Yallop Names Gold Cup Roster

[loyola]

quote:Originally posted by Free kick

What happened to Alim Karim? I hope that they didn't choose Wagenaar over Karim Based on their performances at the WYC. If they did, You have to wonder just what Yallop is smoking?

Karim is a good keeper but Wagenaar looked better technicaly. Except for the mistake against Syria I think that Wagenaar showed some potential and he should have a pro career. He needs to improve his play on cross and his distribution(but it's not like I have seen a good keeper play with his feet for the MNT ever.....).

Also we don,t know how Karim is doing with Syracuse and Cape Cod(PDL).

[Guest Jeffery S.]

quote:Originally posted by loyola

Karim is a good keeper but Wagenaar looked better technicaly. Except for the mistake against Syria I think that Wagenaar showed some potential and he should have a pro career. He needs to improve his play on cross and his distribution(but it's not like I have seen a good keeper play with his feet for the MNT ever.....).

Also we don,t know how Karim is doing with Syracuse and Cape Cod(PDL).

Cape Cod is top of their division, Karim playing most games, but not all. He just had 90 in a 5-1 win over Brooklyn, the one he gave up was an own goal.

Karim stopped two penalties on the way to getting us past the first round, at least he has a capacity to show a clutch performance. Apart from that, though, I must admit I liked Wagenaar's composure and positioning in the qualifiers I saw (have not seen any WYC games, just highlights).

[beachesl]

quote:Originally posted by redhat

So you're not going to Seattle because the Yallop Experience

will be too much for you?

Man, haven't heard that term since mid-August last.

Ah, the halcyon days, the naive splendour in the grass!

Remember when we were all talking about making the tee-shirts for mass distribution? Ah, nostalgia!

[Dandal]

quote:Originally posted by Jeffrey S.

Does not this article, today in vg.no, say that he is staying at Odd until the end of the season, as Odd wanted 10 million kroner for him, and there were no takers?

http://www.vg.no/pub/vgart.hbs?artid=281655

Can't trust my Norwegian though.

A short summary in english: Occean is not happy with his situation at Odd Grenland (rock bottom of the norwegian premier) and has asked to be put on the transfer list. Clubs like Rosenborg, Vålerenga and Lillestrøm has shown interest. 10 (norwegian) millions has been mentioned as the clubs price. But today Odd's management stated that Occean stays with the club, at least until the finish of this season. With relegation a distinct possibility for Odd I'm pretty sure they'll let Occean, who has a contract over the 2006 season, go during the winter transfer window.

[matthew]

quote:Originally posted by canso

He would be the best defender we have. Why shouldn't he start every game? IMO he should be one of the first names on the team sheet. Assuming the manager wasn't Frank Yallop that is.

I don't think he's the best right back on the Gold Cup roster. That'd be Atiba in my book. Now I know Atiba plays midfield too and I know Tam can play in the middle, but Atiba has been at RB for Canada lately and I've never seen Tam play CB. Not saying I don't want Tam involved, but I'm also saying it's not ridiculous to think that Yallop views Tam as a RB and sees Atiba as a better player. To me Stalteri and Atiba are our two options for right back and the other goes to the midfield. I would like to see more of Tam, but based on the last time I saw him (Germany I believe) he doesn't warrant keeping Atiba on the bench.

Now a Tam/Klukowski central defence pairing? That sounds excellent to me. But I'm not holding my breath.

I agree with Jeffrey about playing guys in club positions, but I also think we need to get our best 11 on the pitch. Previously I would rather play DeGuzman at a-mid than d-mid. I'd rather play Klukowski in the centre of defence rather than wherever Brugges has him.

All of that being said if DeRo keeps playing as a mid, we could have had this:

-----------------------------Sutton

Hutchinson----Nsaliwa---Klukowski---Jazic/Simpson

------Stalteri-----------DeGuzman-------Brennan

---------------------------DeRosario

------------Radzinski/Hume-------Occean

to me there's quality all over the pitch with that lineup. Everyone has solid ball skills. I really don't believe that we don't have the quality to be a good team. I'm not sure we have the familiarity or the depth to produce consistent results, but the talent doesn't seem to be lacking. Certainly not to produce good results.

cheers,

matthew

[Winnipeg Fury]

American soccer coach Bruce Arena selects strong squad for Gold Cup

CHICAGO (AP) - Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley, Eddie Johnson and Kasey Keller featured in the 23-man U.S. roster named Thursday by coach Bruce Arena for next month's CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The U.S. is in a group with Canada, Costa Rica and Cuba at the 12-country tournament, which starts July 6 in vartious American cities. Canada meets the U.S. on July 9 in Seattle.

