USMNT: To Rüssia With Love

[Titans Bastard]

Roster for Ecuador is out.  21 players, but there will be additions and subtractions before the Honduras game.
 
GK
Brad Guzan (Aston Villa)
Bill Hamid (D.C. United)
Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
 
DF
John Brooks (Hertha Berlin)
Timothy Chandler (Eintracht Frankfurt)
Greg Garza (Tijuana)
Omar Gonzalez (Los Angeles Galaxy)
Michael Orozco (Puebla)
Tim Ream (Bolton Wanderers)
DeAndre Yedlin (Seattle Sounders)
 
MF
Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes)
Joe Corona (Tijuana)
Mix Diskerud (Rosenborg)
Luis Gil (Real Salt Lake)
Julian Green (Hamburg)
Alfredo Morales (Ingolstadt)
 
FW
Jozy Altidore (Sunderland)
Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy)
Joe Gyau (Borussia Dortmund)
Miguel Ibarra (Minnesota United)
Bobby Wood (1860 Munich)
 
 
This is pretty close to Czech Republic roster.  Fabian Johnson withdrew with an achilles injury. Cropper, Hyndman, Morris, and Rubin are with the U23s now.  Brek Shea has a terminal case of the sucks.  Incoming we have Hamid, Yedlin, Gonzalez, Gil, Donovan, and Ibarra.
 
It looks like MLS coaches were pretty effective at convincing Klinsmann to not take their players over the weekend.  No Dempsey, Bradley, Besler, Jones, Beckerman, Zusi.  Hamid, Yedlin, Gil, and Ibarra are the only up-and-coming domestic players for now.  Hopefully we'll see some additional new faces for Honduras.
 
Geoff Cameron, Danny Williams, Aron Johannsson, and Terrence Boyd are still injured.

 

[Luis Taint]

TB, forgive my ignorance, but is Fridays match, and the 15th against Honduras, friendlies?.

 

[soxfan121]

TB, forgive my ignorance, but is Fridays match, and the 15th against Honduras, friendlies?.

 
Yes.

 

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

What's the lowdown on Joe Gyau? He actually played for BvB a few weeks ago in a Bundesliga fixture (and not in garbage time).

 

[Infield Infidel]

TB, forgive my ignorance, but is Fridays match, and the 15th against Honduras, friendlies?.

IIRC, we don't have competitive matches until the Gold Cup in June

 

[Titans Bastard]

What's the lowdown on Joe Gyau? He actually played for BvB a few weeks ago in a Bundesliga fixture (and not in garbage time).

 
Speed kills.  Or at least it puts the fear of god in the opposing team's defense and prevents them from playing a high line and compressing the midfield.  The WC team was really slow; players as explosive as Gyau will get many chances.  Gyau also has decent technique - the question is whether his decision-making is up to snuff.  As a youth player he was exciting, but he was also very one-footed and guilty of dribbling with his head down.
 
Making it long-term at BvB is a tough ask but the fact that he's even gotten on the field means he's surpassed my expectations.  When Reus returns from injury, Gyau will probably be bumped out of the 18.  He'd need to beat out someone like Aubameyang for a place on the bench.  It's grim.
 

IIRC, we don't have competitive matches until the Gold Cup in June

 
That's right.  It's worth mentioning that there really aren't many games left before then.
 
October: Ecuador, Honduras
November: Ireland + ?
January: camp for (mostly) MLS players that will probably skew young/inexperienced
March: two friendlies
June: a couple of tune-up friendlies
July: Gold Cup
 
 
If the rumors about 2018 qualifying format in CONCACAF are true, we'd kick off our campaign in November 2015.

 

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

 
Speed kills.  Or at least it puts the fear of god in the opposing team's defense and prevents them from playing a high line and compressing the midfield.  The WC team was really slow; players as explosive as Gyau will get many chances.  Gyau also has decent technique - the question is whether his decision-making is up to snuff.  As a youth player he was exciting, but he was also very one-footed and guilty of dribbling with his head down.
 
Making it long-term at BvB is a tough ask but the fact that he's even gotten on the field means he's surpassed my expectations.  When Reus returns from injury, Gyau will probably be bumped out of the 18.  He'd need to beat out someone like Aubameyang for a place on the bench.  It's grim.

Interesting. Pretty exciting to have an American kid in the first team at a club that big and one with a stellar reputation for identifying and nurturing young talent. It looks like he's been on the bench in four other Bundesliga fixtures so Klopp must see something he likes. I agree that making it at BvB is very difficult. But Reus is probably off next summer and Kuba is about to turn 29 so who knows.

