By IVES GALARCEP
SAN FRANCISCO- The U.S. Men’s National Team begins their run to the 2014 World Cup with a friendly against Azerbaijan at Candlestick Park (10pm, ESPN2).
Jurgen Klinsmann will trot out his team for the first time since selection his 23-man World Cup roster. There aren’t any real surprises in his starting lineup, with Geoff Cameron partnering in central defense with Matt Besler and Alejandro Bedoya and Graham Zusi manning the wings, while Clint Dempsey joins Jozy Altidore up top in a 4-4-2.
Join SBI as we provide live commentary on tonight’s match. If you will be watching tonight’s match, please feel to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (Tonight’s commentary is after the jump):
Mixx fanboy.
Yedlin thinking he’s playing American football
The US guys know they’re playing in Candlestick Park, which is why they’re hitting so many field goals.
Great shot by MB
So we’re not even going to see Green?
The Mix fanboys just got excited
Excited for anything that might change this crap we are watching.
USA fanboys just got excited. Why the long face?
Mix got lucky
Mixx!
+1 million gazillion
Jozy is like EJ without the aerial ability
No get off the drugs and never make that comparison again
wow usa really not showing international quality right now
EJ is where we need to draw the line! 🙂
PLease, no EJ.
Well, maybe not EJ…
Nah. We don’t need the all time leading scorer. Nope uh nah!
+1
Put in Donovan!
Put in Donovan!
Bring in Shea!
Hell, are Salinas or Justin Mapp available?
Heck, Id even take EJ and his poor attitude at this point…
And Gomez, Goodson, Bocanegra,
+1
I miss Bocanegra.
Charlie Davies!
HAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAH I DIDNT KNOW THAT BRAD DAVIS WAS THIS BAD UNTIL MY PHONE NOTIFIED ME HAHAHA
Sir you have just blown my mind.
We look tired. Heavy legs
We look terrible
Shhh Brad Davis might hear you with those satellites he has as ears.
Twellman is Wondo’s biggest cheerleader. How is Twellman going to criticize Jozy for turning and blasting over (which is what Bradley did 5 minutes earlier) yet not get on Wondo for missing a point blank header?
First shot by Jozy!! (minute 64)
LOLOLOLOL JOZY
Sorry, gotta chill I know, but who likes to score on the US team?
Chander is looking unimpressive. Looking forward to AJ; Wondo completely invisible 2nd half.
It’s as if Jurgen told ’em, “Ok, now get out there and do it to it, but don’t show Ghana, Portugal and Germany your best stuff.”
+1
Even Bradley looks unsure of himself in this system — and that is rare indeed from MB90.
Brad Davis, don’t give a hand to help up the other team. You should have won that ball.
+1000
Pitch forks and torches ready?!
Brad Davis is already tired.
Wow. So close to the WC and we look crappy. Oh yeah. These guys look far ahead of LD.
Azerbaijan holding their own, and we have no difference-makers on the field.
Is LD in the stands?
Davis & chandler …..horrible.
How? They’ve been on the field for less than 15 mins. Let them at least get a rhythm first sheesh
We are at home against Azerbaijan, and they have absolutely nothing to play for — and we are deadlocked in the 55th minute. Pathetic.
This is where we are 3 weeks out. Aimless. Wandering. Players out of position and unsure of the system they are being asked to play.
In a word: Klinsi.
Bedoya with another bad decision. Can we get LD back, please? Davis? set up on a platter by Altidore and winds up on his back? Argghhh!
+1
Do we lead the world in tattoos?
What the &%$/, when is our first team going to play.
We suck! Who is aze? We will get murdered! Oh wow Davis is coming in we are SAVED!
Brad Davis! Wow! Unbelievable!
Not even a foul.
Wondo has to score at least 1 of those 2 wide open headers if not both. Wont be good enough in wc with our limited opportunities we will get.
