Pre-match: USA-Trinidad and Tobago, World Cup Qualifier, 8 June 2017

Whatever you think of him, the problem he addresses is depth at the central dmid position that USMNT play. We don't have anybody in Europe who could handle it. His competition in US would be Cronin, I guess.

 

Horvath
Yedlin-Besler-Brooks-Johnson
Cameron
Bradley-Acosta
Pulisic
Altidore-Morris

 

Carlisle reported more:

Jeff Carlisle‏Verified account @JeffreyCarlisle 4h4 hours ago
Bruce Arena said John Brooks has a bruised right quad & that he doesn't know if the D will be ready for Thursday's match vs. T&T. #usmnt

 

No way on earth anybody not named Timmy is starting in goal against T&T. They have to get three there. More likely to give some other keeper a go in Mexico since anything we get there is bonus.

Howard
Yedlin Cameron Brooks/Besler Villafana
Pulisic Nagbe Johnson Bradley
Dempsey Altidore

Against Mexico: (depends of course on injuries and fitness of course)
Howard
Yedlin Cameron Brooks/Besler Johnson
Mccarty/Acosta Bradley Pulisic Bedoya
Altidore Wood

 

Besler over Gonzalez?

 

Danny Williams. Hopefully, after the first half of the season, Weston McKennie.

 

Why not?

 

Meh

 

As important as this game might seem, Honduras are tied with us but have a -5 gd to our +1

Panama have 1 more point than we do sitting in 3rd place
Remaining games:

Panama play Honduras at home, we have yet to play Honduras away.

We both play Trinidad at home and Mexico away.

Panama has to play CR away and at home - we have CR at home and Trinidad away.

Then there's the back breaker for Panama - they have to play us in USA. Mark that one on the calendar. So, kinda even except that home game we have against them.

the Honduras situation is interesting::

They have 4 away games and 2 home games. However, the 2 home games are Mexico and USA. If they travel well (big "if") and get2 wins at home they could get up the ladder.
Say Honduras win home against US and Mexico, lose away to CR and Mexico but win @ Trinidad.
They will have 9 more points and sit at 13 points with the away game at Panama deciding their fate.

It looks like we could still qualify with a catastrophic loss or draw on Thursday but would most likely have to make up for the fiasco with a win over CR at home which could be dicey. Winning on Thursday puts us in a good position to go through comfortably with 2 wins on that last week of matches away to Trinidad and home to Panama.

 

Will be interesting to see how Arena negotiates this one on Thursday, taking into account the Mexico game is on Sunday.

 

After seeing how players performed against Venezuela, I think this team would win big against Trinidad with little chance of anything going wrong. Bruce can re-arrange them to his liking.


---------jozy--------wood------pulisic

---fab-------Bradley------Dax-------Zusi

----------ream----Gonzo-----Cam

-------------------GK: Howard

USA 5-1 TRI - (Jozy with the brace, Wood, Gonzo and Pulisic 1 @)

 

----------------- Howard --------------------
Yedlin - Cameron - Gonzalez- Villafana
---------------- Bradley ---------------------
Johnson ----- Pulisic ------------ Nagbe
--------- Wood ---------- Jozy ------------

Get 3 pts, get 3 goals, increase the GD. That's the goal for this match against Trinidad, in my opinion. This is the match we must have our best performance.

 

I'd be ok with Gonzo especially in the T&T game. And I think he is better overall than Besler. The problem is that he is usually good for one really bad play each match. As in leads to a goal bad. Besler is less error prone but not as strong overall. So I guess pick your poison.

 

T&T dismisses Cordell Cato from the squad for "disciplinary reasons":

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017...-sent-home-trinidad-tobago-national-team-camp

This is a surprise - Cato usually never lets his personal life interfere with his professional life or ideals.

 

This is a critical match for us. It's very important to get three points against a weaker opponent.

Fortunately, history is on our side.

http://www.starsandstripesfc.com/us...-history-trinidad-tobago-world-cup-qualifying

Trinidad and Tobago versus the United States has been one of those David and Goliath matchups where the story never materializes, because Goliath crushes David as expected. Trinidad and Tobago is coming to the United States where they have never won in thirteen attempts and have failed to register a goal since 1996, a streak of more than 600 minutes. The only time Trinidad and Tobago earned a result was in 1989 when the Soca Warriors drew 1-1. The U.S. has won ten straight at home and outscored Trinidad and Tobago 25-3 during that stretch.

 

Full steam ahead. The Trinidad game is the more important one.

 

That doesn't sound like something to be dismissed over unless he told them he wouldn't play unless they did. Surely there's more to it than that.

