Defense got toasted a few times and a couple times the ball was bobbling in the middle which almost lead to our usual goal scored against us in the first ten minutes.
We dominated possession against a team that ran the ball out of bounce as well as passed to our guys constantly. They were happy to play defensively and try to catch us on the break. Arsenal tend to have all the possession and we know where that led them…
The tempo of the game was terrible in the second half and the effort dropped from almost everyone.
There were a lot more good to be taken this time around, but as a whole, the team is still miles behind the WC squad and light years from the passion shown in the Confed Cup.
Yeah Dempsey HAS to be exhausted. He’s played a full EPL season after the WC and is now playing the Gold Cup. He hasn’t had a vacation in what, two years? The dude should have been rested against Guadeloupe.
Regardless of Dempsey’s fitness, I think he’s earned the right to have a bad game or two. The dude puts in work most every match and 9 times out of 10 is the best player on the field. He gets a pass from me, but I hope he gets some rest before Sunday.
I don’t know if it’s “regressing” or “failing to expand.” As people (hopefully) have learned via the economy, that things can’t perpetually get better and better and better.
At some point, you’re going to plateau. Are we playing at 100% of our maximum level? No. If we were, could we expect better results than what was accomplished in the last cycle? Not really.
+1 and Amen Brother! I too don’t understand all of the hatred for Wondo. I’m not saying is the “answer” and no, I’m not a SJ Quakes fan, but at least give the man a chance before calling him names. Yesterday, he wasn’t great but he held his own and deserves another chance to prove himself.
Interesting news. I don’t think Klinsmann will leave the comforts of LA for Algeria. If he does, it wouldn’t bother me in the slightest.
Klinsmann is not a dream coach. If you talk to anyone from Germany, the overwhelming sentiment was that Löw was the tactical brains behind the team and Klinsmann served mainly as a cheerleader. To this extent, both were very successful in their respective roles. However, on his own, Klinsmann has struggled to make peace with organizations and with himself, as his devotion to the team detracts from his preferred family life.
Klinsmann is a great motivator, which I do see our team needing right now. He also has a deep understanding of the developmental process and building teams for the long term. However, I don’t see his ability to play certain players to their strengths. He has yet to help Toronto (although admittedly it will take them time to develop).
He would be a good coach if we were willing to sit through 8 years of dreariness while we wait for experience to catch up to a young and talented team. Unfortunately this is not a good match for Gulati’s economic-driven plan to sustain US Soccer. Would I trade that in for a decent shot at the WC? Yes. Would it happen in a reasonable amount of time from now? I don’t think so, at least not without a change at Gulati’s position.
What I could hope for, though, is that he could take on the role that Claudio Reyna has now (technical director). The level of involvement would be suitable for his preferred lifestyle, while the responsibilities would play to his strengths.
I personally see someone like Jason Kreis being groomed to be the next USMNT coach, especially if Bradley is forced to make an early exit.
Not enough heart and commitment shown by this bunch. Jones and Dollo excluded. Jozy points to his name on the back of the shirt but won’t put his hand on his heart during the anthem. Dempsey looks like a Zombie while any other hot blooded player will be pounding the ground in disgust after such misses. This team needs players who bleed for the shirt, where is McBride, where is Pablo?
PS – we can use a couple of left-footed players out there … thank you.
Not enough respect is given other teams not named Mexico. I hear too much USA played like crap for the Panama game. Really slow start this tourney, for sure. But there are some good teams in CONCACAF! Jamaica, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Canada talent and it should be no surprise if they can beat the US, or in this case, stymie already poor US finishing. Credit to Canada, Panama, Guadeloupe!
