Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Taking Stock
Since a few days have past since the last two matches, I figured that rather than breaking those down individually, it would be more fun to see what we’ve found out so far:
What we know
1) Bruce likes Jimmy Conrad. OK, we may have suspected that when he got picked for the squad, but to start two games and be named captain for one of them, he obviously holds him in high regard. So, for now, he seems like he’s your first option in central defense. It will be interesting to see if that remains true once Berhalter gets up to speed (Note: Can anyone explain to me why Berhalter decided to sign with Munich 1860 (a marginal 2nd division squad) after he just helped his former club gain promotion?).
2) Ching will most likely be the first forward off of the bench. In the two games that he didn’t start, he was brought on around the 80th minute. Presumably, this is to get him used to that role.
3) Convey is going to play a huge role for the US. Whether he will be brought into the game around the hour mark to replace JOB or if he starts, he’s a handful for any defender on that left flank…even his defense has improved. With the exception of Donovan, there’s no US player who has that combination of speed and ball control. Reading may not only have to fight to keep Steve Sidwell for next season. If Convey has a good WC, he will get plenty of interest in the transfer market.
4) Other countries would kill to have the plethora of left sided attacking players that we have. Between DMB, Convey, O’Brien, Lewis and Dempsey, we have a veritable stable to choose from. Wish that I could say the same about left back.
5) Dave O’Brien is terrible, just terrible. He’s so bad, I don’t even want to get into it.
What we think we know
1) Bruce is grooming DMB to play on the right side of midfield in order to match up with Pavel Nedved. That will leave the left side for him to choose between JOB and Convey. I do agree with people who have been saying that DMB seems to be over thinking his offensive maneuvers. However, he started to show some signs of life in the second half which is great because we need him. The more that I think about that Nedved match-up, the more that I like it. You can’t through a real physical player at Nedved because he’ll start flopping and drawing fouls or cards. The great thing about DMB is that he has the quickness to neutralize him. Plus, if he frustrates Nedved, Pavel has been known to take stupid fouls and get cards which could be huge.
2) Bruce thinks that Bocanegra is too small to match up with the big Czech and Italian forwards in central defense. Boca is pretty good in the air, but I think Bruce is worried that he would be giving up too much height to Koller, Gilardino and Toni. He’s most likely destined for the subs bench where he can back up both Lewis and central defense.
3) Bruce doesn’t believe in EJ yet. Sure, he’s giving him chances, but I still feel that when push comes to shove, he opt for someone else up front with McBride. I disagree with Balboa saying the EJ was opening things for McBride. All of McBride’s chances were due to his tremendous aerial play, not to EJ’s presence.
4) JOB is a starter on this team and will only play about 60-70 minutes per game. Depending on the situation, he will either be replaced by Convey (if we’re behind) or Olsen (if we’re ahead with DMB shifting from the right to the left side).
5) Balboa is already annoyed with Dave O’Brien and has corrected him when he states an opinion that Celo (and the rest of the soccer world) knows is wrong.
What we don’t know
1) What’s Dempsey’s role? Does he have a chance to start at this point?
2) Who is Keller’s back-up? Did he play Howard just because he hasn’t seen much game action this year (compared to Hanneman) or is Howard our clear #2?
Another interesting benchmark coming up for the US, Costa Rica plays the Czechs today. While Ghana’s win over Jamaica is impressive, I’m less worried about them because both teams’ fates may already be decided by that point. The Czech game is huge for us as if we can get a good result, this will give us confidence for Italy and Ghana. It will be interesting to see how they do against the Ticos. I have already set up the TiVio as the game is on Setanta. (George)
What we know
1) Bruce likes Jimmy Conrad. OK, we may have suspected that when he got picked for the squad, but to start two games and be named captain for one of them, he obviously holds him in high regard. So, for now, he seems like he’s your first option in central defense. It will be interesting to see if that remains true once Berhalter gets up to speed (Note: Can anyone explain to me why Berhalter decided to sign with Munich 1860 (a marginal 2nd division squad) after he just helped his former club gain promotion?).
2) Ching will most likely be the first forward off of the bench. In the two games that he didn’t start, he was brought on around the 80th minute. Presumably, this is to get him used to that role.
3) Convey is going to play a huge role for the US. Whether he will be brought into the game around the hour mark to replace JOB or if he starts, he’s a handful for any defender on that left flank…even his defense has improved. With the exception of Donovan, there’s no US player who has that combination of speed and ball control. Reading may not only have to fight to keep Steve Sidwell for next season. If Convey has a good WC, he will get plenty of interest in the transfer market.
4) Other countries would kill to have the plethora of left sided attacking players that we have. Between DMB, Convey, O’Brien, Lewis and Dempsey, we have a veritable stable to choose from. Wish that I could say the same about left back.
5) Dave O’Brien is terrible, just terrible. He’s so bad, I don’t even want to get into it.
What we think we know
1) Bruce is grooming DMB to play on the right side of midfield in order to match up with Pavel Nedved. That will leave the left side for him to choose between JOB and Convey. I do agree with people who have been saying that DMB seems to be over thinking his offensive maneuvers. However, he started to show some signs of life in the second half which is great because we need him. The more that I think about that Nedved match-up, the more that I like it. You can’t through a real physical player at Nedved because he’ll start flopping and drawing fouls or cards. The great thing about DMB is that he has the quickness to neutralize him. Plus, if he frustrates Nedved, Pavel has been known to take stupid fouls and get cards which could be huge.
2) Bruce thinks that Bocanegra is too small to match up with the big Czech and Italian forwards in central defense. Boca is pretty good in the air, but I think Bruce is worried that he would be giving up too much height to Koller, Gilardino and Toni. He’s most likely destined for the subs bench where he can back up both Lewis and central defense.
3) Bruce doesn’t believe in EJ yet. Sure, he’s giving him chances, but I still feel that when push comes to shove, he opt for someone else up front with McBride. I disagree with Balboa saying the EJ was opening things for McBride. All of McBride’s chances were due to his tremendous aerial play, not to EJ’s presence.
4) JOB is a starter on this team and will only play about 60-70 minutes per game. Depending on the situation, he will either be replaced by Convey (if we’re behind) or Olsen (if we’re ahead with DMB shifting from the right to the left side).
5) Balboa is already annoyed with Dave O’Brien and has corrected him when he states an opinion that Celo (and the rest of the soccer world) knows is wrong.
What we don’t know
1) What’s Dempsey’s role? Does he have a chance to start at this point?
2) Who is Keller’s back-up? Did he play Howard just because he hasn’t seen much game action this year (compared to Hanneman) or is Howard our clear #2?
Another interesting benchmark coming up for the US, Costa Rica plays the Czechs today. While Ghana’s win over Jamaica is impressive, I’m less worried about them because both teams’ fates may already be decided by that point. The Czech game is huge for us as if we can get a good result, this will give us confidence for Italy and Ghana. It will be interesting to see how they do against the Ticos. I have already set up the TiVio as the game is on Setanta. (George)
