Facing off with the competition’s reigning champions, the U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team suffered a major setback in the first game of the Under-17 World Cup.
The U.S. was defeated in the opening game of Group A play, falling, 2-0, to defending champions Nigeria at the National Stadium in Santiago, Chile. In addition to the result, a late-game red card to centerback Auston Trusty furthered the U.S. frustrations in the team’s tournament opener.
Trusty’s day turned sour prior to the red card, as the centerback was punished for a mishit clearance in the box in the 50th minute. Nigeria’s Chukwudi Agor was there to take advantage, finishing from close range for the game’s first goal.
Nigeria’s second came 11 minutes later as the reigning champions pounced on a U.S. goal kick. Headed on from the midfield, Victor Osimhen pounced on the ball and drove at goal, weaving around the U.S. defense before firing a shot past goalkeeper William Pulisic.
Starting a lineup without expected starters in Luca de la Torre and Daniel Barbir, the U.S. appeared plenty capable of playing with the 2013 winners in the opening half. Midfielder Christian Pulisic looked especially dangerous in the opening half via a 12th minute cross before a ball in for Haji Wright two minutes later was hit over the crossbar.
However, Nigeria proved to be the more dangerous team as the game wore on, with a William Pulisic double-save in the 93rd minute limiting the damage as the U.S. settled for defeat.
Following the loss, the U.S. returns to action against Croatia on Tuesday afternoon, while Nigeria looks to build on the victory in a clash with hosts Chile in Tuesday’s nightcap.
After reading all comments it seems to me that people around are not happy about how player development is don in the Country. I don’t have a clue about that, I live in Europe. What surprized me was how inferior the team was. If this is a promising group of players than the US soccer future is bleak. To be honest I only think one player stood out.
People might not agree but Matthew Olosunde was steady at right back I don’t think Nigeria created anything down his side. The left back was ok, but Nigerias nr. created quite a lot at that side. In my viewt there were also two players that clearly shouldn’t be good enough for a startin XI in a u-17 WC. The captain Arellano and the center mid Calvillo.
Arelanno was wrongly positioned and rash in several situations and even if Trusty had a bad clearance and got sent off. Most of the poor defending I think was a cause of Arellanos rashness and bad positioning. The first goal were trusty miss cleared, Arelanno should have dropped a yard or to and moved towards first post and he could easily cleared the ball. On the second goal he rashly tried to tackle instead of running with the player and pushing him away from goal so Trusty could have tracked back outside and sanwiched the Nigerian. Cavillo was just a coward, always staying two or three yards away from the opposition in stead of closing him down and beeing more agressive.
Unfortunately the players that were supposed to lead the team offensively Wright and Pulisic didn’t have their best game. In Pulisic case you could se that he is a really talented player with ball skills and a great soccer brain for a 17 year old. Unfortunately for him he is so much smarter than his teammates, that he actually become to smart, they aren’t able to live up to Pulisic’ smartnes. Wright was a huge dissapointment. I’ve read and heard a lot about him, but in this game he seemed uninterested, not working hard and doing wrong choices almost every time he had the ball. I’ve herad he is fast, and that was impossible to see as he jogged around never trying to close down an opposition with speed. With his frame he should have bullied the Nigerians, even their big ones, out of the park.
Let’s hope the next match gets better and that the players redeem them self. Hopefully Barbir and Velela gets the chance in central defence. If Olosunde is ok then let Adams and de la Torre play center mid, if Olosunde is out put Adams at right back and let one that didn’t play today get the center mid position.
Hey Brian I agree USA has quantity but not quality ,look at US NATIONAL TEAM ,bunch of arrogants cacky players ,like ALTIDORE, BRADLEY,DEMPSEY ,OVER PAID ,AND OVERRATED, NO WONDER THEY ALL COMING BACK TO A RICH MINOR LEAGUE MLS.
God these conversations are boring. If you can’t see how much US soccer players have improved since the mid 90s, you’re just not paying attention. MLS is faster, more technical and much more competitive. Player development is exponentially better.
Almost every MLS team has some sort of player development system, and contrary to the skepticism expressed on the Inter-Tubes, really good players are starting their careers in these development teams. As MLS salaries rise, more of that talent will choose to pursue a pro soccer career.
The sky isn’t falling Chicken Littles, we just have a really incompetent head coach and technical director who doesn’t know how to coach a soccer team, and clearly doesn’t know how to develop young talent. And why would we have have expected him to know how to do that, anyway? He was a brilliant goal-scorer, not an experienced manager of a complicated player development system.
