Post-match: Post Mortem USA- EL Salvador

If true, that's not the kind of image soccer mom wants, because they'll see soccer as "dirty and thuggery". The U.S. press, if taken seriously by the report, could spin it negatively.

 

Boyd on choosing U.S. over Germany: "I'm proud of my team. For the first time today, I really felt what it's like to fight for your country."

I F8888888 LOVE THIS GUY.

 

But with 5 players plying their trade abroad, including 4 in Europe plus the Mexican league's Rookie of the Year no less... in addition to blue-chipper Agudelo and a roster where everybody else is in the MLS, there is no excuse in terms of naivety. We have a heterogeneous team of pros that by now are well familiarized with international competition.

What we've got here is a U23 national team that is so good that it does not have to show up for the game. We have a team that is above singing the national anthem (granted, a couple may not know it yet...). We have a team that didn't think it had to run a bit faster, tackle a bit harder, aim carefully or have some pride in giving it their best shot.
Thus... when I saw GK Hamid leaving the game after a couple of dismal plays and... oh yes... apparently a hurt ankle, I sensed that this player preferred to save his face than to save his team.
That is all.

 

This is my first post I've been following US National soccer for a while and have read countless threads on here

I'm really upset at the result. I know its just a game but we had this game won. Why did the team pull of the gas pedal once the 3rd goal went in? When the second half started they started playing with spirit and actually started showing what they are capable off. Why did the goal keeper look scared/nervous? Why not put the fast guy (i think his name is Gyau?) in their after the 3rd goal to keep the pressure and hopefully seal the game with a 4th goal. The backline doesn't seem solid either. Oh well guess I will not know the answers to these questions.

 

Before we hit the panic button on our keepers for the future, I have to remind you all that there are a lot of young keepers in MLS. Johnson and Hamid just both happen to be young starters, which is why they are getting looks with the national team setup. Also, Tim Howard wasn't a regular starter for the MetroStars until he was 22, Kasey Keller started at 23 for Millwall in the English second division, and Brad Friedel didn't get his first starting gig (or playing gig, for that matter) until he was 24. So there is a lot of time for all of these guys to develop:

Joe Bendik (April 25, 1989) - Portland Timbers
Sean Johnson (May 31, 1989) - Chicago Fire
Brian Perk (July 21, 1989) - Los Angeles Galaxy
David Bingham (October 19, 1989) - San Jose Earthquakes
Ryan Meara (November 15, 1990) - New York Red Bulls
Bill Hamid (November 25, 1990) - D.C. United
Zac MacMath (August 7, 1991) - Philadelphia Union
Brian Sylvestre (December 19, 1992) - Vancouver Whitecaps
Jon Kempin (April 8, 1993) - Sporting Kansas City

If you look at these guys, only four of them are getting regular starts, and Meara and MacMath are obviously just starting out, so they were never going to get called for this team. Then you have guys like Sylvestre and Kempin that are still teenagers, but were good enough to earn professional contracts. Give these kids some time. If Hamid and Johnson don't pan out, maybe Meara and MacMath will. Or Bendik, who already has nine appearances in the Norwegian top flight under his belt, and has a decent shot at unseating Troy Perkins in Portland. Or maybe Sylvestre and Kempin will be our next Friedel and Howard.

I understand the worries about our goalkeeping (and defensive) future, but you have to remember that there is a lot more depth in talent in the United States nowadays, so the real gems can still be buried, working their way to the surface in training and in professional environments that they never would have been in previously.

Chins up. Missing out on the Olympics (and the U-20 World Cup) sucks, but in youth soccer, things can change in an instant. The next U-20 World Cup is 15 months away, the U-17 tournament 20 months away. We have Tab Ramos and Richie Williams in charge of these teams now, with fresh ideas, and a fresh crop of players coming out of MLS academies who could make a big impact on our youth program.

 

God awful goalkeeping and tactics

Porter looks like a bigger fool for predicting a win.

hope he learns and improves his coaching the guy has potential but he isnt ready for the international game.

 

Please stop mentioning Adu to the senior team crap. LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES. Adu is a ****ing curse. Any team he plays on turns to s*it.

 

Sometimes the right thing to do is to "lose your composure":

http://www.soccertimes.com/usteams/2000/sep14.htm

Just because we didn't live up to expectations in level of play doesn't mean we weren't robbed.

I am disappointed in the limp-wristed non-reaction from the players and the coach in the game that mattered.

It's too late to change the outcome now.

A "dust-up" in the game could have killed clock. --missed opportunity.

