I think many are still not sold on Beasley being a WC caliber LB. There is no doubt in my mind that Fabian is starting in the WC. I like him at LW, but it might make more sense in the end to put him at LB. Leaves room for Donovan, Dempsey, Altidore, and another attacker.
maybe by name but not personnel. we were the second team heavy in either "A" players or "A" subs. Mexico didn't have a single "A" player in their roster. Panama had just one more than we had. bottom line our "A" team is playing better than their "A" team. What is going to be determine is if we can keep it up in the away games.
LD had a good GC but if you think he was way better to replace Dempsey just remember how average he looked vs CR and to a degree vs Panama. I wouldn't pencil anyone anywhere, it is the coaches job to figure it out.
Yep. FJ at left mid has generally impressed me tracking back than he has going forward. A bit more comfortable with him there than Beasley at any rate.
Why not play a 4-4-2 with Altidore and Johannsson up top, Donovan and Dempsey on the wings, and Fabian at left back?
So, if Aron Johannson is "Bacon", would our bald Micheal Bradley be the "Egg"? I say that makes for a winning combination.
Why in the world would you do that when you could instead play several guys out of position in a super complicated brand new formation?
Because Aron might not be good enough. Who here has seen him play against top flight competition? He's a good prospect, but I don't think we pencil him in as a starter yet.
Shawn Parker was always more likely than AJ, IMO. Don't get me wrong. Parker is an amazing player, but he's not German A team amazing, nor with he ever be. The US is his only chance at a World Cup, if that's something he might be interested in
Zusi is a bench player with the A team. He did an admirable job filling in for Donovan while he was on walkabout. But LD is back now. While LD can effectively play in the box sometimes (his movement is excellent), let's be honest, would you rather have Clint or Landon the target of a cross? So one of the wide spots has to go to Landon, unless you advocate sending him (or Jozy or Clint) to the bench. We have Zusi, Corona, and Bedoya as the main non-Landon options on the right. We have F. Johnson, Torres, Shea, and Castillo on the left. EJ, Johannsson, and Gomez can all play wide as well. I think our most accomplished attacking group would be FJ (LM), Landon (RM), Dempsey (CAM/SS), and Altidore. If DMB doesn't cut it at LB, then move FJ back and rethink it. But give DMB the shot first. Plus, if FJ isn't playing LB for club (as is a real possibility) then thinking he's going to be the answer there is somewhat problematic. For the moment, the attacking subs in the the midfield/attack seem to be: Gomez, Zusi, Torres, Shea, Diskerud, EJ, Corona, Bedoya, Wondo, and Johannsson. Those are the guys he's competing with for spots right now, more specifically, probably Gomez, EJ, Wonod, and Shea.
Aron was mainly signed as a left winger by AGF Aarhus, but was reinvented as a striker, so he can play both as a striker, left winger, but at AGF he also developed tactically to be able to play as a kind of attacking minded deep-lying playmaker behind 2 strikers, in case you need to step up your attack at the end of a game, to get a result. .. as an attacking minded playmaker he is highly energetic which in itself add to the spirit and energy of the whole team, which is highly valuable if you need a goal at the end of a game... so my prediction is, that he is going to be a highly valuable player for the USMNT, not only as a striker. .
He only played as a winger in very few games for AGF, so it would not be fair to make any kind of evaluation of his defensive skills as a winger, especially considering that he at the same time was adapting to a much higher level also tactically.... but I believe he has played as a winger for his Dutch club. .. at the start of his professional career at AGF, he kept training when the other players went home and he also worked very hard in the games, but not scoring any goals, because he was doing too much and trying too hard, moving too much around all over the pitch, so he never seemed to be in the right place at the right time... it was this poor "timing" AGF managed to get rid of, so he eventually became the excellet striker he is today... now he tactically is a very clever player. .
from bshredder (Brian Sciaretta) edit: spelling change, sorry Brian, always seem to mispell your name. http://t.co/b35W0zhAyR @BrianSciaretta 14mWow. Icelandic FA issues a statement on Aron Johannsson's decision. Run it through a google translator. They're angry @BrianSciaretta 6mAlso of note from the press release from Iceland's FA is that they're trying to call up Johannsson its WCQ vs. Faroe Isl. (sounds desperate) Collapse sounds like.... THEY MAD!
The Icelandic FA are pretty much asking him to change his mind, while at the same time saying that he is only chosing the USMNT for the money... this press release is a very strange and angry move if they really want him to change his mind... so I guess they know the battle is lost. .
Maybe this helps? Ives Galarcep @SoccerByIves 16m Can't say I've ever seen a country's FA actually asking fans & media to pressure a player. Not sure how this makes Johannsson reconsider
This is classless IMO. It's already a tough decision for the kid. Not cool. Of course when the Rossi thing went down there were pissed off Americans, but I don't believe the USSF asked fans to pressure him.
Not everybody is as relaxed as the German FA when it comes to dual- nationals changing associations, and of course Iceland has a far smaller player pool than us so a loss of Johansson hurts them much more than a loss of say, Shawn Parker, would us... Still pretty classless to go off ranting in a press release like that, nor, I suspect, condusive to the player actually changing his mind.
Agreed. This is completely classless for a Federation to resort to this kind of behavior. Now I see there are more reasons for his filing a switch, besides playing in the World Cup. I think, as US Soccer fans, we should welcome our new Bacon overlord with open arms. Can we smell "Butthurt"? It smells like somebody's butt is hurt, and a bunch of crap is coming out, all over the internet. But what's funny is the part about picking us "For the Money". Sorry, but there is no "Money" in USSoccer. You probably won't be a household name, and there is the glamor of playing in God-Forsaken stadiums in front of some of the angriest, most passionate fans on the planet to qualify. Playing in the nightmare of Saprissa does not exactly bring about visions of fame and riches. In fact, very often, after working your butt off, you will listen to some guy like Jim Rome talk about how gay you are or something. That's probably the biggest reason why the US National team is better than the sum of it's parts. There is no "Money" here. You play for the USA because you love your country. Even the "Mercs" like Jermaine Jones who came to play just to see a World Cup, even those guys "get the love". They realize that the US National team is for real. The fans are loyal. The team is no-nonsense and nobody is above the shirt, and everybody is held accountable. We are the United States of America. E Pluribus Unum. We never walk alone, but we can and will if we need to. Considering that JK likes to use three attacking mids in front of a pair of deep lying 6/8 combo midfielders, this makes sense. From what I see of JK's system, all three attacking mids should be interchangable. From what I see, Bacon can play either up top, or any of the three midfield positions. If he can translate this versatility to the National Team, he literally is a perfect fit for our current system, especially considering he's already partnered with Jozy lots of times. I expect to see him play well, and maybe wheel him out against the Ticos.