photo by Dale Zanine/USA Today Sports
By FRANCO PANIZO
Winning will not do much to help ease the pressure. Losing will only make things worse.
That’s the situation the U.S. Men’s National Team finds itself in going into Saturday after suffering a shock defeat to Jamaica in the CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinals that still has plenty fans irate and confused. The Americans will take on Panama in the tournament’s third-place match at PPL Park (4 pm ET, Fox Sports 2) in Chester, Pennsylvania, marking the first time since 2003 that the they have not reached the championship game.
For head coach Jurgen Klinsmann and Co., nothing short of a win will help. Even a victory will serve as only the smallest of consolations for a team that is considered a powerhouse in CONCACAF.
There is plenty to lose here and not much to gain, which is why Klinsmann will likely have to go with his top-choice lineup. Still, Klinsmann might opt to make some changes after seeing the defense give up two set-piece goals to the Reggae Boyz on Wednesday.
Who will Klinsmann start vs. Panama? Here is the U.S. lineup we could see taking the field:
If this team looks a lot like the one that just lost to Jamaica, it is because there are only two changes projected here. Jurgen Klinsmann seemed to like the U.S.’s performance despite the result vs. Jamaica, and as such has said he will stick with a lot of the same starters.
Klinsmann stated Friday that DaMarcus Beasley will play the second half of what will surely be the veteran defender’s last U.S. game, and that should leave Fabian Johnson untouched at left back. That move could also mean that Timmy Chandler returns to right back ahead of Brad Evans. Chandler has had his struggles in this tournament, but Klinsmann is high on the Eintracht Frankfurt defender and might not even have benched him last game had it not been for a reported injury.
At centerback, Omar Gonzalez and Tim Ream seem to stand as good a chance as any to start after the U.S.’s defensive hiccups vs. Jamaica. Klinsmann, however, said after the semifinals match that he was “building” the young centerback duo of Ventura Alvarado and John Brooks for the future. Klinsmann also pointed out on Friday that the U.S. has lost just once in the seven games that Alvarado and Brooks have started together. As such, expect them to stay together in the middle.
In goal, it might be temping to make a change after Brad Guzan endured a forgettable night against the Reggae Boyz. Reserve goalkeeper William Yarborough is not yet cap-tied, and this could be a perfect time to lock him in. Still, Klinsmann will probably opt to stick with Guzan in an effort to allow the incumbent to bounce back.
The other change Klinsmann could make to his lineup is taking off defensive midfielder Kyle Beckerman, who struggled mightily in Wednesday’s defeat, and putting in Mix Diskerud. Diskerud does not provide anywhere near as much bite as Beckerman, but is energetic enough to buzz around and help out when the Americans do not have the ball. The New York City FC midfielder is also better technically than Beckerman, and that could help the U.S. in terms of having more productive possession.
The remainder of the team should stay the same, though that might be while reverting back to the 4-4-2 diamond formation. Michael Bradley is again back in the hole for the U.S. while Alejandro Bedoya and Gyasi Zardes man the right and left flanks, respectively.
Spearheading the attack will likely be Clint Dempsey and Aron Johannsson, who team up again while reserves Chris Wondolowski and Alan Gordon wait to get off the bench. The only real other possibility here is starting Zardes up top, but that would leave Klinsmann to have to start DeAndre Yedlin or Graham Zusi in the midfield and the U.S. manager has not seemed to prefer doing that in this tournament.
—–
What do you think of this projected USMNT lineup? What changes in personnel or formation would you like to see? Do you see the Americans beating the Panamanians?
Share your thoughts below.
In Philly till Monday….. Where to eat? Where to drink?
@bryan you are right to credit klinnsman for getting us to the confederation playoff game. Without his odd tinkering with Landon Donovan we would have never won the last gold cup. Playing the best player in US history in the B gold cup cycle was a huge advantage. Unfortunately when other teams brought their A game this cycle he wasn’t ready for it. Despite being matchup against the worst goal keeper I’ve ever seen. Said that he couldn’t find an attacking philosophy to expose goal tending that bad.
so you’re blaming JK for the 20 shots, 10 on target, not going into the goal? AJ’s miss is on JK? Zardes’? i certainly think JK got a lot wrong, but in the end, that’s just poor finishing.
also, Panama had their A team that tourny. only the US and Mexico treated it more as a B team. it had 0.5 of a Confeds Cup berth on the line. so not exactly an “off cycle”…
I used to cringe at Gonzo starting… Then I saw alvarado
lol do you even celebrate after scoring in a 3rd place game, or if you win
Short answer to who plays – Who Cares?!?
Longer answer – Rimando in goal. Ream. Beasley. And whoever else didn’t get much PT during the tourney. Sit Deuce & Bradley, they got nothing to prove. Be done with Guzan. He’s just not solid enough.
4-3-3
Zardes- Johannson- Dempsey
Zusi- Bradley/Corona-Bedoya
Johnson- Brooks-Alvarado- Chandler
Isn’t possible they all could start as part of a blue/white scrimmage?
Franco’s lineup v
——–Gordon—–Wondo———
Zusi–Corona–Beckerman–Yedlin
Beasley–Gonzo–Yarborough–Evans
——————-Rimando
Reply
Forgot Ream. Move Yarbs to keeper and slot Team into CB. tempting to allow Rimando to play in Beckerman’s spot
Was Beasley hurt after getting called in.
Why is there so much love for Ventura or is it that Klinsmann knows what he has is Besler and Omar? Sad Besler has not played a t match for US this year after having preformed at WC.
Hopefully, Jermaine Jones, Danny Williams, Cameron, or SOMEONE can shore up that defensive midfielder spot sometime. Beckerman is tough but slowing down, and Mix is getting manhandled there.
This is mildly amusing considering how before the Gold Cup the problem was the USMNT had way too many candidates, besides Beckerman and Mix for the #6 role such as, Cameron, Williams, Jones, Edu, Ream, Mikey, Morales, Kitchen and so on.
Since Panama doesn’t want to play anyway how about we start all eligible players on NEW YORK REDBULLS II (because of their never give up attitude and will)
or
———————CD9——————–BOBBY WOOD——————
——————————-FEILHABER————————————–
–LLETGET————————————————ETHAN FINLAY–
————————-JERMAINE JONES———————————–
BEASLEY——-BESLER—–CHAD MARSHALL—–CAMERON
—————————–NICK RIMANDO————————————–
USMNT 3 – PANAMA 1
REMATCH WITH JAMAICA
USMNT 2 – REGGAE BOYS 0
I would call Altidore because he has something to prove (but we need goals though)
Will Bruin is killing in it MLS but we need creativity / speed up top
Bobbie Wood up top but don’t think he can handle the physical play and speed of Jamaica
Teal Bunbury up top maybe? He’s skills are better than noscore
Lee Nyugen just fell off of late (maybe because he is not getting paid!!!!)
Morris under went surgery (or would be in)
Shea would play LM but he went under the knife too
the two top leaders in assist in MLS on the team
Backline with the exception of Cameron are MLS ALL-STARS (Beltran sub)
Jermine Jones is back in training (NE)
Now if I can just get my time machine to work….lol
Panama’s not even playing.
Who cares ? does it matter who gets third place in this meaningless tournament.
