Okay, so let's change tracks a moment. Let's assume that JK is a disaster. (Easy enough.) It is unlikely that US Soccer will fire him, however. But could they force him to hire a coach to take over the tactical duties. Possible? Good idea? If so, who could it be? The only realistic possibility I can think of is Claudio Reyna
There appears to be no structure or shape or definition of roles at all - who's pressing where and when, who shows when, which outlets or overlaps to look for, etc. For me, that's entirely on the coach. Sure, it's difficult with players who don't play together frequently to develop these sorts of understandings, but that's a given. You don't take that constraint and then play your players completely out of position or in roles and situations they aren't accustomed to, particularly on the road in WCQ. It's absolutely mind boggling to me. I'm hoping this was the equivalent of Bob's Costa Rica game, but I won't hold my breath. Re Klinsmann's tenure, I've cut him a lot of slack. I believe that the progress towards becoming an effective team in possession is probably highly nonlinear, so negative results were to be expected. It's time to win now, though.
I think the whole team was tired after 25 minutes they are just not used to that kind of weather conditions. And the guys who are use to these conditions he leaves them on the bench. Guys like Torres, Gomez, and Castillo are used to playing in these conditions. I am pretty sure they would have been more active out there.
Entertaining soccer is winning soccer. The US is on a workmanlike road to sub-mediocrity. Instead of valuing the fundamentals - receiving the ball cleanly, finding teammates quickly, completing passes consistently - I just see more and more of "We will out hustle our own inadequacies." Jones-Williams-Bradley is not complimentary. There is not enough sharp play, quickness, vision and skill to consistently threaten opponents. Gonzalez was an oaf, not a soccer player. People drool over Chandler's 40 yard dash to the point they forgive him for being a pretty sketchy defender. Sacha Kljestan should start for this team. He has better movement and sets a better tempo than any of B-J-W. And he would compliment Bradley's play. Besler should start next to Cameron. He is a better soccer player - and defender - than Gonzalez. Corona should be worked into this team more quickly. His ability to complete passes in the final third, even in tight spaces, is valuable. More creativity, more imagination, is needed. More hustle and bulk is not.
Tom Dooley would be a far better choice, if it came between them two. The guy, who was sort of/kind of in the running back in 2006, was Guido Buchwald, a teammate from the old Stuttgart and Germany days and a Coach of the Year in the J-league half a decade ago. B-b-b-b-b-but everyone plays 4-3-3 these days. Barcelona plays it. Germany plays it. If the US will play 4-3-3, it'll be just as good as Gercelona.
In all seriousness, you can bet that right now Sunil is thinking through contingency plans. He is not a stupid man, and has sene a fair share of soccer. He knows that if JK doesn't win with an exclamation point against CR that he will have to step in and change some things himself. I still think JK could get it together, win big against CR and get the tie against Mex. CONCACAF is tough and always very weird and funky, so anything can happen. But, if we lose or only get a point against CR, Sunil will have to make a big choice. That or JK will simply walk, because he knows he is in over his head.
Well that and you are basically asking Honduras to attack the hell out of Chandler. Jones often looked lost on the right all by himself. He is not a wide player. Basically, JK ran out a strategy and formation which did not create space for us, but created loads of space for Honduras, and also forced several of our players to play in positions and situations that they cannot.
Whether it's a fake 4-3-3, 4-4-2 or 4-1-3-2, we don't play any of these formations well under JK. We've had some success in a 4-4-2 but that's against shit teams/countries for the most part and do little to threaten for the majority of the time. It's not so much the system imo as it is JK's failed possession based philosophy. What's possession without intent? Masturbation. We look like we have nine guys out there playing with themselves watching the guy with the ball. No movement, no one making themselves available for a forward pass, no one making runs to create passing lanes or channels to run into, no runs to occupy the defense who's instead able to load up on Clint/Jozy, complete lack of ideas. Instead of this attacking, pro active soccer, we're bunkering against anyone better than Canada or A&B, and what's worse is we're bunkering without a counter attacking threat. One of the Honduran journalists was dead on after the match when he said this US team was the least competitive US side they've ever seen. We're worse than 4 years ago. We've turned into a bunkering team with no counter attacking threat.
