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USMNT 4, Germany 3: Match Highlights

USMNTTQ06021307

 

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCYn856mPo4]

Comments

  1. Any update on Fabian Johnson’s injury. What’s the general opinion if he can’t go? I’d prefer a Castille/Beasley left side to a Davis/Beasley left side.

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    • I’d normally agree, but against Jamaica on their crappy fields, I’d rather have Davis and his crossing ability.

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  2. Not sure why peeps are hating on Castillo?

    He came in when Germany were starting to “turn the screw” and playing for pride (more dangerous team) . He was also stuck with a back line that was loosing their nerve and having mental lapses. Name any other left sided player in US history who could have come in against a flying German side, who were out for goals, that would have offered an improved performance.

    I’ll wait …

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    • Beasely was holding his own and could have gone the distance. Switching F. Johnson to FB and putting Castillo in at LW woul have been another option. Eric Lichaj and Timmy Chandler, had they been there, might have been interesting options. Carlos Bocanegra would have stayed home a bit more but could have held down the fort.

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  3. Great game. Eddie Johnson actually helped Dempsey on his first goal with a cheap shot to the defender in the background Still a great pass from Altidore.

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  4. Agreed Clint is a true leader and those were world-class strikes from him yesterday. I imagine AVB, 24/7/365 guy that he is watched the game and got food for thought on how to use America’s current best player (at some point, we might be saying “best ever”). And, I gotta say, Terrence was a bit embarrassing yesterday, went way overboard like a bull in a China shop, like when he hooked one of the German players and threw him down, although, lol, I am chuckling as I think about. He is a big strong guy.

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  5. I feel bad for Castillo. Such a long travel back to the states and then thrown into the match like that. He will have a much improved influence next time he gets a chanct to contribute. Don’t panic.

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  6. I like the leadership, at the 7:20 mark of the clip, from Dempsey telling Boyd “you better do what I tell you.” Most likely referring to when Boyd tried to create a chance for himself towards the end instead of taking the ball to the corner.

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    • I understand it’s an important win but it’s a friendly and he’s trying to make the most of a rare opportunity to play. Presumably in a game that counts he’d make the right decision. But let’s take the ball to the flag and milk a friendly clock? Perhaps taking it a tad seriously. Ditto all the people who think this means Jozy and Evans are can’t miss now. It was a game where we upgraded the roster from Belgium and they backed off from Ecuador. It showed.

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      • I think it’s important for fringe players to show that they can go out and play within the system and recognize game situations and make the correct decisions. If they don’t do that, then they might not make the pitch when the matches count.

      • If you really want to see what the B team offers you have to play it and take the reins off. If you basically tell it to run out the A team’s result then you’re not giving the B team its chance.

        And then lo and behold Boca will hurt himself and you’d been so fixated on relying on the A team that you don’t really know what you have behind it, and we go through months of this song and dance where relatively untested players make forward and backward steps because you throw them out there in the deep end saying show me something.

        So I actually favor people freelancing in friendlies. This doesn’t count. I’d rather see if Boyd can actually play — for his good, for the good of knowing if I need to look at Options C, D, or E instead — than have him run out Jozy and Clint’s result.

        FWIW, 4-3 didn’t reflect some great management of the game to a conclusion. Up and down stuff.

      • The way to earn pt is to play well for club and do whatever the heck the manager tells you to do when you get time with MNT. If JK wants them to freelance, he’ll tell tell them to freelance, but I suspect, based on Deuce’s reaction, that that was not what Klinsi wanted. Hopefully TB learns his lesson.

  7. It looks like we were playing a 4-4-2? If so, hopefully it stays because that is our best formation. I’d rather have Fabian at LB and Beasley at left wing. Fabian defends much better and can contribute on offense. Beasley should be viewed as only an emergency option. Hope to see Besler and Cameron as a CB paring. Gonzo just makes too many mental mistakes. Good to see Evans do well at RB.

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    • If there’s one thing you can count on with Klinsi’s lineups and formations….. it’s that you can’t count on anything with Klinsi’s lineups and formations.

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  8. That Zusi cross on Altidore’s goal and the Jones longball to Altidore to set up Dempsey’s first goal are so beautiful.

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  9. I was at this game. Great atmosphere. Dempseys goal even better in person. It’s one thing to watch on TV but in person it’s so much better to notice players movements off the ball. I had a lot of fun

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  10. Klinsmann’s fingerprints were all over this game and I am so, so excited.

