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USMNT lets another lead slip away in loss to dominant Colombia

USMNT Colombia 83

Photo by Steve Flynn/USA TODAY Sports
 

By FRANCO PANIZO

For the third straight game, the U.S. Men’s National Team surrendered a late goal. Only this time it ended in defeat.

The U.S. fell to a dominant Colombia in a friendly at Craven Cottage in London on Friday, with Teofilo Gutierrez providing the winner in the 87th minute to complete the Cafeteros‘ 2-1 comeback in front of a pro-Colombia crowd.

Jozy Altidore had opened the scoring for the Americans with a penalty kick in the 10th minute after Pablo Armero was whistled for a handball in the 18-yard box, but Colombia bossed possession for much of the match and eventually found the back of the net twice in the second half.

Carlos Bacca netted the equalizer at the hour-mark under controversial circumstances, as Gutierrez seemed to make a move towards a James Rodriguez pass from an offside position without touching it before Bacca raced to the ball and pushed it home.

Colombia continued to push forward, and found the ultimate reward three minutes before the final whistle. Edwin Cardona picked out Gutierrez with a cross from the right, and the Colombian forward outleapt Julian Green to head the ball home with power past Brad Guzan.

Gutierrez’s goal marked the third straight game in which the Americans have surrendered a late tally. Jurgen Klinsmann’s side did so in both of its October friendlies, settling for 1-1 draws against Ecuador and Honduras.

The Colombians were piling on the pressure seemingly from the opening whistle, but were lacking that final ounce of quality in the final third.

Rodriguez sent a buzzing free kick shot just wide of the low right corner in the 21st minute, and Bacca was frustratingly denied by the near post on a chance from the right side of the penalty area 12 minutes later.

Those chances came after Altidore had netted his 25th goal for the U.S. on a penalty kick. Armero was called for handling a ball in the area after U.S. debutant Rubio Rubin seemed to nudge him while challenging for an aerial ball in the ninth minute, and Altidore converted on the ensuing chance despite shooting the ball in the direction that Colombian goalkeeper Camilo Vargas had guessed.

Jose Pekerman’s team saw a legitimate penalty kick shout of its own go ignored late in the first half, as U.S. centerback Jermaine Jones’ outstretched arm blocked a shot.

The Colombians’ confidence remained unwavering. They came out of halftime continuing to take the game to the Americans, but almost fell behind by two goals in the 47th minute when Rubin pushed an Alejandro Bedoya cross wide with a diving header.

Colombia pulled level 13 minutes later. Rodriguez slipped in a pass behind the U.S. back line, but Gutierrez seemed to alter the way Guzan reacted to the play by making a slight move at the ball. It was Bacca, however, who ultimately pounced on the ball, sprinting by Guzan and firing it into the back of the net from close range.

American substitute Bobby Wood nearly put his side back in front after Lee Nguyen, who made his first international appearance in seven years, helped set up a golden chance in the 81st minute. Wood received the ball in the penalty area, but Vargas stoned him to keep the match at 1-1.

Colombia then did what Ecuador and Honduras did last month, as Gutierrez took advantage of some lax marking from Green and punished the Americans with a late goal that saw them lose their first match since the end of the 2014 World Cup.

The U.S. has one more match to play this year, with a friendly vs. the Republic of Ireland in Dublin on tap for Tuesday.

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What do you think of the U.S.’s 2-1 loss to Colombia? Which Americans impressed/disappointed you? Concerned by the habit of conceding late, or chalk it up to several substitutions being made? Worried by the lack of possession vs. a quality side?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Few thoughts:
    First and foremost — why do people insist on saying….’this game doesn’t matter”? Are you really seriously that daft? Think about that statement. No…shut up and think about it for a minute.
    The game does matter, on many different levels. At the very very least, to the players on the pitch. They do not go into a match thinking…..”this game doesn’t matter”….or….after the match default to….”it’s a good thing that game didn’t matter.”

