Is it me or am i the only person that thinks that playing tune up game vs CONCACRAP Rivals is a waste of time and a bad way to lead up to the world cup...... I mean we already beat the concacrap rivals at Gold cup and WCQ Why bother with guatemala canda or honduras!! I think the US should be playing Argentina brasil a eliminated uruguay Germany england scotland austria korea japan and nations that can be more compicated vs rivals we already know and beat over and over again???? I think taking on harder rivals leading up to the WC is more beneficial rather than taking on concacaf teams.....We are in a very difficult group we might as well give our selfs a difficult lead up to the big event........ even if these concacaf games are ment to try out new faces i rather have the new guys debute vs harder teams than concacaf rivals.... at this rate US Soccer should ask bermuda or stvincent or even guyana to come over so we can tune up..... Bring on the harder rivals playing tune up games with in our confederation cant be doing us any good with the exception of mexico...
You play who you can get to agree to the contract. Why would Argentina want to play us before the World Cup? Why would Brazil - especially in light of the fact that there is a very real possibility the two teams will meet in the second round. We are playing Germany, Japan, and (appparently behind closed doors) Korea...we've played Scotland...we're not playing Austria (who isn't going to the World Cup) but we are playing Poland (who is)...Norway is no slouch either... Wait to see who the Fed lines up for the three matches in May before you register your complaint...
These upcoming friendlies against Cnada and Norway and Japan are just to see how our domestic players can do at the international level , and for BA just to get a feel of how they play . The opponent right now does not really matter. Its later in May where it starts counting , when we have our WC squad out there.
I think the most important thing is that they are actually playing together for extended amounts of time. Some teams, like Brazil wait until about a month or so before the WC starts to get together. I think with each sequential friendly, they will become familiar with each other better and better. Even those who played in the Gold Cup together could stand to re-build chemistry after having the hectic schedule of going back and forth between national team call-ups, wc qualifiers, gold cup, and mls or european leagues...getting them all together for long periods of time is a great way to build that chemistry that we need to be able to enter Germany as prepared as we can be. After all, we are playing Germany in march..and our european opponents are no pushovers either.
I already stated on another thread that I considered playing Canada and Guatemala a waste of time as far as WC prep is concerned. Now we can add Honduras to the list.....
All teams will schedule patsies, incuding club teams, because you just want your guys to get to know one another better. It's no different than having your starters practice against the back-ups in the NFL.
It's not so simple to just say, hey, let's play Hungary or Austria because they are decent 2nd tier Euro sides. The USSF would have to pay to bring these teams over, pay their expenses and appearance fee and then recoup some of those costs through the production of these games themselves, which doesn't seem too likely. Now maybe the USSF could afford to do so with Norway, but not with Norway, Hungary, AND Austria. When we go overseas, those federations pay us money to appear and they pay our expenses, but we are invited to do so. Perhaps we tried to go play Argentina in Buenos Aires but were refused by the AFA. Who knows. Simply put, you can't just name a country and get upset that we aren't playing them. Canada and Guatemala are a helluva lot less expensive than Brasil too.
Additionally, there's something to be said for letting some newer guys gain confidence within the system against inferior foes before playing more difficult matches like @Dortmund.
Though these games are seen almost as practice matches in preparation for the world cup..i think practice against ANY nation is better than practicing against yourselves..a group who you already know the weaknesses and tendencies.
There are a lot of reasons why we likely won't play Brasil before the WC in June but this isn't one of them. Aren't we playing Japan in SF in Feb? They could possibly be our 2nd round opponent too.
Exactly. We're not the only ones who decide who we play - the opponent has to also see us as an opponent worth playing. Remember how there were rumors that we would play "Spain, Portugal, or Ukraine" in March? We ended up getting Poland on that date. Probably because the other three teams declined to play us - given the strength of the rumor, it is highly probable that the USSF contacted all three federations offering to set up a friendly.
We still have the May games coming, and I'll bet we'll get an african team and a 2ed tier euro team. I feel and hope its in the cards. We might also get mexico, which I would rather not due to injuries (these games are always heated). We don't need a couple of stars to get injured to prove again that we can beat mexico. I also have a feeling they do not want to play us for the same reason, unless the federations need $$$, which would suck for the players, at the expense of the players so close to the world cup.
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo I mean, i think we can do better and also strive for more variety....CONCACAF opposition, when already part of it, does look redundant to say the least
No, I am not happy, we probably could have set up matches versus some better South American teams not named Brazil and Argentina, but I am realistic. 1. First, look at the days that Canada, Norway, Japan, Guatamala, Hondouras are scheduled. These are not FIFA Int'l dates. Any major soccer country has their players playing in a top tier or other league where there are club games - and the clubs are not obligated to release these players, so you can't get Argentina, etc. 2. Remember, the US squad before the final 3 games (and the March Euro games) is no more than a split squad (and the lesser half). What major team is going to want to play against Nate Jaqua, Matt Reis and Kyle Martino? 3. The argument that we will go to them is just as absurd. As said, European teams (including second and third tiers) have club games or their clubs will not release the players. Playing Brazil, or Argentina in their countries? Not sure if you have noticed, they NEVER play home freindly matches becuase the majority of their team is playing abroad and/or they are getting huge appearance fees to play major powers in the Middle East. They are not flying halfway around the world to play a midweek friendly against a watered down US team. These games are set up to build cohesion with half the team, possible reserves and to ensure that we are not missing any emerging candidates.
