photo by Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports
By MARK EDWARD HORNISH
PASADENA, Calif. — After two hours of dramatic soccer, Mexico’s Paul Aguilar drove home a late dagger with a wonder volley to beat the U.S. Men’s National Team in extra time of a thrilling CONCACAF Cup.
Aguilar scored in the 119th minute to lift Mexico to a 3-2 victory over the U.S. in a game played before a sold-out crowd of 93,723 at the Rose Bowl. The Americans had equalized twice in the match, including in extra time through Bobby Wood, but did not have enough time to find a response to Aguilar’s superb strike.
“Tactically, the way they played, gave us a little bit of trouble over the course of the game, they were able to pin us back,” said midfielder Michael Bradley after the match. “But in the end, over the course of 118 minutes, it was 2-2, and all that stuff goes out the window. In the end, they scored an amazing goal, and we didn’t.”
With the victory, Mexico booked a spot in the 2017 Confederations Cup, to be held in Russia as a precursor to the next World Cup.
The U.S. misses out on the tournament for the second consecutive four-year cycle. Head coach Jurgen Klinsmann also now has his first loss to El Tri as either a player or coach, and drops to 5-1-5 against them.
“I think we showed a lot of character,” said Klinsmann. “We gave tremendous effort. They left everything out on the field, and when you’re on the losing side, that hurts. That’s normal. It takes a couple of days to swallow a pill like that.”
Oribe Peralta, playing perhaps his finest match for El Tri, initially appeared to land the knockout blow when he finished a cross from Aguilar to give the Mexicans a 2-1 lead seven minutes into extra time.
But unlikely hero Bobby Wood, who subbed on for Jozy Altidore immediately after Peralta’s go-ahead goal, appeared to rescue the U.S.’s chances of at least sending the match to a penalty kick shootout.
Wood brought the Americans back on level terms in the 108th minute when he streaked onto a well-weighted DeAndre Yedlin through ball, beat Mexican goalkeeper Moises Munoz in a footrace, and drove the ball underneath the sprawling netminder for his third goal for the U.S.
Mexico, which had the lion’s share of possession and supporters at the Rose Bowl, also drew first blood in the match with an exceptional display of combination play.
Aguilar started the play with a sharp through ball, but it was Mexican talisman Peralta who unlocked the American defense, first by dummying the pass and then by spinning to make a darting run toward the U.S.’s near post.
Raul Jimenez, with his back to goal, back heeled the entry pass to the now wide open Peralta, whose run forced U.S. goalkeeper Brad Guzan off his line and opened up Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez for the tap-in finish.
The goal, Hernandez’s first vs. the U.S., brought a thunderous response from the Mexico faithful. It did not take long for the Americans to have their turn to celebrate, however.
In the 15th minute, Michael Bradley whipped in a flawless free kick, and when Peralta abandoned his mark, Geoff Cameron had a relatively easy header to tie the game.
The match was a chippy affair throughout. Only five cautions were issued on the night, but Salvadoran referee Joel Aguilar nevertheless had his hands full managing two sides who were both on edge.
Tempers soared in the 35th minute when Peralta charged in on the U.S. goal and slammed into Guzan as he lay prone on the ground clutching the ball. Guzan lashed out at Peralta, and within seconds a 22-man scrum erupted.
The second half saw El Tri continue to boss possession, but the Mexicans could not find a winner before regulation ended.
“We knew they were coming again” said Klinsmann when asked about the relentless pressure the U.S. faced in the second half. “What we didn’t do well in the second half was simply to keep the ball. We ran all out, we won a lot of balls, and then we couldn’t combine. We couldn’t calm the game down enough.”
Mexico had a great opportunity to score in the 59th minute when Jimenez got around the corner and fired a lovely low cross that once again beat a diving Guzan. Chicharito muffed the finish, however.
For the U.S., the defeat came on the same day that its Under-23 national team missed a chance to directly qualify for the 2016 Olympics with a 2-0 loss to Honduras.
“A loss is always difficult to swallow, especially when there’s a lot at stake” said Klinsmann when asked about the state of U.S. Soccer. “We have to get our group together and rethink the next couple of months. We have to sit together and discuss things, who we’re counting on, how we want to build toward the next couple of games. There’s not much time.”
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What did you think of the USMNT’s 3-2 loss in extra time to Mexico? How disappointing a loss is this? Are you concerned about the direction that Klinsmann has the team going in?
Share your thoughts below.
Jeff Agoos! That’s the name that haunted me as I watched. Sticking with a player once too often. Why were Beckerman, Jones and Beasley out there? Don’t we have anyone who is any better, or who is fully fit? If not, then our development system is even worse than imagined and Herr Klinsmann has had no impact. I am not much interested in advocating for specific players, but surely Perry Kitchen was worth a serious look before this.
7-1-1-1. The latest formation. Even when you bunker, you have to position players as outlets. Bob and Bruce in their most cautious moments never played a formation with such little ambition.
And please no more prattling about how Jurgen is going to transform US soccer with new players, new formations, new free-flowing soccer. Blah, blah blah. That was the same old players, playing a terrible parody of cautious soccer.