    Pros —
    1) CBs were a good paring and attempted to play out of the back. Would prefer to see more of that.
    2) Attack transition through the middle was quite good.
    3) For his age and limited air power, Beckerman played very well IMO. If he wants to, I think we will do well in the GC next year.
    4) Depth chart at almost every position is pretty deep
    5) Guzan and Yedlin need more big games

    Con —
    1) Poor 1st touches from hold up play and unforced giveaway/errors
    2) Too many immediate giveaways from long balls out of the back. (natrually occurs with sustained pressure)
    3) Very little use of speed (maybe unable because COL is super quick)
    4) Finishing Finishing Finishing. Chances with teams like COL will likely be few — so we must capitalize.
    5) Guzan and Yedlin need more big games

    Reply
  2. Few thoughts:
    First and foremost — why do people insist on saying….’this game doesn’t matter”? Are you really seriously that daft? Think about that statement. No…shut up and think about it for a minute.
    The game does matter, on many different levels. At the very very least, to the players on the pitch. They do not go into a match thinking…..”this game doesn’t matter”….or….after the match default to….”it’s a good thing that game didn’t matter.”

    Pros —
    1) CBs were a good paring and attempted to play out of the back. Would prefer to see more of that.
    2) Attack transition through the middle was quite good.
    3) For his age and limited air power, Beckerman played very well IMO. If he wants to, I think we will do well in the GC next year.
    4) Depth chart at almost every position is pretty deep
    5) Guzan and Yedlin need more big games

    Con —
    1) Poor 1st touches from hold up play and unforced giveaway/errors
    2) Too many immediate giveaways from play long balls out of the back. (natrually occurs with sustained pressure)
    3) Very little use of speed (maybe unable because COL is super quick)
    4) Finishing Finishing Finishing. Chances with teams like COL will likely be few — so we must capitalize.
    5) Guzan and Yedlin need more big games

    Reply
  3. People keep talking about Rubin missing easy chances. Two thoughts on that. First, they were not that easy, but yes, in a game like this you need one to go in. But the part about these comments that bug is that no one is giving Rubin credit for finding space. No one else found it, and he should be given credit for this. In general it feels like many US fans don’t pay attention to smart runs and finding space around the goal. Rubin tonight, Wondo all the time–Wondo gets so many looks because of things folks just don’t pay attention to. So we crucified him for missing one chance that most other american players probably wouldn’t have found the space for. Ours is a combine culture. How fast, how strong…all important but the nuances are so key in this sport and I think we miss them in our observations way too much. Beckerman and Dempsey were two of our best players in the world cup, and neither one has much going for them in the athleticism category. Ok, I will stop the rant…

    Reply
    • One of them was me. I just want to say I’m not disappointed that a 18 year old in his first pro season and in his first cap missed those. I’m happy he got them. He looked like a full blown senior side player out there.(Green looks crazy raw in comparison.) If Rubin is this composed now, 3 years in Holland will just make him better.

      I even think his choice of placement wasn’t bad. He went for near post placement which had a better chance of beating the keeper but a smaller target. It makes sense. He had an excellent debut.

      Reply
  4. Im going to watch the game again tomorrow to be sure but this was my take in the first viewing.

    1) We had little attack. Did we have any shots? None serious I think. Because of no attack, we were on defense all day. It was only a matter of time until they scored

    2) Lee did not get enough minutes. Mix had the lions share and produced squat. I hope the minutes are turned around next game

    3) When Lee was in… not too many touches. The ball was going over the midfield and the midfield did not get a chance to try and create. If you have a player like Lee on the field, the knuckle heads need to play thru him

    4) Other than the PK, Altadore did nothing again. I cannot see why JK has such a fixation for him but he had zero shots that I saw. Not sure it’s his fault but the bottom line is JK has to make changes in the attack as this is simply not working and really has never worked

    Reply
    • In regards to point one, Rubin had two very very good opportunities to score from headers. 1 should have been an “easy” goal (undefended) and one was still a very good chance.

      Reply
    • Also Altidore had a good header he aimed into the ground saved… do you just not count people hitting the ball with their heads as shots?

      Reply
  5. Congratulations for all the players efforts today. I will not say the same for JK. Deja Vu all over again. Way too many apologetic reviews from fans on here. How can some people not see the truth and turn a blind and ignorant eye? If I have ever predicted a game and how it would turn out today was my best result. I even hear Taylor Twellman mention some of my points of views on TV. He studies and does his best…congrats on your contract Twellman.

