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NFT: USMNT v Ecuador ESPN 2

Joey from GlenCove : 5/25/2016 8:06 pm
Guzan
D. Yedlin
S. Birnbaum
J. Brooks
F. Johnson
J. Jones
K. Beckerman
M. Bradley
G. Zusi
C. Dempsey
G. Zardes

4-2-1-2-1

Dempsey up top

Mike Grella should be on this team.
I expect Pulisic 65th minute?  
Joey from GlenCove : 5/25/2016 8:09 pm : link
For Zusi?
What's with the  
Pete in MD : 5/25/2016 8:35 pm : link
tiny crowd?
Zyrdes  
Joey from GlenCove : 5/25/2016 8:41 pm : link
Can't play in Europe with a garbage touch like that.
Zardes  
Jon in NYC : 5/25/2016 8:42 pm : link
is terrible.

We have to have better wide options than Zardes and Zusi.

FFS.
It might  
Jon in NYC : 5/25/2016 8:49 pm : link
also just be me, but John Brooks looks 10 years older with a shaved head.
RE: It might  
Joey from GlenCove : 5/25/2016 8:54 pm : link
In comment 12971594 Jon in NYC said:
Quote:
also just be me, but John Brooks looks 10 years older with a shaved head.


He does like older. He will hopefully play there for 15 years.
they're horrible  
B in ALB : 5/25/2016 9:03 pm : link
i really don't like watching this team. just brutal. led by a fucking snake oil salesman.
No Chemistry  
sps28 : 5/25/2016 9:05 pm : link
It looked like eleven guys that have never played with each other. No energy, no movement, no idea what anyone else is doing.
RE: No Chemistry  
Joey from GlenCove : 5/25/2016 9:09 pm : link
In comment 12971607 sps28 said:
Quote:
It looked like eleven guys that have never played with each other. No energy, no movement, no idea what anyone else is doing.


I thought the played well the last 15
They do look  
section125 : 5/25/2016 9:14 pm : link
faster than the last time I saw them play.
Nagbe  
Jon in NYC : 5/25/2016 9:27 pm : link
and to a lesser extent Wood have turned this game around. US bossing possession the first 10 minutes.
Some  
AcidTest : 5/25/2016 9:53 pm : link
decent runs in the second half by the Americans, but nothing is really happening for either team.
Goal  
Samiam : 5/25/2016 10:01 pm : link
USA scores in 89th minute
This  
Jon in NYC : 5/25/2016 10:08 pm : link
should be the starting midfield. Nagbe, Bradley, Bedoya.

Get rid of Jones, get rid of Beckerman.

Also, Wood and Pulisic need to start over Zardes and Zusi, but that won't happen.
RE: This  
D-Rod : 5/25/2016 10:39 pm : link
In comment 12971649 Jon in NYC said:
Quote:
should be the starting midfield. Nagbe, Bradley, Bedoya.

Get rid of Jones, get rid of Beckerman.

Also, Wood and Pulisic need to start over Zardes and Zusi, but that won't happen.


Absolutely agree. I'm willing to settle with Jones in over Bedoya as Klinsmann won't bench a healthy Jones.
I don't understand  
Big Rick in FL : 5/25/2016 10:41 pm : link
Klinnsman's love for Zusi. He's just not that good. There's a reason one plays for Sporting KC & one plays for Dortmund.
Zusi's not  
Pete in MD : 5/25/2016 10:45 pm : link
a winger. Klinsmann insists on playing him out of position.
if the 2nd half didnt prove  
TexasGmenFan : 5/26/2016 12:11 am : link
that Bradley needs to be playing DCM with Nagbe as his running mate, then JK is completely lost.
Not that it means  
NJGiantFan84 : 5/26/2016 12:26 am : link
Much, but I read before the game that the starting 11 today would not be the starting 11 in the upcoming tournament. More tinkering.

I only caught the last 10 minutes.  
shockeyisthebest8056 : 5/26/2016 12:55 am : link
Pulisic looked great. They should've scored 2 more goals during that stretch.
Bradley as DCM  
Joey from GlenCove : 5/26/2016 6:39 am : link
Is a must. And for some reason we don't do it.

Dempsey shouldn't be up to and should be the attacking midfielder.
The player selection..  
FatMan in Charlotte : 5/26/2016 8:09 am : link
under Klinsmann and under any coach will be debated, but I don't think I've ever seen as many players being put into positions that aren't their primary or best position. Klinsmann regularly has 3-4 people on the pitch who are playing out of position.

That's just madness to me.
RE: The player selection..  
Bobby Humphrey's Earpad : 5/26/2016 8:31 am : link
In comment 12971840 FatMan in Charlotte said:
Quote:
under Klinsmann and under any coach will be debated, but I don't think I've ever seen as many players being put into positions that aren't their primary or best position. Klinsmann regularly has 3-4 people on the pitch who are playing out of position.

That's just madness to me.


FMIC, these guys still can't keep possession. I thought of your comments during the first half.
When Klinsmann..  
FatMan in Charlotte : 5/26/2016 8:41 am : link
was hired, I admit that I thought it was a good choice. I had bought into the idea he was going to change the culture of the team and take the US to the next level. And his initial moves made one think he would - more emphasis on training and some of the more sublime aspects of the game.

But as time goes on, it looks more and more like there's just a mad scientist experimenting without an endgame in mind. He seemed to put more effort into winning friendlies against the European powers instead of concentrating on domestic cups.

