Well that sucked. I know Altidore is hurt, but where were Davies and Gooch? And why wasn’t Holden suited up?
Our back line looked shakey even before Cherundolo went down… why are we having such an issue? Our back line used to be our strength.
Adu played well but was probably gassed in the 2nd half.
I didnt like putting Donovan up high. Much better when we switched him and Dempsey.
I just dont understand Bradley’s thinking sometimes. Mexico controlled that game from start to finish. The time of possession was ridiculous… so why not give Donovan more touches?
So Mexico qualifies for the Confederations Cup… Are there any at-larges, or are we officially out?
worst back line…ever?
Sigh, your probably right. I thought the back line just looked confused and out of place and we immediately saw Mexico take advantage. I didn’t think it was that bad of a set up, they just never gelled.
Another thing I noticed was our offense, which I heard looked great at the start. I missed bits and pieces and can’t come to a conclusion, but the parts of the game I saw looked like it has before, strong attack followed by good positioning but no closing.
I think everyone looked gassed the second half, not just Adu. We’ve got to give Mexico credit though, they are a great team. Their short game was beautiful and they seemed much more athletic than us (which could of been why we looked a lot more lethargic than I remember). I wouldn’t be surprised to see a dominant MexicoNT for the next 5-10 years.
The backline was bad once Cherundolo went out. The sportswriters have kept going nuts about Lichaj playing great on the left, but I thought he was shaky in a number of instances. But he was head and shoulders above Bornstein, who you’d think would stop getting called up for a while given his play in most recent games. Is our left back position really that depleted? I can’t believe they can’t find someone better than Bornstein to play there.
Gooch looked slow and clumsy last time I saw him play, I’m not sure he’d have helped any. Davies had a good few games last year, but he’s not an all-star at the forward spot unless he improves. I think Agudelo will be the better player there long term, once he gets some support. Holden on the other hand looks crucial to our midfield showing some creativity and consistency.
What I can’t figure out is why no commentators point out Bradley’s stubborn insistence on continuing to play his son non-stop at defensive midfield. M Bradley is offensively minded despite constantly getting caught out of position, out-paced on the counter attack, and lacking precision needed to feed the forward players. I get so frustrated watching how often he completely misses a pass, gets caught dribbling, or fails to pick up diagonal runs leaving our backline exposed. He makes a few good plays a game, but I’m not sure they make up for the lapses. Even if he is the best we have (I’ve liked Edu in the position better most times), he should at least occasionally get subbed out. None of our midfielders looked all that great, though.
I think this means we are out of the Confederations Cup. But then, given the current state of the team, I’d rather see them focused on qualifying out of our region. Jamaica, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, and El Salvador will all challenge us for spots 2 and 3 (I assume Mexico will win the region unless some big changes occur).
There has to be more talent in the pool than what we’re putting on the field these days.
Team looks disinterested at times and lacks that urgency you need on the pitch.
Bob Bradley’s not the worst coach in the world, but he’s not what we need right now. Our defense should have been able to hold a 2-0 lead, even against one of the best Mexican squads we’ve ever seen. It seemed like we made NO changes tactically as soon as the momentum shifted.
It is crazy to see how many casual sports fans are starting to tune into soccer now. All that attention might light a fire under someone’s ass to actually make the necessary changes and decisions to bring the USMNT to the elite level.
And little Bradley, ugh, talk about a bad attitude.
Bornstein is just the worst ever. That is all.
It was actually a better result than I expected. Mexico is just on another level right now. They could have/should have had at least 2 or 3 more goals. A few thoughts…
I really really hate the Mexican national team. They are approaching UNC-CH level of hate for me.
Adu had a great showing in this tournament. I hope it can carry over.
Having Bornstein on the field is absolutely no different than playing a man down. Its really impressive just how bad he is.
That last goal that saw Gio playing with the ball as Howard dove around the corner of the box while our backline and Jones just stood and watched made me kick puppies. A perfect summation of our defense.
I would have liked to see this game played if Holden and Feilhaber were healthy and we pushed Landycakes and Dempsey forward.
[quote=“casstommy, post:7, topic:25508”]It was actually a better result than I expected. Mexico is just on another level right now. They could have/should have had at least 2 or 3 more goals. A few thoughts…
I really really hate the Mexican national team. They are approaching UNC-CH level of hate for me. [/quote]
This Mexican squad is very, very good. If they stay healthy, 2014 could be a good year for them.
That said, with a 2-0 lead, we should’ve put 8 players in the box and essentially put a wall in front of the net.
just to clear up some things
Holden is still recovering from a knee injury from march (iirc)
Davies wasn’t called in to give him time to rehab/recover fully. At the time when training camp was called in, Davies still wasn’t starting games for DC and the USMNT had a healthy jozy and juan, so at the time no real need.