Who are you? Dieter from Sprockets? “You stories bore me!” 😉
Seriously, MLS has made tremendous strides,…no doubt. I would also say the no other federation has come as far as the USSF in the past 25 years,…on and off the field. The long ter, view is bright. That said,…if you think the USA’s struggles are down the JK and his coaching,…you are wrong. At the first team level,…we just don’t have the talent. At the U-23 level, we just don’t have the talent. It’s starting to look like we don’t have the talent at the U-17 level. There is p no one at the level of Reyna, O’Brien, Donovan, McBride or even Ramos right now in the USMNT. Simply put,…it looks like we have a gnerational problem. The pool is broader,…we have twice as many average players,…but the level has not gone up.
What fun that was to watch. Let’s not try any more than an occasional short pass in case we might actually gain some possession. But boy can we kick it far up field toward the one forward being covered by two or three defenders (Boom it Bobby!). Clearly we do have a well orchestrated strategy that pervades our entire USMNT system. Just like the big boys.
I have been to C.R, Columbia, Bolivia, Spain and Mexico and in every one of those countries you children as young as four years old kicking the ball on the street whith every other kid from that neighborhood. There are no trophies or medals for participating just the hunger for the game . Thats we are not a power but we can be if we focus on developing the you system. No more false praise (trophies).
Whenever I see a comment like this, I can’t help but think about what George Best once said during an interview. Best was asked about his tremendous ball/technical skills. Best said that when he was a boy growing up in Belfast he had two options,…play football or throw rocks at Catholics. He said he would spend his entire day play football in the streets. He lamented that kids have all manner of entertainment available to them,…films, video games, etc., etc. That, he explained was in large part why many young players were not developing the ball skills he had as a young boy.
BrianK is a racist troll. Bet you only think all of Africa is poor like they show in the US. Several African countries are technologically advanced. Also Africa is very beautiful with a abundance of resources. Get out your feeling the US lost to a African side.
Wow! To say that is unfair is a huge understatement. Mike,…I really resent your ridiculous comment. This is way out of line. If there is a modirator for this board you should remove Mike’s post ASAP.
“Bet you only think all of Africa is poor like they show in the US.” — I have no idea what this means.
“Several African countries are technologically advanced.” — Fair enough,…but which ones and in what ways?
“Also Africa is very beautiful with a abundance of resources.” — I understand this to be true. But what does that have to do with this thread or my comments?
Dude,…it is disgraceful when someone like yourself makes such outrageous statements/assertions against someone else’s character. Disgraceful. I would say grow up,…but your attack goes way beyond immaturity,…it is down offensive. I would appreciate an apology.
Lastly,…I am not in the business of educating people,…why don’t you and a few others on this board do yourselves a favor and go to UNICEF.org and search on birth registration.
Of all the players on this team, the one I thought was outstanding in qualifying was the left back Nelson, I watched only part of the Nigeria game, but in what I saw, he looked solid. He is not the flashiest player going forward, but he defends very well and can cross the ball well when he does get forward.
If he develops both athletically and soccer-wise he could be one of a back 4 that I think will include Miazga in 7 years (lets hope the WC is not actually in Qatar).
Questionable starting choices, but not a surprise loss. Was hoping to grab a point and win the next 2. they have played Croatia and Chile in the past year so those games should be a little bit different.
US Teams play scared. Suggests lack of fighting spirit and poor coaching preparation of players for the fight. The US players could have won had they played with patients and applied their superior ball handling skills.
I blame the coaches for this setback.
I did watch most of the match yesterday (missed the first 10) – pardon any spelling inaccuracies
(US) Hype aside, Nigeria were the better team, especially in the first half. Their # 7 Bambgoye (?) was rampant down the right flank and created several dangerous plays. But it was similar to watching a replay of the full MNT vs Mexico in the playoff. Wave after wave of Nigerian pressure coming at them. The US team actually defended pretty well in the first half, but constantly gave the ball away in the MF.
The US forward players, however, were horrid. If Christian Pulisic is the next big thing, he certainly choked on the world stage. Aside from 2 brief moves, one in each half, he looked overmatched, and was comfortably taken off the ball several times (and not just by physical maneuvering). Perez and especially Gallardo were practically nonexistent. I recognize some of this is coaching and not having them track back – trying to play them up front as much as possible. But given how little control we had in the midfield, and Pulisic stinking up the field, we pretty much only had one threat up top, being Haji Wright. Wright at least looked dangerous, even though he didn’t really have any support. In fact, almost all of the forward play ended up being a F on their own taking on 2-4 players. Wright was the only one moderately successful, but the one who acted threatening.
