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Americans Abroad: Weekend Rewind

Mix Diskerud Rosenborg (Rosenborg BK)

By FRANCO PANIZO

Those wanting to see Mix Diskerud earn a U.S. Men’s National Team start in central midfield next to Michael Bradley received more ammunition for their argument this weekend.

Diskerud delivered what is surely to be one of the best goals scored by an American playing overseas this season on Sunday, as he unleashed a cannon of a shot into the top corner of the net after masterfully sidestepping a diving defender. The stunning strike brought Diskerud and Rosenborg BK level in the NM Cupen final vs. Molde FK, but they ultimately blew a 2-1 lead before falling 4-2. Diskerud started and went the distance.

The other American to net this weekend was the red-hot Aron Johannsson, who continued his fine run of form with a goal and assist in AZ Alkmaar’s 2-2 draw vs. Roda JC Kerkrade. Johannsson first set up the game’s opener with a left-footed pass that may have been unintentional in the 25th minute before scoring his 15th goal across all competitions 14 minutes later with what is becoming his trademark cutback-and-finish move.

More good news came out of England and Denmark. Danny Williams made his long-awaited return from a foot injury in Reading’s scoreless draw with Blackburn Rovers on Saturday by coming off the bench and playing the final 45 minutes (his first game since Sept. 18), and Mike Grella had a five-minute cameo that marked his Viborg FF debut in the club’s 4-1 loss vs. FC Copenhagen on Sunday.

Here is how the Americans Abroad performed this weekend:

ENGLAND

Premiership

  • Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made two saves in Everton’s 3-3 draw vs. Liverpool on Saturday.
  • Jozy Altidore came off the bench and played five minutes in Sunderland’s 2-0 loss vs. Stoke City on Saturday.
  • Geoff Cameron started and played 90 minutes in Stoke City’s 2-0 win vs. Sunderland on Sunday.
  • Brek Shea dressed but did not play for Stoke City.
  • Maurice Edu did not dress for Stoke City.
  • Brad Guzan and Aston Villa play West Bromwich Albion on Monday.
  • Brad Friedel dressed but did not play in Tottenham Hotspur’s 6-0 loss vs. Manchester City on Sunday.

Championship

  • Jonathan Spector did not dress in Birmingham City’s 1-1 draw vs. Blackpool on Saturday. He is recovering from a thigh injury.
  • Tim Ream started and played 90 minutes in Bolton Wanderers’ 1-0 win vs. Watford on Saturday.
  • Stuart Holden did not dress for Bolton Wanderers. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • Zak Whitbread did not dress in Derby County’s 1-0 win vs. AFC Bournemouth on Saturday. He is recovering from a calf injury.
  • Eric Lichaj started and played 45 minutes in Nottingham Forest’s 1-1 draw vs. Burnley on Saturday.
  • Danny Williams came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Reading’s 0-0 draw vs. Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.
  • Oguchi Onyewu dressed but did not play in Queens Park Rangers’ 1-0 win vs. Charlton Athletic on Saturday.
  • Duane Holmes dressed but did not play in Huddersfield Town’s 2-1 win vs. Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.

ITALY

  • Michael Bradley and AS Roma play Cagliari on Monday.

GERMANY

Bundesliga

  • Fabian Johnson started and played 90 minutes in TSG 1899 Hoffenheim’s 2-0 loss vs. FC Augsburg on Saturday.
  • Joe Gyau did not dress for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.
  • Timmy Chandler started and played 90 minutes in FC Nurnberg’s 1-1 draw vs. VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday.
  • Michael Parkhurst did not dress in FC Augsburg’s 2-0 win vs. TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on Saturday.
  • Jermaine Jones started and played 90 minutes in Schalke 04’s 3-3 draw vs. Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday.
  • Steve Cherundolo dressed but did not play in Hannover 96′s 3-1 loss vs. Hamburg SV on Sunday.
  • John Brooks did not dress in Hertha Berlin’s 1-0 loss vs. Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.

2. Bundesliga

  • Alfredo Morales started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in FC Ingolstadt 04’s 1-0 win vs. FC Cologne on Saturday.
  • Andrew Wooten did not dress in Kaiserslautern’s 3-0 win vs. FC Union Berlin on Saturday.
  • Bobby Wood and TSV 1860 Munich play SpVgg Greuther Furth on Monday.

FRANCE

  • Alejandro Bedoya came off the bench and played 24 minutes in FC Nantes’ 1-0 loss vs. AS Monaco on Sunday.

NETHERLANDS

  • Aron Johannsson started, played 78 minutes, scored a GOAL and had an ASSIST in AZ Alkmaar’s 2-2 draw vs. Roda JC Kerkrade on Saturday.



RUSSIA

  • Eugene Starikov did not dress in FK Tom’ Tomsk’s 1-0 loss vs. FK Rubin Kazan on Saturday.