    Columbia played today in a way I have been pointing out in many posts with regards to playing compact with relentless pursuit of the penalty area on offense and defense…Columbia really showed well in the second half exactly the points I have been pointing out. The USMNT did not do enough to threaten Columbia’s penalty area. Columbia relentlessly attacked the USMNT penalty area.

    US passing fell apart in both halves, but mostly in the second half when the US was trying to hang on for dear life. Cause? Too much spacing between D, MF, and F resulted in too many passing turnovers. Solution? Compact play will result in 1 or 2 man advantage in every 1/3 of the field, shorter 1 and 2 touch passing, give and go, through passing, chip passing, etc…will be more effective…Columbia did this well the whole game…US not. The only thing the US did well was defend in a compact way, but you cannot do that the entire game. It’s only a matter of time before the other team scores and Columbia did this TWICE. Good, effective short passing will take pressure off of the Defense. The USMNT is dysfunctional from the middle 1/3 to the final 1/3..there only hope is to pass it out wide when right outside the middle of the penalty area (this still baffles me).

    Check out this book about the Brazilian Box Midfield. The title is misleading because the book is not about a Box Midfield. It’s about how ANY midfield formation, any defensive formation, and any forward formation can have numerical advantages in any 1/3 of the field as well as immediate pressure on recovering the ball on defense. I read the USSF E coaching manual book and all the ‘best practice’ material from USSF. The USSF would become world class and MLS would improve leaps and bounds with this book: Buy yourself a Christmas present: http://www.amazon.com/The-Brazilian-Midfield-Vinicius-Santos/dp/0977341941

    Reply
    • Um, pretty condescending tone. You act like you’re saying stuff about how to play soccer that we don’t already know. I think a 2-1 loss was a safe bet for a result in many of our ignorantly turned eyes.
      My impression is that JK, and most of the posters I’ve read above, are being pragmatic about our current technical abilities. The result would have been much worse if we tried to play like them for 90 minutes.

      Reply
      • You are at least catching on. How do we know if the USMNT does not try to play like Columbia, Brazil, or Germany for 90 minutes? That sums up my whole point. Looks like Costa Rica is doing just a fine job and doing exactly that: compact play. Jamaica has played compact in WCQ and beat the US. LOL. Read the book. Order it…your soccer mind will never be the same again. You do not have an alternative. Nobody on here, who has coached before or played, has suggested anything better. Correct me. Love to read about it.

  6. I thought that we played okay tonight. Colombia is really, really good. I’ll be curious to see how we look against Ireland, a team that is more or less on our level.

    Reply
  7. Nothing to be concerned about. Colombia’s a better team. For now.

    Yedlin, Fabian, pretty bad. No big deal, although Fabian’s worrying me a little bit…

    Bedoya and Beckerman, pretty good. Beckerman was superb seeing the field.

    Mix, an off day. No worries.

    Brooks fine. Jones not a center back, but was ok.

    Garza shows promise. Nguyen, Rubin, Morales and Wood could use more minutes…had some ideas.

    Jozy looked fantastic for 20 minutes and useless for 70. Penalty was lucky, but at least it was on goal. His runs are so predictable and got in the way more often than not. Liked that he hustled defensively, but we’re never going anywhere with him as a lone forward option. That’s pretty obvious. If your goal is the semifinals of the World Cup, playing a formation where a a player with average skill and average strengths is supposed to provide the goals isn’t viable. Most people see this and once we get past the being offended because someone’s insulting our player, most Americans see this as well. I’m sure Klinsi sees this.

    Looking forward to seeing Boyd or Johannson or someone unknown to take over his role and add intelligent runs, ability in the air, and skills on the ball, as well as target forward abilities.

    Plenty of positives to take from this and it’s just a friendly.

    Reply
  8. Colombia’s chippiness disappointed me. Did anyone else see the play in the first half where Bedoya (I think) raced a Colombia defender to the touchline? After the ball went out for a goal kick, and while Bedoya was standing against the advertising boards, the Colombia guy gave him a nasty shove in the back of the head. Not classy.

    Reply
      • They hacked Bedoya repeatedly while he was in there. Pretty clear they were targeting him. Kind of tacky.

        Not quite sure why. Bedoya’s a good player, but I don’t seeing him being called up or playing on a team as attack-minded as Colombia, so it’s not like he dissed them by playing for the USA.

