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Weston McKennie scores as USMNT earns tie with Portugal

The U.S. Men’s National Team’s young guns got their first experience of senior action on Tuesday and it was one of the team’s youngest players that provided a goal in a solid performance in Portugal.

Weston McKennie scored a first half goal from the USMNT, but an Ethan Horvath blunder saw Portugal come back and earn a 1-1 draw at the Estádio Dr. Magalhaes Pessoa.

Following a back-and-forth start, the U.S. broke through first by way of McKennie. The young midfielder latched on to a pass from C.J. Sapong and drove at the Portugal defense. After beating his defender, McKennie fired a shot past Beto on the near post, giving the USMNT a 1-0 lead.

That lead lasted just 10 minutes before a Horvath howler handed Portugal an equalizer. A cross in from Vitorino Antunes was mishandled by the USMNT goalkeeper in the 31st minute as the ball trickled through Horvath’s legs and in to level the score.

The U.S. turned on the pressure in the second half, creating several early chances. Tyler Adams forced a diving save from Beto just moments before McKennie saw his attempt smash off the crossbar. In the 72nd minute, Cameron Carter-Vickers nearly finished from close range but was taken out by Beto.

Overall, Beto finished with five saves to keep a fairly effective U.S. attack at bay.

The U.S. began the substitution phase with Lynden Gooch, Carter-Vickers, Bill Hamid and Jorge Villafana joining the fray as second half subs. Dom Dwyer eventually joined later in the second half, completing the substitutions.

Portugal created their own chances midway through the second half as Gonçalo Paciência smashed a shot off the crossbar. Hamid was forced into a save in the 77th minute, pushing an Antunes shot into the air before collecting the rebound.

The U.S. returns to action in January to kickstart the year with a match against Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Comments

  1. if these guys were in the clash vs trinidad and tobago we could be defeated too but we had fight for the spot in wc, i hope the lesson was learned, no cares if the players are young, they need be good players this cares

    Reply
  2. I think there are question marks in many positions too, but I don’t have CB in my confidence bucket..not sure how anyone could after the last few years.

    Great to see the guys mentioned as dangerous offensive threats, be great defensive mids too.

    They probably find the keeper among a lot of choices….but who is going to score? Need Morris to not be injured and out of a sophomore slump.

    Reply
  3. Geez, a good result in one friendly and people here go bat sh*t crazy. I have roundly criticized Arena in the past and many of our stalwart players, but to say that the standard regulars aren’t as good as the players today is just not reality. If you don’t think the nature of the game makes a difference, compare how Acosta played in friendlies versus how well he played in qualifiers. The intensity level and pressure go way up in qualifiers and it makes a big difference. And bizzy, we tied Portugal , and should have won, with MB in the World Cup. And Bradley scored a wonder goal in Mexico during the qualifiers to get us a draw we probably didn’t deserve. Calm down.
    In other issues, I was glad to see Danny Williams get a chance to play a lot and Brooks and Miazga were great. I can’t recall any defensive backs making any real mistakes, for a change.

    Reply
    • Yes, we should’ve won that game against Portugal at the WC, but MB gave the ball away late and Portugal countered and scored the last-minute equalizer.

      Reply
    • @Gary Page
      “And bizzy, we tied Portugal , and should have won, with MB in the World Cup.”
      mmm…lets see A WONDER GOAL
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj9vnjTY51U

      ….Maybe if he was actually NOT on the field WE WOULD HAVE ACTUALLY WON (did you ever think about that). Maybe it’s a “Schalke / Bundesliga thing” to cut in and score against Portugal hahahahha

      “And Bradley scored a wonder goal in Mexico during the qualifiers to get us a draw we probably didn’t deserve. Calm down”
      Zusi (assist brad Davis) scored a wonder goal against Panama to send mexico to the world cup……your point? Michael Bradley should have never been played over Jermaine Jones IN ANY FORMATION (a reason the team was disjointed) as they were not in the same class but I don’t need to tell you that…..a midfield with watered down Bradley, that jogs around all game, that doesn’t go in for tackles, that doesn’t fight for his spot on his club team, that has no impact on offense (you really can’t as a master back-passer)….is a midfield on a team that doesn’t make the WORLD CUP

      Reply
    • and that is exactly the thinking that has us watching the next world cup from the sidelines. We can never replicate the intensity of the qualifiers so we can never risk sitting Michael Bradley for one because there just aren’t battle toughened prospects because we can never replicate the intensity of the qualifiers so we can’t risk sitting Bradley for one because…. The USMNT coaching staff chased their tails in circles right down the toilet.

      Reply
  4. The US did OK against a disjointed Portugal. That is hardly an indictment of any US players who were not on the field.

    It will be well over a year before the US plays a game that is not a friendly. There is still plenty of time to sort out which players will rise to the occasion when things get tougher That said, the players JK and Arena used will mostly be over 30 by the 2022 WC and many over 30 by the next Gold Cup.

