And to be clear, I was not talking about you, Skydog, spouting nonsense. I mean potential coaches and pundits and whatnot. Your comments are always well thought out.
Unless I'm mistaken, I don't think anyone is spouting such nonsense in their posts. And certainly men's national team coaches haven't done such a thing. At least since I've been paying attention, when Arena and Bradley were coaches.
Apparently, then I am the one spouting nonsense? Its one thing to acknowledge reality and say that the USA does not have the individual talent that the other teams in its group have. I don't think anyone objects to that. Its the wishing the team he used to coach and play for would win before the USA is eliminated that people object to. And I do understand its not 2002. But is the Portugal team really any better now then they were in 2002 with the "Golden Generation"? Yes they have CR but in 2002 Portugal had Luis Figo at left wing, like CR coming off a FIFA World Player of the Year award. They are even playing at the same age 29. Just to be clear, I am not saying that the US should probably win, they probably shouldn't. But the soccer gods can be incredibly fickle. Personally, I am quite content to let the games be played out to determine who was the better team that day.
Personally, I believe JK wants the US to win it all and will do everything he can to see it through (even against Germany). He is too much of a competitor to not give 100% to win every time. If we are eliminated, then he will of course be supporting Germany to win. I'm fine with this. Maybe I missed something, but did JK say that he doesn't want to see the US win and only wants Germany (even if we play them after the group stage if we both were to make it out)? That would be messed up.
No, I meant that a coach who talked that way would be spouting nonsense. Everyone participating in this discussion is writing good posts. (Can't always say that.) I disagree strongly with some of you, but I understand your point view.
Anomaly perhaps, but Sweden scored 7 goals against Germany over 2 legs. We don't have a Zlatan, but I'd argue a midfield containing Bradley, Dempsey, Donovan and Jones is superior to any Sweden could put together. Of course, that's a pretty non-nuanced way of looking at it. Still, you're right--I don't remember the last time I've seen a national team with this much depth (not that I've been seriously following soccer that long) and it'll be a longshot to get a result against them. But then again--Merica.
Overall though I think Sweden are about at England's level with less big names. On the midfield point, individually the USA maybe would edge Sweden but that bank of 4 behind the two strikers of Kacaniklic, Elm, Kallstrom, Larsson and rotating Svensson arguably is more effective given the tactics they employ. I wouldn't really include Dempsey because he's basically a withdrawn forward, so he to me would be more comparable to Zlatan when he plays deep behind Elmander. Our midfield can be more dynamic because Zusi and Donovan are different kinds of wide players but for Sweden I think their midfield is alright. The biggest difference imo is our midfield has more steel. Sweden's midfield have a high work rate, I'd argue they're better technically in CM but they aren't that strong. Someone like Bradley or Jones edge them out in that area but Kallstrom imo handles press better than Bradley, has better vision and makes quicker decisions which was his biggest issues at Roma. When he has the space he can occasionally pick out moves but when the quality is stepped up the time he has to do so is decreased significantly. Germany when they went 4-0 up against Sweden played ridiculously, they basically stopped pressing Kallstrom and he did most of the damage. So yeah if they go 2-0 and start giving guys like Bradley space then yeah maybe we cans stretch them which is where they struggle the most. Germany sometimes get in the habit of playing a ridiculously high line. Most of the time it works because Schweinsteiger and whoever else is in the middle hold the ball very well and get players off the ball quickly. So it presses back most teams because they can't handle it. When players get time in the middle though they are vulnerable to quick counters. So I assume that's how we'll set up against them but it's risky and we aren't as pacey as we've been in the past.