Wow,..Agoos, indeed. You want to talk about dark days of American soccer,….just say Agoos. What a disaster. Didn’t make the ’94 team, but made the ’98 team and didn’t play,…and then incredibly was a starter on the ’02 team??? The red card against Mexico,…the pass to Dionne Burton,…the own goal against Portugal, getting beaten by a Korean for the tying goal,…smoked during the Poland game and then pulled up with a calf injury (mercy!). Straight to the Hall of Fame! Ha!
Beckerman, Beasley, Wondo, and Rimando no longer deserve to be in USNT, but Klinsmann will continue to call them.
Gulati and Klinsmann will continue ruining USNT program.
It’s amazing that people are concern about timing of a Coaching change. Mexico has changed Coaches several times over the last two years. What have they accomplished? The are kings of CONCACAF. The USA has more than enough time to put a new Coach in place. JK is no longer a viable Coach. I won’t say he had run out of ideas because I don’t think he had any from day one. The Team played okay in spurts but lacked the ability to possess the ball. This is the result of fielding the wrong players, playing players out of position and displaying vindictive behavior towards others. JK has been fumbling and bumbling for almost 5 years. This has caused stagnation in the progress of the Team. A new vision and idea is needed for the new WC cycle. A couple games ago, JK subbed Jones out of a game. When Jones got off the field, he walked by and ignored JK. Was that a sign that JK has lost the Team?
JK out; LD in…….poetic justice.
A clueless manager took an overage team with some players coming back from injuries, played most of them out of position and rode them through two extra time sessions. Priceless!!!!
So, to sum up the above posts:
1. Fire Klinsmann
2. Play amazing world beating soccer
3. USA!
I don’t think anyone thinks we fire Klinsmann and then will become amazing. However we clearly aren’t going forward either. So why not get someone who can have a fresh look at things. There clearly needs to be a lot of turnover in the player pool. Maybe a new message and approach.
if Dempsey doesnt do situation chances well than he cant be on the field, he does nothing going the other way and doesnt make it easy on the players around him
Not sure what some of you were watching. Jozy was one of the better players out there for the US. He splayed out wide to receive the ball, got his teammates involved, created a few chances, and had a couple quality shots. And he did more pressuring than Dempsey. Jozy’s ‘laziness’ is always exaggerated because of his body language.
Cameron was the clear motm for me, and Besler was pretty good too. Can’t put much fault on either of them for the goals. Cameron bossed the Mexican attackers all game and looked like our most composed player on the ball. From the CB position, no less.
Fabian, JJ, and Dempsey were the biggest disappointments, with Dempsey definitely the goat. Singlehandedly killed about 4 promising attacks and created nothing all game. There was one attack where all he had to do was lay the ball out in front of Zardes for a free shot on goal from the PK spot, but instead he ran headfirst straight into the defender. Certainly his worst game in recent memory.
Guzan didn’t mess up, but he just doesn’t instill the same confidence. I can’t help but think Howard or Hamid save that last shot. Guzan seemed to be caught off-guard and leaning when he took the shot on the full volley.
Wood and Yedlin were the right subs, but they were made at the wrong times and they replaced the wrong guys. No way Zardes should come out of a game where we were chasing so much possession. Zardes can run forever. He should have anticipated fatigue being a problem and taken out Beckerman/JJ.
On the last goal, I don’t think there’s an issue with Beasley challenging for that ball. He forced the Mexican player to loop the ball 30 feet up the air in desperation. There were two US players nearby (Beckerman and ?) that could/should have covered that space in behind. It was definitely a world-class finish, though.
In the end, Mexico scored some really nice goals and just looked like they wanted it more. They deserved the win, but it’s not like the US put in an embarrassing performance. It was a close, exciting match.
I agree about Dempsey. He has been a favorite of mine for his fight and attitude. Both seemed missing against Mexico. He sat when knocked over, didn’t hustle back when he lost the ball, and seemed hesitant to take shots. Last night he seemed mentally and physically a step slow. It hurts me to say it. I love Dempsey, but he didn’t have it, or didn’t bring it. I can’t understand why he passed wide to Jozy when he had an open shot with the goalie pulled to the other side. Fire that thing and see what happens. It makes me think that his time has passed with the USMNT.
Any accountability for USSF?
Do you all remember when left back, outside left mid, goal scoring forward and an attacking midfielder were our main problems when JK took over?
Has to be the darkest single day for US soccer in the last decade.
Not qualifying would be that day. The single darkest day for Mexico is 2-0 in 2002 and nothing will top that.
Look if Beasely makes contact w the ball at the end the volley doesn’t happen and we win in PK’s. Jones not playing defense or remotely marking a man cost us two goals. He should have been subbed after 60 min.