First of all, I’m not a USMNT apologist by any stretch of the imagination. Bradley should have been sacked following the WCup, imho. We need a new “thinker” to spice things up.
i) Guadeloupe was not on par w/ a DII school as some idiot posted above. PLEASE look at the roster. That team actually had a bunch of players playing in the French league…with speed and individual skill. The only reason they are playing for the island nation is that they have some sort of family link. Most were born in France. From an organizational standpoint, they were bad, but individually, they has talent.
ii) Wondo…he was NOT good. Small w/ below average speed and very average skill and he’s our “in the hole” player. Yikes!!! His positioning was decent, but besides that, he did not look the part. Anyone who claims that Wondo should ever be in the starting 11 should be put on ignore.
iii) Lichaj and Boca…The switch. Clearly, a good move for a variety of reasons.
iv) Much better spacing out of the center of the midfield. I’d still like to see a true #10 out there.
v) ANYONE who actually watched that game saw the NATS dominate possession and create chance after chance after chance. An absolute F for finishing, but other than that, the NATS played well. Dempsey missed 2 sitters and Donovan missed 1…3 goals that are scored 95% of the time…not to mention another 6 good chances. The score line should have been 4-0 at the least and more likely 7 or 8 nil.
vi) Bradley? If you’re not going to play Adu, why bring him? The US needs another striker or CAM on the roster…one that will actually get chosen.
At the end of the day, the team dominated, but simply didn’t score.
I can’t believe I watched that whole game. There’s just something tired and stale about these performances, which repeat again and again, and this is what tells you we need a change in direction and coaching.
Got no problem with Jozy…. he’s just young and still figuring it all out. The US has NEVER had a striker of his quality at that age. He’ll come of age in this next round of qualifying as will Agudelo.
Dempsey looked tired, he really hasn’t looked himself, a matter of fact wever since we lost to Panama (67th ranked team in the world), none of the players are playing with enthusiasm.
You didn’t watch the whole game. Too many sloppy passes, kickball, horrible in front of goal- PATHETIC. I agree with other sports writers around the country, this team is regressing quicker than expected.
The defense played well against a team that would be charitably associated with teams at the Division II level in college soccer. Let’s be honest about this…… Seattle has better 20 and under select teams than the team we played last night (and, no, I am NOT kidding). Tactically, that team was an utter mess and ripe for the picking by any intelligent, well-coached, AND (most importantly) motivated team.
We have gotten arrogant and our arrogance is costing us results. It’s not coaching. It’s not lack of talent. That two touch and no shot of Dempsey’s (I’m a fan boy, btw) was utter and complete arrogance and unless this team starts seeing itself as the underdog every time it plays, we will continually see these disappointing results.
Personally, I’m hoping for a lambasting by Jamaica… it might just be the slap in the face we need before qualifying. Nothing wrong with this team but attitude.
I agree about Wondo. I like Wondo who can hold the ball up and let people run off of him. I haven’t seen Spector play in the midfield, but I can say that I would prefer him over Adu.
And the defense was much more solid with Boca in the middle. Our back like of the future (R-L):
Lichaj-Goodson-Clark(don’t laugh)-Chandler
Goodson is 28 (or 29) so he may only have a few good years left, but I like him back there. Clark has been playing CB for Frankfurt and he is much faster than Ream (of course there are other prospects like Opara, Gonzalez, and Agbossumonde). And, I have to admit that I like Clark more than most, always thought he had got a bad wrap. Also, I like what I’ve seen from Lloyd, in the little he’s played at LB.
I agree, and was going to mention in my post that I did think that we controlled a good majority of the game. However, I don’t think you can ignore the 1-0 scoreline when a simple set play goal against the run of play could have made things more nervy than need be for the USMNT. My main point is that the lack of a winning mentality allows early goals to be conceded in important games, as well as not being able to step on the throats of “lesser” opponents.
I’m not railing against the team, I just find it troublesome that we don’t seem to have the ability to better manage games that should be won convincingly and therefore am questioning if my expectations (and of others that I read here) are correct. I thought we did a great job of doing so vs. Canada for what it’s worth.
Dempsey, agh yeah. But, he put himself in good positions, distributed through midfield and has been exciting to watch so far this tournament. I said it yesterday and I will say it again, what is going on with Donovan? He is NOT there with the killer pass. If we are to perform at the level seen the past couple years we need him to step up. One time last night he burned Thr outside back but that was it, it appears as if he his is disinterested or something.
