Gold Cup

[mustache eagle 2,399]

Thought I’d get a thread going.  Figure someone can start a USWNT - World Cup thread at some point.

i watched the US trot out one of the least inspiring men’s teams that I can recall for a 0-1 loss to Jamaica.  They flashed a stat that the lass home loss to a Caribbean team was Jamaica in 2015 and the last time before that ... 1969.

it was the weakest hearted performance I can recall seeing.  Body language and effort just sucked.  There were a few bright spots.  Most notably josh sergeant.  He fought till the final whistle.

[AUBwins 10,075]

Is some of the team not available due to the U20 group playing right now? They just upset France to advance to the quarters.

[mustache eagle 2,399]

2 hours ago, AUBwins said:

Is some of the team not available due to the U20 group playing right now? They just upset France to advance to the quarters.

If I recall, they wanted some players, like Weah, to get max minutes on the field and in a big environment so that wanted him to play on the U-20 team.  Maybe one other guy was the same, cant recall names.

Pulisic, McKennie, Adams and a couple of others arent showing up until a few days from now.  Zardes and Altidore are nursing some things.  Yedlin had surgery and is out this summer. etc...

They were trying a new formation and some young players and had only practiced 2 or 3 times together ... and they played like it.  My biggest problem was the shear lack of effort and interest.  Instead of turning the game off, which I  wanted to do, it became this weird morbid curiosity - are these guys really playing with this little passion???  Not every one of them, mind you, but it was ... well less just say very few of them will be on the "all manly man team" after that game.  Josh Sargeant played full gas the whole game, had some chances, but as a target forward, needs creative help.  there were some positive moments in the first 10 minutes then it went downhill from there till the final whistle ... and then the booing began.  

I am generally against booing "my" team.  I dont necessarily have a problem with it for the pros, but this team last night absolutely deserved to be booed off the field.  It was that bad.  Again, I can excuse the poor technical play and lack of familiarity with each other and the system ... but the pure lack of grit by a majority of the players on the field was pathetic.

[mustache eagle 2,399]

No one seems to be interested in the gold cup just yet ... maybe some other soccer peeps will show up.  if not, i'll try to stomach through another game ... which I hope will be a full senior squad finally. 

The loss to Venezuela was another abysmal showing - got booed off the field at half time and full time again.  IMO, it was slightly better than the loss to Jamaica for some individual players.  The ESPN player rankings don't agree with my views, but here are a few thoughts.  The new international from New Zealand, Boyd, I thought was really solid going forward.  His crosses, energy and attempts at creativity were welcome to see.  I think he will be one to keep an eye on.  I think he brings all the positives that Ariola brings, but with more speed.  McKennie settled down the midfield some.  He didn't have enough touches, but I thought he was generally positive.  Altidore was a dramatic improvement at the 9 when he came in for Zardes.  It really showed me that Zardes is not the future.  The future of this team would have benefited with Sargent getting the time.  I like Zardes body language, but he just simply isn't getting it done.  I have been a critic of Altidore in the past.  I think he plays below his abilities far too often, plus the injury bug he is prone to but he provided hold up and passing that was sorely missed.

The defense and Steffen was just not good enough.  Any technical team would have obliterated our D.  Roldan keeps getting a touch more love from people, but I just don't see it.  I thought he was one of our better players, but that really isn't saying much.  I saved a little for Trapp ... I know people love to hate on Bradley, but Bradley would have single-handedly made a difference in this game sitting above the back line.  I've seen enough of Trapp to think he is simply not the answer.  He gets bullied way way way to easy for a 6 and the very few times he moves the ball forward it is often a poor pass.

This national team might be more technically gifted than the past, but they do not have the grit and determination to overcome what is still less technical skills than other teams.  Venezuela made us look like a B team at times.  We did create significantly more chances in the final third but couldn't finish any of them.  Morris had a nice shot soon after subbing in, but he isn't international quality either.  Right now, I would be for a national team made up primarily of Bundesliga pros plus the few EPL guys and literally a small group of MLS guys.  

I am thinking the inclusion of Bradley, Adams, Pulisic, Brooks (I'd add Yedlin if healthy) will shore up the midfield and add creativity.  Although I like Adams and Pulisic, we really need players with more bite.  That is one of the things we miss without Jermaine Jones, Beckerman, Fabian Johnson ... This team needs a tough guy leader.  I'm not sure it is there.  Bradley? Altidore?  Maybe it will be McKennie.  I guess we will see.  They will lose the fan base really fast with a wimpy showing this summer.

[AUBwins 10,075]

Your last paragraph says a lot.  I agree.  We need some toughness. 

[aucanucktiger 1,791]

Bludgeoned T&T but Zardes must start converting more of those quality chances. Having outstanding midfield, adeqaute forwards, better than avg keeping and a typical concacaf (dreadful) defense is not unusual but its funny seeing our best "defender" playing the #6 position, Bradley. Against Mexico we trail 1-0 three mins into this game. Our attacking third work was wonderful 2d half, we'll need that to overcome our defense.

[mustache eagle 2,399]

Overall the play was better but there is much improvement to be done.

zardes did some good work but he - and others - gotta convert.  I liked McKennie’s added bite.  Boyd has truly lifted this team and pulisic is such a great facilitator.  Ariola I don’t love but he does well.  I liked some of Lima’s offense but worry about the D.  I’d prefer yedlins ability to recover defensively.  

