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Ukraine 2, USMNT 0: Match Highlights

Danny Williams

Photo by John Todd/ISIphotos.com

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMHyyu120Kk]

Comments

  1. a backline of Johnson besler gonzo Cameron would’ve performed much better.

    also Bradley/jones in the middle with Donovan and zusi out wide.

    johanson and ? up top

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  2. Boy, that was one clueless and slow back line. Amateurish mistakes on both goals.

    On the brighter side, Bedoya and Johannson both had great efforts on goal, and of Altidore gets up and heads the ball down and on-frame . . .

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  3. So i think for awhile we have all been worried about our attack if Jozy and Clint are not on form. And we saw that last night. what worries me is JK response to the attack. The subs he put in did nothing to improve the possession or any spark in the attack. To be honest if form continues and i don’t really seeing a change in those two before world cup what do we do? The line up that i would like to see is http://lineupbuilder.com/

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  4. Get rid of Jozy Altidore. He sucks! Play Aaron Johansson instead. Much better. Also bring back Timmy Chandler at right back. And keep Brek Shea on the team!

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  5. The two goals (and on other occasions) illustrated a couple of things …

    1) Outside of Cameron … absolutely no pace in that back-line.

    2) Castillo looked as though he couldn’t be bothered hustling / tracking back or defending in general. This guy should never see the field as a LB against a team with serious wingers.

    3) Gooch is done … just way too slow and lacks mobility. Brooks showed his inexperience countless times.

    4) Both goals showed a complete lack of hustle by several players. Had our defenders and midfielders hustled back both goals probably don’t happen thanks to Timmy keeping out the initial shot. For several players fighting for the World Cup lives, the lack of hustle was stunning.

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  6. I may be in the minority, but I actually like them now that I’ve seen them with names and numbers. The royal blue makes the shirts pop a bit better. All in all, not our best, but not our worst.

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  7. I just noticed Castillo was actually marking Yarmolenko on the first goal. Just watch Castillo’s movement. The ball is played over the top, and he literally jogs the entire way back, even as his man speeds by him. That’s just no effort right there.

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    • Everyone wanted to blame Brooks though. I saw it as well. It happened several times when the player Castillo was marking made a run and Castillo just jogged back like no big deal. Maybe he did it so they won’t put him as a defender anymore — I can only hope.

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    • I saw it clearly and he didn’t jog. He was slow to react and he ran at maybe three quarters speed, probably because he was hopelessly beaten so his best bet was to run to the middle and hope somebody would cover for him on the wing. Only Cameron on the back line played decent defense which is why people are over reacting here, since only Cameron is likely to play in Brazil.

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  8. On the bright side. My understanding is that Ukraine put out a close to full strength team and the 2 goals they scored could be attributed largely to the fact that our CB’s just weren’t on the same page. There were some stretches where the team looked like they were beginning to figure things out which gives me confidence that things are not as gloomy as they appear.

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  9. I not as freaked by this fixture performance as some of the 400+ people on the other thread – now we know some of these guys should be left home and the regulars need to up their form big time.

    What I am wondering is: do you think Dempsey (if he gets back into starter form) should be our captain in Brazil? It’s just hard to imagine him keeping his cool in the more tense, high pressure atmosphere of the World Cup – you have to admit he is not the most levelheaded. This is not a bad thing but not something you want in your captain. I was disappointed by his behavior as well as his play yesterday. Your captain can’t go picking fights with people, even if they started it or were in the wrong. Thoughts?

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    • I don’t think Dempsey deserves to be captain, especially after yesterday. He shows no real desire anymore, and flops around on the ground. I wouldn’t give it to Bradley either, right now, either. Probably would go with Howard, honestly. Or, if he starts, I would give it to Donovan. He has lost some speed, but I think he got his fire back and has worked almost harder than anyone to get back with the team. I think if he is given the armband at the world cup he will elevate his game knowing its his last world cup. It may be an unpopular opinion, but the guy comes up big and leads by example.

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      • +1 for Donovan as Captain. I dont like having a keeper as captain because hopefully he will be too far from the action…

    • This will be Dempsey’s third World Cup and he has around 100 international caps. He has played in the EPL in front of 70,000 fans (and scored the tying goal against Man U last year). To think he can’t keep his cool in tense situations is ridiculous. This was a meaningless friendly and although he over reacted, the Ukrainian player basically put him in a bear hug and dragged him to the ground. The Ukrainians were going hard into Dempsey all game. And if you recall, it was the Ukrainian, not Dempsey, who got the yellow card.

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      • I think you’ve sort of missed my point. Sure someone of his great experience and success has earned the right to be captain, but that does not mean he is the RIGHT person to be captain. I have just seen this behavior from him enough times to question whether he is the right person.

        Yes, the Ukrainian player was at fault but there is just no reason to lash out like that. You are a leader. Demonstrate to your teammates that your behavior is what they should emulate. Remove yourself from the bad situation and get on with the game.

    • I wouldn’t give him the armband, and I’m honesty not sure if he’s even in the best 11 right now.

      I’d give the thing to Howard if someone must wear it. Donovan deserves it but Klinsmann has clearly been trying to phase him into a smaller role. Bradley seems like the best choice, objectively. He speaks the most languages and is generally in the middle of things. He has the experience and is not as hot headed as he was last cycle.

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      • Okay. Thanks. Have to agree. Even though Ghana lost yesterday and Mexico tied, I think our problems ate probably worse than their problems.

    • Actually CR7 might lose some sleep after seeing how easy it is to expose our left back. Not out of fear but out of excitement. He probably can’t wait to pad up his international goal tally and brag to Luis Figo that he’s accomplished far more than he has ever accomplished in his career.

      The worst and scariest part is Beasley isn’t that much better than Castillo, Beasley is probably slightly faster on his best day.

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  10. One the jersey note again, did Nike really just switch ideas from the England and USA teams? The USA uniform looks like a knockoff of the England 2010 World Cup uniform and the England uniform looks exactly like the USA’s centennial uniform only with a different crest.

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    • Well, I hope we play in a white kit in the Brazilian heat, rather than the relatively dark kits adidas designed for Portugal and Germany.

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  11. Howard showed he’s world class as both goals came off of rebounds of great saves of which the defense was slow and didn’t react.

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    • Burn this game tape and Kljestans jersey! It felt like we played a man down with him and Ukraine had 12 men on the field

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    • Somebody better make sure that this tape doesn’t find its way into the hands of Julian Green. Would you want to join this abomination?

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  12. Someone should tell the players to open the collars. They look like the school nerds. Maybe that’s why they played so “buttoned up”.

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    • maybe it’s not comfortable to play with it that way? I mean, you wouldn’t want something flapping or sliding around while your playing. That kind of shirt doesn’t seem best suited for sports other than golf…

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  13. Also wondering if it would’ve been better to play Castillo as a left midfielder and Johnson as the defender. Both are overlapping type players but Johnson is the better defender.

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    • yeah, either way it’s clear that Johnson is our left back. I don’t trust anyone else for the big games. Beas will do as a backup.

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  14. I realize that this is not our starting 11, but look at our defensive shape in the replays. We play like this and we get destroyed all 3 games of the first round.

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    • Hands down…. Brooks, Gooch and Castillo were awful. I was cheering for Onyewu but he is not the same, he lost confidence ever since his injury. If we look at the first goal, he just gave up, he did not follow the play and slowed down. In the second goals he was nowhere to be found and was just jogging.

      Gooch is done at the international level.

      Brooks is just too raw right now.

      Castillo…. he likes to go forward and go 1 on 1 when possible but he is not so good defending. Also, his size does not help him either.

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