2 or 3 serious chances on goal??? against flipping Honduras??? COME ON! i know they're decent, but aren't we one of the kings of concacaf? if we want to build around the average euro-trash... or max potential is going to be round of 16. cute, but we've done at least that 2 of the 3 last world cups. I dare one person to tell me with a straight face that graham zusi, brad davis, or eddie johnson has the potential to create more danger than a guy like adu. you're taking the piss if you believe it. just because your little feelings are hurt that freddy isn't the next pele, doesn't take away the fact that he's ALWAYS been dangerous and creative in the U.S. shirt. SO SHUT UP!
I'm not saying I advocate this, because, well, I don't. (My guess is that it wouldn't be pretty.) But this thread title and the game we just watched made me ask myself who the last U.S. side was that I remembered playing beautiful, high scoring soccer. I am curious how our Olympic (non) qualifying team would look against some of these teams. (Yes, the same side that also lost to Honduras via defensive lapses. At least they looked darn good on offense, e.g., dismantling the Gold medalists. And yes, I know that's not what the title suggests, using the whole side.)
Our last team to play attractive soccer was the US team from the first half of the Gold Cup final. We looked good...offensively.
We needed wingers, plain and simple. Expecting EJ to be a LM/LW and help out on defense is ridiculous. Expecting Chandler to cover the whole right side of the field because Jones was playing on the other wing is even more ridiculous. Right now, we don't have many great options on the wing. However, there is absolutely no reason not to call in Josh Gatt. When Shea gets healthy, there also should be no reason not to call him in.
JK knows best. Half of the Adu haters think he sucks. Skevin silly self said he's a USL player. Adu haters hate Adu because he's the answer for the Nats but plays half-assed for his club when he isn't motivated.
Honestly, JK doesn't understand that are Nats generally overachieve for country. He is looking at these Euros and is in love but these Euros aren't true Nats, they don't have the passion for National play like our Nats do. It is what it is. JK is a joke.
I have no idea why Feilhaber or Adu weren't on the bench. Well for Adu I do, but we desperately need someone that unlock a defense with a quick touch or pass none of these can do that. Or at least have some speed coming off the bench. JK thinks the U.S is a euro side where younger players are ushered in slowly if they aren't super stars right off the bat. We can't afford to do that.
If any three of Edu, Bradley, Jones and Williams are on the field together at the same time against a 'lesser' opponent, then our tactics are wrong. We're sacrificing too much offense for nothing really. Johnson needs to play left midfield, he's too good to be that far away from goal. Unless Shea, Donovan, or Gatt are in the game at left midfield., he's our best option. We just have too many role players on this lineup and not enough leaders.
It's clear why Benny isn't, while he understands passing very well and is skilled and has good Soccer IQ, he's not elite playmaker nor does he have very good field vision. He is not unlocking a defense where no one else is capable of doing it around him. It's fair to say he might just be a Concafaf level player at best like EJ who I like as well. For Adu, of course it's club related like usual.
Three times now I had told you find where I said that and yet you have not shown the proof so please stop making up facts.
None of the guys you mentioned in the post play in Europe and you complain about euro trash. Also Gatt and now Shea are in Europe but you want them to play. I understand you are upset but you don't make complete sense.
Right, Feilhaber shone at a World Cup as a bench player and at the Confederations Cup while Adu has NEVER done that in games of such magnitude. Doing so vs. Mexico in a Gold Cup final and other friendlies is nice and all but doesn't compare.
Adu wasn't on the WC or CC roster. That's a terrible Argument. Spare your explanation of why he wasn't on those rosters. We get it, Adu doesn't "deserve" call ups but it's hard to deny that he shines when he gets in the games.
Ok. So throw out the "average euro trash". No more Dempsey, Bradley, Howard, Jozy, Cameron, Shea, Dolo, Chandler, F Johnson, Gatt, Gyau, J Jones, et al. They're no longer a part of the team. Now what's your world beating lineup?
Dax McCarty and orange cones!!!! Maybe try to recruit all of MLS' Honduran players!!!!!! If only we were able to get Espinoza and Najar to play for us! Personally I think people vastly under-rate Honduras, so they think losing in Honduras is a disaster. It's not. They're not going to drop many points at home. World Cup qualifying is all about winning your home games and picking up points on the road when you can. We don't need to demolish the whole team after one loss.