Will be interesting to see what happens when brooks, Adams, yedlin and a couple others get back.  I think altidore can really benefit with the improved creativity on offense.

overall was an optimistic game

[AUDub 11,147]

Was a nice win with what was basically our C team against Panama last night.

Jozy biking it into goal was a thing of beauty. The body control to set himself for that shot was classic Jozy. Hope he's getting back into form.

[mustache eagle 2,399]

altidore is a great athlete.  when he works hard and has creative people around him, he really can make some great plays.  last nights team vs the first 2 games was stark in their differences and a definitive downgrade.  i thought our center back pairing did fairly well last night.  they at least played physical.  i know roldan made some mistakes but overall i liked his play.  he tried to be creative. 

mihalovic --> my mom said if you dont have anything nice to say then say nothing at all ... well, here is me saying nothing at all ... {crickets} ...

sean johnson played well.  everybody other than the above mentioned player did a few things well.  but also did some poor things.  i will give last nights team this, they are at least trying to play on the front foot, which is fairly new generation thing.  i also thought they played with heart last night and some grit, which has been one of my personal complaints with the USMNT the last couple years.  btw, was will trapp actually on the field?  did he touch the ball?

yes the bicycle kick was cool!

[AUDub 11,147]

6 hours ago, mustache eagle said:

altidore is a great athlete.  when he works hard and has creative people around him, he really can make some great plays.  last nights team vs the first 2 games was stark in their differences and a definitive downgrade.  i thought our center back pairing did fairly well last night.

Miazga made Gonzalez look good by association. I'm literally dying to see a Brooks/Miazga pairing at CB going forward. 

6 hours ago, mustache eagle said:

 they at least played physical.  i know roldan made some mistakes but overall i liked his play.  he tried to be creative. 

Yeah he took some risks, none of which really paid off though. He did have one excellent one that Jozy could have handled better. 

6 hours ago, mustache eagle said:

mihalovic --> my mom said if you dont have anything nice to say then say nothing at all ... well, here is me saying nothing at all ... {crickets} ...

He's not strong enough for this level yet. Seems like every play was him getting out muscled and out worked.

6 hours ago, mustache eagle said:

sean johnson played well.  everybody other than the above mentioned player did a few things well.  but also did some poor things.  i will give last nights team this, they are at least trying to play on the front foot, which is fairly new generation thing.  i also thought they played with heart last night and some grit, which has been one of my personal complaints with the USMNT the last couple years.  btw, was will trapp actually on the field?  did he touch the ball?

Trapp was pretty much invisible. In his defense, the 6 generally is in Gregg's system. Hold the ball, don't screw it up. He doesn't have Bradley's ability to find the guys streaking down the wings and get things moving.

6 hours ago, mustache eagle said:

yes the bicycle kick was cool!

Damn straight. 

[AUDub 11,147]

Lazy, poor game last night. Bad tactics. Bad effort. Even Pulisic’s usually excellent touch wasn’t there. USMNT was just parking the bus late (not a bad idea, as Curaçao scores a lot of late goals).  Steffen did good work and preserved the shutout. 

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

On 7/1/2019 at 8:17 AM, AUDub said:

Lazy, poor game last night. Bad tactics. Bad effort. Even Pulisic’s usually excellent touch wasn’t there. USMNT was just parking the bus late (not a bad idea, as Curaçao scores a lot of late goals).  Steffen did good work and preserved the shutout. 

Neither of the two big countries (U.S. and Mexico) have looked particularly good this tournament.  Mexico especially has been shaky in the knockouts.

[AUBwins 10,075]

GOOOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLL!

FANTASTIC touch passing to set up the Goal. 

[AUDub 11,147]

What an awful time for a weather delay. We were pouring it on. 

[AUBwins 10,075]

Yes,  I was enjoying this a lot! 

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

Well at least there's no work to worry about waking up for tomorrow!

[AUDub 11,147]

5 minutes ago, Brad_ATX said:

Well at least there's no work to worry about waking up for tomorrow!

The bitching of those complaining about having to work tomorrow in the reddit thread fuels me. 

[AUDub 11,147]

Man, Reggae Boys really piling on the pressure. 

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

Pulisic is dreamy

[AUDub 11,147]

6 minutes ago, Brad_ATX said:

Pulisic is dreamy

Boy wonder bailed us out

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

19 minutes ago, AUDub said:

Boy wonder bailed us out

Big-time.  The rain delay really hurt them tonight.  Totally different game after that break.  We were firing on all cylinders early.  That 15 minutes was the best they've looked in several years to me.

[AUDub 11,147]

Going to be an interesting game against el Tri. They haven't looked very creative in the attack all tournament. Pretty much Pizzaro and Jimenez doing their thing while the rest bunker down.

If Pulisic keeps clowning people, there will be opportunities. Just hope we start Jozy instead of Gyasi; he's so much better at hold-up play. 

Of course, now that I just said that, Gyasi will probably start and score another accidental goal, this time off his balls or something.

[AUDub 11,147]

He’s so filthy. 

 

[AUDub 11,147]

GGG got the line up right. Let's see if we can cash in.

[kevon67 2,368]

31 minutes ago, AUDub said:

GGG got the line up right. Let's see if we can cash in.

Haven't heard from my gaming buddy of 7yrs so I assume bad news for the Netherlands.