By RYAN TOLMICH
The U.S. Men’s National Team conceded a late lead once again last time out against Denmark, but Tuesday could be a time to make amends as the U.S. takes on a fierce European foe in the form of Switzerland (12 p.m., ESPN).
Jozy Altidore appeared as fierce as ever against the Danes, providing a goal and an assist, but the U.S. was undone by the work of forward Nicklas Bendtner.
Jurgen Klinsmann’s men face an even tougher test this time out in Switzerland, which will feature Inter Milan’s Xherdan Shaqiri, Napoli’s Gokhan Inler and Juventus’ Stephan Lichsteiner.
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):
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What a GD idiot Jozy is. Glad he’s not our captain. That is just inexcusably dumb to yell that at the ref right after committing an obvious foul. Give me a break. I hope that doesn’t come back to bite us because we’ve looked great tonight.
LOL @ that Jozy redcard. What a soft call. Jozy knows it too
The multi-F’U’s may have contributed something you think?
I’m not able to watch with sound at the moment, so now the card makes sense.
If swearing at the ref was a card, John Terry wouldn’t have finished a game in years.
John Terry was prolly saying something lame like ‘wanker’. And he’s not nearly as intimidating.
Altidore’s mouth got the red
Oh ok, I’m not able to watch without sound at the moment. Makes more sense.
That was so stupid from Jozy.
yea, it’s all about you Jozy!
BS!!
Russian anthem?
I like Morales and Williams in the midfield a lot. We need to find them in the middle to feet a lot more.
I enjoying the game: amazing freekick, harmony in midfield, Blondie playing as keeper, Zardes improving
We need to keep as much possession as possible with the lead away.
How much possession has Chandler had all by himself. Everytime i look up the ball seems to get to him to bomb up field and get the offense going. Much better by him today. Zardes better today too.
That could have been 2-0.
Wow. Dare I say that Bradley has been Wondo-esque so far this game? 51st minute. C’mon Bradley!
“We now better in Academics, Sports (both basketball and football), prestige.” A sentence needs a verb…
Shyte. Euro-nonsense on that Jozy explusion
Sorry that was not intended as a response to your comment, UCB
was Bradley waiting for a tee
moreso a good job by the defender than a bad job by MB, but he should have surely gotten some shot off there.
Possession numbers be damned. Anybody who says we are not controlling this game is not watching. A great performance thus far.
Yar-BRUH…
Shea’s problem has never been talent. He just hasn’t learned a position because evey coach seems to have some mad scientist obsession with moving him around.
yea, he’s not quite a LS, he’s not quite a dependable LM because he won’t get back some times but oddly as LB he’s usually tactically smart with his runs, also perhaps his team commits to rotating back into his space when Shea makes a run, etc. Shea’s “best” position is still a LW (that plays no defense– aka Ronaldo’s position) but that’s not ideal for the NT. LB seems to work well tho.
His defense is coming along.
At LB Shea he gets the ball with time and space to start running right at the defense which is one of his strengths. And his crossing has gotten much better.
Combined with his size and speed and he is potentially a prototypical modern LB.
The stability of a regular job in Florida is very good for him.
I’ve been pretty critical of Shea in general, but he looks like he belongs today. Not just the golazo either. It looks like LB may suit him well going forward.
The tale of two Klinsmann hard-ons.
The good: OMG what a goal by Shea! He also played pretty descent/good in the first half as a whole.
The bad: Bradley at the top of the diamond/#10 role again. He has looked much worst than he did against Denmark.
On other note, the Morales and Williams partnership in midfield looks good. We have had alot more possession this game and control of the midfield.
re: williams and Morales; i agree, it’s almost as if we’re morphing into a functional asymmetrical 433 with morales and williams as the defensive 2, MB in front and Zardes Jozy and up top with Bedoya as a RW/RM more or less. we favor the right side with bedoya and chandler crossing and allow shea to run the left with morales tucked in.
Yup.