    It is the natural progression of things that the roster will change and there will be players on that 2022 squad who younger Adams on that team.

    Reply
  5. We seem to be in pretty good shape at CM, CB, RB and Christian Pulisic, wherever he plays. We have big question marks everywhere else. Who is going to score goals? Who is going to stop goals? Neither of the keepers today inspired much confidence. We’re going to be stuck with another four years of Altidore and Wood because there’s nobody else.

    Reply
    • Yes, Horvath made a huge mistake today. No-one is discounting that, but he is a decent keeper and there are options at keeper going forward (Horvath, Steffen, Gonzalez, Guzan, Hamid). We have 18 months before games count again, so we should be able to settle on a pecking order.
      Yes we have a RB in Yedlin, but one of the failures of the Hex is that neither Bruce or JK had a decent back-up for him. Depth at both outside back positions needs to be a focal point over the next 18 months in order to cover for injuries/suspensions. I don’t want to see another Zusi experiment again.
      As for who’s going to be scoring the goals, don’t be surprised to find that it’s being done by committee. Jozy & Wood are likely to be the 1st choice strikers for now, but Morris, Sargent, & Wright will be in the mix and pushing them. I also expect that a number of the goals are going to come from the midfield….Pulisic, Saief, Manneh, Arriola, Gooch, etc…. as these are all more attack minded players than our Midfielders of the last cycle (Bedoya, Zusi, Jones, etc…) who were more defensive minded. We got to see a small sample of what things could be today…high press with quick transitions and attacking with speed. All things that we didn’t do during the Hex.

      Reply
      • There are many accurate comments regarding Bradley but what I don’t understand is why slow boat Jozy did not get similar negative comments. He is actually pretty much of a wasted player/striker because of his lack of movement and only scores when it is all set-up for him. In the future, use Wood (at least he adds to the team effort) or some of the young guys like the “new” wunderkind Sargent.

  6. Anyone, remind me why MB had to play every minute of every meaningful game the past 10 years. Was he a world class player?

    Why were Williams, Morales, and Klesjtan given little more than spot minutes to make a claim as opposed to Acosta or maybe who’ve been given multiple extended chances?

    What would a cb pairing of Cameron and Miazga been able to do against TnT. Could have qualified?

    Funny, how when you call in talent over experience you get results. It also helps to be playing in better leagues than MLS.

    Reply
    • I’m not going to argue that Bradley’s time as a starter isn’t nearing an end, but its not his fault he was given the responsibility that was placed on three people today and asked to do it twice in four days. It’s not rocket science to figure out when you have three guys covering the same space that Bradley was asked to, that the three guys were better.

      Morales played in 12 matches over a three-year time frame averaging 45 minutes per match. Do you know why that seems high because he never did anything in most of those matches? In two seasons in the Bundesliga he started just over half the matches for one of the worst teams in the league and he was far from the best player on his team.

      I think everyone outside of Bruce Arena would have settled for Cameron and Besler.

      Reply
      • Johnny, still cashing that mls check I see? I’ve been right since we hired BA it was a mistake. Called out his ridiculous call up all hex and hid favoritism for mls. We’ve had this argument since September call ups. I honestly wish you were right this whole time but over and over you’re wrong and I wish I didn’t or couldn’t say this but i told you so too.

        Stop shilling for mls and add a original idea in a post beyond the talking head narratives.

      • “I’m not going to argue that Bradley’s time as a starter isn’t nearing an end”…..but you have been arguing for years hahahahaha (change of heart????)
        Johnnyrazor you and a lot of other people on here have been arguing that we don’t have a better option in midfield (and a few of us have been arguing that we do!!!!), or like Joe Dirt put it you all are always asking WHO should partner with Bradley rather than taking him out all together.
        Also, Bradley’s time isn’t nearing it’s end……it was over years ago. He is not on the same level as Mckennie, Williams or even Acosta anymore

      • “its not his fault he was given the responsibility that was placed on three people” today”….hahahahahaha how long has the USMNT been playing with too many defensive midfielders? Don’t you get it? IT DOESN’T MATTER WHO YOU PAIR MICHAEL BRADLEY WITH…..HAHAHAHAHAHA, he doesn’t fit in because he doesn’t have the speed, physical ability or ball control to be effective. Did you see how “FAST” the team looked today???
        Bradley / Acosta – sucks
        Bradley / Jemaine Jones – sucks
        Bradley / McCarthy – sucks
        Bradley / Johnnyrazor – will suck

        Because Bradley sucks and never got replaced on the team

      • Bradley and Jones succeeded in 2014 because Jones was that good. But no one was ever going to be good enough to help Bradley elevate his game this cycle. Beyond that I have my doubts he was a good captain either. Somehow the whole German American thing festered and got even worse after Klinnsman left and MB should have handled that. Also, someone needed to encourage Arena to pull his head out of his ashcan and call in and play the best available players. A leader in his shoes would recognize he’s holding the team back and resign from international play.

