A throwaway comment from Marcelo Balboa, but one you hear bandied around a lot: there are only seven or so places in the US squad that are actually up for grabs.
Is this true? Assuming health, who are these definites? I would say that, for differing reasons, the following players are in:
Keller
Reyna
Donovan
Beasley
McBride
Mastroeni
Cherundolo
Oneywu
And frankly that's it. The reason I think that we actually have so few definites is simply because we have quite a few positions (center back, left mid and striker) where there are a lot of very qualified players, possibly too many to bring to the cup.
For instance, center back. Oneywu is definite. Pope, Berhalter, Bocanegra, Conrad, Gibbs are all in the frame here. (Maybe even Jonathan Spector, but let's leave him out for the time being.) But I'm not sure you can afford to bring six center backs on your World Cup squad. One of them must be excluded, and it's not immediately obvious who. At the moment, I think Cory Gibbs misses out, but if he gets some regular club time and one of the others drops off for whatever reason, it all gets changed up.
At striker the same thing: McBride definitely, plus Johnson, Twellman, Wolff, Ching, and Noonan. Probably only three (maybe four) of those last five go, and although Twellman made a major move forward against Norway, there still isn't much to choose between the others; or at least, not enough so that you can say someone is definite. Likewise I'm not entirely sure you can bring both Convey and Lewis, both of whom play the same positions.
The upshot of all this is that I suspect there are quite a few places available in the US squad, more perhaps than in previous years. For the record, here is who I think is going at the moment, injury-permitting:
Goalkeepers (3): Keller, Howard, Hahnemann
Defenders (8): Oneywu, Cherundolo, Pope, Bocanegra, Berhalter, Conrad, Dunivant, Hejduk
Midfielders (8): Reyna, Donovan, Beasley, Mastroeni, Convey, Dempsey, O'Brien, Lewis
Forwards (4): McBride, Johnson, Twellman, Wolff
With Gibbs, Armas, Zavagnin, Albright, Ching, Noonan, Ralston just outside.
Monday, January 30, 2006
US-Norway postgame
Match reports here, here, and here.
One interesting thing about the US is that we tend to play pretty closely to our opponents. We lose narrowly to Brazil, and we can only get by Grenada 2-0. So 5-0 really is quite something, even if it was against an understrength Norway side.
And wow were they ever understrength. I know they were out of season and all, but the Norwegians were frankly terrible. Look at the how much space Twellman was in as the cross came over for the first goal. You could have parked a Cessna in the gap between those defenders.
Really the big factor in this game was the field. The Norwegians were not fit enough to compete on the wide field of the Home Despot (sic, it's my little joke) Center, and the US was doing an excellent job of switching the point of attack to players in space on the far side. Hejduk was in acres of space on every play in the first 15 minutes before anyone bothered to mark him. Putting an extra player on him helped, but it left the Norwegian midfield stretched and gave the Americans plenty of room to operate.
And operate they did. The biggest thing to like about this game was the following ratio: 24 shots, 13 on target and 5 goals. Those are nice numbers against a team that sought to sit back and defend.
It was a big day for Twellman, obviously. So too for Dempsey, whose spot at inside right seems to be ideal for him. He was equally comfortable going outside to the wing and cutting into the center. He was also doing a lot of the playmaking, coming back and receiving the ball from the back four. More and more, I think he will be an essential member of our Cup squad: energetic off the bench, able to play anywhere at midfield or attack.
Dunivant also looked good. One or two misplaced passes, and a little uncomfortable when put under pressure, but overall a very nice debut, and one in which he was very useful going forward, a key factor if he's going to be the US's left back. Good performances too for Pope, Conrad, Hejduk, Noonan, and I think Zavagnin.
On one hand, you don't want to get hyperbolic about a result in a meaningless friendly. On the other hand, 5-0 was flattering to the Norwegians; at the very least (the uncalled hand ball and the wrongly disallowed Dempsey goal) it could have been seven. Good stuff, and a nice antidote to the Canada game.