BELGIUM

  • Sacha Kljestan started and played 90 minutes in RSC Anderlecht’s 2-1 loss vs. Royal Charleroi SC on Saturday.

DENMARK

  • Conor O’Brien came off the bench, played 82 minutes and received a yellow card in Odense BK’s 1-1 draw vs. Odense BK on Saturday.
  • Babajide Ogunbiyi started and played 90 minutes in Viborg FF’s 4-1 loss vs. FC Copenhagen on Sunday.
  • Mike Grella came off the bench and played six minutes for Viborg FF.

AUSTRIA

  • Terrence Boyd started and played 87 minutes in Rapid Vienna’s 2-1 win vs. Red Bull Salzburg on Sunday.

NORWAY

  • Mix Diskerud started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL in Rosenborg BK’s 4-2 loss vs. Molde FK in the NM Cupen final on Sunday.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv9H39dBQds?feature=player_embedded]

  • Josh Gatt did not dress in Molde FK’s 4-2 win vs. Rosenborg BK in the NM Cupen final on Sunday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • Ben Spencer did not play for Molde FK.
  • Ethan Horvath did not play for Molde FK .

MEXICO

  • Jose Torres came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Tigres UANL’s 2-2 draw vs. Club America in the first leg of their Apertura Liguilla quarterfinals series on Sunday.
  • Jonathan Bornstein did not dress for Tigres UANL.

BRAZIL

  • Freddy Adu did not dress in Bahia’s 1-0 win vs. Portuguesa de Desportos on Sunday.

—–

What do you think of these performances? How impressed are you by Diskerud’s golazo? Do you see Johannsson moving to a bigger club after the end of the season?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

      • 11 games – jones started
        – 2-4-5 (W-T-L)
        – 1 of the wins game was tied when jones was red carded
        – 17 goals scored / 29 conceded

        8 games – jones did not start
        – 7-0-1
        – 17 goals scored / 6 conceded
        – jones with total of 57 minutes played

        jones has started 4 of last 9 for schalke

        jones had been replaced as a starter by a young CM named marco hoger… hoger then sustained a season ending injury – putting jones back in

        in all likelihood schalke will pick up a CM in january and jones will return to the bench until his contract expires in may

      • their coach needs to be fired if he can’t find a way to keep the worst player in the league off the field. maybe he’s only heard of one formation.

        or maybe he should be given a bonus for keeping his team in 6th place, while fielding the league’s worst player?

  1. Geoff Cameron made ESPN FC’s Team of the Week. Here’s the remarks:

    “Geoff Cameron has started all but one of Stoke’s 12 Premier League games this season, and he turned in perhaps his best performance to date against Sunderland. As Gabriele Marcotti points out, the American hasn’t been fazed by the transition from Tony Pulis to Mark Hughes and was a constant threat down the right flank. A cute chip helped create the first goal for Charlie Adam and backed up Paul Mariner’s theory that Cameron is becoming more comfortable with every match.”

    Reply
    • Ridiculous. Klinsmann and other USMNT fans know that Cameron is cr*p at right back and should be playing center back or defensive midfield for the USMNT.

      Reply
      • You are a little harsh on Geoff.

        At Stoke he is what I call a Manchester United alternative fullback i.e. a converted center half.
        Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, John O’Shea and Wes Brown when they were at Old Trafford, center halves all, often were deployed out wide by SAF to good effect. Geoff does that role well but he is no Dolo and that is what JK wants. JK does not have SAF’s luxury of being able to generate offense from other positions.

        Pulis bought Cameron for Stoke after observing him playing midfield for Kinnear so you can blame Dom for Cameron being something of a victim of his own success at being versatile.

  2. Apparently Hertha Berlin plans to sign a goalkeeper in January. Their number 2 is injured and on Saturday the back-up to first keeper Thomas Kraft was an 18-year-old. Hertha looking at Schalke third-place keeper Lars Unnerstall. Surely an MLS keeper would be a better choice. So should Hertha go for pure emergency experience, Nick Rimando, who could no doubt perform well during the last half of the season if Kraft gets hurt? Or should Hertha go for a younger keeper with more upside, such as Sean Johnson?

    http://www.bz-berlin.de/sport/hertha-bsc/hertha-graebt-an-torhueter-lars-unnerstall-article1766114.html

    Reply
  3. Two weeks ago the majority of posters were saying they think Sasha should start next to Bradley, today after Mix scored a lot of people are saying he should start next to Bradley.

    How about seeing who shows the best progress over the next 6 months…
    A lot can happen before next summer…

    Reply
    • I’ve never said kljestan should start, but I’m in the mix camp. Jones hasn’t looked good lately, but mix has (for the national team, excluding club play). You play the in-form player, its that simple.

