Sunday, Jan. 29 at 2:00 pm Pacific.
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Thoughts?


I caught a bit of the Mexico v. Norway match from the other day. Mexico won 2-1, and dominated (at least the first half, I didn't watch the second). The Norway goal was kind of a fluke.

Anyway, Norway doesn't look like a very good team, but they're probably better than Canada. I hope we actually score this time.

Sweet!

I think Norway's team is much like our team in the respect it's a bunch of younger, inexperienced players who play in their domestic league.

I'll be interested to see how many players get a second start in the next game. Given the performance against Canada, I'd say not many. Unfortunately, I'll be flying to San Diego so I'll miss it.

I'm just excited that the USMNT is on tv.

starts in 25 minutes

1-0 US...Twellman scores in the 5th minute

2-0 Twellman with a header in the 18th minute. He looks much improved, but Norways Defense doesn't look very well

I dont know much about norway's squad...I know they havent brought their top level players but is this a B squad or a C squad?

looks like norway is in the same position we are in...they're just looking to see how good some of their younger players are before they start to get ready for the Euro tourney. 6 subs allowed for each side

Twellman is certainly making a statement

who is dressed on our bench?...i know they said adu wasnt but i missed the first ten mins of the broadcast

edit: nm they showed it on the broadcast

[This message has been edited by AG@RICE (edited 1/29/2006 4:50p).]

adu and johnson are both there, but it doesn't look like they'll play

3-0 time to unload the bench

ended up 5-0...twellman with a hat trick

So, yeah, like I said, Norway doesn't look like a great team right now. At least it's good to know that our C squad is much better than their B/C squad.

Nice work by Twellman, finally. Wolff, on the other hand, had at least three great looks at goal and missed each of them badly, not even forcing a save. I'd say Wolff and Ching are both pretty much out of the running for a spot in Germany.

I'll be at the next match vs. Japan!

Id keep giving wolff chances, because he at least puts himself and others in position to score, and looks like a threat.

Very impressed with dempsey and noonan today, totally dominated the midfeild. Created numerous chances for themselves and others and actually look dangerous with the ball at their feet, good crossing ability. Dunivant also made many good crosses, but didnt look quite as comfortable on the ball as others.
Twellman, donovan, dempsey, noonan - A's
dunivant, kerry z, wolff, conrad and pope- b+(defense was solid, but not really threatened)


lookin forward to the game at The Hut.

After considering that we probably need 4 forwards for the WC squad, I'll retract my statement that Wolff is out. There just aren't many options. Consider that McBride is the only lock. EJ is probably there if he's healthy, but that's no given. So at least two spots are wide open.

If Twellman can score a few goals against a decent defense, then he might go. Wolff was on the WC roster in 2002 and has more caps than the other possibles, so he has an edge there. Plus Bruce really seems to believe in him.

I kind of like Casey, but we haven't really seen enough of him to make a fully-informed judgment. Maybe Noonan gets a spot because he can play mid or forward. Could we see Mathis again? Not likely, I suspect. Ching doesn't seem to have adapted to international play. I certainly have not been impressed, but maybe Arena will see something I don't.

Pickings are slim. Maybe we just take three of those players and nine mids?

The main problem i've seen with most of our forwards, and our mid/forward players, is their lack of finishing prowess. I'm sure they have the ability, but they just haven't consistently shown it yet.

From the training videos I've seen it looks like they can all shoot pretty well. They shoot very hard and on target in practice. Of course thats only practice. It seems like in every game situation the ball sails over the net. Yesterday's shot off the post from about 20 yards was the first I've seen in a long time that was pretty much on target (still missed)

dempsey's shot was more from 25 yards out at least, and it had some nice swerve on it, off the crossbar eventually though.

is it just me or does dempsey always "just" miss the net. He is always about a half a foot away from a world class goal...half of me just wishes he would put them on frame...let 3/4ths of them get saved easily and luck his way into some goals...

I dont think this performance helped anyone because norway was so bad and the only reason twellman looked so much better than wolff is because we just kept bringing the ball down the right side (where dempsey was) and from that side twellman was better positioned to be the target man

quote:

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I dont think this performance helped anyone because norway was so bad and the only reason twellman looked so much better than wolff is because we just kept bringing the ball down the right side (where dempsey was) and from that side twellman was better positioned to be the target man

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I agree that it's premature to put Twellman on the roster based on the Norway performance. But Wolff had at least three great looks and did not once even put the ball on frame. That doesn't have anything to do with the position he was playing.

