Pre-match: 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup Quarterfinal: USA vs Curacao - June 30th

Curios as to what people saw from Jozy last night that gives him the nod over Zardes?

Yes he scored a nice goal.
Yes he had a couple of nice hold up plays.
But he was slow and didn't seem to be working very hard at all, I want to see more effort from a striker yes even if its Zardes.

 

Just, "Never Zardes" I think sums up most people's thoughts on what Jozy did.

 

USA should win comfortably. I view this game as a win-win. If we win, awesome.

But if we lose - then we'll be contributing to an amazing Cinderella run for Curacao.

Also, it'd be very funny.

(Also, the Gold Cup doesn't really matter.)

 

Jozy should start the match against probable quarterfinal winners, Jamaica. Against the Reggae Boyz, he has good competitive record--3 goals in 4 matches worth of minutes. His hold up game will be useful.

Against probable Final opponents, Mexico, Zardes will be better for the counter-attack.

 

Yeah, it wasn't bad. Jozy can put some serious topspin on his free kicks and they dip like crazy. Only reason I wouldn't want him taking them is it takes him out of the box.

 

The better question is why would Jozy let anyone else take a kick he wanted?

 

Tracing the history of this team is sort of fascinating. I added a bit more to yours.

GK: Eloy Room; no record of playing last year, was in the Eredivise for 9 years and was a starter in the Eredivisie from 2014-2017.

RB: Jurien Gaari; RKC Waalwijk; the club seems to yo-yo between Eredivisie and Erst Divisie;

CB Cuco Martina- Everton player- went on loan to Stoke last year and this year to Feyenoord.

CB: Darryl Lachman-- Eerdivisie, bounced around a bit with Zwolle. (does have around 3-4 years experience as a starter in teh Eredivisie)

LB: Aryton Statie- you are correct and I made a mistake. in teh Tweede Division (which makes me things of professors in jakcets smoking a pipe).

MF: Michael Maria USL player after bouncing around regonaliga, 3. Liga; Erste;

MF: Leandro Bacuna: MF with Cardiff City'; spent last half year in the EPL. 4 year starter in Eredvisie; 2 year starter in EPL prior to the most recent trasnfer to Cardiff; 3 year starter in English Championship;

MF: Elson Hooi; ADO Den Haag; 50 appearances in 2 years.

FW: Jarichinio Antonia- transferred to Limissol in January and played 13 matches; Omnisia before that; played a couple of years in the Eredivise prior to that.

FW: Jafar Arias; plays for Emmen in Eredivise; 33 appearances in two yeas.

FW: Gevaro Nepomuceno: plays for League Two Oldham (one year in league One but demoted);

 

If neither of Ream or Lovitz is going to give us anything going forward, why not just put Miazga, Long and Zimmerman all out there. It's not like we even would lose mobility compared to Ream.

 

I think ti is largely by design that it doesn't go forward much, as the RB does move into the MF in one form or another leaving us with a 3 person backline. That said, ream's lack of pace worries me against pacier forwards, and I think at the next set of friendlies it could be interesting to try Long on the left, with Brooks and Miazga/Zimmerman in the middle. it might work it might not.

 

This is a good point about the short rest but I personally don't think it will be much of an issue. Professionals should be able to play three games in a week particularly coming off a week break, which most of them got. I think we should pick our best side, try and win the match in the first 45 and rest, substitute for legs in the second. Now all bets are off if it goes 120 minutes but let's hope we don't go there.

Strongly disagree. Even without the Confed Cup it's still our continental Championship, and the 2nd most important tournament we play in (3rd if you count WCQ separate from the WC).

And this year more than any other as it's our first chance to play meaningful matches in 18 months. I actually care less about the meaningless dress rehearsal that was the Confed Cup than I do about the G.C..

 

Especially when noone on the team can do it.

 

That range has been his sweet spot if you judge by a google search.

 

It's pretty clear Jozy is not really fit. And yes, I think Zardes will always give us more movement and better pressing.