    • Classy? Who cares about classy? You do what you have to to win. There are only a few teams in the world, club or national, that can win ‘classy’ everyone else just tries to win. There are no ‘class’ points given.

      Reply
  9. The USA does have good technical players. But most are at the youth level now. USA youth teams looking good. This is a group in experimental mode right now with some of the will not be there in a few years guys bleeding in with younger guys. Hyndman, Rubin, Bradley, etc do have technique on the ball but some are still being bled into the group. Beckerman, Beasley, and other older players are playing for the Gold Cup squad. Simple today, a top team beat a lesser experienced team. And that’s how a team gets better, by learning from FRIENDLY matches that don’t count.

    Reply
  10. What stood out to me was the wonderful control on the ball that Colombia showed. Everyone of their attacking players had the ball on a string. Our guys just don’t have even similar control. Not just Jozy, but almost everyone else as well. So when a team of extremely quick/fast players plays a high pressure game, and you don’t have that kind of ball control, you are going to struggle for possession. To me it was that simple. More talented players, beat hard working, and in some cases overachieving players. JK is pushing them to play a more polished style. I think this is the right way to go. but until they have the ball skills, it is going to be an uphill battle

    Reply
    • Ya, hard to ague with that… Our guys don’t have those ball skils, Nguyen, Jozy and Bedoya(Today anyway) could do it for a short while but Colombia had it across the whole midfield and attacking line.

      Reply
    • The ball control comment is spot on. But they were also brilliant with their movement off the ball, and reading the game. And almost every player they had was as fast as Yedlin. Colombia is simply a fantastic attacking team.

      Given the circumstances, I was impressed with our play in the first half. Early in the second half, Jozy and Bedoya (who both had played well) seemed to hit the wall and it killed our possession. Mix wasn’t himself all game long. After that, it was a bit brutal as they took it to us the rest of the way.

      Hate to pick on him, but Green needs some more seasoning before another call-up. Maybe we could play him as a striker, but a midfielder that can’t defend at all is just too big a liability at the international level.

      Reply
    • It’s why the counter is such a vital piece that continues to be missing…can’t out possess the high pressure so need to scare them back with counter weapon to create that space. Also direct balls can do it by playing over the top which we saw plenty of in the first half. Talking about possessing is fun tho and seems forward thinking but need the players. Without them it’s not valiant to me to insist on it, it’s something else

      Reply
  11. Similar to what others have said, this is exactly how all our games have gone against top 10 teams in the world and how it will go forever until we can produce some players who have serious ball skills. We just don’t, so we can hang around if our d plays ok, if our goalie makes some saves, and if the opponent blows some chances. We will never have any business winning games like this until our technical ability improves by leaps and bounds. Until then it’ll be us rooting hard for a fluke goal to give us a tie or sneak out a win while being horribly outshot, outpossessed, and outplayed — regardless of our lineup/tactics. We just don’t have anywhere near the skill of the top teams.

    Reply
  12. Wish we could have seen a Mix/Nguyen paring in the middle. Mix is comfortable further back and could link up well with Nguyen. Mix/Beckerman just seemed to leave a big hole in the middle of the field.

    Reply
  13. The main point I want to make is this game is not about what we did wrong. We were just outplayed and the result just so happened to coincide with that. Lets accept the loss and focus on beating Ireland.

    Reply
    • The main takeaway here is that EVERY players was dificient technically and since most of them are not playing, they are getting too old to improve. Yedlin was horrifically bad in the second half. That experiment is over for ever. His technique will get worse if he plays in England. Poor kid got some bad advise.Columbia played poorly and by next year, they will be gone from the top 10.The USA has a long way to go, as usual.

      Reply
      • About Yedlin, He can’t be a winger. He lacks the technique as you said. But as a RB? He doesn’t have to have amazing ball skills for that. Certainly needs to work on his crossing though.

  14. Say it with me: congratulations to Colombia. They have the better team, better players and better program. Hopefully we can one day produce players with that quality and we can stop coming up with lame excuses every time we lose a game.
    I know it’s not easy for USNT fans but let’s show some class and admit we lost because they’re better than us.

    Reply
    • They’re better than us.

      So what? They’re #3 in the world right now and might actually be #1 once the likes of Falcao get in healthy.