I didnt see any of those looks but i will take your word for it...I was a big fan of wolffs because when you usually bring him on as a sub he makes things happen...twellman is definitely a better finisher

here is something i have been pondering...these two guys are probably going to get the most looks down the stretch because they are the two prime targets to take the last forward spot on the team (i hope im not writing off ching or casey to early but they havent looked like they were in good form/healthy for about a year and a half now)....and with them both being on the field at the same time would there be a little bit to much selfishness going on with them both trying to catch arena's eye?

Twellman and Wolff probably aren't competing for 1 spot. If we're taking 4 forwards it will probably be McBride, EJ, Twellman, and Wolff. Also, on Noonan, he was pretty inconsistent against a team we beat 5-0, I'd hardly consider that an "A" performance. I like Noonan but he didn't have a great game.

Looking at the last two games I'd say that, of people I'd consider on the bubble, only Twellman, Dempsey, Pope, and Conrad have played their way to the friendlies in Germany. I also think that if Dunivant can play well against Japan he will put himself in contention to go to the Germany friendlies also.

People I don't consider on the bubble right now, from the domestic camp, are Hejduk, Donovan, and Wolff.

[This message has been edited by dubag (edited 1/31/2006 4:34a).]

Wolff's biggest problem has been injuries. Before he gets back up to speed, it seems he has another injury. If he is healthy, there is no doubt he has spot on WC team. Unfortunately, the guy has been injured more than Reyna.

At 100% Twellman will be a gritty player and make some plays. Nothing special. The guy just hasn't wowed me. But after this weekend, maybe he's put it all together.

When Wolff is 100%, he can be electric. He really runs well without the ball. He finds the empty spaces and can finish.

Eddie Johnson not a lock? If he's healthy, he is going to Germany. He's averaging close to 1 goal per game in qualifying. What else does he have to do?

EJ is definitely a lock.

I'd honestly say dempsey is on the team, its just a matter of deciding at what position.

The USMNT looked a little more creative against Norway than Canada, and thus provided a better result, 5-0. Let it be known though, Norway was very weak. Only 5 players on the roster had more than 10 caps. It is nice to showcase some of our roster potentials, but there is a long way to go. Here are my grades for Norway:

Hartman (5) - Was never really challenged, looks better with his feet than Reis.
Hejduk (4) - Always works hard, but gave up two balls that WC teams would have capitalized on.
Pope (6) - Another solid performance in central defense.
Conrad (6) - No mistakes, solid in the back.
Dunivant (6) - Played well in his first cap, two assists.
Zavagnin (6) - Distributed as the holding midfielder.
Dempsey (7) - Most touches on the team, brilliant individual moves that put himself in scoring position, ripped one off the crossbar, and had a goal called back on a tight offsides.
Donovan (6) - solid play in the middle.
Noonan (5) - Lack of work-rate in tracking back to the defensive 3rd.
Wolff (5) - Moved well and contributed to creativity, should have put one in the net against a weak opponent.
Twellman (7) - Nice hat-trick.

After watching these two games live, and taking into consideration other factors in choosing our roster for the WC finals, here's what I think Bruce Arena sees in this camp:

Roster Lock: Pope, Donovan, EJohnson
Looking Good: Dempsey, Wolff
Borderline: Twellman, Hejduk, Conrad, Zavagnin
Longshot: Hartman, Reis, Pearce, Dunivant, Ihemelu, Olsen, Noonan, Quaranta, Klein, Jaqua, Ching, Adu, Rolfe

Hejduk is a lot higher than borderline, IMO. Sure, he's not the most talented back we have available, but he is experienced, he is a leader, and he is one of the fittest players on the roster. BA would be crazy not to take him to Germany.

Plus, he's a pretty good player, too.

I agree, Hejduk should be in my "Looking Good" category considering he won Bruce Arena's "Beep Test" fitness evaluation. Let's just hope he's not in the starting lineup in Germany. Netherlands and Canada have clearly exploited him in recent matches. The 2006 version of 2002's Jeff Agoos.

thats harsh man...2002 agoos was awful...frankie is well suited for our play in our qualifying groups because most of the teams we play arent real power houses (understatement of the year)...most of those teams go into defensive shells and its nice to have a back like frankie who can get up and go and put some crosses in. It would be nice to have him on the bench in case we go down in a must win/tie game in the WC. Im think he is looking real good...

Its also nice that teams fear our offense so much they start the game off just packing it in on defense. Thats one thing im looking forward to in the WC, getting a chance to see our offense play fluidly. I really think, assuming we get healthy, our midfield has a chance to be dominate offensively and with the pressure we put on defense we might be able to have some great ball control.