Picking The 23: Midfielders

Clint Dempsey

Posted from  United States

Wolff or Johnson up top with McBride. Donovan stays at attacking mid (I can vote twice, right?)

Posted from  United States

My vote is for Donovan up front w/McBride. If you put donovan in midfield, what midfielder do you take off? I think beasley, reyna, mastroeni, and O’Brien should all be on the field. (I’d also like to see convey on the field as well but perhaps he does make a great spark off the bench). If you put donovan in midfield which of those players comes off? Of course I’m assuming here that everyone is 100% healthy. If O’Brien isn’t 100% then maybe you take him off and push donovan back into midfield.

Posted from  United States

I’d rather see Donovan play forward, I believe he’s going to Germany as a midfielder.

We’re gonna be scraping the bottom of the barrel trying to come up with 3 more decent midfielders….

Posted from  United States

Yes, Ralston, but we need one more to round out the 8 – because Donovan definitely goes up front.

Mark, I agree that Johnson and Wolff should make the team, but starting one of them (with Donovan at attacking mid means sitting 3 of these 4: Convey, Dempsey, O’Brien, Maestroni (Beasley, Reyna, Donovan being locks). Each one of those players is far outclassing the likes of our other strikers. That’s why the 4-5-1 with Donovan and Beasley as attacking wingers makes sense.

So in a sense I agree with Donovan as an attacking mid, but only in the 4-5-1 formation. But the question here was clearly geared toward a 4-4-2, so you have to put Donovan upfront and pick two of the these three: Johnson, Wolff, Twellman. Let’s just get the Wolf v. Twellman debate going.

Posted from  United States

I’m going to throw out a vote for Pat Noonan. I just loved the work rate he displayed against Japan on both sides of the ball. I don’t think he’s a “gamebreaker” but, much like Steve Ralston, he’s solid and I wouldn’t worry with him on the field. He gets the edge over Ralston because I think he’s a bit more active.

Beas, Donovan, Reyna, Mastro, and Johhny-O are all top notch in my book. Convey is almost there and Dempsey and Noonan are just a bit behind.

By the way, I think the 4-5-1 idea with Beas and Donovan as wingers is pretty sweet but I have one concern. I love Mastro, Johnny-O, and Reyna but I’m not sure that we want all of them on the field at the same time. Is having 3 central midfielders a good idea when none of them are attacking midfielders? I think it would actually work for us since we can attack the flanks with our outside backs and we rely a lot on the counter-attack. The more I think about it, the more I love this idea. Here’s my starting eleven (I hope it shows up right):

McBride
Beas Donovan
Johnny-0 Reyna
Mastro
Lewis Gooch Gibbs Cherundolo
Keller

Beas and Donovan would have pretty much free reign to roam the field and Convey would be the offensive spark off the bench.

Oh yeah, I’m going to say put Donovan down as a midfielder because I want to bring McBride, Wolff, Twellman, and EJ in hopes that one of the “other three” will be in great form by the time the cup starts.

I vote for Donovan at forward.

Posted from  United States

More on the 4-5-1. Beauty of this lineup is the lineup flexibility with midfield substitutions. Need more offense? Bring in Convey for O’Brien on the left or Dempsey for Reyna on the right — or both. Reyna has injury trouble or can’t go a full 90 in all 3 group games? Move Maestroni or O’Brien to the middle.

Posted from  United States

I couldn’t agree more boss.

I want to elaborate more on my argument for Donovan as a midfielder. As much as we may not like our second options at striker, Arena has shown no indication that he might use Donovan up front. When was the last time Donovan played up top for us? I really can’t remember. Furthermore, there certainly might be a situation where we want two forwards in the line-up with Donovan in the midfield so that we’ll have a really strong offense. So we need to make sure we have someone good to pair with McB. The best way of ensuring that is by bringing four forwards because the more we bring the more likely one of them will be in good form for the Cup.

I say McBride should be the lone striker, with Landon supporting him from Attacking Mid.

Posted from  United Kingdom

bossman: I like Donovan at attacking mid because that is the position that he brings the most value to the team — his creativity and decisiveness in the attacking third. If he isn’t attacking mid, then who is to get the ball to the forwards? Nobody else on our team has the imagination and skillset to do this.

