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USMNT to play November friendlies in Europe, full 2018 schedule

Failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup isn’t stopping the U.S. Men’s National Team from still playing a full schedule in the future.

U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati confirmed on Friday morning that there’s already a game lined up in November to be set in Europe with another one likely happening as well.

“We do have at least one game and probably two with the senior national team in November,” Gulati said. “The first game is in Europe and the second game is likely to be in Europe.”

Gulati also mentioned that a manager for those games will be named shortly after the resignation of Bruce Arena on Friday.

Despite their absence from the World Cup and nothing competitive to play for until the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup, the Americans are going ahead with a full schedule for the next calendar year, one that hopefully features fresh faces and starts the developmental process toward 2022.

“In terms of activity in 2018 and the rest of this year, we’ll have a full program of games and I expect us to play on all the FIFA dates as well as some dates prior to the World Cup against teams that are going to the World Cup or not. We’ll have a full calendar of games,” Gulati said.

Comments

  1. Clearly SBI commenters have all the wisdom needed to right the soccer ship in the USA. The question is which commentator has it right?

    Anyone who claims to have all the answers is clearly wrong.

    Since my bit is worth as much or as worthless as anyone elses, I will simply say that until the US has more than a few players capable of playing among equals when they step on the field against national teams like Mexico or better nothing will change.

    I suspect the players who participated in the youth soccer explosion in the late 80s and 90s will have grandchildren playing when the US makes a serious run at a WC title (so maybe another 25 years). The reason is that it is parents, not coaches who encourage and guide young players in their formative years. Mostly coaches do not really get involved (beyond the babysitters now dealing with 12 year-olds and younger). Some of those parent/coach/babysitters will be people who actually played unlike in 1990, that will raise the level for the youngest players and that is what is needed to be ready when those few talented players get older and can actually benefit from higher level training.

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  2. Nope these fools should finish out the year in shame

    ———————–Altidore——————-

    Nagbe————-Dempsey——–Arriola

    ———–Bradley———-McCarthy——–

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  3. How naive most of you are. Ramos is a terrible coach. You want to play 2nd and 3d division Americans? McKennie didn’t even dress today. Wright in a losing effort for Sandhausen. Gulati will NOT resign and will be re-elected. It will be totally ridiculous to follow the USMNT in the next 2-3 years and beyond. Face it, for a country that has little soccer culture, we have even less now. If really interested in soccer, you should follow the EPL. MLS as well as the USMNT are jokes.

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    • Yes, our soccer culture is clearly lacking when people rant about how bad said player must be that he didn’t even dress, when its been well documented that said player was injured.

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      • How interesting. The only US player besides Pulisic in BL1 is out injured after only a handful of starts. Hope it’s a minor injury. If not, let’s see if he’ll play many more matches. The US is badly hurting for potential starters.

    • Please actually do some research before calling people naive you obviously have no idea what Americans are playing in the Bundesliga.

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      • Wood (maybe), Johnson, Chandler? Green in the 3d division? I’m talking about the young ones in BL1, not the guys who failed to contribute anything to the USMNT. You’re the naive one, my friend. Why else would you comment on a site that has nothing to say?

  4. What about Friedel as caretaker? He’s managed the U18s the last couple of years, has helped with other youth level teams, through his work for FOX is up on latest tactics and talent.
    ———————————————————————————————————————
    How amazing would it be if Gulati named Lalas as the new technical director, the internet would literally explode!!!!!!!!! (I’m kidding by the way that would be a terrible idea)

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  5. Tree in a forest as far as I’m concerned. I will not be dictacting my time, money or energy towards these meaningless friendlies until Gulati is out, or a more clear path forward is announcement with his reassignment/replacement is hired.

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  6. One of the kids that impresses me from MLS is from Chicago Fire, his name is Djordje Mihailovic, 18 y.o. 5’10, he looks very promising as an ACM.

