1. Centerbacks are slow. 2. Bradley isnt creative enough. 3. Dempsey is getting old. 4. Donovan isnt in his best shape. 5. Our fullbacks... who are our fullbacks? 6. Jozy... still young, may have a hard time scoring. I do not think we will make it out of the group, I hope we do and I will be supporting our boys with my heart and soul. Speaking more towards the post world cup, do we break the bank for Guardiola, Simeone or we wait till Mourinho is avaliable? Who's the coach we need after the world cup? Simeone is making a name for himself with a team full of nobodies...
Our biggest problem is we're in a down cycle in regards to talent, inbetween generations. I think the 2018 cycle and especially the 2022 cycle will have considerably more talent top to bottom. That doesn't help us now though. Frankly, a number of the guys in the discussion to go to the May camp have no business being in a discussion about going to Brasil. It is what it is though. Our fullbacks are poor for the most part(hopefully Cam/Fabian do well, if they play as fullbacks as they're our only international standard fullbacks outside Chandler). Our CB's are not international standard and are extremely unfamiliar with high level soccer). Mike is our one high level mid aside from Jones and they don't pair well. Our wings are just not that good. Landon isn't what he used to be and Zusi/Bedoya would not be wing options for any other top 25 country. They just aren't that good on a global scale and both are unproven at anything approaching the level we'll see in a few months. Guys like AJ/Mix, while talented, are still prospects at this level and are more next cycle players and neither have played at the WC level or top 4 league level. Our best striker just got dropped to the U21's for a team going down to the Championship. We're hoping guys like EJ(who's failed internationally at any level beyond CONCACAF) and Wondo(completely unproven beyond MLS/CONCACAF) can somehow help us against the Portugal's Germany's of the world. We just don't have much talent. Some may not like to hear that but it's true. We've always been lower on talent and a team which relies on the sum of the parts being greater than the parts themselves. But, we've also had better parts before. Fear not though, we've got some real talent in the pipeline. As academies here mature and younger players keep getting time in MLS, combined with the growing number of top youth prospects we have in good academies/systems abroad, we'll have some exciting talent breaking through in the next 2-5 years. We'll have to see how that talent is developed/cultivated though I have some real worries about our sub-par coaching throughout this country. Our youngsters have improved tech ability, the issue is they're not being drilled tactically near to the extent their counterparts abroad are and the tempo they regularly play at is far off what happens elsewhere. Some should break through despite that though.
I sort of agree here. I think we match up pretty well athletically with most when it comes to speed, strength, fitness and size. But, we lag far behind when it comes to quickness, agility, balance and general coordination. I think we have guys that are often big and fast but, lack fluidity.
I think Klinsy has signed a contract until 2018. So we would have to fire him and eat a lot of money in the process. I think Hiddink would be a good choice. He does well overacheiving with mediocre talent. I think the coaches you mention, and other great gets like Bielsa, need/expect players to already be at a certain skill level before their coaching can make a difference. Nobody in our player pool is good enough to make Simeone's team full of nobodies.
Correct. Unless Klinsi has a Domenech-like collapse with the team, he'll be around for the next cycle.
Containing wingers with our fullbacks and to a lesser extent our own wingers, which has often exposed our central defenders in space. But it has mostly started getting broken down on the perimeter. We were a sieve on our right side against Mexico in large part due to Beltran. And remember when Klinsmann even resorted to using Bedoya at RB once? Ouch, he was a turnstile. Our #1 RB according to Klinsmann is Brad Evans. Of course our LB issues go back to last cycle. Right now we're trotting out primarily Beasley, who gets bullied and doesn't have defender instincts. And we have inadequate cover from our own wings often times due to their lack of speed. Zusi doesn't have it, and neither does Davis. Hopefully we employ Donovan and Fabian at those positions. That would mitigate the problems. The outs are less obvious at the fullback positions, thanks to the lack of trials for alternatives like Yedlin, Lichaj, Klute, Farrell, etc.
The biggest issue is that we don't have a big issue. We have a lot of little issues that combine into one big issue!
We have got to get somebody that is going to find Luis Silvas out og Los Angeles and make them work together with the rest of Donovans and Bradleys.
I'd say the backline. I actually feel okay about our midfield, our strikers aren't great but honestly it's never been a position of strength for us (and i think between Dempsey, AJ and Altidore I feel better about the unit than i did in 2010). But the backline right now is just all out of whack. Besler is only consistent presence we've really had back there that hasn't had to play different positions (and that I feel comfortable about). Sure we've had guys like FJ and Cameron be ideal candidates for the fullback roles, but there's still been so much experimentation that it still feels unsettled. Given JK's talks about building the team from the back, i was really hoping by now we'd have a much more well defined idea about what our backline would look like. Not that it's neccesarily his fault, we just haven't had many people step up and win the roles.
Landon/Zusi/Bradley/Mix providing service, combined with a favorable matchup against the Azerbaijan backline.
For me it is that if Omar/Besler/MLS RB start, then we will have a backline without much experience at the highest level.
The USMNT's biggest issue is that this question is something only discussed in a small internet forum by only a small handful of people.
He did put in those crosses that made you think back to 07 u-20 world cup vs. Poland. The talent on that team, plus the other players who were eligible but did not make it for some reason or another.
You guys are underrating our guys. Zusi and Bedoya are good internationals. They aren't scrubs. We really have problems in our back line...but Cameron, Besler, Parkhurst, and F. Johnson are guys that can be counted on. Three of those guys have experience at a high level. So do Bradley, Dempsey, Edu and Donovan, etc. We aren't chumps.
Hiddink is taking over from van Gaal as Dutch NT coach after the WC. So he is unavailable at least until after EC2016. That may give JK some more time to fail and get sacked. ;-)
Van Gaal has said he will retire after this WC. Only if a 'big' EPL team comes his way, will he change his mind. He has ruled out anything else.
Our biggest problem is easily the defense..I wish Yedlin would have gotten more opportunities he looks like someone who will be a solid RB for us in the future. Offensively we just need a shot of confidence. Our midfield is better than we give credit for. They way we move the ball and our creativity through passing has been better in this past year so I am excited so see how we hold up offensively and see if we can work to keep possession in the WC. We just need to find who will play with bradely as he is better when he is able to get forward.
The biggest issue is who shows up when we weren't necessarily expecting them to. That's why I don't like Altidore getting the starting role, and I would rather Donovan be a substitute in about the 65th minute. Guys like AJ, Mix, JJ, possibly Green or someone else. We need a spark of this team, like Donovan was in 2002. Davies 2009. Let's not forget defense, we could surely use a bit of a spark there for sure.
Indeed. While I like the fact that the US doesn't pressure cook their coaches like England or Mexico does, having zero accountability also doesn't help us either. As far as the offense, funny thing is that this article has really missed the point, that our offense has stagnated. The US has a solid offense, and we are scoring more goals in qualification (even without McBride in the 98 and 2002 cycles). Thing is, we aren't actually scoring any MORE goals, just a solid offensive effort we've been used to. Of course, it's interesting to note that the US offense has not suffered at all post-McBride. But it is a discussion for 2018--Our offensive output needs to improve if we are to take our game to the next level. Right now, I agree that the biggest issue remains the backline--1. Centerback pairing, 2. Outside backs, and 3. Being able to play the ball from the back. I see nothing really wrong with our midfield nor our offense..But we need to address all of these problems before kickoff, and that's going to be a tall order.