Hahaha funny how so many here are going crazy over a bump in the road. Hey guess what? These guys are still teens. This age group is crazy just look at how Iran smoked Germany .
Balls to the walls every time all the time. Damn the torpedoes. All that shite that our brain trust eschews.
Yes, everyone here is taking this game in a vacuum and overreacting and isn't at all jaded by what happened on Tuesday night.
At every level the US gives teams far too much time and space. Look how Colombia swarms our guys at the edge of the box.
Exactly. That dude @Soccerglue doesn't get it, and he's part of the problem. WE AREN'T GERMANY. For them, a under performing or "bad" youth side is an anomaly. For us, it is the norm.
I'm fine with a team having bad games at this level. What I'm not fine with is a coach not putting his team in the best position to succeed. Hackworth just looks like the u17 version of Arena to me.
Yeah but this Colombia u17 team was probably at least better than the Trinidad reserve team we played Tuesday.
No, we shouldn't pack it in and defend. We should control possession, play intelligently, and mentally engaged from the first whistle. How is it, that at every level, US teams seem to come out flat for a game 95% of the time? It's a soccer culture that breeds mediocrity, complacency, and entitlement. It needs to be torn down, and rebuilt.
Hackworth has no clue what to do with subs, its been like this all cycle. He lost us the qualifying tournament this way. Take out your best player (when you are down a goal) who set up your only goal. Makes tons of sense. Take out your second best creative player (when you are down a goal) who scored your only goal in this game. Makes tons of sense. Don't take out the athletes who are the reason why we struggled to possess the ball to begin with. These athletes are supposed to be such good ball winners, but they are chasing Colombia all around the field and can't get the ball back. Only players who's play I liked in this game were Acosta and Carleton (the goal) and Garces. Sargent put in some effort, as well, although didn't do much with it. I absolutely can not give high marks in this match to any of the defenders, Durkin or Goslin, they looked like amateurs on the first goal and were awful in the second half, they were chaotic, no organization, out of position, unable to win the ball back. Some will blame Garces for the second goal, I don't agree, it was an excellent free kick, and he made numerous good saves that kept the score down for Colombia. A lot also don't give him credit for his distribution, but that helps our attacking and possession play.
First time watching these guys. Not too impressed. U20 team had several players who looked like real pros to me (Acosta, EPB, D Jones, Glad, Sargent). In comparison, this group seems to lack athleticism and skill. Maybe it's the age difference. If I were a scout, I wouldn't be rushing out to sign any of these guys though. Obviously Sargent has the frame and the assertiveness to be a pro striker. Whether or not the skill is there...hard to judge in a game like this. We didn't create many opportunities. It felt like watching any other USA team. Zero guile or craft in the midfield. One good pass on that lifted throughball to Sargent that nearly came off, but overall a total lack of creativity. No #10 type of players. No control in the midfield. No wing play to speak of. Typical USA soccer.
Have some business to take care of but will be back with some adult thoughts later. I only have childlike frustration and reactions right now which helps no one.
No you, defend and get a result. Game is wide open when under no circumstances can you let a goal in.
Corners even, Cololbia with a bit of advantage on Shots, Colombia with way more fouls (which generally happens to the side CHASING), and possesion split 50%.
This is the third game Ive watched and the problem is basically poor passing in the final 1/3, Unforced give always, turnovers, inability to feed the forwards, inability to create shots. Until they fix that, the USA is going nowhere. So now, like the SR team... we choke in the final game