      We were competitive…with a very young, mix-n-match kind of team that only had 3-4 guys starting from our World Cup roster.

      Not like they embarrassed us, and we did have our chances. Need to get a little older and more experienced at some positions, a little younger at others. Physically we’re talented enough, just need to get some…edge, which will only come with a deeper pool, a better MLS, and…dare I say it, more players getting real chances in Europe.

      Reply
      • Holland didn’t make Rubio that good that fast but I’m certain he wouldn’t be playing in the MLS. I feel like the MLS isn’t a place where most coaches give young players a chance. Look at what happened to Luis Gil this year. Kreis gives Gil at least 25 games for 3 straight season then suddenly he only gets 7?

        I hope more of the young guys go to Europe. I don’t feel like the MLS allows young players to get enough time and skilled players are not protected enough by the Refs.

      • Note my use of “most coaches.” Kreis would be an exception. Another example would be Pareja at Dallas. Jay Heaps doesn’t seem afraid either.

        Victor Ulloa was cut over the FC Dallas off season before Pareja was hired. He then went on to play 28 games for Dallas this seaon. (GJ Hyndman…)
        Ulloa had one game in 2011 before this season. He didn’t go from completely unable to play soccer then magically learning this season. He was never given a chance.

        Bruce Arena on the other hand loves Veterans why go get and play a 33 year old Alan Gorden when they have like home grown forwards on the bench?

      • Zardes comes to mind and last year Bean, Villarreal and Meyer who btw came in Sunday for an injured Leonardo and played great. Stephens developed enough to go to Europe. And Gordon has been youth renewed since returning, hard to rip his playing time seems to me

      • I though Area shipped Villarreal off to Mexico? Either way, other leagues have young guys getting time at 18. We have Zardes getting time at 22. Even Ulloa from FC Dallas is 22 now.

        It’s just too late. It’s just like they went to college.

      • he did, but he also played him for a year. agree to disagree, that’s cool. each case is its own thing. as for other leagues at 18or guys develop later for now. it’s not such a horrible thing, peaking is peaking whenever it occurs

    • I thought that they were very impressive and yes they were probaably the better team on the night. But it wasn’t a bad performance or anything to be ashamed of…. some encouraging individual performances in a challenging environment against a very strong attacking team. These are valuable experiences.

      Reply
    • who here is arguing against colombia having “the better team, better players and better program”?

      pretty sure most commenters are simply comparing our players’ performances against their previous expectations (mix looking less than normal, brooks impressing, jozy so-so).

      “I know it’s not easy for USNT fans but let’s show some class”

      do we really have self-loathing usmnt fans? that’s a weird thing to be, bell.

      Reply
      • There were a few posts above, about how dirty their players were, which is what I assumed Bell was referring to.
        Not to say I agree with him. I don’t think saying some of their players are dirty is necessarily making excuses or being classless. Anybody who watched the game closely saw some pretty questionable stuff from them, especially Arias. That said, I still think they were better, and we deserved to lose. I also felt all the calls added up fine.
        Jones got away with a handball in the box, and Gutierrez took a couple steps toward the ball on Bacca’s goal.

      • agreed; thought the calls evened out, and it was a fair scoreline.

        and colombia *does* play dirty; that shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s watched them the past couple of years. hopefully bell wasn’t arguing with that.

  15. A few thoughts
    Rubin>Green at least for now
    Nguyen looked good. Diskerud should be worried.
    Johnson and Yedlin dissapointed
    Altidore looked decent Beckerman was so so
    Garza has been playing great. Beasley has been replaced.
    Brooks had a good performance today
    Jones looked good too but I think he should still be a CM the realityty is he won’t be around at 38 no matter where he plays
    I see woods as more of a winger I didnt really see much of Morales enough to make a judgement

    Reply
    • Jones will just be 36, actually, not 38. He’s 33, and a November birthday. He’ll be 36 in June of 2018. I personally think he’s more than enough of an iron man to stick that long. I won’t bet against him, anyhow. Especially with Lampard just now coming into MLS at the same age and seeing how Thierry Henry looks at 37.

