Good evening folks. I’m coming to you from Reliant Stadium where we are little more than an hour away from kickoff of the USA-Mexico friendly. You will be able to follow along with the match here. I will do a running commentary and will encourage all SBI readers to share their thoughts on the game in the comments section. This is going to be a exciting game.
Enjoy the match and follow along after the jump
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That’s all for tonight. I’ll be heading down to the interviews and will try to post something later on. Thank you for following the match and check back in tomorrow (or late tonight) for some post-match reactions.
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What we learned tonight:
- Altidore is officially ready to be penciled in as a starting forward for the United States.
- Ramiro Corrales is NOT an international level left back.
- Drew Moor is NOT an international level right back.
- Tim Howard isn’t giving up the No. 1 shirt any time soon.
- Bocanegra and Onyewu are THE best center back tandem the Americans have. PERIOD.
- Giovani Dos Santos is going to cause major problems for the USA in the future (I know, Duh)
- Freddy Adu is a good second-half sub, but not ready to be a starter.
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FINAL- USA 2, Mexico 2. A fair result as neither team took over the match.
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90th minute– Edu fouls Dos Santos, who has looked good the past few minutes. He’s so deceptively quick.
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89th minute- Corrales fouls Dos Santos on the left edge and Mexico have a great chance here.
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84th minute– A 2-2 result would be a fair one tonight. Mexico had more stretches of good soccer but the Americans finished their chances tonight. The game has gone flat and I’m not sure there’s another goal here.
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79th minute– Maurice Edu in for Ricardo Clark.
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78th minute– Bocanegra has been solid tonight.
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74th minute– Not a bad match from Ricardo Clark today. Nothing spectacular, but steady.
And Freddy Adu to take a corner.
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72nd minute– Antonio Naelson came in for Adolfo Bautista and Dos Santos came in for Carlos Vela.
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71st minute– And Dos Santos is about to come into the match.
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70th minute– Another Mexico free kick after an Onyewu foul. Convey is out and Lewis is in. Convey was invisible tonight.
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68th minute– Mexico makes a sub but it isn’t Dos Santos.
Eddie Lewis is ready to come in.
Attendance tonight is 70,103. A sellout.
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66th minute– I wonder when we’ll see Giovani Dos Santos.
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65th minute- Marquez and Altidore have had a nice battle today. It’s easy to forget that he’s only 18.
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62nd minute- Bradley had an up and down game, he made some good plays and also turned the ball over in bad spots. Dempsey didn’t have a big impact aside from that great goal that was waived off.
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61st minute– Feilhaber and Adu in for Bradley and Dempsey.
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59th minute– It looks as if Antonio Denigris is playing the villain role for Mexico, between his dust-up with Tim Howard and his yapping with Oguchi Onyewu.
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58th minute– The U.S. team looks a bit lost and I’m trying to decide who has had a worse game, Drew Moor or Ramiro Corrales.
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56th minute- Things are getting REAL ugly, with DeNigris and Howard getting mixed up and Torrado wiping out Convey with an ugly challenge. This is the rivalry we know and love.
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47th minute- GOAL MEXICO. Drew Moor gets beaten again. Magallon scores his second of the match in identical fashion, ghosting into the back post. the U.S. team’s defending on set pieces has been horrific.
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HALFTIME– USA 2, Mexico 1. Altidore’s header was a thing of beauty and after a stagnant first 30 minutes the Americans look confident.
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44th minute– It didn’t count, but that Dempsey finish was clinical and you have to wonder if Mexico’s defense is feeling the pressure right now.
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42nd minute– Dempsey has a goal disallowed for offside. What an amazing finish. Still waiting on a replay. Apparently, the offside was called well before Dempsey shot.
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40th minute- GOAL USA- JOZY ALTIDORE. A beautiful header to finish off a perfect cross from Drew Moor. The future is now people.
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38th minute– Salcido with a yellow after an ugly foul on Donovan.
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36th minute– GOAL MEXICO. Jonny Magallon buries a Pavel Pardo free kick, beating Drew Moor to tie the score.
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34th minute– Ramiro Corrales is struggling big time tonight. Mexico gets another dangerous free kick.