It's also probably easier for Bruce to evaluate the new guys against opponents with which we are familiar. If we send out a team of relative unknowns (on the international level) against an unknown opponent, it's alot harder to say who would fit in his system. But if our defense is torched by Honduras. . . Cherno
I think the friendly schedule is better so far than the preparation for 2002 World Cup, where we played subpar CONCACAF teams in general. Il Bruce is following the same 3 phase script as in 2002. 1. The January/February games are designed to "build cohesion with half the team, (identify) possible reserves and to ensure that we are not missing any emerging candidates" as Cleansheet said. 2002 Gold Cup Opponents: Korea, El Salvador, Cuba, Canada, and Costa Rica 2006 Schedule: Korea(scrim), Japan, Canada, Norway, Guatamala I think the competition is slightly better this go round for the MLS players. The key in this time is to identify 1 or 2 new role players for the team, such as a potential super-sub goalscorer (Rolfe??). Remember it was in the 2002 Gold Cup that Beasley and Donovan truly started to develop into international level threats.....culminating in the great run during 2002 WC. A lot of people want to play an African team. It is not going to happen until April or May because of the African Nations Cup. 2. March/April games are for looking at European players and meshing them with best of MLS players from Jan/Feb camp. 2002: @Italy , Honduras, @Germany, Mexico, @Ireland 2006: @Poland, @Germany, ??? in April Not quite as challenging so far in 2006, unless a few games added in April, however, same general purpose of starting to mesh European and top MLS talent. If you are an MLS player and are not getting serious looks at this time, WC 2006 will not be in your destiny without unfortunate injuries. 3. May -- the true buildup to the cup. 25-30 players in camp. Identifying last 2 or 3 role players, tweaking lineups, and meshing starters. May 2002: Uruguay, Jamiaica, Holland May 2006 (guess): 1 African team, 1 S. American team, 1 qualified European team......(Uruguay/Paraguay/Ecuador, Ivory Coast/Nigeria, Holland/Spain/France) I think schedule will be fine if following happens: Jan/Feb Games MLS players establish a rhythm with 2 or 3 players truly emerging (Rolfe/Pearce/Jacqua/Clark/Martino) and 2 or 3 serving notice of future readiness (Adu/Jacqua/Guzan/Ugo) Mar/Apr Play good games with predominant Euroteam against Germany and Poland May Win/tie/competitive against top squads heading to World Cup yet to be identified
We're playing Italy, Czech Rep, and Ghana in the WC. That means we should be scheduling friendlies with teams that play in a similar style to these teams, no? So who do we have scheduled that falls into that category? Where are the big gaps? For example, to prepare for Ghana, I would argue that we need to schedule a team like Ecuador, Columbia or Chile, NOT a different African team. Ghana has more similarities to the South Americans than their fellow Africans.
I don't think we''l see euro sides who have qualified come to the usa at the end of may.... some NON-qualified euro perhaps... also, some south american side traveling towards europe, could easily stop off and do a match on the east coast bvefore their final transition to europe.. as to african sides, cameroon or nigeria might be willing to come in may... and we might just get mexico on the east coast too, as they go to europe
Who did we play last go-around that resembled Portugal? The Oranje were the closest match, but there were significant differences in the way the two teams' midfields worked at the time (the Dutch had a much stronger central midfield - Portugal had no player like Davids - and as Robben had not yet emerged the Netherlands were much weaker on the wings than Portugal).
First, we should be thankful that USSF has managed to schedule as many friendlies as they have. Playing numerous friendlies builds team chemistry, allows evaluation of new players, provides experience, develops depth, and allows tactical flexibility because Arena's confident in who can do what. One of the acknowledged keys to our success in 2002 was the number of friendlies the USA played in the run up to the WC, which allows the USMNT to play more like a club than a national team. If you look at most of the other qualified teams around the world, they don't any games scheduled in January and February. Second, it's not about playing someone new, fun, and exciting. It's about preparing for the WC. Nothing else matters. So, I couldn't care less that we're playing teams that we've played before as long as they provide the competition and preparation we need. Third, we don't get to pick who we play. The other team also has to agree. Do y'all really think we can just pick up the phone and have Brazil, Argentina, or Italy bring their A team to play our MLS guys in January or February??? That's ignorant. The friendlies scheduled in January and February are not on FIFA international match dates (hence it is impossible to get an "A" team from any of the world's best). We have to take what we can get. And, for a home game, that usually means regional teams for non-FIFA dates. Fourth, the teams we're scheduled against will not be walkovers. In case some have forgotten, our last match was against #60 ranked Scotland and we managed a 1-1 tie. So, playing Canada (84), S. Korea (29), Japan (15), Norway (38), Guatemala (56), and Honduras (41) should not be cakewalks for the MLS guys and will definitely serve their intended purposes. Finally, we've got strong opponents lined up in March in Europe against European teams and will have more friendlies in May. Both March games are set in Germany against other WC teams, and one is a venue for one of our first-round games. That's fantastic. Frankly, USSF deserves to be commended for a job well done, instead of the whining on this thread.
the absence of fifa dates is a royal pain to arena in getting his euros together... I do think it's poland and germany where the team chemistry matter is addressed... it's very possible to have as many as 15 euros on the final 23 roster... clearly, a majority will be euros... in fact, MOST of the squad is very familiar with each other having gone through the 2002 wc finals and qualification.... the only really new faces are rolfe, pearce, adu, and I wouldn't expect them to be starters.... the two march euro friendlies PLUS the may camp and 3 friendlies should be sufficient to rekindle the needed teamwork...
Well said. It's got to be very difficult to get teams to play on non-FIFA date unless their players are out of season. I say you take what you can get this time of year. BTW I can imagine the conversation between USSF and Argentina trying to get a game in February: USSF: "Hi, this is the US calling. We'd like you to piss off all of the coaches and players in Europe more than you are already doing and bring a team to play a meaningless game this February where you don't get paid very much because we won't fill the stands. What day can you make it?" Argentina: Click.