Any guesses who the first player subbed off was?
Anyhow, when De la Torre finally came on (all deference to not knowing the back story on the MF players from qualifying), the US finally started to have some movement. Of course they were 2-0 down and playing with desperation. Why he didn’t start in favor of either # 6 and Zendejas (20), I don’t know. De la Torre instantly improved the squad. Same when the last F sub for Da Silva came on – he was at least fighting and making himself involved in the match. (other sub was for RB Adams on for Olusule(?) – who appeared to hurt his hamstring and needed to be subbed)
The red card to Trusty- its hard to not give it. Defender’s leg is around from behind with studs out and it appeared to have stepped/stomped on the front of the attacker’s leg. Even if not intentional (and I doubt it was), the defender wasn’t falling. if anything he could have grabbed the player higher up and still would have fouled the attacker (likely earning a yellow), but without being as reckless with the studs out
As for the Nigerian players and being “overage” – seriously doubtful (this time). There were maybe 2-3 players who looked physically imposing for that age (especially the attacker 9, and the central defender Ikwu). So did Jozy Altidore at that age. But for every player who looked imposing, you had an equal number who were closer to Corey Ashe in appearance – their captain in particular. Point being – seeing the players, they generally looked 17. You probably would have looked differently ay 17 if you were regularly using weights when you were younger…
Bottom line, US team was outperformed and it showed. And with the lack of linking play from the MF, F left on their own, and (in typical US fashion), questionable substitution patterns, the most this side could hope for was a draw.
There are 2 matches left. I seriously hope that they improve for the next one. If the first half is like Nigeria though, this team is 3 and out.
One of the problems the US has always had is it’s lack of depth. Our starting eleven are good, even better than some of the better teams and may show it in single games. But individual games are not tournaments.Tournaments are like stage races in cycling, a single day rider might do exceptionally well or win in a hilly long race under hot conditions. But he might be average over several days and maybe get worse as the race gets longer. Why is this? It’s NOT fitness, per se, as each cyclist has almost similar levels of fitness as recorded by watts produced, anaerobic/aerobic red line levels and measurements like V02 max. It is due to fatigue or the ability of the muscles to recover and the ability of the body to produce enough oxygen to feed the muscles. To counterbalance that there are several remedies. One. of course, and the most familiar and easiest to do. is to rotate the team members to get enough rest between games. This to cut back on FATIGUE levels for the starting eleven. It might even require to bench several starters in a game where your chances of winning are slim in order to have your best team members at optimum levels later for games you can win. Young athletes are more susceptible to fatigue levels as their bodies have not yet learned to deal with the stress of high fatigue levels. By forcibly limiting the minutes played and lowering fatigue levels it is possible to play 3 high level games in a mater of a few days and have most players play at an optimum levels.
Unfortunately, most coaches think at a different level, using subs as a traditional stopgaps for injury, disciplinary, or tactical reason, not strategic.However looking at the player changes over games in previous Youth World Cup play, I did see large scale (+6) changes in player selections on some teams. These changes were in the wingers and mids (box to box) and fullbacks, positions that usually have the most running.With the exception of one team, all of them progressed out of the group stage.
However without depth, where other players can play well enough, this strategy may not work and maybe even detrimental.
I know of one recent tournament where fatigue levels caused the US to lose.
Prefacing this with the admission that I do not know the precise or exact training regimen the US used for the Olympic tournament, but having back to back games at altitude during a tournament, the basis is sound.
If you know about playing sports at altitude, then you know that being at altitude without “adjustment” or acclimatization causes debilitating effects on performance over a mater of days. It is less pronounce when the performance is done immediately, but debilitation becomes more pronounced as a time and altitude parameter. If , say, the Galaxy were to fly into Denver, the day of a match and play, there would be almost no perception of debilitation of performance other than compensating for the increased speed and travel of a soccer ball through thinner air. etc but if you were to arrive 2-3 earlier, you would sess a pronounced decrease in performance, only to be recovered after 7-9 days when you body increases its production of red blood cells and proto-steroids to deal with the stress of lower oxygen levels.
