ELO - Last match before WC (Top 10 avg = 52.2) MEX 17 USA 23 CRC 28 HON 28 CAN 49 T&T 66 JAM 71 GUA 74 ELS 83 HAI 83 CUB 90 MAR 103 PAN 117 ELO - Today (avg = 56.3) MEX 5 CRC 21 USA 22 PAN 42 T&T 67 JAM 70 HON 78 CAN 82 GUA 86 HAI 90
No bias. Does Germany not classify its citizens based upon their Germanness? That's what an article on Boateng said. I'm not thankful to Germany for anything. Germans should be thankful to the U.S.
Well, that's half the comparison. The other half is the 2002 World Cup. How did CONCACAF teams do there? Mexico won its group. The USA came second in its group. Costa Rica was stuck in a group with the eventual champion and eventual third-place team and still finished with four points.
A little late to give my thoughts on this but I'm going to post them anyway... First a foremost, what a win and what a result! It's been a long time since I felt this team played with the warrior like mentality and defensive synergy that past iterations of this team were known for. Even after going down to 10 men, the defense held firm and were rarely threatened. Guzan and [especially] Brooks were unbelievable on the night but the overall team effort was great to see as well. Zardes, Bedoya, Jones, and Bradley were relentless in their pressing of Paraguayan players and tracked back well defensively. Zusi and Beckerman did well to help close up shop towards the end. The only glaring negative was Yedlin losing his mind and letting the team down. I also didn't like how our guys were letting the Paraguayan players and the referee get to them. I really liked what I saw from the team tactically before the red card. The team looked very confident in possession and moved the ball around well. They also clogged up the midfield and closed down hard to win the ball back and disrupt any rhythm Paraguay tried to establish. It was encouraging stuff that I hope to see more of as the tournament continues. Also, a big shout out to Gyasi Zardes. For all the criticism he gets for his poor touch, he actually had several excellent first touches today and his ball control was clean for the most part. The work he put in to the set up the goal was tremendous. Thanks to @ImaPuppy for catching my Monday-itis.
if you can't even show some appreciation for their contributions to brewing, then your claim against bias is highly suspect.
Agree. Was at the game in the AO section and early in the first half, maybe on our first corner, the players were setting up right in front of us. Gyasi came into the box to take up his position. As he was coming in there was a Paraguay defender standing in his path, and Gyasi threw a stiff shoulder into his back as he went by. Not enough to risk a card but enough to make a statement. He had a hunger on Saturday, and it was no surprise that he made the assist on our goal. Overall very strong game from Gyasi.
ironically (and OT) I had a fun conversation with some Germans last week who suggest the brewing laws are ruining German beer. They were loving the variety of the US micro/craft beer scene and bummed that Germany is being left behind in the beer development world. At this rate they don't think Germany will every win a beer world cup. They all secretly support Belgian beer...
Just looking at World Cup results covers at most 4 CONCACAF teams per World Cup and a small sample of their games. You can't use World Cup results to compare the tenth best team in CONCACAF at different times.
Agree. I get as frustrated with Zardes as the next person (or more). I was at the CR game in Chicago, and his stone touch was on full display. You know what else was on full display? Someone who was making runs (often very good ones that opened up the defense and put him in a position to score), pressing, marking up, etc. He just kept working the entire 90+ minutes. So, I can see why Klinsmann likes him and trusts him. I think there is a lot to criticize Klinsmann over, but I don't think Zardes is on my list.
That's kind of a red herring considering 6 of our 11 starters started consistently or played considerable minutes in top 5 leagues last season. 9 of our 11 starters in the Paraguay game have experience playing in top 5 leagues within the last 3 years, add Wood for next year and that's 10 players. When have we ever had that amount of experience start an international match? Serious question.
I'm going to agree with you, but I want to say more generally: this debate is fascinating because there's so much polarization. On side A, you have people who are adamant that this is the most talented pool of players we've ever had, and it's not close. On side B, you have people who are adamant that this player pool is horrible compared to tournaments past, and that we're fortunate to be doing as well as we are. No centrists in this argument.
I guess I more often see people claiming (and I tend to agree) that, yes, the depth is better than we've ever had, but the top-end talent right now is lower than in the past, which doesn't neatly fit A or B.
