General Soccer Thread

[thrill]

He always had the physical tools but looked like he'd never put together the tactical awareness and touch necessary to make it big. Then last year he really put it all together. Granted, he had the two best running mates in the league drawing a ton of attention and setting him up with great service in Robbie Keane and Landon Donovan. Arena used to play him out wide and he struggled but moving him centrally last year really turned him around.

At this point it's all about whether or not he continues to improve, and whether or not he can do it at the next level. I have my doubts, but he's proven me wrong in the past. I never thought he had a chance to do what he did last year over the course of a season.

[thrill]

This whole Jozy Altidore and Mike Bradley playing club ball together thing might just work out. Damn. Jozy looks like Sunderland never happened.


Everyone else sucked.


In closing, as always, fire Jurgen. He's a clown.

[Fat Strat]

This whole Jozy Altidore and Mike Bradley playing club ball together thing might just work out. Damn. Jozy looks like Sunderland never happened.


Everyone else sucked.


In closing, as always, fire Jurgen. He's a clown.

Altidore and Bradley did look very good. Altidore in particular looked like a superstar. Watching yesterday's match, it really seemed like there were two guys on the pitch who belonged there (Altidore, Bradley) and a bunch of guys who didn't belong there. (Bedoya had a bigger impact on the game that it appeared; I think I might like him as a defensive midfielder... not sure yet).

Put some of this on Klinnsman if you want, but really, I thought our wing midfielders -- especially Zardes -- were just terrible. There was no possession on the outside. I was focusing on Zardes; he looked like he was playing nervous and had several bad give aways. I saw no evidence of any real talent. Johnson was non-existent. I wanted to complain about Johannson not doing anything either (except the goal that Altidore should have shot), but I put a lot of that on our outside midfielders. No service at all from the outside midfielders or backs, except Chandler's prayer of a cross that Altidore finished brilliantly.

How much did we miss Dempsey? Wow.... need to find a new Dempsey by 2018. Not an easy task.


Our back line looked like they had never played together. Of course, they really haven't played together. Confused. Missed marking players. Ugly goals because of it.

You know, if this wasn't a meaningless friendly, we probably win. Our subs were horrific and two goals came in the final 15 minutes (or so). The roster wasn't even close to what it would be if we were starting the Gold Cup. Still, not pretty at all and this spring's run of tough matches looks like it will be brutal.

[thrill]

I'm not basing my Klinsy hate on a single friendly in March, three years from the next World Cup.

[Fat Strat]

I'm not basing my Klinsy hate on a single friendly in March, three years from the next World Cup.

Yeah, I get it. As a casual observer of the USMNT, I feel like Klinsmann has been good for us, but I have no real analysis to prove that. Results (last night notwithstanding) have been awfully good. Recruiting seems to be a big plus. The game has exploded in popularity in America and Klinsmann has played a significant part of that. Tactically? How much is coaching and how much is poor execution from players? Many of whom regularly prove (with their club teams) that they don't belong on the pitch with the elite of Europe and South America? If we had Löw (or whoever) with the same players, how much different/better would we look? I really don't know.

I did read an interesting stat yesterday. Not sure I can find it, but it basically said that US possession % has dropped steadily in the last few years, coinciding with Klinsmann's era. Hard to believe that, considering his era includes guys like Dempsey, Donovan, Bradley, Jones, etc. who have as much ability to keep and hold possession as any American players in the last 15 years.

We have to be scoring goals at a higher rate, though. Maybe there's a tradeoff somewhere. Less possession = more goals? I can't make that logic work.

[thrill]

We haven't won a single knockout game in a global competition on any level since the '09 win vs Spain in the Confed's Cup. From u-17 up to the senior team. I look at the talent and I think it's the best it's ever been.

His repeated, stated goal is to play proactive, possession-based soccer. The teams he puts out tactically play reactive, counter-attacking soccer. When the team loses, he throws out a red herring about fitness not being good enough. For decades, the one positive thing you could say about US teams was they were fit. I don't think players just stopped working hard. Michael Orozco is a perfect example. He's been in the national team set up for 8 years. He plays his club ball for a team who's stadium is at 7000 feet. He goes the full 90 all the time. At the end of the game yesterday, he was exhausted. Every camp, some major player hurts his hamstring. This time it was Dempsey. At the World Cup it was Altidore and Fab Johnson. They're being over trained. Same thing Philip Lahm accused him of at Bayern. He consistently deploys players to different positions than they play for their whole career. Brek Shea was a left winger. Jurgen played him at left back. Brek moves to left back for his club, Jurgen moved him to left wing. Jurgen says Michael Bradley is his playmaker but Jurgen deploys him too far away from support so he has to run constantly to defend a high line and run back constantly to collect the ball, dish it off and run forward constantly to receive in an attacking position. It just drives me crazy and Jurgen never changes.

Now no less a credible source than Grant Wahl is back reporting that there are major contributors to the team who are frustrated and think he doesn't know what he's doing. Same things as last cycle. Same thing the Bayern players complained about.

But yeah, he's been at the helm of a major explosion in relevance and popularity. He's done a killer job recruiting dual internationals. Even with all of my complaints, I'm not sure the big picture results would differ. Bruce Arena probably wouldn't have beated Belgium. Bob Bradley probably wouldn't have beaten Belgium. All I know is that when those guys coached the team, I consistently felt like the best 11 were on the field in their best positions and they were given all the preparation necessary to give them the best chance to win. I never feel that way about a Jurgen team.

[robbotis]

So, is he the coach at the next World Cup?

[thrill]

If he wants to be, yeah. He's also the technical director, so I could envision a scenario where he gets tired of being a punching bag and hires a coach to implement his "vision."

If we do the same thing we did last cycle, a couple more bad results and he'll stop messing with the lineup and tactics and we'll roll through the Gold Cup and qualifying and everyone will get off his back in time for the World Cup. He'll act like it's a great accomplishment and ignore the fact that every coach since 2000 has rolled through the Gold Cup and qualifying either ahead of or just behind Mexico regardless of talent and tactics.

[Fat Strat]

USMNT against the Swiss today.

Lineup is set and it's better than last weeks, imo -- Altidore and Zarges up top. Bradley & Danny Williams in center mid. Bedoya & Morales on the wings.

[thrill]

Anybody get to watch? How'd they look?