As far as I know the U23 team did not do any pre tournament camp to counter the effects of altitude even though there were several games, including the semis scheduled at altitudes above 4600 feet. Even if the team were to descend to a lower altitude between those games, the increase in fatigue of playing those games at altitude would not be fully countered by simple rest. By the end against Honduras, the US team looked very tired, mistakes were made as concentration lagged as fatigue levels built up. This looked to me like poor preparation rather that Honduras being a better team that day. Or perhaps, if Honduras did do altitude training that prepped them well, they WERE the better team.
World Cups and important tournaments are not all won on the field, and they can be lost by poor preparation. What is especially galling about the U23’s is that it was an Olympic qualifying tournament, the whole knowledge base of altitude physiology and sports performance was available at Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center, and those resources were designed to be used for Olympic or related events. Apparently it was not use or not used well by the Coaching staff and Technical Director of the USSF.
This might be the longest post in SBI history!
I stopped reading once I saw haji was the best player. Instead of an easy layoff he held onto the ball to try to be the hero on goal. He also missed and easy chance given to him. He rightfully was pulled.
Haji Wright seems to lack motivation or a fire when he’s playing from what I’ve seen from him. Center back pairing did not look very good, often seemed to not know what to do with the ball when they got it. Overall movement off the ball didn’t look good. We sat back way too much and let Nigeria possess the ball too much, I don’t understand we try to sit back and compact the field but once we win the ball there is no good build up play. Keeper looks bad as well
First of all, it’s U17 and not really that important of a tournament. The only thing it is really good for is to, perhaps, give some of the more talented boys an audition with European youth clubs.
Second, I wouldn’t panic about losing to Nigeria, who has a long history of winning youth tournaments; but never doing anything at a senior level. Perhaps Nigerian boys really do develop earlier, perhaps they are 19, who knows?
I’m not saying that the coaching is great; I don’t know. It just isn’t that big a deal.
“I don’t know. It just isn’t that big a deal” — Thank you. Losing seems to be the USA’s middle name,…and a loss to an African youth,…don’t even worry about it.
mexico lost 6-1 to nigeria in the group stages last cycle. dont panic
@BrianK, quite making excuses for our team’s defeat and accept the simple fact that the Nigerians were the better team hence they won ! I don’t buy your overage crap and will never buy it especially going down your disgusting route of saying African births ain’t recorded, what a bloody wuss bag you are ! Just lock up your condescending excuses because no sane person will buy it !
Did you also know that all of the Nigerian players plays for academies whereas 75% of our players play in the MLS ?
Wow,…Lee,…don’t take it personal.
For the record,…I am not surprised the USA lost,…to any team. At this juncture, the US program should consider itself above ANY other confederation. We lost to Mexico because they were much better than the US. We lost the Jamaica because they were better than the US. We lost the Belgium in the Wprld Cup because they were much better than the US. The U-23s lost to Honduras because Honduras was better than the US.
BTW – not insulted by you calling me a “wuss bag” — a) whatever that means and b) whatever that means in the context of this thread or discussion? Anyway,…I hate to disappoint your Royal Political Correctness,….but it is a fact. Millions of African births are not documented (e.g., birth certificate issued AT THE TIME of BIRTH) because they lack the record systems in the hospitals and municipalities. It is a simple fact. So get off your righteous horse and tune into reality. Your welcome.
Correction — “At this juncture the US program should NOT consider itself above ANY other confederation.”
There is a soccer site that rhymes with box and it has a lot more detailed, comprehensive and realistic description and appraisal of this game. If you didn’t see the game,it has the best description I have seen so far after checking 3 other sites.
But Mexico won’t lose. Their players are not super athletic. So what is the difference? Mexico puts relentless pressure on the opponents. Two or three guys move to the opposing player that has the ball. They don’t just backup and give the other team all kinds of space and time like the U.S. team does.
Until we change that we will continue to lose.
I don’t know if Nigera was using over age players. They looked young , but bigger and more athletic for sure. Didn’t look like they had better skills, they just were able to shield the ball better, break through US players shielding, close on the ball much more quickly, recover more quickly, and maintain body control better after contact. Exactly what led to both goals.
As the game went on the US players were pulling up on contested balls like they were intimidated.
This is a huge advantage at this level and probably why Nigeria can dominate the under 17 WCs, but not the regular WCs.
That said I agree with what one of the earlier posters said about lack of pressure by US teams. In this game the Nigerians would get multiple touches with no pressure, but would be on top of US players by their first touch often. I will say with the physical advantage they had pressuring Nigera may have been worse.