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31st minute– GOAL USA. Oguchi Onyewu with a skying header off a Donovan pass. USA 1, Mexico 0.
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24th minute– Mexico is pouring it on but, as in so many of the past matches against the United States, they just can’t finish.
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22nd minute– Carlos Bocanegra looks okay after an ugly collision with Tim Howard.
Mexico has enjoyed the better stretches of possession and Salcido just dribbled past Michael Bradley.
Tim Howard with two saves in two minutes.
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13th minute– No good chances yet and we’re still waiting for Altidore or Donovan to make a mark.
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9th minute– Michael Bradley is all over the field for the U.S.
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5th minute– Mexico has the early possession and Adolfo Bautista looks like he’s going to be a handful tonight.
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1st minute– And we’re under way.
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8:24pm– The U.S. uniforms make the team look like England from way up here atop Reliant Stadium
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8:22pm- The anthems are over and the U.S. anthem had a good voice behind it. Jozy Altidore looks totally relaxed and Oguchi Onyewu looks like he’s ready to step into the Octagon and destroy somebody.
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8:19pm– The US team is wearing warm up tops in order to not show the new uniforms yet.
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8:18pm– The FIFA music is playing, which means the teams are taking the field.
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8:07pm– Jozy Altidore in the starting lineup has to have U.S. fans buzzing. He looked very good against Sweden and his size and speed combination is going to create problems for the Mexican central defense of Rafael Marquez and Jonny Magallon.
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7:49pm- An interesting tidbit regarding Jonathan Spector. USSF president Sunil Gulati revealed that US Soccer reached an agreement with West Ham to not call up Spector for tonight’s match in order to call Spector up for U.S. Under-23 Olympic Qualifying in March. The agreement was made before Steve Cherundolo’s injury for Hamburg, which explains how the squad wound up with just one legit right back on the roster.
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7:30pm (central time)- The teams have taken the field for warmups and the crowd roar just sent a chill up the spine. The place isn’t even half full yet but you can already feel the excitement.
2 shot outside Reliant Stadium after U.S.-Mexico match
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5520984.html
Also, see anti-soccer comments posted in the comments section
@ Anyone who bring up Cory Gibbs
Gibbs hasn’t been healthy in almost two years. As sad as it is to say, his career is starting to rival John O’Brien’s in terms of vast potential disrupted by injury. So can we please come to an agreement that people will stop demanding playing time for player’s who haven’t been healthy or match fit in some time? You might as well argue in favor of Marcelo Balboa returning…
Clark is not ready for this level of play. He couldn’t hold the ball or show for the ball, and he was constantly chasing like a chicken with his head cut off.
I said in the line up thread it was up to Moor and Ramior. They would be th ebiggest deciders.
It’s decided.
Spector and Bornstein are clearly better and th eother options must be looked at before them again – Pearce, Simek, Wynne
Note – Mexico is taking it to the next level guys. No shame in it. They are becoming what they can with the money, players, passion and infrastructure the country has.
We will get there, but their team can be top class these next several years. Fact.
man, i have to say more. first, i really think moor should get another chance. i mean, at least this dude wasn’t invisible. convey, corrales, *donovan* were all invisible. i mean, let’s just ask ourselves this: “if capello (or any other merit-based coach) were the manager, would donovan continue to be automatic in every us lineup?” i think not. set pieces-terrible, wing-terrible… i mean, he stayed in the US to surf… so, let’s let him surf when we’re playing 4-4-2. don’t call him up to the game… there’s nowhere on the field for him with this formation.
also, i think tonight’s game just demonstrated how thin our talent is on the flanks. i mean, without beasley and cherudolo… no wing defense or offense to be seen. just imagine if castillo or guardado were here. we were being exposed by their “B” wingers tonight! what would happen in a serious game!?!?
did i already say donovan should be getting his time cut? i can’t remember…
also, i’m tired of hearing people say that these mexico-us games played in the US feel like away games… no, that’s what playing in mexico city (where the next 5 games in this series should be played) would be like. give me a break! why are we always bragging about being better than them when we’re always playing them at home? let’s go to mexico! sam’s army have passports… they can go south to the beach before and after the matches… can any of us remember the last time we played in mexico? what happened? would our coach be under the same pressure as the mexicans are if we failed to win on their home pitch? or would we just say, “it was in mexico. we understand.”
