By RYAN TOLMICH
After snapping the team’s winless streak last month against Panama, the U.S. Men’s National Team travels to Denmark for a friendly today (3pm, ESPN) featuring a roster of faces both old and new.
Veterans Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore and Alejandro Bedoya are set to lead the line, while newcomers like Gyasi Zardes and Greg Garza look to continue to establish themselves heading into this summer’s Gold Cup.
Standing in the USMNT’s way will be the first European opponents of 2015, as Denmark boasts a squad littered with European veterans like Nicklas Bendtner and Christian Eriksen.
SBI will be providing live commentary on today’s match so please feel free to follow along with the action here. As always, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (Today’s live commentary is after the jump):
//
7 goals given up after the 80th minute in the 8 matches since the World Cup, 11 second half goals allowed
whats the stat on how many games had 6 subs used? not an overriding factor but it’s worth pointing out. regardless who’s in the game you want to perform but subs change the chemistry by default. my point isn’t that JK shouldn’t use 6 subs, it’s that that’s commonly the case in friendlies so judge accordingly.
I do hate this. Not good, because it can become a mentality. But the guys are disjointed and the second halves of our games have involved tons of substitutions. There are lots of valid reasons to discount this.
One thing that does bother me– we need a true leader on that backline if we want to solve this problem. We have a rich history of born leaders that have kept us strong for 90 mins and beyond (Pope, Boca, Berhalter, Cherundolo, Beasley, Demeit, and many others). We need one of these younger guys to step up and become that sort of leader.
Why do you think JK is looking for ways to keep JJ relevant?
You have to rebuild with younger players eventually…May be a long, ugly process until it improves….No Gonzalez, Jones, Cameron, and Dempsey meaning less veterans to calm the defense and possession….You could see the calmness, organization, speed, and cohesion of Denmark….Yet, Altidore took his chances well….Each goal was from lack of discipline and communication on defense…
Very disjointed and somehow only a 3-2 loss…..Defense definitely needs work…Well, can’t expect too much with only a day or 2 of practice….Good bleeding of young players….Hopefully though, that defense can get it together…
Should we read anything into the fact we looked far worse after the Orozco to Alavardo switch? Seemed like Brooks kept finding himself out of position in the middle after that.
I think that sub showed that Brooks looks out of his element. He relies to much on his partner to cover him. Would have prefered Orozoco and Alvarado pairing.
I’d say it speaks to the fact that Brooks needs his partner to direct him rather than cover for him. Brooks had some good stops, i feel he could have attacked the ball more on the third goal, but meh…. either way it should have been Oro n Alv, but it seems JK wants Brooks to grow into that full-90 enforcer roll.
Sure. You can read in the obvious– CB partnerships take time to form. Lots of people wrote off Brooks after the comedy show between him and Onyewu in last year’s Ukraine friendly. But communication is critical, and if you put two guys together who have scarcely trained together for more than a few hours, you get what you get.
But I also think Orozco is a very good CB who is probably more valuable at this point than Alverado to the Nats.
This game reminded me allot of the Belgium match in the WC. US were COMPLETELY outplayed but managed to stay in the game by parking the bus. Match facts do not lie and in the end I’m just glad that score line was not worse than what it shows because it could have easily have been 5-2 Denmark.
Klinsmann may have just started an 0-5 streak for USA.
Team looked bad for the most part and started the game looking like the players had just run a 10K.
It has to be maddening playing with Chandler. How many times did he thump a long ball after a teammate worked his butt off to hold possession?
Cue Klinsmann apologists. “It’s only friendly!” He’s experimenting!” I don’t want to wait until we crash out of Gold Cup to find out that Klinsmann’s questionable tinkering and tactics haven’t amounted to jack. Our second half performances since the WC have been nothing short of an abomination. They may only be friendlies, but this is getting embarrassing, and even worse, it’s starting to feel like we’re very much regressing as a national program.
Keep rooting against the US. Maybe we’ll “crash out” of the Gold Cup like we didn’t last time and you can wear those party hats you bought. Then we can hire the magical coach you haven’t identified yet and he will lead us to glory using this same group of decent but globally unremarkable players.
We lost a close game away to a quality European team. Wanna hear a painful fact? Based on pedigree, achievement, and market value, Nicholas Bendtner would probably be the greatest player in US history. So blame Klinsmann if you like, but Denmark has better players than us. Period. Indisuputable.
I agree that we are terrible in the second half these days. Sure, that’s a problem. Gotta fix that. Thankfully, our recent teams have always peaked in the summer (you know… when the meaningful competitions happen).
Who did Klinsmann pick for the Gold Cup? Someone remind me who the MVP of that tournament was.
Donovan was excellent, and JK selected him. This could not be more irrelevant to this discussion.
