Pre-match: WCQ: USA vs. Panama (10/6/17)

Discussion in 'USA Men: News & Analysis' started by Ironbound, Sep 5, 2017.

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  1. Suyuntuy

    Suyuntuy Member+

    Jul 16, 2007
    Vancouver, Canada
    Pretty much. The glass-half-full of reading it is that even if we were to miss most of the Europe-based players, it doesn't seem to affect us negatively. We got the big win versus Honduras and the tie in Panama when most of those guys were injured or couldn't come.
     
  2. jond

    jond Member+

    Sep 28, 2010
    Club:
    Levski Sofia
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Without the Euros we get 0 points combined at Panama, home to T&T and at Honduras.

    Seems kinda important as we'd then be sitting on 4 points. And if without Euros we'd be sitting only 1 point above last place T&T, it doesn't really appear to suggest we're better off without them. Seems it suggest without them we're 5th/6th best in CONCACAF.
     
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  3. ussoccer97531

    ussoccer97531 Member+

    Oct 12, 2012
    Club:
    --other--
    Besler not playing today. They say he's physically fine, but they didn't want the cut to be reopened. I think he likely is on tomorrow's roster, but it is very nerve-wracking to think that with all our injuries there's a chance he might also be a part of that list. That would be the biggest loss for the NT of any of these injured players.
     
  4. Suyuntuy

    Suyuntuy Member+

    Jul 16, 2007
    Vancouver, Canada
    We need Besler-Cameron as our CB pair. If Matt is rested to be ready for camp, good.

    I was high on Miazga before the last game, where TBH he didn't look that good. Also, I doubt Arena calls him because, well, he's The Bruce, he likes his boys. So Gonzo will be there as a sub. Even though he probably shouldn't, his form is meh.

    With Brooks gone, who is the last CB? Ream again? I'd rather have nearly anyone else, even the versatile MOF.
     
  5. Mantis Toboggan M.D.

    Philadelphia Union
    United States
    Jul 8, 2017
    Besler/Cameron/Gonzalez will all be in the squad. The last 1-2 will be some combination of Miazga/Hedges/Ream/maybe MOF or Zimmerman. I think we really need to bring Miazga into this squad but after him I'd take Hedges over Ream or MOF, even after his poor Gold Cup.
     
  6. Sebsasour

    Sebsasour Member+

    New Mexico United
    May 26, 2012
    Albuquerque NM
    Club:
    Philadelphia Union
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Early morning release

    No Fabian Johnson

    http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/201...ld-cup-qualifiers-get3-panama-trinidad-tobago

    GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Atlanta United FC; 15/0), Tim Howard (Colorado Rapids; 37/0), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake; 0/0)

    DEFENDERS (9): DaMarcus Beasley (Houston Dynamo; 35/6), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City; 12/1), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City/ENG; 24/2), Omar Gonzalez (Pachuca/MEX; 16/0), Michael Orozco (Club Tijuana/MEX; 6/1), Tim Ream (Fulham/ENG; 6/0), Jorge Villafaña (Santos Laguna/MEX; 4/0), DeAndre Yedlin (Newcastle United/ENG; (8/0), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City; 20/3)

    MIDFIELDERS (10): Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas; 5/0), Juan Agudelo (New England Revolution; 0/0), Paul Arriola (D.C. United; 5/1), Alejandro Bedoya (Philadelphia Union; 9/0), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC/CAN; 38/7), Benny Feilhaber (Sporting Kansas City; 6/0), Dax McCarty (Chicago Fire; 0/0), Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers; 9/0), Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund/GER; 11/5), Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy; 4/1)

    FORWARDS (4): Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC/CAN; 39/16), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders FC; 41/18), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes; 0/0), Bobby Wood (Hamburg/GER; 12/4)
     
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  7. Dr. Gamera

    Dr. Gamera Member+

    Oct 13, 2005
    Wheaton, Maryland
    Ladies and gentlemen, a Benny Feilhaber sighting.
     
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  8. ttrevett

    ttrevett Member+

    Apr 2, 2002
    Atlanta, GA
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Crazy. 2017 and a do or die game. Chris Wondolowski ladies and gentlemen.
     
  9. ussoccer97531

    ussoccer97531 Member+

    Oct 12, 2012
    Club:
    --other--
    Noteworthy roster.

    No FJ, is Arena pushing out the German-Americans? No Chandler or FJ, no Williams, Jones has not gotten any recent call ups (some want him to), is Brooks next?

    Seems like Besler is okay from his injury, which is very good news. No Miazga is ridiculous, I would've started him, although Cameron at RCB next to Besler will suffice, Miazga on the roster would've given us the depth to play Cameron in CM.

    The rest of the defense is typical Arena, just go with his veterans, the guys he trusts, disregard actual ability. Its a different approach from Klinsmann who would call in his pet projects, Arena goes with older NT players who were castaways a long time ago. You could say they shouldn't be on the roster, but they are experienced NT guys, not Caleb Stank or Ventura Alvarado type additions, like you'd see from the previous coach. Different approach, results will decide if its any better.