I see panama protesting and at best running at 1/4 speed.
I also see them kicking the ball out of bounds a lot
For the first time I wouldn’t mind USA tanking it. Panama deserves it more than we do.
Meaningless tournament?? I was about to ignore that statement but then i had to backtrack because ignorance needs to be pointed out!!!
Ronniet,
I appreciate that you love the only soccer tournament where the senior USMNT is always the favorite against every team, except Mexico, that they will play. It must be weird to always be the favorite.
Unfortunately for you, going by their actions, the USSF does not regard the Gold Cup as meaningless but probably not in the way you would approve of.
The World Cup comes first everything else is a distant second.
The Confederations Cup only matters to the USSF because there is no better dress rehearsal for the World Cup especially for the USMNT. The Gold Cup does not do that anywhere near as well.
In 2007 winning the Gold Cup meant qualification to the Confederations Cup.
The US sent their A team and won it They did well the 2009 Confederations Cup. I believe it helped them do well in the 2010 WC.
In 2009 Confederations Cup qualifying was not an issue; the US sent a B team who got completely slaughtered by Mexico 5-0 in the Final
I don’t remember anyone getting overly upset about that.
In 2011 winning the Gold Cup meant qualification to the Confederations Cup. The US sent the best team they could put together. They got humiliated 4-2 by Mexico which gave the USSF the excuse they were looking for to axe BB.
In 2013 Confederations Cup qualification was split. Win the Gold Cup and you get a ticket to a playoff with whoever won the 2015 Gold Cup. The US, and everyone else, sent the JV’s and won it.
The evidence is clear that the USSF has long valued the Gold Cup far less than the World Cup.
When the Gold Cup became a means to get into the Confederations Cup, that aspect of the Gold Cup became the primary reason to care for the tournament not the Gold Cup itself.
And they only value the Confed Cup because of its value as a World Cup dress rehearsal.
GW i have to call you out on this comment. Note that all that Ronniet said is that the Gold Cup is not a “meaningless” tournament.
Then you went ahead on a long rant and introduced new elements that weren’t even being discussed. Your main point is that the World Cup is more valued than the Gold Cup. Well duh! Who would argue that? Who is arguing against that? The fact that the World Cup is more valued, does not make the Gold Cup meaningless.
Also, you conveniently left-out the part that the only reason “B-teams” or “JV teams” have been sent to certain Gold Cups is out of necessity, because World Cup qualifying is taking place during that time.
UCBG,
Assuming this is the “real” you.
In my reply to Ronniet I said that the Gold Cup was not meaningless. But it may not mean the same thing to Ronniet or to you that it does to the USSF.
Here’s what Bob had to say about the 2007 Gold Cup as to why they sent the A team there instead of to the far more prestigious Copa America:
“The Gold Cup is still the most important event for us,” Bradley said. “Obviously, it’s our confederation championship, but the main reason that I think it’s extra important is because winning the Gold Cup will earn us three very good games in South Africa in 2009 [at the FIFA Confederations Cup].”
If you don’t care for that take it up with BB.
As for the 2009 Gold Cup:
The USMNT played 8 WC qualifiers for the 2010 WC starting from 6/15/08 through to 11/14/08.
In 2009 they played 5 more WC qualifiers , starting 2/11/09 through to 6/6/09.
The 2009 Confederations Cup was from 6/15 through to 6/28.
The 2009 Gold Cup was from 7/4 through to 7/26.
That was followed immediately by WC qualifiers running from 8/12/09 through to 10/14/09.
If the Gold Cup was more important than the Confederations Cup in 2009 BB could have flipped the squads and brought the A team to the Gold Cup but he did not.
That is a pretty clear indicator, along with the Copa America decision that in the BB era, the priority was:
(1)World Cup
(2) Confederations Cup
(3) Gold Cup.
JK is continuing the precedent set by BB.
GW, you missed my point. I agree with everything you wrote. My question was why did you randomly dive into it, unprovoked? Your post was just preaching to the choir.
(1)World Cup
(2) Confederations Cup
(3) Gold Cup.
That is absolutely correct, and nobody was arguing against it or even brought it up. The only issue being discussed was “is the Gold Cup meaningless?” not “where does it rank compared to other tournaments in the eyes of US Soccer”. The simple answer was always “of course it is not meaningless”.
Forget that I even brought it up.
UBG,
I didn’t realize that we needed your indulgence to make a point.
I’m sure the point has been made to everyone now so you needn’t worry.
My point is if the USMNT wins the playoff this loss will mostly be important because it will be a good learning experience for the players.
Oh please GW, don’t be so sensitive. I know you like to try and portray me as a “holier than thou” type of person, but that is bs.
Your comment simply threw me off is all. It had the tone of refuting what Ronniet said even though you were apparently agreeing with him. Also it was non sequitur. He said Gold Cup matters, and you responded lecturing that World Cup is more valued than Gold Cup.
But in the end this whole exchange was just a waste of both of our time. I should have not responded to your post.
“I know you like to try and portray me as a “holier than thou” type of person, but that is bs”
I’d never do that. You don’t need my help.
lol…
TL;DR
The two set pieces that were turned into goals were Guzan’s doing. Any goalie should know not to handle the ball outside the box.. He also was out of position for the free-kick that was converted into a goal. So I would give another goalie a chance. I was really surprised that Guzan kept on getting awfully close to the edge of the penalty with his throws. He should have distributed the ball differently. He is a veteran. He should know better.
You’re right…he’s a veteran. Thus, he’s probably made that same play thousands of time in his career and it has never been called a foul. Can’t blame him for an overzealous AR making a crazy, trifling call.
So he gets beat on one crazy, looping header that just manages to go in, and you’re benching him for that? Um, OK.
I wonder on that if the AR had earlier warned him to back it up a half yard and mind his line.
Yeah totally dude. Great analysis, keep it going
Who cares…
———Wondo—–Gordon—–
——–Zusi—–Corona—–Zardes–
——————-Mix—————-
Beasley-Ream-Alvarado-Chandler
—————–Yarbrough————
I thought Dempsey and Bedoya seemed really tired and therefore not as sharp as necessary. Johannsson also seemed a bit aimless. The Panamanians are going to be very psyched to win this game.and with Blaz Perez back it is going to be a scrappy game. Timmy Chandler really needs to get with it so that he doesn’t lose focus. I felt the earlier Panama game could have been won if Chandler had not been so lost. If I were the coach, I would start Beasley. I would sub Dempsey if he doesn’t produce goals right away. And even though Aron Johannsson is a tall player he does not appear very agile.
No one has ever been psyched to win a 3rd place game that doesn’t involve an Olympic medal.
I’d say a 2-5-3 is about as likely as the the line-up I proposed at the top.
——johansen—zardes——-
Johnson—-Dempsey—–bedoya
——Bradley——–mix———-
—-brooks-gonzo-Alvarado
———–Yarborough———–
The only reason I don’t like this lineup is because Dempsey should be up top and not in midfield anymore.
I do think we gave up on the 3 man/5 man backline too quickly because we have some good wingback options (Johnson, Shea, Yedlin, Chandler, Bedoya)
I’d be willing to bet almost nobody saw The Express last night on BeIN Sports.
Ray Hudson was on and gave his analysis of the team, JK, etc.