I know what he wants to do with Bradley, though. He wants Bradley to run the game because he thinks Bradley is our best, fittest, most combative Alpha dog. Bradley just wants to be a deep-lying midfielder, run up and down the field, and make the occasional chip over the top or late run into the box. Jurgen thinks Bradley has the makings a show-runner…which I actually agree with. Whether or not he can convince Bradley of that is a different question…you see flickers, but for the most part Bradley looks uncomfortable and unconvinced.
I like Morales really pushing to attack there to win that last foul. he’s a LM that showed to the ball on the right side, turned and drove hard. good play.
Morales making the most of his opportunity. Really like his energy.
BREKing Ball!!!
For the record… I have said Brek could be a very good LB someday and I never ever gave up on the kid… you can’t coach raw physical talent and he has always had some manner of skill about him… just often looked unsettled on the field and in life… maybe this is finally where he takes off!!
I agree, about unsettled. He has had a lot of difficult with depression and he’s sensitive, which shows up in an athletes game tremendously. I’ve always thought Shea has a lot of potential to be an excellent player, although he has had plenty of cringe-worthy moments. He offers a certain creativity that most other players in our pool don’t. He just has to execute that creativity consistently. I can understand what Klinsmann sees in him, and JK’s goal has been to help encourage him. Coaches have to coach different players differently. Some can handle being criticized, and have thick skin, etc, but players like Shea, whose personal life can impact his play, need encouragement
Where did you read that has ever been clinically depressed.
Will U.S. soccer ever have a player who is capable of scoring 12-15 goals in a top European league?
Clint Dempsey?
I guess the Premier League and Clint Dempsey don’t meet your criteria???
yeah this has to be a troll post lol
Not trolling and I acknowledge Dempsey’s outstanding (2011-12?) season when he tallied 17 in the EPL. Having said that, I’m wondering when we produce a player that is consistently counted on to score for his club year in and year out.
I’m not a euro snob and to answer my own question, I believe by the time a player of that caliber is produced, MLS will be a top 5 league globally.
I honestly feel Jozy has the talent to do it in France perhaps Germany.
I was wondering why Shea was always over the ball recently. He must be doing that a lot in training.
he’s also the only lefty out there
haha true
eat it Shea haters
Shea, beautiful, lol. calmly says IDFWU to his detractors…
WOOOOOOOT! Brek effing Shea punctuates his best half by far in a US shirt with a bomb
Shea! Wow man…
The build-up play has been really good but the movement in the box is very poor. No one seems to be coordinating their runs with the others.
WHAT a strike by Shea.
Looks much better than what they showed against Denmark, …shows our biggest weakness is composure under pressure. The Swiss are giving the US tons of space, and sure enough we can string a few passes together…
I agree, that’s a problem the US has had for awhile now. Adjusting to the speed of play can be difficult, especially for the players like Zardes who are not used to this level, obviously. It shows that we need more players playing in the top leagues in Europe, and that’s no knock on MLS, because I’m sure I’ll get flamed for bringing this up yet again. Our player pool has potential, and MLS is a great stepping stone and an underrated league, and will be a top league at some point. For now, I can see the potential that we have if we play to our best ability.
Overall, though, I’m very happy with the way we are playing. We are playing very, very well. Our execution and movement in the final third is a bit lacking, but still some quality chances were created that should’ve been put away. Still, despite that, I really can’t complain.
We are CRAZY athletic. Technical ability, movement off the ball, and sometimes even simple defending remain issues at times – the Swiss, like the Danes, are clearly ahead in those regards – but our athleticism and flat-out SIZE is giving the Swiss fits at times.
If we can just get some composure, confidence, and polish this generation up some, we’ve got a real good crew to build around. Definitely the highest-upside bunch I’ve ever seen the USMNT field, by quite a lot.
This is the kind of situation Nguyen would have worked well in…
Chandler with his mandatory bonehead play (see what i did there…..)
I know I’ve been a cynic lately, but we have looked great the last 20 minutes. Best we’ve played in a looooooong time. I don’t even necessarily care if we lose these games as long as we look good, and we have for most of this first half. Very encouraging. Hoping we can keep it up.