man, the game was a little disappointing as far as the outcome, but i still like coach bradley’s commitment to engendering competition in the squad. as far as some of the comments about the players, i don’t agree that moor shouldn’t be called up. it was his fourth game, he’s going to have mistakes. plus, his service is second only to cherundolo’s on the US. we are going to need him to get confident if ching and altidore are going to be useful during qualifying. as far as altidore not getting “crowned” the next forward, the guy who said that is lunching… who are we going to put at striker? johnson, who doesn’t run unless he’s taking a pk? as far as other even marginally viable options, i’m having a brain freeze (as are all other US fans and managers). right now, he’s clearly the best striker we have.
as for landon donovan, this guy needs to sit. on the bench. far away from bradley. unless, of course, we are playing with 5 mids and one of the other midfielders is named damarcus beasley. for some reason, landon doesn’t seem to meld with anyone else on the team quite as well. plus, we’ve seen that his commitment to his development as a soccer player is marginal, at best. i mean, he *was* the best natural player we had, and mediocrity may have been satisfactory for some time… but now we’re finding natural strikers who are committed, and truer attacking mids. this guy’s star is dimming…
oh, and one more thing: this was the best game i’ve ever seen onyewu play. even that card was not even a foul.
Bob Bradley has to be concerned with 4 months left before qualifiying. His midfield couldn’t deliver anything going forward and his Moore and Corales were so far from international calibar that it brought the entire team down. While I won’t stand up for Convey or Donovan (especially Convey), to their credit, they received nothing from the midfield or the backs which didn’t allow either to get anything going. Only Howard (watch the temper) and Altidore gave us some hope.
LANDON DONOVAN CANNOT PLAY ON THE WING. HE SUCKS THERE. PLAY HIM AT STRIKER. HE WOULD HAVE SCORED.
Moor and Corrales: enjoy your parting gifts. Now please bring Johnny B and Cherundolo back.
Ives: “# Bocanegra and Onyewu are THE best center back tandem the Americans have. PERIOD.”
You feel that confident despite the constant yellows and the lack of testing Parkhurst, who has superior positioning skills to either one of them? I think you are a bit too emphatic on this point. Gooch finally looked better-ish tongigh. But Bocanegra had a pretty awful match.
“# Giovani Dos Santos is going to cause major problems for the USA in the future (I know, Duh)”
Was it his ability to do nothing, flop and lose possession of the ball with ease against he likes of Corrales (who, by your own admission, is not an international level fullback)? He is the Eddie Johnson of Mexico. As a Barca fan it pains me to say that, but he is lotsa potential and not a lotta production.
If you are still willing to say the very same about EJ then I’ll bite if not, Dos Santos has done jack and ‘s’ to merit such praise…yet. Vela is by far their best young gun.
Altidore is a beast, despite still being raw in terms of understanding positioning (especially on set pieces), why the likes of Real Madrid are looking at him. Marquez looked like a whooped dog at the end of the game and he is about as good as it gets in the back. They may as well permanently sew ‘Altidore’ on the back of the #9 shirt.
Hey Josh, that lineup looks great. We could kick some serious ass if we got to field 12 players at a time!
As far as the game, it may not have been the best to watch, but it was a lot of fun to be there for. Great atmosphere. Like everyone else, I think the young guys played pretty well overall, but at times showed why they’re still called the “future stars” of the USMNT. There is still a lot of growing up that needs to happen, though this game did a lot toward that end.
Individually, man of the match goes to Timmy, at least in my book, with honorable mention to Gooch and Dempsey (by far our most creative player tonight). I like the idea of Dempsey and Donovan switching positions, but I think one thing no one else has mentioned yet is Dempsey’s ability in the air. I mean, he was winning balls left and right out there. That, to me, is one argument to keep him in the middle.
I won’t go over the fullbacks, since everyone has already talked about how bad they were.