Last thought, what a horrible red card on Trusty. He clearly just got tangled with the other player, who actually hooked him and pulled him in as he fell. The ref seemed to base the red on the players hysterical reaction. Just awful.
I thought our boys did ok for the first 10 minutes, after that, they couldn’t string 3 passes together. The 2 goals came because of blunders in defense. As always, our LB is not up to par.
We didn’t play well, but Nigeria clearly deserved to win. Our boys could probably play them 10 times and maybe win only two or three of those is how it looks.
It’s on record that the African team came with the youngest team to this this competition and any sincere person who watched this game will clearly see that the Nigerian boys looked much younger than our players. The highly reliable FIFA bone scan test was clearly used on every team to check their players exact ages so before anyone would start opening their sorry mouths to make flimsy excuses on how we lost to a much older Nigerian team, I hope they first research on the African team as I did. We as a nation has now become one which always makes excuses or lays blames on everything and that is why we are failing on every aspect of our national life.
“The highly reliable FIFA bone scan test,…” —- Ha! Just like the highly reliable FIFA World Cup selection process!
Look,…you can write anything you want,…but the fact is that most births in West African nations are not documented. They simply don’t have the vital records systems that advanced nations have. As a result,…when it comes time to try out for teams and to gain a competitive edge,…they start shaving years off their age.
People should also consider that in the Toulon Tournament where the US U-23 team played, all the European teams were playing their U-20 squads. We just aren’t turning out the top talent yet found in consistently good soccer nations. People in the US don’t seem to want to face this issue.
The U23s we just used in olympic qualifying included a lot of our U20s
“We just aren’t turning out the top talent yet found in consistently good soccer nations.” — Thank you Mr. Page. Spot on.
Yes many of us do accept that fact. It’s just that we SO accept it, don’t see the need to make a lot of noise here, just to get out-shouted.
An objective viewer, looking to watch the most talented players, best soccer, is not tuning into watch our national teams, or clubs, at any level.
Oh wow, here we go with you all judging saying they are older because they have false birth certificates. Ughh!
Error,…yes. That is exactly what I am saying.
I haven’t made that charge, but one should consider that it is something that has happened more than once before.
BrianK, that’s exactly my comment to someone I was watching the game with. It looks like their U23 Team.
Thank you. Of course,…even with their history of using older players,….God forbid you state the obvious. I enjoy the comments,…”they looked bigger, stronger, faster and played more aggressive,…but they looked young.” OMG!
Anyway,…it doesn’t matter.
Gary , I did not say the USA is as talented as Nigeria. As a Jamaican who played the game at a high level I know talent. Nigeria is more athletic and talented than the USA. However during the game you saw the USA displaying good technique and the talent was obvious. However, it was also obvious that the Team was poorly prepared for this game. Poor spacing both on defense and offence was one of the limiting factors.
I doubt very much that the USA was playing against U-17s,….but whatever.
Gary, before I respond who’s post did you mean to call out as not knowing anything about soccer, mine or Robbo?
I was replying to Robbo and it was a If, then statement. My point was that I don’t see how one could watch that game and not conclude that the Nigerian players were more talented than the US players. They were also better organized, not something that has been a Nigerian trait in the past, so they also looked like they were better coached. However, it’s easier to coach a team like Bayern Munich than Sunderland. To expand on this, I used to be a substitute teacher and went to over a 100 different schools. In education there has been this charge that teachers are failing. After visiting all those schools in all areas of a large metropolitan area I concluded that it is good students who made for good schools, not vice versa. In fact, there is a lot of supporting research on this. Likewise, the major determinant of a team’s success is the quality of its players. Or is it just a coincidence that the soccer club teams with the largest payrolls have the best teams?
