Geoff Cameron thinks the U.S. Men’s National Team may have hit rock bottom a month ago, but that has not discouraged him from the hopes of turning things around ahead of the squad’s upcoming World Cup qualifying games.
“It was definitely disappointing,” Cameron told NBC Sports of the CONCACAF Cup loss to Mexico in October. “This might be the lowest point we’ve had with the national team but saying that we have got big shoulders and we can take the pressure and the criticism. We know we haven’t been playing our best and we let the game slip away against Mexico.
“We might have not performed as well as we could. We didn’t dominate the game. Mexico had more possession and you can look at all the aspects but we showed the resilience of the U.S. in our attitude of never giving up, putting shifts and in sacrificing for one another. We did that,” Cameron added. “It was unfortunate that two minutes before going into penalties he (Paul Aguilar) scores a wondergoal. It was disappointing.”
Days later, the U.S. dropped a 1-0 result to Costa Rica in a friendly at Red Bull Arena, further intensifying the volume of criticism for head coach Jurgen Klinsmann, but Cameron said the squad’s failures as of late cannot be thrown on one singular person.
“Losing against Costa Rica, that was a game where maybe guys heads weren’t there fully… but there’s no excuses,” Cameron said. “We all know that as individuals we need to perform, we need to do better. It doesn’t come down just to Jurgen. It comes down to us as players as well.
“(Klinsmann) picks the team and the players he thinks are doing well and playing but us as individuals we need to perform. If individuals aren’t performing then it is not fair to just criticize one person,” Cameron told NBC Sports. “You have to criticize everybody. We need to do that and work well as one like we were before the World Cup. I think that maybe we are on a bit of a downward spiral. We need to be able to turn that around and with the U.S. we’ve always been able to turn it around. Hopefully these upcoming games will give us a chance to do that.”
The USMNT will take on St. Vincent and the Grenadines in St. Louis on Friday before traveling to face Trinidad and Tobago in Port of Spain next Tuesday.
The title of this article is “Cameron backs Klinsmann ahead of World Cup qualifiers”
But then it goes on and gives the following quotes…
“This might be the lowest point we’ve had with the national team… We know we haven’t been playing our best and we let the game slip away against Mexico.
“We might have not performed as well as we could. We didn’t dominate the game. Mexico had more possession and you can look at all the aspects but we showed the resilience of the U.S. in our attitude…”
“Losing against Costa Rica, that was a game where maybe guys heads weren’t there fully… but there’s no excuses,” Cameron said. “We all know that as individuals we need to perform, we need to do better. It doesn’t come down just to Jurgen. It comes down to us as players as well.
“(Klinsmann) picks the team and the players he thinks are doing well and playing but us as individuals we need to perform. If individuals aren’t performing then it is not fair to just criticize one person,” Cameron told NBC Sports. “You have to criticize everybody. We need to do that and work well as one like we were before the World Cup. I think that maybe we are on a bit of a downward spiral…”
While Cameron is saying that you can’t just blame Klinsmann, in no way does this look like a great vote of confidence. Obviously Cameron can’t condemn his current coach in public, but he is essentially saying that they suck, but unlike his sorry excuse for a coach, Cameron is actually taking some blame. These quotes could easily be taken as a plea for help.
Wonder if he was asked about the Fabian situation?
Sounds like the US players have learned what to say to the media in order to not upset Klinsi and keep their positions on the team.
…or it could what he thinks. However, don’t let facts get in the way of an opinion.
Which is yours? Fact or opinion?
Yes, it could certainly be what he thinks but if it wasn’t he’d still say exactly the same thing so it doesn’t really tell us much. Not sure what facts Anthony is referring to – this is all opinion.
I sometimes wonder if posters here ever read about any other team or any other sports. This stuff goes on all the time. How often do you see a player come out publicly and criticize a coach? You would have to be a total idiot to do that. Plus, you or Cameron in this case, isn’t just playing for the coach, he is playing for his country. Don’t you people have any life experience? I have been stuck with a lot of less than stellar bosses. That doesn’t mean you don’t give your best anyway.