Here’s the main points:
1. He was in Chile and watched all the games. He said how impressed he was with Jamaica, how he thought that tourney set them up for the Gold Cup, and he predicted they would beat the US.
2. He was critical of our performance, not because we didn’t beat Jamaica, but because we didn’t look better as the tourney progressed.
3. His main points were similar to what everyone has said regarding lineup changes etc, especially in the back.
4. He said Beckerman-who he thought was awesome in Brazil- was way overmatched, way too slow, and it hurt both the spacing in front of the Defense, and hurt the midfield having any possession, and thought his time with Intl duty has passed him, but that JK didn’t have too many other options at defensive midfielder. (He didn’t say anything about missing Jones, Cameron, Williams)
5. He thought we relied too much on Bradley and Dempsey. (He also basically ignored Jozy)
6. Wasn’t positive about Guzan
7. He said JK has to do some reevaluation of the lineup, tactics, player selection etc.
Then when asked if he thought JK should be replaced:
1. He said absolutely not
2. He said he thinks JK is the coach we need, because he continues to “ask questions” and continues to push the program forward without fear, despite how much recent criticism he’s got
3. He said that despite a wide pool of players, you’ve gotta take risks, even in a tourney like this
4. He then talked about what he accomplished with Germany, that people there look back at how he got some of the same criticism then overachieved with a young core of players.
5. He said he thought Bayern should have given him more time to do the same
And then he reminded about how critical he was of JK about dropping Landon, and said he definitely thinks he’s the guy we need.
That’s the main points he discussed
Interesting take from someone not in the mainstream (Lalas,Twellman, etc)
Now feel free to attack me for what he said…
These are all really good points.
I don’t think Timmy helped us by announcing his return the game of the Jamaica game, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was intentional to see if Guzan could handle the pressure. And Guzan didn’t. Even though Villa said Guzan was the #1 going into the season, I wouldn’t be surprised if they use some of that Benteke money to find a new keeper. I think Timmy is back as our number 1 in September, for better or worse, because of this result.
I think it is clear that we outplayed Jamaica, so I don’t agree that the US didn’t play better as the tournament progressed. But, I agree with everything else. Ray Hudson has a whole ton of experience. I certainly would listen more to him than Lalas or Twellman.
I thought Dempsey and Bedoya seemed really tired and therefore not as sharp as necessary. Johannsson also seemed a bit aimless. The Panamanians are going to be very psyched to win this game.and with Blaz Perez back it is going to be a scrappy game. Timmy Chandler really needs to get with it so that he doesn’t lose focus. I felt the earlier Panama game could have been won if Chandler had not been so lost. If I were the coach, I would start Beasley. I would sub Dempsey if he doesn’t produce goals right away. And even though Aron Johannsson is a tall player he does not appear very agile.
And he did say that Gary, they put up the stats vs. Jamaica- and talked about the number of missed chances we didn’t put away, and kept saying, “well that’s fuuutball”
I think his point was we didn’t seem to improve “enough”
But he’s high on Jamaica, referencing that they’re not just fast and athletic anymore
+ 1
That pretty much sums things up. Nice analysis by Roy and great write-up by you, Bac.
I agree with everything he said, except the conclusion.
Klinsmann is not the COACH we need, although he might be the TECHNICAL DIRECTOR we need. Seriously, look at many of the positive things Klinsmann brings to the table and they are all MACRO things. But when it comes to the MICRO, which is picking a 22 or 23 man roster and “coaching them up” and getting their tactics correct on the field, that is where he struggles big-time! Same in Germany, except that he had this one dude named Jogi Low. If Jurgen is to remain our coach, then we need a USMNT version of Jogi Low as his assistant.
Also, look at the retroactive praise that Klinsmann now gets from some in the German media, and it all has to do with that same macro stuff. Technical director type of stuff, like the training program, and giving young players a chance, etc. But Jogi Low still gets all the credit for the tactics and the coaching part of the job.
+1
you seem to have built a reputation as a “klinsmann hater”, but i totally agree with you on macro vs micro.
i love klinsmann as our technical director, and think he should’ve had that job from the beginning.
I have developed that reputation but that’s just what the staunch Klinsmann supporters rely on, lame name calling to try to discredit and respond to someone that is critical of Klinsmann. They ignore all the times I have been complimentary of Klinsmann and given him credit where credit is due. The main weapons in their arsenal are:
1. The word “biased”. “Oh you are just biased against Klinsmann”. Umm no I just disagree with you. Where would my predisposed bias come from? I assure you Klinsmann never spit on my face as a child or anything like that.
2. The word “hater”. “You are just a Klinsmann hater”. Nothing else offered.
3. They try to attack my intelligence. I assume it goes something like this:
“he is being critical of Klinsmann, this gets me mad! Hey it says Ucla in his username, he must have gone to Ucla. I didn’t go to a school as good as Ucla. He must think he is really smart and smarter than me. Well I will show him! Let me just comment and call him an idio+ and say that UCLA must be bad, etc.”
It is all very amusing to me. Note that besides having Ucla in my screen-name (actually the purpose was in a sporting sense, speaking of my fandom of Ucla sports, not to show off that I am Ucla educated), I never bring up my schooling, or intelligence level in any of my posts. I never have unless attacked on it first. People that post to me love to bring it up. I guess it is easier to attack me personally than to defeat the argument I made about the specific subject being discussed.
and I thought we were just friendly rivals exchanging harmless, witty banter… Fight On…
Unless Mexico gets another gift from the referees, it will be Jamaica the US faces in the playoff. Jamaica defends very well, they have the speed to counter and the ability to score on set peices.
I think the US should strive for some consistency in the lineup. This will likely be the last time JK has all his first choice players available before the play-off game (not necessarily true, but some MLS players on the present roster who have missed 3 or 4 weeks of MLS games might not be called in for friendlies.)
Zardes should definitely play midfield because he isnt good at it.
the poop emoji
If the U.S. team plays in a Gold Cup 3rd place game and no one is around to care, did it even happen?
Who cares, these games are a joke, most fans and players are not interested. I wish the third place games would go away, they are rather depressing.
Yup…no one wants to play in them, no one really wants to watch.
If USMNT loses lopsidedly, then it will matter. If they win, which I don’t think they will, then it does not matter.
Mirando in goal…Also Wondo for Johannson.
It would be nice to see Rimando get some PT with the 1st choice team, not just the “MLS” players.
Now I’ll contradict myself….
No Wondo. He has no future with the National team. Don’t take away playing time, or chemistry building time, from players who will serve a role in the future.
Why play Rimando? He has no future with the national team and as you said about Wondo, “Don’t take away playing time, or chemistry building time, from players who will serve a role in the future.”
This should also apply to Rimando as well.
Rimando > Guzano
Rimando=Enano
WC-2010: US wins its group and loses in the round of 16.
Gold Cup-2011: US loses to Mexico in the final… Bob Bradley is fired.
WC-2014: US takes second place in its group and loses in the round of 16.
Gold Cup-2015: US loses to Jamaica in the semifinal… Chances of Klinsmann being fired are close to zero.
Klinsmann is a master at setting the bar for himself
Jamaica is a much, much better squad than they’ve been in the past…and it’s still not like they outplayed us.
