Bradley names roster

i was only able to watch about 20mins or so of this match, but it seemed to me like the players had just met, like for the first time ever, right before the match.

 

:lol:

Exactly.

 

Do we know that Gooch will be available for Wed?

Saturday goes to show just how important our continuity in the back has been. Especially in the middle. Guzan and the entire back four were mostly disappointing, but to their credit, they don't have the same familiarity without Gooch and Timmy in there and they were having trouble hearing one another.

I thought we definitely looked overconfident. We bossed the pitch for the first 15-20 minutes, getting the first shot on goal w/in 20 secs, then the passing got lazy. I don't remember the last time this team turned the ball over so much. Pretty much echo the rest of the comments.

I would like to see more starting opportunities for guys like Jozy, Torres, Spector. Anywhere we have a spot that's not locked down. You know what you've got with Frankie, why not throw Spector out there and see what you've got. Same with Torres for Klejstan or Jozy for Ching, etc. Sub time is all well and good, but I doubt the occasional start with those mentioned is going to cost us qualifying out of CONCACAF.

And no comments on the Murinho 1/2 time bit? He's just shooting off at the mouth again mind you, but still, figured it might have gotten a mention.

 

Well, now everything should be just peachy on Wednesday:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story ... us&cc=5901

 

That's about right.

http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/Ja ... nday_March

(and no, I didn't ghost write Trekker's comments about coaching and the USSF)

 

My player review:

Guzan: I actually don't blame him for either goal. First one was a one-on-one and near impossible for any keeper and the second was a very well placed header that bounced near his feet. I think if you ask Timmy, he'd have said that he probably wouldn't have saved either of the goals. Now, I'm not saying Brad inspires a lot of confidence for me, but I think he's a solid back-up to Timmy.

Hejduk. He's taking a lot of guff for his defensive mistakes, but keep in mind that El Salvador's Left Mid was probably the best and quickest player on the pitch. Even slowing him down was an accomplishment. I still prever 'Dolo as more dependable, but Frankie was there when we needed him.

Boca. Decent game, a bit at fault for first goal, but not terrible. I think though, his time playing LB is diminishing his CH ability.

Califf. The guy is just not used to Central American style of play and because of it, suffered badly. I'd prefer Edu next to Boca if Gooch is out.

Pearce. Horrible game. 'Nuff said.

Bradley. Solid game, one of the few who tried to play in the first half. He got a yellow, but IMO it was a deliberate attempt to fire up his teammates.

Klejstan. Bad game. He seems to have lost his confidence.

Beasley. A few momments of magic, but overall, a bad game. I think the "Beasley for LB" arguments have been put to rest. I'd prefer Dempsey on the left at this point.

Dempsey. I think he had an ok game, but I think by the way he was passing, he was expecting more movement and aggression from this teammates.

Donovan. I like the guy, but he just doesn't do well against a bunkered defense. That's part of why he didn't do well at Bayern Munich - he'd get subbed in when his team was down and their opponents bunkered in their half.

Ching. Solid, Zamora-like performance. No complaints.

Altidore. Added power and drive to our attack.

Torres. Earned himself a start on Wednesday. Great job young man.

My team for Wed:

----------Timmy-------------

Hejduk-Gooch-Boca-Spector

Donovan-Bradley-Torres-Dempsey

--------Ching------Altidore

 

I like this lineup for Wednesday.

 

Quite frankly Don I don't think so at all. I think Pearce was pulled for a very good reason. There was zero width on the left hand side unless one of our forwards went wide or Dempsey ventured all the way across the pitch. In fact I don't think I have seen that much unoccupied green space on the left side of any field since the Bonds shift went to pasture when Barry retired.Perhpas my memory is poor but the only two decent crosses I remember from the left hand side came from Joay and Dempsey.

Beyond even the lack of width I couldn't count on both hands the number of times Beasley passed the ball to someone and then created no space for the player he passed to by either standing still or running toward the player he just passed to. The play from our left hand side was virtually nonexistent.

 

Here's to no more "yeeeeeechy" soccer on Wednesday. As the late, great Barney Fife was known to comment: "nip it in the bud."

 

Best quote:

"And you cannot blame him [Bradley] for not being able to teach top-level tactics — because the guy clearly doesn’t know any. How would you, if the great majority of your time was spent in MLS?"

Now about getting Woy on the job...I have mixed feelings. Agree for now that Hiddink would be a bit of a coup.

 

Oh yeah bring in a European, that will solve all our problems! I mean look at Mexico, they've got it all figured out.

 

dude, that's sven.

sven goran eriksson. he shat on a talented bunch of englishmen.

spencer, come on, sven isn't a top tier coach and certainly far below the talent that the USSF could seek. mexico isn't, and shouldn't, be a barometer, anymore.

 

Entered and logged, Don. Now why isnt Sven at Citeh, again? I suspect it's because he wasnt given time to fully involve everyone, or perhaps never made the effort. And club management for some reason thought they could deal with his methodology.

The problem with that is sometimes there just isnt that time to rebuild. Look at our own cases:
- We pretty much KNEW Steve Sampson would be a bust at any top level
- We thought Arena would do well at the club level but he accepted New York, which is like self-handicapping the job. And he brought back Reyna which didnt really help his cause much, given NY's previous fails at retreads
We still are looking to see if Arena can pull something out of the 6 yo mess made by AEG and a GM who unfortunately died before he could be pilloried for his mistakes.

OTOH, Sigi WAS given time at Columbus, but then we could see where he was going from the very start, even if the season records didnt show it.

 

I chuckle every time Sven gets a hard time for his England record.

He only, what? qualified England for every competition and was knocked out 3 times, in PKs, in the quarterfinals. Thing is, you have to GET to the quarter finals before being knocked out in PKs.

Oh, and then he took a struggling Citeh and got them a UEFA Cup spot. I really think if Thakawatchamacallit had NOT fired Sven before selling the team to Sheik Whomever, that Sven would still be managing Citeh and they would have a MUCH better record than they do now, possibly fighting Villa and Arsenal for the 4th spot.

I also don't think Bradley is a bad manager - think about it; the US plays a system very similar to Fulhams but with arguably less talent.

 

If your implication is that US has less talent than Fulham does, I'll assume the 'arguing' side. If you mean it to say 'relatively', meaning for the opposition, then I wont argue with that.

We COULD ponder what Roy {or Sigi} might do with the US team but there's no point until it becomes a possibility.