As far as subs, Adu showed some promise, but didn’t really get comfortable, in my opinion. That should come with more playing time. I never thought I’d be glad to see Eddie Lewis trotting out onto the field for us again, but even he beats Convey tonight. And I think that, in 20 minutes, Feilhaber showed why he is still our next best option at center mid, after Bradley. Why isn’t he getting playing time at Derby? Don’t ask me.
Finally, here’s a lineup I’d like to see us try:
————–Altidore————-
——–Dempsey—–Donovan——–
—Beasley—Bradley—Feilhaber—
–???—–Boca—–Gooch—–Dolo–
—————Howard————–
I’d always wondered what we might be able to do with the christmas tree formation. Demps and LD, both in their best roles, with a good target forward up top. I know we’ve tried Feilhaber out right, but I think it could work, with Dolo getting forward and providing crosses, and Benny covering him on defense. Benny could also slide inside a bit if Bradley gets a chance to move into the attack. That, along with DMB up the left side, could give us the width we need, and keep us from getting too defensive in this formation. Plus, Beasley’s defensive ability could help out whoever we end up with at left back (still not sure about that one yet). Any thoughts?
Good Evening. I’m Rod Serling. Could a person pose a unique question on a forum almost identical to the post before it by a different person without obvious plagiarism? Or could two minds be almost 100% in tune with each other that they wanted to say almost the exact same thing at almost the same time? Your about to find out (I hope!)on tonight’s episode of the Twilight Zone!
Question –
If the venue is moved to Mexico. If the same referee group is there. If the teams are reversed for a few seconds.
Does the goal by Dempsey still get called offside? Seriously doubt it. CD was offside by the slightest fraction yeh whatever however is the same call made if the roles are reversed?
Seriously doubt it. None of the Mexican players thought he was offside. They knew they had been beaten. Fortunately for them a biased ref crew saved their asses throughout the night.
None of them ever should be allowed to ref another USA match. The head ref had and has a history of stupid absurd calls against the USA. Both of the opposition goals were scored from set pieces.
Drew Moor could be given two assists. First was from a flop, imagine that. Second was from a corner that appeared to have gone off the other side on the goal line.
The foul on Jozy in the first half when Jozy had cleanly burnt his marker to go on 1 v 1 to goal was bullshit! Typical Mexican strategy – oh I screwed up, time to flop to the ground.
Question –
Given the same refs. Switch the venue to Mexico. Switch the teams. Would the Dempsey goal have been called offsides?
Seriously doubt it. From what I have seen yeh okay whatever CD was offside however would the same call hold up in reverse?
Mexican players didn’t think so. That is the most telling sign. When the goal was scored all of them knew they had been beaten. Credit for that because usually they flop to the ground when the wind blows. If beat on an offside trap like most defenders anywhere will wave their hands wildly.
That ref crew needs to be banned from any further USA matches. The head ref has always had a history of crap calls against the USA. If not for the incompetence it was a great match.
Yeh and the ‘ foul ‘ on Jozy when he had taken the ball and was breaking in on goal 1 v 1 was TOTAL bs!! No wonder he was calling for a foul against him as the match went on given that stupid lame ass flop by the opponent.
Future lineup I would like to see
Altidore Donovan
Adu
Dempsey Bradley Convey
Felhaiber
Not Corrales Boca Gooch Not Moore
Timmy
Andrew S. I think you just said about as opposite a comment as everyone else on here as you could. Bradley was hustling all over the field and Moore was terrible. Corrales did nothing with the ball when he did get it and almost gave a way a penalty by totally whacking the crap out of his man. Can anyone say sssssllllooowwww.
– Bradley was dissapointing tonight
– Ramiro Corrales and Drew Moor are not 1st team national team players, although I think each had their moments
– If Clarke and Bradley are going to play in the middle together, you CAN’T play w/ two forwards, Bradley Sr. needed to drop a creative player into midfield but he did not, Adu did; however, when he came on in the second half
– Donovan is the right half for this team, he was beating everyone on that side most times he got the chance
– Dempsey needs to be on the left side, he’s too good in the midfield to stick him up top where he’s really not that impressive… he absolutely has the skills and shot to cut in from the outside and take shots, as he did on his goal that was called back
– Altidore is nasty
– Howard is ridiculous
– Convey keeps on regressing as a player, which is sad to see for such an exiting player when he’s on
– Mexico outplayed us in the first half by far, when we finally made the adjustments (creative player in the middle, Adu dropping back when he came in) the game evened up a bit, but that was very late… why did it take so long?