Midfielder Chris Armas, who has not played with the national team since last August because of injuries, is also on the U.S. roster.

Also picked were oft-injured midfielder John O'Brien, who has played just one game for the United States since the 2002 World Cup, and defender Tony Sanneh, who also has been sidelined by injuries.

Three players with no international experience were selected: Kansas City defender Jimmy Conrad, San Jose midfielder Brad Davis, and New England goalkeeper Matt Reis.

U.S. captain Claudio Reyna, who is taking time off to prepare for the next English Premier League season with Manchester City, is skipping the tournament along with Fulham's Brian McBride and Carlos Bocanegra; Preston North End's Eddie Lewis; and Reading's Bobby Convey.

Manchester United goalkeeper Tim Howard, rehabilitating a shoulder injury, also is not on the roster.

Defenders Cory Gibbs of Feyenoord, who is rehabbing a left knee injury, and Gregg Berhalter of Germany's Energie Cottbus also were bypassed.

-

U.S.

Goalkeepers: Marcus Hahnemann (Reading, England), Kasey Keller (Borussia Moenchengladbach, Germany), Matt Reis (New England)

Defenders: Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96, Germany), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Liege, Belgium), Eddie Pope (Salt Lake), Tony Sanneh (Chicago), Greg Vanney (Dallas)

Midfielders: Chris Armas (Chicago), DaMarcus Beasley (PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), Brad Davis (San Jose), Clint Dempsey (New England), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado), John OBrien (ADO Den Haag, Netherlands), Ben Olsen (D.C.), Steve Ralston (New England)

Forwards: Conor Casey (FSV Mainz, Germany), Eddie Johnson (Dallas), Pat Noonan (New England), Josh Wolff (Kansas City)

[Winnipeg Fury]

Guimaraes names 21 players for Gold Cup

 

Costa Rican national soccer coach Guimaraes named 21 players to compete in the Gold Cup but he did not include Paulo Wanchope.

17/JUN/2005 -Wanchope's absense has not yet been explained by the coach, but speculation in the press was that it was possible "Guima" wanted to get familiar with the performance of other players, since he already knows what the forward would be able to contribute.

Guimaraes has promised an "interesting" roster, and standing out on the list released on Tuesday by the Costa Rican Soccer Federation (Fedefut) on its Web page is the return of Moscow Lokomotiv forward Winston Parks.

Parks resigned from the Costa Rican national team while former coach Colombian Jorge Luis Pinto was in charge, but the latter was fired on April 1.

Some younger players also will have a chance to show what they can do, with Guimaraes naming three 21-year-olds to the roster: Saprissa defender Gabriel Badilla and his teammate at midfield Cristian Bolaños, as well as Alajuelense forward Bryan Ruiz.

Only 20 players will travel to the United States to play in the Gold Cup, and the final squad list will be made public within a couple of weeks.

In the first round of the tourney, Costa Rica will face the United States, Canada and Cuba.

Guimaraes had agreed with the coaches of the country's three main teams on Monday not to select more than five players per club to compete in the Gold Cup tourney next month.

He made a statement to that effect after meeting with Saprissa coach Hernan Medford, Alajuelense's Javier Delgado and Herediano's Guillerme Farinha, said Fedefut on its Web page.

"We had a meeting the way it should be. We're soccer people and therefore we came to an agreement easily. There was a very positive spirit at the meeting and, as the representative of the national team, I'm happy with what was agreed to," Guimaraes stated on the Fedefut Internet site.

The coaches agreed that Guimaraes would select five players from Saprissa and four each from Herediano and Alajuelense, as well as members of the other first division squads.

Former coach Pinto had come to an earlier agreement with the clubs not to select more than three players from each for the Gold Cup, a promise that Guimaraes said would be "very difficult" to keep.

Before the meeting with Guimaraes, the clubs did not want to contribute more than three players each because the Gold Cup competition takes place during the preseason period for the national season.

On the list are the following players:

Goalies: Alvaro Mesen, Jose Francisco Porras and Donny Grant.

Defenders: Harold Wallace, Michael Umaña, Victor Cordero, Mauricio Wright, Gabriel Badilla, Leonardo Gonzalez, Junior Diaz and Carlos Castro.

Midfielders: Jose Luis Lopez, Geiner Segura, Dany Fonseca, Douglas Sequeira, Christian Bolaños, Jafet Soto and Steven Bryce.

Forwards: Oscar Rojas, Winston Parks and Bryan Ruiz.

[canso]

On paper, we should be able to give the Ticos and the Yanks a good game.

But when you factor in the Frank Yallop Experience...

[Gian-Luca]

With four teams in each group you'd think that the tournament organizers would ensure, as they do in the World Cup & just about ever other legit. tourney that has a round-robin stage, that the final games with each team would be played at the same time.