    The high pressure. The maintaining possession and working out of tight spots with easy p@sses and off-ball movement. You can tell that the players are starting to get “it.”

    You can see the changes now and they’re exciting.

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      • The old Donovan, yes. I watched Landon play last night and I can very confidently say that Graham Zusi offers more at the moment. Donovan was nowhere to be found half the game and his touch was poor.

        The Gold Cup will be good for him.

    • It’s definitely a good win and the form was much better than in the Mexico and Italy wins. I’m personally not buying into JK after one friendly and we’ve still yet to see them put together a full performance (offense and defense). Let’s see what happens in the next month or two. Let’s see if some of this carries over.

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      • Prepare yourself to be disappointed in Jamaica. It’s going to be an awful field and we’ll once again be quagmired in a hoofball slug fest.

        We run CONCACAF teams off the pitch in home matches because of the quality of the pitch. 3rd world soccer fields are the ultimate equalizer.

      • $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ 🙂

        Even Mexico was forced to play in 115 degree weather mid-day in Honduras. We played–literally–during a tropical storm in Jamaica last round.

        Costa Rica’s Saprissa stadium is a concrete foundation with a felt turf over it–in such bad condition that players sometimes ripped it while stopping or sliding.

        I remember a few years back Spain played in Costa Rica and almost lost because they could barely complete p@sses. The Spanish players were interviewed after the game and said they couldn’t understand how anyone would ever allow a match to be played on it.

      • so true.. and such a lame problem to have!

        i would love to see Italy, England, Germany, etc play at Honduras, El Salvador, Jamaica or Costa Rica (Saprissa!) for a qualifier.. just to see how quickly a good football team can be derailed by the nonsense we work through..

      • Watching the Germans wilt in the humid DC weather yesterday would only be the beginning of their problems. An August qualifier in Mexico would do most European teams in.

      • Yup.

        I sometimes think American fans so severely underestimate how ridiculously difficult it is to play in summer in central america before even factoring in the fields and fans.

      • @TomG: I am still in a state of shock 🙂 after that game, like a dream come true, at least offensively. Almost all the guys played at levels several times higher than in the recent past, like they were all frying pan guys and were having fun bending the German players and ripping them into like they were made of cardboard.

        I agree with you, that one friendly normally would not be enough for a 180-degree turn-around. We have seen glimmers of hope in the past end the next game. But there was something about the team yesterday that makes me think they did, that they have turned it around.

        But I still can’t figure out what happened, what triggered the 180-degree change. On the one SBI Match Commentary yesterday fortunate only said: “The dudes on Univision said that the players told Klinsmann they don’t like the 4-3-3 formation or any variations of it and would rather play a 4-4-2.”

        Can anyone confirm this is correct. Did the guys ask Klinsmann to change tactics?

      • Not sure about that. In my mind, the major shift has been playing only 2 CMs, with no cover from Edu/DW, Beckerman, etc, but we’ve had that for 4 games now. I think it’s been called a 4-2-3-1, but if Deuce shifts forward more, it’s a de facto 4-4-2, right? We haven’t put up much offense with this formation due to circumstances I think. Snow in Denver and 11 men behind the ball v Mexico. Belgium? No MB to pull the strings there may have been the issue. I think we also played 2 CMs v Guatemala last year in the 3-1 win, so my guess is that the 2 CM lineup, with more natural wingers will yield better flow and more scoring chances regardless of how the formation is tweaked. Can the CB’s hold up without a dedicated DM cover, though? What do you guys think about JK’s recent switch to 2 CMs. You think it’s good and that he’ll stick to it? You think the CB’s can hold up under pressure?

    • indeed. We have had some good wins (and draws) under Jurgen but this was his signature game. Hopefully many more to come..

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  11. That ball by Jones to Altidore for Dempsey’s first was pretty nice. He has really nice vision at times.

    Michael Bradley rarely puts a foot wrong.

    I thought the lineup choices were excellent and wouldn’t mind seeing a left side of F. Johnson and Beasley for the foreseeable future. They overlapped well, and also switched positions at times.

    Here’s hoping FJ’s hammy is OK.

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    • Jones used to do more passes like that when he was first brought in. That sort of touch is not normal DM quality and is one reason I think he’s top of his class in terms of our DMs. The two other things he needs to work on are consistency and avoiding card-happiness. But the latter is always a balancing act, Mastro used to pick up cards for breathing, and you want a destroyer willing to get stuck in.

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    • I think that somebody whose name rhymes with schmye-viss may have taken the late shift doing quality control testing for the Jack and Cokes in the DC area bars.

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