      Agree on Rubin. Think we may have found a long-term answer there. Ditto for Garza. Also agree Nguyen will displace Mix, and quickly. Still expect Baby Bradley to eventually wind up in Beckerman’s holding mid spot regardless of where Klinsmann is playing him now. Brooks to me is another long-term answer…he’s more athletic and moves better than Besler and his distribution and poise on the ball is better. Like him a lot. Between Brooks/Besler/Gonzalez/Cameron and yes, Jones, I think we’ve got the core CB’s we’ll be seeing through the next cycle.

      Still think Robbie Rogers gets a call and winds up the #2 LB behind Garza, though I think Run DMB stays with the team to about the Gold Cup, and maybe even a little longer. Also think Darlington Nagbe gets the call and starts somewhere in midfield the second his citizenship comes through. We’ve got openings.

      Wood may rue not finishing those chances when Gyau and Aron Johanssen get healthy. If I’m an MLS GM, though, once the new collective bargaining agreement hits and I’ve got an extra $1.5 million in hands to go after players, Wood would be on my shortlist of guys I’d through $150K or so at and see if they bite. He could be lethal if he gets confidence in his finishing.

      Reply
      • Jones probably won’t be around for another World Cup. It’s not like he’s a finesse player. Eventually those knocks add up. But he has an important role on this team right now – demonstrate heart and streetfighterism to the next generation. I’m 99 percent sure that’s his job in the coach’s eyes.

    • Rubin is playing, Green is not. Green looked erratic also before Brazil. I felt like a camp of play helped him get ready but now he’s gathering splinters. Meanwhile Rubin plays for Utrecht. OK, explain this Klinsi, Europe as both panacea and weight around your leg.

      Reply
      • I don’t doubt his potential, but I agree on Green. I think he needs considerably more time in the oven than some had initially suggested. He needs to get minutes at the club level. I haven’t done the math, but he may have more career minutes with the USMNT than with his senior club sides. At a minimum, it’s close. This can’t persist forever.

  16. It was a pretty bland game from us, but there were a couple thingsbto take away. Rubin played well, hope to see more minutes from Nguyen against Ireland though. Garza did alright along with Jones. Jozy was okay. It was as expected. Columbia has numerous world class players, and we don’t.

    Reply
    • I’m pretty sure Nguyen is supposed to leave after this so he can prepare for his playoff game with NE. It was pretty shocking to me he got so little time knowing that.

      Reply
      • I think we waited to sub to try to get the win. We had some good chances at the begging of that first half. Rubin should have had one. I honestly can’t believe he didn’t score from those headers. I’m mad as there is not point at blaming an 18 year old in his first cap and first pro season for being less than perfect. I’m glad he got those chances.

      • Why would you be surprised? he missed every single chance he had to score at club. I hope he doesn’t become another Wood.
        At least his service has been good at MNT and club.

  17. We delivered a strong representation, in a hostile environmen and did well as a team…..especially Yedlin, Bedoya, Jones, Diskerud. I wish Nyugen was in with a Fresh Bedoya and Mix, I believe we would have had more chances. Morales and Rubin are a work in progress and don’t seem to currently have what it takes to be that serious threat while playing a high ranked team. Nothing threatening about Altidore up top; nothing, but over all I’m satisfied with the way we played a team ranked 3 in the world in a hostile environment and put up a good fight.

    Reply
    • Who would you have sat for nguyen? rubin or fabian? Surely not beckerman, which is not a sentence I ever thought I’d be saying.

      Reply
      • Mix Diskerud played ok given the circumstances but wasn’t too effective. Beckerman surprisingly did well playing DM

        —————-Altidore————–Rubin———————
        —————————-Nyugen——————————–
        –Bedoya———————————————–Fabian–
        —————————Beckerman—————————

        Lee should have started or come in after the half and we would have seen a lot more chances (We already know Mix is one of our starters). Maybe even play Altidore on the right wing as he defended and played mostly in the midfield anyway,…..either way wefought hard,the lose was respectable and Nyugen showed flashs of brilliants so Im happy

      • Beckerman and Nguyen as center mids? We would have been slaughtered.

        Mix had a very off game, but he was also called on (again) to be dirtier than he’d prefer. Mix is the kind of guy who wants to dictate the game. He thinks a move in front of most people so he never sits on the ball, hence why most think he’s ineffectual.

        I’d much prefer to see Mix, Morales, and Jones as three mids.