One interesting thing about the US is that we tend to play pretty closely to our opponents. We lose narrowly to Brazil, and we can only get by Grenada 2-0. So 5-0 really is quite something, even if it was against an understrength Norway side.
And wow were they ever understrength. I know they were out of season and all, but the Norwegians were frankly terrible. Look at the how much space Twellman was in as the cross came over for the first goal. You could have parked a Cessna in the gap between those defenders.
Really the big factor in this game was the field. The Norwegians were not fit enough to compete on the wide field of the Home Despot (sic, it's my little joke) Center, and the US was doing an excellent job of switching the point of attack to players in space on the far side. Hejduk was in acres of space on every play in the first 15 minutes before anyone bothered to mark him. Putting an extra player on him helped, but it left the Norwegian midfield stretched and gave the Americans plenty of room to operate.
And operate they did. The biggest thing to like about this game was the following ratio: 24 shots, 13 on target and 5 goals. Those are nice numbers against a team that sought to sit back and defend.
It was a big day for Twellman, obviously. So too for Dempsey, whose spot at inside right seems to be ideal for him. He was equally comfortable going outside to the wing and cutting into the center. He was also doing a lot of the playmaking, coming back and receiving the ball from the back four. More and more, I think he will be an essential member of our Cup squad: energetic off the bench, able to play anywhere at midfield or attack.
Dunivant also looked good. One or two misplaced passes, and a little uncomfortable when put under pressure, but overall a very nice debut, and one in which he was very useful going forward, a key factor if he's going to be the US's left back. Good performances too for Pope, Conrad, Hejduk, Noonan, and I think Zavagnin.
On one hand, you don't want to get hyperbolic about a result in a meaningless friendly. On the other hand, 5-0 was flattering to the Norwegians; at the very least (the uncalled hand ball and the wrongly disallowed Dempsey goal) it could have been seven. Good stuff, and a nice antidote to the Canada game.
Sunday, January 29, 2006
US-Norway tonight
The boss has a preview over at ASN. Interesting note: he tips Dunivant to start in front of the home fans. I hope so; Dunivant's play over the last year for the Galaxy has demanded a serious look from the national team.
Friday, January 27, 2006
Senegal demands mulligan
Good to see that dedicated sputum redistributor El-Hadji Diouf isn't at all bitter about Senegal's unexpected elimination from World Cup qualifying:
"I think the wrong teams are going to the World Cup," [Diouf] said. "If you have seen Ghana, and then you see Cameroon, Senegal and Nigeria, you know the wrong team is going."....
"If you played the World Cup qualifiers over again," Diouf said, "I think Senegal would qualify."
Great idea, El-Hadji! So while Sepp Blatter and the boys at FIFA HQ are mulling over that one, you'll just have to prove your natural superiorty over crap teams like Ghana in the African Cup... er... umm... wait a second....
"I think the wrong teams are going to the World Cup," [Diouf] said. "If you have seen Ghana, and then you see Cameroon, Senegal and Nigeria, you know the wrong team is going."....
"If you played the World Cup qualifiers over again," Diouf said, "I think Senegal would qualify."
Great idea, El-Hadji! So while Sepp Blatter and the boys at FIFA HQ are mulling over that one, you'll just have to prove your natural superiorty over crap teams like Ghana in the African Cup... er... umm... wait a second....
Euro 2008 draw
It's never too early to think about that next major tournament, and with the Euro 2008 qualifiers beginning pretty much right after the World Cup, it's time for yet another draw. Here are the results.
Some thoughts.
Some thoughts.
- Group B sets up a tasty France-Italy series, a matchup that would seem unlikely for a qualifying tournament. (It occurs because the holders, Greece, get a seeding and Italy, who really when you think about it haven't achieved all that much in the last few years, got placed in the second pot.) The top two teams from each group qualify, but the danger here for France and Italy is that they draw twice with one another (not unlikely) and then split their series with Ukraine. That would give the Ukraine the group win and cause one of these two marquee teams not to qualify.
- England and Holland got pretty easy groups, although they both involve lots of trips to Eastern Europe.
- Greece vs Turkey. Now that will be fun. No animosity in that rivalry, no sirree.
