[NDR] 2018 World Cup Qualifying

T&T's goalie had some crazy saves, started feeling sorry for the guy. USMNT was very lucky T&T didn't score first. Yedlin seems to be the weakest link on D and was having trouble with T&T's size in the box.

 

To me there was a list of problem players, Dempsey couldn't complete a pass, Bradley has been past it most of this cycle, Yedlin is soft on defense, and Brooks has his mental glitches (CR being the low point of that problem).

There are attacking fixes, I think starting the cycle it was unclear who would unseat Bradley/Jones/Beckerman but now I could see it easily becoming Pulisic/Nagbe/Acosta......if we have the guts to toss the crutches this cycle. Wood can play for Dempsey. Defense is more problematic, not sure what the better options are.

I do know that I didn't care for the Klinsmann-esque lineup that started VEN and TnT and it played like it first half. The scrappy team he ran out earlier in the spring, though a product of injuries and happenstance, was more energetic and diligent in the game plan. This bunch is a little more complacent and "touch-play" and the question provoked to me was whether Arena in fact has a better grasp of how to make the team play well, since given the chance he'd run out most of the same people Klinsmann did with the same indifferent and mistake-ridden performances. I thought he'd tapped into something and then given healthy players he reverted.

I think whether we can win games in Russia will come down to whether he can cycle the old players out, find a defense that works, and find "his guys." Last night felt like the same old and if he runs that out to Mexico we will get the same results we were getting in big regional games under Klinsmann. The good thing would be TnT bought us a margin if that happens, but I'm a little concerned Arena's finger isn't really on the pulse.

And yes I am just as much a fan and critic of the USA as Dynamo. To me part of giving a crap is caring to point out where it could be better.

 

TnT actually punched above their weight last night. Stern John has got them a heckava lot more organized and coherient in shape than what we have witnessed from the Soca Warriors of past WCQ cycles.
Boy howdy can that kid from Hershey PA play ball!!!

On wards to playing El Cry in Azteca!!!

 

Takes two to tango, I thought TnT played well for a half, I also thought we were low energy and wasteful for a while. I also feel like in international ball you have upswings and down ebbs and if Mexico is on an upswing from barely making 2014, we're in a downswing from the 2010 and 2014 teams. Those were done around a core of players who have aged out of quality and mobility. But in many cases those old guys we've not yet shoved them out and yet they are not playing well. We need the next generation to step up. Pulisic and maybe Wood (who didn't even start) are the only ones I'd bet on long term as core future players. As a result on an off day we are vulnerable to TnT.

If there is some good news it's that the initial struggles in the Hex have begun triggering change. If they hadn't changed the lineups we were going to be lucky to qualify and if we did we would go home beaten and bruised like 2006, when we rode a similarly ageing team into the ground.

 

Which is surprising because he has done well in extremely physical leagues like the EPL, Championship, and MLS. Might just have had a bad day.

 

Always classy:

http://www.espnfc.com/united-states...-national-anthem-ahead-of-mexico-wc-qualifier

 

In the TnT game, goal 1 Pulisic is diving through the box for a cross the keeper maybe should have at least contested, and on goal 2 the keeper gets beat near post. Meh. And to amplify that, IMO you judge defenders and keepers on a 90 minute resume and not highlights. If you play well for 88 minutes and have two glitches you lose 2-0.

Beasley generally did his job on Vela but that one play, where he was a step behind and refusing to buy himself time with his right foot, cost the tie. The mids should have cut off the play at the pass but you have to take the good with the bad. [Brooks is another guy who can dominate for a stretch and then just flake out and allow two goals in a period of seconds.]

Comparison: Cameron, this weekend. Minor glitches at most, no goals on him really, routinely bailed us out.

 

With the saves Howard made, talking about how good the TnT keeper was, is sort of Freakonomics/Malcolm Gladwell writerly counter-intuitive bull-sh*tting. "It's the opposite of what you think. oooooh." Except maintaining rigor would suggest intuition had it right the first time. The guy who pitched a shutout saving the ball from the upper V, well, he might simply have played better. The one who got beat near post in a game that could have been a tie, not so much. Maybe he has talent. Maybe he could play here. Or maybe there's a reason his career peaked with Ferencvaros and he plays in the TnT league.

 

Speaking of classy

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10155008607093292

 

Surprised @brahmafutbol didn't put that on here first. Maybe those US fans could relocate to Mexico if they hate Trump so much. I wonder why more US citizens don't relocate to Mexico from the United States

 

Probably because they make the qualification requirements for permanent residence almost impossible to attain:

To apply for and be granted a permanent resident visa, the applicants must:

• have certain close family connections in Mexico, or
• apply for retirement status and prove they have sufficient monthly income (or substantial assets) to support themselves, or
• have 4 consecutive years of regular status as Temporary Resident, or
• have 2 consecutive years of regular status as Temporary Resident where that the Temporary Visa was issued through marriage to a Mexican National or a foreign permanent resident, or
• meet a minimum score under the Points System*, or
• be granted residency on humanitarian grounds or through political asylum.

 

A foreigner can't directly own property in Mexico, but rather must enter a trust arrangement through a bank where on paper the bank remains owner and the foreigner is a beneficiary. They haven't been into expropriation lately, but the combined risks of the two, plus security of late, would be daunting.

Personally if I had any say I'd retire with Mrs. JC to a Greek or Spanish island.

 

Good game going on between Honduras n Panama right now on NBC Universo. Our man Pantera Negra just slotted home from 15 yards on a counter attack that caught Panama napping!

 

The key thing on quali was for us to get points, check, and the teams behind us to bog down, check. We got 4 points from a set including Mexico, which is solid, and the teams behind us tied or lost yesterday. If you want to finish second or go top it didn't go perfect, but if you want to gap the chase pack that was ideal, tie of the teams right behind us, no one gets 3.

 

Another thing interestingly going on, kind of ironic since Klinsi is no longer HC, is there is about to be a burst of dual nationals coming available. Gonzalez the Dallas keeper (MX), Stefan Frei (CH), Kekuta Manneh (GAMBIA), Dom Dwyer (ENG), and Kenny Saief (ISR). Some of them are on the Gold Cup roster.

I wish one of them played defense.