First half assessment:
Jozy-Solid in his hold up play. No service yet
Wondo-should have 2 goals. Touch is horrible
Jones-Solid in midfield so far. Played pretty disciplined
Beasley-Shaky
Besler-looks nervous. Not a good first half
Zusi and Bedoya-not the impact you want from your wingers when a team bunkers down
As much as I know people don’t want to hear it, we are a counter attacking team, and will be this summer in the Group of Death. Landon is needed in this group for that purpose especially. Every counter attack in the first half has been fruitless. Speed if play and decision makin has been horrible on the break.
+1
The two areas in which Donovan excels — speed of play and decision-making.
True, we look so slow. Our WC opponents will play at a faster pace, and I’m not talking about breakaways but the build up in midfield. Watch Fabian Johnson. He understands.
First off, I know we are playing AZE.
Still doe, as far as the first half went, trying to consider only this game…
Our team has played really fluid and unselfish, with good hustle, and have covered each other very well on defense. My worry is that this lineup doesn’t have many aerial threats for set pieces. I’m know Wondo has done better, and maybe it’s the wind, but he needs to aim those headers down. He always gets to the smart spots, but besides his missed chances, he doesn’t seem as fluid with the offense as everybody else, and has had by far the most TO’s. I give him a break, since Dempsey has probably been getting the first team reps. Jozy has played very well IMO, he is holding the ball up and dishing it off, or drawing FK’s.
As far as the midfield goes, I love Zusi’s service off set pieces, and he seems to be playing pretty good, though it hasn’t all come together yet. Bradley seems like he still needs a little more time in that CAM position, but I really like it, and think the blend of smart, generous attackers that we get with this set up is great. Bedoya has been a great combo of slickness and beast mode, and his style of play stands out to me as the most unique. Although, judging his reactions, he seems to be pretty hot-headed. Jones needs to work on his acting after he fouls somebody, but honestly he’s played well, and filled his role.
The defense is close than I thought. Beas and Cam both look pretty composed, maybe the most out of any of the field players. Beas was the best of the half to me. Cam looks like he still needs to work out a few things with Besler. There was some late communication, and awkward passes between them. Besler has looked a little nervous or something, with a few really dumb passes, but still he has had some quality moments.
Wow. Klinsi has this team looking sharp. Good personnel decisions and the team looks really coherent and free-flowing.
Let’s lock him up through 2022! Or perhaps we can pry Berti Vogts away from Azerbaijan?
Hope by then we can have 11 German-Americans on the squad. They bring so much more quality to the USMNT than the American players do.
I know you are being sarcastic, but he does have them playing really well. Coherent and free-flowing are good words for it. I think FJ makes this attack so interesting.
Wish I could agree –did not see that 1st half as anything but disappointing. Wish we had seen more of FJ in the attack.
I’ll admit, I’m trying to look at this as a work in progress.
Is alexi lalas sick or something? He seems very toned down to me.
Wondolonski is not WC material as has been demonstrated already. Right at the goalkeeper.
The announcers seemed afraid to say that, even though it was so painfully obvious.
Okay, the diamond didn’t work. maybe it’s because the players stink, but we should end this nonsense.
your comments stink
Bradley and Altidore were our two best players this half. They need one more guy to link up with and Wondo is just not that guy.
I don’t understand the hate. Azerbaijan was never close to threatening other than the free kick. Relax people. Its windy and the ball is doing funny things. USA will be fine. Zusi looks good on the dead balls, Jones and Bradley aren’t half as bad as this thread insists and we could be up by a couple.
the problem is that azerbaijan isn’t trying to be threatening. they’re just trying to keep us from scoring, and they’re succeeding.
Wondo with two wide open headers in the box. Another day and Azerbaijan’s master plan doesn’t work out.
“almost goals” don’t mean sh!t.
anyway, i thought we looked a lot better in the second half.
