Was just going to post that he's been quiet. Couple of things: George Clinton has been beating the crap out of him, and since our midfield play has been bad he's had little supply. Pusilic has been able to create on his own, but Jozy hasn't/can't.
USMNT: To Rüssia With Love
- Thread starter Titans Bastard
- Start date
Oh, my high school spanish is way off.
if you google Kellyn Acosta it says in the little box on the right Education: Southern New Hampshire University.
I thought the kid played at Dallas? Online stuff?
SNHU has a partnership with MLS and I think a bunch of guys have gotten/finished degrees via their online program.
Oh that is pretty cool especially with the junior clubs growing and scooping more players into the system.
has Bradley had one set piece into a dangerous area? like, something that could be played by his teammates?
I thought the last one was pretty good, though it didn't work out
EDIT: overall, I'm not in love with his delivery though
Bradley has the best player running on his left for an easy ground pass and instead makes the lofted over the top way more difficult pass to the guy who just came off the bench. Swell
Baby steps. Just think how easy it would have been for him to send a ball back to Howard.
Good point. Anything forward these days.
So I guess with the all the injuries are we looking okay with this draw?
Yeah. Disappointing but Panama seemed like the better bet to score in the second half so take the road point and get out of town without Pusilic getting hurt.
Panama adjusted much better to how loosely the game was called. They manhandled us out there.
Four points from these two games is acceptable, especially with the enormous number of injuries the US has had to deal with. It still would have been nice to get three here especially after the performance against Honduras, but you can't be too greedy on the road in CONCACAF.
Tonight wasn't a disaster but we just didn't get enough good individual performances and the midfield needs to be sorted out.
Next up is a home game vs T&T and then the dreaded trip to Azteca.
Tonight wasn't a disaster but we just didn't get enough good individual performances and the midfield needs to be sorted out.
Next up is a home game vs T&T and then the dreaded trip to Azteca.
Absolutely. Aside from Pulisic, Howard and, i guess, Altidore, we had our second-choice lineup out there, on the road.
the defense was an adventure and the midfield uninspired, and I'm not sure we had the better of the run of play. So I'll take it.
edit: get healthy for June and I like our chances of a result in Azteca
Glad for the point but Panama looks better than prior cycles. It's shaping up to be a fight between these two for third and fourth place, though obviously a lot of football left.
I was particularly impressed with how quickly they relieved pressure and turned it into a strong attack -- something USA had no ability to do. Our defense was just holding on and so every clearance was a 50/50 ball at best and usually much worse.
Oh well, four points and +6 in goal difference. Not bad.
I was particularly impressed with how quickly they relieved pressure and turned it into a strong attack -- something USA had no ability to do. Our defense was just holding on and so every clearance was a 50/50 ball at best and usually much worse.
Oh well, four points and +6 in goal difference. Not bad.
A thousands times this. Yedlin for Zusi, Brooks and Cameron for Ream and Omar, Fabian to the midfield, Bobby F'in Wood up top, put the Jones/Bradley pairing out to pasture, and go to work with a squad that can play with some damn pace.
FJ presumably gets LM. Does Nagbe slide inside? Lletget is gone 4-6 mos. Im struggling to see who displaces Bradley / Jones. Dempsey slides back and some combo of JA / wood / morris are the top 2?
The silver lining to all the injuries is we blooded a lot of guys in a road CONCACAF rockfight tonight. Villafana, Acosta, Arriola, Nagbe will benefit from this experience going forward. We still have to go to Honduras and Trinidad (nevermind Azteca); if these guys are needed they'll know better what they're in for
I'm tired of the excuses. Michael Bradley is a liability on this team. He was intercepted and/or dispossessed all night. No linking with Jones. Slow to the ball. Losing every 50/50 in sight. At what point does Arena see what Acosta or a Dax McCarty can do in that role? The Bradley/Jones combo clearly isn't working.
