I dont know how to spell Hondurez (sp). Game is in the second half. US down 1-0. Arena gets thrown out for argueing a no call. I'm reading it on match tracker through ussoccer.com...is anyone out there watching on telefutra?

US ties it in the 86th minute...Whoop!

Chose a weird formation, with ...unusual personnel choices, but finally made some obvious substitutions and we pick it up for the last 20 minutes or so. Maybe arena will learn not to do that again.

Not a big fan of the refereeing either.

US scores in extra time. Whistle blows just after the ball goes in. US on to the Gold Cup finals. I'll pull out and whoop up for that.

did u watch the game?

Oh yea, I find it much more enjoyable when I can't understand the announcers, compared the crap you get on espn.

I wish I could've seen it. What was the overall feel for the game. Did the US look strong?

The crowd was like, 90% honduran and pretty loud. We were playing hard, and no one was really dominating most of the time. We didn't appear to have any outside midfielders, and steve ralston was one of our strikers up top. We had mastroeni and armas on, who are both defensive minded midfielders and lack offensive creativity. Josh wolff played like he usually does(doesn't do much) and landon didn't see much of the ball. John O'brien dominated all game. We finally made some subs, and brought on pat noonan for wolff, and dempsey for mastroeni. Both players immediately started pressing the attack and creating goal-scoring chances. The last 20 minutes were played mainly in the attacking third. We had about 4-5 solid oppurtunities to score before O'brien put one in the back of the net. Then 2 minutes into stoppage time we got a freekick on the right hand side of the pitch about 35 yards out, Donovan bent one into the box, and Onyewu headed it into the upper 90...game over. With about 25 minutes left, Arena got a red card for something.

We won't win the finals if we dont change tactics. The fact that we won this game, while playing really only 20-30 minutes of real quality soccer is amazing.

thanks pat

http://rapidshare.de/files/3248382/2ndUSGoalvsHondurasGoldCup05.avi.html

Game winning goal. Very nice. Good job, USA. By all accounts, the US didn't play very well and there was some questionable officiating, but they overcame all that and Arena's ejection to win and move on to the finals.

Does anybody know if the final is televised and if so at what time?

Univision, 2pm central, Sunday, July 24.

Also, I've come to like watching soccer in Spanish for some reason, but for those of you who actually care what they say and don't understand Spanish, there is supposed to be English CC available.

I enjoy watching soccer in Spanish as well. The commentators are so much more animated and I can understand enough of it that I can get some information as well. They aren't afraid to give their opinion. Maybe its just the novelty of it, but count me as a fan.

I, however, was not a fan of the performance last night. I wasn't able to watch it because I was driving back home from Dallas, but by all accounts, we didn't play very well. Even the best teams have off nights though. Hopefully, we'll get it back Sunday.

If you can decipher my excited ramblings, you'd understand the problem. I will try to translate.

We played in a wierd formation, and didnt play with any actualy outside midfielders. THe only true outside player, ralston, was played in a forward position. So whereas we are normally dangers through midfield, and especially dangerous down the flanks and crossing balls in, we had none of that. Plus we were vulnerable down the flanks to attack as well, because of this.

Eddie pope sucks now, unfortunately.

Landon Donovan really didn't see much of the ball, and wasn't involved in the offense much, due to the formation and personnel choices.

Two defensive midfielders with little to no creative ability on offense in at the same time. Mastroeni and armas...which isnt too bad except you never really saw them do much on defense either. Wolff didnt really do much uptop, other than get the ball in offensive positions, only to lose the ball due to his lack of offensive talent.
These two problems were solved when we subbed in Clint Dempsey and Pat Noonan. Pat noonan is capable of being a target player up front, and actually creating for other players with his back to the goal. He can also win headers. Clint dempsey is also very creative through the midfield going forward, and has deceptive speed. Both of these players, gave us the needed boost offensively, for us to play most of the last 20-30 minutes in their side of the field, repeatedly hammering on the door.


John O'brien is awesome, and did whatever he wanted basically the whole game.

I couldn't watch the game yesterday, so thanks for the recap. What formation did Arena use? Is it one he's used before?