      • Join Joe Dirt for his SoccerWars Podcast: This week how SUM laced the clouds over Bremen with a special nerve agent so John Brooks would pull his hammy before the October qualifiers, find out what’s in the Arena Dossier: let’s just say it involves Bruce, a hotel room and an innumerable amount of goats, and finally how Don Garber and Sunil Gulati are running a child trafficking ring out of a lower Eastside deli.

        Love that Quite Whining considers me a Eurosnob, and you consider me on the MLS payroll, must mean I’m pretty close to right.

      • Morales team wasn’t the worst, they lasted two years because of their defensive chops. Once they lost that, it was just a matter of time before they would get demoted. Morales never played his natural position with the USMNT, he was always given spot minutes at Jones spot and he didn’t what he was told. He played there when we played Netherlands and Germany and did well. But because JK didn’t rate him, that was the end of the line for him.

    • If Arena would have played his starting roster from Trinidad in the same formation that Sarchan used today, we would be in the WC. The roster was good enough (our best probably not). Arena thought they were qualified and didn’t envision Hon. and Panama winning their matches. He did not prepare the squad appropriately and failed to make the needed adjustments from the first match on that Friday. That’s not schilling for MLS that’s living in reality.

      Reply
      • Bizzy is soooo relieved that a US team without Bradley actually tied a game it is truly remarkable.

        Of course there will come a day when Bradley is not part of the US squad, he is 30 and was never going to be part of the 2022 WC squad. It looks like he may not be part of the next US Gold Cup squad, he will be 32, but I find Bizzy’s joy at that mean-spirited and vindictive.

        It is hardly Bradley’s fault that JK and then Arena believed he was the best player for the spot.

      • @Johnnyrazor – Nope it would have been a blowout….and we would have never scored a goal. Bradley doesn’t have the offensive capability or make up speed to drop back like williams, be part of the offensive, cover on defense or use his physical ability (because he has none)…so in that formation we would have never scored a goal and would be defending all game long
        the USMNT have tried Bradley in every position possible in the midfield and we sucked as a whole….remove Bradley and we stood up to Portugal (B team or not its still impressive as we could beat TNT)

    • Bizzy-
      Ha ha I missed your last selection, I would agree because Bradley would still be forced to cover the ground of three men if he was paired with me. Now Bradley/Johnnyrazor/ and Bizzy then we’d have something.

      Reply
      • @Johnnyrazor
        Williams and Mckennie covered A LOT OF GROUND but made it look easy with skill, technical ability and speed on their side. They moved as a unit (were part of defense and part of offense)…Bradley just jogs around excessively, with no contribution on offensive, looking lost / clueless. I’ve never seen anyone put so much effort in back passing and trying to look busy. He doesn’t win 50/50 balls, doesn’t chase back and he doesn’t go in hard to break up plays, he doesn’t move forward on offense (must be something taught in the EPL/Bundesliga lol), can’t win any battle in the air……he was useless as a DM or CAM and we paid the ultimate price by keeping him on the field because he was some how the face of USSOCCER….

    • Bizzy – This idea that Bradley is the problem with the national team is ludicrous. He is one of the top players in the pool by just about every measurement. Your obsession with Williams shows a negative bias against Bradley. Williams had a good game defensively, but contributed little in possession or going forward. As a whole, the US was not all that strong in possession in this game. While mistake prone, Bradley is a very good passer, and has shown that he can score when given the opportunity. Defensively, he covers a lot of ground and is faster than most people give him credit for. Maybe this is Williams’ time — I am certainly in favor of giving players other than Bradley looks, but let’s not go off the deep end with this nonsensical narrative about Bradley being the reason the US didn’t qualify for the World Cup and that this Portugal game shows definitively that Williams is the anchor that solves our issues.

      Reply
      • @Don Lamb
        “This idea that Bradley is the problem with the national team is ludicrous.”
        …………No it not. The man is not our best DM or CM or CAM, so why is he on the field? Why did US soccer try to make him the face of the USMNT? Did you know that MLS Allstar’s have never scored a goal with Michael Bradley ON THE FIELD!!! Playing in the midfield!!!

        “He is one of the top players in the pool by just about every measurement.”
        …………Top player doesn’t mean the best. Players that are better than Bradley (4 years ago because right now HE REALLY SUCKS) for the USMNT
        Danny Williams (EPL), Weston McKennie (Bundesliga), Geoff Cameron (at Defensive Mid, EPL), Acosta (MLS), Jermaine Jones (MLS), Alfredo Morales (Ingolstadt 04)

        “Your obsession with Williams shows a negative bias against Bradley”
        …………….Hahahahaha….really? Ok let’s see…..Danny Williams plays in the EPL, against teams like Manchester United…Chelsea….Arsenal…..he is stronger than Bradley, he is faster than Bradley, he is a better defender than Bradley (Nope no bias there just facts 😀 )

        “Williams had a good game defensively, but contributed little in possession or going forward. As a whole, the US was not all that strong in possession in this game”
        ……………61.3% POSSESSION 38.7% ….but who had the clearer chances or scored a goal that wasn’t by luck of a young goalkeeper? (and Why don’t you look again at Williams participation in the first half ? )