- Just about every other team in that Group D is in with a chance of making it to the final.
- Can someone explain to me why Kazakhstan is in UEFA? They are not geographically in Europe, and they aren't culturally in Europe. (Israel, I can understand. But Kazakhstan?)
Thursday, January 26, 2006
A million little hairstyles....
The whole "separated at birth" thing is overplayed, in my opinion. But earlier today I was at the gym watching CNN's coverage of the James Frey/Oprah brouhaha, when it struck me just how much the writer of imaginative autobiography looks like former (?) US striker and Sports Illustrated cover curse victim Clint Mathis.
Okay, the pictures I chose don't really do it justice, but watching Frey on TV, it was a little eerie. They even have identical career trajectories.
Okay, the pictures I chose don't really do it justice, but watching Frey on TV, it was a little eerie. They even have identical career trajectories.
US- Norway preview
If you want to schedule a January friendly, just dial up a Scandanavian country! Their domestic leagues have long winter breaks, and you're pretty much guaranteed to get your offer accepted; after all, would you want to spend January in Trondheim or Gothenburg?
This time around, our Scandanavian guests are Norway, the country famous for being Slartibartfast's award cow. And unlike last weekend's US-Canada game, this one will be televised: 5 PM Sunday on ESPN2.
Which may or may not be a good thing. In 1998, as we were gearing up for a European World Cup, we arranged a friendly against a Swedish team who saw the match primarily as an opportunity for a wonderful Florida vacation. The result was a match in which the Swedes were so uninterested in attacking that Gregg Berhalter's chance to make the France 98 squad by impressing the US coaching staff with his defensive skills was pretty much 86ed, since he essentially had nothing to do. (The result was a boring 1-0 win for the US, thanks to a 1st minute Roy Wegerle goal).
Apparently, however, the first match in the Norwegian winter tour, a 2-1 loss to Mexico, was a pretty energetic affair, so we'll see. They have a squad of primarily domestic-based players, having not recalled any of their overseas stars.
Biggest priority for the US, I'm imagining, is for someone to actually put away some freakin' chances. There is one attacking spot in the US starting eleven that is totally up for grabs: either for a striker or a right sided midfielder (depending on where Landon Donovan plays.) It's hard to say how much Arena will shake things up fron the Canada starting lineup, but it would be interesting to see Chris Rolfe and Todd Dunivant get opportunities.
This time around, our Scandanavian guests are Norway, the country famous for being Slartibartfast's award cow. And unlike last weekend's US-Canada game, this one will be televised: 5 PM Sunday on ESPN2.
Which may or may not be a good thing. In 1998, as we were gearing up for a European World Cup, we arranged a friendly against a Swedish team who saw the match primarily as an opportunity for a wonderful Florida vacation. The result was a match in which the Swedes were so uninterested in attacking that Gregg Berhalter's chance to make the France 98 squad by impressing the US coaching staff with his defensive skills was pretty much 86ed, since he essentially had nothing to do. (The result was a boring 1-0 win for the US, thanks to a 1st minute Roy Wegerle goal).
Apparently, however, the first match in the Norwegian winter tour, a 2-1 loss to Mexico, was a pretty energetic affair, so we'll see. They have a squad of primarily domestic-based players, having not recalled any of their overseas stars.
Biggest priority for the US, I'm imagining, is for someone to actually put away some freakin' chances. There is one attacking spot in the US starting eleven that is totally up for grabs: either for a striker or a right sided midfielder (depending on where Landon Donovan plays.) It's hard to say how much Arena will shake things up fron the Canada starting lineup, but it would be interesting to see Chris Rolfe and Todd Dunivant get opportunities.
The nice thing about being Pele...
... well, it strikes me that there are probably many nice things about being Pele, but one of them is that every four years, someone wants to know your opinion on who's going to win the World Cup.
And who do you think he chose? Go on, have a wild guess. Hint: they are famous for their tasty nuts.
And who do you think he chose? Go on, have a wild guess. Hint: they are famous for their tasty nuts.
