So our choices are, Klinsmann is unable to control Jones yet still treats him like an untouchable demigod, or Klinsmann is so clueless that after three years he still hasn't figured out the best way to use Jones and Bradley together even though it's obvious to everyone from expert analysts to random internet schlubs? I'm not sure which is worse...
Are you under the misconception that the team has only been training for 3-4 days? They've been at it for 2 weeks now, competing for a spot in the 23 and in a few cases a spot in the starting XI. Like any sport that is in season, the MLS/Liga MX guys have been on a light practice schedule since the the season began. The Euro players are coming off of their season and are obviously going to be quite worn down. Do you honestly believe these guys are going to be fresh for the first warm up friendly after working their asses off during full fitness days to make sure they make the team for the greatest event of their own careers?
Those two guys each believe they are a higher level player than they actually are. Better than their talent permits. Put them on the field together and it's clearly awkward. I know the wind was bad but watching them try to play unnecessary long balls was comedic. Mike has the brains, but he is best when he's clinical, super efficient, aggressive - and broadcasting that message. Not dismissing a safe smart option in favor of a quick dance on the ball, then dropping a weak ball to a weak defender under pressure. World Cup 2010 anyone? 2006? Germany's going to eat our lunch if we play that stupid. The best thing Jermaine Jones did tonight was stay back instead of competing with Michael upfield. Did you see Jones whiff completely and the ball play off his standing leg - TWICE? For crying out loud Jones had nothing to do, he was under no pressure, and still managed to grant Azerbaijan opportunities with his turnovers etc. Our backs cannot be trusted to handle the ball. We'd be better off, better "protected" with Kyle Beckerman in front of the center backs.
I don't think he ever spoke up about it, which he should have. It's telling Jones he's not as good as Bradley going forward which he probably didn't want to have to do. Hopefully he or somebody else finally did.
I think the biggest thing here is Klinsmann's squad was built to disrupt a superior opponent or two. But they had little idea how to be the better team.* So of course guys like Davis and Mix and yes, Wondo and even DeYedlin looked good... like they were playing against the Montreal Impact at home or something. *By the way, this is so disappointing, seeing how Klinnsmann's hire was all about "taking us to the next level."
Fun outing at the Stick. First time seeing the USMNT live! What I saw: Jones: his form is basically a 1:1 reflection of his physical condition, and today JJ was outstanding. I'd call it carefully calibrated belligerence: well-timed, hard tackles putting Azeri opponents on their asses, but clean enough for the referee. Solid passing and one or two trademark diagonal balls. Lots of activity: he was everywhere. He was a big reason the Azeri midfield was rendered basically useless. Fabian: with the NT he usually plays on the left, so I was accustomed to him cutting inside often and playing as a midfielder. Now I'm starting to see why JK is putting him at RB - on the right side he cranked it up another gear and turned into a marauding wingback type. I think being able to keep the ball on his right foot allows him to crank out a few more RPMs while keeping his elegant passing game. Wow. Bradley: quiet, but solid. Hardworking, tenacious, generally clean passing. In other words, Michael Bradley. Jozy: pretty uninspiring, doesn't look anywhere close to scoring. But he won a gazillion fouls and the two-striker set allowed him to get touches around the pitch. The sequence leading to Mix's goal was strange - Jozy had a terrible touch which should have resulted in a turnover, except he hustled and truck sticked the Azeri player out of the way. After recovering the ball he drove forward and won the foul. Sums up his evening. Wondo: spirited showing and good movement up front with Jozy. Unlucky not to score - he looks like he belongs. Beasley: he's OK, solid on the ball, got forward more today. Hard to evaluate defensively against this competition - he did get beaten badly in the air once, but TBF aerial duels for fullbacks are a point of weakness in most teams. Bedoya: works hard on both ends, as usual. If you play DMB in the back Ale provides balance on the left flank. Zusi: unremarkable, aside from some decent service. Chandler: has the pace and power to get upfield, but clearly less comfortable on the left - struggled to get the extra half-step to make a good delivery.
As has been stated to you, they have been doing two a days for over two weeks now. With some coming off of long European seasons. No, you couldn't have done that, even in your early 20's. And yes, they are wearing themselves out in practices. And no, the only retarded person here is you. Wearing yourself down, playing through your pain, recovering, and playing again, is all about fitness and turnover. Considering our schedule, it's the only way we can possibly advance from the group. Ghana and Portugal may have a tough time with the schedule and weather. As Micheal Bradley said--The team that can suffer the most will win, and so far, Klinsi's been right on the ball with the regimen.
If the consensus is that this team is designed to play higher caliber opponents fine, that could be true. I honestly think though that we're in serious trouble. We have no playmakers without Donovan and Dempsey. This team seemed to only have one thought in mind, fast tempo passing that works up the wings quickly. But if the opponent parks the bus you immediately see there is zero creativity. It's scary. At least 4 years ago I got the sense that creativity was attempted and somewhat welcome. What we're seeing now is some sort of German System that's a ripoff and isn't as good. And frankly that type of system relies on players that have a better touch.