Except for our defenders. Imo this might be both the deepest and best we've been. Every one of them starts in a top league and 2 of them (Brooks and Fab) for teams playing in Europe. The high end there is excellent, about on par with the 2nd tier European NTs which isn't bad at all. It also helps that as a unit they aren't completely over the hill, and if Miazga or CCV develop in the EPL then that will make us even deeper.
Dolo will be hard to match with this group, I think CB wise we are as strong as ever. But I admit I am biased, loved the guy who just did his job, did it well, with little fan fare until the end.
I haven't seen anyone argue B. We've had a couple posters claim that there's a number of folks "regularly" stating our player pool is horrible and our players suck, yet I've actually seen nothing of the kind outside an occasional post in the PBP threads-which aren't to be taken seriously anyone. However if you put a premium on star talent, the top of the pool, you'll probably rank the 02 squad and what we had in 09/10 as above the current.
He did, for sure, but from a talent baseline and as far as ceiling goes, I'd take Fab over him, and to a lesser extent Yedlin (if he can pick out players from crosses a little better). I loved Dolo though, dude was SO consistent and reliable.
That argument was trueish 2 years ago for a variety of reasons. I mean not horrible but sort of difficult. Things have just drastically improved with the new young players that are breaking out in the last two years.
I never said he wasn't great at WC 2010. I said I think our defense is the best and deepest it's been with the 4 we're currently starting.
Not really on topic but I believe you could easily make posts about a game you didn't watch with only seeing the box score\lineups and have someone agree with you. Just follow these 5 simple rules. 1. Criticize the 6 for bringing nothing to the attack. Doesn't matter how the game went to down, someone will hate the #6 for playing to passively. Defensive Midfielders are universally despised on Bigsoccer. 2. Criticize the oldest MLS player that plays closest to the goal 's first touch. If there is a tie on age defer to the one with the most caps. Questioning their potential to make it at "this level" or only good enough for "concacaf minnows" are also acceptable criticisms if you want to mix it up. 3. Either compliment the youngest player to play in the game or criticize the manager for not playing said youngster. Common compliments are "despite the lack of time you can really see flashes of potential". Other buzz words "Creative, "Full of Ideas", "plays with joy" etc. Save the best compliments for players at European clubs. Be sure to mention MLS prospects as possible transfer targets. For bonus points you can Combine #2 into this point by criticizing the manger for playing player in point #2 over the young phenom or " Young player's first touch is way better than the player in point #2". 4. Similar to the 6, you can also criticism whatever poor soul played LB. LBs for the USA are always bad so you can be damn sure they didn't play well. If there was a clean sheet you can temper your criticisms to "offered nothing going forward". 5. Mention the goalie had a decent game if there was a clean sheet, but make sure to point out he need to works on his distribution. ----- So for this game I'd say something like Bradley brought nothing to the attack. Zardes may be good enough for concacaf level, but his stone touch is a real hindrance at this level. Klinnsman is such an idiot Pulisic should start. He brings so much creativity to the attack. Fabian Johnson had a pretty meh game, he just didn't bring much to the attack though he kept the Parguayan attack in check. Guzan stopped some good shots but his distribution is still poor.
Except for the Pulisic line,everything is accurate wrt the Paraguay match. Remember,memes exist for a reason.
Except Fabian isn't a great defender. He's adequate. He's a great winger (at least by our standards).
I know your points were jokes but: Bradley point is valid. But of course, we weren't asking him to do much in the attack and anything we had been asking was erased once Yedlin got himself sent off. Zardes proved his positives and negatives in this game. An average forward would have put away his chance, but he also played a lot of good d and got a nice assist. Frankly Paraguay is at the level of a good Concacaf team so Zardes looked fine. Pulisic starting... that's a straw man Fabian did have a meh game. Good enough, but nothing special. Guzan was fantastic! Another straw man argument for this game. My frusrtration is that all we had to bring on for Yedlin was Orozco. Not sure who I would have chosen instead on the roster though. It's just frustrating we can't have a competent 2nd RB on this roster. Also, the ref was pretty bad. Wood was getting fouled a lot in the 2nd half. Most didn't get called. Some should have gotten cards and didn't even get called as fouls.