Great game by the US. We looked much sharper. Defensively we played much better. Besler and Villafana, outside of a moment or two, were very solid. Knowing that Dempsey can come in as a sub and have this kind of impact is great. He’s still a special player, but at his age having him run for 90 minutes each game isn’t the best idea. Acosta had a nice shot, but I really am not sold by him as a partner for Bradley. I’d rather someone with a little more defensive bite, like McCarty (for this tournament) or Cameron (for qualifiers and the World Cup). I like that Nagbe was a lot more aggressive. He still doesn’t have the nose for goal I wish he did, but he unsettled the defense a lot with his dribbling and drew several dangerous free kicks (and should have had a lot more if not for dumb “advantage” calls!” Howard was very solid too. Onto the final!
THERE IT IS! Dempsey ties Landon Donovan atop the #USMNT all-time scoring charts! @ModeloUSA #ModeloSoccer #USAvCRC https://t.co/wn0jTBDktn— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) July 23, 2017
I thought they were the better team the whole game, but didn't really click offensively until Dempsey came on. Nagbe's so skilled, but so timid. Bradley and Howard were both very good. Now lets go get some hardware. We need it.
Better play in the back, in midfield, and up top. Howard with a couple of big stops when Costa Rica did have some chances. Well done. On to the Final.
I'm a little worried - usually when the US has an attacking player like Dempsey in his 30s, the coach decides to cut him from the World Cup team.
Happy about the win! Also happy about Besler putting together some excellent minutes in defense. Suspect he and Omar will be playing the final. Omar less good tonight, but their partnership looked solid.
I feel the complete opposite. Something about the partnership seems to work and bring out the best in Bradley. The games they've started together, it seems those have been Bradley's best games for us in a while.
Good game. Too bad that when the next opponent is invariably Mexico, the whole stadium is gonna be rooting for them, instead of us.
Was it Villafana who got his pocket picked big time? Other than that I didn't really see anything too concerning. There were a few times we wasted possession in the final third with a cross to no one or poor shot but overall this performance was leaps and bounds above the previous four games.
Moved from the pbp thread; Deuce was great, Howard was great. Altidore and NAgbe were good. Arriola and Bradley were better than ok. Acosta was ok. Morris was ok. The CB pair wasn't really challenged much but when they were they showed cracks. I don't trust Omar. I do trust Besler. Villafana still telegraphs his crosses but he offered width going forward and Zusi is...limited. I guess he's still useful with Chandler being on the outs and not much depth at RB. I feel like Deuce could have come on a bit earlier but not too many complaints about the subs. All in all we have the same problems but Deuce and Howard are old but still have world class moments in them and that makes up for quite a bit.
I honestly thought everyone was good tonight except Gonzalez. Villafana's defending in the oppositions final 3rd seems to be better than in our own, which is weird, but he was generally good tonight. Bradley and Acosta were good in the middle and Acosta had some good runs to open things up for other players. Onto Mexico.
I still don't see it with Nagbe. He's not afraid to dribble at people but it ends there. His passing is poor, decision making slow, defense timid and shot non existent. He's a potential highlight reel with no results. What am I missing?
Obviously tonight belongs to Jozy and even more so Dempsey, but I have to say I have been extremely impressed by Darlington Nagbe. Confident and composed on the ball, fast and intelligent. I gotta believe he's pushing for a starting spot next summer.
Very good from everyone. Howard did need some fine saves but Costa Rica was always going to get some great chances tonight. Good to see our best performance against the toughest opponent thus far. Tough one either way next up, but at least we're back in the final.