But that's not the case here. All four teams in our group head over to Foxboro to play the final game on July 12th. The US & Costa Rica play first, then we take on Cuba on the same field right after.

I understand the logistical reasons (sort of) but it does mean that, should say, Canada & Cuba need a tie each to qualify for the next round, a W.Germany-Austria style non-agression pact could happen. I just use that as an example, not saying we'd likely to it even if the two teams were in that position, just pointing out its possible with this tourney (and the other groups have this problem as well, I believe).

[Daniel]

We play first that day, not second.

[RJB]

quote:Originally posted by Gian-Luca

What makes you think Jamie Peters can't hold a spot on the U20 team? He played every game & has been called by his coach a key player for the next one. It doesn't sound to me like he's getting cut from the U20 program any time soon.

Having said that, I'm still not convinced yet he should be playing for the national team, but as we seem to be going with youth & inexperience for this tourney, he's hardly out of place.

Well, he didn't start the game against Colombia. That's what I call not able to hold down a spot.

[Bertuzzi44]

quote:Originally posted by RJB

Well, he didn't start the game against Colombia. That's what I call not able to hold down a spot.

that was tactical, and had nothing to do with Peters play.

I thought everyone knew that...

[Loud Mouth Soup]

quote:Originally posted by Bertuzzi44

that was tactical, and had nothing to do with Peters play.

I thought everyone knew that...

Apparently RJB didn't.

[lefoot]

i think peters is too small to play mens soccer...hope he proves me wrong. and yes he should be put in the middle of the park. behind the two strikers

[lefoot]

or else i think we should put derosario behind the two strikers...as i think he is better in the middle but when he runs at players etc...

[Soju]

Good news for Canada, no Wanchope.

[nolando]

Quite frankly we have no one with the ability displayed by the Japanese. I mean Nakata is world class. The whole Japan team is technically very good, quick, discipline and are willing to commit for 90 minutes. To get a team to play in that manner you need players with ability. Sadly I do not see not one player on Canada's squad with that ability.

I agree with this completely. Nakatas and Nakamuras and Onos help. Some other big reasons why Japan can look that good against Brazil are that they have a core group of guys in their own domestic league and that only the best players play abroad, making far fewer call-up complaints (and rejections) and country-club conflicts. And they are all commited to the cause- the JFA, the country's fans and all of their best players. They play high-profile, intense friendlies. Regularly. At home. In front of packed houses. We can never say the same for our own program in Canada. Really, were Japan that much better than us pre 1998? Even if you compare the Canadian WCQ squad 1997 with the Japanese squad at France 98, were we all that far apart? Look at the gap now. Makes you think.

[Daniel]

Well the league and the money/ressources invested for the 2002 WC don't hurt.

[Daniel]

Well the league and the money/ressources invested for the 2002 WC don't hurt.

[RJB]

quote:Originally posted by Loud Mouth Soup

Apparently RJB didn't.

You are right, I didn't know that. I didn't know that not playing a full international player in a U20 tournament was good tactics.

By being called up to the MNT for 7 caps, that makes him the best player on the U20 team without question. So why would he not start?

If England were in the tournament, and Wayne Rooney didn't play because of tactics, how would that go over?

[Loud Mouth Soup]

Why should being a full international take precedence over the coach's tactics going in to a match? We agreed after it didn't work, but Mitchell had a plan going in, and it happened to mean Peters on the bench.

Picking a player because of his 'stats' isn't always the best call to make, RJB. Sorry, but you can not deny that.

[Grizzly]

Been offline for awhile but will weigh in on the topic now. I do not like this roster. It is too bad that some of our better players can not show for this tournament. However, I do agree that in the long term it is more important that some of these players establish themselves in their new clubs and leagues and that we keep on good terms with them.

My problem with the lineup is I think this is a poor B team. Given that Yallop due to circumstances beyond his control must assemble a B team I think this is a poor one just as his WCQ team was a poor A team. This team is more internationally inexperienced than young with a few exceptions. If we are going to give players international experience at the expense of a few possible bad results than give this to players with potential. The only Impact players worthy of calling are Sutton, Gerba and Grande with maybe another as a depth player. Montreal has a lot of good solid career 3rd division players. In the Regionalliga in Germany they often talk about getting a team of 3rd division veterans to get promoted (after which you have the money to sign 2nd division level players) as they know how to play the physical style of this level and suceed better than a team of promising youths and former 1st and 2nd division players. Montreal has followed this formula quite well and are a very good USL team. However, I think a European upper division talent scout would be less impressed by the team with the exception of the above three players and Yallop should also be of this view. Plus most of the Impact players called are close to 30 years old. The Impact are a professional soccer team more interested in winning the championship than feeding the national team and do this very well but should not provide one third of our B team. According to the Davidson article Yallop almost seems to be rewarding the Impact for being a well run team with these selections. Are they that much better than the Whitecaps to have 6 selections to 1 plus an alternate. I think the Lynx as bad as they are have maybe equal if not superior future talent than the Impact. Some of these players are worth calling occasionally as depth players when we have injury or other problems but not to build the future A squad.