It is frustrating to know that US soccer has a large pool of talent to draw from and that Klinsmann is taking people and playing them out of position. Bradley being misused is criminal. Forcing certain guys to play out of position when there are better players at those positions not chosen to play or on the sidelines is also ridiculous.
.  
Go Terps : 5/26/2016 9:01 am : link
I'm on the road so I missed the game entirely, but every knows my feelings since day one: Klinsmann is not a competent national team coach. The sins are too many to list, but along the most egregious are:

- Failure to properly use and understand MLS as a resource. A basic factor that is overlooked is that MLS's schedule is ideal for having players at peak fitness and sharpness for summer tournaments. People get hung up on the European leagues but forget that the Euro based players are usually exhausted by the time summer rolls around.

- Shoehorning players into incorrect positions. This has been pointed out ad maturation and needs no elaboration.

- Failure to land on a central CB pairing. Who the defenders will be is anyone's guess. Amateur level management in this area.

- Failure to establish any type of system or philosophy. This is the worst one because by now there should be in place a philosophy that permeates down to the youth levels.

If someone asked you what type of team the US is and what it seeks to accomplish, could you give a clear answer?
Ad nauseum  
Go Terps : 5/26/2016 9:02 am : link
.
I'm  
Jon in NYC : 5/26/2016 9:15 am : link
more or less over the Klinnsman debate. He isn't going anywhere, so there's no use in complaining about him.

I'd rather spend my energy being ecstatic about the 2h we had in dominating 12th ranked Ecuador. Nagbe was 33 of 33 in attempted vs completed passes yesterday. For those non math buffs out there, that's 100%. He didn't miss a single pass, and he also scored the winning goal.

The team had almost 60% possession in 2h, and Pulisic was a massive threat from all angles of the pitch. He may be our best attacking player right now.

I've been highly critical of Bobby Wood, but he looked excellent as well. I have yet to find something that Gyasi Zardes does better than Wood, who is now set to feature in the Budesliga.

Two players who got lost in the mix a little are John Brooks and Yedlin, who look like mainstays in the backline. With Cameron and Johnson already in the mix there, I think we have a steady, consistent back 4 that we can rely on.

If we field a:

Guzan
Yedlin-Cameron-Brooks-Johnson
Bradley
Nagbe-Bedoya(will probably be Jones)
Pulisic-Dempsey-Wood

lineup, we can be competitive in the Copas.
Unrelated  
Go Terps : 5/26/2016 9:33 am : link
I'd suggest checking out the interview Alexi Lalas did with Steve Sampson on his Mutant Gene podcast. All about the 1998 World Cup debacle from Sampson's perspective. Very informative, and I was left with the impression that though he'll never be considered Sampson would be an immediate improvement over Klinsmann.
Don't you guys like a Cameron - brooks  
Joey from GlenCove : 5/26/2016 11:07 am : link
Central pairing?

I think they can be great together.
RE: Unrelated  
Pete in MD : 5/26/2016 2:01 pm : link
In comment 12971959 Go Terps said:
Quote:
I'd suggest checking out the interview Alexi Lalas did with Steve Sampson on his Mutant Gene podcast. All about the 1998 World Cup debacle from Sampson's perspective. Very informative, and I was left with the impression that though he'll never be considered Sampson would be an immediate improvement over Klinsmann.

That was a very interesting listen, as was Lalas' reaction to the interview in the subsequent podcast. A few thoughts:

-Alexi hits the nail on the head in regard to tactics. The National Team's play leading up the 98 WC was open and attacking, even against the big time South American teams. Sampson decided to change at the WC and adopt a defensive strategy and it was a complete disaster.

-On the Harkes/Wynalda affair issue. That's a tough situation for a coach to be put in. Sampson had to make a difficult choice but I'm not sure it was the right one for the team. Maybe he should have spoken to both players before determining how to proceed. It was a private matter but probably had a huge impact on team chemistry.

-Sampson's point about MLS was spot on. The early days of the league were ugly. The American stars had to come back for the league to survive but it caused many of them to regress as players and sustain injuries bc of poor fields and the rough style of play in the early MLS.

-Sampson should be blamed for the David Regis situation. I understand trying to have the best players possible but you can't just bring a new guy in a few months before the WC. Especially when he had the best LB in USMNT history already on the roster. Regis was not a huge upgrade over Jeff Agoos and I'm sure it pissed the players off that the guy who they have played next to for the entire cycle was ousted for a shiny new toy.

-The part about Iran's coach was hilarious. Jalal Talebi was told to play-up the political dislike between the two nations as motivation (not to mention the players passports being confiscated at half-time.) Did the Iranian players know their coach had been living in California since the 80's?
Pete in MD  
RobCarpenter : 5/26/2016 2:36 pm : link
Jeff Agoos was easily the worst US player ever -- he had no business being on the national team at all.

Cameron is better in the midfield (where he plays for Stoke)  
Nitro : 5/26/2016 2:40 pm : link
I'm okay with Besler/Brooks back there, move Cameron into the Beckermann holding role.
Here's my starting 11 - as it stands  
Nitro : 5/26/2016 2:46 pm : link
Guzan

Fabian J - Besler - Brooks - Yedlin

Bradley - Cameron

Zardes - Nagbe - Pulisic

Dempsey

I don't love it, but I think it's best with Wood coming in for Dempsey late and Bradley box-to-box, with Pulisic coming inside often while Zardes is more of a true winger.
Cameron does not play  
Jon in NYC : 5/26/2016 3:13 pm : link
in the midfield for stoke. He has been their starting CB or RB all year.
he's played there for them in the past  
Nitro : 5/26/2016 4:04 pm : link
I think it's his best given his ball skills
Link - ( New Window )
Definitely possible.  
Jon in NYC : 5/26/2016 4:46 pm : link
He did an admirable job there against Belgium if I'm not mistaken.

That said, for the sake of getting our best XI on the field, I think Cameron needs to play CB. Cameron is clearly our no. 1 CB when healthy, and we have other guys who can do thejob at CDM.
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