What is your point?
See comments above.
I remember back in the day when Franken Chandler was going to save American soccer.
just awful, the game against the Swiss is going to be a slaughter
Sad that Yarborugh is going to ruin his International career in his debut because of that… SMH
Guy who does not stat for his club team can score a hat-trick against the US – I think that says it all
Really not sure why half these players have been called up.
And when was the last time Chandler has a “good” game. All i remember is poor to passable.
The excuse before was, he was being played out of position. Fullback positions need to be sorted out.
Brooks should have buried that… Smh we looked better in the second half, but the defense looks in shambles. Switzerland is going to be a more difficult test, and I don’t know how we’re going to handle it. I’ll be slightly torn, being a Swiss citizen as well.
Wow! What a goal from Bendtner. Our defense has looked bad. Just bad.
Lucky that didn’t end 4-2…
Have Brooks and Garza actually met before today? Horrendous defense by both here at the end.
.
The search for a left back continues
[drumroll…]
“Introducing, YOUR U.S. NATIONAL TEAM!”
[…wild cheering…]
“…Garza, meet Brooks. Brooks, meet Orozco. Orozco, meet Chandler. Chandler, meet …”
i’m kinda rooting for The Brek Shea Project now, lol. Yedlin and Shea as fullback 2018. haha chandler and fj subs
Shea played well today
I feel like Rimando has to come for that cross on the 2nd goal. Am I alone on that?
Nope, its time for Yarbruh to start over the little man
Yea, I hate to admit it, but he really is just too small. Punching stuff that he should be catching and not being able to reach stuff that he should at a minimum be punching.
Def agree with you here. He looked amateurish on some of those punches, and he was not aggressive enough on some of the balls that floated across.
We need to be giving guys like Hamid, Johnson, (or whoever under the age of 30) reps in games like this. Rimando is a known quantity. A leader, a great guy, but ultimately a backup at this leve. He’s gotten an insane amount of reps over the past 18-24 months for a guy nobody believes will be the starting GK in future major tournaments Let’s start phasing in the new blood.
What those punches told me was that Nick and his defenders were not on the same page. Which is about what you might expect from a back four that has never played together or with this keeper.
True, but it was even worse than that. I mean the technique was wrong. Flailing and failing to make proper contact, in spite of having plenty of time and adequate space. And a reluctance to claim floated balls that cost us t least one goal
I am ready (though not happy) to say it now…. the physical demands of the game have begun to pass Rimando by. I would be fine phasing him out tomorrow. It could get back quickly..
*bad not back
I’m done with Rimando. Great career. Great teammate. Loyal servant to the program. Deserves appreciation. But he was slow to react, unsteady, and a complete liability today. At his age, this won’t improve. Time to get the new guys reps if Guzan/Howard are unavailable
Rimando is awful. Always has been. Good MLS guy though.
This team just can’t help but lose.
We’ve been the better side this half. We look a completely different team from the disjointed showing in the first half.
This scoreline is so unfair. But whatever, I like winning. Now the hardest part o f all- holding on
But to be fair, that was a nice goal and the U.S. is playing better in the last 15 minutes.
SMH
very unselfish, especially to get AJ a goal in particular
This is just awful…. No composure on the ball, they play people into trouble constantly, the defense is frantic….just awful
Pretty much the same song and dance as most matches against quality non-CONCACAF competition. Lack of possession in midfield. Poor composure when confronted with pressure. Limited options for players once they get the ball. Still unclear what kind of team JK wants to field; there is no identity from what I can see, just a bunch of guys trying, and too often failing, to kick a ball around.
It becomes more and more obvious with every outing why JK is so eager to keep Jermaine Jones in the squad for as long as possible. He is pretty much the only guy who remains calm under a quality defensive press. Bradley is decent with this, but his passing has been an atrocity today. Just not sharp.
Puh-lease. There is less quality on display here than against Mexico and Costa Rica. You remember, the teams that beat out supposedly the best of the European teams in the WC. The problem is Klinsmann brings in his mediocre favored players for these European games and then brings in MLS/Liga Mx players for the CONCACAF games. He should do the opposite to see how the European players fare against CONCACAF opposition and the MLS/Liga Mx players fare against European opposition. While Klinsmann is in charge, USA will never reach our potential and there will be a lost generation of players that never got their shot at the USMNT.
what you are proposing, Creige, is a return to the Bob Bradley days when the same basic starting 11 played nearly every match. With the quality of players the US fields you can have identity or you can have depth but you can’t easily have both, especially if every friendly is treated as if it is a meaningful match. Finally, if you want JK to play MLS players, then the MLS needs to step up and start respecting FIFA fixture windows.
