1 - They had each other 2 - They had Tim Howard 3 - They had Demarcus Beasley, Jermaine Jones, and Michael Bradley 4 - They had outstanding central defenders like Onyewu, Bocanegra, Demerit, etc. 5 - They had a group of MLS players on the fringe who were hard ass big game players (Beckerman, etc) 6 - Even the fringe guys played games like their children’s lives depended on it
I do feel like we have a lot of mentally weak players. Pulisic is not one of them, but just about everyone else is. It's kind of infuriating.
Jedi Robinson and Tyler Adams are both fighters who represent the US well. Dest and Weah have their moments. McKennie was a fighter in his youth. Reyna is someone who could be the kind of asshole with high standards that tells other guys to eff off if they’re screwing around, but he’s still immature and weak-minded in a lot of ways himself. People need to take ownership.
Shock collars and treats? Heck it even works for cats. Our players, mostly, are not yet at the dog level where pain and rewards are unnecessary.
The current squad is better on the flanks, but most of the spine is missing: GK and CB are serious problem positions, and CF is inconsistent at best. The GK and CB weakness limits our midfield because midfielders have to stay back and cover. If we had Jermaine Jones in our current midfield, playing the same way he did, we'd hemorrhage goals.
Pulisic has a plenty good enough supporting cast. What we need is a good coach to come in here and put them in a better position to win. An interim manager with no experience at the senior adult level probably isn't it. Donovan and Dempsey together got no further at the World Cup than Pulisic just did. There's that. Neither did the Bradley, Jones, Howard, etc. generation. Neither did any of those teams with the CBs listed by the original poster. Losing one friendly without much of our "A" lineup under the guidance of an inexperienced interim coach.........................is not a sign of the apocalypse. It was a bad moment that we'll recover from.
Our goalkeeper would stop everything, and our centerbacks would absolutely murder this current crop. Im talking absolute ragdolling. It would look like, well.......Borgetti vs Onyewu. Im not joking when I say we have become Mexico.
The pre-Dempsey years were probably better than the Donovan-Dempsey years. I'm not sure Dempsey would start in a 2002-Present best lineup if we're trying to put together the best team instead of the best XI players. This might be my team, with the qualification being that I am selecting them at their absolute peak form and health. -----------------------Friedel ----Dest---Onyewu---Bocanegra---O'Brien ---------------------Mastroeni ------Pulisic--------Reyna--------Beasley -------------Donovan----McBride
Jermaine Jones had arguably the best performance a US player has had in an international tournament in the 2014 World Cup. I personally think he’s the best 8 we have ever had.
Yes, but we can't afford to have a center mid in a free role like Jones's today, because our center backs and goalkeepers are so shaky.
Both Clint and Landon certainly played with superior US teams than Puli has. I frankly don't think we've had that great a team in about a decade. Some good talent but mismatched with gaping holes and weaknesses. The poorest version of Mexico in the modern era has glossed over that. As one example, despite the incessant hype Adams, Wes and Musah have received for a few years- for me I am starting the prime Jones/Bradley duo over all three. Example two would be just about any starting CB duo in a competitive match from 1995-2015 is superior to what we have now. And Ream who recently held it together is just about done. Our GK position is the worst it has been since the early 90's. There's your spine. Doesn't help that when you look at a comparison like McKennie to Jones, one was a physical specimen(even more obvious in person) and the other is more of a porky buffet fanatic. As an aside, we do a remarkably poor job of cycling fresh talent into the A team when the opportunity arises. This window is somewhat pointless. Non-competitive window with an interim coach. Perfect opportunity to have run out guys like Diego Luna mixed in with a few A team regulars. The MLS vs Europe convo is a low IQ debate at this point. The real point would be blooding in a few challengers in an A team setting when you have that option. We rarely take advantage of that. It's either purely A team or purely B/C team. That's a waste.
It's interesting you say that because the Bradley - Jones pairing wasn't that great and until Beckerman was added behind them it was usually less than the parts. Adams may be the only Dmid we've tried lately that mostly is disciplined enough to do the role by himself (and even he has had problem spots). Perhaps this is one of the first things that Pochetino solves. That whole defensive diamond spine GK, two CB's and d mid is the biggest problem that there is.
Indeed. I think there's a lot of nostalgia for the past here that wasn't actually reality. The aforementioned Donovan and Dempsey were criticized mercilessly on these boards just like the current generation is now. Bradley may be the most criticized player in the history of the board. People couldn't wait to get rid of McBride, and then couldn't wait to get rid of Altidore. We're bringing in a coach to have this group of talented guys, very few of whom have hit their primes, play better as a team. That's how Canada beat us. Not because they had more talented individual players at every position. They played better as a team. What that Canada game should have told people is we need better coaching. Jesse Marsch isn't Carlo Ancelotti, but we certainly made him look like he was. Whenever this team loses a game, everyone decides that its a sign of the apocalypse. Sometimes sports teams do indeed lose games. Sometimes they have bad days and get outcoached. The federation decided we need better coaching, so they went out to get Pochettino. A coach the likes of which we all thought was out of our league. I never thought we'd get a guy like that. So we've addressed this issue and we'll see how it goes.
I tend to think we act like we've never had players in Europe before when most all the solid US teams for decades had players in Europe, many of whom played a bigger part on their teams that what we have now. I get the excitement when the current crop emerged because we had such a horrible cycle when we couldn't even qualify, so these guys were a breath of fresh air and they were getting picked up by big clubs and were still young. But, many haven't improved much over the last 3-4 years and things are looking a bit stale with most of the team being bit part players on big clubs or those who are getting minutes and making a difference playing at lower levels like our guys in the Championship or the group at PSV. Pulisic is the only player on this current team doing more than guys we've had before staring and being a key player at a significant club. The rest are a level or two down from him and most aren't regulars or they are at best role players. Who outside of Pulisic is an inked in started in a top league? Dest at PSV before he was injured. Scalley, Chris Richards, Robinson and I think that's basically it. Adams before injury was expected to take a big role. Am I missing anyone? McKennie keeps being told to leave Juve. Weah has started a game but is still just finally getting a shot at playing up front after a little used season as a wingback. Balogun not starting right now in France. Musah is and out of the lineup at Milan. Richards I mean, just look at 2014, a team that no one hyped as the greatest generation or whatever and you find: Altidore had a couple poor seasons in Premier League, but no current striker plays there at all and he dominated Holland. Bedoya was a long time starter in France Bradley succeeded in Germany and Italy Brooks was a Bundelsiga regular Cameron started in Premier League Dempsey was a Premier League difference maker Howard and Guzan both Premier League starters Jones was a decorated Bundelsiga player Go to 2010: Altidore Beasley - PSV when they were better than now Bocanegra -Starter in France and some years in Premier League Cherundolo - Bundesliga stalwart Bradley Dempsey Howard and Guzan Holden when he was looking great in the Premier League Onyewu had just signed for Milan Spector was getting real minutes in the Premier League Donovan was an all timer for the US Every US team for decades has been littered with guys who have been able to hack it in top leagues. Sure, these days we have a lot more depth and guys who can get a job riding the bench or playing in some second tier league that's arguably a slight upgrade over MLS, but the number of guys we have who are regular starters and key components of top teams is remarkably stagnant. This group is still young so we'll likely see some of them achieve more over the next several years, but as of now I don't see the big upgrades that everyone acts are obvious.