Honduras +0.5 at USA (Gold Cup, 9 ET, FSC)

[jlb1705]

Nice job by Brian Ching coughing up that ball so the Haitian defender could get the assist

That was a well-deserved equalizer though. That was a nice barrage they put on for the last twenty minutes.

I agree about Holden - he looked good out there. Between him, Bradley, Feilhaber, Edu & Kljestan I think there's a lot to like among US midfielders right now.

 

[OHSportsFan]

damn, that kid is a player.....if he isn't starting in the World Cup, Bradley should be shot.

Downside is he plays in the most stacked position for the US- central midfield.

He does have the ability to play out wide as well, which is lacking in depth.

He's certainly playing his way on to the squad.

 

[billmac91]

Downside is he plays in the most stacked position for the US- central midfield.

He does have the ability to play out wide as well, which is lacking in depth.

He's certainly playing his way on to the squad.

I'm not going to pretend to know all the USA players....all I can say is:

When I watched the USA play Brazil and Spain, they could not control the ball at all. Midfielders had zero confidence when the ball was on their foot, and looked for the quickest pass possible, or just turned it over by kicking the ball downfield. It was awful.

I know Haiti isn't Brazil's or Spain's calibre, but the kid just looked very comfortbale with th eball on his foot. He played well in space, didn;t panic, and made excellent passes. Even if he doesn't bury that goal in the 90' my opinion would be unchanged. He's exactly what they need from that position. A guy who can collect a pass, make a move, and play good balls without panicking and turning it over.

He's the type of guy that hopefully changes time of possesion a little in our favor instead of it being 62% - 38% against world powers.

 

[morbitzerker]

The problem with the US is, even with their best players, they have to look for the quickest pass becuase they just don't play at the level or pace the other international teams play at. I don't think this makes us any less of fans for coming to terms with this. They just don't have the athletes with the same vision, quickness, agility, etc. They have the heart, which gave them the win against Spain and the half time lead against Brazil, but not exactly the skill to hold the possesion, create the attacks, or chances they need to compete regularly on the upper echelon of international teams. There is improvement, it's just not all there at this point. Holden and others could be a step in the right direction, we'll just have to see him play at that international level; hopefully Bradley gives him that chance sometime.

Let me say that I agree with you about Holden and his abilities, only that at this point we don't really know what he can do at that level because we haven't seen him play much at that level. And that when playing teams like Brazil, or Spain, he may be like the current players, we just haven't seen much of it yet, and I hope Bradley gives him the chance in the near future. Just wanted to clear that up.

 

[OHSportsFan]

I'm not going to pretend to know all the USA players....all I can say is:

When I watched the USA play Brazil and Spain, they could not control the ball at all. Midfielders had zero confidence when the ball was on their foot, and looked for the quickest pass possible, or just turned it over by kicking the ball downfield. It was awful.

I know Haiti isn't Brazil's or Spain's calibre, but the kid just looked very comfortbale with th eball on his foot. He played well in space, didn;t panic, and made excellent passes. Even if he doesn't bury that goal in the 90' my opinion would be unchanged. He's exactly what they need from that position. A guy who can collect a pass, make a move, and play good balls without panicking and turning it over.

He's the type of guy that hopefully changes time of possesion a little in our favor instead of it being 62% - 38% against world powers.

I'm certainly not going to argue against any of those points. I agree- Stu looks like a stud on the field. He's composed and has good awareness, to add to his skill.

However, just a couple other points.

-The US was without their #1 midfielder, Michael Bradley, against Brazil, due to a red card suspension.
-No way the kid starts in the World Cup next year. The best he's doing now is playing himself on to the team. He's taking advantage of this opportunity for these "2nd teamers" to start and play in a regional tournament (against some lower teams).

The U.S.A's central midfield depth chart coming into this tourney probably looked like this (start 2, maybe 3):
1. Michael Bradley
2. Jermaine Jones*
3. Benny Feilhaber- needs to continue to get playing time for his club team.
4. Maurice Edu
5. Ricardo Clark
6. ...Sacha Klejstan (Holden can have his spot for all I care, bleh)

*German midfielder that has declared intent to play for US (American father, I think), rated #1 CM in the Bundesliga (German 1st division, probably the 4th best league in the world). 27 years old (prime), stud defensive midfielder, good complement to Bradley. Pending how he fits in with the team chemistry wise.

That's just the CM, it's stacked, no need to really take more than 5- and those top five look pretty solid. Still, there's a full year of soccer to take place. Injuries can always impact these players and these guys have to continue to get PT for their club in order to stay in form.

Holden has the advantage of being able to play wide (like he did the first 2 games of the Gold Cup). He's naturally a CM, as shown by his great performance tonight. I'd count him in as one of the 23 players getting tickets to South Africa next summer.

 

[sepia5]

I'm not going to pretend to know all the USA players....all I can say is:

When I watched the USA play Brazil and Spain, they could not control the ball at all. Midfielders had zero confidence when the ball was on their foot, and looked for the quickest pass possible, or just turned it over by kicking the ball downfield. It was awful.

I know Haiti isn't Brazil's or Spain's calibre, but the kid just looked very comfortbale with th eball on his foot. He played well in space, didn;t panic, and made excellent passes. Even if he doesn't bury that goal in the 90' my opinion would be unchanged. He's exactly what they need from that position. A guy who can collect a pass, make a move, and play good balls without panicking and turning it over.

He's the type of guy that hopefully changes time of possesion a little in our favor instead of it being 62% - 38% against world powers.

Claudio Reyna. We miss him. I strongly believe he was one of the best midfielders in the world for a brief period of time. Is there a more important position on the pitch than center mid? I would say not. Thus far, he's proven irreplaceable, IMO.

 

[billmac91]

Claudio Reyna. We miss him. I strongly believe he was one of the best midfielders in the world for a brief period of time. Is there a more important position on the pitch than center mid? I would say not. Thus far, he's proven irreplaceable, IMO.

Like I said earlier, I'm fairly new to soccer....all I can say is Holden was undeniably the best player on the field tonight. And he showed great patience, touch, and controlled the ball amazingly well. Far better than anyone I can recall in the games against Brazil or Spain.

We beat Spain, but in watching the game, I was very underwhelmed. Great win, yes. The lack of ball control, yet ability to win the game was crazy. It was just nice seeing a guy be able to control the ball with ease, and create opportunities for teammates tonight. At the very least, take a look at the field, and swing it to the open man. I can't remember a single pass where he lost patience, and just forced it downfield due to pressure.