 

I don't see how anyone can say anything other than Klinsmann made a poor choice for the coach of the team. The Olympics are important as the USMNT needs refreshing and the Olympics would have been a valuable opportunity for young players to demonstrate that they should jump up the depth chart. Porter needs a real job before he is given this kind of responsibility, so I would say poor judgment on the part of JK and hope he does better in the future.

Can we have a one-week moratorium on calling for veteran USMNT to be replaced by the allegedly more talented kids?

 

Can't blame the tournament format when you can't finish top half of a four team group. Shameful we can't qualify from a tournament held in our backyard. Qualifying for 2016 will be difficult....it's highly unlikely to be played here again.

I personally HATE the single elimination semifinals format though. I felt bad for the U20's last year losing to a motivated home team in the semi's. This tournament just kind of pissed me off for all sorts of reasons.

 

I disagree, Real. None of the Salvadoran players were in any level technically superior to their American counterparts. The Salvadoran goalkeeper can't kick or even aim his goal kicks. Defender Larin apparently only knows how to kick the ball far away. Alas, Flores, Blanco, etc., I would probably compare them to a good NCAA player than to comparatively similar pro players from this region.

The first Salvadoran goal came by means of a corner kick. That was not a product of greater skill, but absent-minded defending.

The second Salvadoran goal was the result of an slow-motion offside trap gone wrong. That does not require greater technical ability, but attentiveness to the match.

The third Salvadoran goal was a goalie's error. That does not demand higher technical prowess, but a pair of sure hands.

In conclusion, the reason why this game was lost was excessive confidence.

 

I thought Boyd was marking the scorer, at least initially, as well.

 

Going by how long it took for people here to stop calling for Bradley to be taken off as an integral part of the national team when it was clear he was one of our youngest and best contributors who usually seemed to show up in the biggest games, I think you're expecting a bit too much out of the BS community.

Also, there is little point in laying on MLS for this Olympic run. Most of the main offenders, mainly in the defense, were either halfway being played out of position or were bench players or players with significant injury histories. Trying to cut out currently the only truly viable soccer league in the US(and Canada!) from our setup is an insane gesture that would kill the national team seeing as almost every single major contributor either has MLS roots or roots in that other boogeything, college soccer.

 

Canada just has to start dumping serious money into their mens program and they instantly become one of the big teams in Concacaf within 10 years. They are going to sneak up on everyone just like we did on Mexico. We cannot take them lightly anymore.

they played ugly and got us on Set pieces.

Sound familiar doesn't it? we invented that style defend defend hope to score on counters and set pieces.

We did it to Mexico for years. now i know why it drove Mexican fans crazy.

 

My thought is that a college coach should not manage a team made up of professionals.

I still don't understand why he took Adu and Joe Corona off the field.

 

he was the best player on the field, and the only reason we even had a chance in this game. just as he was our best player against mexico in the gold cup. if shea is starting for the national team, then adu should be our goddamn captain, because he is easily twice the player of shea

 

$#@!@##$$%^^&^%$%

Heartbroken for those kids. Heartbroken for us. Yes, defense was crappy. Yes, Porter made some questionnable decisions, but it still sucks.

Class:
Terrence Boyd ‏ @TBoyd91
Thanks for all the support. Im sorry we didnt make it #proudtobeamerican

He looks like a keeper.

I hope Rapids fans don't boo Sean Johnson this weekend. This could be something that haunts him his entire career.

Gutted.

 

i don't get why people here are saying "we lost to an inferior team", Salvador has more technically gifted players than the USA. USA's biggest advantage is that they have tall players to use on set pieces. When a team knows how to use the football, USA shows its flaws. USA will never get better until they forget about finding big strong players and worry about finding technical players. Instead of looking at colleges they should go to hispanic communitites, pleny of technical players there that get overlooked.

 

The result sucked but at least there is some talent coming out of this group.

 

I am rooting for Klinsmann. (and I was rooting for Porter) But what I saw on the field was terrible and Porter is responsible and on up the chain to Klinsmann. Best of luck to Porter, but he needs to prove himself somewhere else (professionally) before messing with our National Team.

This is a Big Deal. I remember when Donovan and Beasley et al failed to qualify for the Olympics against Mexico. - I thought "This sucks, but this should only be excusable against Mexico".

As a fan, I desperately want to win something. Player development by participating in big tournaments is huge, but as a fan the Olympics or U20 or Confed or a decent run in the Copa is what I hope for.

The Wold Cup may always be disappointing.

So to miss out on the Olympics (when qualification is so do-able) is devastating.

 

Adu screwed us up by always having to switch to the other foot.