In all seriousness, I think that game highlighted a current lack of talent in our squad, albeit maybe not our pool. We'll have to see after Jurgen stops just calling up in excess of dual nationals and the MLS players he does for the most part on relatively superficial criteria. But the guys out there on the whole today were a step slow mentally. They weren't ready to receive the ball, to evade ball pressure, find the open man, put pressure on the ball, and to react to chaotic situations when the ball was around our own goal. Speaking about that last factor in the loss, there's just no excuse for Brooks continuing to throw his hands up for an offsides appeal instead of getting back to clear the ball off the line potentially (not the first time that's happened). Nor Guzan letting the ball go over the end line because he couldn't decide whether to pick it up or clear it, and in the end did neither. But offensively we were worse. We couldn't hold possession because of all the poor first touches, and lack of smart decision making under pressure. Really since the Belgium game our possession has sucked royally. It's shameful to watch right now. This is real crossroads for U.S. football right now between what is going on, on and off the field.
Agree wholeheartedly. I agree with all of your post, just wanted to emphasize this part. Jurgen's squad selection leaves a lot to be desired.
The lack of perspective of some of your countrymen that you are ignoring, and your lack of sense of humor in me throwing it back at them with a satirical, nationalistic half kid that included a Best of the Best reference, is uncalled for. And I watched the documentary, in addition to being aware of the story before. He was killed over that incident. He lost the wrong people a bet.
yeah just because someone from colombia was being an ass it doesnt mean that you have to insult the whole country, and look i just don't find that funny. im sorry to be that guy, but it bothers me a bit. and it did ave something to do with it, but that wasn't the reason.
Hey Juergen, just because Bobby Wood plays in Germany doesn't necessarily make him better than say...Oh, About a dozen strikers playing in MLS and LigaMX right now. And oh yeah, Mix, shave that Stache. You are starting to turn over the ball like Sasha Kljestan out there when you wear that hideous thing. One more thing--Yedlin--It isn't going to get easier at Spurs, buddy. That is all.
My thoughts: we lost 2-1 against the number 3 team in the world in an 'away' environment. We were up 1-0 with our first team selection. We are early in the cycle and all have agreed (I thought anyways) that this is the time to experiment and we did and it cost us. I will agree that giving up late goals is very concerning, I will also state that it's not been a big issue to me the last three games. This does get to the issue though of the players keeping their focus and being ready even when they come in late. It's interesting to me (though nothing scientific here) that it appears we sub first before the other teams do -- and we do it with numbers. If we are more interested in getting minutes for our second string then so be it. The biggest issue in my mind is that FJ had a bad game and Yedlin had some howler turnovers in the second half, just absolutely terrible and exposed our team. He has unbelievable speed and showed some great promise in the first half, but his second half made me wonder if he'll get any time at Tottenham. I am an NE fan and I think Lee Nguyen is great.....not ready to say he's better than Mix on the basis of one game. Not sure why folks think that Jermaine Jones is not a CB --- he was stellar today IMHO and Brooks was as well. One interesting factoid that may interest only me...(with a nod to Peter King) -- it was really interesting to watch one of the Columbian players (off the ball) just blow by Beasley in the second half -the Beas just could not keep up......the ball never came back to him, but it was a testament to the passage of time and it's toll on the legs.
It's "Movember" in the States. He's trying to gain attention for prostate and testicular cancer research with it I presume. Mix has embraced the culture and is the type of guy who can see the bigger picture beyond what he looks like for a month.
as one bostonian said to another bostonian at a party anywhere in town or new england in general when looking for a good looking lady: Slim Pickins'
My impression of the game is that we have no idea how Finlay, Wenger, Zardes, Rowe, Serna would have done on the wing compared to Yedlin, Green, Bedoya, against teams as good as Colombia and Ireland. Rubio was worth seeing. He seemed like a Dempsey/Tesho type to me which is odd because he has mainly assists at Utrecht I believe.
Bradley at that position playing poorly will still literally out work every other player in the world. Mix was non-existent. I saw several times he should have taken a foul to prevent a break but he was timid. The biggest indictment in my opinion to his play today was that he didn't get a yellow. Just a bad mentality to me, shave that stupid damn mustache and quit being the pretty boy on the field.
Not a terrible loss on its own, but as another in a disappointing string where we haven't won in a while I think things are getting a bit worrisome. I'm already getting flashbacks to last cycle where the poor friendlies for Bradley's team eventually translated to a dismal Gold Cup. Back to today, though, again, not terrible, but not really encouraging either. Didn't really feel like we were in that game even when winning. That game was screaming for the controlling presence that was pre-World Cup Bradley. We had a few isolated moments of speed, physicality, Nguyen's slick flick, but nothing that felt meaningful in a sustained way.
It's a friendly, and the biggest issue right now is our midfield. I think that changes wtih Bradely back and possibly lee and Mix involved.
After gathering my thoughts... 1. Colombia is a legit top 5 team. I think some of the moaning going on here is coming from the perception (conscious or otherwise) that despite their ranking, Colombia really isn't in the same class as a traditional power like Germany or Brazil. I don't think people would have such negative views if the exact same game had been played against a team with the Brazilian crest on their yellow jerseys. 2. There were plenty of good performances. I thought the whole back line was pretty good, Altidore and Rubin were pretty good, and so was Bedoya. Guzan too, obviously. Beasley also continued to look decent at left back. 3. The above point implies that the problem was with the rest of the midfield: Diskerud, Beckerman, and Johnson. As others have said, Johnson was uncharacteristically bad. I'll write that off as lack of playing time and/or being moved around all over the place, but it will be worrying if it becomes a trend. Beckerman was never going to be good against a group of attackers as quick and skillful as Colombia. I like Beckerman, but this was exactly the wrong sort of situation for him. Diskerud had been making the case to be a consistent starter in central midfield, but really looked out of his depth against a team of this quality. 4. I'm still kind of unsure about Morales. He keeps getting thrown on when the US is hanging on for dear life. He certainly hasn't been able to do much to stem the tide, but he probably can't really be expected to. 5. Wood was better than his past performances, but that's not saying much. Maybe not looking completely terrible against a good opponent is a step up from looking terrible against a couple mediocre opponents? 6. What's the deal with Green's cleats? I swear every time I've seen him get in, when it looks like he's finally going to make something happen, he slips and the chance is lost. Rubin looked much more ready for this level than Green ever has, extra time against Belgium aside. 7. I'd dial back the hype on Nguyen. I like him too, but realistically, he came on for the final 20 minutes when the US hardly had the ball. He had a couple nice touches and definitely warrants a further look, but I'm not ready to anoint him the savior in midfield (see Diskerud's problem translating some nice touches as a sub to being an effective 90-minute player).
That has to do with the ball deflecting off a post or a defender. I'm basing that off of numerous examples in MLS where PRO has come out and said "good goal!" Stuff like this: http://www.proreferees.com/news-play-of-the-week---2014-playoffs---wk1.php And this: http://www.proreferees.com/news-play-of-the-week---wk4.php http://www.proreferees.com/news-play-of-the-week---2014---wk10extra.php
With Yedlin it was clearly a tale of 2 different halfs . He was solid at RB and poor at right mid. Hope JK ends the midfield experiment. It seems that posters who are blasting Yedlin's midfield performance (Myself included) should remember that he is a right back.
I like Mix, think he's a good guy, will offer this squad something this cycle. However, he's overrated in my eyes. A move to MLS might help, might not, depends on which team and system but there's a reason with an EEA passport he's still stuck in Norway at age 24. We'll see, his contract is up so he has his choices. If he doesn't have takers in Holland or France or Germany on a free, that says something.