Like I said, we beat this same team 6 years ago in our last game, and we played Portugal even that beat them. I understand what we did against France. This team wasn't in Russia, today is experimental, and I think we're making them look better than they deserve. I think this team looks better taking it to others as opposed to sitting back absorbing. I didn't like the backs for England or the backup keepers, but what I thought was criminal when I tried to compose lineups was the lack of wings or forwards. Like Alexi was saying, if you want to absorb with 5 backs why not have some speed wide and up top so you can get out of your own half. We have still not moved past the Klinsi/Arena era in terms of just sticking a bunch of DMs out there. People talk about moderate skill, low possession, bad passing, well, it's not like you have technical mids on the field.
Italy scores in injury time. As with many of our recent games he chased a modest result and couldn't even get that across the finish line. The flaw in sit back and absorb is you shrink your own chances to do anything and then you have to pitch a shutout.
Here's my unpopular opinion formed watching the last few games. Our young guys are not in fact any better than our old guys despite all the hype. They may get better in 2-3 years, but right now, today, they are lost and naive playing against top teams. We live in fantasy land if we think that we could win a big game with this bunch tomorrow without calling in reinforcements. I was ready to drink the Kool Aid, but results speak for themselves. The kids have proven nothing.
We lack someone strong on the ball in the midfield. I was struck yesterday just how ineffective we were keeping any kind of possession there because of how quickly we'd lose possession... and it's not like Italy was playing with a couple of destroyers in the mid either. I can't believe I'm saying this but I miss Jermaine Jones.
This is why a guy like Caludio Reyna was so valuable for so long. You could get him the ball in midfield and while he wouldn't necessarily make the attacking passes lots of people wished he would have, he always made a pass to a teammate in enough space to maintain possession and rarely did he lose possession in traffic. Helping maintain possession and balance in the team was also what Donovan brought to them team in addition to his attacking prowess. When we couldn't get the ball forward, he would drop deep, receive and make a quick pass to where we had space until things were flowing better and then he would look to attack. We have absolutely no one out there who can do this right now.
Keep in mind.............. True story: The USMNT is the reigning Gold Cup and CONCACAF U20 Champions. Lost the most recent U17 CONCACAF Championship on penalties. The current group is losing to high caliber European competition on the road in Europe. Surprise, surprise. We've always done that. Hard truth: We're not as good as Italy, England, Colombia, and Brazil (the last 4 teams we've lost to). NEWS BULLETIN! There's nothing really to suggest we're in trouble in WCQing other than our own paranoia and fear. My unpopular opinion is this. We purged the veterans of the USMNT and are going with the kids. There were always going to be growing pains, particularly against the worlds best. I'm fairly confident that if we faced Honduras, Jamaica, Panama, and El Salvador in these games instead of England, Colombia, Brazil, and Italy....................then we wouldn't be as negative right now about our ability to qualify for WC22.
We had no coach, no direction. Watch these players at the club level, why do they perform on weekends with their club? Yeah I don’t think we are ready for international glory, but the talent is there
Also a closely related thought is that one short cycle of 2-4 yrs (98-2000 or even 98-2002) will not instantly right the ship and it is rather foolish to believe it will. it will likely take more than one year and more than one cycle. Donovan and Dempsey didn't both emerge in the same year, or even the same WC cycle. The team that we have had up to 2014 was built beginning 16 yrs ago (Donovan and Beasley). Stretch the age group to 98-2004 and then wait until 2026 and that age group will range in age from 22yrs to 28yrs. Who know what will happen between now and then but McKennie and Pulisc would be 28, Adams 27, Sargent 26, Weah 26 and on and on. Add in a few here and there from younger age groups and take one or two from the above and we still have a pretty darn good core...but they aren't ready yet. It's kind of amazing to think about it.
Yeah, I think unclear tactics, the constant line-up changes and the unavailability of key players for long periods has blunted individual player's performances. I think the US has a surfeit of good international but not world-class midfielders but problems everywhere else on the pitch. I'd like to see Pulisic, McKennie and Adams have a run of games together.