 

[DJnVa]

 
 

• Cameron Carter-Vickers is 16 - by far the youngest player here.  Seems a little premature.

 
So what's the deal with this guy?
 
I remember there was some posts a few months back about him, mainly about the lack of info. 
 
He may be 16, but he's got a man's body, or at least he's well on the way to it:
 

 
He's in this video, about 1:50 in, speaking of winning a tourney with the US--and says he's been in 20 tourneys with Tottenham and never won
 
http://www.starsandstripesfc.com/usa-u-20-17/2014/8/30/6084907/usa-u18-czech-republic-mukewelle-akale-cameron-carter-vickers

 

[Titans Bastard]

 
So what's the deal with this guy?
 
I remember there was some posts a few months back about him, mainly about the lack of info. 
 
He may be 16, but he's got a man's body, or at least he's well on the way to it:
 

 
He's in this video, about 1:50 in, speaking of winning a tourney with the US--and says he's been in 20 tourneys with Tottenham and never won
 
http://www.starsandstripesfc.com/usa-u-20-17/2014/8/30/6084907/usa-u18-czech-republic-mukewelle-akale-cameron-carter-vickers

 
I'm still not sure how he's American - he must have a parent who is from the US.
 
He's definitely a physical beast for his age.  He was born on 12/31/97, which means he's one day too old for the U17 national team, but as you say he looks like a man.  He's previously been called to the U18s and now he's at this U23 camp.
 
I was talking to a soccer buddy last night, who I think has this figured out.  The key thing to remember here is that the U23 national team still doesn't have a manager yet, so this camp is being handled by Tab Ramos (youth director / U20s) and Javier Perez (U18s).  For the U20s, the expected starting CBs are Matt Miazga and Erik Palmer-Brown.  However, EPB recently had a stress fracture in his foot and is going to miss qualifying.  We don't have that much established depth at CB - mostly just college guys who may be decent prospects but who aren't accustomed to a high level of play.  Carter-Vickers has played in one U18 camp so far and did well, so this seems to be a trial period for him for the U20s more than anything else.
 
Unless Carter-Vickers is on the Raphaël Varane career track at CB, I don't think he'll be a player for the Olympics.  At the U23 level, we have quite a lot of depth at CB.  However, he is young enough to be eligible for the 2020 Olympics.

 

[soxfan121]

Unless Carter-Vickers is on the Raphaël Varane career track at CB, I don't think he'll be a player for the Olympics.  At the U23 level, we have quite a lot of depth at CB.  However, he is young enough to be eligible for the 2020 Olympics.

 
If he's 1/4th the player Varane was at the same age, he's my new favorite binkie.

 

[DJnVa]

I found this, about Carter-Vickers, from a few days ago:
 

we discovered him playing for the spurs u-18s in a tournament against the us u-18. he has since played with our u-18 team. he is from sussex, apparently. he is a big center-back.
 

 
A poster on a Spurs board on reddit said he's been to some first team training from time to time too.
 
JK is in early, since the kid could apparently pick the US or England.
 
 

Don’t know much about Carter-Vickers? Don’t feel alone. As recently as August, he was getting relatively anonymous call-ups to the U18 squad Perez coaches, and I’m still not entirely sure what his connection is to the U.S. (his home is listed as “Westcliff on Sea, England). He’s a wide-bodied center back with range and pace, and he’s put in work with Spurs’ youth teams. There’s this, also.

 

Mauricio Pochettino today with Academy defender Cameron Carter-Vickers #THFC pic.twitter.com/MAuGDyu3YG
— Spurs Finest® (@SpursFinest) July 10, 2014
 

Amazingly, that slab of granite is 16. Go on, young man. Klinsmann has his faults, but his abilities as a recruiter isn’t among them. U.S. Soccer essentially scooped all of us in August by calling up Carter-Vickers, who’s tie to America probably isn’t all that obvious. But if he can play and he’s eligible, by all means.
 

 

[Titans Bastard]

Klinsmann adds an exciting young prospect to camp for the Ecuador game.

 

[Silverdude2167]

Klinsmann adds an exciting young prospect to camp for the Ecuador game.

I still have nightmares about his miss vs. Belgium....

 

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

For anybody interested, I found this very detailed breakdown of the issues surrounding Gedion Zelalem's US citizenship on an Arsenal blog.  It goes into a lot more depth than most of the reporting on this in the media.
 