Interesting to think about the generation of players that should be coming into their prime right now at the national team level. It’s the 2011 u20 team that failed to qualify for the u20 WC that year:
# Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 GK Zac MacMath August 7, 1991 (aged 19) United States Philadelphia Union
2 DF Gale Agbossoumonde November 17, 1991 (aged 19) Sweden Djurgården
3 DF Zarek Valentin August 6, 1991 (aged 19) United States Chivas USA
4 DF Moises Hernandez August 16, 1992 (aged 18) United States FC Dallas
5 DF Perry Kitchen February 29, 1992 (aged 19) United States D.C. United
6 MF Dillon Powers February 14, 1991 (aged 20) United States University of Notre Dame
7 MF Joseph Gyau September 16, 1992 (aged 18) Germany Hoffenheim
8 MF Sebastian Lletget September 3, 1992 (aged 18) England West Ham United
9 FW Conor Doyle October 13, 1991 (aged 19) England Derby County
10 MF Kelyn Rowe December 2, 1991 (aged 19) United States UCLA
11 FW Bobby Wood November 15, 1992 (aged 18) Germany 1860 Munich
12 DF Šaćir Hot June 10, 1991 (aged 19) United States New York Red Bulls
13 DF Greg Garza August 16, 1991 (aged 19) Portugal Estoril Praia
14 MF Amobi Okugo March 13, 1991 (aged 20) United States Philadelphia Union
15 DF Korey Veeder October 3, 1991 (aged 19) United States Columbus Crew
16 MF Moises Orozco February 6, 1992 (aged 19) Mexico UANL
17 FW Omar Salgado September 10, 1993 (aged 17) Canada Vancouver Whitecaps
18 GK Cody Cropper February 16, 1993 (aged 18) England Ipswich Town
19 DF Sebastien Ibeagha January 21, 1992 (aged 19) United States Duke University
20 FW Eder Arreola November 13, 1991 (aged 19) United States UCLA
Yikes.
This emphasizes what we have seen over the last few years….players getting older and no one in the wings with the quality to challenge/replace them. Firing a coach will not change the facts that the USA just isn’t good enough. It’s disappointing that a country of 400 million+ does not have more players from which to choose from but it is the reality. I would suppose U.S. soccer needs to shoulder some of the blame as they have not gotten into those areas of the country (inner cities) to encourage and promote soccer to areas with kids who are looking for something to do….us soccer may be too concerned with making mls money at this point to care.
Some people don’t want to face this because sometimes the truth hurts. As Jack Nicholson once famously said,, “You can’t handle the truth!” The truth is there is still a big talent gap. As I pointed out before and after the Belgium game, we have only 1 player who would maybe start for them (f Johnson) and only a couple more who would even make their roster. You can even argue that their GK (Courtois) is better than Howard. The gap isn’t as big when looking at Mexico, but their ball skills are still much better than that of US players and it makes a significant difference.
This was a coaching loss. Playing guzan cost us the final goal. He was out of position and Howard has faster reaction times. And taking off zardes??? Absurd. And finally altidore, this guy just doesn’t know how to pressure. He is either lazy or clueless. Zardes is much better at that spot. And johansson would have put more pressure on than Dempsey. Cameron was man of the match, but even he lost his mark on the second goal. Why oh why isn’t yedlin playing earlier???
Let’s be real Gulati isn’t going to fire Klinsmann no matter how much overhaul is needed with this program.
The best we’ll see is an overhaul from the veteran players and start bring in some younger faces. Guys like Morris, Wood, Jóhannsson, Gyau, Morales, Shea, Williams, Brooks, and Hamid will start featuring more into the national team in WCQ while we wait for some younger options to emerge from the Hyndman, Rubin, Zelalem, etc. group prominently from the U-23s and other youngsters in the pool. Maybe just maybe Klinsmann will look at other options in the pool like Lletget, Feilhaber, Nagbe, Finlay, Birnbaum, and Lichaj to bring some new life into the pool. Looking at the bench late in the game there was little to no firepower or creative players to call from. Say what you want about Bob Bradley’s empty bucket formation but he had options on the bench that could change the flow of the game from midfield.
It’s time to cut bait from the older generation of players (32+) now that the Gold Cup and Confed Cup playoff is over.
I am good with Jurgen staying as long as he looks at the last 24 hours as a wake up call. The team on the field for the first 75 minutes was old. You don’t build winners with old players and it showed. Yellin and Wood were the only players to make something happen organically. Jurgen needs to look at every player on the roster and question whether it’s worth giving someone new a chance. For example, Wondo had no business being on the roster. Is there not a better player we could have brought on for a spark?
Wondo didn’t play this match but he is the top goalscorer for Americans in MLS. He’s rarely fielded. Rating- N/A
For all the incessant tinkering over the past 15 months, we’re now in a position where it’s clear a new guard is needed but there are no obvious replacements. Since the WC we’ve identified 3 new players as far as I can tell that are in a position to take over at their respective positions: Zardes, Wood, and Morris (Gyua looked promising but has been injury plagued). Neither Wood nor Morris seems ready to go a full 90 although perhaps Wood is. So who replaces Beasley, Beckerman, Altidore, Jones, Dempsey, Wondo, Evans? We spent all this time rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic and having very little to show for it as far as I can tell. Even our U23 team is incredibly young. So who is it in the 23-27 year old age bracket that’s going to step in in November? Enlighten me.