        “Defensively, he covers a lot of ground and is faster than most people give him credit for.”
        ……………thats the beauty of back passing you have ample space hahahahaha

        The blame is to share with the USMNT failure but it starts with the Captain and he (Altidore, Zusi etc) should have never been on the field ALL THIS TIME to begin with…..when we have Danny Williams, Geoff Cameron, Alfredo Morales, Julian Green, Timmy Chandler, Fabian Johnson etc that are playing and training at a higher level (not to mention with more experience) and should be regulars

    • Your counter arguments are so flawed, they don’t even deserve a response. However, you finally get to the meat of issue when you start listing the “leaders” of the team: Bradley, Altidore, ZUSI…. Ding, ding, ding! The issue with this US team is that A.There is no depth — players like Bradley and Altidore are fine, but when your depth forces you to rely on players like Zusi, Bedoya, Besler, Ream, etc. that is a MAJOR issue. and B. The younger generation was non-existent. In their day, guys like Beasley and Howard were good players; however they are way past it, and the fact that no up and coming players were able to step in to replace them (much less the guys I mentioned above) is also a HUGE issue. Although possibly overrated by some, Bradley was not the problem with this team.

      Reply
      • @Don Lamb
        “Your counter arguments are so flawed”
        hahahahaha….nothing is flawed when it comes to Michael Bradley sucks, and shouldn’t be on the field in the presence of Danny Williams, Geoff Cameron, Jermaine Jones and Alfredo Morales, who by the way, are not young players
        And to back my argument
        ….Show me a team that has a 30 year old Michael Bradley orchestrating the play in the midfield…..and I’ll show you a team that doesn’t make or is not fit to be in a world cup.
        ….Show me a team that has a 30 year old Michael Bradley coordinating play in the midfield and I’ll show you a team that cannot score to save it’s life
        hahahahahaha……Nothing is flawed about this argument but you thought processes…..food for thought 😉

      • @Don Lamb
        it means you know NOTHING about soccer. Julian Green came up the pipeline of Bayern Munich, scored in his first world cup appearance, played with the first team (and if you know anything about Bundesliga you know in this team is almost impossible to make the first team of Bayern Munich…ask Johannsson who is on a lesser team in the Bundesliga) rubbed shoulders with players Jozy Altidore would run to get their autographs if he could even SEE THEM FACE TO FACE. Apart from Pulisic and maybe dempsey NO USMNT PLAYER has played with the caliber of player he has…NONE (Franck Ribéry, Robert Lewandowski, Arjen Robben, Jérôme Boateng etc …so speaking of flawed…. 😀
        Pay to play players don’t survive in Europe
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taQRvwu0PmA

        Altidore will NEVER have a team like Bayern Munich written on his back….EVER, even for training hahahahahaha!!!!

    • Bizzy – Child, please…. Again, your assertions are laughable. Jermaine Jones and Alfredo Morales are nowhere near as good as Bradley. Jones was in his class years ago, but he is hardly even MLS caliber right now — not to mention, he is constantly injured. Morales is only three years younger than Bradley and has had nowhere near the career of Bradley, who has played on top teams in the Eredivise and Serie A, and starred on good teams in Bundesliga and Serie A. He is currently a key cog on the best MLS team ever while Morales is in the second division in Germany. Most of Morales’ career has been in the second division.

      Then you say Green is great because he came through the Bayern Munich system. That logic is flawed and shows your ignorance. What has he done in the three years since the World Cup (that is the time of his career that was actually important — not the time when he was playing in the 4th division with Bayern)? At 30, Bradley is still in the prime of his career for another couple of years. There are many midfielders coming through now who can replace him, but that simply has not been the case do the depth and the black hole generation that I mentioned earlier.

      Reply
      • @Don Lamb
        hahahahahaha you are laughable. Jermaine Jones is a better player than Bradley hands down 9even tho BOTH are passed their best). There is NO AREA ON THE FIELD that Bradley can claim against Jones or Morales. This is what all the pros are talking about……if you are not competing for your job day in day out, if you are not fighting to make a lasting impression, if you are not playing at a higher level…..you lose that edge to compete, and we saw that on full display.
        “He is currently a key cog on the best MLS team ever while Morales is in the second division in Germany”….HAHAHAHAHAHAHA YOU THINK MLS IS A HIGHER LEVEL THAN BUNDESLIGA II????!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…..WOW

      • Don, like your comments sometimes but Bizzy is right. MB certainly not one of our best players. Yours and others adamant stance on this really show how poor the typical American soccer fan and coach are at evaluating talent and how it works tactically in the positions and roles that talent/player is designated to play. Bradley was never a true DM or a CAM, he was in his younger days a very good #8 box to box CM but those days are long gone and have been for a few years now. When you state that at “30 years old he’s still in his prime for couple more years” you are really showing you lack of knowledge. CMs hit their primes around 24-28 plus or a minus a year. MBs two signature things he does really well are switching the field with long pass and he plays 2-3 dangerous long pass over the top per game. This suites Route 1 Sam Allarydyce style football but we haven’t had the forwards to make that works since McBride really. If MB was better a short in tight spaces type passer and a better DM who wins balls and breaks up attack he might have fit as a #6 but those aren’t his skill set.