For those with tldr syndrome, the author offers this synopsis at the end.  Nothing earth shattering.
 

 
If this article was way too long for you (it was) here's a quick summation:

1. Zelalem can definitely become a US citizen, but it might not be as hassle-free as we were led to believe
2. He can keep his German citizenship, but probably not forever
3. He can keep his work permit for a while and if he can't, it probably won't be to the detriment of Arsenal.

 
Also, a sweet goal in the UEFA youth league match against Galatasaray last week:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agkIV-dCZnM

 

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

If espn is to be believed, we're putting out Guzan, Orozco, Brooks, Chandler, Garza, Yedlin, Diskerud, Bedoya, Gyau, Donovan, Altidore. Is that a 4-4-2 with Yedlin and Gyau as the outside midfielders and Bedoya and Mix in the center? That should make for some fireworks, and maybe not a lot of defense.

 

[soxfan121]

What time does this start? I need to know so I can begin my LandyCakes farewell celebration promptly.
 
Seriously, I do hope he gets a nice ovation though and I am still a little miffed that Carlos Bocanegra isn't getting a final runout tonight, too.

 

[Jed Zeppelin]

What time does this start? I need to know so I can begin my LandyCakes farewell celebration promptly.
 
Seriously, I do hope he gets a nice ovation though and I am still a little miffed that Carlos Bocanegra isn't getting a final runout tonight, too.

 
No props for d-men, not even Donovan's captain.
 
This Frankenstein jersey is hideous. So many names on there I wish I could forget.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

Well, that was nice.

 

[Jed Zeppelin]

Is it too much to ask the announcers to pay attention? Gyau was clearly hobbled after his run the play before, he didn't get hurt jogging with nobody around him.
 
Yedlin has been super impressive so far.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

And Donovan has the chance for the fairy-tale ending go off the inside of the post.
 
Really nice play from Altidore to draw everyone in and back-heel it to Landon.

 

[ThePrideofShiner]

That was a beautiful pass by Altidore. Donovan had a huge opening and should've finished. Hopefully he gets another chance.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

They really are doing everything they can to get Landon one more goal.

 

[ThePrideofShiner]

Man, that was an awkward embrace with Klinsmann when he came off the field.

 

[Jed Zeppelin]

Best Jozy has looked in quite some time.

 

[DennyDoyle'sBoil]

Man, when Jozy puts on the National jersey, he becomes such a different player. Maybe his strengths are just not suited for the EPL game, but he's been a force tonight.

 

[Cellar-Door]

Calling Gyau's injury a sprained knee, hopefully it actually is, and this isn't like Stuart Holden's "sprained Knee"

 

[Jed Zeppelin]

I've seen enough of Joe Corona. He's not good enough. And I hate to say it because he has a great name.

 

[Cellar-Door]

Thoughts from this game so far:
Corona sucks
I really hope we have better options than Bedoya by 2016.
Garza looks good.
Our depth isn't that impressive.
 
Enner Valencia is awesome.

 

[Mr. Wednesday]

Man, when Jozy puts on the National jersey, he becomes such a different player. Maybe his strengths are just not suited for the EPL game, but he's been a force tonight.

I think they see the big body and expect him to be a bull in a china shop lone center forward. He absolutely does make use of his size and strength, but he really plays more of a second striker's game. He's much better playing off of someone else.

 

[Cellar-Door]

He was onside, linesman error in out favor.

 

[Cellar-Door]

Enner Valencia does crazy crazy things with the spin on a 30 yard strike.

 

[Dollar]

Bobby Shou-ld have done better.

 

[DennyDoyle'sBoil]

He Wando'd.

 

[Jed Zeppelin]

JFC, horrendous finishing tonight. Attack looked good overall. Speed on the wing makes a huge difference, really noticeable after seeing Bedoya and Zusi on the outside in Brazil.

Garza was very good after a shaky first 30 minutes against CR. Seems like a kind of funky player, very aggressive. Mix was decent. There will (there must) be better options than Bedoya moving forward. Nothing dynamic there, best to hope for is solid and unspectacular. Corona's upside is even lower than that, I usually find myself just hoping not to notice him at all.

Jozy was great, with any luck he would've had two or three assists tonight.

 

[DennyDoyle'sBoil]

I think they see the big body and expect him to be a bull in a china shop lone center forward. He absolutely does make use of his size and strength, but he really plays more of a second striker's game. He's much better playing off of someone else.