    GK is as expected. Should not be how he has it, but I don't think we should've expected any different.

    Where is Roldan? I'm very surprised he's not listed. He's been a usual Arena call up and is playing well, surprised he's been dropped. The rest of the midfield and strikers is mostly as you'd expect, although Feilhaber is a pleasant surprise to add to the roster.
     
  10. ussoccer97531

    ussoccer97531 Member+

    Oct 12, 2012
    Club:
    --other--
    Hard to piece together a lineup from this group of players.

    Unusable: Zusi, Orozco, Beasley, Rimando, Wondolowski, Zardes

    Don't want to use, but if need be, you gotta use them: Howard, Ream, Gonzalez, Bedoya, McCarty

    So that leaves us with: Guzan, Yedlin, Cameron, Besler, Villafana, Bradley, Acosta, Nagbe, Pulisic, Arriola, Feilhaber, Agudelo, Wood, Dempsey, Altidore

    My lineup from that group would be

    Guzan
    Yedlin-Cameron-Besler-Villafana
    Bradley
    Nagbe-Feilhaber
    Pulisic-Altidore-Agudelo

    Not great, but it'll have to do. I'm afraid we don't have the proper pieces to put out a great lineup.
     
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  11. Pegasus

    Pegasus Member+

    Apr 20, 1999
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Interesting to see Agudelo listed as a midfielder and to see a Benny callup, Arena doesn't appear to rate Roldan wonder why? What position does he think he fills and who beat him out of that - Dax, Bedoya, Acosta? I'm actually pretty happy with the Feilhaber inclusion. He adds flexibility for a hot start or a big change off the bench which is what I think will Happen. He may start against T&T to help run up the score if needed.
     
  12. Red Card

    Red Card Member+

    Mar 3, 1999
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Not to call in Benny after the last two nat games, and Benny in excellent form, would be malpractice. Otoh, Benny has to be diplomatic and let the coach coach.
     
  13. Pegasus

    Pegasus Member+

    Apr 20, 1999
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Lets all imagine Bruce calling Benny and asking him if he can be totally mute for a week. OK, then you're on the team.
     
  14. soccerusa517

    soccerusa517 Member+

    Jun 23, 2009
    Ohio
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Journos won't admit it but they're already looking for cheap flights to Australia.
     
  15. soccerusa517

    soccerusa517 Member+

    Jun 23, 2009
    Ohio
    Club:
    Columbus Crew
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Zusi and Beasley have no business being here. Arena must have been numb or in a trance the entire duration of the Honduras game. Howard doesn't look like starter material anymore. Guzan is pretty shaky in a US shirt. Never instills confidence in the backline, flails at crosses. Rimando is just old. Hamid has flaws, but might be better than all 3 at the moment. Horvath? Villafana is not even starting for his club. Chandler's omission is inexcusable.

    Orozco is a joke. Has he played at all this season? Where the hell is Miazga? Gonzalez is in poor form but gets nod due to seniority and LA Galaxy connection.

    Speaking of LAG, Zardes named to the roster despite having the worst season of his career. LAG are playing him at right-back now, embarrassing.

    Bedoya ZzzZz

    Dax just isn't international level. Could see McKennie take his roster spot if the team qualifies.

    Wondo over Sapong or Christian Ramirez? Who thought in 2014/2015 that Wondo would still be getting call ups 1 year from the World Cup?

    Bruce picked a terrible roster.
     
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  16. thedukeofsoccer

    thedukeofsoccer Member+

    Jul 11, 2004
    Wussconsin
    Club:
    AFC Ajax
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I think I'd take the playoff right now to still be alive, after seeing this roster release. Although as somebody already asserted, he'd just trot out a similar roster vs. Australia regardless of how it looked this round.

    Our media sucks. They haven't held Jurgen's or Bruce's feet to the fire with pertinent questions about the rhyme or reason for this decision or that one. Not that they wouldn't have just been smeared, probably effectively enough, because they aren't a football manager and are American. But they should have tried. And if enough would have done it, maybe a little pressure actually would have been put on the managers, and they'd have seriously thought about what they were doing to us.
     
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  17. thedukeofsoccer

    thedukeofsoccer Member+

    Jul 11, 2004
    Wussconsin
    Club:
    AFC Ajax
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I agree with most of that, but Villafana and Howard are easy selection. Villafana hasn't started for 1-2 games because there was a managerial switch. You can't be so fickle. He is a better lb than we are accustomed to and has proven trustworthy more or less. And Howard has to be there, but I wouldn't start him. Guzan is the easy play, you track Howard's fitness, and if he couldn't go then it should have been Hamid/Horvath.

    Orozco would also be defensible, but more if you select Miazga. Orozco has done a sufficient job for us and theoretically complements the big galoots. Ream is more questionable for his recent US play, and we wouldn't need a lb cover if we had all of Fabian, Villa, and Morrow.