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  7. Tab is the only one that makes sense for the short term. Hes already on the payroll and knows the players from the present team, down through the younger NAT teams. I want to see us go even younger in some cases. There are a few at the U17 WC I would like to see in the mix too. Sargent and a few others should at least be called in. See if they fit. If theyre 17 now, they will be 21 by the next WC and before people start saying theyre too young….. how old is Pulisic? Sargent goes to Germany as soon as he turns 18 and he’s not the only good one on that team. Start them now. We have nothing to lose and theyre tons better than people like Zardes or Acosta

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    • Pulisic had at least played some professional matches. We have two years before our next competitive match plenty of time to see youngsters when they actually start playing against adults.

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  8. I like Tab as an interim coach, he knows the young ones very well, that is, the ones he thinks are good. He didn’t think much of Keaton Parks or Haji Wright. Hopefully, he will give everyone a second chance.

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    • Reply to LouisZ
      Wright for sure was not released from his club, Parks wasn’t on my radar last Spring, but he probably wasn’t either most of the Euro clubs were in season until a few days before the U20 WC. Perez, Olosunde, McKennie, Gaines, and Taitague were all unavailable because their teams were still playing and youth tournaments are not FIFA mandatory release.

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      • Then we will know for sure what he thinks in this November’s FIFA dates, he can have anyone he sees as a near future contributor for the next cycle.

  9. Fabian is done with the national team. Hes on record saying he only wants to show up for the big games and we don’t have any of those anymore. I think its also pretty obvious he thinks hes too good to play LB.

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  10. Is Tab R the best man for the job? Get the T&T coach. Any one capable to get a result against us with T&T is the kind of overachiever we need. Or the Panamanian gaffer?

    How about an American: Vermes?

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    • @John I didn’t say Tab Ramos should be in charge of the next cycle. But if there’s no new coach in place before the November friendlies, he’s probably the guy to hold down the fort.

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  11. Fire yourself Gulati!

    Whoever the interim coach is better call in a team of under 25’s. I think Tab Ramos may fill in until we find a true replacement.

    Here’s my roster:
    GK: Horvath
    RB: Yedlin
    CB: Miazga
    CB: Carter-Vickers
    CB: John Brooks
    LB: Fabian Johnson (no other options, so call in FJ as an apology for leaving him out)
    DCM: Acosta
    DCM: McKennie
    RAM: Gooch
    LAM: Pulisic (would play him centrally in a real game but this is a friendly)
    ST: Wood

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    • There was good reason FJ was left out. He just was lacking effort and going through the motions the last few times I’ve seen him play for the Nats. When Howard made those comments about some dual nationals lacking commitment, I’m pretty sure Fabian Johnson was one those he was meaning.

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    • Our left back of the future is Kellyn Acosta. He was very good there these against Panama and T&T. He has experience playing there, and there are no other good options.

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      • Actually, I think John Nelson is the LB of the future. In all the YNT games I’ve seen him play Most recently with Friedels U-19 team in 2017, he makes no mistakes in defensive positioning, stops 1v1 challenges or steers attackers into help if he cannot and he gets forward appropriately to attack with quality crosses or goals.

        Right now he is a freshman at NC and I know a lot of people will claim that will hurt him, but I think his weakness is he is still a kid, not that he lacks savvy or defensive instincts. There is nothing but the passing of time that will bring his physical maturity on. He is not one of those youth players who succeed mostly because they reach maturity early.

        FWIW, A player on the present U-17s (George Acosta) is similar in his slower physical maturity to John Nelson so he too has to depend on smarts and skill. I have seen him less often, but …

    • Canouse could be an option with DC out of playoffs, Yueill and Thompson could be bench players for that squad as well. I would think you would have to bring in Green and I wouldn’t be opposed to Ariyibi and Gyau even though they are playing at lower levels. If NYRB is out early I would like to see Tyler Adams. You would also have young wingers in Maki Tall and Romain Gall who Ramos would be familiar with. Novakovich has been doing well in the Dutch 2nd league. Young defenders in Europe might be harder to come by. Shaq Moore has seen the bench twice, after a 2nd Division season last year. Payne would also be an option.

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      • So his team got runover and gave up seven goals and you think that proves your point. I’m done arguing about this because it’s pointless, you are focused on a symptom of the team not the illness. Moving Cameron to DM is like saying a kleenex will cure your pneumonia. The runny nose isn’t whats wrong with you, it’s the infection in your lungs. The problem wasn’t Bradley his poor play was a symptom, had Cameron played there the formation and tactics were still in place just like an infection in the lungs.

