Just one nice pass thats it? How about that 1 vs 1 move he did that he left his defender in the dust within a split second with a quick explosion to his left to set him-self up for the shot....i only wish the field was better becuase his foot got cought on the shot on the crap field....maybe he could have scored on that because the shot was on target. (not to forget that was the best piece of creative skill by any USMNT player in that game) Also his many combination plays with Davies,Donovan and Bradley. That did not exist when Adu was not in the game....he really did set-up shooting lanes for his teammates i just wish the kid started and got the chance to show his stuff again for longer periods. And how could he not start, with the way the rest of the team played???? is that hard to see he has always been a starter along, we have just been holding him back because we feel the need to punish him because he has made a bad career loan to Monaco.
Here's a pretty good Op-Ed column I read about the match last night. Bradley should go back to a 4-4-2
Wow, if the term 'knee jerk reaction' were in the dictionary, this thread would be set as an example. Yes we got whooped, yes Beasley has no business wearing a US jersey in a meaningful game again, yes Wynne was totally out of his depth, but blowing up the team and starting all over makes zero sense with the WC in 12 months. Teams get beat, teams get beat badly, hell Argentina had 6 hung on em by BOLIVIA. CR are a good CONCACAF team, Saprissa is a death trap, anyone going down 1-0 away in the first minute is going to be in for a long match and we had two weak links at the back. I think it was good for them to be honest, shock them out of their comfort zones and get them focused on the task at hand. (That includes B.Bradley.) We'll be OK, we'll make the WC, progress is being made, but soccer requires patience and becoming a world power can take generations, not '14 years with a pro league.'
\ PRIME...Just stop the bullchit....Just said it plain, "I am going to support Bradley and the federation no matter how low we go...It got to be simple, do not come over here with the perennial excuse to a coach that is doing his best, because that is his best...
Exactly. repped.. We need to get rid of the excuses and low expectations when playing against inferior (yes I said it) opposition. The player/coaches are our own worst enemies when they continue to talk about "what a hostile atmosphere" playing away, and how the conditions are bad. All this does is setup the team for disappointment. Last I checked, 1/2 the time the conditions suck, the other team has no problem dealing with them. The only place which is a legitimate disadvantage is the Azteca. Maybe if we cant expect decent results from the others, they should look for new lines of work..
I never post but just read all the conniption fits on the board. I feel like I was kicked in the gut this morning. My GF took the remote after the third goal, a slipper flying from the den to the kitchen, and turned the channel while telling me if the game came back on she was moving out... Bradley is not a destroyer and picks up way too many cards overestimating his abilities and pitch speed. Beas just simply isn't a defender, period end of story. Wynne is not a world class player. Landon does nothing but cry and moan all night at the other players rather than create. Pablo was around when Moses parted the Red Sea. Big Bradley took Torres out of the game at half and he was only one of two players who looked like their head wasn't up his backside.
This USA team is begining to look a lot like England during the last days of Sven. Too many players who KNOW they will be in the team, KNOW they won't be dropped no matter how poorly they play. Capello changed the mind set immediately and let everone know that if they didn't perform they would be dropped....if they were'nt PLAYING for their club teams they would'nt get selected, if they were'nt fit they had no chance.....This same approach is badly needed here....as it is the USA has too many players way too comfortable and seemingly untouchable...
This is the kind of attitude that create the condition for last night game. if you are not concern about he kind of performance that our coach got last night you are second class USA fan
So why is CR undefeated this cycle at Saprissa with 19 GF and 1 GA? And why is the USA undefeated at home in this cyle with 24 GF and 1 GA? If conditions and location are irrelevant, then how the hell do you explain those results? Again, if that were actually true, THEN HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THE ABOVE RESULTS? Oh, right. If you don't agree with whip's opinion, you're not a real fan. Catholics aren't real Christians either, right?
While the effort was terrible, there are a few things that really stood out: 1. Beasley no longer has the ability to recover from the situations his lack of a good first touch gets him into. He needs to be relegated to a late game sub or offense and his left footed set piece ability. To many possessions end with him giving it away and he can no longer effectively dribble around people. 2. Mastroenni needs to simply be put out to pasture for the nats. If he cannot prevent goals like the first one, there is no reason for him to be on the field. 3. Gooch and Boca are too good to have that porous of an effort. Admittedly, they had to cover for Beas and Marvel's misdoing's but this was not a good game for them. 4. Not sure why he pulled Torres at half - he was the only guy who looked remotely confident on the ball. Pablo is who should have gone (especially down 2). That being said, Torres needs to commit a little more to his tackles - he too could have done something about the first goal. I am sure the team will look better in Chicago on Saturday - this effort was awful, but hopefully it opened some eyes.
I can't get to excited about the result or Wynne's performance on a really crappy hard concrete fake grass field. If we were going o win there the team would have been training for at least a week on a similar field. The surface and lack of prep for it made the difference.
We need a complete overhaul of the defense. Every game I have seen so far they just let whoever wants the ball get it. We can't expect Tim Howard to keep the ball out of the net if they get wide open looks at the net all night. And where is Kenny Cooper?
