He is 6'4" but somehow has whiffed on about 7 out of 10 headball opportunities in two games. Looks flat-footed and off-balance way too much.Is it just me or is Miazga terrible? Like, if i were a Chelsea fan I'd be complaining about wasting $5M.
I think this is what's going on. Miazga was epic in MLS and in the U20 World Cup last year. He was totally dominating guys like David Villa. Tonight, not so much.Miazga looks like a guy who hasn't had much game time recently.
Especially until getting a card for simulation is actually a serious threat."It's part of the game" needs to be banished from the announcer playbook for good. It's an explanation, not a justification.
He's a poor fullback and I wish the US would stop using him there.Acosta has not had a banner week
He's a natural CDM, right? Is his upside the senior team in a starting role?He's a poor fullback and I wish the US would stop using him there.
Yeah, you can tell it isn't instinctual for him. He's just not got the movements and the goals down. I don't blame him at all, it's much harder than people think to drop into a back line.He's a poor fullback and I wish the US would stop using him there.
He plays mostly as a box-to-box midfielder, but he can play as a DM too. I think he has a shot to be a USMNT player if he continues to develop, but he's not there yet. He looked really good for Dallas down the stretch last season, but he needs to be more consistent.He's a natural CDM, right? Is his upside the senior team in a starting role?
Whining about the ref is the lament of the loser. Especially when you get one shot on goal over two matches.Colombia are playing like a bunch of entitled fuckwits who know the ref is.....
I wasn't whining about the ref. Unless you're referring to Gil, who was indeed a loser last night.Whining about the ref is the lament of the loser. Especially when you get one shot on goal over two matches.
That's not how this works. The fan base doesn't threaten Klinsmann with termination. The fan base has no influence on Klinsmann's job security. We can / do bitch all we want about him, but the actual authority to hire and fire him rests with Sunil Gulati, who's clearly signaled that he's not going to replace Klinsmann before his contract is up, and who's in place as President of US Soccer until his elected term ends in 2018, and therefore not accountable in any meaningful way to the public.Really? The chance Nagbe or any inexperienced player was gonna get some run ended the minute the pro-MLS crowd started calling for Klinsmann's head. There is no way a coach who is being threatened by a significant, vocal minority of the fanbase with termination is going to risk playing a guy who might get overwhelmed by the moment/pressure.
This is something I've tried to express to Titan's Bastard multiple times over multiple years: That the calls for Klinsmann's job has made it LESS likely he uses these untested MLS guys and increases the chances that "old reliable" players are run out. The lineup choices are not made in a vacuum or without consideration of the current situation. So all the carping and whining about Klinsmann being "one loss from fired" is actually feeding into the very problems you claim are Klinsmann's fault.
You're not really this naive about how the world, and public perception works - are you? Like, you're a paid MLS employee who is charged with trolling several fan boards to make sure MLS and USA Soccer are viewed favorably by the public, much in the same way Putin's Troll Factory works?That's not how this works. The fan base doesn't threaten Klinsmann with termination. The fan base has no influence on Klinsmann's job security. We can / do bitch all we want about him, but the actual authority to hire and fire him rests with Sunil Gulati, who's clearly signaled that he's not going to replace Klinsmann before his contract is up, and who's in place as President of US Soccer until his elected term ends in 2018, and therefore not accountable in any meaningful way to the public.
The idea that public sentiment means a thing here with regard to Klinsmann's job security, and by extension his squad / lineup decisions, just doesn't square with reality. There is no mechanism through which public pressure would have this effect. Jurgen answers to Sunil alone; Sunil isn't replacing Jurgen, and Sunil isn't going anywhere until at least the next election in 2018.
In any case, glad to see that we haven't been eliminated from the 2018 World Cup yet. As expected, when we put a lineup out there that has some kind of surface logic to it, even with established mediocrities like Zusi and Zardes in there, we get results against CONCACAF teams not named Mexico or Costa Rica. Not rocket science.
EDIT: Repeat word.
No doubt. I know the dynamic of the US job is different than many other international positions, but there is no way a manager survives getting eliminated* from the World Cup 2 years before it begins. Wouldn't matter if it was today or in September, he would have been out.If the US had lost yesterday Gulati would have been under tremendous pressure to fire Klinsmann. Whether it would have happened or not is anyone's guess but it would have been very significant and IMO there was a very good chance it would have happened. Any statements to the contrary are the obvious thing to say if your'e running the program, I don't see why anyone can't see this.