– overall not bad, I definitely think we fielded a weaker side than Mexico, and it showed, but we still made a good game of it, and were a Dempsey offside (?) away from winning
Jon:
The whole atmosphere surrounding this particular US vs Mexico clash seemed different. Mexico’s coach, after talking trash three times in a row, decides to say the game is unimportant! Then the usual trash talking by the Mexican players was missing before the game. Do you think this is part of some new strategy because they were getting embarrassed and motivating us with their comments? Now we are shaking hands! All my memories of these games are of the Mexican players snubbing the US team at the end of the match with rare exceptions.
Oh, and Freddy, I saw Landon get somebody’s jersey but couldn’t tell who. That was the only one I saw, but there were a ton of postgame handshakes and hugs – way more than usual in a U.S.-Mexico match.
Good read, Ives – hope you enjoyed the H-town atmosphere. I completely agree about the outside backs – they were atrocious. I really disagree about Dempsey, however.
In the first half, I thought Dempsey was terrific – a lot of good moves to maintain possession – and Altidore pedestrian until the goal. He was invisible until the goal, really. In the second half, Altidore was better than Dempsey. I think having that goal waved off took some steam out of him.
MemRook:
You just reminded me of an other constant US hating ref, Peter Prendergast from Jamaica!
aristotle:
Costa Rica looked like crap against a pretty decent Jamaican team. Karma?
Ok, probably not, but still. I watched the game earlier in the day on FSC and it was full of entertainment. Is this relevant at all? Nope. You just reminded me of the today’s game in your last post about Costa Rica.
tired-
Dolo is a right back, not left. DeMerit can NOT play anywhere but centreback. Adu is ineffective at best on the wing.
This was a friendly and we were without several key players because of injury.
Chill out. A draw with Mexico does not mean we should fire Bradley.
NOLA soccer fan:
I don’t think anything can or will be done. This has been going on for so long and everybody ignores it or actually tries to downplay it. Over the years it has reached absurd proportions and no one will do anything. It seems like the only time anything gets done anywhere is when one of Europe’s darlings suffers some kind of injustice. At least this was a friendly. Think back on some of the U.S. World Cup qualifying matches. My favorite example which I think sums up how futile the situaton is, was an important WCQ game between Costa Rica and the U.S. in Costa Rica. The ref was doing everything but kicking the ball into the net for Costa Rica, but somehow they were hanging on to a 0-0 tie. In the final minutes of the game you could actually see the ref getting frantic, like his life was riding on the game, as he tried to help CR win. The U.S. was well aware of what he was doing by this point and were even taking precautions by holding their hands behind their backs when in the penalty area. The ref finally snapped and called a penalty on Greg Berhalter for handball. This was after Berhalter headed the ball and had his hands behind his back!
That’s the only time I can remember Bruce Arena almost having a stroke. After many games with biased officiating Arena finally reacted and said something. What did they do? They suspended Bruce Arena for multiple games!
I love you Ives, but it is kind of annoying how you always emphasize your point that Gooch and Boca are beyond a doubt the best CB’s for USMNT. You may be right, and they are playing well, but I still fail to understand how Demerit does not get any credit for playing pretty well himself when he is given a chance. Same goes for Parkhurst.
I do hope that is the last we have seen of Moor and Corrales, though. But for those two guys, I think this would have been your run of the mill victory over Mexico where they have a lot of possession and show their technical ability, but the US gets it done in the end.
Did they swap jerseys after the game?
good game- 1st half was a gas.
^Man- did we miss Dolo. Heal up fast man because we need you. I don’t know who to put on the left.
^Pearce is a figment of the U.S. fans imagination to me because he gets no minutes at Rostock and fans still pencil him in every time.
^We need a to find another Heydude. A whirling dervish of a destroyer patroling a flank vs. quick squads like Mexico.