This game was a demonstration of what is intrinsically wrong with US Soccer. It is symbolic of kick and pray Soccer. Basic skills missing. Unimaginative field strategy. Lack of efficient space useage and on and on and on. Yes, the field was not conducive to playing soccer but that did not prevent CR to plant 3 beautful goals into the net. They seemingly had no problems controlling the ball at their own feet and passing the ball to a team-mate something the US seemed incapable of doing. Players who should not have been on the field, begin with Maestroani, Wynne, Beasley and Altidore. Only bright spot was Torres and then numbskull takes him out???? Bad coaching on top of it. Adu brought a little spark and control but too little too late. Adu should be used to team up with Torres as bridges between back and front with lancing forays through and shots from distance....They looked like boys playing against men.....This team is an embarrassment to the USA. CR danced through the defense with such ease and aplomb it was beautiful to watch excepting of course for me.... We have a long long way to go and last night "prooooved" it for me once and for all... There is also no leader on the field. Donovan did absolutely nothing. Problem lies at the very heart of how Soccer is taught in the very beginning. Even as kids there is no desire to get the basics right, all they want to do is play. It is boring to drill the basics. It's like not knowing the alphabet and wanting to become a novelist??? Nuff said. Have said these very same things since 19hundred and froze to death but nuthin's ever gonna change..... Yall have fun now, to those to whom everything is beautiful may the sun shine on you forever...me, well I'll just cheer fer the US even though I am a bit ashamed we are fielding such an inept group of putterers..... Hasta la byebye
It's not a knee jerk reaction, Its the fact that the team DID NOT SHOW UP! Every one in this thread is saying how this is such a hard place to play so It shouldn't be a shock to anyone or any of the players that coming to CR for an away match is going to be difficult. I think less people would be upset had we Tried. Look at the Match in England, we played scared.....WHY? We have a coach that has been succesfull in MLS but what has he done on the world stage....where is the experience. MLS is a third rate league. (getting better) but still very very weak. BB was right in one regard we should play a ton of games away to try and toughen the squad. MLS players would have lost 6-0...nuff said RoyNJ And Michael Bradley is not good....please don't tell me how good he might be. He can score against bad teams at home but then again who can't. The man gives away the ball way to much. Can't hold on and make a good pass with people on him, Good CM can buy time, make a play when needed. I see that in Freddy, Not in MB. Why doesn't Bradley play Demerit and Spector these guys have gone up against some of the best players on the planet. At least Demerit would have knocked Ruiz off the ball as oppose to watching him dribble across the 18. bottom line is we are not Good, we need a world class coach to change the culture and the thinking of American Soccer. Untill then we will always bow out early in the WC.
Problem lies at the very heart of how Soccer is taught in the very beginning. Even as kids there is no desire to get the basics right, all they want to do is play. It is boring to drill the basics. That is the problem in a nut shell, in all most all sports all parents want to see on the weekends are games, Practice???? whats that for, Most Americans want to play and think by playing games and not training kids will get better, sorry but if you dont have the basics down then all your doing is picking up bad habits and perfecting them. Until the culture changes the US will always be a third rate soccer nation.
I think it's already too late. If there was going to be a change the time would have been 6 months ago. WC starts in a year, I don't think starting over from scratch would be a good move at this point, even though I don't think the WC will produce the results we would all like.
This game showed everything myself and many others have pointed out but it was all ignored because we were winning. I'm not mad I think this could help us in the long run if we learn from it and I want to point it this was no shock, it was bound to happen but people didin't want to hear it. Bob Bradley- terrible tactician, you can't play a 4-3-3 when you have 0 defenders who can play out of the back, and then you play 2 d-mid's and a deep lying midfielder as the 3 there was no balance. Donovan playing up the middle instead of Altidore where Donovan constantly dissapears in games and with how many long balls we play to play the forward who is weakest in the air makes no sense at all. Taking Torres off who was one of our best players made absolutely no sense and Adu once again played really well so hopefully Bradley will give him a start Saturday. Players: Wynee- I've said for a long time he's the typical American athlete who isn't a good enough soccer player, I posted this somewhere else he is all speed and size and no skill or tactical awareness. Bocanegra- His aimless lumps up field under no pressure and his slowness to close down attackers killed us last night. I've been saying he needs to go for a long time and last night showed what myself and many others were trying to get across. Beasley- his lack of touch created yet another turnover which was the beginning part of the first goal. He was caught out of position constantly. I still don't think it's because we converted a midfielder to the back that's done all the time with success all over the world we just picked the wrong player. His constant backpassing is extremely frustrating as well. Mastroeni- Was off defensively, struggled with the pace of the game and as usual wasn't very good in possession and brings nothing going forward. He's not that bad of a player but we have better options, and in the modern game I don't think there's a need for a pure destroyer anymore if you have a player who can do the defensive work close to a dmid that brings skill those types of players are the way to go. Dempsey- I know he has talent and I know he's done well for Fulham but until he plays well for the nat's again he shouldn't be given starts.
Honestly I think it all comes down to defense. We've had a terrible defense forever that's been bailed out by great goalkeepers which we seem to have no problem producing. I don't know how you can fix this defense but something needs to be done. That's our biggest problem.
What about Michael Parkhurst? He was one of the most solid defenders in MLS. Why isn't he good enough to start on this team. He is better than what we have now that is for sure.
I actually agree that our defense is weak but think our weak middle puts our defenders in tough spots far too often. Did you notice how poor CR's defense was last night? Nope, me either, because they were on the offensive so often.