There was some bad communication all around on that second goal but man, Gonzalez took ball watching to a new level on that one. On the other end of the pitch, I think we're seeing a compounded problem with Altidore and the lack of service from midfield. Jozy is good when he's getting service (as he's shown in the Eredivisie) but he's borderline useless when he's stranded out there by himself. I would've much rather seen a second half sub for Gomez who works his ass off to track back and find the ball.
Howard makes some absolutely boneheaded plays. Calling Omar back to the box on the first goal where he would have easily contested the crosser was a big mistake. The second goal, man, he has to get there if he comes for it. He hasn't been great the last couple years if we're all being honest with ourselves. Not saying he's been bad, indeed he's been good...but not so good that we make him the undisputed number 1 right now imo.
You can throw water on what he has done for the national team all you want. There is no other option for the US right now that is 100% ready like he is. Has his performances been above reproach or without issues? of course not. Has he been so good that he is the undisputed #1 right now? Your damn right he has. he is #1 because there is no #2 in the vicinity. Sean Johnson - your going to trust him after what he did in the mls playoffs last year and in Olympic qualifying. Bill Hamid - same as above regarding MLS Playoffs. Tally hall - look, i think he is an amazing keeper, but he is below average with the ball at his feet. it's ok in MLS, but it's not good enough right now at the international level. Brad Guzan - While what is happening at Villa is not his fault much at all (the rest of the team is terrible), you can't watch his performance in the EPL and say that guy is better than Howard Imho. Even if you could hypothetically tolerate the deficiencies above, all the options listed save Guzan do not have the international experience to be ready for qualifying on the road in Central America or v. mexico. You would merely be guessing that they would perform well at the international level. Could they perform better? Possibly. Could you guarantee that? No frigging way. As for some of the attacks on Timmy, Howard should not be playing his first game with his best two starting CB's for the first time @ Honduras on the road. Lack of communication is no surprise when you have three players who have no experience playing together. That's on the coach and the absolutely horrible job he's done preparing this team for qualifying.
Tim Howard is the best that the US has, but that's not saying a lot. I'm astounded by the lack of options in goal. Howard has been questionable since last summer in my mind. Like the former poster pointed out, the main problem is the whole rest of the team in front of Howard. If you can't string together passes in the midfield, or even hold possession, and absorb attack after attack, it'll make any goalie look worse then he is. The US midfield needs fitness, vision, and composure to be able to qualify. CONCACAF is getting stronger.
Very few American GK's journey overseas these days which is somewhat disappointing. Howard is one of the few GK's that face some world class talent. That has to give him an edge. I'm surprised like you that we haven't produced some better GK's in this country, but I think a few guys like Kennedy and Hall could do well with some time in the better leagues. There are actually a lot of teams worldwide with pretty poor keepers.
I don't disagree with your thoughts, but I am more concerned a complete lack by JK of helping develop and identify a younger, quicker GK over the past two years. Howard is good but he is much slower off his line now as compared to three years ago. The past two years would have been a great opportunity to get the heir apparent ready. Instead Howard was put out there at almost every opportunity and we are left with him for better or worse. Tally is a good example. Ball skills and distribution can be taught and trained. There is little pressing need for this in MLS but had he been in camp several times over the past 18 months maybe you see his one weakness dissipate to the point where you have another option.
I can't see how anyone would say Timmy should be replaced. Still the best 'keeper we have bar none. As for JK, unless something dramatic hapens over the next 18 months, it is safe to say he has been a failure
Too early to say that. It doesn't have to be dramatic because he only has to qualify for the World Cup and there are still a lot of ways to do that with 9 games left and only needing to be in top 3. What will determine his success is always going to be his performance in the WC, or lack of qualifying. And beyond that, what changes/ideas has he brought to the table for future generations, if any? It is possible to say he's failed so far based on "style of play" and media perception for example, but giving him a sumative grade now is premature and unfair to be honest.
He said he wanted to elevate the US which means at the least we have to match Bradley's accomplishments. So, win a Gold Cup, Hex, and WC group (or at least advance) which leaves the real thing for JK to get to the quarters. Considering how things have gone over the last 2 years or so and the lack of improvement and general blah that we've shown on the field, I don't think it's a stretch to say that for JK to accomplish any, or all of that, would be dramatic.