US Defense
An interesting point that Steven Goff raises in his typically excellent Washington Post chat: there is one starting central defense place pretty much up for grabs in the US team. If healthy, Oguchi Oneywu is almost certainly going to start--his development in 2005 has been remarkable--but who will his partner be? A year ago, I'd have suggested it would be Cory Gibbs, but his recent dismissal from Feyenoord after a long injury layoff leaves his place on the squad in doubt, much less the starting team. So will it be Carlos Bocanegra, Eddie Pope or Gregg Berhalter?
One point of disagreement with Goff: I'm not convinced that Eddie Pope is past it. True, he's had an awful 2004 and 05, but then, he's played with some pretty awful teams. The big impediment for Pope will be his fitness; part of his problem over the last two years is that he has always been recovering from some injury or another. If he has a good camp and gets off to a nice start with the 2006 version Real Salt Lake, then he has a great chance of starting alongside Oneywu; I like the idea of having one center back with the experience of Pope.
One point of disagreement with Goff: I'm not convinced that Eddie Pope is past it. True, he's had an awful 2004 and 05, but then, he's played with some pretty awful teams. The big impediment for Pope will be his fitness; part of his problem over the last two years is that he has always been recovering from some injury or another. If he has a good camp and gets off to a nice start with the 2006 version Real Salt Lake, then he has a great chance of starting alongside Oneywu; I like the idea of having one center back with the experience of Pope.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Meanwhile, some real matches...
... are being played in Egypt, where the African Cup of Nations is in full swing.
It's an odd dynamic in Africa at the moment, since the traditional African powers--Cameroon, Nigeria and South Africa--flopped mightily in World Cup qualifying. Some read this as a changing of the guard in African soccer, but at least based on the results of the cup so far, this seems more like a momentary aberration. World Cup bound Angola and Togo were dropped pretty easily by Cameroon and Congo respectively. Highly touted but currently injury plagued Ghana lost a tense 1-0 game to Nigeria. Only Cote d'Ivoire are prospering, riding the back of one goal victories over Libya and Morocco to reach the quarter-finals already.
South Africa, who are, you'll recall, 2010 World Cup hosts were apparently dreadful in their 2-0 loss to Guinea
It's an odd dynamic in Africa at the moment, since the traditional African powers--Cameroon, Nigeria and South Africa--flopped mightily in World Cup qualifying. Some read this as a changing of the guard in African soccer, but at least based on the results of the cup so far, this seems more like a momentary aberration. World Cup bound Angola and Togo were dropped pretty easily by Cameroon and Congo respectively. Highly touted but currently injury plagued Ghana lost a tense 1-0 game to Nigeria. Only Cote d'Ivoire are prospering, riding the back of one goal victories over Libya and Morocco to reach the quarter-finals already.
South Africa, who are, you'll recall, 2010 World Cup hosts were apparently dreadful in their 2-0 loss to Guinea
FA locates foot in crosshairs
The ridiculous Sven-Goran Eriksson saga reached an apparent climax yesterday as the FA announced he would be leaving his job as England manager after the World Cup.
Two things to note about Svengate. The first is how monumentally ridiculous this entire episode has been. For those who haven't heard: the tabloid newspaper News of the World played a hoax on Sven by arranging an interview with a fake Arab sheikh in which he revealed the following completely unshocking revelations:
A) Rio Ferdinand is a bit lazy.
B) Michael Owen isn't at Newcastle because of his deep abiding love for Tyneside culture.
C) David Beckham would really, if he had his druthers, quite like to be out of Real Madrid.
D) Sven was thinking of leaving the English post after the World Cup, maybe to land at a cushy position in Aston Villa.
Let's just say that A, B & C are hardly points of contestation. As for D, fully three-quarters of national team managers leave after the World Cup, and even though his contract ran to 2008, surely no one but the most naive FA official could have dismissed the possibility of him bowing out after Germany.
Secondly, I agree with the general consensus in the non-tabloid press that this is an idiotic act of self-immolation. How can this possibly do anything other than undermine the preparation for the World Cup, either by promoting squad disunity or by encouraging Sven to phone it in? In the now unlikely event that England do well this summer, the FA are going to look even more stupid.