      Reply
  4. No worries… All the American soccer ball experts agreed, Jozy will score 15 goals this season for Sunderland! Grant Wahl, Jason Davis, Ives, and all the others can’t be wrong when they laughed at those who said that a move on the eve of the World Cup to a bottoms feeder team was dangerous!!!

    Reply
  5. Sunderland’s problems start with Johnson! He is the worst –lot of going nowhere and then wastes the shot and when he actually serves the ball…a terrible pass. There is a reason why Man City let him go…he is very inconsistent and unreliable. Hopefully, the new guy will work on building the spine of the team in the Jan open market.

    Reply
    • I think Johnson is better than you give him credit for, but you’re hitting on a point that seems to define Sunderland’s season thus far. They have decent players, they just are not playing a style that suits any of them.

      Johnson is an out-and-out winger. He’s not a creator, nor has he ever really been a goalscorer (one year in the Championship not withstanding). Yet even though he lines up out wide, it seems creating and scoring goals is either what’s he’s been asked to do, or simply decided on his own that it was his responsibility to do. Almost as if he’s been handed the role Deuce used to occupy for Fulham. After 0 goals in 12 games and 1 assist, I think it’s time to for the team, the coach, and Johnson to adjust or start prepping for relegation.

      The good thing is that Poyet seems to recognize this and knows it’s something they’ve gotta work on. Whether he can actually do anything about will be interesting to see.

      Reply
      • Johnson kills every attack with 40 yard shots, no where near target over and over to the point where its now just a running joke. I don’t blame him in this last match where you are down a man but he’s been doing it all year.

  6. Thew only reason Jozy doesn’t score goals by the dozen is because his teammates won’t pass him the ball because he’s an American.

    Reply
  7. All you Jozy haters should realize that Sunderland is not playing to his strength. He is not getting any service! Sunderland needs to replace everyone else on the team with world class talent so that Jozy can contribute!! Jozy is a world class striker and is the USMNT starter. #JOZYBEETSMODE

    Reply
    • Just as Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory would ask: Is that sarcasm?

      Jozy is a great player. Not world-class but he is good.

      Sunderland is a horrible club. It’s management is full of morons and it’s midfielders are awful. There best player is an aging, injury-prone striker who has scored one goal all season. There coach is the third one in four months. All in all, Jozy is doing the best he can with less than desirable situation.

      Take it elsewhere please.

      Reply
      • I agree!! Sunderland is to blame. Worthless club is holding Jozy back! He needs to get out of their ASAP to a different club with better teammates so he can get better service. I don’t know why you’re asking me to go elsewhere!! I disagree – Jozy is world-class. This is just what happens when a world-class player plays at Sunderland.

    • I would say so during the Scotland game.

      I missed the Austria game but the highlights showed that he played well.

      Remember that Jozy has almost always played well for the Nats despite his club situation. He scored again Spain when he didn’t have a club.

      You do make a point though; an in-form Jozy at the club level will help his USNMT game.

      I would argue it’s all in Jozy’s head. If you is solid between the ears, he can do anything he wants. If not, he is rather useless.

      Reply
      • That’s my worry Altidore with Sunderland : Sunderland is crappy club with side-effects to make great players doubt themselves.

  8. Also the USMNT should seriously look at a 3-5-2

    Jozy – Lando

    – Deuce –

    Fab – MB90 – Jones Jr. – Bedoya (Zusi)

    Besler – Gonzo – Cameron

    Timmy

    Reply
    • Yes. I’ve been wanting to see USMNT try something similar to this for a while now. It allows us to put our 11 best players on the field at the same time (or at least very close), while sticking to some variation of 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 simply doesn’t do that.

      CB and ST are our two deepest and best positions (well GK, too). We should take advantage of that. Our depth and talent at the wide positions simply don’t match up at the WC level, so why not try out a formation where those weaknesses don’t need to be exposed?

      Reply
      • just because a 3-5-2 puts our best 11 on the field, it doesn’t mean that it will work. that formation take a lot of close coordination and familiarity, which is why you don’t see a lot of international sides using it–they just don’t spend enough time together.

      • Nate and Mr. chewgum,

        A 3-5-2 was implemented by Arena against Mexico in the 2002 WC without a whole lot of prior practice. It fit the situation and the US won 2-0.

        That team was full of skilled experienced internationals who figured it out pretty quick.

        By the time the WC comes around , hopefully ,JK will have assembled a good group of players who are as savvy. As most of you have noted, this squad is heavy on converted midfielders which theoretically should give you tactical flexibility.

        For example in the Bosnia game the second half basically had the US in a 4-1-3-2, with Mikey the 1 and Jones in the middle of the 3 which gave them 5 attackers. I’m pretty sure they had not exactly practiced this formation per se..

      • That depends on the situation. I’m sure if the situation called for it JK would have no problem going with three at the back.

        It’s not a big deal.