We dominated…and gave up two very flukey goals that really weren’t anyone’s “fault” regardless of how much finger-pointing we care to do. We had a bunch of shots and dangerous moments, they just didn’t fall for us. That’s just the soccer gods and it can happen anytime, to anybody.
The real question is, do we play well after this or tank?
It’s also not like we’re staring at a depleted roster with no young talent in the pipeline. Klinsmann has done a very good job of stocking the pipeline with young talent. Bob Bradley simply did not.
I’m not big into knee-jerk over-reactions. I’ll start worrying some if we lose the Confeds Cup or start looking like Mexico most nights but that hasn’t even come close to happening yet.
quozzel your measured tone and observations are refreshing, considering most posters are way overreacting.
I may be wrong here but how is it an overreaction when the manager says to no end that everything/every game the US played leading up to the GC was preparation for winning it and winning it was all that mattered?? See the problem is people want to give JK a pass when it isn’t warranted. Anyone with any knowledge about player personnel and the game could see that when the provisional roster came out that the US was lacking in several areas, especially in midfield and defense and the same can and was said about the WC roster too! So can anyone explain how JK continues to get these rosters for major tournaments wrong?? Now, i’m not about to say the sky is falling on the US program but I like others feel the program isn’t really taking the necessary step forward at the rate that it should be!
because that should be the goal. but in the end, the playoff is what really matters. yes, winning the GC would have been nice and should have been the stated objective. sadly, it didn’t happen. so, IMO, the playoff is now the final straw.
Good to know there is a new “final straw.” May I assume that if we lose the playoff the new final straw will become WC qualifying?
How is it “new”? JK earned the playoff so even if we didn’t win this GC he was always going to coach the playoff. But as I said, my final straw would be losing that game.
Sunil? No idea.
Lets face it, Clint Dempsey and to a degree Bradley is still carrying this team. Sure there’s some young prospects, but there’s always young prospects. I’m not saying we should fire Klinsmann but in 4 years, we haven’t really made much of a step forward.
Please, you are ruining the-sky-is-falling vibe around here.
+1
I am still pissed about this but thanks for the perspective. Coaches naturally get the blame – that’s par for the course and they all know that. The thing is this was the best game we played against the best opponent we faced so far in the competition and we played well. So the coach did his job in that case.
For me the players need to put their hands up on this one more than JK. We can talk about who started and who should have been there. Yeah, Ok. But those who were given the opportunity on the day didn’t see it through. That’s what’s most disheartening for me about this game.
Quozzel – Your ideas intrigue me, and I’d like to subscribe to your newsletter!
We did enough to win, but didn’t get the breaks. And we didn’t take our chances. Happens to everyone. That said, I’m still upset we lost a game we should be winning and I do think JK should be on the hot seat for the Confed playoff and the start of WC qualifying. I don’t see many great coaching alternatives out there that would automatically be better than JK. I see the progress being made, but the true leap into the upper echelon of national teams won’t come until we develop players that are consistently playing with the better teams in the best leagues. And that time might not come for a while.
I think the true area where it makes sense to really ask questions of JK is if he has done enough with the youth systems in place to see meaningful improvement.
Dammit. I’m sorry I stole your pilfered line.
Let me put it another way for folks. Say before the game someone came to you and said, ” I will give you, a big US soccer fan, this big gift. I can promise you that in the game vs. Jamaica, that while the US is playing defense, they will give up only two shots on goal and one of those will be on a throw in. The US will have a majority of possession and have ten shots on goal. Will you take it?” Here’s how you would probably analyze it. Hmm, the biggest threat from Jamaica is their counter attack. This means they would have only one shot on goal possible from a counter attack. And how many times does a team score directly from a throw in? Maybe once in a hundred games? And if the US has 10 shots on goal, they’re certain to score once and likely to score twice or more. So you say, “Sure, I’ll take that all day. Are you trying to trick me?” ” Everything will be exactly as I say,” he answers. The fact is the free kick goal came as a result of the US being on offense, so it did occur exactly this way. What are the odds that something like this actually happened? Probably one in a thousand. I have seen probably more than 2,000 games and never seen a goalie called for that infraction.
When you put aside the stats, Jamaica was clearly the better team in the 1st half, and the US was better in the 2nd. Stats aside, the US should not be outplayed at any point by Jamaica. The sky isn’t falling, but they had a bad game. We’ll get over it.
Anything can happen in a one off game but the performances throughout were poor. The opposite of the sky-is-falling reaction is to act like this was no big deal and that reaction is equally inappropriate. These were the only games that matter this year (along with the two WC qualifiers in Nov and I suppose the Confed Cup playoff now although I think that tournament is overrated) and our performance wasn’t good enough.
Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
we did not “dominate” jamaica.
it was a fairly even back-and-forth game (technically, we had more chances, but didn’t look like we’d finish them) until jamaica scored 2 goals in quick succession. they then sat back and absorbed our pressure, which they were perfectly happy to do.
then klinsmann made it easier for them by taking off one of our best providers (bedoya) and putting in yedlin, whose speed was useless against a bunkering team.
so if you just love possession and hopeful lobs to alan gordon, then sure, i guess we dominated, but i say jamaica had us right where they wanted us for the vast majority of the game.
and that’s cool that you’re “not big into knee-jerk over-reactions”. but the gold cup games have been the only meaningful games since the world cup, and it’s an embarrassment (yes, even against the so-much-improved jamaica) to not even make the final, especially when we’ve just looked bad the entire tournament.
What team has looked good in Gold Cup? It’s been an ugly tournament all around.
i’m missing your point, i think?
i don’t give a flying f–k if other teams look good, or bad. i don’t see why that matters.
My point is that the quality of this tournament has been poor across the board and that no one has consistently played well. This has been an ugly, ugly tournament no matter who you’re watching. It will likely be won by a team that backed into the final on questionable PKs against a team that scored to fluky goals and then sat back and defended for an hour.
I admit that it is a small point, but if an entire tournament looks generally terrible*, then I would suggest that getting overly upset that the USMNT looked merely bad, is possibly misguided and probably bad for your cardiac health.
*Including teams like MEX, HON, and CRC.
Jamaica is a much better club now? Did you watch copa America ? They are still crap. We were crappier that day. U.S. Soccer is regressing
no, US soccer is not regressing and it’s BS that people keep saying that.
Yeah. They managed three 1-0 losses against ARG, PAR, and URU. Terrible.
“Klinsmann has done a very good job of stocking the pipeline with young talent. ”
Sure, let’s see if we can find a bunch of Brazilians whose mothers used Americans as sperm donors. The pipeline will be stocked as never before.
He gets players from everywhere. MLS. Obscure European leagues. The Bundesliga. The EPL. The Championship. Even on occasion NASL and he found Jordan Morris as a college player. That’s some good talent evaluation.
Especially when you consider what Bob Bradley left him…which was not much. Bob did leave him his son, Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard, and Brad Guzan. Two field players, two EPL keepers, and not much else. Bedoya had a few caps by then. Donovan was on sabbatical and wouldn’t return for a year.
Everything else had to be rebuilt. And there were very few young players in the pipeline in 2011.