In my opinion Dempsey looked and played like a tired player. His contribution looked promising at the beginning of the game but it diminished as the game went on, and it showed as he missed easy shots at goal. Bob should have subbed him in early in 2nd half and rested him for Saturday.
They won the game, and from what I saw they dominated possession. There’s more to a winning mentality than just scoring lots of goals. Defense played well from what I saw. Bradley and Jones looked good in the middle.
I’m not watching the team play anymore, I don’t have to to like this just because their the national team of my country, they always play ugly and have to win-or-die just to move forward, i’m getting upset, I cannot bare to watch them play, it just hurts my eyes.
We seem to always display a nervousness whether playing against minnows or giants. Very strange. Do our players not realize they are talented and can play with the best on any day?
anyway Altidore/Dempsey should play up top in the next match with Bedoya/Donovan on the wings and Bradley/Edu in center. Is Gooch ready for a match?
Jamaica isn’t easy, I’m just going to tell you that right now. They are a team who can most definently run rampant through our defense. Half of their players play in our first division so they’re already familiar with the players we have, and the type of tactics we may employ.
Lichaj played very well at LB and boca played good at CB. I don’t get all the wondo hate because if you watch again he played much better then agudelo has and held the ball up getting more people in the attack. Yes he missed a sitter but so did jozy in the world cup and I didn’t see jozy getting into dangerous positions. I also don’t get the sudden love for adu. He plays in the 2nd div of turkey while spector who plays in the epl and is so much better than adu can’t even dress. If you want more attacking options why not scream for spector who scores in the best league in the world and looked like one of the better attackers west ham had.
Are people just going to ignore that Altidore had the best strike since either Dempsey vs Ghana in 06 WC or Feilhaber 07 GC?
Why does Bradley keep starting Altidore when he sucks and can’t score, fire him!!
Altidore scores two game winners in three games.
Paid professionals failed to score on easy chances, obviously Bradley forgot to tell them “put the ball in the back of the net”… fire him!!
Seriously. Is it just time to re-adjust our expectations of the USMNT? I’d rather live in reality and with mediocrity than continually be disappointed in results and form. If we are a team that manages a 1-0 win over a team from a nation with a population of just over 400K (think about it, that’s the pop of Raleigh, NC), then so be it.
IF NOT. Can we make a change? I’ve never been one to call out BB, but a winning mentality is something you ARE able to cultivate…or not. We have talented players, in my opinion, so why do we have to have our backs against the wall to be motivated?
Best news of the day from a SI article, a spokesman for the German association had this to say about Tim Chandler:
“He was being looked at,” the spokesman said, “but after his debut for the U.S .and his statements about identifying with America we don’t see him playing for Germany in the future.”
This after they publicly called for a WC2022 revote… <3 Germany <3
Defense got toasted a few times and a couple times the ball was bobbling in the middle which almost lead to our usual goal scored against us in the first ten minutes.
We dominated possession against a team that ran the ball out of bounce as well as passed to our guys constantly. They were happy to play defensively and try to catch us on the break. Arsenal tend to have all the possession and we know where that led them…
The tempo of the game was terrible in the second half and the effort dropped from almost everyone.
There were a lot more good to be taken this time around, but as a whole, the team is still miles behind the WC squad and light years from the passion shown in the Confed Cup.
Thank you for that! Spirits lifted a bit, but the cynic inside says that they wouldn’t come out and say he was switching.
Speaking of left-footed players, could Brad Davis be worse than Donovan right now?
I wouldn’t worry about who puts their hand on their chest. “Pick your battles”, as they say…
Seemed at times last night that he had been bought off. Terrible and he never seemed to care when he blew chance after chance.
Don’t disagree with you, but when considering world rankings by FIFA, we shouldn’t struggle as bad as we do against these teams.
It’s almost easier to bet against the US covering the spread, if you want a sure thing.
There is a chance Adu has not been impressing in camp and during practice.