By the way, this Football365 petition is quite brilliant.
UPDATE: Not so general, apparently. The Mirror's point is worth comment:
"If anything, precedent suggests knowing a manager is due to leave after a tournament inspires players to greater heights more than it impedes them," [The Mirror] wrote]
Both Bobby Robson and Terry Venables had already announced their departures when they led England to the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup and the 1996 European championship respectively.
But both Robson and Venables left of their own accord prior to those cups. And not even dodgy dealer Venables had the tempest of scandal that Sven, for absolutely no good reason, has had to endure.
Two things to note about Svengate. The first is how monumentally ridiculous this entire episode has been. For those who haven't heard: the tabloid newspaper News of the World played a hoax on Sven by arranging an interview with a fake Arab sheikh in which he revealed the following completely unshocking revelations:
A) Rio Ferdinand is a bit lazy.
B) Michael Owen isn't at Newcastle because of his deep abiding love for Tyneside culture.
C) David Beckham would really, if he had his druthers, quite like to be out of Real Madrid.
D) Sven was thinking of leaving the English post after the World Cup, maybe to land at a cushy position in Aston Villa.
Let's just say that A, B & C are hardly points of contestation. As for D, fully three-quarters of national team managers leave after the World Cup, and even though his contract ran to 2008, surely no one but the most naive FA official could have dismissed the possibility of him bowing out after Germany.
Secondly, I agree with the general consensus in the non-tabloid press that this is an idiotic act of self-immolation. How can this possibly do anything other than undermine the preparation for the World Cup, either by promoting squad disunity or by encouraging Sven to phone it in? In the now unlikely event that England do well this summer, the FA are going to look even more stupid.
By the way, this Football365 petition is quite brilliant.
UPDATE: Not so general, apparently. The Mirror's point is worth comment:
"If anything, precedent suggests knowing a manager is due to leave after a tournament inspires players to greater heights more than it impedes them," [The Mirror] wrote]
Both Bobby Robson and Terry Venables had already announced their departures when they led England to the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup and the 1996 European championship respectively.
But both Robson and Venables left of their own accord prior to those cups. And not even dodgy dealer Venables had the tempest of scandal that Sven, for absolutely no good reason, has had to endure.
Monday, January 23, 2006
More US-Canada.
Tony Bruce's match report for ASN provides more info and proves that Ridge Mahoney wasn't the only person attending the game (Ridge did the radio commentary and wrote the story in the Wash Post.) Looks like Pope and Conrad both had strong games, and Reis provided some fine saves.
Arena on Freddy:
"He would probably not played had Eddie not been injured. He was the only option left on the bench,” commented Arena, after the game.
Ouch.
Arena on Freddy:
"He would probably not played had Eddie not been injured. He was the only option left on the bench,” commented Arena, after the game.
Ouch.
Well that didn't take long...
That is, for a prediction of mine to be completely dead wrong: the US and Canada played out a scoreless draw last night. Having not seen the game, it's hard to say what exactly went wrong for the US, although it might have something to do with the finishing: only two of the ten shots on target. I listened to the first half on the US Soccer feed, and it sounded like Canada was really taking the game to the US and over-running them in midfield.
Only a few people gave a rating to the game on Sams-Army, but based on those who did, it seems like the only person who stood out was Pearce at left back.
Oh, and Freddy Adu made his US debut as a sub and got a yellow card for diving, which is really pretty funny. (Note his odd non-denial in the Post article!)
Only a few people gave a rating to the game on Sams-Army, but based on those who did, it seems like the only person who stood out was Pearce at left back.
Oh, and Freddy Adu made his US debut as a sub and got a yellow card for diving, which is really pretty funny. (Note his odd non-denial in the Post article!)
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Oh! Canada...
With absolutely no fanfare (or indeed TV coverage), the USA plays Canada tonight in a friendly at the University of San Diego. Canada's squad is young and largely domestic based, with a few players from Scandanavia thrown in, so it should be a fairly comfortable match for the US.