This is the best in possession I have seen us look in a while.
Michael has looked poor so far.
good work by Bedoya to get to that header but gotta put it towards a post
Michael Bradley = No offensive skill. He can hit long balls though. There’s a position on the field for that and neither involve the words midfield or forward.
hyperbole much?…… we all agree about that shot there but relegating him to the back 4 is a bit silly
Seriously? No defending that, but MB has shown his offensive chops many times.
MICHAEL YOU HAVE TO BURY THAT!
Bradley HAS to score there.
Is it just me, or is Brek Shea looking pretty good?
No, I agree he’s doing well so far. His defending and positioning has improved a lot.
in all of Brek’s games, when he’s looked good he looked solidly good (even scoring big goals); when he looks bad he looks confused. definitely a polar player. today he’s mostly the former
Ha. You can hear Klinnsman barking orders from the sideline of FS1.
I agree with what Brad Friedel is saying in that we need more runners! Altidore never seems to make the right run into space around the box when the US has possession, which is disappointing given his tremendous physical gifts.
I like Morales so far as a winger. Great engine and work-rate. Not bad defending from Brek Shea either.
Bradley with the ball in space at the top of the box and had two runners. He didn’t really look like he knew where to go with it. Would have liked to see him take a shot from distance at the least.
runners didn’t attack the space. was frustrating to watch
Agree
Agreed…. the guys gave MB nothing to work with.
I wanted to rubio/jozy .. let’s see how Z does
We actually look good in possession, and Gyassi had a great chance off a nice ball in by Bedoya.
Jesus Zardes just set global soccer back 30 years with that horrible “finish”. Steaming hot garbage.
mother effin FX1 has the game blocked due to local restrictions, not sure what that is about? Trying to be responsible here and watch it at the office, guess im headed to a bar =) .
Atta boy. You’ve earned it (probably). Go get some “lunch”
We look pretty good so far. On top of the Swiss for the most part. Need to be careful with that high press though
According to US soccer the lineup looks as such.
…………..Altidore…………Zardes…………..
…………………….Bradley…………………….
……….Morales…………….Bedoya………….
…………………….Williams…………………….
Shea……..Brooks…….Orozco…….Chandler
…………………….Rimando……………………..
Thoughts:
-I hate Bradley as an attacking midfielder. I will never get the fascination with putting him there when one of Bradley’s strengths is to build up from a deep position and playing inch perfect passes over the top to Jozy like against Denmark and countless other games.
-Happy to see Shea is the only change on the backline. Playing with a narrow diamond will allow him to attack and get up the flanks. The backline had never played it would be wrong to dismiss that and change it and create more confusion. Let this group gel and gain some experience as a unit.
-I don’t really have a problem with any of the starters today but I am curious about the selection of a diamond midfield against a team like the Swiss that will probably dominate possession. Could be a disaster if we cannot keep the ball.
-Chandler will go against Shaqiri in another tough matchup (Eriksen last game). He wasn’t at fault for any goals last game but lets see if he can look more comfortable this time around and keep putting in some dangerous crosses.
chandler was at fault for the first if not the second too. on the first he kept them onside and was the first one to whine about calling the offside. bruh, put your arm down and play. That’s why Zardes was alone, chandler was at the top of the 18 looking at the ref while the play was still going…
that said i want him to succeed but he was at least partially at fault vs Danmark
Please re-watch the highlights, Chandler was stayed with his man. Bendtner was either Orozco or Brook’s man. Since Brooks was ball-watching, Orozco picked up the player Brooks should have been watching and left the center forward open. Brooks should have been faster at reacting and been more decisive.
Also the second goal was definitely not his fault. It wasn’t even his man.
ESPN? It was supposed to be on FS1 according to ussoccer….but it’s the ‘World Darts Championship’….exciting. Watching on Univision…would be nice if SAP wasn’t only Spanish friendly.
You aren’t missing much with the English commentary.
glad to see Williams get a start at cdm. also glad bardes is playing up top rather than wide. and I’m always happy to see Shea start, lol