    • I hadn’t actually ever considered this option before but it is intriguing. The major negative I see is that we could get burned big time by speed with those three in the back. If you face a quick team that can do quick combination play then I think we’d be in for a long night. No team could score in the air though! 🙂 Probably would be too vulnerable on the counter attack assuming Fabian and Zusi/Bedoya are deep into the attack.

      Reply
  9. Glad to see less DND and DNP on this list.
    All the hate that Jones is gettin is ridiculous. Dude is hurt. Been hurt. Still gutting it out. Respect.

    Mixx is ready for the next step. I hope he can make the January camp them get a move at the end of the next window. I think his UCL experience will make him attractive but also limit his options since he will be tied to a previous team. I wish he could get into a team like Southampton or Swansea. Hell, Sunderland could use him right now.

    It’s also time for Ream to get called in come March if his form still holds up.

    Reply
    • All great points, but I am still down on Jones. He has played well before, so I will keep hope alive for him.

      You make a great point about Ream. Since we need more defenders, Ream should get a call-up. He seems to be playing well.

      Reply
      • Ream was exposed pretty badly in his prior MNT turn… ans this was after the soccer commentariat all started pitching him as the next defensive star for the us…not sure he has the speed or positioning to make it on the international level…

  10. sweet take from mix, but those wanting to see him start really need a little more ammunition than 3 goals and 1 assist on the entire year and no league or cup championship for a club, rosenborg, that judges its success on winning (22 league cups v 9 for nearest competitor).

    the only ammunition that would really carry any weight at this point would be a move away from norway. norway is a good step below denmark, which is a good step below MLS at this point. simply put, norway is not suitable competition for a 23 y/o with ambitions on a USMNT career.

    obviously JK sees something. but then again JK sees something in brek shea and chris wonolowski, sees brad evans as an RB, seemingly sees beasley as a wise option at LB in WC, sees EJ as suitable option as left mid, and has seen no other option than a flailing jones as a partner for MB. JK seeing something clearly is not worth too much

    but nice goal. hopefully helps seal a move out of norway in january… and we can start to see if mix might start to fill some of those ungrounded expectations

    Reply
      • Well JK also forgets their name if they do push themselves and land in a bad situation. If I were Mixx, I’d stay right where I was. Look at how things have worked out for Parkhurst. He was a starter for his team and getting lots of caps. He goes to Germany, has a terrible situation, cant’e even make the bench and JK has lost his phone number

        Stay put till after the WC then make a move…. too much to lose if the move doesnt work out

      • denmark, where parkhurst played before germany, is a distinct step up from norway… and a distinct step down at this point from MLS.

        no one, besides JK ever really thought parkhurst was a great option for USMNT when he was playing in denmark… because he is not that great and was playing in a pretty weak league

        but again, denmark is a clear step up from norway

        extrapolating success in norway to WC-type competition simply makes zero sense.

        mix has had exactly one significant opportunity at that sort of level in his career to this point… starting v bosnia. he was pushed around for 45 minutes before being removed from game with US losing 0-2

        but sure, lets give him significant minutes in WC

      • so you think brad evans is better option at RB than chandler, cameron and lichaj?

        or because he has not been completely embarrassed playing against mighty CONCACAF competition?

      • Actually no, I think cameron is our best right back and fabian is our best left back. But if you’re going to criticize JK, just saying “he doesn’t play there for club” is pretty lazy.

        Beasley allowed us to move fabian to left mid during donovan’s hiatus. Evans did VERY well during dolo’s injury, chandler’s waffling, parkhurst’s atrophy.

        I doubt lichaj would be much of an improvement, if any, over evans. They’re both serviceable against concacaf opposition, but they’ll be abused by top 20 teams.

      • where did i say “he doesnt play there for club”?

        i did not mention it

        why do you doubt that a guy who plays RB, has EPL experience at RB would get abused against good competition?

      • Because there are literally dozens of RBs with EPL experience who would get abused against good competition. They tend to not last long in the EPL.

        Maybe you didn’t specifically use the “play for club” language, but you definitely implied JK is incompetent based on his selection of evans and beasley despite the fact they have been more than adequate for the job they were tasked with.

      • i dont see it as part of the USMNT job description to find players who are “more than adequate” against CONCACAF.

        i think the job is to find the best players and field the best team possible

        when you get to the WC it helps to have embraced that philosophy in the time leading up

      • +1 on your last comment. it shouldn’t be so hard to explain that doing reasonably well against concacaf opponents (as beasley and evans have done, to their credit) is not a great predictor of success at the world cup.

      • Mr. Dollars,

        “ is not a great predictor of success at the world cup.

        The sentiment behind that quote is mostly pointless.

        Very little associated with the USMNT is a “great predictor of success at the world cup”. The USMNT participates in only one highly rated and universally respected soccer tournament, the World Cup.