I don’t think anybody realized it at the time, but we sort of had a Golden Age of players in the Donovan/Dempsey/Beasley/Howard generation. There was a huge gap in world-class talent in the almost 10 years after that. Very few of our key players right now are in that 25-30 range…Bradley, Bedoya, Fabian Johnson (who was a German who switched his flag, not homegrown.)
Most of our key players are well over 30, or under the age of 24. There’s an entire “missing generation” of players there that Klinsmann had nothing to do with. Dunno why that is, but it is.
That’s kind of what Klinsmann is facing right now…trying to get some last hurrahs out of guys who are either a little too old…or a little too young, and there’s this huge donut right in the middle from the generation that should be in their primes.
Be interested on honest speculation what happened to that generation, but that’s our problem right now.
Jones too. BB gets credit for him.
He gets paid four times as much as his predecessor so it stands to reason the bar should be lower.
I see what you are saying, and trust me as a huge JK supporter I too am warning up to the prospect of him getting the sack for this massive, embarrassing debacle. But comparing the two coaches is a bit of a reach. JK and Bradley were never viewed the same by US Soccer – whether that is fair or not.
Bradley was the quick hire when we flirted with JK the first time and he turned us down. Then Bradley always had to fight hard to get the job and keep it. But the shadow of JK was always looming and we were always still flirting with him. The minute he blushed our way Bradley was doomed. Total richard move – I agree, but that was how the cards played out.
Then we get JK and double down before the WC. Someone is taking a stance here and making a call – for better or worse and maybe even considering more parameters than we are as we try to equate the two coaches.
I guess what I am saying is that while the records may be comparable the circumstances under which both men were hired and evaluated are very different. Not saying that it’s fair one way or the other. Just saying that has to be factored into the balancing of the equation and why a pure record-to-record comparison of both men is not enough here. Plus to be honest, I was a big BB fan too but the team was getting stale and we needed freshening up. The program was stagnating.
But this loss…it has me asking the same questions as you. I know it’s emotional for me right now but this one hurts. JK must take the bulk of it but our guys failed us and they too must answer for this crap-sandwich I have to take a bit of every day from now until the next meaningful competition we take part in…and I do not like that. Not one bit!
and there’s some good over reaction Kosh, way to keep the spirit alive.
Hey I won’t lie – I’m still emotional about it. Not saying I don’t have JK’s back (even though a part of me wants him to pay for this). It’s raw emotion right now, Atx. I’m sure level-headedness will return at some point.
Touche Kosh
Of course if the US won the Gold Cup it would be proof positive that JK is a genius but since we flopped the JK fanboys are now trying to convince us it doesn’t matter much and anyone suggesting otherwise is overreacting.
The fact is this tournament matters a lot and we failed. It doesn’t mean the USMNT is bad or we are doomed to decades of losing to Jamaica but it was the worst USMNT performance I’ve seen in a major tournament for quite some time. It’s also true that the USMNT’s results under JK in games that matter aren’t any better than they were under Bob Bradley.
Exactly! Klinsmann fans amaze me.
Win Gold Cup: Klinsmann the best!
Lose Gold Cup: Not Klinsmann’s fault. Other teams in Concacaf improving. It was unlucky. The US players were horrible.
Lose a long string of friendlies: No big deal. Klinsmann just experimenting. Don’t overreact. Friendlies don’t matter.
Win two friendlies in Europe: Klinsmann is the best! Friendlies absolutely matter.
PS. I am becoming convinced that Quozzel posts a comment and then immediately responds to himself with a different name telling himself about how great his post was. I hope I am wrong because that would be pathetic. Unfortunately SBI’s comment system makes this possible.
THIS I think is the major concern. Not that we went down to a difficult Jamaican side, but the body of work/the tone of the entire tourney.. Although it is highly disappointing, an isolated upset/loss happens in the game of soccer. We were by far the more dangerous side through 80% of the match… they got some breaks-and took advantage of them. We did not. Frankly- I wasn’t all that surprised with the preceding run of play by us and them coming in.
What was very disappointing/difficult to watch was how out of sync we were throughout the entire tournament. Never near firing on all cylinders, poor touch, always a step behind. They were just showing signs of life for Jamaica, but the semis is WAY to late for that. Much comes down to the curious roster selections. Frankly, I think JK lost his nerve and went with steady options from last cycle past their time. All the hope and momentum of the previous 6 mos. was lost as we took a step back to 2013. Wondo? Evans at FB? Beasley? Beckman the only D-mid?
I actually, surprisingly agree with JK that we did’t lose that match with the backline. They/Brooks gave up a fluke of a goal on a throw in- did well otherwise. We absolutely lost that match in the midfield. Beckman was constantly a step behind, his passes either went to the backline or to Jamaica. Bradley looked very poor, in the poor touch, way to many touches, dribbled into trouble way to often. Lost his composure and started bombing long, overhit passes the entire final 3rd of the game. Way too often, Bradley, Beckman and Dempsey were trying to occupy the same space, AJ was isolated. Would have liked to have seen us stick with the plan!!!! Players in roles they were more accustomed to together. Dempsey up top (the only place he belongs anymore at this level), interacting with Aron (who had a very good match- sans that painful one miss)- Bradley advanced. A BIG issue with JKs roster is the lack of options at a defensive mid. Love Beckman, but he’s pretty well done- particularly against a team like Jamaica. We have lots of options in the pool now that need to integrated. The fact he was our only option covering the backline- and the fact that JK rightfully didn’t trust him to do that v speed caused us to completely switch our formation and put players in places they weren’t at their best.
Yes it does.
You are the exact opposite of Klinsmann’s fans.
Which illustrates how the extremes of the JK situation are both equally invalid.
Excuse me? But why are you replying to comments using my name? The comment directly above this was not written by me even though it is using my name. Don’t be one of those lame people that impersonates other people’s usernames and posts.
I will let you off the hook if you were simply thinking of my name because you were planning to respond to me, and consequently wrote my username as your username. But that is also lame, get your act together bruh!
Actually the Gold Cup is really not that important in the long run or short run.
“It’s also true that the USMNT’s results under JK in games that matter aren’t any better than they were under Bob Bradley.”
that actually isn’t true. they’re not much better, but they are slightly. have to ignore BB’s Copa America 2007 performance and his 2009 Confeds Cup performance though if you want to have a objective, apples to apples comparison. if you do that, and ignore friendlies, it’s pretty clear JK has a slight edge. and for 4x the money, maybe that’s not good enough. but it’s simply wrong to say JK’s results are worse than BB’s.
Not directed at you specifically, but was it Klinsmann’s fault that a wide open Johannsson missed a mostly empty net on a header from about 8 yards? Was it Klinsmann’s fault that Guzan got the infraction while distributing the ball that led to the free kick goal? These are not the fault of the coach and almost no one ever suggested that those guys should not start. Would Alan Gordon have put that shot away? If he had been in the same position, probably. Would fans have taken kindly to Klinsmann starting Gordon instead of Johannsson? No, they would have said he was out of his mind. How about if he had started Rimando or Yarbrough in goal? Again, people would have been screaming about what a big mistake that move was. There are things a coach cannot control.Some of them are when players perform below capabilities and expectations and when they perform worse than they have in previous games.