1-The US is not just wing play--It's also set pieces (Our bread and butter for 2 decades now) and Micheal Bradley picking apart the middle. 2-Dempsey was injured. And I hate to break your myth, but Donovan was not and is not exactly a creative player. He's just a solid attacker, nothing too fancy, but hard and fast, and THAT'S why we love him. Yeah we miss him, but with Donovan in the lineup, the team would instinctively attempt a fast tempo pass to him on the wings. So, something tells me that you don't know what you are talking about if you complain about our predictable attack and then bring up Donovan--While Donovan would be a huge asset, it does also tip the US's hand more than a bit. (Which is why Donovan often has "Quiet games", so to speak.) 3-I think we did pretty good after 2 weeks of grueling training, playing in 20 mph gusts of wind. Our guys looked gassed, even Bradley's passes were going errant with fatigue and wind. So I will reserve further judgement of our chances against Turkey.
Don't know what to take from these pre tournament friendly games. The opponent definitely put in a lot of effort to not lose, but they were completely incompetent in the final third. Very little creativity. Hardly any chances from the run of play. Sloppy. Tempo too low. But knowing Klinsmann, the players are probably exhausted (Dempsey overworked -> injured). Positive: lots of early and high pressing on the ball. Throughout almost the entire 90 mins.
MB poor play had nothing to do with JJ!! In my mind he isY not as good as yaw give him credit for. See Aston Villa. If JJ had MB's day JJ would get crucified on here. The dude just sucks sometimes and it's not due to another player and it was not due to fatigue. He was screwing up plays and passes early and often.
MB is not as good as you think. He certainly sucked today. JJ is just as valuable to this team. His defensive bite ie far superior and he can switch the point of attack better.
He sucked early in the game when he had fresh legs like everyone else. Others players on team played well throughout. I keep hearing he is one of the fittest players? What gives? Folks can't have it both ways.
Slightly worrying: our backs don't seem to pass the ball to the right place, namely Gonzo and Besler, DMB and Yedlin. Always a step behind or too far ahead. Never in stride. This makes the "passee" have to stop and fumble with the ball to get it in a playable position. Wind was probably a big factor here, but worrying nonetheless. No incisive passing. This could be the players in the final third are not making to excellent and well-timed runs, so it's kind of "play the ball into Jozy" who is always draped by a defender, where the ball fumbles around and we may pick up the scraps from a deflection off Jozy's shins/marker's shins...or hope for the whistle. But quite simply, if you crowd Jozy, he's useless. Good teams will realize they don't even need to mark Jozy with a good defender. Just put anyone near him and he's out of the match. Jozy would make a great Tight End if he had hands and had Aaron Rogers to throw 5-7 yard hook routes to him. Aaron Johansson is a striker. Jozy is a limited player with little confidence. Ironically, Jozy needs to play with a Riquelme/Adu (at his past best of course) type to have any success.
Just watched and read this thread. It's always funny to read threads after a game like this because your own opinions are often so different than the majority. This looked to be a lineup that was a little experimental, a little "try to build confidence". There's no chance we're ever playing a 4-4-2 in the WC so this, to me, seemed more about Klinsman trying to set Altidore up for success - to get him chances which turn into goals which was to give him confidence going into the WC. Alas it didn't work out. The wind absolutely had an impact. It's akin to playing on a rocky Caribbean field when it's like that - balls don't fly true, they float, and you can even see balls played on the ground were blown off course. But hey - you still have to win. Altidore - a "fair" game. This was a game that needed runs and opening up the defense. He's not that guy. All too often he positioned himself with back to goal and played hold up man. I don't think I saw a single through ball played down the middle to a running Altidore. You can blame Bradley for "not being creative enough to unlock the defense" today but, at a certain point, he's dependent on whoever is in front Wondo - I think he did well enough to warrant his bench spot. I don't focus on the missed chances - I focus more on the fact that he was the only forward creating chances and he got off two shots on frame that tested the keeper. It's a numbers game and the key is to keep getting shots on frame that test the keeper. Zusi - I couldn't really grasp what position exactly he was playing at times. Sure, he started on the right but he constantly would pop up on the left and mostly down the middle. It's as though he was told that Fabian is going to attack and you need to cover for him quite often. He did a good job if that was the instruction. Fabian - He ran a lot - that's true - but all too often he was lazy defensively. He would lose the ball (or we would lose the ball) and, instead of busting his gut to hustle back to pick up his guy, he would start jogging back to position - all the while, Azzzz is sprinting towards our goal. I'm not expecting him to sprint 80 yards but I do need more than a light jog which is what he did when he was in an advanced position. Pros: got the win, got some minutes under everyone's belt Cons: no angled runs from the wingers - it was all fairly easy to predict what the wide players were going to do
In summary, we needed two late goals to beat a low-ranked team that a very low intensity level, at least based on their marking in the box on set pieces. Not a great performance, but I think JK is trying to build to a great performance in three weeks, not have one this week. We'll see.
This could very well be reverse psychology on your part, but expect the diamond in Brasil. We are setting up to play almost a purely counter-attacking strategy as we don't have the ability to match any of our group opponents in the midfield zone. Therefore, our strategy will be to quickly play through the middle and out to the wings. While lethargic and boring to watch last night, I would not put much stock at all in what we saw from a tactical perspective (other than the shape) as the roles will be completely reversed in Brasil. The US will not see any buses in Brasil.
We have to give him credit for at least making sure the ball was bound for the goal. Everyone else was out there hitting field goals.
I know at Stanford, students are supposed to be able to get all sporting events played at the stadium for free due to an endowment to rebuild the stadium.