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

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The defense was much better against Germany than against Belgium. That is until Castillo came in and was beaten like a drum again and again. Evans was actually quite impressive in the back, and Beasley again showed well. I am a little concerned that Beasley may become the top choice at Left Back. He's played well of late, but I'm not sure you can count on him continuing that run of play all the way through qualifying and into next summer.

Gonzales and Besler seem to be the best pairing in the central defense, but Gonzales still has moments of indecision and is caught ball-watching. He shows spurts of dominant play, and if he can cut out those instances from his game, I think you have your two starting center backs. Right and left back will probably be a combination of Cameron, Beasley, Evans (if he can continue the display from yesterday) Chandler, and Fabian Johnson. Cherundalo may still fight for some time, but he's been out/away for a while now.

Ideally, for me, I'd like to see Fabian Johnson back in defense, and replace him out wide on the left wing with Landon Donovan. If Donovan can still show quality for the Galaxy and then possibly in the Gold Cup, I think he still may have a chance to make some noise in WC 2014. He, along with Dempsey, Altidore (crossing fingers this performance was a breakthrough), and Zusi, could be a pretty dangerous attacking group. Clint and Jozy need service, and I think Landon and Zusi can be "those guys" for this US team.
 
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jlb1705;2343163; said:
You must have forgotten about Jeff Agoos on that 2002 side.
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You know, I'd have been okay with Agoos if he didn't think he was awesome... but, my it was painful.

Having said that, what you're seeing here is a stylistic change, and it may not end of being the guys (particularly Beasley) playing those positions going forward, but, they want the marking backs to attack... And to be fair that minor kerfluffle about the team not liking Klinsmann imposing an inappropriate style on them is likely around this, I think the comment was that they want the "beautiful game" and we aren't that... and to be fair, its a rather South American philosophy of using the defenders to find space behind the other teams MF's and getting numbers forward.

Whether in the end, we've got the guys to do it or there's buy in or its ultimately successful, only time will tell, but, its clearly a tactic they want to have available to them.
 
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So irate when they let that late free-kick goal in. Was like the ultimate kick in the nuts, considering Jamaica hadn't created anything virtually the entire 2nd half. Got a much needed three points & even more important they came on the road.

Looking for a much improved effort on Tuesday in Seattle against Panama. I thought they were pretty awful tonight, but then again, I never think they play good at all to begin with. Always tough tests on the road no matter who it's against, so getting a win is always a big one. Just hope they can feed off the energy of the home fans on Tuesday & take it to Panama.
 
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Thursby;2344487; said:
Mexico in yet another scoreless draw. When will we see their vaunted attack?
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And to think they were supposedly in the midst of a golden era just a year ago...
 
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Smudger said:
So irate when they let that late free-kick goal in. Was like the ultimate kick in the nuts, considering Jamaica hadn't created anything virtually the entire 2nd half. Got a much needed three points & even more important they came on the road.

Looking for a much improved effort on Tuesday in Seattle against Panama. I thought they were pretty awful tonight, but then again, I never think they play good at all to begin with. Always tough tests on the road no matter who it's against, so getting a win is always a big one. Just hope they can feed off the energy of the home fans on Tuesday & take it to Panama.
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Fine piece of defending by Eddie Johnson on that free kick. :shake:

Was so pissed that they gave it away.

Then some beautiful work by Bradley and Evans finished it. Awesome!
 
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bigdog3300;2344561; said:
For those much more in the know than I....how many matches left before qualifying goes, and are we in solid position to land a top 3 spot? I know we've got two home matches coming up against Honduras and Panama maybe?
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We have 2 more matches this month, on the 11th and 18 against Panama and Honduras. We still have road matches against Costa Rica and Panama, but we also play 2 more home matches against Mexico and Jamaica. Basically, if we win at home, we should qualify. The great thing is that we should be favorites in every game we play.
 
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bigdog3300;2344561; said:
For those much more in the know than I....how many matches left before qualifying goes, and are we in solid position to land a top 3 spot? I know we've got two home matches coming up against Honduras and Panama maybe?
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The USMNT is sitting in second place in their table, trailing only (Jairo Arrieta's squad) Costa Rica.

Costa Rica, USA, and Mexico are all tied on points, but Mexico has played 5 games while the other two have only played 4. Costa Rica also holds a 1 goal advantage on goal differential to solidify their #1 spot for now.

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/nccamerica/standings/index.html

It's essentially a 4 team race for 3 spots. If we can win the games we are supposed to against Jamaica and Panama, and win or draw against either Mexico or Costa Rica, the US should take the table.
 
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OHSportsFan;2344523; said:
Fine piece of defending by Eddie Johnson on that free kick. :shake:

Was so [censored]ed that they gave it away.

Then some beautiful work by Bradley and Evans finished it. Awesome!
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Was watching it on a pretty awful stream, so I couldn't tell if it was Johnson or not, because that's who I thought it was. Thanks for clarifying that for me. What's real shameful about it is that he had just come on as a substitute just six minutes prior.

Just found out that was our first win on Jamaican soil in a WC qualifier after five attempts. On to Tuesday against Panama in Seattle.
 
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