You looked like crap in the first 45 minutes of the game because you were. You looked better in the second 45 because Chepo made some awful substitutions and Klinsmann's made better ones. Its as simple as that.
OR you can say that you looked great in the first half because JK decided to play super reserved in order to allow the new guys to acclimate themselves, and in the second he game them free reign. It's as simple as that! My argument is just as idiotic as yours, when you simplify something to make it fit you're simplistic argument it just comes off, well, kinda silly..
Props to the guys from MLS... Landon, Brek, Juan, Beckerman and Robbie..just goes to show that it's not the end of the world to play there. Even Marquez showed well. Will be really interesting when Stu and Clint are added to the mix. me thinks JJ could be pushed out and Bradley will have his hands full getting PT
Mexico maybe better but not by much. granted neither team was at full strength, but Stu, Clint, Lichaj. Chandler, Jozy and Goodson represent more than half our starters. plus 2014 is a ways off and som much can change
And Mexico only won the Gold Cup because we were missing Holden, Jozy, and eventually Cherundolo. These are silly arguments, and we could go back and forth all day.
Come on dude, really? this is what I mean, the only sure 100% starters from your list are Clint and Jozy..this is what I mean, both sides are delusional. Mexico is better now, people need to deal with it lol..We need to work and get better, that's all, but let's stop with throwing names out as if that's the reason why we didn't get a result...
I've read up to page 11 and not a single mention that Dolo was a beast out there! He owned that right side. I'd say he was the best player out there for the consistency in diffusing threats and attacks. Better than any of the forwards and midfielders at their job.
Did anyone remember Klinsmann's halftime interview where I thought I heard him say that he was going to keep pressing the Mexican team and eventually they would get tired... It seemed to me that they did get winded at the end of the game and the US started putting them on their heels. The other thing I thought happened that made a significant difference was there was an obvious gap between the mids and Buddle in the first half...so much so that the US was constantly giving back possession. In the second half the US closed that gap with greater speed. And to those claiming that the US gained a huge advantage with our subs vs theirs... We brought in Rogers who has 15 caps, Shea (3), Clark (too many) and Agudelo (11)..not exactly our first teamers either... It's not like we brought on Dempsey, Altidore, Edu and Feilhaber or something.. to blame it on the subs is a poor excuse for an excuse... especially since one of the subs was Dos Santos
For all the talk about bringing in players with skill and possession ability our goal was created by a physically dominating player. We also again started slow and finished strong which isn't exactly new for us and often due to our excellent fitness, particularly Donovan who finished very strong. Bradley at CAM was a failure, but at the same time I don't think we had the right personnel to make it work. He's definitely not a playmaker, but I don't think that is what he was expected to do; he was more expected to run all over field, to pressure defensively but still get up the field to poach goals in the box, basically play the role like a poor man's Frank Lampard or Steven Gerrard and less like a classic 10 like Sneijder or Adu. In order for this to work (and even then it still might not) we would need more creative players on the field with him, especially on the wings and central midfield and last night we did not. It could something interesting to try again in a friendly when we have Holden or Dempsey available, or as a late game defensive strategy.
LOL! Quoting Trecker? I hope you realize that being in agreement with Trecker is definitely not a good thing. Look, Mexico is a better team at the moment. They won the GC that mattered and are the frontrunners for this upcoming WC cycle. And rightly so. Enjoy it, it's been a while for you guys. Friendlies are fine and good for us fans but there are only two Mex/USA games that matter over the next three years - that being the 2 WCQ's. Until then let's not read too much into the game for either side. The USMNT team is in transition but I am very optimistic about the direction of the program under Klinsi. I really liked what I saw over the last 20 mins or so and hope we can build on that for the Sept friendlies.
Ahah!. I KNEW this would happen to someone! Contrast me, I watched the first 40 mins on Univision, and realized that when I changed to English language our team started to do really well!
Apologies if this video has been posted already. Some brief interviews with the team after last night's match. LD and Torres both say that the players only had limited training time which might help explain why they came out and played so disjointed early on. Great stuff from Cherundolo and Boca as well. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zOi9PREvC8"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zOi9PREvC8=player_embedded[/ame]
Finally, someone noticed. More than any of the player combinations or performance, this was the most glaring game changer. As soon as the players started chasing the Mexico ball handler, their passes became erratic and the Yanks created more opportunities. It wasn't the subs. It was the tactical direction from the coach to put on the speed. Can the US play 90 minutes of such soccer? Heck, even 75 minutes. I suspect we will see a faster team moving forward. Thumbs up for Klinsmann.
