Comments on: Picking The 23: Midfielders

By: Geoff

Geoff — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 02:29:14 +0000

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.

By: daryl

daryl — Sat, 01 Apr 2006 19:56:04 +0000

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.

By: Picking The 23: Forwards - FIFA World Cup 2006 - USA World Cup Team Blog

Picking The 23: Forwards - FIFA World Cup 2006 - USA World Cup Team Blog — Sat, 01 Apr 2006 19:52:38 +0000

By: mike

mike — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 23:02:27 +0000

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.

By: Jason

Jason — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 21:48:17 +0000

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.

By: Jake

Jake — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 20:50:38 +0000

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

By: Pete

Pete — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 20:40:20 +0000

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

By: mike

mike — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 19:32:39 +0000

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.

By: colin

colin — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 18:43:35 +0000

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.

By: john

john — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 18:36:06 +0000

I’ll throw in a vote for Ralston