        They are on a four year cycle.
        Regardless of the success of a USMNT in a given World Cup, four years later that team will have had significant changes. Since the team is never tested at the World Cup level competition until the actual World Cup you will never really get any “great predictors of success at the World Cup”..

        Top European and South American teams are on a two year cycles. The Euros, regarded by some as harder to win than the World Cup, and perhaps the Copa America are just about the only other tournaments that might replicate the World Cup for intensity.

  11. Just want to note that John Anthony Brooks played today for Hertha’s U23 reserve squad against Babelsberg in the Regional League. The new coach says he did a good job. And he scored a goal on a corner kick. Wow, in the Regional League against Babelsberg. Despite the myths among some USMNT fans surrounding Brooks, he already was having a bad season before his elbow injury in late September, making some major defensive mistakes that cost Hertha goals and since he returned to training in the second week of October he lost his spot on the Hertha senior team because he was still playing poorly. Today’s game was his third U23 game.

    http://www.tagesspiegel.de/sport/hertha-bsc/herthas-u23-ante-covic-siegt-zum-debuet-5-2/9121686.html

    Brooks has done nothing on the field for his club (or for the USMNT) to merit jumping ahead of other center backs to the front of the line for playing time on the USMNT. I have said before and I will say it again: The kid is 20 years old and I doubt that he will be able to develop quickly enough to be a viable candidate to make the USMNT 23-man roster for Brazil, yet Klinsmann is calling him in when he could be calling in more experienced players who actually start for their clubs.

    Quite frankly, Carlos Bocanegra has more to offer the USMNT for Brazil next summer than Brooks at his low performance level. And some guys on this board think Chris Schuler should get a look.

    Reply
    • Well I think the excitement was that he could be the only centerback in the US pool playing in a top 4 league. Personally I think people often make too much out of the league a player happens to be. With that said we are a long way out from the World Cup still and we’ll see how Brooks develops.
      I think the early goal Carlos Ruiz scored in KC was the moment I think Klinsmann lost faith in Bocanegra. He had to make the move and look for other options.

      Reply
    • Quite frankly, I find it hilarious you are divining the future of Brooks based on your expert evaluation of his play in the first couple months of his first BL season. As a 20 year old no less. We simply don’t know how the final 23 will shake out but thanks anyway for the dissertation.

      Reply
    • Some of the wonks over on BigSoccer have been calling for him to start in the World Cup since August. And I get shot down HARD every time I suggest that he’s not really a finished product yet, that he needs more time to develop, that it’s ludicrous to project him starting at the World Cup. Some people, man.

      Reply
    • biff you’re approach is flawed.

      It’s pretty obvious there are four established centerbacks in JK’s mind: besler, gonzalez, cameron and goodson. We have enough information on the “experienced” backs in the pool (boca, gooch) to know they won’t be in brazil. So it makes no sense to call them up.

      Brooks is being called in specifically because he’s not very experienced. We don’t have a lot of data on him, but it’s at least possible he’d be an upgrade over one of the four. Maybe you’re right and he won’t develop quickly enough, but it’s a smart gamble to find out.

      Reply
      • What happens if Klinsmann finally pulls his head out and decides to play the best right back in the US pool at right back, meaning Geoff Cameron, and then two center backs, let’s say Besler and Goodson, are injured (or form drops off a cliff) and cannot play in Brazil next summer? Do you really want a 20-year-old center back in bad form who plays in the regional league in Germany against teams like Babelsberg to be starting for the USMNT next summer against, say, Italy or England or Chile or Mexico or on and on and one?

        This line says it all: “Brooks is being called in specifically because he’s not very experienced.” If inexperience is now a prerequisite to getting Klinsmann’s attention, we are in major trouble and I bet there are several center backs out there with even less experience the Brooks who are being snubbed and are not happy about it.

      • Yes if we lose half our centerbacks to injury, we’d be in trouble. You’ve got me there.

        Even in your worst case hypothetical, we wouldn’t rely on “experienced” players who aren’t already in the picture. We probably wouldnt even use orozco (6th on the depth chart). Cameron would pull emergency CB duty with gonzalez and evans/chandler/lichaj/dolo would slot in on the right.

        Brooks is house money. In six months he might be a competent bundesliga player who could start or provide better cover than goodson/orozco. If he struggles, fine, we just stick with our current pecking order.

        Boca and gooch, on the other hand, are extremely unlikely to revert back to their peak forms.

      • Thanks for the reply, away goals. Respect…

        I agree Brooks has tremendous potential, but I — and Alex up above — simply think he is nowhere close to being WC material by next summer. Obviously, we could be wrong. But if not, then Klinsmann is wasting a lot of time on a kid who is not yet ready and won’t be until the summer of 2018 when he should be focusing on center backs who would be ready for summer 2014. The focus now is 100% on WC 2014.