Fair enough, ultimately the players didn’t get the job done. They deserve most of the blame.
i think that’s true slow. JK deserves plenty of blame, but in the end I saw AJ and Zardes miss GOLDEN chances, poor marking by our CBs on the 1st goal, poor positioning and indecisiveness from our GK on the 1st goal, and a mind boggling mistake by our GK on the 2nd goal.
this team had 20 shots, 10 on target, with a massive possession edge but did nothing with it. some of that comes down to confusion in tactics which is on JK, but the players deserve a lot of the blame here.
2013–the US wins the Gold Cup, wins the Hex and scores the most points in qualifying in its history and has the longest unbeaten streak in its history. Why didn’t you include that part? World Cup qualifying is just as important as the Gold Cup. More actually since if you don’t qualify for the WC, you aren’t accomplishing anything.
That was a B team gold cup but otherwise you’re right. Of course in 2005 and 2009 the US also won the Hex too.
That B team Gold Cup* was the ticket to the Playoff.
*I’m going to start calling them Apertura and Clausura Gold Cups, since that’s what we’re really turning them into.
so? BB lost the 2009 GC with a B team. 5-0 to a Mexican C team. then lost again in 2011 with an A team. in the Hex, JK edges out BB by 2 points.
first, because you don’t “win the hex”–either you qualify for the world cup or you don’t. yeah, it’s fun to brag about, but in the end (as mexico showed), where you finish in the hex doesn’t matter, as long as you qualify.
second, i think he was just looking at two comparable years for bradley and klinsmann (2010-11 and 2014-15). as slowleftarm said, in 2009 bradley “won the hex” (and made the confed cup final) as well.
he did go to the Confeds Cup final…which was amazing. but JK hasn’t had a Confeds Cup to compare with. so that’s out the door. same with BB’s embarrassing 2007 Copa America. can’t give JK points over BB there because JK hasn’t had a Copa America.
point is, you can’t cherry pick years of comparison if the point is to compare their tenures.
maybe because it was 2 years ago and this sport like most is a what have you done for me lately deal! 2013 was 2013, and yeah we won the GC then but we just lost this version of it which would seem to say we haven’t progressed or maybe, just maybe, other countries are getting better!! Now, I fully believe we are the best in CONCACAF despite this result, but I also can’t ignore that we’re not getting the job done in big matches!
LOL, “the best in CONCACAF.”
come on now, the full comparison is needed:
2007 – Copa America last place w/ Bradley as coach
2007 – Gold Cup winners w/ Bradley as coach, clink Confed Cup berth
2009 – Gold Cup runner-up w/ Bradley, losing 5-0 to Mexico C team with our B team
2009 – Hex winner w/ Bradley on 20 points
2009 – Confed Cup runner-up w/ Bradley, losing 3-2 to Brazil after being up 2-0 at HT
2010 – World Cup group winners w/ Bradley (Slovenia, England, Algeria), lose 2-1 to Ghana in R16
2011 – Gold Cup runner-up w/ Bradley, losing 4-2 to Mexico after being up 2-0 at HT, ruling us out of 2013 Confeds Cup
to recap BB:
1 Gold Cup win
2 Gold Cup loses
1 Hex winner (20 points)
1 Confed Cup runner up
1 WC group winner (#8, #23, #31…avg. opp. ranking = 21)
1 WC R16 loss (#32)
JK, by comparison, has:
1 Gold Cup win
1 Gold Cup loss
1 Hex winner (22 points, tying US record)
1 WC group runner-up (#2, #4, #37…avg. opp. ranking = 14)
1 WC R16 loss (against #11)
since BB lost the 2011 GC, we have to ignore his Confeds Cup result because there is not an apples to apples comparison for JK. same goes for Copa America in ’07. can’t include that in a direct comparison since JK has not had a Copa America himself. to sum it all up:
Gold Cup – Bob lost twice, won once, but always made the final. JK won one, and crashed out at the semis of his other…i call it a push
Hex – JK wins that by 2 points
WC – JK takes us as far as BB but via a MUCH tougher road. that said, BB won our group. IMO, JK still takes it.
to me, i’ll call it an overall push with JK probably with a slight edge if i had to pick one. BB was fired after 2011 because it was the 2nd straight GC loss for the US, both to Mexico. further, 2011 had the Confeds Cup berth on the line, and despite being up 2-0 at HT, we lost.
But you neglect to mention that the 2009 God Cup loss was absolutely meaningless as it had nothing to do with Confederations cup qualification and our last trip to Copa America was with a C team. Nobody took these two losses seriously so the shouldn’t be held against Bob.
irrelevant dude. we are comparing results. we lost that GC. it’s that simple. you can’t conveniently forget that. i could say 2015 was half meaningless because we had the playoff to fall back on. if you want to make the comparison of the two, don’t leave out results so it fits your opinion.
also, i specifically said the Copa America result shouldn’t be held against BB. not because of the squad, that is irrelevant. instead, we leave it out because JK didn’t have a Copa America to try in. same logic to why we can’t include BB’s Confeds Cup success. JK hasn’t had one to attempt. so we can’t hold it against him he doesn’t have a Confeds Cup final.
So, this time FIFA rankings are relevant. Get the f-k outta here!
Use Elo then, I don’t care. Result is the same. The WC in 2014 was clearly much tougher than 2010. Go ahead and argue otherwise. If the comparison uses the same weak ranking, it’s still a fair comparison…
JK keeps changing the standard for success. Was it winning this tournament, as he said repeatedly? Or is it “building” by, for example, starting two very green CBs in a big game? JK has been great at identifying new players and integrating them into the player pool, but lineup and formation choices lack any sort of consistency or apparent plan. Did I read that the starting lineup against Jamaica had never started a game together before? I have never been part of the JK-bashing camp, even in the Donovan firestorm, but after four years it is time to see some results in real games and some progress.
Klinsmann said Brooks Alvarado are his best CBs and it had nothing to with building towards the future. He put out what he thinks his best team is.
Therein lies the problem because what he thinks is the best lineup is NOT the best lineup!!! I’m ok with him saying that he is giving quality time to young players to groom them for these types of situations down the line but don’t tell a bold face lie and say your playing your best lineup when you have OG and TR on the bench! Lets be real, Alvarado and Brooks didnt get it done period, point blanks end of discussion! Ream and Gonzalez looked the part, when they actually played but JK was persistent with the other partnership and it costs us. Speaking of being young, can we stop acting like Gonzalez and Ream are 30 or older because their not, which means they can stand to learn from being in more critical game situations as well!!!
yeah, i was kind of wondering about the ream and gonzo age-thing, too. i mean, klinsmann does realize these guys are still fairly young for defenders, right?
so sure, let’s give games here and there to brooks and alvarado–even at the same time–because they’re likely to end up better than ream and gonzo (substantially). but for a tournament that’s apparently a “must-win”, maybe start your most experienced defenders, especially if your younger ones are looking shaky?
here is my issue…OG was/is ragged on ALL THE TIME due to his constant mistakes in the back when he was starting. now all of the sudden he is the savior?! as for Ream, no one knows how good he is because the last time we saw him, he was AWFUL and was not a part of the team for years after. now he is playing for a midtable Championship team and he is going to be, without a doubt, better than JAB/VA?! i have my doubts.
yes, JAB and VA have had issues. there is no denying that. but so have Omar and Ream. why do you think they lost their jobs to begin with?
everyone is saying we should have had a consistent lineup. well guess what? playing JAB/VA from here on out will provide that. we’ve already lost the GC embarrassingly so lets prep for the playoff.
lets stop making JAB/VA the scapegoats. they let in 4 goals in 4 games they played together in the GC and as JK pointed out, we’ve actually only lost once with them DESPITE the fact that both have been shaky and inconsistent at times.
that all said, i totally agree Omar should start over VA. but i certainly don’t think VA is the problem. our midfield has been very poor and that results in a ton of pressure in the back. then you have Guzan making a mistake that is what actually led to the goal that knocked us out.
if it were up to me, I’d lock in JAB/Omar and let that run until the playoff.