      • @Johnnyrazor
        it is pointless to argue with someone who can actually believe a midfielder in the English Premier League is not better than a midfielder in MLS….hahahahahaha that is just ABSOLUTELY ludacris!!!! HAHAHAHAHA and people wonder why we lost

      • Probably pointless to argue with someone who wanted to call in Marvell Wynne for this round of qualifying even though he hasn’t played all season because of a heart condition. Or used to rant about how Wondo was the solution at forward or once suggested Aaron Schoenfeld was the answer because he scored a couple goals in the Israeli Relegation Playoffs.

      • @Johnnyrazor
        to troubleshoot a problem you have to fix one symptom at a time. When you have too many things wrong at once you have to eliminate what is in clear view…….and the GUYS PLAYING IN TOP LEAGUES LIKE FABIAN JOHNSON, GEOFF CAMERON, TIMMY CHANDLER, MCKENNIE ETC, that understand the feeling of FIGHTING FOR A SPOT ON THE TEAM should have been on the field. The back-line are disconnected from the forwards so fix that first, then continue to fine tune until you get things right. They didn’t AND WITH YOUR WAY OF THINKING WE LOST, AGAINST A WINLESS TEAM.

      • @Johnnyrazor
        Hahahahaha….a person with a heart condition will actually have an excuse FOR WALKING THE WHOLE GAME hahahahahaha…and wondo that “sucks” has 12 goals and 6 assists…one goal behind Altidore. So If he sucks then we both know Altidore sucks hahahahahahaha
        An EPL midfielder is better than a lazy MLS midfielder (some people are slow to get it hahahaha)

  12. There are already some and potientially more big names not going. Why not create a NIT of soccer, they are going to 48 in 4 years anyways. But due a tournament of 16 teams with Ghana, Chile, Holland, potientially Italy, Australia, Peru/NZ, China and others. Could have decent evening ratings since World Cup games could be really early. It grows the game in China, keeps the US somewhat interested, and would be with younger stars of these nations.

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    • Actually had that thought myself and I think it’s a good one.

      Would turn into a glorified U23 event, but since these countries are clearly the ones that could use help improving for the future anyway, wouldn’t that be useful?

      If Gulati is the least bit proactive and wants to do something actually useful with his job for US soccer, he needs to get on it!

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      • What? No, they lost. Isn’t this attitude part of the problem? The arrogance? And how fans are also arrogant? The US is out of the tournament. Next up are the Olympic qualifiers for u-23. There’s the Toulon tournament. Just because the US isn’t making it why do you assume that creating your own tournament is the way to move forward? It just says “we’re bad losers, we’re the US so we make our own rules, and of course everyone else who didn’t make it would want to follow our lead.” No. Others have been in the same position. You fix your s$#t and move forward. Suck it up and instead of trying to build your own little meaningless tournament (Copa Centenario anyone?) it may be helpful to actually realize there are consequences when you eff up. The message that we can play with the Netherlands, maybe Italy, and a bunch of others anyway in a tournament of our creation because we didn’t have the wherewithal to make it to the big show is American exceptionalism at its worst.

  13. Good idea having these games in Europe! Pretty attendance would be pretty low if these game were played in the US. Those that did attend would probably boo their hearts out.

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    • This is a tough time to ask US fans to come out to support their team. Let them go off and play fluffer for the teams that actually made it, give Dempsey another chance to get his record, and come back in August after we’ve poached a coach from another WC team.

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      • give Dempsey another chance to break the record? is this necessary? I like where he landed, tied with Landon Donovan. if he pops one in vs slovenia in November in front of 2k fans that couldn’t care less and a bunch of bitter fans back home does that help anyone?

        it takes valuable minutes away from new players.

  14. I agree with Ivan. But USNT needs friendlies to start develop new players, while Osorio finish his contract with the “green rats”.

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    • US should organize a tournament next year prior to world cup with teams who failed to qualify- chile, netherlands- and offer some serious bucks for teams to bring their best. Put it on ESPN, or something. Also, I wish loretta lynch wouldve called the US team prior to T&T game to tell them “uh, T&T may be pi$$ed, and may be playing for payback.’

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