A more general point on the tournament and forgetting about the ramifications of Klinsmanns comments, he's actually likely to be disappointed this summer. I don't think Germany will win. The last time I really got a good look at them and really analyzed what Loew was trying to do was against Italy (and a bit in the England match). Same old Germany imo. Loew again tried to counteract Italy’s midfield with really high pressing. It was effective to an extent, they almost scored off a mistake, but by in large Italy managed the press and passed their way out of it. That makes me question how he would handle possession sides when the pressure is ramped up. High pressing with players of Germany's quality is devastating for most nations but sides like Italy don’t panic playing passes that close to goal and on a good day in form can match top teams in the midfield. Many teams would have collapsed under the pressure Germany tried to put on Italy. You have to be a good ball playing team which is why I worry about the USMNT midfield against them. Point is though I can think of a few teams they would be walking the line with, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Italy, etc - even sides like Chile. Once Italy beat the press they’ll gradually try to press the field back by moving the ball left to right, so they have time to reset, build slower with more passes and with the threat of Pirlo stretching the field. Brazil play a more high tempo and mistake and they'd be on toast because they counter quickly and pass the ball very well. Luckily for them though it shouldn't be an issue until later in the tournament, it's possible they may have to go through Brazil to get to the final, maybe even Spain if things get real wacky. I think both would have them quite easily. However, people shouldn't overlook that match against Portugal. Depending on what Portugal side shows up they could nick them. Portugal are missing one quality midfielder but Moutinho could play for Germany, that midfield isn't pedestrian. They would approach the match very similarly to Italy in possession, Moutinho is a classic regista. Press the ball heavily and try to cut down those spaces and they have just the right players to do it, mobile ones like Pepe as well. Differing from Italy though they would look to counter more and that's where they would have an issue because CR7 and Nani can cause them problems if they press too high.
I feel a better about this tournament. 2016 Copa America Centenario in United States could be announced as early as May 1 "Marca has also allegedly identfied six stadiums where games will be played: the Rose Bowl, Stanford Stadium, MetLife Stadium, Florida Citrus Bowl, RFK Stadium and Reliant Stadium." The farm seems like a weird choice with the 49ers new stadium.
Same thing with RFK. I think this tourney may come a couple years too early. I think 2018 will see the USMNT make the next jump in quality.
I'm not sure what the selection rules will be but 4th place might be a tall order this time. The teams outside of Brazil and Argentina will all be better. Hypothetically if we got the same group as in 1995 (Argentina, Chile and Bolivia) that would be very difficult. Still more favorable then the World Cup group though. Hopefully we get invited to 2019 because that's when you can envision the first waves of the new prospects starting to come through on their club teams. Guys like Marc Pelosi or Julian Green will be 24/25. Junior Flores and Emerson Hyndman around 23. Many of our better prospects are in much better situations then current USMNT players at the same age. As always I'm worried about the defense. It's funny because it's the one thing you'd think we'd do a good job at producing outside of goalkeepers. You follow youth development, so you know many of the better prospects are attacking players. There's the kid that Juve are trying to buy but I've never really seen him play, same with the other kid who signed with City.
Yup. Just over two years is best case scenario for most of our prospects. Realistically, even for 2018, there is going to be some prospects that either don't reach the heights envisioned or even drop off the face of the earth. It's just the reality of it. I am glad that we are starting to produce more and more prospects but we continue to need more. To compete at Copa level in 2016 might just be a bridge too far. 2019, on the other hand, I definitely agree. If we are to believe Garber and we have one of the best leagues in the world by 2022, we should definitely be seeing some hints by this time.
Interesting quotes about Jurgen vs. Bruce in here: http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1...insmann-affecting-landon-donovan-game?cc=5901
"If I can't practice, I can't practice. It is as simple as that. It ain't about that at all. It's easy to sum it up if you're just talking about practice. We're sitting here, and I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we're talking about practice. I mean listen, we're sitting here talking about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game, but we're talking about practice. Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game last it's my last but we're talking about practice man. How silly is that? Now I know that I'm supposed to lead by example and all that but I'm not shoving that aside like it don't mean anything. I know it's important, I honestly do but we're talking about practice. We're talking about practice man. We're talking about practice. We're talking about practice. We're not talking about the game. We're talking about practice. When you come to the arena, and you see me play, you've seen me play right, you've seen me give everything I've got, but we're talking about practice right now."
Part of me feels like Donovan won't go to the world cup. Jurgen doesn't seem to like him all too much and he isn't exactly lighting up the MLS at the moment.
Does that part of you want to make a wager? Please? I'm offering a very generous 2 - 1 to anyone betting he won't go.
