The U.S. Men’s National Team will play the final match of 2013 today in Vienna against Austria (2:30pm, NBC Sports).
The Americans are coming off a boring 0-0 draw that saw the team struggle badly in the first half before improving thanks to some substitutions in the second half.
SBI will be providing live commentary on today’s match so please feel free to follow the action here. As always, you are welcome to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (Today’s live commentary is after the jump):
Am I the only one that thinks Klinsmann sticking by Jones could end up being the reason we go out in the group?
No I would agree. Its not that Jones is bad but just can’t provide the defensive presence needing to complement Bradley. Leaves too much space in between the CM and CBs. And when he tries to actually fulfill this role (which is rare, but did at the start of the second half today) he looks uncomfortable: holding possession too long, committing lots of fouls, and getting plenty of yellows. Problem is there aren’t a lot of options that people would find popular outside of Cameron, who is probably our best RB too; Kljestan and Diskerud don’t have to defensive edge and Beckerman is slag off by most US fans.
you are not alone. Jones is the second best guy on the team at playing the Bradley role, but isn’t as good at the role he asked to play. He plays loose and his great pass every three games isn’t worth the possession and flow he takes away
BUT
JK does like him and he is the meanest guy we got (we are actually quite friendly chaps on the pitch outside he and Dempsey- makes the US easy to play against) so I see some value, but can see him costing us goals going forward and coming back.
Well we wanted better than two ties, but all in all not a bad European trip to end the year.
I am done with Bedoya, too little attacking, I think Zusi and Lando (and probably Dempsey) are all ahead of him.
I don’t like Jones, but acknowledge he is favored.
Cameron played well. Brooks had one freadful moment, but you can see he has a ton of talent. Omar is settling in quite well.
Sounds about right to me
Did we get 2 ties?
If you saw the game you know we got two ties…and had the better of the play today to boot.
Thoughts on more players:
Shea was OK as was EJ in totally different ways on that wing.
Jozy should have had three goals, ended up with none.
All in all I thought they could have shown more heart going after goals in the attacking box. As a team. Jozy, AJ, Boyd, EJ, Bedoya, Mix, Bradley, Sasha- the lot of em.
When OG is not losing his mark he’s starting counter attacks for the other team.
Just simulated the World Cup Draw. Columbia, USA, Cameroon, Croatia. I’ll take that any day!
Not as easy as it might appear. Columbia has Falcao and company, and the other two teams are either very athletic or very strong defensively. If we play the way we did these last 2 friendlies…
Switzerland, Algeria, Chile, Croatia. I would take that. Probably as good as we can get w/ the seeding system they have.
Which one is your team?
Colombia. How do you know how to spell Falcao and not his country?
Well, you got me there buddy…
Sorry … Jozy needs to score that. Useless if he can’t finish that.
Jozy should have tried to hit that first time, but the pass was a little hard. Regardless, ultimately the strike he took was very weak.
Very disappointed in his play … down a goal and very little effort whatsoever.
His touch wasn’t as good as it normally is, but his work rate was very high today. Outside of Cameron and Bradley, I thought he was the hardest worker we had.
His work rate over the last 30 minutes was piss poor. That’s when it mattered the most.
I saw some poor effort late as well. Both forwards IMO
I’ve been a big Jozy supporter but RIGHT NOW he doesn’t deserve to start. He wouldn’t be missing those chances if he were in form. Nice move to Sunderland moron.
Who is better?
Cameron lookin like MOM after 67 minutes
That was a difficult volley, and he was robbed of a goal.
If Cameron looks like mom, what does dad look like? Yeesh
Greece has qualified. And Croatia too. Iceland really could have used Bacon. That groin injury that prevented him from being cap tied, cost them a spot in the WC.
France level on Aggregate (2-2) in the 52 minute.
Sweden is level, 1-1. I think they need two goals because of Portugal’s away goal.
2-1 Sweden in the 74th min.
3-2 port. Just like that.
It’s over. Portugal returns to the WC. Sweden falls, 3-2 (4-2).
France up 3-0 and 3-2 on aggregate. 17 minutes plus stoppage.
France advances.
Um, I’d argue Sigthorsson’s ankle injury in the first leg hurt Iceland more than anything…He is their hottest scorer currently.
why does Klinsmann keep using EJ in a wing role!!!??? He is so useless there, and cannot cross for s**t!! AJ deserves to stay on the pitch for 90m. HATE this substitution (Shea I am ok with. Now, we can confirm this guy can only have a role off the bench, if at all).
Because there’s nobody else available on this particular roster
EJ, Mix coming in.
Shea and Bacon coming off.
Eddie Johnson- Why? Why? Why?
Boyd for Jones.
Lovely turn and shoot. Unlucky Boyd.
Bedoya out, Porn Stacha is in.
Lichaj in.
Wando in for Jozy. Oh joy.
Used to pleasing yourself much?
Cameron looking lively, but his passing isn’t.
A lot to be fine with if they make a few tweaks. Jurgen has to decide what his team is going to be. If he wants to play a high pressing high line team then he either needs to pair Bradley with a more defensive minded cm or play more athletic cbs. Brooks/Gonzalez are backing up because they don’t want to get beat for pace while Bradley/jones push up to press leaving tons of space. Shea is an impact sub not a starter. Cameron is probably our best rb, but might also be the best guy to pair with Bradley.
AJ looking poor today.
Is it just me or is that pitch really in bad shape?
No Oroszco Fiscal. Could they put Lichaij in and move Cameron?
No changes at halftime despite the situation screaming for.
Brooks was at fault on the first goal. It looked like his feet were frozen on the deflection.
Two deflections. Off beasley, then off the austria player directly in front of him. Not sure anyone reacts to that ball.