        Instead, because he was the face of MLS and US Soccer he was automatically started where he fit best even though his skills didn’t fit the position or the formation/tactics because our coaches and federation have a lack of understanding the game tactically and spatially. Just look at his transfer fee to TFC, no other club overseas would have paid that much for him as a player, his skills didn’t warrant a 10mm transfer fee at the time, but he was more “marketable” to MLS and hence the higher premium MLS was willing to pay for the transfer. MLS has over valued his talent all along.

      • @Don Lamb
        “That logic is flawed and shows your ignorance”
        ….hahahahaha you are the only ignorant person here
        1) Thinking MLS is a Higher level than Bundesliga II (you are delusional)
        2) Thinking Bradley deserves the DM spot ahead of a EPL player (you are delusional)
        3) At 30 thinking that Michael Bradley is in his prime (You are delusional)
        being ignorant is not a crime but its at your doorstep my friend 🙂

    • Joe Dirt – Thanks for being rational with presenting your opinions. It shows that there might actually be some merit to what you say. However, I disagree with statements like saying a midfielder’s peak is 24-28. Barring injury, men in good condition do not lose much physically before their early-mid 30s, and they can often over come any negligent slippage with an increased level of awareness and cognition. As far as Bradley’s worth and the fact that MLS valued him higher than other leagues would have, that has nothing to with the fact that he was playing for a top 25 club in the world at the time, and that he had very successful stints in some of the top leagues in the world. Which leads me to…

      Bizzy – No I do not think that MLS is a higher level than Bundesliga. What I do think is that Bradley played at a higher level and for a longer time than Morales has in that league. In fact, Bradley used that performance (after tearing up the Eredivise) to become an anchor on a mid table Serie A team. From there, he was bought by one of the top 20 or so clubs in the world. How does that compare to Alfredo Morales career? Do you really want to debate that?

      Likewise, taking Jones over Bradley in their current form is another difficult argument to make. Jones has been worthless in MLS for the last 1.5 years. Did you watch him at all with the Galaxy this season? Williams is a different story. He clearly should have been given more chances over the last couple of years. The point is there has not been this stable of players at his position that are better than Bradley. Furthermore, there were far weaker spots on the field than at the position that Bradley has been playing.

      Reply
      • @Don Lamb
        “He is currently a key cog on the best MLS team ever while Morales is in the second division in Germany”…..yes you did imply that but retracting your statement is good enough for me.

        “Bradley used that performance (after tearing up the Eredivise) to become an anchor on a mid table Serie A team. From there, he was bought by one of the top 20 or so clubs in the world. ”
        Bradley
        2006–2008 Heerenveen 63 (16)
        2008–2011 Borussia Mönchengladbach 76 (10)
        2011 → Aston Villa (loan) 3 (0)
        2011–2012 Chievo 35 (1)
        2012–2014 Roma 41 (2)
        2014– Toronto FC

        so Michael Bradley who was on loan to an EPL team (back then) couldn’t cut it…..moved to Chievo, couldnt cut it….Move to Roma, started to ride pine (41 games in 2 years), couldn’t cut it…..
        Jermaine Jones
        1999–2004 Eintracht Frankfurt II 31 (9)
        1999–2004 Eintracht Frankfurt 46 (7)
        2004–2005 Bayer Leverkusen II 15 (5)
        2004–2005 Bayer Leverkusen 5 (0)
        2005 → Eintracht Frankfurt (loan) 14 (3)
        2005–2007 Eintracht Frankfurt 24 (2)
        2007–2014 Schalke 04 129 (7)
        2011 → Blackburn Rovers (loan) 15 (0)
        2014 Beşiktaş

        So who has a better record of “tearing up” a top league???
        …..Alfredo Morales is CURRENTLY playing at a higher level so doesn’t compare with Michael Bradley as most top players come to retire in MLS (where Bradley is a key cog hahahahaha…..its like bragging that you are a key element of a high school team and there are people doing their Masters in the conversation). And of course we will not even mention Danny Williams as that is just disrespectful lol.

    • Wait…. so Bradley was bought by Roma after “not cutting it” at Chievo? I don’t think you understand the relationship between Chievo and Roma, a top club in Italy. The only unsuccessful stint Bradley has had during his career was a very brief loan spell at Villa, which was a dumpster fire when he was there. Bradley’s career is much more impressive than Morales’, and he is currently playing at a higher level. Do you realize that Ingolstadt is in 2 Bundesliga? My guess is that you didn’t realize that, which has led to a lot of your confusion over the levels that Bradley and Morales are currently playing at.