We’ll have to take some lumps while they go through growing pains, but inserting Williams, Shea, Nagbe, Yedlin and Wood into the starting lineup would add speed.
Nobody replaces Altidore, he’s staying until Qatar 2022 and put in a solid shift today.
We ride Jones and Dempsey until they have nothing left to give or we find someone younger to phase into the program. Maybe until Morris and Zelalem are full senior members.
Beasley and Beckerman provided some nice moments but we have capable younger replacements for them.
Wondo and Evans are scrubs that shouldn’t have made the roster to begin with.
Shea’s been as good as Beasley this year, Dax close to Beckerman, Acosta looks pretty good too, I had my questions about Andrew Ferrell but he’s as good as Evans at least. There’s not a bunch of world class players on the horizon but there are some younger replacements there. Lletget and Finlay as good of midfielders as Zardes who i’d like to see leave LA and start playing striker again.
Williams is a younger Jones to some degree.
The pool is bigger but definitely not deeper. The players left behind wouldn’t have made a difference.
Not saying they would but they are younger and we at least could have started some building to 2018.
DAX!! YES!!
I would love to see a Dax, Bradley, Nagbe, Shea midfield. Sounds exciting, if you ask me.
The player that strikes me as up and comer and of need is this kid named Ariyibi, the kid is fast, plays left wing and has good size at 6’1 and not afraid to take on players 1-1.
All the “experts” who answered your question failed to mention Johannsson. One injury and people totally forget you. Up top we have AJ, Altidore, Wood, Morris, maybe Rubin, maybe Kieswsetter to choose from. In the midfield there’s still Bradley, Williams, Zardes and Bedoya or F Johnson on the wings and in the back choices include Cameron, Besler, Gonzalez, Brooks, Alvarado, F Johnson, Orozco, Garza, CCV, Miazga. And guys like Yedlin and Shea can play either wing or outside back. Guys like Nagbe and lletget and Trapp, O’Neill and other youngsters may also pan out. The pool is wide, but the problem is that we don’t have any real star who can turn a game around like a lot of teams do.
You mention our talent pool, the question is will JK fast track them or continue to mess around with players that have limited potential…If I was the coach I woud fast track Kieswsetter and Ariyibi to be my defacto wingers, Wood, Morris are you fast forwards, your second strikers you have Johannsson, RR. There alone you already improved your team’s speed exponentially. What we need is a coach with vision.
What do you do with Zardes? He has speed. Or do you put him up top? Bedoya has shown he is best suited on the wing and he plays at a much higher level than the youngsters you mention. You bring along those guys, but I don’t think you jettison Bedoya who has a great motor.
Also I should mention that winger may be the best positions for both Yedlin and F Johnson, who both have a lot of speed and who both will be in their prime in 2018.
Johnson asked to come off that’s why the Evans sub.
I thought a big weakness was the lack of ability of the attacking players to be in an open position the moment the defense won the ball. Dempsey, Altidore and Zardes in particular were hard to find for the defenders when the finally won the ball. Jones and Bradley were a bit better at that, but they were so often back defending themselves that it was not enough.
I will admit that too often our defenders did not get their heads up to make something positive when they initially won the ball and merely whacked it forward. Since the US was defending with 8 players much of the time, that put the 2 who should have been showing for the ball at a disadvantage. It was pretty much a shared shortcoming no movement to be open at the right moment by the forwards and no vision to spot them if they did. I think in tonight’s game it was the forwards who bore the greatest responsibility for that lack of connection. I am not sure Wondo has the physicality for this game, but he would have at least been in open positions so his teammates could see him.
On the rare occasion when the US did string 2 or 3 initial passes together after winning the ball, they did better and did keep the ball for a while, but those times were just too rare.
The 3 attackers mentioned were awful, most people reading this see a better effort and display of skill from their local team each week.
Time (likely past time) to really shake this team up. It’s time to bid farewell to the “Old Guard” of Beasley, Beckerman, Wondolowski, Evans, Jones, and Dempsey and give the minutes to players who actually have a chance to contribute towards the Qualification process and the 2018 World Cup.
Bring in fresh faces…Nagbe, Finlay, and others…………….
Go all out speed with a 4-3-3 with the following:
——Zardes————-Jozy————-Wood——–
——-Nagbe—————————–Bradley———
————————Williams—————————–
–Fabian—–Besler——-Cameron—–Yedlin—-
————————Guzan——————————-
Bench Options: Howard, Shea, Brooks, Alvarado, Chandler, Johannson, Gyau, Finlay, Kiesewetter, Morris, Gonzalez, Rubin, Morales, Kitchen, Hyndman, Acosta,
He’s hit a bit of a rookie wall but Lletget’s got to be in that mix too
The sum total of Lletget’s professional experience is one or two games for West Ham in a cup game and half a season with the Galaxy. Let’s see if he can do better than the other players in the pool first.
Since when is Jozy a speedster? Morris is the speedster.