    It's a number of individual inexplicable choices and a collective ancientness + limited talent that makes this roster unacceptable. If we struggle, nobody can blame primarily talent, unless they're ignorant (which is our media, especially the foreign portion, and the domestics are soft). Because over half a roster of 30+ and these particular guys are not a measurement of our pool, especially when they are misused as they were last camp. Twellman has to go off to today. At least provide them some motivation to be better than they are.
     
  18. dlokteff

    dlokteff Member+

    Jan 22, 2002
    San Francisco, CA
    The U.S. also has 10 players who are on caution watch entering the match -- Kellyn Acosta, Jozy Altidore, Paul Arriola, DaMarcus Beasley, Alejandro Bedoya, Matt Besler, Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, Cameron and Yedlin will serve a one-match suspension with their next yellow card.
     
  19. dlokteff

    dlokteff Member+

    Jan 22, 2002
    San Francisco, CA
    We literally could start that...

    -----------------Altidore----Dempsey---------------
    -------Bedoya--------------------------Arriola-------
    ---------------Acosta----------Bradley--------------
    -Beasley------Besler-----Cameron------Yedlin-
     
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  20. dlokteff

    dlokteff Member+

    Jan 22, 2002
    San Francisco, CA
    Quoting myself again...

    As I was posting that lineup, I thought, wait, Jozy was suspended last game so how is he on a yellow? And yep. He's not. Great reporting ESPN. You suck.
     
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  21. skim172

    skim172 Member+

    Feb 20, 2013
    We all know what's going on here. We drew in the Honduras game with an undeserved goal, and Arena fed the press that complex fiction about how we came back strong in the second half, that we were controlling the game from the beginning, that the turf was really bad and the refs were biased and it's tough to win away in CONCACAF ...

    And at the end of the day, Arena believes all that himself.

    Arena made somewhat risky decisions in Honduras in his lineup and tactics - and with the draw, he feels like those decisions have held up. He doesn't see Honduras as a failure or even a close-call - that was vindication.

    So he learns nothing from the experience. And when he secures a qualifier spot with this hot mess of a lineup because his opponents are Panama and Trinidad, he'll believe that he made no mistakes in his original selection.

    Even if we end up in 4th and going to the playoff, Arena will spin that as "Well, we were in a difficult position from the beginning (*unspoken but very understood* after Klinsmann), and getting to a 4th place spot is a real achievement. It's a victory, considering how the pitch was awful and the refs were unfair and away games in CONCACAF are difficult - and also, there were so many Panama fans in Florida, such a bad venue to play in, we couldn't be expected to win...."

    And nothing is learned.

    That phrase could sum up Bruce Arena entirely - as well as US Soccer for the past ten years.
     
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  22. thedukeofsoccer

    thedukeofsoccer Member+

    Jul 11, 2004
    Wussconsin
    Club:
    AFC Ajax
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Yeah, for both the last two managers, it was a level of ego, mixed with the delusion that they are who they used to be (or in Jurgen's case who he was as a player); that has proven toxic to functionality and change when required.

    You could say this is the end of Bruce's stint with the Galaxy playing itself out with the national team now after a honeymoon effect and the few fresh ideas he actually had expiring. In MLS he had games during the season where without his full complement he effectively produced no chances of note against teams with inferior resources, employing players who he established he liked years ago, most who were 30+ (and with a mismatched generic tactic). Still eeked out a playoff spot because of what was available when he had his full complement. Then doubled down in the playoffs when he didn't, and got unceremoniously bounced. But I guess his decisions were validated to him because with more resources than anybody he made the playoffs in a league where 60% of teams do.
     
  23. Mantis Toboggan M.D.

    Philadelphia Union
    United States
    Jul 8, 2017
    Roldan has a broken arm apparently. He's playing with a cast today, but looks severely limited. Wonder if Bruce had a heads up about that and that's why he wasn't included.
     
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  24. schrutebuck

    schrutebuck Member+

    Jul 26, 2007
    My personal starting XI:

    -------Arriola------Wood------Pulisic-------
    ------Feilhaber----Bradley----Acosta------
    Villafana----Besler----Cameron----Yedlin
    --------------------Guzan--------------------

    This is what I would do. If Arena wants a 3-man backline, then Feilhaber goes to the bench for Gonzalez. If Acosta isn't ready to go, then that leaves Bedoya or McCarty as the options since Nagbe doesn't provide enough bite for that spot. Altidore, Dempsey, Nagbe, and Zardes (if healthy) provide attacking firepower off the bench.

    Yedlin provides Pulisic an effective partner when getting forward.

    Something about that SI interview of Bruce Arena right after the Costa Rica loss makes me think that Guzan has leapfrogged Howard.
     
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  25. thedukeofsoccer

    thedukeofsoccer Member+

    Jul 11, 2004
    Wussconsin
    Club:
    AFC Ajax
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Hard to press when Gonzalez is your best option next to Besler at cb if you want to move Cameron into cm. Maybe just duplicate what we did in the first game against Honduras w/ the 442 diamond, only with Cameron at cb, Yedlin at rb, and Wood at cf. If Bradley gets pressured tell him to play it long in the general direction of Wood.
     

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