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U.S. Under-17s vs. Honduras: Your Running Commentary

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By IVES GALARCEP

The U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team is one win away from securing a place in the Under-17 World Cup and standing in the way of that berth is Honduras, which will look go snatch that ticket to the world championship with a win today in CONCACAF Under-17 World Cup qualifying action in Panama (6pm, Fox Soccer Channel).

The Americans come into the match having won both their group stage matches via shutout, while Honduras enters having lost to Mexico in the group stage.

If you will be watching today’s action, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action.

Comments

  1. Disagree with a lot of comments here. The US played good organized defense throughout this tournament. The 3 goals came off 2 incredible kicks and one outstanding pass, not the usual kind of defensive screw-ups. What was more troubling was the US 1v1 ability in small spaces and lack of finishing skills. Those last 2 things are not faults to lay at the feet of the national level coaches, but at the feet of the coaches who taught these players over the last 10 years and at the feet of the players themselves. The US coaches seem to have (finally) managed to find defenders with enough skill to control and pass the ball and enough smarts to mark attackers, but have not been able to find players with outstanding attacking skills Of course, there are those who will claim that there are lots of skilled attacking players and the US coaches just don’t pick them. My experience is that that sentiment is wrong. While you can always argue about this particular player or that, the fact that such an argument can be had is evidence that there simply are not enough players in the US with the finishing skill and control in tight spaces required to standout at the international level. Sure those skills are improving across the country, but just because local high school teams are much better than they were 10 or 15 years ago does not mean that the best players are better than (or even as good as) Donavon, Ramos, Reyna, Bradley, Dempsey or Beasley were at that age.

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    • Its hard to win a match when you concede three goals, plain and simple really and thats on the defense. Agree with you about the group stage matches were well orgainzed though. Perhaps the squad took this game for granted and were looking ahead to semi-finales.

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  2. This one is on Williams and whomever had the idea to give him the job. The individual efforts and talent level of a handful of his players got him enough results to mask the fact that he wasn’t a very good coach. I don’t know how he doesn’t make an adjustment up top when Selemanni can’t provide anything at all…glaring lack of hold up play. I don’t understand the Sonora sub and equally unimpressive was bringing in Glad who turned the ball over frequently. We need more coaches like Javi Perez in the system. The talent level is beyond the current level of coaching.

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  3. Was watching the Fire game on delay with this streaming, so I just now have a chance to say something.

    Oh. My. F*$#*($#. God.

    Get rid of Richie Williams and forever bar him from the US Soccer organization. YOU TOOK OUR BEST F*$#&*)$&#* PLAYER OFF.

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  4. Hindsight being 20/20 what a down grade going from Wilmar to Richie.. They were dominate in the Nike friendlies with Cabrera and with each and every competition since his departure they have gotten worse

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  5. Why in the name of God did he take Sonora off? He is our brightest star in this age group! And where was Jr. Flores??? What terrible game management!!! I only hope Sonora doesn’t wash his hands of all of this incompetence and decide to play for Argentina! Adios Richie, and none too soon. Find a coach for these talented kids!

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  6. Watching Mexico play Honduras and then watching the U.S. play Honduras, you can tell that Williams did not scout that game. Mexico won by keeping possession and trying to provide space for their smaller yet agile play makers to run at the Honduras defense. The U.S. coach opted for bringing on the bigger players and benched the smaller but more technical players. There needs to be a change of mentality and the guts to actually give young skillful players a shot to develop, instead of trying to out muscle other players of a similar age. Too bad for the U.S. that Honduras has brawn – of course, the U.S. coach would’ve known that had he watched them play.

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  7. Typical US soccer. You take a player who was underwhelming as a player and had limited technical ability and put him in charge and wonder why the team fails when up against a team whose been coaches by REAL coaches.
    Multiply this by every soccer academy in the US and you will see why we will trail the Mexicos and possibly now the Honduras’s of the world.
    Really what does Richie Williams know about international soccer as a player he couldn’t dribble pass these U 17 players.
    We need real coaches for these teams not rewarding ex MLS players by giving them these spots.

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  8. That Sonora sub decision was almost comical in how much it confirmed the cliche’d critical perspective on the American soccer mentality (brawn/athleticism over tactics/skill). Like every kid ever growing up playing travel soccer watching an American coach on the sidelines screaming “Boot it!”.

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  9. I guess that’s it for he Williams era at Bradenton. Shocking failure. Unimpressive team, even less impressive coaching. Didn’t these guys kick Brazils ass a year ago? What happened?

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  10. Poor from Williams. This team had good players. I’m not even talking about the result because at this age players can be inconsistent and stuff happens. But the style of play and the tactical/personnel decisions condemn Williams. I get the JK philosophy so much more after this and the Porter debacle. Bob was a good coach but I think in general the American soccer mind needs some reinvigorating.