As I've said before, I've never been terribly impressed with Josh Wolff, but Johnson and Casey are out right now and McBride is getting older (is he hurt right now, too?). I guess there aren't too many other options.

EDIT: And JOB is awesome. I'm glad to see him back as a regular national team player. Now if we could just get Eddie Johnson healthy, I would feel better about the attack.

[This message has been edited by tool (edited 7/22/2005 4:21p).]

A midfield with O'Brien and Reyna in the middle playing creative through balls and with Damarcus and Landon on the wings might be light in defense, but is a scary on offense.

I think the US is a little lighter up top then I initially thought. McBride isn't hurt (he was just given the Gold Cup off to solidify his spot with Fulham) but he is getting up in age. EJ looks like he'll be a fixture up top for years but Casey hasn't impressed me yet, Wolf gets in good positions but can't finish, and I still think Ching is overrated. I mean can anyone think of viable options up top right now? Noonan, Twellman, and others haven't exactly seized the day when given the opportunity to perform.

The back line is worrysome as well. Pope can play well one game, and then suck it up the next game but honestly, I think our CBs are pretty solid with Onyewu, Gibbs, Bocanegra, etc. and Conrad has done quite well in this tournament. The LB and RB postions aren't as deep with LB being a real problem. Vanney is competent but I wouldn't call him world class and Hejduk...man if that guy never got another cap, I would be a happy man. Here's to hoping Spector cracks the first team at Charlton and forces Bruce to take a look at him in the back.

Chris Albright isnt too bad at outside back.

Noonan played excellently yesterday. The thing about playin landon and beasley outside, is even if they lack defensive prowess, they have great speed and could recover on pretty much any play. I could maybe see us switching to a 3-5-2

.......mcbride.......johnson
............donovan
beasley........................ralston
.........reyna......o'brien
that would be your offensive 7
whoever you want on d


ralston and beasly are creative outside, beasley isnt a great crosser, but is adequate. ralston is worldclass as far as crosses go.

[This message has been edited by PatAg (edited 7/22/2005 4:55p).]

[This message has been edited by PatAg (edited 7/22/2005 4:56p).]

I would LOVE that formation, Pat. I'm kind of partial to the 3-5-2, anyway. The back line could get into trouble against a quick attacking team, though. As Dre pointed out, there doesn't seem to be a lot of depth on either side in defense.

Steve cherundolo getting taken out cheaply really hurts our ability to effictively play the 3-5-2. Him and ralston are very dangerous down the right hand side. Oh well, we'll see what happens on sunday.

I'd go with

noonan donovan/dempsey up top

beasley dempsey/donovan armas and obrien in the midfield (not sure where)

vanney conrad gooch heyduk in the back

keller in goal


I think thats a pretty solid lineup.

[This message has been edited by PatAg (edited 7/22/2005 9:26p).]

See, if I were going to go with a 3-5-2, I would have to put a holding mdfielder in their like Mastroeni. I'd prefer my wingers concentrating more on offense than tracking back every time the other team attacks. Granted that should do that on occasion but with only three field players in a defensive mindset, you'll get in trouble quick against a quality team that can possess the ball for long stretches and breakdown the defene. Besides, only three in the back, you would be putting a ton of pressure on those guys if you didn't have a true defensive midfielder and quite frankly, I don't think our backline would be strong enough to handle it.

Anyway, good posts though. Let's see what Arena throws out there tomorrow. It would be nice to win of course but I like the idea of using the Gold Cup to experiment with different formations.

mastroeni is hurt. I also wasn't listing a 3-5-2 formation that was 4-4-2

I have dempsey and donovan interchangeable. Sorry for confusion.
I think i might take out armas and put in ralston


[This message has been edited by PatAg (edited 7/23/2005 7:10p).]

quote:

---

I could maybe see us switching to a 3-5-2

.......mcbride.......johnson
............donovan
beasley........................ralston
.........reyna......o'brien
that would be your offensive 7
whoever you want on d

---

I was referring to that post in my last post. Not necessarily what they'll try tomorrow but just a possibility in the future. The last sentence was the only time I was referring directly to tomorrow's game.

Ahh, yea I get you now. Oh well, guess its just your preference. Either way works, probably against a better team you'd probably need to go your way.