I never said the US played well. What I did say was that Nigeria was clearly superior and I suspect they would win most of the time even if the US did play well. The US never really threatened to score after the first few minutes. There is this mind set here that every time we lose it must be poor coaching. That’s ridiculous. Soccer can be crazy. I have seen many times when a team can dominate a game and still lose, where a clearly inferior team can play the game of their life, and other instances where one team beats another when it shouldn’t. In every sport you see where coaching can make a difference, even a significant difference. However, in the vast majority of the time it is the better team that wins. I haven’t researched the statistics of this game, but after watching it I know that Nigeria had almost 60% of possession and more shots, more shots on goal, more chances created and I would be willing to bet that they completed more of their passes, had fewer turn overs, won more tackles, and won more headers. If that’s not better, then what is? Did you see my recap of US WC success in the past? Whether we did well or not was very closely related to our draw. We had success in 2002, but were last in our group in 2006 with pretty much the same players. Did that mean Bruce Arena turned into a lousy coach in 4 years? Would we have done better in 2014 if Bradley had been coach? IMO, there is no way we could have won that group or beaten Belgium, no matter who the coach. I don’t know about you, but too many here do not have a good grasp on international soccer reality. I don’t know what all the problems are, but one thing seems certain and that is that our kids aren’t learning the basics of dribbling and passing from an early age. A national team coach usually only works with his players for a limited amount of time and at different unconnected times. It is the club coaches at the early ages who aren’t doing their jobs is what it looks like to me.
yes Nigeria was the better team but they were also better coached that is very clear
Gary “on thing for certain is that our kids are not learning the basics of dribbling and passing”. Now that is something I can buy.
I have said this from the time I started posting on Ives…we do not have a plan for player development starting at the youngest age.
That is on the shoulders of the two technical directors who have failed miserably in this area
Ultimately the blame lies at the top with a few men who think they know what is best for US Soccer and they don’t. They know business and that is what they should stick to
My first reaction was,….here we go,…another loss in an important competition. But then I realized,…we lost to Nigeria in a youth tournament,…which means our U-17 team lost the their U-20 team.
+1
We would be lucky if they are only U-20.
Reality sucks. I liked us a lot a more a few days ago when we had ” the most talented group ever”
Let’s settle for promising.
that’s more realistic. Some people seem to have the idea that we’re supposed to win just because we are the US. I know I see that a lot in regards to our foreign policy, not directly related, I know, but I think it is indicative of a unrealistic mind set.
Sepp, I agree with you. The USA has the talent but lack the Management and Coaching support to develop this guys as a Team. Talent wasted should be the title of all articles addressing the USA Program. We have the horses but no experience jockeys. The Team played like the U20 and Senior Team which tells me JK’S hand is all over this Program which does not pave the way for a bright future. I hope and pray there is help on the way.
Did you watch this U-17 game? If you think the US had as much talent as Nigeria does, you know nothing about the game.
Seems like we agree a lot Gary, but I’m sure we’re the ones who don’t know what we’re talking about.
Nigeria may be more talented and bigger and stronger,…but they are probably U-20s.
On more than one occasion African teams have been caught using over age players and I think Mexico did once too and was banned from a youth WC as a result. The Nigerians certainly looked bigger and stronger.. I’m not making that charge at all, but the Nigerians were definitely more physical and athletic than the US team, and more skilled. It’s hard to win in those circumstances.
Actuall Mexico was banned from the WC in 1990 for using underage players in an international youth tournament. That was something that permitted the US to qualify (barely due to a goal by Caliguri against T&T in a 1-0 US victory to get the US through behind Costa Rica and ahead of T&T by 2 points when only 2 CONCACAF teams were admitted to the WC finals in Italy).
Did any of you watch qualifying for this tournament? The U.S. kids were very creative and very proactive. Is it possible that perhaps the coaches were being pragmatic and knew that the talent level of the Nigerians prevented us from playing the same style? At what point in the game did it look like we could dominate Nigeria? They were bigger and stronger, technically at least as good we were. But let’s just sit back and blame the coaches as they obviously don’t know anything about the game.
The best we’ve ever finished in this tournament is fourth place, once. What is with this expectation that we should be dominating this thing?
Nigeria was much more physical and technical than the US. But the US lost the game on defensive mistakes, which is a good sign. Mistakes can be corrected. We are good enough to defeat Croatia and Chile sans mistakes.
We were defeated in the midfield also. Rarely able to string multiple passes or to advance the ball on the ground. We looked like boys against bigger stronger young men out there vs Nigeria. We were never dangerous.. a trait of modern day US Soccer.. rarely win possession statistics, shots, corners. We usually score on set pieces and rarely on run of play if we cans even score.
We continue to be behind the world in the athletes and USS coaching. The fish dies from the head down, and USS needs to vastly improve at the head in order to strengthen the body..