I'd like to see more such comments. The intensity of the rivalry is something that I cherish. Let's bleed out the hatred and get to the point of mutual respect. I know that I sure as heck respect that Mexican team. Win, lose or draw, if you stick around and shake some hands, you'll win admirers. And Mexican fans, when they're not raising hell and being idiots, are quite cool.
Rogers/Donovan/Shea may have a lot of chemistry together. We still need to see more of them together. -----------------Howard--------------- Dolo------Orozco-------Ream-----Lichaj ---------------Beckerman-------------- Rogers----------Donovan----------Shea ----------Dempsey----Agudelo--------- I wonder how that would work out. Also, I wouldn't forget about Adu yet, he can contribute a lot down the road, based on club situation.
I think it was both... Instead of Bob subbing in a Findley for speed with little tactical instruction, Klinsi subbed in a group of speed and basically told them to run at and thru their defense because they are overcommitting on pressure and you will smoke them... and run together and play off yourselves when you do it... It wasn't rocket science... but it was certainly a breath of fresh air that was great to see... especially the confidence they had when they did it... ...And one other note... Agudelo looked fantastic in this role...
Interesting and typical US post-match thread. Lots of hyperbole. A reasonable opponent perspective or two. Vitriol spewed towards US players and the opponent. Hyper-defensive opponent and US fans throwing insults. From what I saw and read... STRONGLY AGREE Hoping Castillo had some serious jitters and can sort out his play. His ball skills were pretty good but he's no upgrade defensively from the rest of our LB prospects. Some of his passes were fortunate not to lead to direct goal-scoring opportunities for Mexico. SOMEWHAT AGREE If Jones wasn't tired, he doesn't deserve future field time for a very poor effort. Mike was ineffective until he started playing box-to-box. Can't say anything about the role he played with Heerenveen but based on last night, his ability to create and contribute offensively (and defensively) is much better when he starts deeper. SOMEWHAT AGREE Can't remember who posted that Klinsi used double 6s and an 8 to protect his newb CB & LB but it seems reasonable. If it was a tactical choice to keep the sting out the Mexican attack to start the match it was reasonably effective. Attempts by the US to advance the ball however were painful to watch. In my opinion, any of Jones, Bradley, Edu, Beckerman, Clark could anchor a 3 man midfield but they get in each others way when they make up the entire midfield. Beckerman did his job quite effectively when he was the lone destroyer. Could any of the other mids listed above done as well? Perhaps but Beckerman did the job and deserves positive recognition. AGREE We came alive when Shea came in and Torres moved centrally. Jones was flat (either tired or disinterested). Torres has the short passing chops and close ball control to act as a pivot in the 3 man midfield. Beckerman could focus on defense. Bradley could play his more natural box-to-box style. Torres kept the ball moving through the midfield and got it to the feet of Shea and Donovan in positions where they had the opportunity to be dangerous. Shea brought speed, power and much better ball control than I expected. This game was light-years better than his last USMNT run out (Chile?). Rogers taking over the right and changing our midfield to a true 3 man style (Beckerman - destroyer, Torres - pivot, Donovan - playmaker) was a revelation for US soccer. Short quick passes moving the ball until we found an effective point of attack. Interchanging runs that pulled the Mexican defense out of shape. It was the beautiful game. STRONGLY AGREE If Klinsi is truly looking at a 3 man midfield, Stu is head-and-shoulders our strongest candidate (assuming he fully recovers) for the pivot role. Depth Chart for 3 Man Midfield: Destroyer(6): Jones, Bradley, Edu, Holden, Beckerman, Bedoya (just a gut thing), Clark Pivot(8): Holden, Dempsey, Torres, Bradley, Kljestan, Feilhaber Playmaker(10): Donovan, Dempsey, Adu, Holden, Mix STRONGLY AGREE Didn't work for me but it did shield Castillo and Orozco Fiscal. This is where the game turned for me but Bradley was only okay as a pivot and Torres just a little better as a playmaker. Yup. Destroyer, Pivot, Creator. A true 3 man midfield. Donovan did some serious heavy lifting at this point. Beckerman would have been better in the pivot role than Clark. STRONGLY AGREE Torres has the skills to be an effective pivot but Holden's the standard in the USMNT player pool. STRONGLY AGREE Hope this wasn't Brek's "one shining moment". Size, strength, speed, creativity, ball skills: kid's got the whole package. The maturity he showed this match was the real eye opener. Took what he was given and accepted the game as played. I really expected him to get a bit fussy when Agudelo held the ball too long a couple of times after Brek had made strong runs and deserved the ball. Stayed calm and focused. He really impressed me when Gio gave him a little kick right in front of the AR. I though Brek would at least give Gio the "Gooch-staredown" but he just walked away and kept playing the game. Lots of hope for this player's future. STRONGLY AGREE Very few comments about Dolo and those were generally negative. He was brilliant, stalwart, an immovable force on defensive. Huge props to the man! Stevie C, you rock! I was well pleased with the dawning of the Klinsmann Era.