Not selecting Chandler turned out to be as bad a roster decision as has been made in the last decade by any USMNT manager. Thinking Graham Zusi was up to playing right back was as nonsensical and dumb as any other player played out of position in the Klinsmann Era - probably worse, since most of the guys JK used out of position had at least a passing familiarity with the position or had payed there for their club once or twice. That the USMNT went into critical matches with THE PLAN being "Zusi at backup RB" is atrocious decision making. Chandler is miles better than Cameron out of position and a galaxy better than Zusi. Yeah, injuries are bad and hard but this wasn't a situation forced by injury, it was Arena flexing his "America Uber Alles!" muscles and leaving out the best option because ... of jingoism? I bet it made the Tim Howards on the roster happy, though.
Otherwise, that was a JK Classico performance by the players, especially by the supposed leaders of the team: Bradley and Jones. Despite nearly 10 years of evidence, Arena has decided to hitch his wagon to these two shitheels. Bradley is, at best, cromulent. Jones is washed up and decomposing, yet still starts important matches.
Is it the talent of the pool? Well, sort of. Though Pulisic and a healthy Dempsey makes a huge difference (as would have Wood, I'm sure). But in this case, there are two crystal clear decisions made by the coach that directly affected the outcome: not selecting Chandler because of... reasons, and the continued selection of Bradley-Jones, especially Jones. Those are on Arena. Had JK made both of those moves, the howling would be enormous. But the Chandler omission is particularly egregious and very worrisome. If the player selection is going to be "political" and our best players left at home because of some ridiculous notion related to "American-ness" then Arena is about to waste a World Cup. Sad!
Otherwise, that was a JK Classico performance by the players, especially by the supposed leaders of the team: Bradley and Jones. Despite nearly 10 years of evidence, Arena has decided to hitch his wagon to these two shitheels. Bradley is, at best, cromulent. Jones is washed up and decomposing, yet still starts important matches.
Is it the talent of the pool? Well, sort of. Though Pulisic and a healthy Dempsey makes a huge difference (as would have Wood, I'm sure). But in this case, there are two crystal clear decisions made by the coach that directly affected the outcome: not selecting Chandler because of... reasons, and the continued selection of Bradley-Jones, especially Jones. Those are on Arena. Had JK made both of those moves, the howling would be enormous. But the Chandler omission is particularly egregious and very worrisome. If the player selection is going to be "political" and our best players left at home because of some ridiculous notion related to "American-ness" then Arena is about to waste a World Cup. Sad!
Won't hear any disagreement from me. Guy is still pretty much living off 2010 when he was anointed the next American star and successor to Claudio Reyna and so on.
Pretty sure we're stuck with him through Russia as every time someone says it's time for him to step up, he has a typical underwhelming performance and everyone just shrugs their shoulders and forgets that he has become one of the worst players on the team (when everyone's healthy). Just feels like they're settling.
At his point he's never rekindling whatever has been lost—his touch, passing, pace, and awareness have all eroded dramatically. Sticking him at CM over and over is a travesty. What's even more disappointing is all the time wasted cycling through players to find him a partner that could have been used instead to cultivate a replacement.
Here's an excuse (that I don't totally believe) but I thought he looked about average once Jones and Nagbe were replaced by Acosta and Bedoya. Bedoya especially was moving off the ball and getting into areas that helped Bradley make passes and maintain possession.
I still think that at best Bradley is not a difference maker for this team in possession, pressing, or free kick deliveries. He can be your second best midfielder in a 3 man midfield with Acosta and Bedoya though.
Chandler has played in two qualifiers in Central America and really shat the bed both times. I don't have a problem with him being left out, as his history in road WCQs is a level of performance that is worse than what we saw from Zusi last night.
That said, I hope we don't have to use Zusi in WCQs again.
That's a very quiet map from Jones. Bradley was dropping too deep for much of the game and Jones was staying too high. There was, as always, poor chemistry between the two. I'd love to know how many passes they completed to each other.
Klinsmann never could really make the midfield tick with any consistency and figuring it out is a major challenge for Arena. Arena needs to organize the midfield in a way that compensates for Bradley's flaws or he needs to dump Bradley entirely.