Ooooo, Kreis! Interesting…
Yeah Dempsey HAS to be exhausted. He’s played a full EPL season after the WC and is now playing the Gold Cup. He hasn’t had a vacation in what, two years? The dude should have been rested against Guadeloupe.
Regardless of Dempsey’s fitness, I think he’s earned the right to have a bad game or two. The dude puts in work most every match and 9 times out of 10 is the best player on the field. He gets a pass from me, but I hope he gets some rest before Sunday.
I don’t know if it’s “regressing” or “failing to expand.” As people (hopefully) have learned via the economy, that things can’t perpetually get better and better and better.
At some point, you’re going to plateau. Are we playing at 100% of our maximum level? No. If we were, could we expect better results than what was accomplished in the last cycle? Not really.
Lame.
+1 and Amen Brother! I too don’t understand all of the hatred for Wondo. I’m not saying is the “answer” and no, I’m not a SJ Quakes fan, but at least give the man a chance before calling him names. Yesterday, he wasn’t great but he held his own and deserves another chance to prove himself.
Any mention of the US defense in this match needs to include the wipeout Goodson put on a Guadaloupe striker early in the match.
How he didn’t get a yellow for that is amazing (would’ve been his second yellow of the tourney, thus suspending him for Jamaica).
And it VERY easily could have been red card for a “last man” foul.
In soccer, the ref taketh and the ref giveth….
(Unless you’re Dempsey, in which case the ref had nothing to do with that horrid night.)
Thanks. 🙂
Interesting news. I don’t think Klinsmann will leave the comforts of LA for Algeria. If he does, it wouldn’t bother me in the slightest.
Klinsmann is not a dream coach. If you talk to anyone from Germany, the overwhelming sentiment was that Löw was the tactical brains behind the team and Klinsmann served mainly as a cheerleader. To this extent, both were very successful in their respective roles. However, on his own, Klinsmann has struggled to make peace with organizations and with himself, as his devotion to the team detracts from his preferred family life.
Klinsmann is a great motivator, which I do see our team needing right now. He also has a deep understanding of the developmental process and building teams for the long term. However, I don’t see his ability to play certain players to their strengths. He has yet to help Toronto (although admittedly it will take them time to develop).
He would be a good coach if we were willing to sit through 8 years of dreariness while we wait for experience to catch up to a young and talented team. Unfortunately this is not a good match for Gulati’s economic-driven plan to sustain US Soccer. Would I trade that in for a decent shot at the WC? Yes. Would it happen in a reasonable amount of time from now? I don’t think so, at least not without a change at Gulati’s position.
What I could hope for, though, is that he could take on the role that Claudio Reyna has now (technical director). The level of involvement would be suitable for his preferred lifestyle, while the responsibilities would play to his strengths.
I personally see someone like Jason Kreis being groomed to be the next USMNT coach, especially if Bradley is forced to make an early exit.
Not enough heart and commitment shown by this bunch. Jones and Dollo excluded. Jozy points to his name on the back of the shirt but won’t put his hand on his heart during the anthem. Dempsey looks like a Zombie while any other hot blooded player will be pounding the ground in disgust after such misses. This team needs players who bleed for the shirt, where is McBride, where is Pablo?
PS – we can use a couple of left-footed players out there … thank you.
Not enough respect is given other teams not named Mexico. I hear too much USA played like crap for the Panama game. Really slow start this tourney, for sure. But there are some good teams in CONCACAF! Jamaica, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Canada talent and it should be no surprise if they can beat the US, or in this case, stymie already poor US finishing. Credit to Canada, Panama, Guadeloupe!