I agree but we will see most of these vets in the fourth round of qualifying. I still like Jones for the beginning of the HEX if in form. Too bad he could not make that 2010 WC but did great in 2014. I really do not think we need Deuce anymore except for the fourth round. Eventually new blood will have to be introduced slowly in these hex qualifiers and of course in friendlies There are a lot of good players out there. But the questionsis, does Klinsi have a clue?
I thought Yedlin started shaky because he was nervous, I bet this was his frist 90K+ attendance game.
Yedlin has played in front of huge crowds in a World Cup, in Seattle, and in the EPL. You really think the attendance figures had any impact on his game?
I thought he composed himself as the game progressed. He started to play the way he can, he took a few defenders wide, he dribbled inside. He was starting to get into a groove. I thought he was brought in kind of late into the game.
Besler and Cameron were really classy on the first mexico goal…
And Yedlin sucked on thst assist…
But whatevs.
……and Rafa Marquez didn’t kill anybody.
First of all, these pop up ads on this site blow.
It’s time for wood to replace Jozy on the starting lineup. This team could use some more pace for counters.
If you think the problem tonight was Altidore, then I’m afraid I don’t quite know what to say about your analytical skills.
Jozy did not help.
Secret: confed cup is not really a big deal. Would have preferred to go but not that bothered by it. More bothered that Mexico is now unquestionably the best in the region again.
Wait until qualifying. Mexico will have a string of draws due to teams just bunkering up. Mexico seems to be the best in the region before qualifying; and in the end, the US always seems to win the group.
94,000 people at the game thought it was a big deal. Heck, it’s the biggest game I’ve ever been to. Easy to say from your computer desk.
Just because you were there doesn’t make it a bigger game.
It was a big deal because US Soccer and it’s manager said it was a priority for this team, as well as the GC, so was that not a big deal either?? Tournaments like the Confed Cup and GC cannot be understated for the US because we simply don’t play enough big matches/tournaments to give our players that level of experience, especially considering the Confed Cup field is filled with all of fifa’s confederation champions. That experience is invaluable in my opinion and although I don’t agree with a lot of what JK says and does he message that winning this game for the right to go to Russia a year early was spot on
When the US did well the last time they were at the Confed Cup, a whole bunch of trolls were posting that it was no big deal and nobody cared who won. Depends on your attitude. It’s big because Klinsmann made it big, so he brought this on himself.
Though I said Yedlin was bad, and he was, his pass to put wood in was lovely
Yeah. blame the guy who tied the game and was subbed on 20 minutes too late. Ignorance.
Bradley was pretty good but scuffed 2 or 3 half chances. We needed him to take one of those if we were going to cede possession all night.
Dempsey was largely invisible but I can’t te how much of that to put on him where we had none of the ball and he had to drop so deep just to get touches.
Not as many runs forward from fj as I like to see.
Zardes put in a good shift. Yedlin was pretty bad.
Guys, we only lost by one goal this time! Progress!!
And in the 119th minute. Bob Bradley got sacked after losing 5-2 in 90. And I think this is a better Mexican team than in 2011, but objective facts don’t count here.
We had so much more support this time than in 2011 and huge, huge thanks to AO for all they’ve done building the buzz! The Rose Bowl was rocking!
Wood and Yedlin were refreshing. I though Jones took over the position of being fouled cheaply on and off the ball all night.
Dempsey didn’t seem to have the energy or fight that I am used to seeing from him.
Cameron and Besler looked great in central defense.
Which makes me say- Why were we in this position? we had an opportunity to win the Gold Cup outright and we were playing an inexperienced defense that cost us.
Landon is right. Klinsmann needs to hold himself to the same standard he holds players. It’s time for a change.
Fire Klinsmann.
Yes,I agree that the experimentation D hurt our chances in the Gold Cup.
I agree with you about Cameron and Besler, but you’re failing to remember that Cameron was not available for the GC.
I know Cameron wasn’t available for the GC. That’s why I questioned why we played with an unexperienced back line with no games together. We had more experienced players available. Klinsmann chose to not use them. And he has not been developing a cohesive back line in our friendlies. I don’t see any vision in our lineups. I know he doesn’t make them for me to see, but it seems like a vision would appear after a bunch of games.
I believe Klinsmann needs to hold himself to the level of success that he expects of the players. On that standard, he has failed.
I would not mind if he continued as Director of Technical Development but we need a new coach, a new direction, and a new vision.
Sorry, Juergen; I guess I still don’t get it! I see an emphatic and complete failure of the vertical integration, in every sense. Development, players buying in, results; you name it. You wanted complete control…you got it…and nothing seems to be working. Keep on doing your thing though, man. Haters gonna hate. I have a lot to learn.
Beasley played pretty well I thought. But if he had to do it again I bet he doesn’t go charging after that last ball he was never going to win.
I thought cameron and besler were excellent. Cameron is so classy. That long run with the ball up the right side where he had no business maintaining possession but somehow did was just incredible for a center back. Best player on the field for us tonight for me.
I’m with you man. Beas will get a hard time for positioning on that last goal, but he played like a warrior tonight. If anyone deserves a spot in the Frisco Hall of Fame it is him.