You're right. The losing part isn't a disaster. But there were certainly disastrous performances. We'll be fine.
I think that this thread does address one difference between Juergen Klinsmann and Bob Bradley that I've talked about once or twice. When it came down to it, Bob Bradley called in the players he felt he needed to win. If that meant running back to the same Freddy Adu who he just told to get his act together, so be it. If it meant using a Benny Feilhaber whose club form hasn't been spot on, so be it. If it meant using a Jonathan Bornstein that was hated by a pretty good majority of the U.S. Soccer fan base, so be it. He made unpopular decisions that would get the team results. Juergen Klinsmann calls in the players that he "likes". Players that show certain qualities that he admires and wants the rest of his team to adopt. This can be attributed to his goal of getting the U.S. to play a more proactive, progressive, attacking style of play. If that means leaving Benny Feilhaber, or Freddy Adu, or Jozy Altidore at home, then that's okay with him. Each coach's approach has positives and negatives. Bob was a guy who was result based. He used friendles to experiment and bring players along, of course, but his job was to get a good result, and, a good amount of the time, he did. The problem, without getting into TOO much detail, was that he didn't prompt nearly as much change in his players as Juergen did. Not publicly, anyways. He wanted his players to improve, of course, but he took a lot less responsibility for the growth of a player outside of giving them good international experience. This meant that he was constantly subject to the individual issues like Jonathan Bornstein's complete lack of consistencty, Freddy Adu's lack of work rate and teamwork ethic, Clint Dempsey's laziness, Ricardo Clark's lack of soccer IQ, Brian Ching's poor finishing ( as much as I loved him), Jozy Altidore's focus and work rate, Oguchi Onyewu's lack of pace, etc. At least one of these things would factor into the result of the match, usually. Juergen, on the other hand, is already known as the guy who wants to completely revamp American soccer as we know it. As such, his decisions and visions are coming from a much broader scope, one that I can't imagine the average fan will always be able to look through. What he seems to be looking for is players who are willing to work hard to change and improve themselves. This has helped majorly in the case of Michael Bradley, who has become the central midfielder we've always wanted him to be. Jozy Altidore has undoubtedly benefited from the tough love Juergen has shown him, even if it might be over the top. More American players are looking to go overseas and a lot of the ones that aren't at least find themselves getting trials in the offseason. The issue with such an approach is that it can, at times, be completely lacking in pragmatism. A lot of the players that Juergen calls in may be hard workers who will bleed for the shirt, but they're not the most skilled players, and they're not always played in the proper position. This is all compounded by Juergen's statements about playing better soccer, making it seem like he is saying one thing and doing the completely opposite. Danny Williams, Graham Zusi, and Maurice Edu, while good players, are probably not the best players to be called in should the team wish to play such a style. In short, it seems that Juergen's long-term goal is hurting us a little more in the short term than is completely necessary. No, Benny Feilhaber or Mikkel Diskerud, or even Freddy Adu may not be the guys who wear their hearts on their sleeve, but they're the kinds of players that Juergen could use should he wish to practice what he preaches. That, at least, is my view on the situation.
Actually Freddy Adu WAS on the Confederations Cup roster. He just never played. I agree with most of what you're saying. Just want to get the facts straight
Agreed, but I think this is missing the point... The problem is in how we lose.. Its JK's decisions, tactics, lineups etc.. So basically, the future doesnt look promising home or away the way we are headed.
You whole post is good, but I quoted the main points I agree with... It is becoming clear that (and I said this in another thread) that JK seems to be better suited in the USSF as a longterm planner/developer of the mens game, vs a 90 minute tactician/decision maker... He needs to be involved in the longterm development. doing that AND coaching at the same time isnt working. its 2 separate jobs, 2 different skillsets. He is better suited for development. As you said he isnt pragmatic enough, his "vision" seems to be clouding his judgement...
Freddy, Mix, Gatt, Agudelo, Gyau, Shea, Feilhaber, Torres. That's 8. Add 3 Defensive midfielders and you got a team.