Totally agreed!
But in response to a post-game question about whether he had any second thoughts about starting them, didn’t JK say that they were continuing to build for the future?
It’s past time for JK to settle on his starters. He can’t keep changing lineups in the name of competition. At some point he has to exercise jus judgment.
He really didn’t tinker that much. Altidore had to go because it was clear he wasn’t fully recovered from injury, Brooks sat out one game due to yellow cards, Bedoya didn’t start at first because he wasn’t yet match fit, and Evans replaced Chandler because of poor performance. He also played some others in the group stages to provide some rest for the regulars.
Bull to the Altidore not fully recovered. He played 85 minutes the Friday after he was sent home. How about admitting he’s not all that for once?
As for the starting team… Here’s a radical idea… Dont start Bradley. He turned in another stinker in a game that was important…how about him sitting down like any player that did that or is he immune? We barely beat this team last time out and theyre playing mad. It could get ugly since they are faster and stronger than we are
“Bull to the Altidore not fully recovered. He played 85 minutes the Friday after he was sent home. How about admitting he’s not all that for once?”
go check his minutes log since returning from injury, it was roughly 6′,15′,25′,65′,70′,85’…. yet that doesn’t show that he is coming off injury and not yet in full form? wow…
Exactly Brain Guy!!
When Klinsmann was tinkering so much with his line-ups leading up to the Gold Cup, the Jurgen cheerleaders said:
He is experimenting. He is deepening our players pool. He is a genious!
When the USMNT has no chemistry and is disjointed as a direct result from his tinkering; when they play bad throughout the whole tournament that Klinsmann said matters most; the tournament he said was his main priority; and when he trots out a line-up that had never played together before in the semi-final and loses- the Jurgen cheerleaders say:
::crickets:: umm its not a big deal. It is the players fault. Gary Page says, “he didn’t tinker that much”.
Klinsmann is the teflon coach. Nothing he says or any failure like this tournament he has, sticks to him. He really needs to go. Id take the Jamaican coach at this point. He’s doing it with Jamaican players
Isn’t possible they all could start as part of a blue/white scrimmage?
Ives’ lineup v
——–Gordon—–Wondo———
Zusi–Corona–Beckerman–Yedlin
Beasley–Gonzo–Yarborough–Evans
——————-Rimando
There are players on the Jamaican team who have lived their entire lives in England.
to be fair, Gary is correct. JK did not tinker much at all during the GC. which is clearly what he was referring to.
that said, i agree with you that there was too much tinkering going on prior. of course, it’s not JK’s fault that Garza, Cameron, Wood, and Williams all had club situations that prevented them from coming. due to injury Garza was a last minute add but no doubt there was an agreement for him to go home after the group. then you have injuries to Shea. you have Morris who was a part of other US teams this summer. you have Jozy who ended up not being fit, etc. there were a lot of curveballs thrown our way roster-wise and it hurt.
Bryan, Gary was responding to Brain Guy which was also referencing the tinkering leading up to the cup. Don’t know why Gary chose to limit it to the Gold Cup in his response.
Your other points are fair points. I will say though that the Gold Cup allows for mandatory call-ups, so no permission or agreements needed with the clubs. So in the end it was a Klinsmann’s decision to leave those certain players at home (the non-injured ones). He must have felt that he didn’t need them that much.
i think becuase of this comment:
“Did I read that the starting lineup against Jamaica had never started a game together before?”
this is a cherry picked stat. is it true? yes. but lets apply some context and we can explain it easily. outside of Evans, it’s pretty much exactly what we would have expected once Jozy was out. is it not? Dempsey/AJ up top, Bedoya/Zardes out wide, MB/Beckerman in the middle, FJ/JAB/VA making up 3/4 in the back, Guzan in goal. Evans is the only reason that comment is technically true.
for sure, but who would have thought we couldn’t have gone through even with our final roster? we had the players. and while tactics were an issue at times, these players were more than capable and they failed.
i think the better comment would have been to point out the formation. that formation, 4-2-3-1, came out of nowhere. that said, we’ve played it plenty of times and if you watch the game, we were basically set up as a 4-4-2 anyway. especially once we were down 2-0. so once again, it’s not even a great point, IMO.
From a Klinsmann evaluation perspective, in the end it all comes back to the tactics or lack-there-of, and the Brooks/Alvarado pairing.
Tactics wise, we are all ignoring how Klinsmann’s solution once down was, “just play route-1 long balls to Gordon and pray something happens”.
I read your post on Omar Gonzalez and lets just say we completely disagree. Dare I say that the MLS center-back is simply just better than both the Bundesliga and Liga Mex center-backs. IMO that’s the truth. You can disagree, but you won’t convince me. Even if you think Brooks and Alvarado are better individually, the chemistry between the center-backs matters. And that’s the other reason why we should have seen some other pairing. I feel like JK used this tournament to get them experience instead of focusing on winning.
“From a Klinsmann evaluation perspective, in the end it all comes back to the tactics or lack-there-of, and the Brooks/Alvarado pairing.”
i completely agree. that’s why i said his tactics were questionable and that I would have paired JAB and Omar together. i couldn’t believe JK subbed in Gordon (let alone included him in the roster to begin with) and resorted to that. especially against a big Jamaica team. made no sense.
“Dare I say that the MLS center-back is simply just better than both the Bundesliga and Liga Mex center-backs.”
well, you must have missed the part where I said I think Omar is better than VA. as far as JAB, i’d say Omar probably has a slight edge. but i’ve seen Omar make mistake as bad or worse than what I’ve seen JAB do. either way, i’d start him next to JAB every game if it were me.
“I feel like JK used this tournament to get them experience instead of focusing on winning.”
do you honestly think that though? in your heart of hearts, do you think JK scarified winning the GC for experience? i don’t buy that for a second. it’s a bit of a reckless accusation even. i think JK legitimately think VA is better than Omar. something i would disagree with him on. i can only hope he gives JAB/Omar a shot. especially if Omar keeps playing well for LA. he’s been very solid this year.
“i don’t buy that for a second. it’s a bit of a reckless accusation even.”
Maybe it is reckless, but with Klinsmann you never know. I wouldn’t put it passed him to say, “i think these two are the center-back pairing for the future so let me play them this tournament even if they aren’t the best option right now.” He did it with Julian Green at the World Cup so why not here?
Re your other comment, i think Klinsmann gets stuck on this big cb with small cb pairing ideology. So he wouldn’t play Brooks and Omar together. He probably thinks Brooks is better than Gonzalez so Brooks gets the call. On the other side he probably thinks Alvarado is better than both Ream and Besler so Alvarado gets the call. Don’t ask me where Cameron fits in, I have no idea.