^Gooch and Boca did well considering they got no cover.
^The future looks good for Mexico with their youth. I was impressed.
^Dempsey is the best “touch” player we have produced.
^Benny needs to get the hell out of England. He is more suited to Spain and Italy and would be more appreciated I think.
^Lovely header by Jozy but needs to hustle more up top closing on back passes. Maybe he just isn’t match fit.
^Convey was the Convey that shows up(or should I say doesn’t show up) 3 out of 5 matches.
^Less would be MOOR.
^Harkes speaks with an American accent for the most part but becomes british every vowel. Made me miss Waldo.
^Was Donovan on the pitch in the 2nd half?
^Rob Stone is proof that no talent + no competition = big soccer gig at ESPN.
^Note to the brains at ESPN promo marketing:
If I cared about Duke vs. N.C. I would have been WATCHING ESPN!!!!!!
^Understatement of the year- our set piece defense needs a little work.
^Last thought- if Donovans mother turns up dead I would not rule out Luis Hernandez
Well, a decent game by the US offensively, and it was nice to see Altidore get a goal in a big rivalry game. However, defensively we must improve. Neither team really seemed to control the game over the whole 90 minutes. The US was stronger in the 1st half, but Mexico pushed harder in the 2nd, and seemed to have more good chances.
I thought Corrales, Convey, and Dempsey were weak, Corrales in particular…horrible marking on the 2nd Mexican goal, and he gave up a huge penalty kick just outside the box very late in the game that was really poor play, and simply not what you need at that juncture in the game. I can’t see him getting another call-up, and even if so, certainly not another start.
I wish Adu had played more, along with Feilhaber. Bradley was OK, but just didn’t seem to control the midfield tonight, but I’m sure he’ll have plenty of strong performances in the future for the US. I think Feilhaber has the kind of footwork and skills to really run a midfield.
Tough games coming up away against Poland and Spain. The US historically underachieves on European soil, except against Poland for some reason…? Both these teams will probably play strong sides getting ready for Euro 08′, so the US will have to play better than they did tonight. We certainly need to close the gaps in the midfield, and some of the MLS guys need to improve their conditioning. Also, we need to get better on set piece defense…too many balls got through tonight. You can bet Fernando Torres or Raul will put those types of chances away.
THE USA FANS DESEREVE one game where BOB BRADLEY plays the right players in the right spots. IF today was a glimpse of this, BOB BRADELY needs to go. Yes, we do have a while to go until the world cup, but he has not once put together a team where the right players are in the right positions. This is the lineup USA fans deserve to see soon.
—————-ALTIDORE—————-
ADU————-DONOVAN———–DEMPSEY
————FELIBER—BRADLEY———–
DOLO——–GOOCH——-BOCA——–DEMERIT
Back line can be changed a bit and I think Edu and Clark deserve time as well. Would not mind experimenting with EDU outside.
Move over convey, give Danny Sztela? a look as well as Zizzo and Jerry White.
It’s time for BOB Bradley to show something, otherwise, I think he needs to go before WQF qualifying.
I forgot that Stuart Holden was in camp. Given how lame we were from the left wing, I would have loved to see if he could have brought energy to the game. Especially instead of Eddie Lewis, who had a great career, but who’s time has come and gone at this level.
Ives, is there anything concaaf will do about these refs (ie. some form of punishment for a pitiful, inconsistent performance)…i mean this was horrendous. i still dont understand how they missed the slide tackle on howard, because he clearly was not going for the ball.
I mean is it possible for there to be a competent ref in all of concaaf. because everytime i watch the US play with one of those refs, it seems like we are playing the other team and the 3 refs.
A number of US players didn’t have great games tonight — Convey, Bradley, Adu, Moor, Corrales.
Well Moor had a so-so game. He slipped twice on the set pieces allowing Magallon through, but on the other hand, he also picked out Altidore with a great cross and got an assist.
Convey looked non existant, and frankly too timid when instead of accelerating and taking the ball towards goal when having an open field, he slowed down and made an ineffective passing, losing the opportunity.
Bradley was bizarre with bad passes and rash challenges. Kind of schizo considering his recent performances with Heerenveen.
