The Winning Side (part 2)
SPORTING GOODS
I wasn't perfect last time in picking the starting XI for the USA-Italy match, but seemed to be on the same page as Arena. He went with Bocanegra/'Dolo whereas I had Berhalter/Lewis, but we had the same idea, sacrificing one fullback who pushes forward well since the midfield would be a bit more offensive minded. I wanted John O'Brien over Pablo Mastroeni as the holding midfielder, and Jimmy Conrad over Eddie Pope as a centerback.Arena obviously coached a great game, but I will point out that Mastroeni was sent off for a stupid tackle, and Eddie Pope was probably the primary culprit in the Italian goal, then let a ball go by his foot in the box that could have easily been a US goal off of a corner kick, and finally was sent off to put the US down a man for 43 minutes. So who knows, if Arena had fired up his laptop and taken my amateur advice, we may have just won that game! Right...
Anyway, here's my XI for the Ghana game tomorrow, which the US must win to have a chance of advancing. The only decision I struggled with was leaving Clint Dempsey out of the lineup. I had been pimping him to no end prior to the Italy match, he got his chance, and he didn't disappoint.
But, sticking Eddie Johnson in as a striker makes me a bit wary about bringing in Dempsey's poor defensive skills, especially with defensive-minded Mastroeni out after his red card. So, I'll go with Johnson, bring in O'Brien as the holding midfielder to play the middle with Reyna, and would bring in Dempsey early in the second half if we remain tied (or God forbid if we're losing).
US wins, Italy wins, and we're in. 10am tomorrow, or as I would like to call it National "I have a bit of a stomach ache, I'm hoping I'll be in around lunchtime" Day.
Pick your own side here, and leave your thoughts in the comments.
posted by Darlucky at 6/21/2006 09:34:00 AM
3 Comments:
I agree with your evaluation, except that Arena coached a good game. I just can't find him to be a good coach, and have to blame him for many of the problems I see with the U.S. way of playing. For instance, as I believe Julie Foudy (who has been great) pointed out, the U.S. has the fewest shots of any team. Also, why were no subs used toward the end of the Italy game when our 9 men were obviously tired?
I'd be okay with Johnson and McBride starting up front, as long as Dempsey is really brought in soon after, and possibly even for McBride. He hasn't done too much, and Dempsey brought real life and energy to the match.
Another note: The U.S. played real well in the night game and sluggishly in their first game, which was a day game. I hope the heat does not get to them again.
Good job, though, Darlucky. Maybe Arena will surf the web pre-game this time!
c-train brings up a great point, you can't score if you dont' shoot (unless some defender kicks the ball in for you, thanks Italy!)
i did see foudy say that, though it's not entirely accurate. as daily411 strives to be a place of truth, the US is 28th in shots, well ahead of powerhouses S&M, Iran, and Tunisia!
amazing fact: Argentina has taken only 1 more shot than the US...but has scored 6 more goals.
Update:
According to FIFA (rather than soccernet which I was using before), the US has 1 shot on goal (dead last) and 14 shots total (2nd to last).
that's awful.
the only shot on goal was reyna's, which hit the post. talk about bored goalies.
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