I don’t understand the hate for Klinsmann here. The team fought hard and were beaten on an excellent volley in extra time. Tough loss against a worthy opponent.
Because klinsman tried to play it safe by parking the bus and that’s why he needs to go.
We don’t have the players to play proactive/attacking soccer against Mexico. Nobody in CONCACAF does. Jamaica tried and got shredded in the GC final. Bunker and counter was about the only way to beat them and it almost worked.
I completely agree with that. We play open-style against Mexico and we’d lose by several goals. This was anyone’s game until the very end of 120.
That’s the best we got. I agree.
you talk like playing that style is somehow inferior. Ridiculous.
and not the problem. we used to play that style well, used to win with that style. Now it’s trotted out in desperation and capitulation to the facts of our player pool
there is no problem playing a counter attacking style at all, unless of course you get the keys to the car and a fat pay check based on preaching and promising something else while dissing the style we played tonight
JK said he’d play a better style than this. He bunkered against Belgium in the WC and last night. And last night was AT HOME. We needed Mix or Benny, someone creative. JK is trying to force Bradley into that and it’s just not working.
I am disappointed we lost, but more crushed by the attitude. Mexico came out flying and the US was flat, but I guess that’s what happens when you bunker from minute 1. Your coach is telling you that you are not good enough.
A truly dark day for American soccer.
People here are so US centric that they overlook some key facts. Key fact #1–3 years ago the Mexican U-23 squad won the gold medal at the Olympics. Fact #2–the year before that Mexico won the U-20 World Cup. Those players are now entering their prime and playing for Mexico. By contrast the US didn’t qualify for the Olympics and I think we did not get out of our group in the U-20 WC. So who has the better player pool of young players? Hint, it isn’t the US.
I think you can like Klinsmann but also understand it’s just run it’s coarse. I like Beasley, Jones, and Beckerman too but perhaps its just run it’s coarse on them too.
well then you just haven’t been paying attention for the last four years because tonight was predictable
It’s because he fielded a cynical lineup that played a bunker mentality, and when the U.S. was finally on the front foot after the Wood goal visibly stunned Mexico, he brings on Evans to play for penalties instead of going for it. That’s why.
He subbed Fabian because Fabian said he couldn’t go anymore and asked to be subbed
Was Febian being carried off the field? Sometimes players need to dig deep down and grind it out, he may be tired but he needed to stay for those final minutes. To me it shows that he is not a mentally strong player..
Maybe so, just clearing up the comment. I personally thought this was one of FJs poorest outings
Most people here say J Jones should have been subbed off because he was clearly gassed. Now you’re saying that F Johnson shouldn’t have been subbed off, even though he indicated he wanted to b e taken off, because he wasn’t on a stretcher. So, was Klinsmann right to keep J Jones on?
Yes, good point. But the beef most people have is how he subbed. And why did he not sub out Beasley? He should have done this around the 65 the minute. I think the starting line-up was fine but the sub strategy was not. He should have put the subs in earlier. But my main beef is that Beasley should have been subbed. He subbed so well during the WC; but thereafter, his sub choices and personnel on the field have been head scratchers. It make fan wonder if he has a clue.
the important thing is that there are never goal posts for Jurgen Klinsmann and he is never judged by anything. Nothing is his fault, and he should be credited for any meaningless friendly victory
There are certainly goal posts, it’s just that they keep being moved around.
I wish we would have found a way to win and we could have. But we were clearly the inferior team. That stings.
Not inferior, just not all together. When we decide to make some changes, I see us coming back with a vengeance. This is their’s but ours will be all the more sweeter because we’ve tasted doom and gloom and prevailed above it.
The thing about Jones, though, is that he was still one of the few trying to make things happen on offense towards the end. He was the only player getting into the 18′ box on the last play of the game– at a point where it was obvious we were going to be hoofing it up field.
But he was clearly too tired to track back defensively (although he was trying). two paces behind his mark on every play in the second half.
So maybe the solution was to sub out an ineffective attacking player, let Jones concentrate on the attack, and bring in Danny Williams behind him?
Oh well. No important games for a while. No reason to keep older players around. Let the replacements start getting experience from this day forward.
Qualification for the WC is going to be very iffy with this hot mess of a squad
No question, Klinsmann needed to make major turnover this year but failed to. Remember how much time we wasted on Jones at CB? Now when do we make those changes going forward?
I am unbelievably confused. This was obviously a conscious decision by Klinsmann to trot out the absolute antithesis of the style of play he has preached since being hired. Its sad considering we have seen this group play fairly attractive, positive, and proactive soccer against opponents of this caliber and greater. He has been in charge for how many years now, and we revert back to this? I am so disappointed by this lose, but the way we lost was the real heartbreak of the night.
Today was an absolute disaster for the US. The Olympic Team has all but been bounced from the Olympics and the senior team from the Confed Cup. The Gold Cup was a major failure.
What is more concerning is that the US has regressed in its play under Klinsmann despite having the deepest pool of US players in history. I can’t remember a time where the US played with so little possession and with virtually no imagination.
