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USMNT vs. Bolivia: Your Running Commentary

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Before kickoff of the Copa America next week, the U.S. Men’s National Team has one final dress rehearsal on Saturday night against CONMEBOL opposition.

The U.S. takes on Bolivia at Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday night, capping off a three-game slate of friendlies before the upcoming tournament. The USMNT enters the match following two straight friendly wins following victories over Puerto Rico and Ecuador.

With just six days before the tournament, head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has assembled a strong attacking unit in front of a backline that has undergone a bit of rearranging. Matt Besler and Michael Orozco feature as fullbacks on Saturday night, while Geoff Cameron returns to the lineup after missing the first two friendlies of camp.

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

Enjoy the action.

Comments

  1. Good game for the states. Zardes had a game to prove he does deserve to be in the pool. Not saying a starter but he should be in the pool. Dempsey proving more and more you can’t fight age

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  2. The team look like they enjoy playing again, unlike last summer. Bradley channeling Pirlo tonight.

    Also, F Lalas

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  3. As far as the attendance conversation goes. Apparently ticket prices were over double what they usually are at Children’s Mercy Park for SKC games and that was before extra fees that were included as well. I don’t know if it was a similar situation in Frisco, but I don’t blame people for not paying 60 bucks for bleacher seats for a tune-up game like this.

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    • Everyone is nuts about the Royals these days in Kansas City and they just finished a game against Chicago at Kaufmann an hour or two before kickoff as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if that had a significant impact, too.

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    • I looked at tickets this week, but ended up not going. They seemed pretty reasonable, I don’t know for sure what SKC tickets are but at least end seats weren’t terrible. A lot of seats showed up sold on ticketmaster so I was surprised how empty it was. It looked like the bench side and the Outlaw end were pretty full.

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  4. On attendance, I know in Dallas there was zero spent on promoting the game. It didn’t even appear in the newspaper under the “what’s on TV” blurb in the sports section.

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  5. Jones is not impressing tonight. He’s been giving the ball away much to often & easily. While I’ve always loved the energy he’s brought to the team between tonight and the game against Ecuador it is looking to me that father time is catching up with him.

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    • hm, I thought Jones looked solid, maybe a little fatigued towards the end but he always works hard. Dempsey was invisible most of the game, but we didn’t really need all 11 tonight I guess. Not sure what to expect if he starts for the Colombia match

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      • Jones was better in the 2nd half, but the first 45 was pretty bad IMO. Dempsey was fairly invisible, but then again he tends to be unless he’s really tuned in, which doesn’t happen often during friendlies.
        Age is catching up to both of them and with younger options playing so well (Nagbe & Pulisic) their time as starters may be coming to and end. I won’t be surprised if by the time WCQ roles around later this year if both aren’t bench players.

  6. It is an improvement to see this team play without that humongous burden of a player whose name rhymes with Antigoal.

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  7. Attendance both tonight and in Frisco is embarrassing. Mexico ‘ s game in Atlanta alone dwarfs the attendance in the last 2 USMNT games…

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  8. Apologists….apologists everywhere.

    This is our final warm up before a big tournament. We still have no idea who our best 11 is, who our CB pair will be, what our go to strike partnership will be…

    This lineup is a waste and all of you know it. What good is giving Besler and Orozco minutes at positions they are not likely to play?

    Pulisic has played 90 minutes before as has Nagbe.

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    • Are you serious?? You really have no idea who the starting 11 might be? If you’ve paid attention you would have a good idea. In addition to figuring out your potential starters, you want to give most of the players some time before the tournament and make sure none have already worn themselves out. yeah, I do think it was ridiculous for JK to be trying Besler out at LB, he clearly has dug himself in a bit of a hole as far as backup fullbacks are concerned…but my first points still stand.

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    • How do we not know out CB pairing? Its Brooks and Cameron when both are healthy, Besler is backup at LCB and Birnbuam at RCB. Orozco is the back up RB and Castillo is in Monterrey preparing for the Liga Mx final so Besler gets some minutes and FJ gets some rest for 45, chill out.

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  9. Let’s get some negativity out of the way: I’m glad to see we’re back in one of our three fortresses in atmosphere and support in Kansas City (Columbus and Seattle be the other two). Frisco was an absolute embarrassment (the reported 9,983 was optimistic at best) and I hope we don’t see a game there again for awhile.

    With Geoff Cameron and John Brooks appearing to be the starting back line, I’m curious if Besler can seize the back up role for this position, too. Truth be told, based on defensive ability I’d probably prefer to see Besler over Edgar Castillo when Fabian Johnson isn’t on the pitch because Besler can actually defend. Castillo is just too shaky on defense for my likes.

    –I threw up in my mouth a little seeing Zardes in the starting XI, but I’m looking forward to seeing Christian Pulisic come on and how he performs.

    –I’d personally prefer Darlington Nagbe over Alejandro Bedoya. I respect Bedoya’s industry but I’m not big on him like many others appear to be. He’s played all over the pitch and I just don’t think he makes a difference enough to warrant a starting role. I think we may see Nagbe grab the starting job going forward before the Copa is over.

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    • I’m from Kansas and normally I’d agree with you…but from what they were showing during the pre-game and anthems…Children’s Mercy Park looks half full tonight. Not a great showing.

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    • To be fair I am watching on TV right now and the attendance looks pretty bad. Huge amount of empty seats everywhere and today is Saturday while the Frisco game was midweek. This shows how little support the USMNT gets even in 2016.

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      • You should have waited to use that back on me when it actually makes sense in the context of the conversation. Today was a bad time to celebrate KC as a fortress with a half full stadium on a Saturday night the game before the Copa starts.

        An example of prisoners of the moment will be the fans that will say something like “Besler should be our starting left-back” because of one game where the USMNT is dominating and therefore Besler along with everyone else is looking really good.

      • You should have waited to use that back on me when it actually makes sense in the context of the conversation.

        The sarcasm hit the mark, but it has not great value to “save”.

    • The three home friendlies before the one in frisco had had between 8k-9k in attendance and guess where those friendlies were, two in LA and one in NY. So let’s not be so quick to bash the attendance in frisco

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      • Right, I think it’s more an issue of importance of match and as American fans tend to do, they only buy tickets to big games. A tuneup before a big tourney, people are likely saving their money for the copa high ticket prices 🙂 just mho

      • When it’s a good opponent I think the women draw better than this for friendlies. A lot of people missed a good game.

      • But police in riot gear protecting the taker of corner kicks isn’t mandated in the US either, so there’s that.

    • Comically wrong about Bedoya and Zardes. Also, Besler appears to be a huge liability going forward. A godd team would have spanked him hard.

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      • Absolutely right on both accounts. Bedoya hasn’t played like this in years and Zardes is having is one good game in ten.

        I have no idea what Besler was doing so far up field getting caught on the counter. Reminiscent of Yedlin vs Ecauador in the first half before the adjustment was made.

      • yeah, the only way I can see Besler playing there again is if we need to be in a defensive shell and there is no way he goes forward

    • I am getting it hard on twitter for defending Pulisic starting on Bench in Lieu of Zardes. Fullbacks ahrd to explain besides Castillo and squad rotation. Rough lineup.

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      • lol Im sure you are. To me it’s simple, give yedlin and FJ 45 or less starting in second half. Keep your backups (besler, orozco) ready by giving them minutes. And then zardes and bedoya over nagbe and Pulisic aren’t that wild especially because one of those two is likely to not start in the actual copa. Jk is just spreading around minutes and this way your starters will be in in the second half and perhaps if it’s close will get a 45 minute text on pulling out a result.

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