1. If you think Jurgen Klinsmann gives a rat's ass what a bunch of unwashed, know-nothing American soccer fans think about him, to the point where he's actually altering team composition and lineup construction as a result of that, I don't know what to tell you. He might care about getting fired, but the only guy who can fire him answers to no one - since he's in an unpaid, elected position that runs until 2018 - and is absolutely infatuated with him. This is a simple issue of incentives. But please tell me how public perception works.You're not really this naive about how the world, and public perception works - are you? Like, you're a paid MLS employee who is charged with trolling several fan boards to make sure MLS and USA Soccer are viewed favorably by the public, much in the same way Putin's Troll Factory works?
Because if you really believe the bullshit you spew all over the place, you're proof of PT Barnum's axiom and not worth reading, ever again.
I think this part is 100% irrelevant. The franchises are owned by very wealthy people. It's not a lack of money that holds back MLS. In fact, TB has outlined how some teams have spent a fair amount of money on their academies and some of the roadblocks they face. The MLS franchises are not the integral part of player development in the US and it sounds like the issue is structural and not financial. I think we will agree that until MLS ups its game at scouting and training players, there will always be a cap as to how good the national team can be. The NCAA football/basketball model is useless for finding and developing professionals. All of the top nations use their clubs to do that work and there is no way we will succeed by going outside the club system.Yes, if you want US Soccer to succeed, do you know what the best thing you can do is? Watch MLS games on TV, so that the TV contracts grow and more money flows into the league to get spent on player acquisition and development....
Please.3. No one's putting a gun to your head. If you don't want to read me ever again, feel free. Alternatively, if you want to give me some details on why I'm wrong, and not just call me a sucker, I would be happy to engage in a rational discussion on this.
I don't see much evidence the lack of investment is a product of the franchise system. MLB teams obviously do invest in developing players through the minor league system and their programs in Latin America. Meanwhile basketball and American football don't invest in academies for the simple reason that they neither have to or are allowed to.One thing that soxfan121 never brings up in his MLS critiques (Maybe you do and I don't recall it) is that the league is inherently flawed because the teams are franchises and not clubs. Beyond what people usually bring up (Promotion/Relegation, Salary Cap, not following the International Calendar), I have never felt the structure of the league and franchises give incentive to make a financial commitment that clubs like Barcelona, Ajax, Sporting, and Benfica have made in player development. It's really expensive to build a La Masia.
We've had a discussion before on how public perception influences Klinsmann's roster selection and lineup construction? Or are you talking about point 2 above? If so, this is the only other time I've gone into that with any kind of specificity, and I don't see any replies from you on that post.Please.
We've had this exact discussion multiple times before. If you don't recall, you can search your own post history and find where I've replied SPECIFICALLY to you on that rambling batch of bullshit above.
This quoted bullshit is unacceptable. I've given you details on why you are wrong in the past. You've either ignored them or you've forgotten them. Either way this isn't my problem to solve.
To wit - Vinho Tinto has accurately ID'ed a flaw in my standard argument. It is so well known and repeated than many people in the forum are sick of reading it. So, my refusal to engage you - AGAIN - has very little to do with you. Plus, you don't do rational discussion. As I've said quite clearly, your posts all come of as having been written by Don Garber's personal assistant. And you've doubled down on that with that waste of bandwidth above. So, let's spare everyone Round 22 of why you are wrong and no longer worth talking to on this subject.
Lastly, I was precise in my critique of your position - you are delusional about how public perception works and your assumptions are completely off-base. This should be something you take seriously, because several other posters discussed the public perception angle last night, right after I wrote the thing you originally objected to. So...if you'd like to tilt at windmills, engage someone else. I have no further interest in what you have to say on this, or any other topic, you MLS honk. Go do PR somewhere else.
They are not individual clubs who are implementing their own business plan or identity. They are a franchise of a larger corporate entity. This entity has not done anything groundbreaking with regards to player development. The franchise will now be committing resources to scout, house, and train players who are 12 to 16 years of age only to have them enter the MLS SuperDraft if they make the cut. Even if you sell a player for a big profit, a third of the net proceeds go to MLS. It's much cheaper, and can get an immediate benefit, to just sign an older name player.What specifically makes you think the franchise system discourages player development?