Well, that was, as they say, a pretty comprehensive dismissal. Except for the gift penalty at the end, we had zero true chances on goal. Ugly, ugly defending, especially on the first two goals by Costa Rica (though kudos to Saborio for the move that got him open to shoot). And with no other games in CONCACAF on tonight, we got to be watched by all four other Hexagonal teams. :smack:
I’m not a fan of the coach. I’m always suspicious of coaches who have their sons playing on a team. But this seems to be deeper than the coach; this game displays some real weaknesses that exist as our more experienced players abroad retire from national team duties. When you can say that you really, really missed Frankie Hejduk, you’ve got some issues… :eek:
Do you think Bradley Jr. doesn’t belong on the team?
Beasley had the worst game for somebody in a US uniform since Agoos in '02. Altidore was the only starter that showed anything positive I think. Adu and Davies both showed promise when they came on, but with fresh legs and the game locked up I’m not sure what that says.
The Saturday game is pretty much a must win. Frankie will have them fired up and I expect a win. We’re really going to have to sort out problem before next year though. Crappy field and hostile environment? Hello South Africa.
I only caught the last 20 minutes of this, thankfully. The midfield looked deadlegged, and the back line looked flat out dead. I like the spark Davies was showing at the end, but it was far, far too little too late.
Well, you have to put a lot of that on Bradley (the coach). Beasley is out of form, likely out of shape and out of position. He was often not making the field for Rangers and I think occasionally not making the bench for them. Kind of silly to put him back there against one of the best (maybe the best) CONCACAF side at their place. Wynne was also a bit risky, and in my opinion Pablo Mastroeni is past his expiry date. Unfortunately (fortunately?) I didn’t see the match since it was late night here, but I could tell from the lineup it wouldn’t be pretty. We’d certainly better come up with some better options for our backline or it could be disastrous.
I do not think Bradley, Jr. is a starter, no. And he proved it last night. But notice that the midfielder who made way at halftime was not Bradley, but rather Torres, who was the only midfielder who seemed to be trying to get the ball pushed forward in anything like a controlled fashion.
What does it say about the quality of our starters that they now cannot even make the BENCH at a club like 'Gers?? And that’s not the only person who’s been languishing. Jozy has been unplayed since the national team in April, and that’s not just because of his toenail; he was loaned out by Villareal to Xerez, a second division Spanish side and STILL wasn’t playing.
It might help if the team showed some actual desire. :rolleyes:
Then pretty much everbody proved they weren’t starters. Other than the third goal, where he was clearly out of gas and should have been subbed by that point, I thought Bradley was one of the best players for the US.
And yes, it’s horrible that we have hardly anybody that starts for a first division club. The US just isn’t that good. Except Altidore and Adu, who happen to not play at all for whatever reason.
A terrible game. I agree with the sentiment that the U.S. needs to produce better players overall. We seem to have bunch of guys who have promise around age 15 and then just stop in their development.
I don’t agree with DSYoung about Bradley. At this point he is probably the best two way midfielder on the team. However, I do agree that Mastroeni should have come out, not Torres.
Left back is just a black hole right now. I don’t think Beasley has any buisness there (or on the team at this point). I honestly think the U.S. would be better served with a 3 man back line right now.
Altidore showed nice touch, I’m not sure why he couldn’t get a game for Xerex. I was really disappointed in Donavan and Dempsey though. They were pretty much invisible most of the game and I thought that their innability to provide a link between the midfield and Altidore was a big reason for the teams struggles.
Altidore situation at Xerez has been subject to a lot of speculation. Leading candidates seem to be club politics or attitude, with club politics being the favorite. Not sure on Donovan and Dempsey.
Well, we do it again. But at least this time we show some life, which wins us a PK late. Still, it would be nice if we could have a better work rate than some of our competitors do. Grrrr. Starting the second half now, tied.
I realize that Honduras is a much poorer team than Costa Rica, but I like the energy Conor Casey brings. He’s been around the ball all game, moreso than Altidore.
Well, that second half was what we needed to see! Benny Feilhaber was a breath of fresh air! All of a sudden, the team had attacking chances galore, and after about 10 min. of the second half, Honduras was out of answers. The second goal seemed so inevitable, I commented to those watching with me it had to happen, and it did.
Much better play out of our outside backs in this game. And Landon Donovan clearly intended to stamp the game with his presence; stuff kept getting whipped in from his left side all night long, not to mention his efforts in the middle part of the field on defense. Inevitably, Dempsey got infected with the concept, and pretty soon, we were potent all over the field. Great job in midfield, especially the second half.
I think that will be the game that sends us through, in the end. Six point cushion with five to play is probably enough. Thankfully, if we have been looking bad, Mexico have been God-Awful, and they may not make guaranteed qualification. It would be fun if we go into Azteca this year and take the points, but I’m not counting on it; the Tricolors have a tendency to get pumped up when they play us.
I had the opposite impression of Casey on first viewing. He’s slow, and not terribly smart in terms of being in the right spot. His first touch was often poor. And most of his passes did not find their mark. Watched a second time, and while I tempered my rating of him from “gawdawful” to “poor”, I still think he’s out of his depth at the international level. I’d much rather see Donovan or Dempsey pushed up top in a withdrawn forward position and thus allow us to make use of our better depth at midfield.
United Stats 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup Roster
GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Luis Robles (Kaiserslautern)
DEFENDERS (8): Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Danny Califf (Midtjylland ), Jay DeMerit (Watford), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Freddy Adu (AS Monaco), DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers), Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), José Francisco Torres (Pachuca)
FORWARDS (5): Jozy Altidore (Xerez), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids), Charlie Davies (Hammarby), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy)