There was an old Woody Allen line - from "Annie Hall", I believe - "Don't knock masturbation. It's the best sex I've ever had". But this comes from two things - a) the players themselves aren't capable of doing it on their own. b) the coaching staff puts them in positions to fail. There is a poster on these forums who likes to quote from Philip Lahm's book that JK and MV were all about fitness while the game tactics was never/rarely discussed. That led to Lahm and other veteran players to get together midweek and postulate a game plan of their own without any consultation with Klinsi and Vasquez. Well, Bayern did well for a while with that half-assed planning because their veterans were world class performers (Ribery, Lahm, Schweini, van Bommel, Klose, et al.). They probably completely disregarded whatever their coaches told them prior to the match and went about the best way they knew how. Now, if you compare this with the US - I am sure the Canada and today's tactics were exactly as drawn. Which really bodes ill for the US because the game plan sucked.
They were arguably our best options off the bench today. Kljestan was the only guy on the bench I trust in an important game, along with Carlos Bocanegra and possibly Brad Guzan.
I saw Jones limping around grabbing at his calf a few minutes before he was subbed. I think the third sub was forced by that and not by any tactical decision
What's been said on these forums from Day 1 on: - If you don't practice on pressing high up, you won't be able to do so when push come to shove. - If you don't practice build-up out of the back and positional play you won't be able to possess and create. - If your entire philosophy is completely incoherent, your players/team will have no clue what to do. Yesterday we saw the defense hanging back, while the midfield wanted to push forward. We saw the defense playing a high line, when the midfield was hanging back. We saw the ball over the top. We saw a poorly/wrongfully executed offside trap. We saw a very conservative line-up. We saw no creative players and no ability to create. We saw a complete lack of options on the bench.
First off, as a long time lurker on BS I had never thought that it'd ever be necessary to pass judgement on team. I simply came here for information but I guess I feel the need to point out some things about JK. Defense: To be fair to JK, we were missing Cherundolo who is still quality for the MNT and has terrific experience in these situations. But JK's faults from yesterday come from the distant past. For me, it's absolutely ridiculous to drop Bocanegra, of all times, right now. Don't get me wrong, I like Gonzo alot (also Besler) and think he'll be a fast learner but bleed him in against Costa Rica at home as a 2nd half sub, not Honduras when he's only had one other game in the past 2 months. Gonzo wasn't awful but looked very unsure of himself through out the game and should have been tracking Bengston on the 2nd goal. Chandler (hey, he's cap-tied finally!) looked about the same. Didn't want to press because he thought he'd be beat, looked slower in general. Cameron simply had a poor game too. Overall, there is waaaay too little experience in this back line to go to Honduras and try to get a good result. Midfield: Well, Bradley wasn't as good as he's usually been for us but I thought he was still our best player. I like Jones and his assist was awesome but he should never be relied upon to provide width which is what ended up happening since Chandler was having so much trouble defending, he couldn't attack. Lastly, Williams confuses me. If you watch him play for Hoffenhiem, you can see he's just not that great. For me, he's not any better than Edu (if Edu is better himself). Who I would really like to see in the holding role is Sacha. He plays for a better team than both Edu and Williams and thrives in distribution. He is one of three players in the pool that is tactically sound enough too to provide a outlet for players under pressure (Bradly and Donovan are the others IMO). Also, he never tires in the midfield. Attack: Yet again, no width. Dempsey has been out of form the past couple of weeks (we are not very good when he's out of form) but did have a great goal. I thought EJ did very well considering he wasn't playing his position and he hustled alot. I feel for Jozy these days with the MNT. He rarely gets service when he starts and just looks frustrated. I thought he put in a good 90 minutes and don't see whast Gomez could have done differently despite his production through out qualifying. The subs I won't even comment on. They were being played out of position (especially Sacha). I couldn't give ratings for the team outside of the back line. This is simply because there weren't any tactics past the midfield. That, to me is why our players were all so gassed. In game with rough conditions, tactically our players need to be sure of what area is theirs and when to press and when not to press. Simply put, JK screwed over the team with his negligence to wide-play and inexperience in the backline. So will we qualify? Yeah probably, it'll just be closer this time around. The return of wide players like Shea and (hopefully) Donovan will help and our backline will only get better. But, a coach (in any sport really), in my opinion, has to put the players in the best position to succeed. JK didn't do that at all and instead calls out players for not playing up to potential. We'll be okay in the long run, but I'd be lying to say I would rather have JK as a coach right now than Bradley, Arena, or Kineer. P.S sorry for the extremely long post