      As for Jones, I never compared his career to Bradley’s. I compared their form over the last two years, which clearly points to Bradley as the much stronger player at the moment and projecting forward until the time that Bradley retires.

      Reply
      • @Don Lamb
        “I don’t think you understand the relationship between Chievo and Roma, a top club in Italy.”
        …….I do, you don’t. During the season, which runs from August to May, each club plays each of the other teams twice; once at home and once away, totalling 38 games for each team by the end of the season. from 2011 to 2014 Bradley played 76 games when he should have played around 152 (give or take what time he arrived at the teams)…which means he rode a lot of pine or was a backup player and not part of the core group of players

        “Do you realize that Ingolstadt is in 2 Bundesliga?”
        lol…Again you are clueless. Ingolstadt 04 fought their way up and was a Bundesliga team in (won promotion for the first time in their history to the Bundesliga in 2014)….guess who was still kept by the team?
        2011–12 2. Bundesliga 12th
        2012–13 2. Bundesliga 13th
        2013–14 2. Bundesliga 10th
        2014–15 2. Bundesliga 1st ↑
        2015–16 Bundesliga I 11th
        2016–17 Bundesliga 17th ↓
        2017–18 2. Bundesliga II

        Alfredo Morales: 2013– Ingolstadt 04 126 (6)
        So he played in the Bundesliga and still playing in the 2. Bundesliga which means he is playing /training at a higher level than Michael Bradley

      • @Don Lamb
        “As for Jones, I never compared his career to Bradley’s. I compared their form over the last two years”……
        hahahahahahaha…..What has Michael Bradley done for TFC?
        Justin Morrow ….8 goals …A DEFENDER HAS MORE GOALS THAN BRADLEY
        Nicolas Hasler….3 goals…A DEFENDER HAS MORE GOALS THAN BRADLEY
        Drew Moor….2 goals…..A DEFENDER HAS MORE GOALS THAN BRADLEY

        Ok…Ok…maybe he had a lot of ASSISTS (like Sasha Kljestan) 😀
        Victor Vazquez (midfielder)……16 assists
        Steven Beitashour (defender)…..5 assists
        Marky Delgado (Midfielder)…..5 assists
        Jonathan Osorio (midfielder)…..4 assists
        Michael Bradley (Midfielder) 0 goals 2 assist

        HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA ggoossee eegg!!!!! TALK ABOUT RUNNING AROUND (covering a lot of ground)AND NOT DOING ANYTHING HAHAHAHAHAHAHA 😀

    • lol. Bradley was a standout at Chievo, and that is the ONLY way he would have been transferred from there to Roma. Glad you finally realized that Morales is NOT playing in the Bundesliga….. When last seen there, he played the full 90 for a total of 12 games on a bad team that got relegated.

      Reply
    • Bizzy – Those stats confirm what any educated fan already understands. Vanney uses Bradley as a pace setter that circulates the ball and starts counter attacks. He uses him as a strong defensive player in the midfield that, yes, covers a lot of ground (you said that was one of Bradley’s weaknesses in a post above…) and breaks up attacks. He plays in front of a back 3, so his defensive responsibilities are just as important as his attacking responsibilities. He has an extremely valuable role deep in midfield. He is a 6. He is not relied upon to score goals or get assists. He sets the tempo of the game and makes sure that his team doesn’t give up goals. The players that you mentioned with the flashier stats, all play higher up the field than Bradley does (even Morrow, who is frequently in the box), so your use of those stats ignores the context of how that team sets up as an 11 and what Bradley’s role is within that 11. He is one of the best midfielders in MLS and he is a big reason that TFC are the best team in MLS history.

      Reply
      • lol. “He uses him as a strong defensive player in the midfield”….yet “he’s a 6.” oh my goodness you are clueless hahahahahahaha
        “Bradley was a standout at Chievo, and that is the ONLY way he would have been transferred from there to Roma”
        …hahahahahahaha a standout with only 35 games under his belt??? hahahahahahaha what tree are you smoking hahahahahahahaha. Roma needed decent players on their bench for cheap hahahahahahaha and that’s where he was when he decided to come to MLS
        “Glad you finally realized that Morales is NOT playing in the Bundesliga…..” hahahahahahahaha some people are slower than others but you will get there 2 s past seasons in the Bundesliga makes you a bundesliga caliber player, especially if you stayed with the team through out hahahahahahaha (re-read above lol)
        “Vanney uses Bradley as a pace setter that circulates the ball and starts counter attacks. He uses him as a strong defensive player in the midfield that, yes, covers a lot of ground
        Hahahahahahahahaha……I’ve never heard them rate a player based on covering ground hahahahahahahaha that all you have which means he REALLY SUCKS hahahahahaha
        He plays in front of a back 3, so his defensive responsibilities are just as important as his attacking responsibilities…..WHAT DEFENSIVE RESPONSIBILITIES? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA…..AND WHAT OFFENSIVE RESPONSIBILITIES? AHAHAHAHAHAHA.
        “yes, covers a lot of ground “…..I agree with you there. If you are a back passer you have AMPLE REAL ESTATE TO DO SO HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
        “ The players that you mentioned with the flashier stats, all play higher up the field than Bradley does “……You do know that those stats are from most of the DEFENDERS ON THE TEAM right? Hahahahahahahahahahahaha and if they have better stats than him you know he sucks (even for MLS standards)