Why isn't Fernandes called? He is the Canadian keeper playing currently at the highest level even including Onstad who couldn't get a start in Scotland which is quite inferior to the Greek league. He is at worst a backup who the coach trusts to start occasionally at one of the top clubs in a top ten European league. He is also young. We should call him as a backup just to cap him in case he really develops but no lets call a 28 year old career 3rd division level player instead. Nothing against Franks and at this moment with our keeper problems we should keep everyone in the picture but Fernandes seems far more promising at the moment. Does anyone but Yallop think that Franks has more potential to be our number 1 keeper in the future than Fernandes. I like Sutton but even he is just a stopgap measure, a reliable keeper to keep the fort until the next Forrest comes along. I think Fernandes has far more potential to be the next Forrest than either Sutton or Franks so why not give him at least a backup role or try him in a B camp? Why is Stamatopoulis playing at too low a level but not Sutton and Franks and shouldn't actual ability an potential be a factor as well? There are many other player selection debates I could get into as well but in the interest of brevity will not.

Although I live in Montreal and support the Impact why are we calling all these 28 year old Impact players who don't stand out in USL play? If we are going to develop players at the risk of a few bad results why not guys that could really help us in a few years like Matondo for instance. Maybe the familiarity of the Impact players will help us in the Gold Cup but I don't think too many of them will be in the picture 4 years from now.

I don't claim to be a great expert on soccer skills but unfortunately due to my German club's situation have watched a lot of lower division soccer as well as upper division and think I can distinguish who has potential and who does not. At this point judging from Yallop's current selection and the selections he has made to this point I really have to wonder about his ability to evaluate talent. In addition I don't see any improvement in his player relations over Ossieck who to me was in all aspects a superior coach to Yallop. Ossieck defintely had player relationship problems but this has not improved under Yallop. Somehow I have the feeling that several players are questioning the competency of Yallop. In other words, players did not question Ossieck's competence but thought he was an asshole while they are questioning Yallop's competence which from the perspective of a successful coach is far worse (the players don't have to like you but they must respect you). I thought Yallop was the right choice for this job but now feel I was wrong. I feel like we are back in the Lenarduzzi era, ie. coaching incompetence. I disagreed with a lot of what Ossieck did but I don't think anyone could question his competence. According to this article it seems like Yallop and probably the CSA are taking this tournament pretty lightly. I certainly hope for the sake of our MNT that the 2007 Gold Cup is not taken so lightly and that a certain job is dependent on results. I for one have lost all confidence in Yallop and wish he were gone yesterday. We have a limited talent pool and need a very effective coach to get results with this talent pool and I don't currently think Yallop is this coach regardless of what the results are in the next Gold Cup. Maybe he will get lucky this time but I don't want to rely on luck in the next WCQ.

[canso]

"I for one have lost all confidence in Yallop and wish he were gone yesterday. We have a limited talent pool and need a very effective coach to get results with this talent pool and I don't currently think Yallop is this coach regardless of what the results are in the next Gold Cup. Maybe he will get lucky this time but I don't want to rely on luck in the next WCQ"

A voice from the wilderness! The messiah has returmed! Tell us what to do, we are weary and lack your vision.

Is there hope for our people?

[Manuel]

I agree with everything Grizzly said. Couldn't have said it any better. Some of his selections and justifications don't make any sense. Especially the keepers. If Stamatopoulis is playing at a low level, then what level does Yallop consider the A league? So then according to his logic, the A league is a higher level of soccer than the Greek league? Doesn't make sense, especially, as Jeffrey said, Fernandes is on holidays in Vancouver. What's it going to take for these two keepers to get a look?

[youllneverwalkalone]

Is it worth writing a novel about the inclusion of Gervais? At the end of the day, he's the only other impact guy who is likely to play (+Sutton & Grande). We'd all love to see Fernandes have a go, but Sutton has earned his shot and will play out the string. Comparisons between the USL and Greece are not relevant -unless the Greeks are coming to replace South Africa? The real comparisons should be between the Impact and top flight teams in Costa Rica and the MLS. I'm sure the professor messiah could give us an excellent breakdown of all eleven Costa Rican divisions and their precise level of play. No doubt higher than Scotland, but well below Greece.