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

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First off, who decided Canada would wear blue and the USA would wear red/white? Secondly, a draw versus the canucks is not a sign of strength.

We've got a long way to go to become a player on the international level. :ohwell:
 
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What a shit performance in midfield.

Bradley looked tentative and withdrawn. He looked to me like the Michael Bradley that was so terrible around the time his dad got canned.

Mark me down for preferring Maurice Edu to Jermaine Jones at the moment. Jones has the higher ceiling, but Edu always seems steady to me. Jones does some nice things in the attacking third and in the defensive third, but he was shit in the middle of the pitch. He also has the tendency to hack, and I have the feeling he's going to do something rash at a crucial moment that is going to cost the US at some point.

Donovan was practically invisible.

Dempsey did come back a lot and yes, that does harm the attack. I can't blame him though. A player of his caliber has to touch the ball, and if the entire midfield is going to shit the bed and limit his touches, then he has to take the initiative to drop back and get himself into the game.

I was not impressed with Castillo. He showed a lot of energy, but also made some bad giveaways including the one on the disallowed goal. Thankfully he's not the first choice at that position.

Goodson was stout. MOTM performance on his part.
 
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Jake;2161943; said:
First off, who decided Canada would wear blue and the USA would wear red/white? Secondly, a draw versus the canucks is not a sign of strength.

We've got a long way to go to become a player on the international level. :ohwell:
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Eh. Not a whole lot to take away from the game. Klinsmann clearly was trying some different tactics in preparation for this qualifiers this week. Looking forward to seeing what formation he chooses for the game against Antigua on Friday.
 
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jlb1705;2162010; said:
What a shit performance in midfield.

Bradley looked tentative and withdrawn. He looked to me like the Michael Bradley that was so terrible around the time his dad got canned.

Mark me down for preferring Maurice Edu to Jermaine Jones at the moment. Jones has the higher ceiling, but Edu always seems steady to me. Jones does some nice things in the attacking third and in the defensive third, but he was shit in the middle of the pitch. He also has the tendency to hack, and I have the feeling he's going to do something rash at a crucial moment that is going to cost the US at some point.

Donovan was practically invisible.

Dempsey did come back a lot and yes, that does harm the attack. I can't blame him though. A player of his caliber has to touch the ball, and if the entire midfield is going to shit the bed and limit his touches, then he has to take the initiative to drop back and get himself into the game.

I was not impressed with Castillo. He showed a lot of energy, but also made some bad giveaways including the one on the disallowed goal. Thankfully he's not the first choice at that position.

Goodson was stout. MOTM performance on his part.
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He looked a little raw out there, but he has a lot of adapting to do. He's got to know that he doesn't have the most solid of CB's to back up his play near the sideline.

Apparently he played for the Mexican national team until 2009, and now he's on the US squad. It will be interesting to see how he progresses with the national team. The potential is there though.
 
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OHSportsFan;2162136; said:
As excited as I am for WCQ to begin, these early-round games can get pretty laughable. :lol:
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I only see Jamaica giving the States fits in the qualifiers. They've got one of the better GK's in Ricketts. That being said, I still think the US will be able to handle Jamaica.
 
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TooTallMenardo;2162135; said:
He looked a little raw out there, but he has a lot of adapting to do. He's got to know that he doesn't have the most solid of CB's to back up his play near the sideline.

Apparently he played for the Mexican national team until 2009, and now he's on the US squad. It will be interesting to see how he progresses with the national team. The potential is there though.
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I agree that the potential is there. However, I'm also firmly in the camp that wants to see more out of Eric Lichaj. After the Gold Cup, Lichaj would have been my leader in the clubhouse to be the first choice LB. The managerial change and his injury, as well as the emergence of Fabian Johnson have caused that to change of course. I'm disappointed he's not in camp and would like to see him get a serious look. If he can duplicate his Gold Cup form, I'd rate him ahead of Castillo.

That said, all three of these guys are light years ahead of Jonathan Bornstein. I'm so glad I'll never have to see that chump at LB again.
 
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I'm not concerned yet...they came out in a 4-4-2, which has not been the norm for them and some guys clearly struggled with the change.

On paper it looks like we should be really productive in a 4-4-2..but they were tentative with it last night. They looked flat and at times their form was terrible...the shape was a mess when we tried to go forward with guys either not making runs, not finishing them, or running on to the player with possession rather than into space..it just looked terribly unorganized. You would think that was their first time on the field together...guys checking away as the ball was laid off short for them resulting in bad turn overs, several of our guys making the same run..or lining up VERY flat rather than putting some depth and layers to our attack. Meh.... but maybe when they go back to a 4-3-3 things will open back up.

Hell of a save on that final spot kick to keep us from stealing a win we didn't really deserve.
 
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TooTallMenardo;2162138; said:
I only see Jamaica giving the States fits in the qualifiers. They've got one of the better GK's in Ricketts. That being said, I still think the US will be able to handle Jamaica.
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This is the semifinal round for WCQ..right? So that means home and away with everyone in our group..and the top two advancing to the final round of qualifiers?

The finals then have six teams playing each other once and the top three points teams are in and the 4th spot gets a play in chance. Do I have that right?
 
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HINYG8 said:
This is the semifinal round for WCQ..right? So that means home and away with everyone in our group..and the top two advancing to the final round of qualifiers?

The finals then have six teams playing each other once and the top three points teams are in and the 4th spot gets a play in chance. Do I have that right?
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I just looked it up on the Fifa page because I wasn't sure either, but you are correct.
 
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HINYG8;2162169; said:
This is the semifinal round for WCQ..right? So that means home and away with everyone in our group..and the top two advancing to the final round of qualifiers?

The finals then have six teams playing each other once and the top three points teams are in and the 4th spot gets a play in chance. Do I have that right?
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That's all correct, except the final round (hexagonal) will have the teams playing each other twice, once home and once away.

The playoff for the 4th-place team this time around will be against the top team from the Oceania Football Confederation, which is New Zealand and a bunch of other other island nations from the South Pacific. It's much better than last time around where the 4th place team went to a play-off with a CONMEBOL opponent. Costa Rica lost to Uruguay for the right to go to South Africa. The 4th place team this time around would seem to have an easier road
 
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jlb1705;2162183; said:
That's all correct, except the final round (hexagonal) will have the teams playing each other twice, once home and once away.
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That is better than a single match...but makes for a LOT of qualifying games.

Thanks for the correction.
 
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