Do you honestly think the results would be any different with an older, slower team given similarly poor instruction? We beat Italy last time back in 2012 because our one shot on target in that game was a Clint Dempsey goal, and Timmy Howard stood on his head. Now it's 2018. No Timmy Howard, no Clint Dempsey, where are the goals coming from with the old guard? Jozy? Zardes? Bonucci wrecked us, you think Michael Bradley, Nagbe, and Acosta are going to suddenly take over the midfield? Oh boy, I'm sure Omar Gonzalez would've stopped Italy cold! ---------------- I think it's annoyingly predictable that people come out of the woodwork to crap on the team every time we lose, even when everyone expects it. Everyone goes into that pregame thread and predicts a loss. Then it happens, and all of a sudden everyone sucks and the team should just fold because Brazil is better than Sarachan's best U23 team. Get mad at the powers that be at the USSF for failing to establish a direction and wasting over a year of the cycle, and spare me the doom and gloom. Some of the most vociferous never even venture into the YNT or YA forums, yet feel sufficiently expert to delineate the talent ceilings on kids at multiple levels.
I disagree. You don't need to call in the 'old guys'. They couldn't beat a TNT B team, even with tickets to the WC on the line. What you need is to call in a competent coach, with international experiences and success.
So do I. Every team need a Jermaine Jones. That dude Gattuso was pretty damn good for Italy, when they won the CUP.
Beating on the same horse, while expecting a different result. That's how the USSF operates. Look for worse days ahead.
Based on: 1. MLS / SUM / USSF structure. 2. Collaboration between the organizations at every level. 3. decisions going down to the player level (JoGo for example) If some smart lawyer and player want to wade in, there is an extremely good case to be made for anti-competition, collusion and dare I say it human rights and labor law violations within this superstructure. As mentioned before, it will take you probably $1mm to get it floated and $10mm to move it up the courts after what will amount to endless legal pandering, but eventually this case would be heard and I'm betting the structure could be brought crumbling down.
Hopefully the young kids pan out, but as of now, we have Pulisic and McKennie who have any sort of career achievement to point to, add Brooks who may be old or young, depending how you define it. Most everyone else is either a reserve player or playing in a lower level league at the moment. This basically sounds like what the US has relied on forever, a couple top level players and a bunch of midlevel and below pros. We have exactly one attacking player of proven quality. We have long had multiple prospects in the reserves of good clubs going back decades now. There is no guarantee the kids we have now will pan out. So far, they are still far too green to be considered more than prospects. Sargent may be the best of the possibilities but he has still not seen an adult professional field. Weah had a couple good moments early but has been stuck in limbo for months. I have big hopes for both those guys but we're still in wait and see mode with them if we're honest. Remember, Julian Green at the age of the new guys was a sure-fire high level attacker with a World Cup goal in his pocket that would be playing for Bayern Munich very soon. The kids have potential I'll happily agree and I hope to see them fulfill it, the sooner the better. But, as of today, most are still unproven and just the nature of player development, they won't all turn out to be what we now hope. I don't necessarily believe the guys from the "lost generation" are the answer and rolling out a bunch of senior citizens won't save us. I just think if we look at the historical long view of this team, the young players coming in have a long way to go just to reach the average level the US team has shown over the last couple of decades, never-mind getting to the point where this is a generation that really moves the needle in terms of the US showing real improvement on a global scale. I'll be happy if this group in a couple years has the US back as a real contender for leading the region in qualification. Anything less is a step back, not forward. Anything more is a bonus.
The player I most equate with Brooks is....Stevey Cherundelo. A guy who had a great pro career in Germany, but and many of you forget this, could be an absolute bone head for the national team. His mistakes cost us friendlies in 2005 and his play in 2006 was absolutely terrible. Flash to 2010 and he is the best right back in the tournament, playing behind Donovan of course, but still, he was our best defender and very nearly our best field player. My hope is Brooks can hit that sweet spot where he is no longer making mental mistakes on the pitch and grows into a more mature professional. There is plenty of time. **Also, if we keep playing him with Miazga then we pretty much have to switch to a 3 man back field with a CB 'small' running the middle. Other than CCV whom I don't rate, we don't really have a smart, CB small, a la Cannavaro.
My hot take: Clint Mathis had more talent in the final third than any player not named pulisic or Donovan in a US shirt
He did have enormous attacking talent. Unfortunately he also had miniscule self-discipline and will to actualize that talent.
The best thing for the USMNT and soccer in the US is the following: 1. Europa superleague comes to fruition 2. a well-funded team in the superleague is established in NYC (the "Americas") 3. the team adds a USMNT player who is good enough to start in the UCL knockout rounds 4. the team attempts to add other North, Central and South American players as often as feasibly possible