The problem is that while Bradley seems to have evolved into an unfortunate DM/box-to-box tweener who isn't exactly what you want at the #6, our options at DM are really lacking. There's Dax McCarty and not much else at the moment. Acosta can play there, but he's a box-to-box midfielder for his club. Kitchen seems to have hit his ceiling and it's not USMNT starter level. Trapp has stalled, perhaps because of his concussion issues or maybe just because that's life. Danny Williams has evolved into a box-to-box mid who likes to get forward for Reading. Alfredo Morales is the definition of "meh". You could move Geoff Cameron to DM, but I am not sure that is the answer. It's a shame that Beckerman is old and bad now.
I think Bradley is the DM by default unless you prefer McCarty, who is solid but can be prone bad giveaways like MB. So the question becomes, how do you structure the midfield in front of him to create the most coherent and effective team? I don't see how the solution involves Jones in the starting lineup at this point.
yeah, if your complaint about Arena's tactics is that his 4th choice for RB is actually a LW, you're a pretty harsh critic. I'm very sympathetic to complaints about CM, but let's take some positives:
- Villafana held his own at LB. The Beasley era may be well and truly over, finally.
- Nagbe got two starts, validating what we saw out of him at the Gold Cup
- Arriola and Acosta got some time and might get more
- Timmy and Deuce have still got it
edit: and TB, maybe Cameron actually is the answer - DM is his favorite position. If we have legitimate alternatives for a back line - e.g., Villafana - Ream - Brooks - Yedlin - maybe that's worth trying.
- Villafana held his own at LB. The Beasley era may be well and truly over, finally.
- Nagbe got two starts, validating what we saw out of him at the Gold Cup
- Arriola and Acosta got some time and might get more
- Timmy and Deuce have still got it
edit: and TB, maybe Cameron actually is the answer - DM is his favorite position. If we have legitimate alternatives for a back line - e.g., Villafana - Ream - Brooks - Yedlin - maybe that's worth trying.
Lletget being out is rough, I think he's the second best creative player in the squad and he was finally getting a chance. Story of his career so far.
In the Gold Cup playoff, Haiti blew a 3-1 first leg lead to Nicaragua in spectacular fashion. In the second leg in Managua, Juan Barrera scored a hat trick in the last 10 minutes, so Nicaragua escaped with a 4-3 aggregate victory.
That finalizes the USMNT's Gold Cup group as Panama, Martinique, and Nicaragua. The US has never played Nicaragua before and has faced Martinique only once - a 2-0 win in the group stage of the 2003 Gold Cup.
That finalizes the USMNT's Gold Cup group as Panama, Martinique, and Nicaragua. The US has never played Nicaragua before and has faced Martinique only once - a 2-0 win in the group stage of the 2003 Gold Cup.
Chandler didn't get called in because he was set to miss the Honduras match for cards, and per multiple media sources, you don't normally make a guy fly from Europe for one qualifier. So not sure that is an indictment on Arena or his views on our German-American players.
I agree that it is a possibility and I wouldn't mind exploring it. My concerns are that Cameron-Brooks has been a good partnership and the benefits of breaking it up to solve DM (if indeed it does solve DM) might be negated by an inferior CB partnership.
Besler has declined over the last 1.5 years. I don't view Ream as anything more than depth. Gonzalez's strengths and weaknesses make him a poor partner for Brooks and he may be our weakest CB on the ball. Benching Bradley only to have Ream (or Gonzo or Besler) come into the team feels like just transferring a problem rather than solving it and in doing so breaking up a fruitful partnership in the team's spine.
I think Arena is going to give Walker Zimmerman a real chance to step up, probably during the Gold Cup. If he proves himself worthy, that will open up the option to play around with Cameron at DM.
I'm hoping Miazga and/or CCV get called for the Gold Cup too. It would be a good opportunity to see what we've got, and if they may be ready by the WC or if we should leave them out till the next cycle
Ream made a couple of nice plays in the last 30 minutes when Panama were getting frisky, but looked lost early on, including on the Panama goal. Maybe he got more comfortable and used to the abuse as the game went on. Still, I agree - he doesn't seem like someone with a claim on a spot in our best XI.
