good about our chances.]
Tony Meola: See ya Tony! Thanks for the memories. At least we didn't pull you from the nets and put you at forward. You gave us a nice save but also showed the mental lapses that you're famous for. No problem. You're a Jersey guy and now you're headed to the soccer HOF. [Tony was a little slow off the line on their goal. And he didn't get that signature punch save we were all hoping for but you got your 100th cap nonetheless.] (Bostrom)
