I found it hard not to laugh at Goodson the whole match. It was just such a poor performance from him and I expected that. He had no business being out there. Of course, on their last goal, Edu kept the player onside and Goodson ignorantly touched the Russian player after a match where they continued to dive. Howard clearly had the ball. It was just shocking... Obviously on the 1st goal, Williams shouldnt have put the centerbacks in that position but the fact of the matter is, Bocanegra could have done a lot better there. The player was clearly wide of him and he stayed central to let him run. Bocanegra is obviously a lot better than Goodson but I would still be looking for someone to partner Cameron. The sooner, the better... Scratching my head as to why Jurgen didnt call John Anthony Brooks... I am happy for Edu with being a part of our first goal, but he simply had no business being here. Hopefully he takes confidence back to Stoke but until he at least makes the bench and becomes a continual sub, he shouldnt be involved in the National Team picture.
Really? God I think he is just awful. Would like to see the other guys get a shot though, but its gonna have to be quick.
Agree with you that we should look at others besides Goodson. Disagree about the two suggestions. I would love to have given Whitbread a run but he simply cannot stay healthy for a long enough stretch that I would want to build around him. As for Onyewu, at this point I would rather give one of the MLS guys or Gonzo or even Ream looks. He has hardly played for Malaga [if at all] and when he did last play for the US he had clearly lost a step and seemed prone to the very same sort of errors that Goodson made today. I think at this point it is Cameron + any of Boca, Edu or one of the MLS guys like Gonzo, Besler or John.
he does have the slight advantage of having to put this together BEFORE the game, not after the game, like the rest of us.
By the way, say what you want about Altidore but he certainly put in work today and would have had an assist if it werent for Jones' horribly skewed shot. He did what Jurgen wanted today mostly...
Well with Corona, he was the leading scorer for the u-23 team and was a starter for a good Mexican team. Mix spent a bit of time in limbo early on. Agudelo had a rough season, and Gatt has been battling injuries as well
Altidore just doesn't fit the Klinnsman scheme. Players like Gatt, Shea, Zusi and probably Gyau will thrive on it, with his use of wing-forwards. Jozy is no target man to play in the middle, and no winger to play on the sides. He could be used when the system is changed to something different, but right now he doesn't fit in the 4-2-3-1 with wide forwards that JK is playing.
he does not seem to connect well with the team. I am not sure why he does not connect but I was not impressed. Jones (or Johnson?) put a ball on his foot that if he controlled, was a likely goal. Not impressed.
ehhhh now I'm wishing that LA didn't come back against the Whitecaps so we could have seen Gonzo get a game before the Hex starts because I really do think he's the best option to start with Cameron...also wish we would've called in Brooks. Goodson's performance today add's to the narrative that he's simply not up to snuff at this level and if the reports are true, he's also thoroughly sucking for his club team too... I think that the criticism of Altidore is somewhat harsh, especially since he hasn't been with the team for a while. Yes people will point out that Agudelo and Boyd made tangible contributions in the form of their assists, but we should remember that Altidore put in a perfect ball for Jones who sent the ball into orbit. His hold up play was generally good, save for a 10 minute cluster**** in the second half where he was losing everything in sight and I think JK got through to him regarding the need for more workrate....Did anyone else think that Gomez was a bit anonymous today? The way we casually lost the ball is worrying, we'll get punished in the Hex if we pull that kinda stupidity. Congrats to Diskerud!
Well, this site has its failings. But if you had asked the "Bigsoccer Experts" pre-match what was the biggest mistake Klinsmann made with this squad, a very large portion would have said the failure to try out new center backs.
I agree with this. Jozy is going to be a scapegoat here despite being obviously targeted by the Russian defense, and still putting in work. His first touch on that one ball where he could have been in on goal was bad, but otherwise I think he did what he could with the lack of service overall. The Russians defended so well in numbers, much of this thanks to Capello.
well, if you judge his ability by one game, then you have a point. But if you actually look at the player and what he has accomplished over the past year, you'd come to a different conclusion. Bottom line it this way-- Gomez is good (and great coming off the bench) but isn't going to get any better. Jozy is good (but not so good coming off the bench) and there's no telling how high his ceiling is right now. If we are playing for the future (2014), he's a much better player to invest playing time in right now.
I think Altidore's confidence with the national team seems to be shot right now. Hopefully a few months away with AZ scoring goals will make he forget all this and be recharged next year.
I thought we played good for the majority of the match. Took the first 25 minutes of the first half to settle in, but once we did, it was a good performance. I don't understand any negativity coming out of the match other than stupid mistakes by Williams and Goodson that cost us the result, but overall there were some really good performances out there, especially from Howard, Bradley, and Jones. I really don't get the criticisms of Jozy, who worked his butt off today and made some great runs away from the ball; or of Jones, who was very creative in facilitating the attack (he and Bradley look a cut above the rest of the roster). Against a very good Russian side, in Russia, I'll take a 2-2 draw, especially where their 2 goals were gifts, any day of the week.
Maybe we can make a bet on this one. I rank Mix, Agudelo, Adu, Gatt and Boyd ahead of him. I think when all is said and done they will all have more significant national team careers than Corona. Among this group, I think Agudelo is the pick of the litter. Not far behind is Mix. Then Adu, Boyd and Gatt in that order.
And Bigsoccer would say - why not try out somebody like Besler, just like you tried out somebody like Diskerud today. Bigsoccer would be right, and has been right on this issue.
I think he's nervous and very eager to score again. he's pressing. Thus the poor touch on Johnsons sweet pass. But he is better at holding the ball up than some are giving him credit. Jozy will be fine, he just needs to stop pressing for that goal so hard and let the game come to him and focus on connecting with his teammates.
Yeah- Brooks (too young, but probably worth a look to give him a taste, especially with Germany calling him into their youth camps now) and Hines (again, maybe not good enough but if Goodsen is the standard right now, then maybe Seb is) would have been two obvious calls. JK's only other real error was the Mo Edu sub. Until Mo starts playing soccer for a living, he just doesn't need to be on the field with the USA.
That was Johnson and honestly, it wasnt a very good ball. It was a simple pass to make along the ground and Johnson put it up towards his knee.