I think doing any of things you mention requires some level of drama so you're right. But you're still judging him after 1 game of any real importance. That's not to mention that it was a very difficult away game against an increasingly impressive Honduran side. Now it sounds like I'm defending him, but I agree he hasn't been too impressive so far. But I don't like to hastily judge as many sports critics do, because like I said only one game of importance has been played and none of those included the type of players Bradley had at his disposal (peak form of Donovan, Howard, Dempsey, Bocanegra, Cherundolo). It is a rebuilding phase right now, just look at the CB pairing we had and the absence of Donovan.
The absense of Landon hurts, agreed. That said we did, and do, need to prepare for life PostLandon. We all figured this would probably be the last World Cup where he played a major role. As for the CB pairing that was a choice made by JK. A terrible one. How do you put 4 rookie defenders out there and expect results, especially 4 players who've never played together? He had an option and chose, for whatever reason, not to. Another in a long line of mystifying ones. And this is NOT the 1st game of import. We've had other Qualifiers and we've looked plenty shaky in those (let's not forget away at Jamaica...though I understand if you'd like to. Honduras is a good team but considering the talent available to us, considering our history and nack for being the most physically fit and athletic, there was no reason to get run off the field like we did. If it was simply a great play or bad luck that beat us, well we should've made a better sacrifice to the Soccer Gods. However we played extremely narrow, passive, uncaring and lacked any energy or attacking mindset. We either didn't care or didn't have the energy to. If it were the first time we'd laid an egg like that, I might shrug it off. It is not. As to players: i'd say Howard and Deuce are playing great right now. More than enough to be leaders on this team. Boca was available but unused. Dolo injured sadly. So what about the next generation? Why are we just now getting this group together? Could we not play all/some of them at one point or another under JK? You are right that there are still 9 games to go. Plenty of time to turn things around. Still a whole GC to play and win. I just look at the body of work and feel...uncomfortable. sure... the tie vs Russia was nice. Win in Italy and Mexico, great but when it matters we can't pull that off. That's worrisome.
I must have been high to not include the other qualifiers prior to the hex. So negative points to me on that part of the argument. I think Klinsmann decided to go with the defenders of the future and throw them right into the fire. It is a questionable call for sure, but at least they've all had a taste of it now. I just wish at minimum that Cameron and Gonzalez had some kind of camp together prior to such a big match. They had what, one practice? Have they played together before?
Without looking I'm going to go and say no, or if they did it was a small time. I know all 4 of them have never played together. I know Gonzo has been injured and that has hurt but there was last Cupcake to get them together or maybe last WCQ to atleast get them into a camp together. A Hex game isn't the best time to start 4 rookie defenders, unless given no other choice. And we had a choice.
Klinsmann really got it wrong on the day. Didn't start Boca, our Captain, on a road qualifier is amazing. Then he puts in Sasha over our Davis or Gringo Torres to add more ideal possesion type players when we need them. It was just a bad day outside of the Jones ball and full volley finish from a certain Texan.
Just to weigh in on the Tim Howard debate. His form has dipped for Everton over the past year and I can tell you with certainty that the supporters aren't too happy about it. He'll make some great stops but this year, he's made more uncharacteristic bonehead plays than normal for a keeper. One of the problems is that he isn't pushed at Everton. Jan Mucha is his backup and apparently isn't showing Moyes enough to warrant dropping Howard so Howard stays between the sticks regardless of form on the club level.
That's a rather myopic way to look at things. We all knew when Klinsmann was hired that the USMNT was going to take a few steps back before it moved forward. Given the razor thin margins we saw under Bradley and how few new ideas he had at the end, I'd rather see the US try something better and fail than maintain the same "are we punching above or below our weight right now?" series of ups-and-downs.
Klinsmann is the right coach or overall director for the US, but not for this cycle. Bradley's teams came out flat or unprepared and had to scramble to get results. Bradley also pissed away the best draw the US will ever have in a World Cup. At the same time, he was able to grind out results on the road in much of CONCACAF (although much of that is due to the players, not the coach). This cycle was clearly a transitional cycle from many of the 2002-2006-2010 crew to the future, but without a real good pool of young talent. We've got quite a lot of older 20s guys as "youngsters". Klinsmann always struck me as more of an ideas guy and cheerleader and less of a grinder like an Arena or even a Bradley.