Pre-match: 2018 World Cup Qualifying: USA vs Honduras; March 24th in San Jose

This thread is hilarious.....we should destroy both of these teams even with all the injuries. We have entirely too much attacking power for either of these scrubs. 2-0 and 3-0

 

Says the guy who's team has more attacking power than all of the 1BL team (save one of course) yet sits 3rd in a two horse race! I'm kidding, I kid.

 

Those who root for us to get ousted from qualification for the World Cup are fake fans. That would be devastating for the program. We'd be irrelevant for the next several years and there would be waning interest in the sport in this country. It'd bad for the program both short and long term. They prove they are Eurosnobs/anti-fans who want the U.S. do to poorly to make everybody look better in comparison so they can turn their noses up at us and say now that's real football. It's the same douches who make pro-rel for USA one of their life's causes.

In many cases we are losing to MLS players and those from local leagues worse than that. The academy system is burgeoning. The salary cap is in the process of loosening. Eventually hopefully it will be dissipated. As will the single entity system. But for that to take place the U.S. doesn't need to miss the World Cup. I don't know if that would move MLS one way or another to expedite the changes they'll need to make eventually to join top 5 league status anyway. If anything it will impede progress, making the sport less popular, so it'll be harder to develop our own players like top 15 nations all need to. Hopefully the U.S. makes the WC regardless in spite Arena's mistake, we have at least a respectable showing there, and he rides off into the sunset, with a manager in his prime taking his place, who knows the system, how to finesse it, scouts diligently, and puts together gameplans to take advantage of the attributes we have as a nation and we don't focus on what we don't have.

 

I know what he did. I adamantly disagreed with one of the replacements, and many of the original selections. Yes, he did have a lot of better options, still. In regards to just Wondo, he's proven himself to not be sufficient beyond a Cuba level. Insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. In that instance he'd have been better served trying an number of players who haven't proven to suck. What's the point in playing a guy like that? There is all downside and no upside. You have to pick your gambles, and that would be one of them. It's like he was dealt a 12 in Black Jack and chose to stay because he could bust if he got a face card. He's going to lose this hand anyway, only in this instance not give himself a realistic chance to win by drawing another card.

 

I could understand - if not entirely agree - if Bruce brought in Wondo just as insurance, or as a camp body. Wondo was already in the building - why call in some other guy who has to fly all the way to San Jose just to fill out the roster in scrimmages.

But it sounds like there might be a serious chance that Morris is out. In that case, Wondo was brought in to be the third striker. Which is a decision I find baffling. Because either that means (a) playing Jozy alone up top, which is a position that's never worked for him, or (b) we're playing two strikers, and Wondo is your primary substitute up front.

In which case - are you kidding me, Bruce Arena. If we need a goal late and you need to sub in a striker, you're relying on Wondo to be the fresh legs to score you the winner? Do you really feel there are no better options?

If Morris is truly injured and doubtful, then I can only conclude that Arena truly believes that despite the evidence to the contrary, Wondo is international-quality. And that ... that baffles me.

Even if Morris isn't that severely injured - putting Wondo as your 4th striker still means putting some trust in him. Over two games, there's every chance of one of your forwards going down, which makes Wondo your primary backup again. Unless Bruce has some idea of playing one of the midfielders out of position (unlikely, because Bruce has firmly stated that he's opposed to that), then apparently he trusts Wondo to sub in during an important match.


Okay, well - I'm still sure we'll beat Honduras at home. And at least draw with Panama. I'm critical of the roster, but I'm optimistic it won't be trouble.

 

Anyone willing to make wagers I'm taking, we get out with 6 points easy

 

Also this time around Arena is going with players with experience. He did say coming late he wouldnt veer to far off. Imagine/hope that if we get 4 points out of these 2 games and give younger experienced players a shot in Gold Cup we can then shed some of these players that are at the end of the international career. We have quite a bit of younger players that are playing well and it wont be ignored

 

Light rain falling in SJ. Still no sign of Jordan Morris. #usmnt pic.twitter.com/EzT9WKzdEZ

— Jeff Carlisle (@JeffreyCarlisle) March 21, 2017

 

Correction, one out of form attacking option and whatever Wondo is, "veteran presence"?

 

#usmnt spokesman says Jordan Morris did "gym work & rehab" today. I asked if JM would train on field tomorrow & he said JM was "day to day."

— Jeff Carlisle (@JeffreyCarlisle) March 21, 2017

 

If JMoSmooth is day to day, then so is Wondo.

 

Stop scoring. 11 in 34 games gets him a leg up.

 

Given we have damn few other options:

GCam --- Zimmerman ------ Brooks/Besler ------- JV

DMcC/MB

Lletget -------- Pulisic --------- Acosta --------- Nagbe

Dempsey/ Altidore

/ = depending on health and camp assessment

I'd instruct them to go balls to the wall with a goal of two in first half

 

I suspect there isn't more going crazy at this roster because after years of Klinsmann we are all suffering outrage fatigue

 

6 of those 11 came against semi-pro opposition. 2 more came against Guatemala in friendlies, and a B-team Guatemala at that. Then the 2 against Korea-B.

The goal against Mexico in the friendly is what he's hanging his hat on?

That's a trash CV for a supposed goal-poacher.

 

Team is in San Jose which makes everything very easy at this stage. We still have the option of playing with two forwards in Altidore and Dempsey or with one and a play maker (Klestjan)

 

They're allowed to attack too.

 

It's not really the point.

If they really have concerns about Morris's fitness, they should have called in Green, Agudelo, Benny. It's not like air travel stops working within X days of a qualifier.

I don't care if Wondo lives in the equipment shed at Avaya. He's a bumslayer. I don't want to hear about "practicing hard" and crap. Everyone practices appropriately hard at this level and no amount of Ecksteinian hustle is going to make up for the fact that Wondo has a hard ceiling internationally and that hard ceiling is basically the CFU.

 

Repped for David Eckstein reference.

 

Let me double-check...with all the roster drops/adds, I updated that graphic like 4 times

 

Thanks again for picking up on this...looks like Transfermarkt didn't capture any Liga MX games after Feb 26:

http://www.transfermarkt.com/jorge-...erein=1403&liga=&wettbewerb=&pos=&trainer_id=

My guess is that Orozco and Gonzalez are missing minutes as well.

 

Which attacking player has you shaking in your boots on this daunting Honduras side

 

it sounds like they don't track Copa MX games either. I am pretty sure Villafana has played in at least two of those games in 2017.

 

Honduras has a couple of pacy attackers that could cause our somewhat makeshift backline some trouble.

 

Not a chance ...

WTF - Whose man was that!?!​