June 3, 2007 12:21 AM
Georgie's Nats Notes
The U.S. men's national team remained unbeaten in 2007 and unbeaten under new coach Bob Bradley with a 4-1 victory against an overmatched Chinese team Saturday at San Jose, Calif.
DaMarcus Beasley, Benny Feilhaber, Clint Dempsey and Oguchi Onyewu scored as the Americans manhandled China on the visiting team's first game of a short U.S. tour. The Chinese face Real Salt Lake on Thursday before facing the Rapids on Sunday at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.
After the abuse the Chinese took in this game, it will be interesting to see how they respond in Utah and in Commerce City.
THE ROUT, SHE IS ON! Dempsey's goal in the 75th minute came on his third scoring chance. It was another example of bad defending by China's national team, and it came after the U.S. smelled blood in the water. Onyewu buried a header four minutes later, when things really started breaking down for the visitors.
"HORRIFIC SOCCER": Eric Wynalda called it as he saw it in the 64th minute, with Dempsey wiggling though China's porous back line after a turnover that Beasley wound up with. But somebody should've followed Dempsey toward the net as he made his run. A teammate's scoring chance is not the time for players to become spectators.
ALMOST TWO: Had Beasley been able to corral the pass from Onyewu in 40th minute, he'd have had two first-half goals.
METHINKS THOU DOST PROTEST TOO MUCH: Rob Stone and Wynalda are better in the booth for ESPN2 than any pair ABC tends to put together in the name of ratings. But late in the first half, the two of them went on a filibuster about how Michael Bradley deserves to be on the team and hasn't been handed a roster spot because his father is the coach. Bradley had little impact on the game up to that point, yet the announcers persisted in their praise. It went on and on and seemed to last four or five minutes. No amount of verbal polish is going to make Bradley shine. Fans will accept him when he makes a difference on the field. And only then. Once that happens, we can look forward to an end of this talk about nepotism and the denial that his presence is some form of nepotism. Let the kid play, if he can.
IT'S NOT WHAT YOU KNOW, BUT WHO YOU KNOW: Ante Razov, who is simply deadly in Major League Soccer, just doesn't get that many opportunities with the Nats to show what he can do. Before Saturday's game, Razov had 24 caps, but he had six goals in those games. Razov, though, is another Bradley favorite, so he got the call Saturday (with Chivas USA having an off night). Razov had a nice cross early in the game, took a solid free kick after Beasley deferred and displayed some good footwork throughout. Razov also followed through on Feilhaber's goal and was in perfect position to tap it in had the ball gone wide. In the 33rd minute, he kicked off a beautiful scoring chance with a pinpoint cross to Clint Dempsey.
PLAYING HIS WAY ON THE TEAM? If Razov keeps playing like this, will he find a spot on the national team's roster more often? His shot following a sweet pass from Beasley in the 49th minute was just another example of the fine performance he turned in Saturday. I don't think it's a stretch to say Razov would be an asset if he had been included on the roster for the upcoming CONCACAF Gold Cup.
UNFORTUNATE TIMING: The worst thing about the Chinese's 17th-minute goal may have been the confidence they got out of it. The U.S. ran the show for the first 15 minutes, and China looked timid and outmatched. The goal, however, changed all that, giving the Chinese a real sense of purpose. The second U.S. goal, however, had the opposite effect of the Chinese goal. Possession was 2-to-1 in the Americans' favor in the first 50 minutes. And by the 71st minute, the U.S. had been offsides seven times and China just once.
NUMBERS GAME: I'm certainly not used to seeing somebody other than Cobi Jones wearing the number 13 jersey. Saturday it was Chivas USA's Jonathan Bornstein.
PRONUNCIATION GAME: I had often heard Feilhaber's name pronounced FILE-HAY-BER. But Stone and Wynalda were informed by the player before the game that it actually is FAIL-HAW-BER.
CHIVAS CONNECTION: Bornstein and Sacha Kljestan, both from Chivas USA, had sound games for the Nats. This was a fun game to watch because of the opportunities to see a lineup filled with players other than the usual suspects. Four players got their first cap in Saturday's game. And Jesse Marsch, ANOTHER Bradley favorite, got his second.