This is six degrees of Sunil Gulati
Gulati hires:
* Klinsmann -1 win in 6 games (Cuba) vs CONCACAF opponents
*Klinsmann brings in Herzog- Olympic team loses at home to Honduras and may not qualify for the 2nd time in a row
*Gulati hires Claudio Reyna as technical director despite the fact he NEVER coached a team prior to his hire
*Reyna brings in Richie Williams
*Reyna brings in Javier Perez (a rec coach at Real Madrid with no head coaching experience who now is u18 head coach and sits on bench with full team)
*Reyna brings in Caleb Porter who fails to qualify with the Olympic team
We had our best results when Dr. Bob was the president. Why? He always said I don’t know anything about coaching. I hire good coaches and let them coach
I would love a link to the interview in which Bob Bradley states, “I don’t know anything about coaching.”
James, I was trying to figure out what you were trying to say about a link to Bob Bradley.
Dr. Bob is not Bob Bradley but Dr. Bob Contiguglia. He was the former president of US Soccer and the man who hired Bruce Arena.
Someone tabulated that we had our best results (u17-full team) when he was president.
I am pretty sure he took over not long after the 1998 World Cup and stayed in office until 2006.
God I sure hope that is what you meant.
Ah, got it. I was rather confused.
Omg, someone doesn’t know who Dr. Bob is! Must be one of these “new” fans.
lol
I agree, Sepp. Change has to come at the top.
The more things change…
Fabian Johnson did indeed play full 90 min today, healthy as an ox!
Just got done watching US vs Nigeria. Awful play from the U.S. The same style of play on all levels, sit back and defend. We don’t put any pressure on the ball, and the other team has all day to pass it around. Versus the other team is all over us as soon as we touch the ball. Most talented team ever? We will go nowhere with that style of play. We won’t win one single game.
The sad thing is it is so obvious. Why aren’t the coaches telling the players? They should be swarming all over the other team. If you sit back you will keep the other team from scoring for awhile, but eventually they will score, and you will lose.
Just a day ago, there was an article called “Talented US squad set to kick off U-17 World Cup”. The hype train has got to stop, and we US fans & media need to be more humble and not have expectations sky high.
It’s a fairly objective statement that this is, by US youth standards, a talented group. Choose any metric you like (pros, records, clubs, etc), and this team is, on paper, one of the best we’ve had.
The article in question stated that they face a tough task getting out of their group, which, judged on historical performance at youth tournaments, is one of the most difficult groups.
I don’t see the hype machine you’re referring to, at least in that article. There is no doubt they have the ability to contend for a spot in the round of 16, and a 2-0 opening loss still doesn’t preclude that scenario.
They are poor, believe your eyes, not the hype. Defenders #4 and #5 were the worst of a poor group. I understand they were fortunate to qualify and that shows.
I believe 20 players are US Soccer Academy grads??
The coaches aren’t telling the players because the coaches in the US suck
Maybe they do, but sometimes coaches will tell players to do something and the players will forget in the heat of the moment or, as today, the other players are better so that the US players couldn’t do much. Nigeria seemed quicker to the ball, won most 50/50 balls and won the vast majority of the headers. They also controlled the ball better when receiving passes and their passes were more accurate.
the coach’s job is to prepare the players for those heat of the moment expressions. that’s our job and how we are judged. have you ever coached? any sport?
hey Martha, US coaches got us to the quarters in the WC 2002, to the Confed Cup final, to numerous wins against Mexico that actually counted…facts
This sounds like a p;ost just to be contrary. How about the other aspects of the game I described? As for the former issue,I happen to be a fan of college basketball and there have been examples of great players making bone head plays in crucial games, including future pro star Fred Brown making a pass directly to opposition player James Worthy and Michigan player Chris Webber calling timeout when the coach had just told him they didn’t have any more timeouts. And those were two great coaches in outwstanding programs with outstanding players. So, you never have that happen to you, Mr. Coach? We are talking 16 and 17 year old kids in this game. So, is it your position that Nigeria is not better and we would have won the game with better coaching? If so, I have a bridge I’d like to sell you.
ha! you don’t like my comments so it’s categorized as a post to be contrary? sure Gary, must be comforting to you
I suggest taking your bridge and selling it to the diminishing faithful of the senior team coach who continue to buy that coaches jive…like you Mr. non-coach (you want to make fun of the fact I’ve coached my whole life, go ahead and call me Mr. Coach, I’ll call you Mr. non-coach). There are still a couple out there who will buy the bridge you’re selling…Sunil for example
further, Georgetown and Michigan made all kinds of plays throughout those tournaments to win 5 previous games and get to the FINALS. not even in the same ballpark for examples; Thompson and Fischer had their kids making plays for 3 weeks!!! (Yes, I have coached years and years of high school basketball too though I’ll take your lack of respect as a compliment coming from you).
