Jackson had an awful time at Atleti. Failed miserably. Not sure how he is doing in China or if the season has even started over there, but the guy is probably low on confidence. Could pick it up by banging a few goals by the time the cup starts, though. He is a quality striker. When on form, faaaaaaar better than any #9 in the group.
This is the type of blanket statement that gets us in trouble all the time. Costa Rica was World Cup quarterfinalist in 2014 and Paraguay was in 2010. Globally these countries have pretty much equal pedigrees in soccer to us, if anything Paraguay probably has a better one, as they've got a number of players in top leagues and have historically performed well in major tournaments. If not for the fact that they've been going through a transition period for a few years now, Paraguay would be generally be favored even above Colombia to advance from this group.
Edit - Misread Paraguay did get 4th place at CA last year. But historically they're not that strong a team. Not that the US has done better but they've got a beatable team in front of them. Goal should be 6 points.
Okay, then the US shouldn't be measured on that performance either, since we can pick and choose. No Howard, Besler, Wood. Johnson and Bedoya are in much better forms. Morales is an everyday starter. Morris is now a pro. Nagbe is now American.
My point is that we've been bad for a while now, and there's no legit reason beyond wishcasting and the struggles of the other teams in the group for us to think we're going to get out of it.
Paraguay has been going thru a pretty rough patch. When you look at their roster, it isn't better than the US roster. We do have, for instance players that just started games this last week for the teams in 2nd place in the Bundesliga (Pulisic), 3rd place (Brooks), and 5th place (Johnson). I could go on, but we get the idea. The US isn't some "little nation that could." We have talent. Paraguay will be a tough game. Any game against any CONMEBOL team will be a tough game. But we're ranked 10 spots ahead of Paraguay in the FIFA rankings for a reason. They just lost to Peru in CONMEBOL WCQing and eeked out a one goal victory over Bolivia AT HOME. We should beat Paraguay with the talent on our roster. At home, we should also be favored against Costa Rica. Both will be close games, but we should EXPECT to win. Enough with the inferiority complex folks. Anything less than advancement from the group is underachievement. People will say "but we're in terrible form due to our terrible Gold Cup run!!!" It wasn't so horrific. We did go undefeated in the group stage and won 6-0 in the first knockout round. We then struggled against Jamaica, who it should be noted also gave Mexico and Costa Rica everything they could handle. [Costa Rica certainly didn't beat Jamaica either.]
To confirm... USA is struggling so we will probably fail Other teams are struggling but we should overlook it. Seems like you're just really, really negative
Going by what I've seen from the USMNT since the GC, you are honestly not much better or differente than back then. It's not just the personnel change, but the form and the way you play. I'm not saying that we are the best team in the world on in a whole different league from you guys. I was just stating that CRC is much different from that GC, since we don't even have the same manager and play a style of football more similar to Pinto's. You guys still have the same style, the same coach, and tbh, save for FJ, no one has been particularly hot in Europe.
We really ought to succeed, particularly at home. We have little reason for optimism recently, however, because of how poorly we've been mismanaged. This last January didn't go as poorly as last January, but there's little to suggest that we're "over" our malaise.
I don't see Klinsmann repeating his Gold Cup effort - surely he cant be that obtuse. The big question is Olympics. Without Morris and Pulisic we would lack movement and width forward I get the feeling there is a plan to lose the Olympic qualifying for various reasons - having the best squad possible for Copa could be one of them. Ironically, having Brooks in Rio might actually help. He's still not the steady Eddy you'd expect by now and we have players who can step in and do as good a job defensively. We have replacements for Yedlin too. The problem would be no Morris and Pulisic. I think the Gold Cup would have been very different with those two players.
That's an overly simple way of looking at my point, but sure. The other way of looking at it would be: We've all seen all our games over the last year. I'm guessing none of us have seen all of Colombia, Paraguay and CRC's games. We know Colombia is far more talented than we are. We know Paraguay is at the least very well organized defensively. We also know we struggle to generate chances against organized sides. I've seen nothing from our team, whose games I have all seen, to indicate we can match up with Colombia and Paraguay.
We are playing at home. That's not a wish. It is (or should be) a somewhat significant advantage. Yes, we were "bad" (or under-preformed) at home in the 2015 Gold Cup. Not expecting that to repeat itself in 2016. But what do I know?
Indeed. I doubt any USMNT player would even make their starting 11. Costa Rica and Paraguay have the same level of talent (or even better) as the USMNT. We'll be lucky to get 3 points.
on paper, i think most would agree. but this is a tournament played in the moment. nothing wrong w/ fans going in w/ low, realistic expectations, but us fans wishing anything but winning is inexcusable.
Bedoya has been particularly hot, and recently, more so than FJ. Also, Brooks is currently a much better player than he was last season. Now as far as top leagues, that's that. But Wood and Williams in second divisions are having very good years and would suggest to be in JKs plans for the summer. Look, respect to CR. Was pumped watching you guys in 2014. But I'm not scared of your team since then. You obviously follow them closer so I respect your opinion, but USA, at home, should win.
