That game was a joke. No ideas. Crappy play. No consistency, and just flat. So. 4 points. He should be fired.
Like I said, there is nothing to suggest that his goal-scoring form in 2014 was anything more than a purple patch. He still wiffed shots that season too. He's an athletic, hard-working player, who has good positional awareness and reasonable but erratic technical ability. He'll probably score now. EDIT: Ah...
His touch and technicality leaves something to be desired. But I don't believe his overall level of play is demonstrative of "no" talent. He should be a sub for the Nats. At this time he isn't starter material.
Zardes didn't have a good game, highlighted by poor finishing and first touches. However, his movement off the ball opens the US attack up quite a bit. He gets into great areas and makes exactly the runs needed (he's a lot better than other options in this area). His passing was okay but if you're playing as a striker you can't be as poor in the finish as he was today. If Zardes had half the touch of someone like Donovan, Dempsey or Bradley, he'd be an elite forward.
Also, in two appearances Nagbe got played on the wing and looked "meh" (as expected because he shouldn't be on the wing). Wood was also not the answer today. No matter what forwards are playing with the Nats right now - they are going to be blunt when we have no creativity to speak of in midfield. That's on the boss.
Matthew Doyle @MLSAnalyst 12m12 minutes ago In our last 11 competitive (non-friendly) games against teams ranked in the FIFA top 100, the #USMNT have been out-shot 10 times. Matthew Doyle @MLSAnalyst 43m43 minutes ago #USMNT are 0-3-3 in our last 6 games against CONCACAF foes in the top 100 of the FIFA rankings. Five of those games were at home.
Wow, how did Gyasi miss that open header?! Actually, attaboy, do whatever you can to get Jurgen out of there.
I would have real mixed feelings if Gyasi saved Klinsi's job. Hope those "must get 6 points" rumors were well founded.
One can only hope. Being that January camp is getting geared up, ideally it would happen in the next 4 weeks.
It's gotten so bad that for the first time in a couple of decades I don't even watch the US team anymore. Let me know when we have a team worth watching again.
I couldn't watch the game live, via stream, and god only knows how or when I'll find a replay. Bein Sports is not idea - Fox or ESPN I could handle. So all I know is what all of you guys tell me. Sounds like a fun time, especially for Gyasi.
I tried to watch the game but couldn't find anyone who got BEIN. My friend kept texting me throughout complaining about how horrible we were playing, which made me glad I wasn't watching it.
Watch it. Then let us know how you feel about Zardes. Its agreed that this year playing on the wing he didn't do much but, played at forward for this match and well, he didn't do much.
You can't validly evaluate a player on a single game and especially not the player's most recent game where emotions are still involved. Add in this is late November so the guy has been playing non-stop for LA and the US for 10 or 11 months now. And even Keane has had periods where he missed shot after shot for a few games in a row. I remember Donovan missing a fairly easy knock-in for Everton, a miss that cost them the game. I never worried about either player because of their entire body of work and the fact that they were getting and creating chances. Zardes is no Keane or Donovan but it sounds like he is getting himself in positions to score. If so, it will turn around for him.
I think all of us have seen pretty much every minute Zardes has played. I assumed TH would take every game into acount, not just this one.
Gotta say, after hearing all the grousing about Zardes terrible misses I'm not that offended by them actually seeing the chances in the highlights. Don't get me wrong, Zardes hasn't been in great form over the past couple games. His movement is still very good, which is evidenced by the number of chances he was involved in in both games (he was involved in every run of play goal against STV) but his touch and finishing have been poorer than we're used to. He's had better games for the US against tougher competition and has finished much more difficult chances.
Agreed. That is exactly why the hate going on on the Nats boards drives me batsh*t crazy. Totally based on the last game opposed to games in total.