MORE ON THE ANNOUNCERS: In the 59th minute, Wynalda shared a piece of wisdom that escaped the Chinese coaching staff. With a throw-in in their own end, the Chinese decided to make a substitution. But Wynalda pointed out that being backed up in the corner in your defensive half of the field isn't the smartest time to stop play and to allow the opposition to drift toward the ball. The Chinese handled the situation, but Wynalda gave fans a short coaching lesson that is exactly the type of commentary that ABC was missing during the World Cup last summer. The announcing crew Saturday (Stone, Wynalda and later Julie Foudy) made up the core of ABC's studio crew at the World Cup. Why these three weren't given the microphone in Germany is beyond me.
June 4, 2007
1:13 PM
Mike writes:
Having been at the game, I have to disagree with you on a few points. I also want to disagree because it's in my nature.
Michael Bradley deserves his spot. Seeing him at the game and then watching the game on the Tivo it was amazing how many balls he won. He was everywhere and importantly enough he didn't get whistled for many fouls. He was aggressive. Your boy in Colorado, Pablo, is aggressive to the point where his fouls hurt the team. Bradley was much more in control. And take into account his clean tackle, his quick thinking and then his pin-point diagonal pass to Beasley which set up the PK and this kid will be something special. And we'll finally be able to keep Pablo in Colorado.
And Razov? C'mon, Georgie. Tell me you didn't believe what ya' wrote. That shot he had from 30 yards out? He had enough room and time to get 10 yards out and have a makeable shot. I like the guy and thought he didn't get a fair shake the first time around, but his time was gone. And to me, it was shown on Saturday.
But, see ... I spent this time disagreeing when in fact I agreed with just about everything else you wrote.
Excellent analysis and I'm glad to see somebody else out there likes Wynalda, too. And I love the Stoner, too. Foudy I could do without. But the Stoner and Wynalda are awesome.
REPLY FROM GEORGE:
y'know, i couldn't stand razov for the longest time. but, like cris carter (who "just scores touchdowns"), all razov seems to do is score goals. and it's tough to criticize a guy like that. i was never a drogba fan (and still am not), but he played so well in the world cup and so elevated his game this past season, that it's difficult not to appreciate his skills. yes, razov's time may have passed. but he acts like he's the only person that doesn't know it. cheers to him.
p.s. robert wagman at soccertimes.com agrees with you about michael bradley and agrees with me about razov.
June 4, 2007
4:53 PM
Allen writes:
I haven't watched the game yet. But with Pablo playing in a friendly against China this sunday it'll be a good comparison. Maybe Bradley didn't need to get rough cuz, well, China just wasn't doing enough to force him to do so.
June 4, 2007
11:38 PM
Mike writes:
Bradley did get tough. he just didn't commit silly fouls, which are becoming Pablo's trademark.
And Georgie, about your comment 'yes, Razov's time may have passed, but he acts like he's the only person that doesn't know it' ...
I read an article about Razov before the game (can't find the link) and here's the main point (with credit to Captain10 who remember the same piece):
'Razov said that he understood the situation and that he was happy to fill in. He also said that if he was in serious contention for a starting role at 33 then the program was in trouble. He said the World Cup and Tournaments were a young man's game.
Sounds like Razov knows exactly what his role is. Either way, it sounds like he's a class act and we can do worse with a fill-in player.
REPLY FROM GEORGIE:
if soccer's a young man's game, let's have more tim howard and less kasey keller.
June 5, 2007
7:27 AM
Mike writes:
Bradley has said Tim is the No. 1 keeper, and age isn't as big of a deal at GK as it is with forwards.
Kaasey's a hell of a backup to have around though. but you're clearly right -- it's Timmy's time.
June 5, 2007
12:58 PM
david gracie writes:
Got to agree with Mike's posting re Bradley. Thought he did an excellent job in midfield winning and using the ball.
Overall, very pleased with the play of the young mids: Feilhaber is showing a lot of potential.
There were times when the crisp inter passing in midfield was outstanding. Of course, the low-caliber opposition makes it easier, but the tight field gave them a chance to make it tough for us and we still managed to move the ball well.
We will get a better read of where we stand in the development process of creating a new team once we get started with the gold cup. Looking forward to going to HDC on Thurs.