World Cup related not USMNT, but rather than start a new thread, did anyone enter and win for the free tickets to the World Cup trophy event this weekend, and any chance you could spare 2 or more of your 6 tickets, preferably for Sunday? Please PM if you can help me. Result might have been the same, but only first read about this the day after the entry deadline passed. Grrrrrrrrr. Also, anyone got kids who will be collecting and trading Panini stickers for the WC? It's also okay if you're the one collecting and no kid is involved.... PS - No chance Landon doesn't go the World Cup.
To @blech and others: I was able to win tickets and take pictures with the World Cup trophy. Pretty cool, pretty surreal. Sorry, @blech, I didn't have extra tickets, otherwise I would've offered them to you. However, the MC near/at the music stage was giving away tickets (attached photo) to see the trophy. I don't know if they'll do it tomorrow or if they do, what time, but if you're not too far, it may be worth it to try to go. I had 6 tickets but my party had 7 people, so we were able to get an extra ticket for him. If they're not giving tickets away, the event at street level (the cup and other interactive stuff is on the event deck of the garage) is still pretty cool. Lots of giveaways, samples, entertainment, and it's free.
Thanks for the info! I did get some and am looking forward to it. Any other tips? Is it best to go to the event deck at the very beginning of the one hour slot?
I don't think it matters what time during the one hour slot you go (my time was 1-2pm, and I was in line at around 1:45pm). Having said that, I'd go in line ASAP. Lines weren't long to get in the tent or to see the cup (more on that in a bit) but that may be different today. Once you get in the tent, the main (first room) has a dance stage and interactive photo booths and green screens. I'd skip that for later (if you want to do that). The lines were fairly long here, in particular the green screen one. Walk to the back of the room where the sign reads something like "Hologram experience." Walk through that line - PASS the hologram experience and just keep walking. We did all this - passing a ton of people - thinking the cup was not really there, that all we'd see was a green screen version and a hologram of it. It wasn't until past the hologram room and more walking that we saw the trophy. NO ONE was waiting in line; in fact, we were able to get in line 3x to take 3 different poses with it. It was ridiculous (but in a good way!). I wonder if people either didn't know the actual trophy was there or they got too invested in the other bells and whistles. In any case, I'd try to take a picture with the trophy first before doing all the other stuff. Once they take a picture of you, you get handed the photo, they tell you to exit (you can't go back the same way you came in). Once you exit the tent, take the path where there are bars on one side of the hall. They serve (free) full sizes of Coke products (no rum, I'm afraid). It is in this hall that you can access one of the doors to enter the first main room again - if you want to take pictures at the green screens/photo booths and/or do the hologram thing. When you're done there, exit through one of those side doors you entered, turn right, and they'll have a swag table. They were giving out Coke-branded/FIFA World Cup-branded backpacks and soccer balls. Sorry for the very specific instructions. It was a little confusing once you got in b/c of all the people who were NOT at the trophy, so we thought we were missing something/going in the wrong direction. Have fun!!
I had to put this here: someone in the Nats thread just posted that they would rather play Julian Green (he of the 1 national team game) at LM at the World Cup rather than LD due to LD's crappy defensive skills in LA this year. I'm not kidding.
Berks, you are a true warrior for braving those boards and trying to talk sense into them. i go lurk in there every once in a while and always end up leaving in disgust. the abuse LD gets for the NT is pretty much mind-boggling to me. im nearly certain that any other country would appreciate the guy who has about the same # of assists as the entire rest of the freaking player pool combined. you can literally take the entire 30-man WC prelim-roster, add up the assists and it'll be about where LD is by himself. oh, and he's also got as many goals as #2 and #3 in the pool combined. not that goals or assists matter. if im coaching, LD starts if healthy. especially the must-win ghana game when he'll be at his freshest and most rested. he and Bradley are the two guys on that team that can consistently break pressure and spring something going forward. + the intangible: he's not going to shrink on that stage. we really only know for sure that LD, bradley, dempsey & timmy! are up to the task. everyone else has something to prove. but JK is coaching and he has a definite tendency to play for scoreless first half grinds and 2nd half goals. could mean we see LD in the 60th minute.
You should know not to listen to garbage like that. It amazes me the amount of posters that talk like theyve seen him play. Have no idea what is game is all about