I don’t agree that Beasley is a lock. I go back and forth between he and Convey. Beasley is a better defender but cannot maintain posession like Convey does. I also tend to think that Convey is better delivering the ball into the box than Beasley.

Dempsey can come in as a sub. He has shown me that he should make the squad, but not enough to say that he should start.

JOB needs to play two or three games before I conceed anything there.

My line-up:

– McBride — Johnson
—— Donovan ——-
Convey/Beas —- Reyna
—- Maestro ——-

Posted from  United States

donavan at attacking mid, definitely. he’ll get forward as needed. he’s proven his ability to do that many times.

also, sorry to have to go back in time, but i am new to this discussion. frankie hey-i-suck? what is it with america’s infatuation with guys that run alot? he does not have the skills needed at the international level. granted, he has had the occasional decent performance, but on the whole, his defence is awful. he loses possession all the time. and that goal celebration? ugh.

we should call him agoos2.

craziness.

Posted from  United States

Mike, Hejduk is a chemistry guy above anything else. Second, he steps it up in big games. Third, you’re right that he’s mistake prone but he has the speed to be able to cover for himself. Fourth, we’re pretty thin at outside back.

Alright, Donovan is an as a midfielder. That gives us 7:

Claudio Reyna
John O’Brien
Bobby Convey
DaMarcus Beasley
Pablo Mastroeni
Clint Dempsey
Landon Donovan

…so we need one more. Steve Ralston and Pat Noonan have already been mentioned.

Posted from  United States

I like Ralston in this spot, but what about a surprise in this 8th midfield spot?

Has anyone mentioned young Freddy Adu?

Posted from  United States

I’ll throw in a vote for Ralston

Posted from  United States

Adu? Lord no…

He’s really good and extremely talented. When he’s dribbling on the ball he’s can do terrifying things. But if you watch him in MLS games, he gets taken off the ball too quickly, or he beats a few guys brilliantly and can’t finish the pass or the shot. He has talents that exist in very few US players, but he’s not good enough yet to make big differences against teams like the Chicago Fire. Against Italy?

If Adu can keep his game serious, he’s going to fill out and really start ripping. But he’s still younger than Donovan and Beasley were at the last WC.

I’m more for Noonan than Ralston, but mostly because of Ralston’s recent injuries.

ralston.

jason – that’s hardly a ringing endorsement for frankie. and i don’t buy into the idea that he’s a ‘chemistry guy’. he’s NOT NATIONAL TEAM MATERIAL. give me spector any day. saving something for the future, as it were.

Posted from  United States

I would suggest Ben Olsen over both Ralston or Noonan. To me, he’s always been at the bubble’s furthest edge. I think he’s the perfect player for the deep bench. A gritty, versatile player that can come in if things get bad or there are injuries – and with O’Brien in there, you need insurance. He has int’l experience.

My priority voting: Olsen, Ralston (can double as forward), Noonan

Posted from  United States

My vote is for noonan if for no other reason than he coached my team a few years back at Indiana University soccer camp

Posted from  United States

Hejduk started in all but one of the 02 World Cup matches and we did pretty damn well and he hasn’t dropped off since then. I’d say that’s a strong enough endorsement for the last defender to make the squad. Second, we like to attack out of the back and Hejduk can cover enough ground to do so.

And I don’t buy into the idea that bringing someone along to sit on the bench will make them a much better player later on. If that’s the case, then we should start talking about bringing Adu rather than Ralston or Noonan.

jason,

let’s agree to disagree. i think hey-i-suck is a tremendous waste of space on the roster, and you’re blinkered into believing he has something to offer.

agreed on not bringing in a bench warmer. just figured that anything is an imoprovement over my friend frankie.

Posted from  United States

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Posted from  United States

OK, the final 8 midfielders were:

Claudio Reyna
John O’Brien
Bobby Convey
DaMarcus Beasley
Pablo Mastroeni
Clint Dempsey
Landon Donovan
Steve Ralston

Now it’s time to pick the four forwards.

Posted from  United States

my vote is for Benny Olsen. He has really been in form latley and would be an excellent sub. He is gritty, not afraid to go into any tackle, and deceptivly creative.

Posted from  United States