        I guess what bothers me with Brooks, who is being touted by a lot of fans as the second coming of Timothy Chandler, is that it seems he is being overrated and is skipping ahead of other players to the front of the line simply because he was born in Germany. I can remember last year when Andrew Wooten sitting on the bench in the 2. Bundesliga was being touted by a lot of USMNT fans as the next big thing. Ditto with Alfredo Morales. Let’s give Chris Schuler, who apparently had a MOTM game yesterday, a look in January.

      • Brooks hasn’t jumped to the front of the line though. He has all of two caps and they came in european fixtures

        Schuler wasn’t available for the most recent games, and for all we know brooks wouldn’t have played against austria until evans got hurt and cameron moved wide.

        I just don’t think there’s any merit to a pro german bias. When a dual national in a top league declares for the usmnt, it makes sense to use him. Some will work out (johann, fabian), some wont (dwilliams, chandler).

  12. Okay, now my real post.

    What is Jozy going to do about this Sunderland situation? This game against Stoke proved that Jozy is second in line to Fletcher (although I have absolutely no idea as to way) and he won’t be getting playing time unless something happens to Fletcher. I feel bad for Jozy because he came on to the team with DiCano expectations and this new coach doesn’t seem to care for Jozy’s game, despite publicly defending his game. Basically, if Jozy isn’t going to see play against a team like Stoke, how in the world will the field him against top-tier teams? They can’t afford to have two strikers on against better midfields, so it looks like the bench is going to be kept warm by Jozy for the rest of the year.

    Mix needs to replace Jones ASAP. Jones and Bradley are not the two we want to see in the midfield for Brazil. Mix and Bradley sound good on paper. Let’s hope JK sees the same.

    Apart from that, it was a boring weekend for Yanks. Anyone see the Liverpool Everton game? I missed it but it seems like it was a thriller.

    Reply
    • wtf you want mix who looked good against Central American b teams to start vs jones whose good vs bundesliga and champions league teams? No

      Reply
      • Perhaps you don’t actually watch those two play. Jones has looked terrible for his club lately. MIx has looked pretty good.

        Plus, it’s beyond obvious that Bradley and Jones do not play well together for the USMNT.

        So, yes I want Mix in for Jones. And Mix has looked good against more than just weak Central American teams.

      • Yes cause we lost sooo many qualifying games. Jones unless he gets hurt or in really really bad form is going to be starting in Brazil.

        But Mix is legit player and will play an important role in Brazil. Might be the break out player of the tournament. Were are down by one Mix comes off the bench and scores and assist and we win 2-1.

      • Go back and watch Jones against Costa Rica when Bradley was out. 17 turnovers in the first half alone, not tracking runners back into the box. It was if he had no idea when someone was on his back shoulder.
        He wasn’t much better against Bosnia and the team played far better as soon as he came off. Many people argued the same against Austria.

      • At best Jones/Bradley are absolutely dominant. At worst they are two athletic and menacing defenders that are difficult to break down.

        The idea of Mix playing next to Bradley is great, but practically… I’m not sure. Essentially you’d be asking Bradley to sit back and let Mix go forward. Is Mix’s attacking game so superior to Bradley’s that we’d be willing to make Bradley sit back?

        Likewise, when Bradley does go forward and Mix is forced to sit back, is his defensive game superior to say, Jones or Cameron, to warrant Mix getting the nod? I don’t think so.

        Mix is great and one of my favorite young American prospects, but practically, the best compliment to Bradley would be a defensive minded player that allows Bradley to get forward and orchestrate the attack. Mix is just not that guy.

        If an argument is to be made for a different counterpart to Bradley, I’d say Cameron is a much more compelling prospect, however Cameron is playing so well at RB for Stoke I don’t see how JK doesn’t slot him in there.

      • Bradley sits back whenever he plays beside Jones anyway. This is because Jones isn’t very good at connecting passes with the back line and transistioning into an attack.

      • “Essentially you’d be asking Bradley to sit back and let Mix go forward”

        Sounds better than our current setup, where Bradley sits back and Jones makes runs forward and loses the ball and/or delays the attack in some other fashion.

      • I am not a fan of Jones. But, I do not think Mix has shown either the defensive abilities to play like JK seems to prefer and allow MB to get forward. Also, while I thought Mix looked really skilled, I think he still struggles when he faces immediate hard pressure. He must demonstrate improvement in both defensive ability and in handling hard pressure if he is to have any chance of displacing Jones.

      • Agree completely with your post. The key is to get Bardley into attack. Jone is better than Mix for defending. Hoping Jones has a run of good form through teh end of teh season. Maybe he needed this blowup with the manager to wake him up.