But Jozy had both do traditional hold up play but more importantly, come back for the ball and play those quick receive-and-drop-it-off passes that we try to do with Zardes but his touch and passing don't allow for.

He's going to create a ton of chances that way. But agree that you do lose something right now.

My long term hope is that Josh gets Zardes' work rate and Jozy's receiving and passing skillset. And that he keeps his finishing, which I think might be better than both.

 

I don't think it is a matter of who is playing better at this point. I don't think his one goal outweighs Zardes' three but it is a really small sample size (for both players). I think it is more of a judgement call/gamble call. Assuming that you believe Jozy is the number one US striker you have to look at his improvement over the past week or two and decide if he is at the point yet where he will be better than the next alternative (Zardes or Morris). If you think that he will be better, than you put him as your starter. You do this regardless of whether or not you belive he was better than Zardes in the first two. Personally, I don't think he was better than Zardes but it was fairly close and I would probably go with Altidore at this point. One thing I think Altidore has going in his favor, compared to Zardes, is his passing ability. I don't believe that should be underestimated.

Of course the best option, IMO, would be to have Sargent as a choice.

 

im not one demanding sargent be the first team striker (and i mean yesterday!), but i think his receiving/hold up/passing is better than zardes right now. his combo play in/around the box is on par/possibly better than jozy (mostly due to mobility) right now.

and thats before even getting to actual finishing. i think he needs a little more seasoning, a little more time playing against adults. i also think soto is still a ways away physically, so i hate it to sound too "putting all our eggs into one basket" but i think sarge is a really good basket.

i just dont want us to get too locked into jozy/zardes being the only option for the forseeable future. novakovich, theoretically bobby or aj- i think (presently only nova) could be useful stopgaps but if sarge isnt in the team in the next two years (and i mean one of the two we are arguing over), if we are still arguing jozy/zardes when the hex starts then either sarge completely plateaued or we botched the shit out of this.

 

Good example was as soon as Zardes came on Pulisic tried to do a wall pass into space but Zardes mishit springing him. Altidore would have done that but his question is whether he would have been in position to make that pass. Tough choice and I'm guessing the choice comes down to how they hard they want to press and how Berhalter predicts how high the offense will be most of the game. Altidore would be better if play is mostly in the box while Zardes is much better at pressing defenders.

 

Part of me would really love to see what Zardes and Jozy on the field together would look like.

 

My guess is Zardes would collide with Jozy...Jozy would get hurt....BS would explode....

 

I strongly disagree with your strongly disagree. This a tournament that either Mexico or US wins (with only Canada winning once). So, when you start a tournament knowing that you are going to be either first or second, how is that meaningful? Add the fact that tournament is easier when the players aren't distracted by club play and are together for a decent period of time. Add the games are played in the US.

I'm more interested to see the pressure of players coming in from a club for a friendly (especially for non-US games) against a competitive nation.

 

There's the 'never Zardes' factor. I do think Jozy should get the start in the match against probable semi-final opponent, Jamaica. Jozy's style is a good fit for them, and he has a good record against them.

 

TFC had some decent success throwing on Ricketts to run off of Jozy.

 

On paper Curacao roster looks much better than Guyana's or T&T's:
Holland 1st tier - 6
Holland 2nd tier - 4
Holland 3rd tier - 2
Portugal 1st tier - 1
Belgian 2nd tier - 1
England 2nd tier - 1
England 4th tier - 2
Domestic - 3
USL - 1
Saudi 1st tier - 1
Cyprus 1st tier - 1

 

Yeah man, don’t let the fact that most of those dudes never see the field for their respective teams fool you. Mighty Curaçao is a force to be reckoned with, like you said, their roster looks sooooo much better than T & T and you have seen what they can do to us.

If we can squeak out a victory, or even take it to penalties and prevail that would be a real achievement, a feather in our cap. Our proud lions will have to give it everything they have and leave all their blood, sweat and tears out on the field if we have any hope against our mighty foe and heaven forbid, dream of dreams, we somehow manage to hoist the world renowned, prestigious, legendary Copa De Oro!

I believe that we will win! USA! USA!