    • Yedlin played well? Did you watch the same game I did? He practically gave away a goal while running back toward his own goal then losing the ball. He had so many turnovers, probably many more than anyone else on the field. I thought he was close to awful.

      Reply
      • Yes Gary Page you have a point…..but a young player willing to take chances, willing to run at opposition, willing to confidently trying to make plays against a top ranked team in a stadium with 90% Colombian support……I’m ok with that even if that meant a 2-1 loss to a third world ranked team.

  18. -I’ll start with the officiating, truly awful, that was a clear handball and jones. But also was extremely inconsistent in the middle. Arias should have been gone for some of his horror challenges. The first Colombia goal was offside, teo made a step to the ball, which meant he was part of the play, bad call. Just lost a lot of respect for the Colombians today. Cuadrado flopped more than most NBA players, and armero was just so dirty, not to mention the two central mid goons they had. I kinda feel like this team is an extremely talented player in james and then 10 dirty, mediocre players. Saw the same types of things in the world cup, thought zuniga and armero played dirty football there.

    Onto us:
    -Klinsi had some awful subs in this one. The starting lineup i was okay with, i dont think jermaine should be in the back cuz we need his presence in the middle, i would have slotted besler there and sat beckerman.
    -John brooks looked pretty good, took about 15-20 minutes to get into the game but after that was fine.
    -Garza, very solid as always
    -Yedlin just looks so so raw out there, so much speed and athleticism and so little technicality to his game
    -Fabian struggled in the midfield but looked solid in the back, although i think his future is at left mid due to the quality outside backs coming through
    -Mix had a really poor game, ineffective
    -Bedoya was solid, hard working and really pushed, no idea why he was taken off
    -Rubin looked sharp for his youth, cant wait for me
    -Solid game from jozy, good hold up and got involved in possession
    -Nguyen looked awesome, although i would like to see him a little higher, or even drifting in from the wing and letting guys overlap

    finally, at the beginning of klinsmans tenure he told us if your not playing with your club you dont play with the national team. Then why on gods green earth did wood or green ever sniff the pitch? Both were awful and looked totally out of rhythm.

    Reply
    • All coaches make compromises to build the best team possible. Brooks and altidore aren’t getting club time either but they did fine.

      Reply
      • You’re better than that Chris. Julian was seeing decent time until his rib injury for most of Oct. Wood was starting until a few weeks ago and has been benched for not playing well. Players go through ups and downs.

        Guys like Jozy, Chandler and FJ who are more mature but still finding inconsistent time is worse.

      • By decent time you mean 2 games? And as far as wood he was demoted to the youth/reserve team 2 weeks ago. Chandler and fabian have been getting a good amount of time. Maybe not starting week in week out, but still minutes

    • Midfield was outnumbered but Beckerman was too slow for this game. He straight up lacks the foot speed to deal with teams like this. This compounded the marking issues that were apparent.(Camp is short… it happens I suppose)

      Yedlin basically started a Colombian counter attack for them when it looked like we had a good attack going. I think someone made a good run but I would have to rewatch to be sure.

      About Colombia, #4 earned multiple yellows. I don’t know how he didn’t get one for bringing down Jozy on the line like that. He straight up kicked the man to prevent a run into the box after he was beaten. They were generally rather dirty. They are amazing going forward but respond to getting beating by just fouling to stop attacks.

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      • Yes, that is correct, arias-dirty, armero-super dirty, both center mids should have had yellows 15 min in, cuadrados a flopper

      • Dirty? A bit overstated. It’s soccer, you get beat in a dangerous position, you hack. It’s up to the ref to blow the whistle and at some point, issue a yellow. A smart player isn’t going to let a player blow by him if he knows he can get away with it… will keep doing it until he’s stopped.

      • Its dirty what armero did to yedlin with the above the shoulder stuff, and then looked at him mocking him like nothing happened. Armero was such a dirty player and the world cup as well

    • Cameron deserved to be on the pitch. It makes no sense to sit an IN FORM Cameron and play both Beckerman and Jones. I would have started Cameron at CB and started Morales at DM or Cameron at DM and Besler at CB. I never want to see Bobby Wood again. Ibarra would have been a better option IMO.