I feel like this team is caught between the demise of an older generation and the arrival of promising kids.
It's also amazing what a difference there was between the Honduras game and this one.
I feel like this team is caught between the demise of an older generation and the arrival of promising kids.
It's also amazing what a difference there was between the Honduras game and this one.
I could definitely see Miazga at the GC, but I suspect CCV will be tasked with the U20 WC this summer. The tournaments do not conflict so he could conceivably play in both, but I don't think we've done that since Bradley played in both in 2007. In a perfect world, I'd like to see CCV have a nice season-long loan in the Championship in 2017-18 and it would be helpful for him to have all of preseason, too.
I'm also not even sure that CCV is our best U20 center back, but that's one of those good problems.
"Normally" went out the window when Yedlin got dinged. For what were critical qualifiers, the idea that "normally" dictated the roster selection is asinine.
Once Yedlin's injury was determined to be serious enough that he could not be called up, the logical, smart thing was to call up the 2nd string RB in the pool - convention and "normal" be damned. Unless Chandler rejected the call (possible?) this is indefensible. Arena omitted the best option in his pool, and instead brought along a retired binkie, a washed up warhorse with nothing left to give, and Graham "I'm a RIGHT WING" Zusi.
Instead, Arena's plan was to play Cameron - himself recently off an injury - at RB and ... pray like hell he didn't get hurt? Because without another professional RB on the roster, they were left shorthanded for a game that could have been (and still might be) absolutely necessary for qualification. Had the USMNT somehow lost the Honduras game, and then went into the Panama tilt with zero competent RBs on the roster, it would have been a disaster.
As it turned out, it was only terrible roster mismanagement. Zusi should be nowhere near the USMNT roster. Zusi is not, nor has he ever been a right back. He has about as much experience playing there as I do. But if you HAVE TO have him on the roster, then leave Jones home and instead explore the options in central midfield - McCarthy, Acosta, etc. Bringing Jones and Beasley and then calling up Zusi (again, instead of Chandler - an actual RB) is roster mismanagement. And playing him out of position (and desperation) is shoddy roster construction and Klinsmann-esque tactical mismanagement. For years, JK was killed by critics for just this sort of poor decision making. But Arena's an American! He's the anti-Klinsmann.... right?!
Arena not calling in Chandler - for whatever reason - is a egregious mistake. Playing Zusi, and then playing him out of position because he had no other options, is an egregious mistake. Had Klinsmann done that, and then fumbled away a winnable road game in qualification - he'd have been (rightly) roasted. Arena - again, whatever his reasons - deserves the same.
Last things first - I hope the same thing.
That said, I fail to see what Chandler's history of poor performances in Central American road games has to do with the fact that he's the only healthy USMNT quality RB in the pool. Even had he shit the bed twice as bad as his last CA appearance, he'd still have been a better option than a 30+ year old winger with barely any experience as a RB.
For years, we were told that JK playing guys out of position was an egregious offense. For years, we've been told that JK's roster choices were dubious because of favoritism and a bias against domestic players. And for years, we've been told that JK's reliance on foreign based players was hurting American soccer (Bruce's words). And in a MUST WIN scenario, Arena neglected to call in the best possible players (because "normal"?), played guys out of position, in unfamiliar roles, and - instead of prioritizing a WIN - instead chose to placate his nearly 40 year old GK and other "American" players by forgoing the chance to call in (TWICE!) the best remaining RB in the pool.
That's worthy of criticism. It was worthy of criticism for the entirety of JK's tenure, and it sure as hell is worthy of being criticized when done by Arena (again, whatever his reasons).
Chandler has been miserable every time he's pulled on the US shirt. TB was too kind limiting it to the road qualifiers. I am on record as being completely against a return to Arena, so I am in your sweet spot for this kind of argument and I think it is absurd. Not bringing Chandler cannot be construed as the crime you're making it out to be. Quite frankly, I'd rather they play 3ATB than bring Chandler to any of these games. If he's the 2nd best RB in the system (which I don't agree with) then we don't have 2 international quality RBs. These are the breaks of being an international manager. In any case, Zusi wasn't the problem yesterday, the continual inability to have a functioning midfield was. Which has nothing to do with Chandler's presence, Xenophobia, or any other reason than the fact that we can't seem to have either the courage or the skill to replace Bradley, Bedoya, et al.
