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6 - 0 GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! GO USA!!! I don't remember the last time the USA won this big in a World Cup Qualifying game.The atmosphere at Avaya Stadium in San Jose was electric! Here are some pics from section 137, one of the makeshift stands. .
One of the first games I saw of the U.S, they destroyed Barbados. But that's Barbados, and they never see the second round of qualifying in CONCACAF. I don't know where the current Honduras squad stands, but they've qualified twice in a row. They're not cannon fodder like Barbados.
I personally think Juergen Klinsmann overstated his welcome and relied too much on German -Americans playing in the Bundesliga. Just because they play in a great league doesn't always mean they will be this great national team players or even mesh with other players. Also, regardless of what people say and think about MLS players, the US national team players in the Canadian-American league are certainly not pushovers and they can hold their own. At least when it comes to World Cup qualifying games.
I agree about the MLS. Is it Serie A, no but by that logic can we dismiss Serie A players because they they don't play in La Liga? Sure MLS isn't a top league but it's not a pushover either.
It's love hate for me. Bruce Arena is a high floor, low ceiling coach. You'll never see a Bruce Arena team give half effort, but tactically, we're back to 1994. Try really hard, play defense, and hope you get lucky against anyone decent. The Jurgen hire was supposed to be the start of an evolution, but if you don't have the class of player, you're putting the cart before the horse. The idea of hiring Jurgen was right, but the execution was not. The Germans don't even think he's responsible for his teams' success in Europe.
I've been watching the USMNT since I was a kid or for about 30 years and I've yet seen them play a certain style. There isn't much of a problem with the defenses and goalkeeper positions but they are lacking when it comes to developing play makers, creative midfielders and goal scoring forwards. You had Donovan, Dempsey and (German-American) Jones who were or are maybe a level above everyone else but they just aren't enough. Christian Pulisic is only 18 years old and its amazing the skill level he is displaying. If they can produce more players like him, the USA shouldn't have a huge problem qualifying for WC 2018.The problem is developing those players. USA-Honduras: Takeaways from a rare Hexagonal romp Video Pick: How Clint Dempsey completed his hat trick USA-Honduras World Cup Qualifier Player Ratings By the Numbers: USA ties Hexagonal records with 6-0 win What They're Saying: Bruce Arena What They're Saying: Christian Pulisic American teens see first-team action in Germany
There's plenty wrong with the defenders. Attacks start with defenders, and when they're just looking to blast the ball indiscriminately with no intent on keeping possession, your team attack suffers.
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Messi with a four match ban for insulting an assistant. I'm all for protecting referees, but there have been players who have attempted murder on the field and have gotten way less.
Seems kind of harsh for what were just words. DiCanio got an 11 match ban I believe it was for pushing a red to the ground.
Completely inaccurate. I'd wager a lot that an average team in MLS could compete in the Championship and not get relegated. Same with Serie B
Lol more like completely accurate. The quality of goals scored is league 1ish. Championship sides would blow the majority away.
Its not that easy to compare leagues. I also doubt many English second tier teams or players would last playing in the summer heat , high altitudes or humid conditions. For that matter, even be able to travel 2500 miles coast to coast for a given road trip in June, July and August.This goes for many teams in Europe. I would just love to see Rotherham United, Burton Albion and Bristol City travel from NY, to LA to DC to Vancouver to Orlando to Colorado and back to Norther California and Oregon in grueling heat. Just like many European players who have come and gone, they wouldn't face easy conditions. If you have all these so called high priced European and South American superstars faltering and struggling, its not as easy as one would love to believe. If its as crappy as a league as everyone says, why aren't these players tearing it up on a weekley basis? If they are as great as their resumes, they should be dominating but they don't and many do not last.
I'm coming from my own experience watching both. The general play and level of goals scored is similar to what I've seen in league one games.
Sure but you are comparing watching one league under certain conditions.in the winter and set styles of play to another played in the spring , summer and fall in a different part of the world with all kinds of contrasting factors, skill levels and experience. There is simply no comparing the two outfits. Whether they are older players or not, when I see Drogba on the. bench, Beckham picking fights with team mascots (because he lost a game) , Gerrard scoring 5 goals in two seasons , Frank Lampard booed off the pitch, Kaka , Nocerino and Pirlo hardly setting the world on fire, then I do the math and come up with one solution. Basically its not an easy league to play in. Again, if its an amateur non league tier, these players who are superstars and household names especially for what they are paid, should dominate on a weekley basis but they don't and many times are gone within months. The excuse can't always be that because everyone sucks these great stars can't play with lesser players. I mean after a while, to me anyway, that becomes a tired old line.
Again ? Lol who said this in the first place. This is the problem when it comes to anyone discussing this league who disagrees with you. You get all defensive and make things up. I'm watched a lot of football, it's a fair comparison in standard of play between MLS and league one. I'll give you a hint, league one is a hard working tough football league with some good players and decent goals on a weekly basis.
I'm not getting defensive at all nor am I arguing. I'm simply stating I can't see how European second division tiers or players would dominate MLS on a weekley basis during the hot summer months. I lived in Europe and I saw the game played there. I admit the lower leagues are very tough and tactics are much better but that doesn't mean that those same teams , players and leagues would dominate , play at the same level or would even compare in any way shape or form to the way the game is played in the hot humid areas of NY and Florida, a mile above sea level in Denver or on artificial turn in Seattle, Portland and Vancouver not even addressing the traveling teams would have to endure from coast to coast. I just don't see how these or any players and teams for that matter, wouldn't struggle under such conditions nor do I see how none of those factors wouldn't affect or change the game. These are realities based on facts and I don't see why or how its an argument or why I can't stand by that assessment. Again, there is a reason and its been proven that many high paid over priced superstars have come over and struggled..
You're off on a tangent as usual. Also, continuing to mention finished players struggling in MLS doesn't disprove anything I'm saying. I never said it was an easy league. Lower level football is often tougher to play in for the bigger names, they're not used to a battle. Nocerino is surprising though, he should be in his element.