If JK is getting advice from someone else on formations, tactics and player selection, he needs to fire that guy. If this is is doing then he better smarten up or quit. We look like crap. Honduras was primarily a MLS and domestic league team and they kicked ass against US players that play all over Europe, some on big clubs. It's not a fluke thing either, we havent looked that good for some time. It's hot in Honduras... how smart is it to use players that never see that heat... even in August? Surprise, surprise... they wilted Maybe Chandler is lucky he doesn't have to face players like that in Germany because they owned him yesterday. To be honest, I saw little from him that makes me glad he changed his mind about playing AND I know why the phone from the German NAT never rang. He's not that good. JK need to drop his German bias and look to make sweeping changes. We need 3 points next time out..PERIOD
Bullseye. Let's face it, Hondo played pretty poorly in the final third. OK, they hit the miracle bicycle, but they missed a LOT of good chances, the kind you'd expect them to hit maybe 30% of the time. So it evened out. What concerns me are two pretty massive issues for a coach. First, I've always thought JK is a terrible, terrible judge of talent. He puts far too much emphasis on the league someone plays in rather than the actual talent. Early on, he was in love with players from the MFL who aren't very good. Not, it's German-Americans. Second, the players are put in roles that minimize their abilities and maximize their weaknesses. (OK, not ALL of the players, obviously, JK isn't trying to lose on purpose. But you get my point...there's a huge mismatch between abilities and roles.) And all those mistakes on the individual level are reflected on the team-wide tactics. We have a player pool built for scoring on the counter and on set pieces, and we try to score like Spain. I guess I could throw in that Klinsmann keeps talking about wanting to play a possession game and then mostly picking a first XI of guys who kinda suck at possession. But at this point I'd just be beating a dead horse's ass.
Totally agree... My issue is that he needs to put his stubborness/ego aside and try a more pragmatic approach, to get the most out of our player pool.. People are discussing the player mistakes (whihc is fair of course) but the coach needs to put the players in the best position to minimize mistakes, and play to their strengths, regardless of the "vivion" he has for them.. His "vision" isnt working..
We lacked a bit everything throughout the match, including, among other intangibles, leadership. Howard as the choice for captain in a noisy away match was another questionable call by JK. He's not a field player, he's farthest away from everyone. Right after the golazzo bicycle kick jetted into the net, Howard puts his hands to his face...I've never seen him react so dejectedly, and negatively. Never let your opponent see they've gotten to you. If Boca plays, he wears the armband and he marshals the defense, or at least the other CB. There were several times where defenders made bad decisions to play or not play balls already going out of bounds (Gonzo), or while under pressure in the back third (Chandler). That's Howard's job to tell them in no uncertain way to let it ride or clear the ball. Honduras was given SO much time on the ball, it was, from the start, nerve-racking to watch. BUT we still ought to have come away with a point and not conceded that crapper of a second goal. With 20 minutes to go in a tied away WC qualifier, you tighten up the D (all 11 players) and do what is necessary. Watching those poor corners from Honduras be won on the far side of the field and kept in play was maddening. Aren't those the balls your weak side defender and / or midfielder / or forward picks up and starts the counter with? Especially on their now-exposed weak side. Not only did Honduras get to these balls to keep them alive, but we then failed to put any sort of reasonable pressure on the ball to delay the play. Watching Sasha lose the ball three times one on one when he was deep down the flank was brutal. We got nothing offensively from the outside backs. The match flow essentially called for them to stay put, or else be victimized on the counter. There's so much to say negatively about this match it hurts. Still I'll be watching the Costa Rica match hoping for a win; hoping Donovan is back in the fold; hoping players coming over from Europe don't look like they just stepped off the plane; and hoping never to have so much to say again in critiquing the USMNT.
To me it's simple. Play Gomez instead of Williams. The back line will get better and need time together before next summer.
Do we need to make sure he doesn't have connections to Southeast Asian crime syndicate? I joke b/c the truth is otherwise too painful. The keys to the car & $2.5mil were given to the wrong guy. A guy who keeps saying the problems are all player mistakes. And he's not willing to find an 2nd in command with tactical ability. And....
Our players (and coaches for that matter) have not lost a match in San Pedro Sula since 1992. Until yesterday, our players and coaches were 9-0-1 overall vs Honduras since 2002. Do you see anything that might be blamed on our $2.5 million coach with the 40 games of coaching experience before he got the car keys, here.