      • There’s a really good article about this on the shin guardian. The gist of the article was that Klinsmann wants two central midfielders with some mettle, which means either Cameron or Jones starting along side MB. Klinsmann has made it clear he sees Cameron as a CB (or hopefully RB) so were stuck with Jones, which sucks because I really think he is a liability more often than not

      • I understand the mentality behind the “two central midfielders with some mettle”, but my issue is that if those two do not have good cohesion and complimentary playing styles, you are actually creating a less fluid system and are going to find them being counterproductive. It’s great if your central midfield is hard to play against and strikes a bit of fear in the opposition, but it backfires if they can’t turn that around and work well together offensively. In my opinion Bradley/Jones do not have the consistent cohesion to be the go to duo in Brazil.. Since Bradley is the more important player of the two it makes more sense to find the CM that best compliments his abilities rather than try to force the two to coexist.
        I really don’t like the two defensive CM scheme because it seems like it leaves a huge disconnect between the defense and the attack.
        I’d rather see someone like Deuce/landycakes/mix/bacon play an attacking CM role that drops and supports Bradley when the opponent is building an attack. I also think that Bradley could be that attacking CM if there was a solid #6 who stayed home consistently and linked well with Bradley. It’s possible Jones could do that, but I just haven’t seen him really stay home in that spot. Cameron also is a possibility, although not ideal. Even though I like Beckerman I do not think he has what it takes for Brazil’s starting 11.

      • Jones has a couple bad games and everyone wants the little mix to start at brazil. Smh if there’s one guy that can go toe to toe against the best midfielders at the World Cup, jones is that guy when playing well

      • i don’t want to see mix replace jones at CM, but i hate that argument.

        who cares how someone plays for his club (or who they play for)? if they can’t perform for the national team (for whatever reason), what difference should it make to us? there are a host of unrelated reasons why someone may play well for his club team, but not for his national team.

        if it doesn’t translate to the national team, i couldn’t care less how well they play for their club (unless they play for dc united).

      • Mr. Dollars and usaalltheway:

        “Come on people! Jones and Bradley don’t work well in the midfield. Why is this so hard to see??”

        Fans see what they want to see.

        Mikey and Jermaine have their bad days but the US has with those two, more or less, qualified quite easily for the WC when most of you did not think they could and had a lot of big victories.

        For example, Jones was arguably the MVP in the Snow Bowl, arguably the game that started the USMNT on their qualifying run. And he did this with a large hole in his ankle from at least halftime on. That kind of “steel” is indispensable if you want to beat big teams in the World Cup.

        Mikey and Jermaine are the two best US central midfielders and their best is much better than anyone else’s. The last two games were friendlies.

        There is a real good chance that USMNT is going to have a real tough group in the WC. To get out of that group the US is going to need, among other things, that M/J to be at their very best.

        The other midfielders are fine players and may or may not be useful in the World Cup. But none of them have the proven character of Jones and Bradley. Mix for example, might be a revelation or he might be pushed around for 45 minutes before being subbed out.

      • “Mikey and Jermaine have their bad days but the US has with those two, more or less, qualified quite easily for the WC when most of you did not think they could and had a lot of big victories.”

        how many people have you really heard say that they thought the US would not qualify? i certainly never thought that, and i don’t consider it some big achievement that we did. in our region, it should be a given.

        which leads to my next point, which is that qualifying from concacaf is not some big sign that you are good enough to succeed at the world cup (ex. brad evans).

      • after that honduras loss, there was a lot of handwringing over qualification, because noone thought that Mexico would struggle like it did. the back line was totally unsettled at that point, AND we were going into games against costa rica and then mexico at the azteca. Remember, Mix hasnt seen a ton of action in high stakes games yet.

      • i remember the handwringing, but it was more that people were saying there was a *chance* that we might not qualify, not that they actually thought we wouldn’t.

        and read my first comment: i don’t think mix should replace jones. i think he does look like a good backup/competitor for dempsey’s spot, though.

      • Mr.Dollars,

        The US qualified easily.

        Right around the time of the Strauss “expose” and before the Denver Ice follies a lot of you were ready to fire JK.

        Brad Evans did not qualify, the US did. It’s a team not a bunch of all stars.

      • i’m not sure what your first point is. i know how we qualified; i watched the games.

        and i left out a couple of words in my brad evans comment: meant to say that, just because the *team* qualified from concacaf, doesn’t mean that every one of those players will be good enough at the cup.

      • ” just because the *team* qualified from concacaf, doesn’t mean that every one of those players will be good enough at the cup.”

        It does however, mean that those players who featured regularly, such as Evans, are players that clearly have earned the managers trust . JK still maintains that Evans is his right back.

        If Dolo or an in form, committed Chandler don’t make it, it’s irrelevant who plays right back.

        Cameron, Lichaj, Evans, Parkhurst, Orozco, Morales, Spector, Bedoya, Yedlin, Klute, Moor, Hejduk, whoever is fine with me.

        The US isn’t going to be losing games because everyone else is up to it and Evans isn’t.

