Jul 05
US Brushes Aside Grenada: What We’ve Learned
Let’s be perfectly honest here: Grenada… it was Grenada. A country with a population of 90,000. Were they ever going to threaten the US, no. Was the match ever in doubt from the opening whistle, no. With that in mind, the penchant was on the US to attack from the onset, impose their will upon a week Grenada. They did just that.I’ll give my thoughts from back to front:
Goalkeeper
Troy Perkins is in a battle with Luis Robles to be the third keeper, and he’s done nothing to hurt his chances going forward. When called upon, he was always ready, of course he wasn’t up against the toughest of competition. It’ll be interesting to see if Bradley sticks with Perkins or give Robles a chance. Maybe we’ll see Luis in one of the next two games.
Defense
It’s tough to say how strong a defense is when they never are made to work hard, when they are never tested at all. To be honest, the center-backs had very little work to do, and when called upon were solid. Goodson and Marshall have done nothing to hurt their chances, and I’d like to see the two get the start against Honduras on Wednesday since Honduras should threaten at least a few times. Pearce on the left got up the wing well, and generally had a good game, and the same can be said for Cherundolo.
Midfield
The two holding midfielders both had strong showings, with Logan Pause particularly acquitting himself well. They shielded the defense, and even got going into the attack. Good work from both Pause and Beckerman. The two wingers were simply special. Holden scored on a good header, (although the defensive marking was laughable) and Robbie Rogers was a special player on the night with a goal, and the assist on the first goal. Adu, finally in his playmaking role scored, but showed throughout the game what a lack of playing time will do for you. He took his goal well, (although my 85 year old grandmother could have buried that one,) and generally looked lively, although you can see he is simply not sharp. Adu needs to find a team where he gets regular minutes this season if he wants any chance of making the World Cup squad.
Forwards
Charlie Davies did what he does yesterday. He uses his speed to get in behind and stretch the defense. To me, he looked a bit tired, but he scored a goal, and Bob Bradley will be satisfied with his contributions.
Thoughts people? Who was good, who was bad? Let me know what you think.
July 5th, 2009 at 1:33 pm
Not too much to comment on here, glad to have you back blogging on here I miss your transfer speculation. Good to see Holden and Rogers play well I think both of them will be players for the future of the U.S. nats. I would have liked to have holden in his playmaking role he has done so well for Houston this year but just to have the kid on the field is good I think he is a special player.
July 5th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Jonesta, glad to be back, I thought it was a decent performance, it was what i expected really. Holden and Rogers are exciting players, and i’d like to see them continue to progress and get call ups. As for transfer speculation, i am waiting on word from a birdie, but once i get it, i think i might have the inside scoop on where a big man who anchors the US back line will be going. Check back later for that.
July 5th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
Good to see you back Max. I like your thoughts on the game. I didn’t get to see it, I was at the FC dallas game, but i do agree that I would like to see goodson get another chance in the backline, because he seems so calm back there the few times I have watched him.
Agree about Adu, he needs to use this tournament like Jozy used the Confed Cup. Get noticed and show that he can play. He has dempsey and donovan in front of him, so he won’t get many starts, but he could be a good first off the bench kind of guy when we need a spark on offense.
It will be curious to see how the wingers do against the better quality Honduras on Wednesday.
and i heard gooch may be going to ajax. saw it on noshortcorners.com by Greg Seltzer.
July 5th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
Yeah, he’s got exactly what I got too. Mine will be up soon. How was the fc Dallas game? Supposedly they had 14000 people, but from the tv, it didn’t look like it.
July 5th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
The other thing i think is very clear is that Adu needs to play regular club football. He is rusty, and can do well against the Grenada’s of the world, but will never make an influence against quality teams until he’s sharp.
July 5th, 2009 at 6:22 pm
the fcd game was good. great atmosphere. I have been to four games this season, and besides the home opener, this was the biggest crowd, and I would say the loudest overall as well. I think it bodes well that there are still some supporters of Dallas out there. And, the cameras face the side of the stadium that had the least amount of people. most were on the press box side. I think i am putting up a post about it all later tonight on the blog.
And while I was driving back from Dallas today, I was thinking, and this game doesn’t really show us much. Like you said, Adu can play great against the Grenada’s of the world, but who can’t. Rogers looked great, but he can be a defensive liability, and good teams (or even capable teams) will exploit that.
So, it will be exciting to see them play Honduras, and who we get in the semis.