What a bunch of ridiculous comments…
First of all, I’m not a USMNT apologist by any stretch of the imagination. Bradley should have been sacked following the WCup, imho. We need a new “thinker” to spice things up.
i) Guadeloupe was not on par w/ a DII school as some idiot posted above. PLEASE look at the roster. That team actually had a bunch of players playing in the French league…with speed and individual skill. The only reason they are playing for the island nation is that they have some sort of family link. Most were born in France. From an organizational standpoint, they were bad, but individually, they has talent.
ii) Wondo…he was NOT good. Small w/ below average speed and very average skill and he’s our “in the hole” player. Yikes!!! His positioning was decent, but besides that, he did not look the part. Anyone who claims that Wondo should ever be in the starting 11 should be put on ignore.
iii) Lichaj and Boca…The switch. Clearly, a good move for a variety of reasons.
iv) Much better spacing out of the center of the midfield. I’d still like to see a true #10 out there.
v) ANYONE who actually watched that game saw the NATS dominate possession and create chance after chance after chance. An absolute F for finishing, but other than that, the NATS played well. Dempsey missed 2 sitters and Donovan missed 1…3 goals that are scored 95% of the time…not to mention another 6 good chances. The score line should have been 4-0 at the least and more likely 7 or 8 nil.
vi) Bradley? If you’re not going to play Adu, why bring him? The US needs another striker or CAM on the roster…one that will actually get chosen.
At the end of the day, the team dominated, but simply didn’t score.
I can’t believe I watched that whole game. There’s just something tired and stale about these performances, which repeat again and again, and this is what tells you we need a change in direction and coaching.
Our coach has MLS written all over him.
I didn’t watch the whole game, I got home from work when the 2nd half was starting. I recorded the rest I will watch it later.
Well, his resume does include diving and play-acting, so he’ll fit right in.
It’s been one game.
Big News: KLINNSMANN ON SHORTLIST FOR ALGERIA COACHING JOB.
Got no problem with Jozy…. he’s just young and still figuring it all out. The US has NEVER had a striker of his quality at that age. He’ll come of age in this next round of qualifying as will Agudelo.
Dempsey looked tired, he really hasn’t looked himself, a matter of fact wever since we lost to Panama (67th ranked team in the world), none of the players are playing with enthusiasm.
He didn’t assist on Jozy’s goal against Canada? It must have been my imagination.
You didn’t watch the whole game. Too many sloppy passes, kickball, horrible in front of goal- PATHETIC. I agree with other sports writers around the country, this team is regressing quicker than expected.
The defense played well against a team that would be charitably associated with teams at the Division II level in college soccer. Let’s be honest about this…… Seattle has better 20 and under select teams than the team we played last night (and, no, I am NOT kidding). Tactically, that team was an utter mess and ripe for the picking by any intelligent, well-coached, AND (most importantly) motivated team.
We have gotten arrogant and our arrogance is costing us results. It’s not coaching. It’s not lack of talent. That two touch and no shot of Dempsey’s (I’m a fan boy, btw) was utter and complete arrogance and unless this team starts seeing itself as the underdog every time it plays, we will continually see these disappointing results.
Personally, I’m hoping for a lambasting by Jamaica… it might just be the slap in the face we need before qualifying. Nothing wrong with this team but attitude.
Sunday.
I agree about Wondo. I like Wondo who can hold the ball up and let people run off of him. I haven’t seen Spector play in the midfield, but I can say that I would prefer him over Adu.
And the defense was much more solid with Boca in the middle. Our back like of the future (R-L):
Lichaj-Goodson-Clark(don’t laugh)-Chandler
Goodson is 28 (or 29) so he may only have a few good years left, but I like him back there. Clark has been playing CB for Frankfurt and he is much faster than Ream (of course there are other prospects like Opara, Gonzalez, and Agbossumonde). And, I have to admit that I like Clark more than most, always thought he had got a bad wrap. Also, I like what I’ve seen from Lloyd, in the little he’s played at LB.
I agree, and was going to mention in my post that I did think that we controlled a good majority of the game. However, I don’t think you can ignore the 1-0 scoreline when a simple set play goal against the run of play could have made things more nervy than need be for the USMNT. My main point is that the lack of a winning mentality allows early goals to be conceded in important games, as well as not being able to step on the throats of “lesser” opponents.
