Poland v. USMNT

I thought the new kits were nice, but not for the USMNT. Use the traditional colors.

As for the game, I was a fan. I can't wait for the game against England.

 

Great showing by the US yesterday. They looked good in most every facet of the game. Poland on the other hand was a disappointment for me. I was hoping to see a team in better form than what I saw yesterday. They will need to improve between now and June or it will be an early exit from Euro 2008.

 

I did like the away shirts. Not quite sure why Nike chose to go with Charcoal, but it works. They could of done worse.

Polska were a shadow of what they were in the Euro qualifiers. Not to take anything away from the US, but Polska weren't on form today. Bradley bossed the midfield match from start to finish, Donovan provided some quality passes and it is always great to see Boca net another goal.

As Don said, Polska probably feels a little resentful that their two best players are on a quality German side and not with them. They haven't done half bad with the talent at their disposal. They've got pace and should be in good form when Euro '08 starts.

 

And all three goals from set piece.. would have LIKED to see a run of play goal!

LD?

 

That definitely looked like a first choice team out there. With the exception of the strikers. Hopefully by 2010 Jozy and Freddy will be ready to lead the attack. I really like Donovan and Dempsey on the wings. And in the World Cup when Donovan inevitably chokes on his own inflated ego, we can put in Beas.

As for the kits, I don't know.... Cool, but a national kit should reflect the national colors. More than anything, I wish we'd pick a kit and just stick with it. Brazil, Italy, England, even Costa Rica are immediately recognizable by their kits and it gives them a sense of history and nationalism. I'd like to eventually say the same about the US kit.

 

I agree with bostoncottage about the first choice team, except for Ching and EJ. I would like to see Jozy and Dempsey up front with Beas and Donovan on the wings then keeping everything else the same... Freddy will have to come off the bench for now...

BUT...

I disagree with bostoncottage about our kits. We should be sporting many new kits all the time, being that NIKE is an American company. Good old Phillip Knight should pump out new kits for the US MNT like he does for Oregon's football team. Put some Diamond Plate on the Kits?? hahaha

 

I agree Fog about the run of play goal...but set piece goals are something we always struggled with...Freddy and Jozy should help out with that...but however you can get them, take them!

...FULHAM!!!

 

I coach youth teams with a good friend, and he played up front for Stanford back when. His message to the forwards is that they have always hustle and they have three jobs: 1) score goals 2) score goals and 3)score goals. We play together in Sunday league now, and he practices what he preaches (I have passed that message on to the kids as well). I will get to my point, which I think you get. Somehow, someway, we have to have players up front who need this scoring mentality. Take some shots, shank a shot, do whatever you need to in order to try and score. We have to let the keeper know that we have scoring capability up front.

In the up coming international friendlies, we are going to face England and Spain. They have strikers that we know about in Rooney, Owen, Crouch, Raul, Torres and Villa to name a few. I wonder if they have any idea who our strikers are other than a future prospect in Jozy (I think the world considers Adu a midfielder).

 

"I believe those kits were Charcoal...and I liked them, it enhances our 'evil' image around the globe...fantastic."

Hahahahahaha!!!!!

If that's the goal, we've done well with the kit selection.

 

Nice work Don. Your golf story reminds me of Tin Cup (don't lay up, go for it). It makes me think if I were a 6-10 or 7 footer, I would play hoops and try and tear the rim down everytime I was near it ala Chocolate Thunder.

In the Olympic qualifiers, Freddy took on three defenders. Some will think that is a joke, but he took on three defenders. That is a certain mentality and confidence that we need. Duece takes guys on, he tries tricky moves. I love it. Sure, I do not want them to try this stuff in our box, but in the attack, try something. I have been waiting too long for EJ to light the engines and fly past defenders. LD did it yesterday. That was a near miss. I was not bummed with the shot because the play to set it up was brilliant. When I watched the replay, LD could have taken a dive, but he didn't because he saw an opportunity. He had the goal hungry mentality. He knows he has somethng to prove to the world.

 

I jsut read this, and it seems to fall in line with what we are talking about:

What They're Saying
"He is in the style of Ronaldo at that age. They both like to get involved and try to do what you tell them. You have to give players like that room to be creative. I don't think he is a normal talent. There are some people that can make a big difference and he is one of those players."

-- Brazil coach Dunga on 18-year-old Pato, who scored the winner against Sweden on Wednesday with a curling shot from near the sideline.

 

Agreed, petty. I think if we can swing a least 1/3 of our scoring from the run of play, it'll be a confidence booster and a step in the right direction.

And I appreciate HatterDon's comments, as well. I know I am a hard-liner about strikers, and I set the bar very high. It's good that people are seeing effort and accomplishment in other areas for people like EJ. I think ultimately, though, the only measure is whether or not a striker is scoring goals, and we have had a very, very difficult time producing guys who can do that on a consistent basis.

Otherwise, I thought there were some strong, confident performances, and that makes me happy overall.

 

Well I have to defend Ching here. No one is giving him enough credit as a forward option. He is a workhorse up front who will lay it all on the line for the team just like the other Brian you all love so much. He knows how to do what it takes and in the important games.

I'm not saying he's a world class striker or even our most dangerous striker, but if it is an important game I want him up front. He made crucial goals in the last World Cup qualifiers where he scored two goals in 6 appearances, not all of them starting. In the 2006 WC Arena did not play him one minute so he is not to blame for the lack of result.

Unfortunately injuries have plagued him so he's never had a long run of caps. If he ever gets that, you will see just how valuable he is. For me he's the closest replacement for McBride that we have at the moment.

And against Poland he had a solid game.