Starters: Brad Guzan: Played well as usual. Anyone who thinks Rimando should be the #1 with Howard out needs to just stop thinking that. DeAndre Yedlin: Played really well at RB. Looked great offensively and defensively. Once he moved to RM, he didn't look good. Klinsmann needs to stop this RM experiment for Yedlin. Jermaine Jones: Played well in all facets of the game, but I still don't like the experiment. He's an accident waiting to happen at CB. John Brooks: He was terrific. He was a notch above any US player on the field. Absolutely dominated the Colombian forwards. Greg Garza: Looked very good at LB once again. Got forward more than usual, and was very good defensively. His slide tackling is excellent, and I think he's definitely earned himself a move to a good club in Europe. Kyle Beckerman: Exposed. He was the worst player on the field. Absolutely dominated in the midfield. I've said it so many times and I'll say it again, he can not do the central midfield job against good teams. He was good in the WC because he sat in front of two good CM's and basically played as an extra CB. In this game where he had to battle without the help of two other good defensive CM's, he was the worst player on the field and exposed as not good enough for this level. Fabian Johnson: Very poor performance. At LM, he was sloppy in his passing, lazy in his work rate and just an all around very bad performance. He was better when he went to RB, but still not very good. Alejandro Bedoya: The type of performance that we have come to expect from Bedoya. Tremendous defensive work rate and provided some danger going forward. His set pieces were also very good. Mix Diskerud: Same thing as I said about Fabian Johnson applies to Diskerud. Sloppy in his passing, lazy in his work rate, lost the ball too much and just an all around very bad performance. Rubio Rubin: Did well to get into some dangerous positions with good movement. Drew some fouls, and an overall good debut. Jozy Altidore: Was good very early on. Bad PK, but at least he scored. Really was a big threat to the weak Colombian defense in the first half, but wasn't much of a threat in the second half. Subs: Bobby Wood: Good running, strength and athleticism, but his soccer skills just aren't good. Had another golden opportunity and he wasted it. He's just not good enough for the National Team. Alfredo Morales: I think he played well. Got into some good positions going forward, and should have had a PK about the dirty Colombian RB Arias elbowed him battling for the ball in the box. DaMarcus Beasley: Got forward, and did well on the offensive side of the ball, but almost had a crucial error defensively. He really worries me at LB. I'll continue to say it. Lee Nguyen: Wasn't involved that much. Had one great flick that created an attack. Julian Green: Bad defending on the Colombian goal, but he's better suited as a secondary striker right now than a winger. He's not good defensively and he's very weak. You are putting him in a position where he will fail on the wing. Coaching: Terrible tactics by Klinsmann. Beckerman can't do the job in the center of the park by himself. We were dominated in that area of the field because he put too much trust into a player who isn't good enough. Subs were also pretty bad.
i dont think the us played as bad as you guys are making it seem, you had decent counterattacking chances, sure the US lost possession, and have some issues that need fixing , but you can walk away with your head up high considering all of the new faces. best of luck to the US in the future
Yes. The violation for offside is: 1) touching the ball (didn't happen) 2) preventing the opponent from playing the ball either from challenging them or screening their vision (didn't happen). The current interpretation is that if you didn't touch it, you didn't influence the play. It's a good goal.
Can someone please explain what Mix offers at this level? It's like playing a man down with him at CM. There are at least half a dozen guys in MLS who would be more effective in his current role.
But that's the thing; they've done it many times over the past 6 years against non-Carribean opposition. And we haven't been able to do it save for the opposition in the B-team Gold Cup lately.
For all of Jurgen's negative remarks about the level of MLS, there isn't a player in the pool in more desperate need of a move to a significantly better league than Diskerud. If he moves to MLS, it's a step up (IMO), but will be incredibly disappointing and, per Jurgen's individualized standards, should lead to him being dropped.
he can run fast from the back. he needs one touch- when he catches up to balls played long behind the defense. at that point ill take whatever cross he comes up with.
Oh I agree with you completely. People just see his speed and think "GARETH BALE WINGER AMERICA STYLE" without actually evaluating his entire game.
He is better when we play a certain style. When he is asked to play deeper and defend more, he is not that effective.
Which is what Jurgen wants him to do, for some goddamn reason. If we want to play with a CAM, Mix and Nguyen should be in that role. If we don't, then neither of them should really be in the national team picture.
I think it's clear Mix still has ways to go to learn how to become a good 8/10 CM for us. He's not there yet...maybe ever. I think JK may try to convert him into more a of a '6' because of his tidy foot skills in close area and his gritty tackles and ability to not back down makes him pretty good. My view on Morales keeps dropping. He's someone I don't think is up to this level. My brightest spot has to be Lee Nguyen. He's the guy I predicted will be able to unlock the offense that JK wants to see. He's so quick in short distances and tight with teh ball. Not to mention he has that 'X' factor where he can hang with some of the classiest moves out there. He too is not afraid to try shit--which I love and respect. He had some great passing, and his ability to run at people is something we haven't seen from Bradley, Mix, or hell anyone that has played as a CM since JK took over. He's Feilhaber x10. He can actually tackle, chase, and close down area. I am pretty sure JK found his man...
Pretty much this. Even in an attacking role, though, I haven't seen enough from Mix that makes me think he's going to be good enough. I mean, how much better of a player is he now than he was when he and Agudelo debuted a few years back? He hasn't been able to make big enough steps. At this point, I think someone like Emerson Hyndman may be more ready for his spot. Central midfield is a legitimate issue, even with Bradley in the picture.
T But reading the laws of the game, I don't see 'touching the ball' listed. I DO see "gaining an advantage by being in that [offside] position as an offense. http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/foo...7_06_2014_new--lawsofthegameweben_neutral.pdf, pg. 35. Is the 'current interpretation' your opinion of the rule, or is that codified somewhere? (I'm actually curious, not trying to be a jerk here.)
haha. That's very true. People have been saying that since the World Cup. In final third he is limited. RB or nothing.
The USA had 4 very good chances to go up 2-0. Since that didn't happen, a Colombian comeback was always in the cards.
you are extremely disrespectful, that is completely uncalled for, and even though your ignorance is in display, he wasn't killed because of that incident.
I think Yedlins close control when dribbling is decent. He just had a lot of bad passes. Got to clean that up.
Most memorable play of the day for me... Yedlin makes a beautiful 40-yard run, weaving and dribbling neatly through several Colombian defenders. Unfortunately he was going backward, and finished the play off with a perfectly paced, gently rolling pass for James Rodriguez to run onto, leading to yet another very dangerous counter. He looked almost as bad on a few other giveaways, and left me surprised and disappointed. In the second half, we didn't have the patience that we displayed in the first 45. Too many early balls that had no chance to build anything constructive. We also lost a lot of our defensive focus and confidence to possess the ball as the game progressed.
Pretty much what I expected, except for the offside goal. My bet was a 1-1, with us scoring early and bunkering for 80 minutes or so. We're doing ok. If our players suck as bad as some of the guys here seem to think, then this is indeed as good as it gets. Klinsmann is doing the Mourinho thing, but still disorganized. Add better set pieces, a few good crosses, and one guy who can finish the chances created on the counter, and we can be quite formidable, for a team of scrubs.