“i think these two are the center-back pairing for the future so let me play them this tournament even if they aren’t the best option right now.”
yeah, maybe that’s true. but i bet he still thought they were capable of winning a GC. despite that not actually happening, i believe they are more than capable. i think we had a comedy of errors that led to our ouster. tough to say though.
as for Brooks/Omar/VA/Ream/Besler/Orozco/etc., we know JK splits them up by LCB and RCB. LCB = JAB, Ream, Besler. RCB = VA, Omar, Orozco. maybe it’s true he doesn’t think two “bigs” are an ideal CB pairing, but i think they would do well together.
JAB is technical, has a fantastic passing range, and can dribble out of the back. Omar is dominant in the air and strong at blocking shots. not to mention the set piece threat they both bring would have been awesome. that said, they are both mistake prone and both make bone-headed moves. so maybe it would backfire. it’d be willing to give it a shot though.
Don’t start any MLS guys, just put in players who are about to be on vacation. Friendlies probably mean more then this match… somehow.
+1. Cannot fathom what could be less meaningful than this game. For goodness sake, start Yarborough to cap-tie him. Sit Bradley, Dempsey and Beckerman to avoid injury or fatigue as they prepare to rejoin their MLS teams.
You know Klinsman will use all three for a full 90.
I hate that this isn’t even on TV that anyone gets. I mean I get that it wouldn’t be on regular Fox, but why not FS1?
I don’t even get FS2 in HD… standard def. is sooooooo last millennium.
Because the game is a joke and Fox realizes the audience will be very small.
and I’m sure their programming on a Saturday afternoon in July is so great. It should be on FS1.
But, I don’t care. I get it in HD. Yeah Dish!
Digital antennae, so it’s free on Univision. Yeah large hispanic population!
Previous commitments on FS1. They assumed no one would want to watch the 3rd place game.
They have a Major League Baseball doubleheader Saturday afternoons on Fox Sports 1. I’m sure MLB’s deal with them probably states they can’t be kicked to Fox Sports 2.
There is a Man United-Barca friendly (I’m sure it’s part of the International Champions Cup or whatever the hell that thing is) on FOX at the time that they probably could’ve swapped with our game. They probably thought that the Man U-Barca friendly would get better ratings, which they would be correct about, by the way.
FOX sure has their priorities straight when a preseason friendly is on TV over a Gold Cup game, albeit a 3rd place match.
So is Panama going to show up?
Apparently they just had kick ball game at training today. They might show up and just lay down on the field. haha
We can only hope.
practicing vs. US tactics
+1. Gordon heading the kickballs to no one in particular
i hope they immediately put in 6 own goals within the first 3 minutes. They then could taunt the ref the rest of the way, like with outrageous flops and dives. I also hope the Jamaicans, if they lose, say “congratulations Panama”, player after player. If a mex player so much as pushes a Jamaican in offense, I hope a raggae boy drops him right there on the field. Its not the Mexican players fault, but that still doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be on the receiving end of a good punch
That’s why the proper answer to Who should the US start vs. Panama is Who Cares? Let the subs who haven’t played much get a lot of time. Talk about a totally meaningless game. Given that they just played and drew, this makes this even a meaningless game among meaningless third place matches.
Now THIS is a great time for that classic JK experimentation we all love so much
Might as well have fun with a meaningless game.
Donovan – Klinsmann
Adu- My Six Year Old (he’s really good) – Carly Lloyd – Inanimate Carbon Rod
Beasley – Ream – Gooch – Unknown German that Gets Nationalized Before the Game
Other Klinsmann
Inanimate Carbon Rod already started half of the games *cough chandler cough*
In Rod we Trust!
obama should start right up front, just to calm things down a bit for the panamanians.
Most of these players weren’t even on the original 30 man roster.
What?!?
Damn CONCACAF conspiracy…
yeah, because Alvarado worked out so well in the last match. This is a joke, Gonzo needs to be starting.
Klinsmann made his bed now he is sleeping in it. He will be too damn stubborn to admit any wrong doing. Goal.com had a great article about Klinsman the coach vs Klinsman the techical director.
Agreed. If anything, it is just another game that doesn’t mean much and can lead to more minutes for the future CB pairing. While I am a fan of entering younger players into lineups, I prefer to make sure we use the more seasoned players when the situation demands it. Trial by fire is good to an extent, but not when it counts for so much. Since this game is a consolation, I’m not sure we see the changes we want/wanted as a fan base (given that we aren’t too far off in terms of our individual player selections).
I hope the lineup is the same one that I have been putting on the site for the past few games. Some adjustment may be made regarding Yedlin/Bedoya and Brooks/Ream, however. I’d also be intrigued if Bradley gets some type of rest and Corona is played instead.
——————-AJ———————-
———Dempsey———————–
Zardes——-Bradley——-Yedlin
——————-Mix——————–
DMB—–Brooks—-Gonzo—–FJ
—————–Guzan——————
This CONSOLATION is meaningless beyond player development. I like most of the SBI recommendation with AJ and Deuce up top, but replacing Bedoya with Yedlin on the right flank. finally cap tying Yarbrough in the pipes. At the substitute time, bring in the Gonzo/Ream pair and save the final sub for injury precautions. There is no need to be sending Beasley or any of the poachers out there in this exhibition. I’m in firm belief that we should quit the hap hazard position switches.. keep continuity.. FJ and TC at FB, the two CB tandems, GZ and DY at the flanks.. Next time we have a new roster pool we bring in some more #6’s.. Just too much tinkering.. I can imagine a Brooks and Alvarado inside tandem for the next 10yrs.. similarly with Zardes and Yedlin on the flanks. FJ/TC at fullback.. leave them there, for a long time!
I hope you are right about Alverado and Brooks. They are like the basketball players that look good in pre game but don”t pan out as well in real time. They play beautifully out of the back and defend well up field but they are not at this point good at defending in the box and Brooks in the air plays less than his size. Beckerman has done very well over the last couple of his year but I do not believe he is a full timer anymore. I love mix but Coach wants to have all skilled dudes on the field. We need some down and dirty guys like Perry Kitchem in my amature opinion.
I just hate this 4 4 2. Not working for a lot of players.
I notice how many here dismiss this game as meaningless as downplaying a very likely USMNT loss. They better win this game, or this will called the Brazil of the Gold Cup. Mind you, we only play the Gold Cup at home. If CONCACAF was to rotate the tourney around, I gurantee you, every time it’s played outside the US the USMNT will never, here me here, never win the Gold Cup again.
El Comandante
“They better win this game, or this will called the Brazil of the Gold Cup.”
Hyperbole, unless you think Panama will beat the US 6-0 and make them look like a bunch of weekend warriors led by Hat Trick Rick, El Nino and Spray Dan. In terms of what was expected Brazil losing 7-1 was right up there as the most embarrassing ream job ever.
“ If CONCACAF was to rotate the tourney around, I gurantee you, every time it’s played outside the US the USMNT will never, here me here, never win the Gold Cup again.”
Safe prediction to make since it will almost assuredly never happen. Money drives CONCACAF or maybe you did not notice?
Besides the USMNT often does not have home field advantage in the US so they will be used to it. This team plays better on the road.