Adu didn’t provide a spark off the bench and didn’t get involved enough in the run of play.
All this has me wondering aloud again about Bob Bradley as coach of this team. Maybe that’s not fair on a night when a number of his top players didn’t come through. But the way I see it, much of the problems stemmed from playing the same formation again and not utilizing the best abilities of our players.
At the start of the match, the empty bucket formation immediately proved faulty as no one was providing service to the forwards through the middle of the field. Coupled with the wingers Convey and Donovan not getting involved early, our forwards were starved for a connection with the midfield. The result? Dempsey dropped back to provide the connection and bring the ball up. Immediately we were playing a 4-5-1 instead of a 4-4-2 with Dempsey taking the role of second forward/attacking mid. That limited his effectiveness and put a damper on our offense.
Furthermore, Bradley was playing too far back again to contribute to the attack. He just can’t be an effective two-way mid when he’s sitting deep in this 4-4-2 Y formation. When is Papa going to notice that?
When Adu came on as a second forward, he also seemed lost and playing a bit out of position. At that point the team wasn’t holding its shape well. I would have preferred to see Bradley and Rico come off instead of Bradley and Dempsey. Playing Adu behind Dempsey and Altidore would have provided the needed midfield connection and added another offensive weapon. Then Feilhaber (coming in for Rico instead of Mikey) could have played d-mid.
I think we need to make some strategic changes to optimally use the talents of our players.
I don’t know what to say about Convey, but I’m not impressed with his lack of tools. He wasn’t an offensive threat (yet again), he can’t contribute to set pieces or dead ball situations, and he wasn’t beating defenders 1v1 on the wing.
I thought Donovan had a good game. I also thought Gooch had a good game. Howard and Boca performed consistently well.
In general, the team also seemed to run out of gas. Have they been doing too much fitness work?
jason — when was the last time any of us saw Gibbs play in a meaningful match? including club ball?
And I agree, Ives and Goff are very different. If you’re a DC fan and especially one from the Virginia-Maryland-DC area, Goff is king.
But if you’re anyone else, Ives is Kaka (the go-to guy).
my last thought for the night:
I thought the new jerseys weren’t bad at all. I surely didn’t hate them.
I know I am in the minority here but outside of the free kicks I do not think Drew Moor was out of his league. Obviously if he can not mark on set pieces he should not be on the field, but in game I thought he did fine.
The whole midfield was pathetic until the subs entered. Bradley looked as though he was sleepwalking through the game. Ricardo Clark had some decent plays but not nearly enough for a center midfielder. Convey might as well not have shown up, and Donovan had one lucky cross all game. Donovan needed to switch spots with Dempsey. Seriously his cross to Gooch was about 40 ft in the air. Hardly any defensive pressure all night from the midfield.
Feilhaber impressed me when he was in the game. He needs to go somewhere that will play him. Edu didn’t really get much time but the game changed as soon as both of them came in the game.
Altidore did alright and had a very nice goal. Didn’t do a ton, but if we have players out wide looking to get the ball in the box he could be unstoppable. Dempsey was putting on a show in the first half. He needs to be out wide to take advantage of his one on one skills.
I was not overly impressed with Gooch and Bocanegra. Gooch usually plays good against Mexico and I was impressed with his goal, but he cannot pass the ball. Even between him and Bocanegra he would pass the ball too far behind or else it would be off the ground and difficult to control. Howard a few times gave Gooch quite a look as if to tell him not to come near the ball. Bocanegra…by far the most boneheaded play of the night for the second goal. Why he would pass the ball straight out of bounds for a corner kick is beyond me, especially when he could have easily cleared the line. Plays like that show why he is riding the bench at Fulham.
Overall, the defense needs some improvement, but I feel with a stronger effort from the midfield all of them would have looked better. The young players showed promise and I look forward to seeing them grow through WC qualifying. I’ll take the 2-2 result given the crowd was pro mexican and the referee was atrocious.
@Jason
I don’t know if you remember Adu’s time at DCU, but he hated playing left flank there, and wasn’t very effective. Meaning he sat rather than played because he wasn’t good at it. If Adu plays, he’ll be in the center of the park.
