I don't think BOCA is the go to guy in organizing from the back, Cameron is now the man, if you look at the last two games, Cameron was the guy making the forward pass most of the time. But with JK, anything is possible as proven time after time.
You're forgetting one tiny bit - a $2.5M/Y contract. Sunil/USSF won't eat it. Anyway, I think Boca will play on the left, Goodson and Cameron in the central defense; Williams, Jones and Bradley in central midfield and Dempsey, Gomez and Zusi in nominal attack. And they'll try to bore the A&B to death.
Most contracts have stipulations and clauses. I can't imagine the USSF being shorted sided enough to put down 2.5/y with nothing to protect themselves. Also, I'm think the exact same for the XI.
------------------------------------Howard------------------------------------------- --------------------------Cam------------------------Edu---------------------------- Cherundolo-------------------------------------------------------------Bocanegra ---------------------------------------Williams-------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------Zusi--------------------- -------------Bradley--------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------Dempsey---------------------- ----------------------------Gomez----------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------EJ-----------------------------
i thought we'd been playing a 4-1-3-2 recently? which isn't a bad formation when you keep to one DM in the "1" spot, Bradley (or another box to box guy) in the center of the "3" and put guys who are hybrid wide midfielders/central midfielders with some creativity/attacking skills who are also willing to work hard and pressure in the two outside parts of the "3". of course JK plays a 4-1-3-2 with DMs in all 4 of the positions behind the strikers. which is why we suck and can't generate offense. if JK had the sense of a cow or even a very smart toaster he'd call in Lichaj to play LB .. but since we know JK doesn't have the sense of even a ficus i'm not holding my breath. ideal USMNT 4-1-3-2: Howard Dolo, Cameron, Boca, LB Williams Donovan, Bradley, F Johnson Dempsey, Gomez A&B 4-1-3-2: Howard Dolo, Cameron, Goodson, Boca Williams Zusi, Bradley, Kljestan Dempsey, Gomez
Whether it was the hex or the first round wasn't my point. The point was that the margins in WCQ can be very thin. Mexico, 2nd in the Hex, round of 16 particpant, reigning Olympic gold medalists, vanquisher of the might Brazil and recipient of all manner of accolades and hosannas, was in serious trouble in the first round and barely qualified for the hex. So I think the freakout is a bit overdone. And, as Mexico demonstrates and as the 2002 example you cite demonstrates, there isn't necessarily any correlation in performance from round to round.
Sven was fired in the Hex. If that is what you were referring to. They were 1 and 2 at the time having lost to us and Honduras and beaten Costa Rica.
But the Hex vs the prior round does actually matter. The round prior to the Hex has weaker opponents than the final (Hexagonal) round. Ergo, the round before the Hex should be easier. And in 2008 it absolutely was for the US, as we dominated to a 4-0-0 record and 12 points and an 11-1 goal differential, clinching advancement after only 4 games. Heck, we were able to play the B-team in the final 2 matches! Others have noted the problem here already, but I really don't think the analogy with Mexico in 2008-2009 and the Sven disaster is a favorable analogy for Klinsi. Do you really want to use a struggling CONCACAF power managed by an expensive European coach who was fired during the Hex for leading his team to the brink of elimination as the analogy for Klinsmann in 2012-2013??? Klinsi and his fans will want to run from that comparison ASAP.
mexico finished tied for second in the first round of qualifying with Jamaica. Went through on goal differential. mexico continued to struggle in the hex after sven left. they lost to el salvador and drew with trinidad and tobago. if trinidad had won they could have easily finished 4th in the qualifier after sven left. so if it was just the coach then why didnt they zoom off into greater heights after he left? essentially mexico struggled on the road.
Mexico got much better after Sven left. Did they IMMEDIATELY get better the day after he left? No. But they got much MUCH better. Did you watch them during the Sven era? It was like I was watching a completely different team. They played very direct which doesn't play to their strengths at all. He didn't seem to have any understanding of the players available to him nor the historic strengths of the Mexican program.
About the only good thing you can say with regardst to most HS soccer in this country is that it's "free".
I suppose. I dont think that four year window for mexico was very good. I think they were in transition. the team they have right now from 2011 to now is really good. best they have had in years. I dont think they even played very well in world cup 2010. lucky to get through honestly. south africa deserved to win that match and if they had they would have gone through. Mexico didnt play very well in the world cup either. I would argue mexico would have done just as well under erickson. they are just xenophobic down there. it is what it is though. people are confusing the current mexican squad with who they were then in 2008. a lot of the players on todays mexican squad were nowhere near the squad back in 2008.
They played at the level expected of them that had been established over many years of playing in the World Cup. Anything more would have been a good achievement. That doesn't change the fact that he didn't play to the team's strengths. If I'm not mistaken his callups came under fire too as Mexico had a youth movement going on which he ignored.
No. However, they strenghts of the Mexican players in general have not. They aren't big, or particularly fast, which wouldn't make them a good team for a direct English style like Svengolly likes. They are, and have been for a long time, very technical and South American in style. Your view on SE's tenure couldn't be much more favorable to him. He was an abysmal failure down there, and they probably would have missed the WC if they had kept with him. Sven's resume would be very, very short if you only included his successes. His list of failures is quite a bit longer than the other.
LOL I remember now. They actually called back C. Blanco.... who was the wiley old veteran who becamse the leader, that tied all loose ends, and had them playing AMAZING! He was slow as balls, but was a great creator, and IMO was the reason they made it to the WC.
Just like it stopped Bradley from being fired. The contract wasn't as big but Sunil will do anything to shift blame to someone else.
There was a Mexico poster just a few days ago saying one of the big differences between Sven and Flores was the idea that the Euro based players where better then the domestic players. Sven didn't have the understanding of the domestic league and players that's required for a team like Mexico. He would basically call in inferior Euros because they played in Europe and he assumed they where better then the Mexican league players. When Flores came in he started calling in a mostly domestic group of players. That was his explanation of one of the factors that helped change things around for them.