Who's the 2nd best RB in the pool? (don't say Cameron, as he's either the 2nd best CB or first-best DM, and cloning technology has not yet been invented)
If Brooks, Cameron, and every other CB in the pool wasn't dinged up I might be on board with 3 ATB; as it is, the situation is what it is and they could barely find one competent CB last night.
As for the functioning midfield, I'll give Arena credit for Lletget - which did work vs. Honduras - while killing him over the inclusion of Jones. To then USE Jones, when everyone who has watched a USMNT match in the past five years could tell you that the Bradley-Jones "partnership" was (to steal from above) far less than the sum of its parts, compounds a mistake into an egregious one.
But OK, I'll bite - Chandler is a dog and isn't the 2nd best RB in the pool: Is Zusi the answer? Whither Eric Lichaj? Or any number of guys who have actual experience defending?
In a road qualifier, having competent defense is imperative. Missing 3/4ths of the regular backline because of injury is "the breaks of being an international manager". Knowing there was no Brooks, no Yedlin, a hobbled Cameron, Arena chose ... Zusi.
At the intersection of an inability to move on from old players (Beasley, Jones) and players whose reputations exceed their actual performance (Bradley, Bedoya) is ... Zusi. Get past Chandler - the point is that Arena did all the things that Klinsmann was (rightfully) hounded about. And pissing away two points with the same old mistakes is not OK, especially when the manager has been so outspoken in his criticism of the previous regime.
If Timmy Chandler plays instead of Zusi last night you think we get a win? It was Ream and Villafana who were burned on the goal. The reason we didn't get the win last night was because Jones played like shit and we had nothing going forward.
I didn't think the defense played all that bad. Howard only had to make one crazy save.
I didn't think the defense played all that bad. Howard only had to make one crazy save.
Lichaj was out with an injury, ask anyone. Healthy, though, he's probably 2nd on my depth chart, yeah. He's been playing really well for Forest from what I understand, though I've only seen him 2-3 times this year he certainly holds his own in the championship, starting every single week. Starts more often than Yedlin, frankly, though Yedlin's team has a weeeee bit more talent on their roster...
I would have put Chandler in there myself, if for nothing else the footspeed and agility that Zusi plainly lacks, but I'll say this: Chandler started his current season for Frankfurt looking amazing and getting suggestions that he deserved accolates and/or transfer offers. I've watched him in a number of his recent club games, he's gotten a lot more absent-minded the last few months, to the extent where I've probably mentioned it in the Bundesliga thread here. Hence Arena's comments about heavily weighting recent club form in his selections, I suppose.
As for alternatives, Besler is really a LB, Zimmermann and Birnbaum are 6'3" CBs. Was Brad Evans healthy? I know nothing of how he's looked lately for Seattle, but if healthy and reasonably in-form I certainly would have preferred him to Graham fuckin' Zusi.
Where does Hyndman fit in to the CM picture? Unlike CCV, he's already on loan and showing pretty well for Rangers last I checked, and looked like the only guy who knew what he was doing in the Olympic qualifiers I saw (granted that was on a team short several of the pool's top players).
Hyndman has been playing a central, attacking midfield role for Rangers. In those matches where Arena is going to roll with a formation including that role, Pulisic is definitely the first choice there. But after this WC cycle with a new coach in place and a couple more years under Hyndman'a belt, there may be opportunities to play along side Pulisic. But predicting the future of young players is a gamble.
That said, I'd love to see a lot of the young talent brought into the set up this summer to compete for bench spots at the Gold Cup - Hyndman, Miazga, CCV, Gooch, Horvath. Even if they don't make the squad, some of them might progress enough for bench spots in Russia and certainly project to be central to the next qualifying cycle.