Yes we got to the quarters in 2002 playing a very archaic way. We got to the quarters but only after Bob reluctanlty inserted Davies who lit it up. Before that we stunk up the cup. But the talent hasnt gotten better since then. hence US coaches dont know what they are doing. I would take Lewis, Reyna, Landon, Beasley, JOB, Freidel and Sanneh over anyone here now. They werent great players but they were very good by OUR standards and just OK by the Worlds standards. Freidel stood on his head to keep us level with Korea and JOB had that hand ball against Mex that shouldnt have been called. My point is we have the largest pool of players in the world and the coaches in the US (nats clubs college everywhere) has no clue how to develop them. MLS has been around for 10 years and theyjust produce bigger pool of mediocre crap for that nats. Has Klinmsan made it worse? maybe but assuming he has been here four years his Youngest class would porb be just 17 now. I just see alot more of the same hype followed by an early exit. The Mantra of the US youth system
of course i was referring to the Confed cup when i referred to Davies…
I think that is the major problem–the failure of coaches to develop kids properly at the youth levels, long before they turn pro. National team coaches have players for maybe a total of one or two months out of the year since a lot of players are unavailable at different times.
the development now vs. just 5 years ago, 10 years ago, let alone 15 and beyond has changed a lot and improved dramatically…still a long way to go but light years from what it was. you don’t have to believe me though
there are also better athletes choosing soccer over football, over basketball…all of this will help
but the biggest difference isn’t that anyway. it’s the tactical stuff. it’s the lack of awareness on how to use the technical abilities in tactically adept ways. there are articles out there explaining this Gary, since you need to hear it from soemone other than me clearly.
but this is changing too. with the wall to wall TV coverage of all the greatest players on 24/7 now, our kids can watch the games here in the states. it is the single most important difference in the next generation’s development…a true cultural passion and understanding of the nuances of the game.
all that said, we have overcome these limitations before, when they were even more limiting. now we don’t
the US Dev Academy system is taking US player development backwards. Kids that entered that program at the youngest age (15 at the time) are now 22 yrs old. The academy mantra is “fewer but more meaningful games”. That is complete BS. It is more meaningful games to the suits in charge not to the players. At the U13 and U14 age groups they don’t even keep standings, there are no playoffs and those kids can’t play any other organized soccer other than Academy soccer. So for two years they don’t play one single tournament. Whereas before, kids that age were playing tournaments every month. At the U15 – U18 age groups the only “tournament” you play is the end of season playoffs if you are one of the 2 to 3 teams per conference to make them. So the vast majority of US Dev Academy players don’t play a single tournament from U13 – U18 unless you happen to be on a club that makes the playoffs or are named to a national team (often political). The “too many tournaments” our youth players were involved in prior to the Academy was a distinct advantage in our system which US Soccer has now obliterated. Then Klinsmann outlaws high school soccer (oh except for his son who got to do both and btw is now doing college ball) by moving to the 10 month season. This is a move which also has eliminated many meaningful games from a youth players development. In high school players have the pressure of playing in front of their friends, teachers and community similar in a way to representing your country. In high school soccer every team also plays in an end of season tournament so even if you’re on a crappy HS team you still get to represent your school and community in a meaningful tournament. High school soccer is also free or considerably cheaper than Academy soccer (excepting MLS). The US Dev Academy is not about player development. It’s about money and control.
+1
Totally agree. The Dev academies are about money and control.
disagree. the talent pool has NEVER been deeper. in fact, MLS is widley credited with developing our region’s competitors yet somehow is dissed for holding us back?
as for Davies lighting it up, yes he did…and then was injured and out for the WC, along with Holden (who came but never was fit) and we still played some of our most inspiring ball ever (see the 2nd half vs. Slovenia for example…scored 3 goals in 45 minutes against that team which had conceded only FOUR GOALS for their euro qualifying!!!) More, the game against Portugal in 2002 was anything but archaic, especially that first half…go spin your BS to those who don;t know any better.
archaic style…have you seen the latest rendition of the USMNT in games that count? what style is that, besides 4th place in the Gold Cup?
again, quarterfinals in 2002 with a US coach, Confed Cup Finals with a US coach, wins over Mexico in games that count with US coaches. choke on those facts Martha…facts
The talent pool may be broader,…but I agree that the 2002 was better. We have no one close to Reyna and O’Brien.
Cough**