And I don’t know that Boca and Gooch are suddenly the answer. They’ve been the best we have for a while. While Parkhurst deserves a shot at some point (and Demerit more looks), they didn’t play themselves out of their starting spots by any means. They have the most experience, most athleticism, and they coped with two not so great fullbacks today. Parkhurst, for all his positional smarts, would have had more problems making up ground.
“Freddy Adu is a good second-half sub, but not ready to be a starter.”
Adu started against South Africa and did very well. When he came in against Mexico, the ball rarely left Midfield and by that point, no forwards were doing anything.
I gotta say, one thing that really stood out in my mind was how physical Dempsey played. He was really mixing it up out there, and he was showing lots of strength on the ball. Looks like going up against guys like John Terry and Rio Ferdinand every week is paying off big time.
WTF, DCDan? Seriously? Ives’ and Goff’s are different. How can one be better? Ives’ is more broad and “worldly,” a great little place for everyone to read about different tidbits from all over the world (especially concerning Yanks abroad) on one site. Ives’ does a good job following his local club, NYRB too.
El Goffino’s site is really great with DCU, MLS and local stuffs in the DC, Maryland, Virginia areas.
They both give great insight into the game we love in their respective ways that makes my day more enjoyable.
Pretty good game, we know who played bad..it was obvious. What gets me worried is that Castillo and Guardado didnt play for Mexico tonight. That would have been scary especially on the flanks. It could have been the first lost against Mexico in a while. Also we don’t know how we will play once we head down to the Azteca. I still have a lot of concern for this team.
Jozy gets #3 on SC top 10 🙂
DCDan: then go to Soccer Insider, scum
Soccer Insider is better.
Drew Moor is the worst player to ever play for the United States
jason- I can’t remember the last time Gibbs played for the Nat’s. Is he even playing for Charlton? (Sorry if he is, I don’t check up on him)
@ Jeffrey:
I only gave Moor a “5” for his inch-perfect cross to Altidore (Jozy basically had to jump only vertical to make contact with the ball.)
Maybe I should have clarified sans perfect cross, Moor gets a “2.”
Remember the name Carlos Batre. Nearly all of the games he referees for the U.S. team follow the same pattern. He may at some point in the game disallow a U.S. goal. He gives the U.S. at least one or two strategic undeserved yellow cards in the first half. He usually gives it to the midfield general type to disrupt the team because he makes it very clear that he is only too willing to follow up with a red in the second half. In the second half he steps up the pressure on the U.S. and becomes much more obvious. He starts handing out undeserved yellow cards left and right to the U.S. while ignoring completely many much more serious offences by Mexico or any other hispanic team the U.S. is playing. This the combination of the best U.S. midfielder having a yellow card and having to play tentatively, and calling a foul against the U.S. on virtually every attempt at winning the ball from the opposing hispanic team, results in total domination for the remainder of the game by the U.S. opponent. Also throw in a few key free kicks where a player just collapses like a house of cards with virtually no contact, and you have very little chance for the U.S. team. Yes, everyone will say I am paranoid or a sore sport, but that is what happens when this guy refs a U.S. game against Mexico or even another latin team. Remember his name for the next time.
That aside, the U.S. defense, as expected, was awful, and the Drew Moor experiment should now end until he has had experience and proven himself a little more. I don’t think Corrales was anywhere near as bad, but he has had enough chances too. It’s time for Eddie Robinson to get his stint. His first chance went very well.
Can’t see how you can give Moor a 5. 2 goals directly against him and many, many missed assignments. The only reason he blocked a shot with his body is that he had already missed marking his man!
I would have to say that if we can work on our central mid field tandem we could be alot more controlling. Mexico had alot of fast break opportunities. Altidore and Adu are going to be very good
I don’t think you can really assess what Adu can do as a starter based on what he did coming into a game like this one. He had good moments, but didn’t get many opportunities.
Dont miss thie first 35 minutes and then grade performances.GOT IT PETER
Convey had a poor game, but I wouldn’t write him off yet. He has had good games in the past for the MNT. Moor and Corrales, meanwhile, have never shown well, and never will. They’re just not good enough. No shame in that, just a fact.