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    • Please explain Klinnsman’s philosophy. All I see is some new age ideas about eating and blood testing. The senior team is in the midst of tremendous change, so one can give him the benefit of the doubt, but let’s be real. We looked awful in Honduras, squeaked by Costa Rica in ridiculous conditions, and managed to keep the ball out of the net in Mexico, although we appeared largely overwhelmed. The results at the youth level have been pretty grim since Klinnsman’s took over. Nonetheless, please let me know what I’m missing because I’m underwhelmed. The only change at the youth level has been largely driven by MLS and their academy teams. Otherwise in the Development Academies, the same coaches, who were there under Bruce Arena and Bob Bradley continue to affect our players just as they did in the past. When do our failings get placed at the proper spot, which is at the feet of Jurgensen Klinnsman

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  11. This result needs to be a watershed decision, something to build upon, we need coaches, capable players, it´s a damn shame we couldn´t give this kids a fighting chance, another generation lost due to incompetence and bad management…

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  12. Don’t worry USA fans…not qualifying to the U-17 World Cup doesn’t mean anything. Mexico has won the tournament twice and is still no closer to winning the “real” World Cup right? LOL!

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    • boy you’re clueless. Development takes time, Spain did not start winning World cups and Euro tournaments right after they won the youth tournaments. The Mexico players like Vela that won in 2005 are just now starting to find their form; And yes we are closer to winning the “real” world cup than we have been, and it will only get better as our youth setup continues to dominate.

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    • How much success have we had since Gulati took over?
      *U17 failure
      *U20 failure….one cycle ago
      *U23 failure

      But we can win games in a foot of snow…..open your eyes people, this ain’t a coincidence

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      • but it’s ok guys, we parked the bus and tied against Mexico even if they shot like 30 times on goal while we barely crossed the midfield, USA USA USA USA USA USA USA

      • “*U17 failure
        *U20 failure….one cycle ago
        *U23 failure”

        This is starting to get very worrying if it wasn’t already. Lost opportunities for growth even if the vast majority of these kids were never going to contribute to the senior squad. The whole culture seems to be in crisis. Instead of pushing me away from Klins’ ideas this is making me buy into his philosophy that things need to change because I saw individual talent on all these teams.

        Anecdotally, I see kids getting much better and playing much more than when I was a kid. I see we have a greater influx of players from other countries to draw talent from. But I see a lot of the same ideas and systems tactically as when I was little.

  13. Only saw the second half but seems like US coaches are always scared of good technical players. Sonora was the only one able to link the defense and offense and he is taken out. No Flores which would have been the perfect type player to put in. Seems like the US is still more in favor of kick ball instead of passing through the midfield.

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  14. terrible coaching for this game….finally we have decent players, but no good coaching decisions….how do you take off the most effective player of the game and leave the potentially impactful player on the bench????terrible coaching….

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    • I don’t think you can put this on Richie’s tactics. US started the half strong and had a lapse on Honduras’ 2nd and the 3rd was just a great strike. Didn’t watch the first half.

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      • That may be. This is the first game I’ve had a chance to watch, and I didn’t catch the first half. So I’d take my last comment with a grain of salt.

    • If Richie is gone after this game, it highlights the lack of leadership or direction by USSF/Sunil/Klinsy. U17s are a tricky group with high school players/students coming in and out…so this age group tends to have mixed results. Yet in 2012 they crushed Chile and Uruguay and Turkey, tied Brazil, barely lost to Portugal 4-3 in Nike final, and had wins over Denmark and Mexico. I don’t think Tim Howard would have stopped Honduras’ 1st and 3rd goals tonight. We are seeing attractive, skilled, cohesive and competitive soccer out of this group and the U20s. Wish we could say the same of our Senior side under Klinsy.

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      • Agreed that there’s talent. But Williams’ performance is indefensible imo. Taking off Sonora was one of the worst moves in US youth soccer history. The style of play/tactics was atrocious considering the players available.

        Look at Tab Ramos’ u20’s recent qualification. That’s how you coach a team. Not even talking about results b/c I agree with you that they can be uneven at that age. Even (and especially) the Mex game that Tab’s team lost. He put the talent in positions to succeed. He set up his team with a view towards their strengths and with an emphasis on skill. He did his best to adjust for their weaknesses. Tab clearly had ideas and vision for the team and transmitted that to his players.

        Williams might have had ideas, but they were stale retreads we’ve seen far too often in American youth soccer. I respect Williams’ hard-nosed scrapper style as a player. But I think the American youth player is getting more skilled and the coach’s mentality has to reflect this new reality.

      • You do realize they played Mexico about 5 times this cycle and won only once against them right? The last game they played few weeks before this qualifying tournament was played was won by Mexico 4 or 5 nil. The truth is this team was hyped after the Nike Friendlies and unfortunately they didn’t perform when it mattered.

        The true test for this team (not program and higher ups) will be how many players make it to the senior NT.

  15. And then Honduras scores from a throw in to a quick through ball into the box. Almost looked like the US defender hit it in when he slid.

    2-1 Honduras

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  16. I’ve only been watching since the start of the second half, but in the last 7+ I’ve been extremely impressed with how the US has moved the ball around. Quick 1,2 touch passes, great combination and great off the ball movement. We’ve lacked that final pass, but i feel like it’s coming. Great to see this kind of technical play from a US team.

    Score is still 1-1

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