Altidore is like our Benzema. He's underrated because he doesn't always score, but he's crucial to Real's front 3 (of course, he also had a brace). Altidore's play in this match reminded me a lot of Benzema in their demolition of Bayern in Germany a couple seasons ago.
You forgot Jones who was out injured, and Holden who I think at the time was just back from injury, but on the roster, and just 24. Benny also had an excellent cup in 2010.
I agree with you about how lethal the Donovan/Dempsey/Altidore/Davies combo was. That was the combo that beat Spain (Spain! 2008 Euro winners and 2010 World Cup winners) in the Confederations Cup in 2009 and that went in the locker room up 2-0 on Brazil in the Confederations Cup final (which we could have won, had not Bob played to protect the lead in the second half). And I agree that Davies' accident was devasting.
I'm not sure it's the best ever (at least not yet). In my mind, the Mathis/Donovan/McBride combo in 2002 may have been better.
you think we would have beat Uruguay? we definitely would have beaten England (with a healthy Davies) and Ghana as well. Probably won against Slovenia. But Uruguay, I'm unsure.
Everyone's forgetting Josh Wolff. He was pretty good especially with Mathis until he had a lot of injuries.
He was not dominating, but a great team player. Fast as heck. Smart. Not bad with the ball at his foot. Check out his off-the-ball run and assist on what's arguably the biggest US goal ever: Then there's this—starting at about 5:28, first a goal, then an assist.
Beginning of Dos a Cero. After barely making the Hex and being outplayed by Mexico Wolff and Mathis got on the field and took it over.
It's amazing how little people value his passing. He continually makes any team that he is on more lukl That team was scary fast going forward.
Altidore is both overrated and underrated at the same time, Wood is very overrated, Pulisic is our best player.
Wood and Arriola both bring that grit and fighting spirit the US used to have. They are both part of a young core where hopefully the whole is better than the parts instead of the last few years where the parts were better than the whole. We se it lot from our Concacaf opponents where they play much better together than individually on their club teams. They give all and if the opponent doesn't match the work rate they have a lot of trouble. US isn't good enough to show up and out-skill other teams. They need to play hard.
Not even close. Not top 3. Totally premature to ask. First, they only have played together once? Twice? Beating Panama their only real accomplishment. At home. 1. 2002: McBride + Donovan + DMB + 1. Our best #9 ever plus DMB/LD wide. LD could also play up top with Stewart (who was #3 in the Eredivisie in scoring behind Van Nistleroy & Romario) or Cobi Jones (all time cap leader) slotting wide. If LD stayed wide, McBride could be joined up top by Mathis, Wolff, Joe Max Moore, or Stewart or Jones. Eddie Lewis as good depth wide left. Prime Reyna & JOB pulling the strings. Crazy depth & variety possible. This group got us to the QFs of the WC. Outplayed Germany & was an uncalled goalline handball from the semis. 2. 2009. Donovan/Dempsey + Davies & Jozy. OK. I am picking foursomes. I get it. This was brief, sadly, due to the crash for Charlie. Empty Bucket with MB in the midfield. DMB gave us quality depth wide. Benny some class on the ball. This squad got us within 45 minutes if a FIFA trophy at 2009 Confed Cup after beating defending WC/Euro champs Spain & had a 2-0 halftime lead on Brazil. Oh, what could habe been! The Bradley/Benny CM partnership we all dreamed of after 2007 Gold Cup never happened & Jones & Holden's health was not there for the WC. And Charlie's crash. Still, Kljestan, Clark, & Torres filled in in MF and we never really found a partner for Jozy. With him leading & Clint/LD behind, it just wasn't as potent. 3. 1930s. Patenaude. Florie. McGhee. Gonsalves pulling the strings. Dominated our WC group. 6 goals in 2 games. First ever WC hat trick from Patenaude. Still the only one for a US player. Lost a man to a broken leg 10 mins into the SF (no subs in those days). Down 1-0 at half. Lost 6-1. Patenaude's inclusion on the tournaments best xi is the only such inclusion for a USA forward and one of two in program history (Reyna at 2002 is the other).
Love the trip down memory lane -- oh if only everyone was healthy all the time.... Not sure how you classify Bobby Wood as being "very overrated".
Doesn't score at club level despite being nearly a 90 minute player per game and his goal scoring record for a team that plays a lot of CONCACAF minnows is rather pedestrian.
He's scored in the last two games....one of which was late and critical for us....and he drew a PK as well. Not sure his club team will be a high scoring team no matter who is up top. I'm not saying he's the answer to all of our problems, but I definitely see him as a quality option for us.
An option, not a starter, IMO. And he deserves credit for goals the last two games for the USMNT, I didn't say otherwise.
As an American who grew up in Brasil, I can assure you that other countries evaluate players based on more than statistics. Stats are good, but it is more about the quality of play. Pulisic was MOTM vs. Panama, and it wasn't even close. Granted, Altidore has scored a lot of goals against minnows and some against better teams, but he is far from underrated. His decision-making is not good, his first touch and passing are sometimes great, but mostly abysmal, his ball control and work rate are poor. He can hit a first time hard ball very well, but most of his game is average to mediocre IMO. Bradley is also vastly overrated. IMO his LAST best game was against Italy while he was still playing over there, and he had a cracker of a goal against Mexico, and can cross a good ball from a free kick -- that's about it in the last 4 years. His play has been mediocre to poor in the run of play. Bradley gives the ball away in critical situations too many times, his passing is mostly negative, he seems disinterested in playing, has no sense of urgency, and provides little defensive value. He seems too afraid to make a mistake and mainly trots behind the ball when he is beaten. If he weren't the son of a former coach, I can't imagine that he wouldn't have been replaced LONG ago. As for Donovan, I agree with you ... he did't get the respect he deserved. He provided value just about every game, and when we needed a result, he generally provided a goal or an assist or was the catalyst to get things going. He had good touch on the ball, great speed, made good runs, tracked back well, showed great decision-making, great passing, and good shooting ability and had the 'IT' factor. Combine all of that, and IMO Donovan is one of our top 5 players in history. Now back to your original question ... how do other countries treat players? A few years ago when Ronaldinho had returned to Brasil from Europe, he was playing very well, but was left off the National Team. Everybody still loved him because he had been the best player in the world for a while, but he was dumped on by the press and fans alike, because it wasn't good enough anymore. Productivity includes much more than just stats ... it's about overall quality of play.