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  19. So it’s obviously disappointing to let a lead slip late but it’s #3 team in the world so overall good game. Great atmosphere and open game. Thought Garza, Brooks, Jones, Rubin, Altidore, Bedoya, and Beckerman played well. Yedlin and Fabian both struggled. Nguyen had some good moments and was creative hope he gets more time. Wood actually looked decent. Honestly don’t think Green was really that at fault. He was in position but just got out jumped by a bigger attacker. Morales was good too.

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      • I like Mix, but I’m coming to the idea he’s a bit of a lightweight. He does well against lesser sides, albeit for about 60 minutes, and then fades. Against better sides he tends to vanish altogether. I think he’s good for the 23 through the next cycle, but he needs some of Michael Bradley’s steel if he wants to become a regular starter, otherwise I think he’s an off-the-bench guy when the full team shows up for big tournies.

        I Lee Nguyen takes his job, and soon, in the starting 11. Nguyen is just really, really good, and his quality showed even against Colombia.

      • I tend to agree. I think Mix is a stop gap that will get overtaken as younger talents emerge.

        Although you can’t help but like the guy.

      • Before the WC I preferred Joe Corona and I still prefer Joe Corona. He plays in a better league and faces better competition week in and week out. I think he has more of a future than Mix.

      • Mixx had a key goal against Russia. He is clutch. I think he’s better as a supersub but JK seems intent on trying to make him a starter-type. He isn’t a starter. He plays defense like Sacha, ie, not very well.

        Both he and AJ need to be used late to hunt goals. Not early in the run of play. They have sniper skills but are not 90 minute people like Bradley or Jones.

  20. USMNT loses game in fashion widely predicted beforehand…

    …fans angry that team lost in fashion widely predicted beforehand.

    This fan base is annoying sometimes.

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  21. This team missed a healthy Bradley tonight. But thought Rubin, Altidore, and the back four played well till subs came in. Fabian and Mixx were off their games. Fabian needs minutes.

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    • They were missing a midfield destruction element that would break up the unrelenting attacks before they are so deep. Beckerman did not supply it and didn’t look mobile. If they got that, the backline is actually good.

      As bad as it was, if Wood scores his darned gimme it’s either a win or 2-2. That choice is starting to make me cranky. He gets in good spots but has less finishing than EJ or Wondo or Twellman before them.

      Jozy scores a PK where he waits out the keeper then kicks it almost at him anyway. Doesn’t chase defense. Loses ball too much. Rubin was the more compelling player. When we finish MLS playoffs and get some people healthy I will be interested who emerges. Jozy needs to get the heck out of Sunderland.

      Guzan left himself in pointless no man’s land on the first goal.

      I did like Garza/ Brooks/ Jones.

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      • I didn’t think it was bad at all. We attacked, we created opportunities. We didn’t finish them but it was the young players blowing the chances. I thought Jozy was fine, he held the ball up fairly well under pressure. It was Green who lost his mark and allowed the 2nd goal, again, a young player. Yedlin wasn’t great on the ball but he still penetrated and created problems for the defense. There were a lot of miss timed balls that I think is a result of the players not knowing each other that well. All in all given the team’s experimental nature I thought it was pretty good, we didn’t play that game like we needed to win it, we could have parked the bus, when we went up, we didn’t.

      • +1 Matches my thoughts almost exactly. In some ways I felt better about this loss than I did about the last two draws. The point of experimenting is to learn things…. I feel like we are learning plenty about our strengths and needs. Plus, it was extremely entertaining for a friendly. Need more of these.

      • They made some poor decisions on the counter. They often passed to the wrong player, slowing down the attack. There were too many negative passes from the midfield all the way back to Guzan. Some poor crosses with the one by Beckerman and the one by FJ (both to Rubin). I thought that the first one might have actually been for Bedoya. Jones passed up a wide open player at the far post to take an ill-advised poor angle shot too.

      • Agree. But results don’t matter at this point. Individual performances do. JK is misguided playing Jone at Center back instead of getting younger defenders game time. Jones will be 38 in Russia – so I’m betting he won’t be there. Even if we use him in the Gold Cup, we should still be bleeding the youngsters. Same with Beasley. Makes no sense to play him when we need games time t this level for younger players. And if JK was bringing him on to “solidify” and go for the tie – it backfired on him like his sub choices do every single time.

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