Interesting thing is that Jozy really isn't even as big as he seems to be, if that makes sense. At 6 feet tall, sure, he 's big for a soccer player and especially a forward, but I think his build gives the impression that he's like a hulking tight end guy. He's actually a bit more slight than he appears when he's on the field. He's deceptively nimble and I agree that when he is playing regularly and in rhythm, he has surprising playmaker skills. The Panama and Jamaica qualifiers stand out. He was making link up plays 35 yards from goal. I never even saw highlights of most of his play at AZ Alkmar. It would be really interesting to see what kinds of configurations he played there.

 

[Titans Bastard]

Thoughts from this game so far:
Corona sucks
I really hope we have better options than Bedoya by 2016.
Garza looks good.
Our depth isn't that impressive.
 
Enner Valencia is awesome.

 
It's worth noting that the pretty much the only depth we've looked at so far are foreign-based players and our cadre of foreign-based players isn't that big at the moment, so most live bodies are getting called up.  Except Eric Lichaj, who is sitting around wondering what he ever did to Klinsmann.
 
Thus far it's been the fault of MLS for scheduling games on FIFA dates and creating needless conflict.  Limiting ourselves to European and Mexico-based options (while guys like Williams, Johannsson, and Boyd are on the shelf) has led Klinsmann to call up someone like Bobby Wood, who has been unimpressive in the 2.Bundesliga.  The "looking at young MLS players" phase can't start soon enough.

 

[Titans Bastard]

Changes for the Honduras match:
 
OUT:
Brooks
Donovan
Gil
Gonzalez
Guzan
Gyau
 
IN:
Bradley
Besler
Dempsey
Jones
S. Johnson
Zusi
 
 
GK: Hamid, Johnson, Rimando
DF: Besler, Chandler, Garza, Orozco, Ream, Yedlin
MF:  Bedoya, Bradley, Corona, Diskerud, Jones, Morales, Zusi
FW: Altidore, Dempsey, Ibarra, Wondolowski, Wood
 
 
Other than Sean Johnson, who is unlikely to play, there are no new faces in the crowd, but the addition of regulars will make for a stronger squad.  We will have to wait for November or the January camp to see some experimentation with MLS players.

 

[Titans Bastard]

 
So what's the deal with this guy?
 
I remember there was some posts a few months back about him, mainly about the lack of info. 
 
He may be 16, but he's got a man's body, or at least he's well on the way to it:
 

 
He's in this video, about 1:50 in, speaking of winning a tourney with the US--and says he's been in 20 tourneys with Tottenham and never won
 
http://www.starsandstripesfc.com/usa-u-20-17/2014/8/30/6084907/usa-u18-czech-republic-mukewelle-akale-cameron-carter-vickers

 
I'm told he's the son of Howard Carter, who played basketball for LSU from 1979-1983 and had a brief stint in the NBA and later spent 15 years playing in France and Greece.

 

[JayMags71]

I'm told he's the son of Howard Carter, who played basketball for LSU from 1979-1983 and had a brief stint in the NBA and later spent 15 years playing in France and Greece.

...all after discovering King Tut's Tomb!

 

[Tangled Up In Red]

...all after discovering King Tut's Tomb!

No, that Howard Carter played at Ole Miss.

 

[Titans Bastard]

https://twitter.com/ussoccer/status/522161534748098560
 
Jones at CB!  Who's excited for some positional discipline on the backline?
 
Also, Bradley in front of Diskerud is interesting.

 

[McBride11]

I always thought Mix's biggest question was his D. But he is the back of the diamond? Interesting. JK experimenting

 

[Zomp]

Awful ball by Jozy.  Jeez.

 

[Zomp]

That was better.

 

[McBride11]

Does that make it better? Cause that was a niceee play.

In addition, Mix with the defensive stop to get the play started.

 

[DennyDoyle'sBoil]

That's a fantastic goal.

 

[McBride11]

Whoa. Norwegian girl at Arizona State? Im guessing Mr Diskerud is a very lucky guy.

Honduras has turned it up a little after conceding that goal.

 

[OCST]

Wish Jozy made sense to me

 

[Cellar-Door]

Would we call this Honduras's C team? D? F?
 
Edit- The kit is really nice though.

 

[Cellar-Door]

Well. That was unfortunate.
Maybe Jurgen should go over why letting a guy go past you then making sliding desperation tackles is a bad strategy.