U.S. Men's National Soccer (Official Thread)

[OHSportsFan]

The worst, and most basic, thing American sports fans do is wax poetic about "effort." Golly gee the boys just didn't give enough effort!

Hey, let's just keep gritting and grinding our way to wins! It's the only thing we ask for ya know! F outta here. Argentina is a different class. No amount of "effort" was going to overcome that.

 

[OHSportsFan]

The worst, and most basic, thing American sports fans do is wax poetic about "effort." Golly gee the boys just didn't give enough effort!

Hey, let's just keep gritting and grinding our way to wins! It's the only thing we ask for ya know! F outta here. Argentina is a different class. No amount of "effort" was going to overcome that.

That isn't to say I agree with Klinnsman's lineups or tactics. Playing Wondolowski and Beckerman was basically conceding any attempt at pressuring goal. Wondo is a target striker with the ability to clean up in the box and score. Great except, US had little to no chance of advancing the ball to get him in those spots. He adds nothing next to Dempsey and running a 4-4-2 was just a waste of a body up top. I'd prefer someone with more dynamic skills like Nagbe.

Beckerman is who he is. Like him, but again, no dynamic style and just basically "exists" out there. We all know that by now. No creativity in the midfield, especially when Bradley goes lead foot for the 2nd big tournament in a row.

But, goodness, I'm not naive enough to think much of that makes a difference against Argentina. Not this year and with these squads. It perturbs me enough to be upset younger, more versatile guys missed a chance to grow in a big game, but not enough to crucify Klinnsman who seems to catch an irrational amount of crap today from people with ungodly US soccer expectations.

That's all I got. Enjoy the Semifinals run and getting to watch the greatest player ever tonight. I'll sleep just fine tonight with this one.

 

[TooTall]

It's just a shame Aron Johannsson got injured. Wondo wouldn't have even been an option.

 

[Jake]

CONMEBOL has the #1 (ARG), 3 (COL), 5 (CHI), 7 (BRA), 9 (URU), and 13 (ECU) ranked teams in the world.

I didn't need FIFA rankings to tell me that. It's apparent on the pitch.

CONCACAF's top team is Mexico at 16. The talent disparity is nothing new between these two soccer federations.

Of course it's not new. It's been this way for decades. What this tournament reminded us is that people who suggest the gap is closing are engaging in wishful thinking.

 

[Jake]

He was amazing leading up to the WC. I have no idea what happened.

I admit I don't watch many USMNT friendlies and my attention to soccer has increased the last 3 years, so prior to the WC I didn't know much about the team. From what I've seen Bradley's good against the Haitis of the world but in way over his head against top level competition.

 

[Jake]

The worst, and most basic, thing American sports fans do is wax poetic about "effort." Golly gee the boys just didn't give enough effort!

Hey, let's just keep gritting and grinding our way to wins! It's the only thing we ask for ya know! F outta here. Argentina is a different class. No amount of "effort" was going to overcome that.

We've got a roster made up mostly of guys who are not playing in the top leagues of the world. If you're good enough, one of the big leagues in Europe will find you. If you love the sport and are a competitor you'll go there to play for them. A bunch of mostly MLS guys are only going to go so far, regardless of who is managing them.

But yeah, "effort" only makes a difference when the talent level is close. I could fight as hard as I can and an MMA dude is going to whoop my old ass every time.

 

[ScriptOhio]

The worst, and most basic, thing American sports fans do is wax poetic about "effort." Golly gee the boys just didn't give enough effort!

Hey, let's just keep gritting and grinding our way to wins! It's the only thing we ask for ya know! F outta here. Argentina is a different class. No amount of "effort" was going to overcome that.

Argentina star Lionel Messi dealt the United States a gut punch when he bent in a free kick to give his side a 2-0 lead before halftime of their Copa America semifinal.

 

[bigdog3300]

I'm no soccer expert, but.....Wondo?! Were we not even trying to pressure?

We had virtually no chance to win, but by playing back and letting Argentina come to us, hoping to somehow by miracle go 0-0 and into PK's is pathetic.

Michael Bradley has not looked good for most of the tournament.

Also as an aside - what is going on with Julian Green? After the World Cup I haven't heard much about him or if the USMNT has any realistic hopes for him?

 

[Bestbuck36]

That isn't to say I agree with Klinnsman's lineups or tactics. Playing Wondolowski and Beckerman was basically conceding any attempt at pressuring goal. Wondo is a target striker with the ability to clean up in the box and score. Great except, US had little to no chance of advancing the ball to get him in those spots. He adds nothing next to Dempsey and running a 4-4-2 was just a waste of a body up top. I'd prefer someone with more dynamic skills like Nagbe.