      • hahahahahaha and another thing….Michael Bradley has never scored in an MLS Allstar game, Has never contributed to a goal in an MLS Allstar game ……AND HAS NEVER BEEN ON THE FIELD WHEN A GOAL WAS SCORED in an Allstar game….In other words he has absolutely nothing to contribute on offense for whatever team he is on hahahahahahahaha Food for thought 🙂

      • @Don Lamb
        hahahahahaha…..the last time I checked, you play Allstar games TO WIN!!!! I guess if you are a Michael Bradley fanboy, who thinks back passing and running around (covering ground) in the opposite direction on the field with no purpose is productive, or not contributing on offense / defense as a midfielder is good play, or who thinks a watered down MLS player is better at his job than an EPL / Bundesliga / 2. Bundesliga player or who thinks that a midfielder who scores less than SEVERAL DEFENDERS BEHIND HIM is based on his position on the field or who thinks 2. Bundesliga is lower than MLS both technically and tactically, then maybe you got a point……hahahahahahahaha, you are soooo clueless hahahahhaha

      • hahahahahahahaha yes you can…..they are ALL AT A HIGHER LEVEL THAN MLS……where back pass Bradley is playing
        Whats laughable is you soccer IQ hahahahahahaha
        A bench player from Serie A
        Compared to a player that plays in the EPL……clueless
        Compared to a player that plays in the Bundesliga …….Clueless
        Compared to a player that plays in the 2. Bundesliga …..Clueless

        Now on top of that this bench player couldn’t cut it IN THE VERY EPL (Aston villa) and was getting enough minutes with Borussia Mönchengladbach…..hahahahahahaha, pathetic 😀

      • oh and that bench player from Serie A that couldn’t cut it IN THE VERY EPL (Aston villa) and wasn’t getting enough minutes with Borussia Mönchengladbach….WAS USELESS 3 -4 YEAR AGO LET ALONE NOW AT 30 HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    • You clearly don’t understand any of the context of what you are talking about (for example, you seem to think that every player in 2. Bundesliga is better than every player in MLS?). That’s okay. It’s about what I would expect from someone who severely lacks maturity.

      Reply
      • @Don Lamb
        you see that’s where you lack soccer IQ….hahahahahaha EVERY is a quantifying word and its not possible for EVERY player in 2. Bundesliga to be better than EVERY player in MLS. As a whole 2. Bundesliga is better than MLS (and I know its hard for you to comprehend but its all good 🙂 hahahahaha).
        Well maybe EVERY 2.Bundesliga Player in midfield is better than Michael Bradley (who can’t seem to score or assist to save his life, and sucks worst than his defenders behind him to score hahahahahahahahaha)

      • “if scoring and assisting were his job, you would have a point”
        hahahahahaha….nah he sucks
        It’s not Justin Morrow job to score ….8 goals …A DEFENDER HAS MORE GOALS THAN BRADLEY hahahahaha
        it’s not Nicolas Hasler job to score….3 goals…A DEFENDER HAS MORE GOALS THAN BRADLEY hahahahahaha
        It’s not Drew Moor job to score….2 goals…..A DEFENDER HAS MORE GOALS THAN BRADLEY hahahahahah
        Michael Bradley (Midfielder) 0 goals….I do have a point the man just sucks hahahhahahahha

  7. Time to replace Michael Bradley’s nickname “MB90” with “Slow-mo Bradley”. I was one of his fans for a long time, but I realized after he came back to MLS (and injured his foot) that he lost a step or two. By 2014, I actually advocated for JJones to be the lock in the midfield and that we should be searching for a partner for him. But now any combination of Williams, Mckennie and Acosta are better that Slow-mo Bradely. I wonder if Klinsmann would have given Mckennie a chance in qualifying had he stayed on as manager.

    Reply
    • “But now any combination of Williams, Mckennie and Acosta are better that Slow-mo Bradely”….while I do agree with this statement I wouldn’t count on Bradley or Williams being part of the USMNT much longer. There was another Young Gun CM who wasn’t called into this camp, Gonzalez. Then there are a number of other young midfielders who’ll be in the mix come March….
      Gonzalez, McKennie, Adams, Acosta, Saief, Pulisic, Arriola, & Manneh could be a dynamic midfield group. Throw in Scott, Jones, Lletget, Gooch, & Green as depth and things certainly look a lot different than it did last month against T&T.

      Reply
    • Funny how much better the defensive midfield is when you put 3 DMs in it, really four as that’s Adams original role.

      Glad we played well, a good result to end the season on. Right or wrong Bradley will be on the pitch in March if he wants to be.