“Almost goals” actually mean quite a bit from a predictive and evaluative standpoint.
well, i guess they can mean whatever the observer wants them to mean.
when you start speculating that something positive “could have been”, you also have to speculate about all the counter “could have been”s.
Not speculating about “what could have been.” Stating that wondo will score a healthy percent of the opportunities he positions himself for. That’s why he has nine goals over the last twelve games.
Obviously from a narrative/results standpoint, the difference between scoring and not scoring is binary.
From an analysis standpoint though, the difference between wondo’s second header and johann’s header is mostly luck.
Any conclusion drawn about wondo vs johann from those two plays is unfounded.
Zusi and Bedoya too similar. Both mediocre wing players. Neither has the goal scoring bite or speed. Look for Green to provide that.
Zusi does quite well on the ball though, making good passes, and rarely loses possession. Bedoya is a bit more of a lose cannon.
They are quite similar. And anybody who wanted to make the argument that one of them is unknowingly holding a spot for Green might be able to make a decent argument (given the latitude we all take in building circumstantial cases) based on what you have identified.
As for today, Zusi had a pretty good outing, I thought. Bedoya was very much anonymous. But there have been matches that went the other way. Would reserve judgement maybe for another match.
Also, I thought the left-channel attack was weird from the start. F. Johnson is too valuable to be wasted out on the right flank at the back. Beasley-Bedoya — I give them credit for aggressiveness and effort, but that tandem may well create nothing in attack in Group G– did it seem that way to you?
Why is everyone head hunting for every little mistake. It’s the first friendly we’ve had a few good chance and I’m pretty impressed so far even thou it could be better.
Yeah wish it surprised me. And why have we never heard of many of them? Meh who cares. Trolls gonna troll.
Honestly there is no cause for panic about any of this. So far, so good. Clean sheet. Opportunities. A little fine tuning, and there are goals to be had.
There seem to be ever more people just out to cause trouble on the site. There could have been 2 penalties, 2 wondo goals, and Jozy did rather well while playing very very wide.
I don’t know where all these people who do nothing but troll have come from.
Agreed. People here are looking for reasons to complain. It wasn’t the best half, but it was solid in many ways. They’re unlucky not to be up by a goal of two. Jozy should have had that penalty call.
Good to see some rational people on this thread. Usa dominated the first half just a little unlucky near goal
Jozy is bad. I wish we could put a soccer player in his body.
I would take Gomez right now
Yikes! .. Garbage for the most part. We need to play better Futbol, be more collective. Our group will eat us alive if we continue to play H.S lame Futbol
Defense has not been tested at all, would like to see Beckerman coming in for Crazy J Jones, Fabian Johnson going left and Chandler or Yedlin at RB, Green for Bedoya, AJ for Wondo, Mixx for Zusi
Azerbaijan is just the kid of team the US needed to play. They’re really organized and we need to learn to break down teams like this without relying on the counter.
Really? Germany Portugal and Ghana will bunker down against FC USA.
I never said anything about bunkering.
You implied it.
No I didn’t I said they were organized. Meaning they stay in position they don’t go to intercept the pass and leave themselves exposed. I think you miss-understood me
Phuk U
No he didn’t. You are assuming that in any soccer game, one team has to bunker.
You are a kiss anus.
why? i don’t think az is playing anything like the teams we will face, even if we get through the first round. and some counter-attacking would look pretty good right about now.
Seriously???? Real Madrid just won the champions league with efficient counter attacks. We are not going to control possession against Ghana, Portugal or Germany.
Who told Twellman that we want a coach who doesn’t have to win Gold Cup?
*and beat Mexico?
Really bad first half. Time to put the first team in.
Great post
Ha ha ha ha ha great Klnsmann.
This shindig comes around once every four years..
We got 3 send off games to get ready
We’re headed to the heat and humidity, on fields of proper FIFA dimensions
So we schedule one of the 3 on an old narrow green concrete field in San Francisco..
Ok gotcha..