Beckerman is who he is. Like him, but again, no dynamic style and just basically "exists" out there. We all know that by now. No creativity in the midfield, especially when Bradley goes lead foot for the 2nd big tournament in a row.

But, goodness, I'm not naive enough to think much of that makes a difference against Argentina. Not this year and with these squads. It perturbs me enough to be upset younger, more versatile guys missed a chance to grow in a big game, but not enough to crucify Klinnsman who seems to catch an irrational amount of crap today from people with ungodly US soccer expectations.

That's all I got. Enjoy the Semifinals run and getting to watch the greatest player ever tonight. I'll sleep just fine tonight with this one.

Yep pretty much. They were just on a different level than we were. It would have been nice to be full strength with Wood an JJ out there to see if we could at least get a counter once in a while but other than that, we were Rocky taking punches all night from Clubber Lang.

 

[Bestbuck36]

Argentina star Lionel Messi dealt the United States a gut punch when he bent in a free kick to give his side a 2-0 lead before halftime of their Copa America semifinal.

Man, you couldn't have walked up there, ball in hand, and placed it better than that kick. Freaking sickening how good he is especially when you see him walk by and he looks like someones high schooler!

 

[BengalsAndBucks]

In general I hate the decision to start Wondo + Beckerman + Zusi... it's just screams we're not playing to win. Nagbe + Pulisic are young and unproven, but they've shown enough spark to potentially help us go out and win the match. Wondo's upside was poaching a chance created by someone else, and you had no creators out there.

That said - Argentina is just playing a different game than we are. They had at least the 5 best players on the field last night and maybe more than that. All of their first touches are clean and controlled whereas all of ours were rushed or direct giveaways. We couldn't handle any on-ball pressure or string more than 1 or 2 passes together. I used to love Bradley's game but he hasn't been good for a while.

It'll be interesting to see where we go from here for 2018 WC and beyond. Between Zelalem, Hyndman, Julian Green, Wood, Nagbe, Pulisic, Nyugen, Jordan Morris, Johannson we've got quite a bit of young talent giving us an attacking dynamic we don't have in the team today. I'm not sure how many of these guys will break through by that time given that we'll likely be playing some of the old guard through qualification, but hopefully at least some of them are playing meaningful minutes. Guys like Zusi, Beckerman, Wondo shouldn't be on those rosters and Bradley, Jones, Dempsey will have to prove they still have what it takes to start at that point.

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

Man, you couldn't have walked up there, ball in hand, and placed it better than that kick. Freaking sickening how good he is especially when you see him walk by and he looks like someones high schooler!

Normally when there's a free kick like that, I don't even pay attention. It's never going in. It's going to get blocked by the wall, or the one space that the goalie has left open on purpose because he can cover that. Or it's going to sail way over the bar because despite the fact that these people are playing at the highest level, they still mishit the ball 80% of the time. But I've seen Messi take 2 direct kicks like that this tournament. And they were both goals. It's like watching Jordan play against a high school team.

 

[AKAK]

What about playing Cameron there and getting another CB?

Because...

I really like Cameron as our CB next to Brooks. Besler is a solid backup to those two. Fabian Johnson is a lock at LB, IMO. Just wish we could clone a younger D. Beasley for this team.

And that's the whole thing, I actually got in an argument with 2 of my boys last night trashing Beasley, but, my immediate response was Jonathan Bornstein. Long story short, Cameron's their best pairing with Brooks, and Klinsmann for right or wrong is going to find guys who can counter attack on the outside. So, guys that are interchangeable on the wing... kind of... it is what it is.

 

[bigdog3300]

Just hope they finally give the young guys serious run for the third place match....2018 is going to get here awfully quick.

Anyone think Horvath has any shot of replacing Guzan in 2018?

 

[TooTall]

I didn't need FIFA rankings to tell me that. It's apparent on the pitch.



Of course it's not new. It's been this way for decades. What this tournament reminded us is that people who suggest the gap is closing are engaging in wishful thinking.

Being in the Final 4 of that tournament was an accomplishment in itself. CONCACAF has made some great strides in at least being more competitive. Costa Rica's dream run in the WC, Mexico's unbeaten streak with younger stars on their team, and US escaping the group of death in the WC and then escaping (and winning) another very difficult group in the Copa.

It's nice to see, and hopefully these CONCACAF teams keep trending upward.