        It is reasonable to conclude that every game the US plays in the World Cup will be an all out dog fight. It’s foolish to expect anything else. And what I notice about this team is that the competitive games where they lost, Costa Rica and Honduras in the Hex and the Jamaica game in the rounds before, losing was not so much a question of individual’s screwing up, though that never helps, as it was a question of the team just not being up to it.
        The first Honduras game in the Hex was one of the worst collective performances by any US team I’ve ever seen. If Messi had lined up for the US I’m not sure it would have made any difference. The first half of that Costa Rica game was a close second. Yet both games ended up being close.
        This is a good team when they play together and I think that is what JK is working on more than anything ; having the team in the right frame of mind. The collective is more important than the individual.

      • “The US isn’t going to be losing games because everyone else is up to it and Evans isn’t.”

        i don’t want this to be about brad evans, because i think he’s done everything he was asked to do, but i don’t see how you can say that. i can think of plenty of games where the difference between winning and losing came down to one player not being good enough. (and, because i don’t want it to be about brad evans, i’ll also throw beasley in there.)

        and i don’t want to throw my laptop at the wall, so i’m just believing that klinsmann’s comment that ‘evans is our right back’ was just to motivate our other options to displace him.

      • Nate Dollars
        “The US isn’t going to be losing games because everyone else is up to it and Evans isn’t.”

        i don’t want this to be about brad evans, because i think he’s done everything he was asked to do, but i don’t see how you can say that. i can think of plenty of games where the difference between winning and losing came down to one player not being good enough. (and, because i don’t want it to be about brad evans, i’ll also throw beasley in there.)”

        Of course you are blaming Evans and DMB. You think if they were up to your standard the US wouldn’t lose.

        But guess what; even the best fullbacks make mistakes.

        It is no coincidence that you are talking about fullbacks who are often in position to be blamed for mistakes resulting in goals. You think both suck and are losing games for the US otherwise you wouldn’t mind them playing for the US.

        But good teams generally either learn to make up for that or play well enough in the first place so that there is less pressure on fullbacks, who serve as scapegoats for the ineptitude of others.

        How well do you think Barca’s defenders would look if they did not monopolize possession so much that they are rarely tested?

        Gonzo’s error helped Honduras win that first Hex game; but I notice that the rest of the team was as awful as I had ever seen it; the same can be said about the Costa Rica loss. This is a team that is supposed to help each other out, pick each other up.

        When you find me a right back who is a proven upgrade over Evans in competitive games in a USMNT shirt who is not named Dolo or Chandler then you’ll have something. Got any proven names for me?

        Otherwise, that pack of journeymen are all about equal and I’m perfectly happy to leave it with the US staff to figure out at the pre-game practices who is the best guy to play RB.

    • Please keep in mind Jozy played two games during the international break, so I wasn’t surprised to see him start on the bench. Starting on the 30th, Sunderland has eight matches over the course of five weeks. Jozy will get his minutes.

      Reply
      • Good points. I didn’t look at it like that. Still, Fletcher also played games for country, so why did he start?

        Did anyone notice the announcer’s comments when Jozy came on?

        “Looks like the coach has given up.” or something along those lines…

        That really had me seeing red. How is it that Fletcher is better than Jozy? I don’t see it AT ALL.

      • I don’t see it either, times like that I really do believe there is a bias against American players, specifically strikers.

      • The other annoucer did say the last time Jozy played Begovic he had a hat trick. i don’t think he meant it as a knock on Jozy just why not throw everything into the attack.

      • Maybe its because Fletcher scores goals? This is a familiar story for Jozy isn’t it. Seems to be the same story every time he tries to play for a bigger team.

        I think that there are too many on these boards that are not really looking at what he’s producing and are blinded by the fact that they like him. The bottom line is he’s a forward that has trouble scoring goals. Not many clubs care about his “hold up play.” He’s paid to produce and he rarely does

      • Fletcher has one goal this season.

        Jozy has one goal, which was called off.

        The game in which Fletcher did score, Jozy was the MOTM.

        Fletcher didn’t score against the US in the friendly.

        So, how is it that he is better than Jozy?

        Jozy as least passes well, is selfless, great hold-up play, great linking and give and goes. He is big, fast and strong.

        Not to mention Sudnerland’s coach came out and said that Jozy isn’t scoring because the team isn’t helping him. JK has said the same.

        I think your points are weak, at best.

      • Fletcher was injured for a good while during the beginning of the season and has managed to produce while playing injured, out of form and while playing less minutes than Altidore. He also has a history of scoring for Sunderland with “limited service.”

    • Gus said he wants to play Altidore and Fletcher together but because of the break they didn’t get to work it out in training. From what I’ve gathered it sounds like he wants Fletcher to do more of the ball winning and hold up play so Jozy can face goal and go at goal more often.

      Reply

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