 

Echoing the sentiments of others throughout this thread, but the T & T game is huge given how important home qualifiers are. Historically we have been very strong against Trinidad, so I am confident going into this one (but wary that anything can happen).

My projected line-up is as follows:

----------------------------------Howard---------------------------------------------
--Yedline-----------Cameron-----------Brooks (if healthy)------------------Villafana
---------------------------------Bradley-------------------------------
--Nagbe-------------------------------------------------Johnson---------------
---------------------------------Pulisic---------------------------------------------
------------------------Dempsey-----------Jozy----------------------------

I think the chemistry between Dempsey, Jozy and Pulisic was fantastic against Honduras, so I'm hoping we get to see it again. jozy's combination play has improved leaps and bounds the past year or two in Toronto, so I think having Pulisic roaming and combining with Deuce and Jozy is going to be lethal.

I would prefer seeing Bradley paired up with a central midfielder, but given how we have played recently, I don't think Bruce will do it here.

Fabian Johnson has been disappointing as of late, but I think he gets the start given what we know he can do, and I have a feeling that he and Nagbe will have good games.

Prediction: 3-0 to the US of A.

 

That is all very reassuring. But I'm concerned that we managed 12 shots, only 2 on goal vs. Venezuela, dead last in CONMEBOL qualification. They managed 4 shots on goal. Not only is our offense less than impressive, now Brooks is injured and probably won't play---or if he does, it might be another terrible display like vs. Costa Rica. I don't mean to bust our bubble, but we might struggle against a team that is weaker than Honduras?

 

High?lights from the semi-final round of qualifying. It's really the same old song.

<script height="445px" width="791px" src="http://player.ooyala.com/iframe.js#ec=R0eGNyNTE6FHbglWrs_dxJObRNFJKuF0&pbid=MzA3Y2QyZTc2MGNjN2U3ODgxNmNmNzVj"></script>

<script height="445px" width="791px" src="http://player.ooyala.com/iframe.js#pbid=MzA3Y2QyZTc2MGNjN2U3ODgxNmNmNzVj&ec=1jOWp3eDrWEwK5tFSyXs4m4U5kzAVsf6"></script>

edit: didn't those used to show up as pretty snapshot links?

 

The drama unfolds... (from Wired868)

Neither Lawrence nor Cato have spoken publicly about the fall-out so far. However, Wired868 received information on the issue from an informed source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Cato, according to the source, contacted Lawrence during the week and asked to be allowed to spend Saturday night with his wife, Jonelle Warwick, and report to camp on Sunday morning. Cato lives with his wife in San Jose where he is employed with Major League Soccer (MLS) team San Jose Earthquakes.

Lawrence, a former World Cup 2006 player and Everton assistant coach, blanked Cato’s request and insisted that everyone had to make sacrifices for their World Cup drive—including the coach who did not travel with his own wife.

Incidentally, Warriors midfielder Khaleem Hyland got married last weekend and asked for some days off with his wife before joining the squad. Lawrence answered in the negative and Hyland agreed to postpone his honeymoon to link up with the Warriors at their Denver training camp instead and prepare to face the United States on 8 June.

Cato, according to the source, wanted special consideration. So Lawrence suggested a compromise. The Warriors winger was told that he could spend Saturday with his wife and family in Denver but should then show up alone for camp at 8.30pm.

Instead, Cato allegedly turned up to the team’s hotel at 8.45pm with his wife and son and told the coach that he would see them to their room before he joined the squad for dinner.

Lawrence insisted that Cato’s suggestion was unacceptable and the winger promptly left with his entourage. The player still had not contacted the technical staff by Sunday morning when the head coach named his 24-man squad and explained to the players why Cato was excluded.

Wired868 has so far been unable to reach Cato for his own version of the incident.

The winger’s absence is a blow to the Warriors since they are already shorthanded with a growing list of injuries that now includes Levi Garcia, Willis Plaza, Jomal Williams, Akeem Roach and Carlyle Mitchell while veteran forward Cornell Glen only recently returned from injury and was not included.

Hardline coach with strong ideas on team discipline vs. player who didn't take his new coach's ideas seriously. In any case, sounds like discord in the heart of Trinidad....

 

Beasley may have his problems as a defender, but I don't think getting beaten for speed is one of them.

 

People worrying about getting a result against Mexico don't understand the task at hand.

Don't get me wrong, a draw would be phenomenal, but we need to take care of business in our final three home matches. In fact, we need to continue to build up a sizeable goal differential because it may decide who goes to the playoff and who qualifies automatically.

 

That's not very nice of Arena to call Brooks a D.

 

Well, at least they still have The Green Hornet....