Bruce Arena's starting lineup is certainly intriguing. With Steve Ralston out with injury and neither DaMarcus Beasley, Bobby Convey or Eddie Lewis in the squad, it look's like he's decided to forgo wingers altogether, and use his backs for natural width. Also: three forwards! Not in a sorta kinda Chelsea way, but three real forwards: Brian Ching as a center forward and Taylor Twellman and Josh Wolff playing off him. Although Wolff likes to drift off a little, neither he nor Twellman are natural wingers, so it'll be interesting to see how they work together. Needless to say, it will be imperative for each of those three that they finish any chances that come their way; only Brian McBride is a definite starter on the front line at the moment.
They don't face the most intimidating of opposing offenses this evening, but I think it's an important game for the back four as well. The starting left back spot is entirely open; Heath Pearce will need to prove he has the class to play there at the highest level. After a really mediocre season with Columbus, and having fallen well behind Steve Cherundulo on the depth chart, Frankie Hejduk will need to work hard to make this squad. Thanks to a combination of injury and a year in Salt Lake, Pope is no longer an automatic first choice center back, and Jimmy Conrad is probably the sixth choice center back, following Berhalter, Bocanegra, Oneywu, Pope and Gibbs.
Game's on radio at the US Soccer website.
Bruce Arena's starting lineup is certainly intriguing. With Steve Ralston out with injury and neither DaMarcus Beasley, Bobby Convey or Eddie Lewis in the squad, it look's like he's decided to forgo wingers altogether, and use his backs for natural width. Also: three forwards! Not in a sorta kinda Chelsea way, but three real forwards: Brian Ching as a center forward and Taylor Twellman and Josh Wolff playing off him. Although Wolff likes to drift off a little, neither he nor Twellman are natural wingers, so it'll be interesting to see how they work together. Needless to say, it will be imperative for each of those three that they finish any chances that come their way; only Brian McBride is a definite starter on the front line at the moment.
They don't face the most intimidating of opposing offenses this evening, but I think it's an important game for the back four as well. The starting left back spot is entirely open; Heath Pearce will need to prove he has the class to play there at the highest level. After a really mediocre season with Columbus, and having fallen well behind Steve Cherundulo on the depth chart, Frankie Hejduk will need to work hard to make this squad. Thanks to a combination of injury and a year in Salt Lake, Pope is no longer an automatic first choice center back, and Jimmy Conrad is probably the sixth choice center back, following Berhalter, Bocanegra, Oneywu, Pope and Gibbs.
Game's on radio at the US Soccer website.
Hello!
One of my many New year's resolutions for 2006 was to finally press ahead with the international soccer web log I have been kicking around (so to speak) for the past several months. So twenty-some days into the New Year, here is the first post of Kicker Conspracy. Really, I should have started this sometime last year when World Cup qualifying was in full swing, but I was mired in my dissertation, which I finally defended on the day of the World Cup draw in December. Now that my plate is a lot less full, I should be able to devote some real time to the blog.
By the way, my name is Alex, and I write about the MLS team the New England Revolution for the web site American Soccer News, which was until recently cybersoccernews.com. For this web log, I've decided to concentrate fairly exclusively on international soccer, and especially of course World Cup 2006. Often, but definitely not exclusively, I'll be discussing the two teams I know the most about--the United States and England. I may also be discussing cultural issues pertaining to soccer throughout the world.
I'm very new to this medium, hence the rather vanilla appearance of this site. I'll be making changes to it as time permits.
Please feel free to comment!
By the way, my name is Alex, and I write about the MLS team the New England Revolution for the web site American Soccer News, which was until recently cybersoccernews.com. For this web log, I've decided to concentrate fairly exclusively on international soccer, and especially of course World Cup 2006. Often, but definitely not exclusively, I'll be discussing the two teams I know the most about--the United States and England. I may also be discussing cultural issues pertaining to soccer throughout the world.
I'm very new to this medium, hence the rather vanilla appearance of this site. I'll be making changes to it as time permits.
Please feel free to comment!
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