I’m not railing against the team, I just find it troublesome that we don’t seem to have the ability to better manage games that should be won convincingly and therefore am questioning if my expectations (and of others that I read here) are correct. I thought we did a great job of doing so vs. Canada for what it’s worth.
Dempsey, agh yeah. But, he put himself in good positions, distributed through midfield and has been exciting to watch so far this tournament. I said it yesterday and I will say it again, what is going on with Donovan? He is NOT there with the killer pass. If we are to perform at the level seen the past couple years we need him to step up. One time last night he burned Thr outside back but that was it, it appears as if he his is disinterested or something.
In my opinion Dempsey looked and played like a tired player. His contribution looked promising at the beginning of the game but it diminished as the game went on, and it showed as he missed easy shots at goal. Bob should have subbed him in early in 2nd half and rested him for Saturday.
That’s interesting, cause none of our starting 11 play in our first division, save 1.
They won the game, and from what I saw they dominated possession. There’s more to a winning mentality than just scoring lots of goals. Defense played well from what I saw. Bradley and Jones looked good in the middle.
I’m not watching the team play anymore, I don’t have to to like this just because their the national team of my country, they always play ugly and have to win-or-die just to move forward, i’m getting upset, I cannot bare to watch them play, it just hurts my eyes.
Wow, just wow. I don’t care who’s playing and at what level- that finishing was pathetic.
Bedoya and Edu make great impact subs. Though I’d like them to start the next match.
what a horrible match for Dempsey. Is Donovan even playing in the Gold Cup or is he relaxing at home?
seriously our guys need to have some kinda celebration when they score. they need to be creative
We seem to always display a nervousness whether playing against minnows or giants. Very strange. Do our players not realize they are talented and can play with the best on any day?
anyway Altidore/Dempsey should play up top in the next match with Bedoya/Donovan on the wings and Bradley/Edu in center. Is Gooch ready for a match?
Jamaica isn’t easy, I’m just going to tell you that right now. They are a team who can most definently run rampant through our defense. Half of their players play in our first division so they’re already familiar with the players we have, and the type of tactics we may employ.
Dempsey looked horribleeeee
Lichaj played very well at LB and boca played good at CB. I don’t get all the wondo hate because if you watch again he played much better then agudelo has and held the ball up getting more people in the attack. Yes he missed a sitter but so did jozy in the world cup and I didn’t see jozy getting into dangerous positions. I also don’t get the sudden love for adu. He plays in the 2nd div of turkey while spector who plays in the epl and is so much better than adu can’t even dress. If you want more attacking options why not scream for spector who scores in the best league in the world and looked like one of the better attackers west ham had.
Are people just going to ignore that Altidore had the best strike since either Dempsey vs Ghana in 06 WC or Feilhaber 07 GC?
Why does Bradley keep starting Altidore when he sucks and can’t score, fire him!!
Altidore scores two game winners in three games.
Paid professionals failed to score on easy chances, obviously Bradley forgot to tell them “put the ball in the back of the net”… fire him!!
I’m sure we’ll put it all together for the jamaica game
Seriously. Is it just time to re-adjust our expectations of the USMNT? I’d rather live in reality and with mediocrity than continually be disappointed in results and form. If we are a team that manages a 1-0 win over a team from a nation with a population of just over 400K (think about it, that’s the pop of Raleigh, NC), then so be it.
IF NOT. Can we make a change? I’ve never been one to call out BB, but a winning mentality is something you ARE able to cultivate…or not. We have talented players, in my opinion, so why do we have to have our backs against the wall to be motivated?
Best news of the day from a SI article, a spokesman for the German association had this to say about Tim Chandler:
“He was being looked at,” the spokesman said, “but after his debut for the U.S .and his statements about identifying with America we don’t see him playing for Germany in the future.”
This after they publicly called for a WC2022 revote… <3 Germany <3
geez, can anyone put the ball in the net? Against better teams those will cost us dearly!!
Oh? There’s no physical tape anymore ? This is going to live on the internet forever ?
Sorry Dempsey.
Let’s just go ahead and burn this tape.