Also beasley had trouble holding the line on the goal. Then had the same issue to gift austria a great chance to start the second half.
Watch the replay and please tell me who Gonzalez had. Although Brooks did not do well on the play, it was more of a defensive mistake as a whole then any particular player. Brooks just looked the worst.
Bedoya needs to be subbed. He hasn’t done anything other than backpass. Shea has been ineffective. Jones is too. Switch to a 4-4-2 by pulling Jones, Bedoya, and Shea, moving Bacon to RM, insert Mix for Jones, and replacing Shea w/ Boyd. Either put Lichaij in at LM or Beasley. This is why you need either Castillo or Torres on your roster.
Bedoya’s been invisible because he’s being forced to play outside because of the crowded midfield and a lack of overlapping runs by Cameron. He can’t do anything
We should play Brek Shea in the central midfield as a distributor. He is surely the most technical gifted player on the USMNT.
Is that suppose to be sarcastic?
Lol. No we should play him at RB considering how disciplined he is positionally on top of what you mentioned
Is this that sarcasm thing I’ve been hearing so much about?
I believe it is sir
Anyone else see AJ throw his arms up in anger at Brek Shea who didn’t pressure the outside back with him? Silly AJ, Brek is our wild card – that’s his thing. He’s like Charlie from Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Three things:
Jones unchallenged starting spot needs to end after this. Kljestan may not be as rugged or tough as Jones, but he’s a lot of a lot more disciplined and his positional sense is very good
Cameron is a better RB then Evans. You can tell by how comfortable he his he’s familiar with the position and he isn’t afraid to get into the attack. His overlapping isn’t great at all but thats a sacrifice I’m ok with for someone who can play the position competently
I agree with those two things. What’s the third?
For me, it’s that Shea still isn’t an effective starter and Brooks has all the tools, but is still raw.
I guess putting forth Klestjan as a canidate for CM was the third
honestlt these people are the only ones who played HALF decent
– bradley
– cameron
– AJ
– Shea
Altidore wouldve done better if he put his shots on goal
She wasn’t so great.
Shea has had some lazy passes and trouble holding the ball IMO. Not a great day for him so far
that may have some truth but he was one of the people who didnt pass the ball backwards all the time. He sparked some chances.
Johannsson had some as well to be fair. He kept putting the ball behind Shea and Bedoya.
Yes, 7 of 11 players have been outright terrible and 4 played HALF decent which is why austria has pummelled us with 1 goal on 3 shots while we’ve only had 1 goal disallowed on 4 shots.
Well, we were robbed of a goal, and probably should have had 2 more. People on here need to calm down.
Bench altidore. Jones should never wear the jersey again. Cameron was the second gunman on the grassy knoll.
yeah, we should be wining 9-1 at least
How incompetent are the refs to miss the goal? It looked like it was a full ball’s length or more in? Also, aren’t friendlies the perfect place to test and properly tune goal line technology?
Hard to read to much from this match in the pouring rain. Should be 1-1 anyway.
Put Cameron in the middle with bradley. Jones is making this hard to watch
Yes. Put Bedoya at RB and move Cameron inside next to Bradley and bring Wondolowski on for Jones.
the hell with wondowlowski. Klinsmann doesn’t rate him and only brings him into camp so fans don’t b*tch and it’s good for MLS
Wondolowski played great the few minutes he was on. That can’t be said for most of the other forwards. It has nothing to do with bitching. Klinsmann likes Wondolowski, and that is that. If the forwards (E.Johnson, Altidore, Johannsson) had passed the ball around in the penalty area, there most likely would have been a goal. Instead they all wanted to take potshots that did not have anything to do with design. Wondo looks for the player who is most likely to score and passes the ball to that person. For the short few minutes he was in there, he played a very good game.
Looking like another long, unproductive afternoon for our boys. On the bright side, Bob Bradley is available tomorrow to start righting the ship.
We’re a level headed bunch, usmnt fans.
Regardless of today’s outcome 2013 will be the best winning percentage the squad has ever had.
That should be expected as this is the best squad we’ve had since 2002
Well, I was hoping your sarcasm meter was turned on. Although … The recent coaching change does seem to have worked wonders for Mexico.
Playing New Zealand probably helped
Do you guys now see why Cameron doesn’t play RB for the MNT? He refuses to overlap and it pulls Bradley or Jones out of position.
That’s not really a fair criticism for this team unless you’re certain JK wants his right back consistently overlapping.
For the past year, the overlapping duties have fallen to beasley on the left while our right back has played far more conservatively.
I think JJ does an amazing job getting out of position all on his own. Cameron is not at fault here
Neither does Evans tho and Cameron is a better defender and passer than Evans so I’d prefer Cameron to Evans but Dolo, Chandler and Lichaj to Cameron.
The sample sizes for Lichaj and Cameron are so small how do you even know what you prefer?
I think Cameron look like one of the top 2 or 3 US players out there
Yehhh a goal for Australia
another jones turnover, probably his 3rd in 20 min
I’m sick to my stomach of seeing Jermaine Jones so high up the pitch!! Stay back dude! You’re ruining any semblance of attack!
Terrible call. should have been 1-0 USA as the ball crossed the line.
At least one of the commentators on the Univision feed is adanant that the US was robbed, and it should at least be 1-1 right now.
A goal for USA and refer call off
In Jamaica, they never call the reefer off
Off-topic but anyone else being shown “bonus coverage” of Croatia-Iceland on ESPN2 even though all other info (including what the ESPN people themselves said before cutting away) indicates it should actually be Sweden-Portugal?
Per twellman, technical difficulty w sweden-portugal. iceland coverage was “bonus.” Sweden-portugal should be back on now.
technical difficulties in Sweden