Klinsmann must go NOW. Period. Any day of a delay in firing him is a waste of time.
Why wait so long to make subs when altidore and jones are clearly dead out there?
Sorry, I know its trendy here to rag on Altidore, but if you’re going to go after him and not Deuce you did not watch the game.
I’m so done with Klinsi. Change needed. It’s not that we lost. It’s the way we played.
As an aside, I’ll generally give him credit for his substitutions, but I will never understand why he took Zardes off for Yedlin instead of Jones. Jones was absolutely gassed and it cost us on the Peralta goal.
When you play like this, you mostly lose.
Silly Americans. You’re sad but you don’t get it.
You’re mad because you don’t understand the game.
Silly darwin, your theories don’t hold up. Where are your facts? 17 words and no originality, what a troll!
Yet still over your head with my Klinsmann parody.
IMO Zardes may be a player of the future but he is not at this level yet
So this comes as a shock? Klinnsy plays a natural left winget on the right. Plays two natural defensive mids as a trequartista and as a left midfielder. He plays on rightbackdefensive mid as a centerback. He has three wing type players playing in the back. All the while he kept Yedlin in the bench, only to sub him in for Zardes. Who was playing out of position. Altidore was much more better than Clint. But that is not really saying much since it took Bobby Wood to duece up the game.
This team is screwed with Klinnsman. My only satisfaction in all this is that Mexico will be going to the conferderations cup with JCO as head coach. I can only fathom his lineups. Maybe Peralta at rightback while Gio plays defensive mid?
Who is the natural left winger?
Believe he’s talking about Fabian.
I agree with you for the most part, but Cameron plays CB for a midtable premier league club.
And Jones is certainly not a natural left winger. Sometimes (usually, actually), the “plays people out of position” thing can be over done.
120 minutes of holding on by fingernails is painful to watch.
He left Jones in about 60 mins too long…
What would a new coach do?
Get better results.
Not with these players.
It wasn’t the players decision to bunker in the entire game.
True. It was their skill level that caused us to bunker.
So, your suggestion is that we should just quit then?
No. Just that we should be realistic. A new coach wouldn’t solve everything. This is the team we have.
We’re not looking to solve everything by changing the coach. We’re trying to solve the bad coaching part of the problem.
False. It was player selection throughout the cycle, lack of a cohesive unit ever, tactical shortcomings, losses and poor performances in games that count so an eroding belief in the manager’s ability, arrogance, playing players out of position….
could go on but what’s the point. You are obviously blinded to these realities for whatever reason, to the point of talking sh!t here as if you’re onto something.
cheers
+1 beachbum
It’s funny that I can no longer tell if your are debating a troll or, one of the last remaining JK supporters.
funnier still that it’s understood that of course! he’ll still be the coach
BS – If Klinsmann had subbed Beasley, Dempsey, and left on Zardes, Jozy and Johnson, we’d have won that one. If he does a better job in Gold Cup, we are not even playing.
and subbed a gassed Jones.
Start building towards Russia with a fresh approach, look at the pool and new message. You can like Klinsmann but understand its just run it’s coarse. The players have tuned him out. Personally I think JKs a fine manager but that’s just the cycle of these things.
“The players have tuned him out.” What is the basis for statements like this? It looked to me like eleven guys where out there playing their butts off, they just weren’t good enough tonight. If they have tuned him out, it’s going to be the players whose cycles are over, not the coach.
Mostly that all Klinsmann talks about is pushing yourself to fight for minutes in Europe and more and more are coming to MLS. That message at least is being completely ignored.
then get 11 different players…we have many available that are better in MLS than most of these guys. Give Dempsey a gold watch and Landon him
If you play a counter game, you better have players that run fast. It took JK 90+ minutes to figure that out.
Do better.
Just look at Pinto and how he got Honduras U23 to play. There you can see what a good coach (Pinto) can do and a bad coach (Herzog).
Fire ? Klinsmann asap.
Although this game had all the build up/hype of a world cup final for some reason, a spot in the Confederations Cup is not that big a deal. And that isn’t sour grapes, I’ve been saying this all along.
What’s clear is that this is a coach who’s taken this team has far as he can take it (and btw that’s no further than his predecessors) and now it’s time for some fresh faces, new ideas etc. Now is the perfect time to make a change, with WC qualifying about to start and a nice easy group for the new coach to get his feet wet.
Yeah, ever since Mexico won the Gold Medal I don’t care about the Olympics either.
Been saying this all week Rob. Go celebrate your team’s win instead of trolling US fans.
This game, the Gold Cup, and Confederations Cup are all big deals. No, they aren’t qualifying or the World Cup, but they still matter on multiple fronts.
As for Klinsmann, I just don’t know anywhere. I was thrilled when he was hired and I like his vocal style in terms of bringing up big issues of the sport in the US. Finding and bringing new players into the fold has been good as well. But, final player choices and tactics seem to be steadily declining. Substitutions are often confusing me as well. I don’t think you fire him yet, but he is just about there.