Not really. What it suggests is that Mexico wasn't as sharp as they've been lately for obvious reasons. There were quite a few times that Barrera, Guardado, Sinha and Peralta got behind the US defense with quick touches but the final pass/touch was off or an American defender stepped in at the right time to prevent danger. Fact of the matter is that there were eight starters from the Gold Cup final for Mexico and six for the US. The majority of the players called in for this friendly have played together under Bradley so the "disjointed" excuse doesn't hold water in that regard. Mexico faded because Chepo's subs didn't pay off. Bermudez became a liability and was no match for Shea physically as opposed to Barrera. Klinsmann's subs actually improved the team and slowly started putting more pressure on the Mexican backline and got their well deserved goal with a quarter of an hour to go. What people fail to mention is that despite the pressure heaped on Mexico by the subs, Mexico still controlled the ball and managed to create half chances. In fact, most of the danger created by the US came from counter attacks while Mexico was pushing up which obviously fine and dandy but it contradicts the notion that the US somehow became the North American version of Germany and steamrolled Mexico. They did manage to put Mexico under plenty of stress towards the end but Chepo is a guy who doesn't put much weight into friendlies unless they're meant as preparation prior to a tournament and the players obviously reflected that attitude on the field through certain stages of the game. Back in the early 00's, when the US and Mexico would play, even friendlies, Mexico would come out with guns blazin' and attack the US mercilessly for the first 20 minutes or so until the game evened out and while Mexico still managed to control the ball and most of the tempo, the US would end up winning the game by managing their fitness and applying pressure at the right time to force turnovers and counter attack. At the end of the game, US fans would gloat and claim that games don't last 20 minutes. Guess what? Games don't last twenty minutes. I think the players were just responding to Bradley's defensive approach anymore and from what they showed in flashes last night, the bulk of them seemed to relish the opportunity and freedom to attack without the shackles of Bradley's tactical regime holding them back. Good on ya lads I say. Yup. What we do know is that this Mexico team is like those of the past, they like to control the tempo and maintain the ball and like the 09 and 11 GC final proved, they can also be clinical in front of goal. Don't fool yourself. LOL Rogers, Holden, Goodson, Beckerman and Pearce were all on the field for that game, guys who will apparently be more involved with "A" team now that Klinsmann is in charge. The only people that make a fuzz about A, B, or C teams are US fans. You guys have no A team anymore, you have a new coach that is looking at players to see who he is going to call. For example, all you gotta do is compare the Mexico team that played the US in Columbus in February of 09 to the one that played the return leg at Azteca under Aguirre six months later. Handle what? Are we the ones going apeshit over the last twenty minutes of a friendly against a team we haven't beaten in four games, two of which were regional finals played in the US?
-----------------howard--------------- Chandler-----Gooch----Orozco-----Boca-- ---------------------Edu-------------------- Shea---------------Dempsey--------Holden-- --------------------Donovan---------------- ------------------Altidore----------------- the goal should be: get as many soccer players on the field as possible and let them play. every guy on the pitch can score, pass, and defend. I like off-footing Holden and break so they can cut in. Holden will likely move centrally as Dempsey follows the ball, but I want clint in the middle because he is the best US passer from that position. Holden can take over next cycle.
I just watched the Klinsmann press conference. It seemed to me like he was saying that Bradley was out of position. He wanted to be respectful, but it seems he referenced Landon having to come back to cover for Bradley. Also he was aware to see the while Buddle did nothing, it wasn't really his fault.
Not really. I would say Mexico got behind the US defense about 3-4 times maximum for the match. They dribbled a lot around the sideline though but couldn't break through much other than the goal. Which was a direct result of Klinsmann's very conservative tactical setup that had 0 effective attacking play, and in direct contradiction to the US plan in June with an extremely porous defense but highly effective attacking play. The US last night only started to attack better as Mexico drifted out in the 2nd half and with some marginally more effective subs.