To be fair, the US actually has some field players who are performing well for their clubs in Europe this season (you couldn’t say that about more than maybe…1 or 2 players last year). - Fabian Johnson has been excellent for Monchengladbach this season (in contention for a CL spot in the Bundesliga) and is having the best goalscoring season of his career. - John Brooks has been a rock for a Hertha Berlin team that currently sits third in the Bundesliga. - Alfredo Morales has been very solid for mid table Ingolstadt. - Alejandro Bedoya is in the form of his life for Nantes who are 3 points (and a game in hand) from 3rd place in Ligue 1. - Geoff Cameron was having a good season for Stoke but he’s now been sidelined with injury for a while. - DeAndre Yedlin isn’t having a particularly good season (but then again, who on Sunderland is?) but he’s picking up valuable minutes at RB in the Premier League. - He’s not yet in the senior national team setup but 17 year old Christian Pulisic is now featuring regularly for 2nd place Borussia Dortmund. In the second divisions…Danny Williams has been one of Reading’s best players for a few years now and Bobby Wood is on a tear in the 2. Bundesliga. Throw in the (hopefully in form by then) regulars like Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore, Jermaine Jones, Aron Johannsson, Omar Gonzalez, and Matt Besler and we could actually be looking at a decent team by the time the Copa rolls around. Now what Klinsmann will do tactically and with his team selection, I have no idea but I really think we have more of a reason to be optimistic this year than we did at last year’s awful display at the Gold Cup. That being said, I respect the heck out of Costa Rica and they have several players in top leagues performing now as well and are never an easy matchup. I think with both teams at full strength on US soil, the US would have about a 60-40 edge. What do you think Costa Rica’s lineup will look like?
Venezuela shouldn't be, nor should a match vs. Bolivia not played at the elevation that a commercial airliner travels. But since we aren't drawn with either of them...
Forgot Brooks and Bedoya. Thank you for the details on them. The US definitely have some really interesting prospects in Europe. Really have been unimpressed with Yedlin and Howard this season, as an avid PL fan. But yeah, not easy to get some form with the whole team being down. Yedlin is a really young player, anyway. Your assessment of chances seems fair enough. As for our lineup, barring injuries it may look like this: ------------------------------------------ Navas (Madrid) ------------------------------------------ -------------- Duarte (Espanyol) - González (Palermo) - Waston (Whitecaps) --------- Gamboa (West Brom) --------------------------------------------------- Matarrita (NYCFC) ------------------------------- Tejeda (Evian) --- Borges (La Coruña) ------------------------ Ruiz (Sporting CP) ----------------------------------------------------------- Oviedo (Everton) --------------------------------------- Campbell (Arsenal) ---------------------------------------- That's our strongest XI imo. Oviedo is a natural LB, but Matarrita has been doing great and Venegas (Impact) hasn't been too good. Oviedo is on form right now, and knows how to play LW. Campbell is a natural winger, but our #9's aren't at their best right now, with Ureña (Midtjylland) on the bench and Saborío (DC United) getting old. Wouldn't surprise me to see Ureña start and Campbell on the wing, though. Ramirez likes him a lot, for some reason.
Haven't had a chance to see him play since he moved to Portugal. He is just settling in and getting to know the country and team. He is a good player, but has never been more than a squad option for the NT. Might have a chance if he hits form.
There will certainly be a separate thread for "Copa America Expectations: Trump points the finger at Klinsi or on to WC?" For teams wondering how they will fare against the USA, I'd say we have the right pieces now but it will take skill to pick the right ones and give them a plan they can execute.
I think we can go head to head with both CR and Paraguay, and hopefully a little home cookin will give us the edge. I just wish we were playing Colombia last. Playing them first puts the knife in our side right away.
Thanks for posting - I always enjoy these. I find it helpful to compartmentalize the draw, team assessment, and expectations. Draw So yeah, that could have gone better. We drew the toughest CONCACAF opponent from Pot 3, and one of the two tougher opponents from Pot 4. The silver lining is that, in my view, all of the teams in Group A are fairly evenly matched. It's one of those groups where, as the above analysis shows, 5 points will almost always be enough to advance from the group. Team Assessment We're still months away from this tournament, so things will change. Paraguay is 2-1-1 in WC qualifying, including a home draw against Argentina (the same team that annihilated them in Copa America last year.) We all know Costa Rica well. They are 2-0 to start WCQ, and they just beat us in a friendly in the US last year. Colombia is 1-2-1 in WCQ, but with their talent, an under-performing Colombia goes from favorite to one of the group, not a minnow. Expectations Home field advantage cannot be understated, and gives us a needed edge in a tight group. We will also bring the A-team. I cannot fathom why any fan would want to throw away this tournament just to focus on younger players. This is what Euro teams go through every cycle - the goal is to win this thing! Play whoever gives us the best chance to do that this summer. I think it's reasonable to expect us to advance from the group. I wouldn't place an arbitrary point total on those expectations - advancement itself is the baseline. I'd also feel far more confident in that assessment if we swapped groups with Mexico.