      I guess Horvath getting benched wasn’t US bias, he’s got a case of the yips.

      Reply
      • it funny how a DM midfield with Bradley means ABSOLUTELY NO OFFENSIVE because he is the master of back pass with no speed or ability to break up plays. He burned out Jermaine Jones because he sucks and lacks the ability to go foward (and a DM scored when was the last time Bradley contributed to a goal hahahahaha)

  8. I know this was a no pressure game over all, but for these young men getting their first real chances, it was meaningful and therefore stressful and even for a guy like Danny Williams who wasn’t given a chance by Arena, to be thrown in with the young unproven guys, this had to be stressful, it really brings home how risk averse the USMNT coaching had become. This last cycle was all about playing not to lose and betting on our past when we should have been betting on our future. Oh, and I feel bad for Horvath, but he was probably no worse than Timmy Howard in the last games.

    Reply
  9. We definitely looked very fast, and very technical. Honestly only bad luck and one keeper howler – and one REAL soft whistle that denied the US an earned goal – that kept us from winning the thing. We looked more athletic than Portugal, which is saying something.

    Be kinda crazy what it might have looked like with Pulisic in there.

    The real question is…why have we been dragging the greybeards when we had this waiting in the wings? As much as anything we’ve obviously had a clear failure in player promotion and development onto the senior team.

    Amazing what hungry guys fighting for spots looked like, though. Way different than what we’ve seen and it without question puts guys like Altidore and Bradley under direct threat.

    Reply
  10. “NOBODY CAN DO WHAT BRADLEY DOES IN THE MIDFIELD” HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
    Our midfield was 100x better without him
    Defense was stronger with AN ACTUAL DM ON THE FIELD!!!!!!!
    Did you see the team without Bradley and Altidore on the team? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
    McKennie is better than Bradley FOR THE USMNT
    Danny Williams is WAY better than Bradley FOR THE USMNT
    Acosta is better than Bradley…with McKennie and Wiiliams…FOR THE USMNT HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
    LOOK HOW THE USMNT LOOKED IN MIDFIELD….WOW, ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!!
    No Bradley and the USMNT has a DYNAMIC midfield 😀
    No Altidore and the US looks deadly in attack 😀
    the speed (SPEED, SPEED, SPEED!!!!), the possession, the hustle, THE USMNT ACTUALLY HAD A MIDFIELD, that ACTUALLY provided service up front……AND DANNY WILLIAMS AS THE LONE DEFENSIVE MIDFIELDER!!!! 😀
    How comfortable the backline was BECAUSE OF WILLIAMS / McKENNIE / ACOSTA….
    How faster the team looked and recovered with Lichaj, Yedlin, Adams, Acosta and Mckennie, Williams….
    How Danny Williams controlled the game, broke up plays and was part of the attack…..
    HOW PHYSICAL THE TEAM LOOKED, fighting for every ball….
    Who would have known Agudelo / Sapong was an excellent match with McKennie /Acosta/Williams
    WOW…..WOW…..WOW…..WOW……

    Reply
    • I’m not sure I’m getting what you’re saying, Bizzy. You need to be clearer and make sure to name names. No more of these coded messages.

      Reply
      • to summarize it for you Two Cents the midfield is 100x better and more dynamic without Michael Bradley….and Danny Williams and Weston McKennie are light years better at their craft than Michael Bradley

    • Bizzy, we’ve been saying it for a long time but no one here believes its possible to have a US midfield without MB. MB was great in his day but he couldn’t boss the TnT. Next year we’re going to see what we could have been had the right players and tactics/formations been called up and implemented.

      For those MB lovers you’ve been wrong about MB since 2013/14. He had his day but his automatic spot didn’t allow us to experiment with other options who may have been better. We really never tried a mf pairing without MB. Willams, Morales, Klesjtan, Feilhaber, Nguyen, and now Mckennie were overlooked because the somehow didn’t complement MB. It was always, who best pairs with MB instead of which mf should be on the field.

      No players not even captains should should get automatic spots. Ever.

      Reply
      • Quite simply, he’s not the player that Roma was calling General Bradley. He hasn’t been the same since he injured his ankle in warmups before the WCQ in Costa Rica back in 2013. But his skill level has really dropped off in the past 2 years. He has no business ever playing for the MNT ever again.

    • Agudelo was horrible and is just not very good — not nearly as technical as people want to believe and no speed to cause problems for defenders. Good match, but saying that the US was “deadly in attack” is just as laughable as the things that you found so mind-boggling. Similarly, pointing to this game as an example of great possession is another headscratcher. While the youth should undoubtedly be the focus going forward, Bradley and Altidore definitely have important roles to play there as well.

      Reply
    • You do realize it was a meaningless friendly, don’t you? While the US looked pretty good, better than I expected, to draw hard and fast conclusions from this is pretty rash.

      Reply
      • I think the only hard and fast conclusion we can draw from this thread is that Bizzy had a couple too many while watching the game.

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