As for tonight, our shape was horrendous and the whole 3 DM idea was just stupid, although expected. Then, to make matters worse, he subs out the one guy capable of helping us (Zardes) for Yedlin. While the Yedlin inclusion is great, you need to sub off Jones/Beckerman and run a 2 DM middle and let the fast and offensive players do some work while still tracking back to cover. The Wood substitution was positive regardless of the goal, but that certainly helps. All in all, we were outplayed and never maintained possession minus a 5 -10 minute spurt here and there. We should still have pulled it off as we had the momentum going after the Wood goal, but then the deflating volley finished us off.
Costa Rica next…
I have been one of Klinsmann’s most adamant supporters. People around here can attest to that.
Just saying…that was not a good performance tonight. If he’s got some Master Plan, it’s too deep for me.
Combined with the failures of the U-23’s…just saying…it might – MIGHT – be time for a change. Not a knee-jerk one…but I think there’s enough talent here in the USA we might not need whatever it is Klinsmann is doing anymore.
Bruce Arena said awhile back: “we’ll come up with some solution that is just…American.”
Dunno. But it seems like Klinsmann played his Chosen Ones tonight, and they did not respond. It cost us the Confeds Cup. Granted, I of all people am very aware that the USA has a MASSIVE talent gap between the U-23 and…uhm, the U-30 level, a talent gap that has nothing to do with Klinsmann, and we’re stuck between playing guys who are either too young or too old.
Still was not a good performance, and I did not like the body lingo of our players.
Might be time to switch. If we can switch…intelligently. So c’mon, peoples…who you got? We aren’t Mexico, and can’t afford to knee-jerk like they do. Make some sense.
hey quozzel, great post. love the Bruce
Also the U20s got beat 8-1 against Germany today. Pretty bad day at every level.
Nice post quozzel. we certainly cannot blame a coach for the fact that there are no replacement players for our 30+ veterans except for unproven younger players who have found it challenging to qualify for under age tournaments in recent years. I think Klinsmann will stay in charge so the big question will be who will he bring in for the World Cup qualifiers? If he does what he says and heads roll and we see an overhaul of this lineup, I’m all for that and wil give him the first round of wcq to sort it out
As another Klinsmann supporter I would say that I would have no problem if he is sacked. However, I think a lot of people here are unrealistic when it comes to who would be willing to take the position. Also, I don’t know that the result would have been much different. While i would disagree with some decisions that he made in this game, the fact is that Mexico passes so much better. Their completion rate must have been in the middle 90% range. And the idea that bringing in a couple of guys having a good season in MLS will turn the team around is also glaringly false, IMHO. Mexico plays like Klinsmann want the US to play, but the US doesn’t have the ability to play that way. So many times they would get the ball then made a bad pass and turned it over, failing to relieve the pressure. And I’m talking about guys who play or have played at a higher level than MLS. I don’t know what the answer is outside of another decade of slow development. The US is still a long way from closing the talent gap with a lot of other teams. Well, the sun came up this morning and there are more important things than the USMNT.
Well its crazy we lost with his proactive style of soccer. Its time to cut our losses.
Why did Dempsey get taking off the pitch with an injury so early in the game? Would have been good to have him.
He’s carried us enough times, just think he’s hit a wall of sorts
Altidore gets all the hate on this site, but too anybody who watched the game, he was leaps and bounds better the Deuce. Still not great, but at least involved.
For this game you are not using a good measuring stick, both looked bad. Jozy is a limited player in my book, he needs to be served in a particular way otherwise he is not going to give you much, Jozy can’t win a header even if his life dependent on. He is nowhere a clinical finisher. Wood on the other hand, is way faster and is able to get to open areas faster and get off a shot.
For some reason I hate San Zusi a lot more right now
+1
This is impossible, Klinsmann has never lost to to Mexico. Somebody better check this.
No no, if we just give Deuce 120 more minutes he’ll score eventually.
At least he’ll still be fresh after 120 more minutes, because he barely ran the whole game.
Yes. They should have taken out Beckerman on a yellow or Jones who looked gassed at min 70, and replaced him with Wood and had Clint drop back as a false 9/CAM rolel
All due respect to him scoring some amazing goals in his career, but we just can’t afford to have someone strutting around up there, throwing his arms up when he doesn’t get a pass. Dempsey is deadly with the ball, but for the 90% of the game he doesn’t have it, he is infuriating to watch.
It’s basically impossible to have Clint and Jozy on the field at the same time. Jozy at least was getting involved as best he could though made some horrific turnovers when the U.S. Desperately needed to hold up possession. Dempsey offered absolutely nothing…lazy all over the field and I’m tired of watching him try to take on 4 defenders by himself, falling over and crying to the ref for a call. There’s better options in the withdrawn attacker position……Nguyen perhaps?
Clint never seems to do much at the international level. I cant figure out why Klinsmann keeps starting him.
Are you serious? I hope you are being sarcastic. Highest rate of scoring among all US internationals, only US player to score in 3 WC’s and he scored 2 in the last one. Second most goals in US history while playing much of that time as a midfielder rather than a striker.
He had to be joking. Even the name “Lava Lamp” suggests hallucinogenic delusion.