Not suggesting that at all. However, as the Coach you have to show progress and not regression. This idea that Denmark is better competition than Mexico or Costa Rica is laughable. It’s an excuse. Klinsmann needs to find a way of integrating new players and formations into the USMNT without sacrificing results and stop picking players that don’t perform well or aren’t ready because of their European league pedigree. Also, even if the MLS does not respect these FIFA dates, they clearly respect the right to select MLS players for these fixtures.
“This idea that Denmark is better competition than Mexico or Costa Rica is laughable”
Based on what, exactly? Because they didn’t make the World Cup? Do you think Mexico would’ve qualified for the World Cup from UEFA? Heck, they needed a last minute header from Graham Zusi in Panama to squeak through a ridiculously easy CONCACAF qualification process to playoff with New Zealand.
I do think Mexico would have qualified in UEFA. They beat a team that did qualify. Costa Rica won the group over two top UEFA teams. So yes, the WC is the measure of how you compare with other top teams in the world. Honestly, Mexico might have gone much further if Arjen Robben hadn’t put on a master class in diving. The irony.
Great points. And a team with a stronger identity and a clearer strategy/message from the coaching staff would cope better with all of the lineup changes. It just doesn’t look like they are building towards anything.
Why blame JK for this? This has happened since 1990 when we have played quality non-CONCACAF competition, and it happens because we have players who lack the technical quality of our opposition.
Blaming a lack of composure on the ball while under pressure on the national team coach is silly. This is a basic individual skill is developed over years of club experience and training. Our guys don’t have it yet, and that’s why none of them are worth more than $5 million on the open market.
BINGO! to add, getting young naturally skilled dribblers that are dual nationals has/will be a temporary solution until kids play more often growing up, are able to watch every US/MLS on TV easily, choose to pursue soccer in college over D1 scholarships from other sports, etc, etc…. it’s a 10 year sort of goal. JK came in, said ok we’re not great. no one can coach that away, but we can instill the youth of the country to accept the sport, develop the sport, stick with the sport and then naturally the NT will prosper ( as other countries have).
not saying it’s easy, i just try to always remember it’s gonna be a slow burn to boil this water…..
Garza with a pretty poor half, Johannsson pretty much invisible, one of the strikers needs to drop deeper
You can tell Zardes needs quicker decision-making at this level
I also think he is cutting inside too frequently. We’ve had little width in the first half. I don’t think any of our wide players have been worth a heck thus far.
+1 They have been terrible, really. They’ve created nothing in terms of getting to the end-lines, and they’ve been a terrible liability defensively.
Has anyone heard bedoya’s name once? Garza and chandler have been bad.
He had a tackle at one point but that was it
I thought he actually did pretty well in clogging the center channels and stepping in at the right times. Unfortunately, we are feeling his absence on the wings, where most of Denmark’s attacks have originated.
His offensive contribution has been nil, but I’m not sure that’s his mandate today…. I’d give him a 6-6.5 for the first half…. with only Altidore and Orozco ahead.
Altidore is a two touch player. If a play requires three touches he’s screwed.
Right now, it appears that’s two touches more than anybody else on the team seems able to handle.
That defending on the Denmark goal was repulsive.
A lot of guys on the US team need to step it up right now. We have 2-3 guys playing well and the rest are very sloppy and/or invisible. AJ is wasting oxygen out there.
yedlin for chandler, shea for garza, williams for FJ (swapping bedoya and williams)
since I’m the coach and all…
Chandler, stop being a ref and play defense, please…..
Jozy tries the heel flick shot, confidence seemingly exudes, lol….
Exceptional hit from Altidore. Love it.
Sunderland mids, please take notes…
Rimando really isn’t good. Never feel comfortable with him back there.
no one’s looking great but both fullbacks look noticeably bad….
Everybody but Orozco looks a step off so far
I’ld like to see Brooks slide that ball out of bounds rather than get nutmegged, lol
Looks like they are wearing bibs
Ain’t that the truth, That_Guy. Lots of editorial issues on the site. I understand that Ives is busy man, and I will always admire the site for bringing us breaking news when very few outlets existed though. I’ve actually decided that after many years of visiting this blog, it’s time for me to move on. See you on the filp side, SBI.
Bye, Felicia…
Well goal.com had Johnson as a winger for Bayer Leverkeusen…
Check out those Germans trying to remember our anthem…
Top class work on that photo (Ives dont give a **** no more)
I hope Eriksen doesn’t make us look silly
Ain’t nobody had Bedoya at CM. The Klinsman curveball lives. Excited to see how it plays out.
he’s played there before, for club and country, sooooo not really surprising.
I guess you’re smarter than us. https://twitter.com/davisjsn/status/580793621810683904
I actually like this starting 11