Gooch has looked slow lately in international play (wait, i guess that’s the only time he plays?) He was being beaten (pace-wise, out of position) in the games leading up to gold cup (4-0 to spain where he got subbed off)
Defense:
i think Lichaj did himself decent, not sure who is better to replace him. Spector, maybe, but remember he too has shown lack of pace to deal with speedy wing players. Lichaj just needs more time/experience and should be good by 2014. Early round qualifiers against Concacaf should do him good. I think mexico really exposed the lack of recovery speed on our D. Goodson and Boca couldn’t recover quickly enough. I’d rather have seen Edu in middle and push Boca out (in lieu of Bornstien) when dolo went out. Not sure what happened to Ream. I like him on D, but after the first Panama game, i don’t think we saw him at all. Only other option on D going forward might be Gonzalez from LA. I did like the U21 player whose name i can’t spell without looking up, gale agaboussunde3.14pi.
Mid:
Mbradley to me, is bittersweet. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, you just don’t know. When he and Jones are both off, it’s bad. Plus Chandler wasn’t on the roster this time and he was impressive the few times he’s played. So with him and Holden back, it could be a crowded midfield. I like Donovan in mid as well, not so high up and have Dempsey in more of a supporting role to the striker(s). It seems he sometimes gets lackadaisical during moments of the game. The midfield will be crowded until donovan/dempsey/jones get too old for international play. or unless bob is changed. Damn, forgot about Adu. kid looked nice. hopefully trend continues for him. so crafty on the ball, definitely a play maker.
Forwards:
Jozy needs to work on his touch, especially his first touch. Too often it seems it gets away from him and attack is stuffed because of it. Glad he’s only 21. Agudelo is nice and i like davies as well. Both of them have good motors (and according to jay bilas, nice wingspans), both hustle back and help on D. something you don’t see from jozy too often.
Goalie:
Howard. That’s all.
In regards to the final, mexico’s possession was so much better, got tired of hearing the Ole’s over and over after each successful pass. Jones and bradley didn’t play well. Back line couldn’t keep pace nor spacing with mexico’s attack. Dolo’s injury really hurt US. On two of the mexican goals, the us defense was literally marking space and watching the mexican players do whatever. Feelings of this game went from me yelling USA USA to the 2nd half thinking, did I eat all my hotpockets already? eh.
Hopefully, with WC qualifying starting this year (although i think US doesn’t have to start until 3rd round unlike previously) some young players in MLS can step up their games. that’s a whole thread in itself
I was gonna bag on Bornstein the other night, but it just feels like pilng on at this point. Dude is terrible. When he comes in, it’d better be in the Dwiggins role, and even then, I am nervous.
Bradley I dont hate as much as some of you. I don’t pay as close attention as some of the superfans in this thread, but I see it like this: we do not have a dominating, possession oriented midfield. For a long time, we have scored on set pieces and counterattacks. Bradley is decent at the latter, and damn good at the former, which probably has me giving him a free pass in other aspects of his play. It’s just that the U.S. has never had a set of really efficient closers/converters, and well, between him Dempsey and Landycakes, we’re okay at it. But Bradley does NOTHING for us in the midfield during open play. He’s pretty much terrible both ways.
And I can live with being a counteract/set piece team, as long as we have Howard in the net and a set of shutdown, Darrelle Revis caliber defenders back there. But with a back line that godawful out of sync, shape, and just playing unaggressively, it is amazing Mexico didn’t drop 8 on us. We have got to get that figured out, since I don’t think we’re going to develop a creative, possession offense anytime soon. It’s just not American soccer.
PS - I was CERTAIN that Dempsey had tied that game @ the 60:00 mark. I was already fist pumping when the ball hit the crossbar. I wonder if that would have changed things? I betcha Bradley would have played for the tie at that point.
It’s not going to get any better… our U17 lost to freakin Uzbekistan 2-1 over the weekend too.
It’s going to take time, but it will get better. We’ve finally got academies in place and the MLS seems to have some solid footing.
The USSF needs to make a change of direction, bring in some foreign influence.
2-0 lead & lose? We should just cancel our Brazil 2014 showing now.
Have to qualify for it, first.
I thought the top 2 from Concaf, Mexico & US, auto qualified.
[quote=“geeosphere, post:9, topic:25508”]Defense:
i think Lichaj did himself decent, not sure who is better to replace him. Spector, maybe, but remember he too has shown lack of pace to deal with speedy wing players. Lichaj just needs more time/experience and should be good by 2014. Early round qualifiers against Concacaf should do him good. I think mexico really exposed the lack of recovery speed on our D. Goodson and Boca couldn’t recover quickly enough. I’d rather have seen Edu in middle and push Boca out (in lieu of Bornstien) when dolo went out. Not sure what happened to Ream. I like him on D, but after the first Panama game, i don’t think we saw him at all. Only other option on D going forward might be Gonzalez from LA. I did like the U21 player whose name i can’t spell without looking up, gale agaboussunde3.14pi.[/quote]
I agree with Lichaj. I actually have a little confidence in our backline moving forward. I like Gonzalez over Ream, but I think Ream is capable. And Chandler is going to be a staple for years to come.
I actually feel like the future of the MNT is very bright. Lots a good potential in the pipeline and we should see the the benefits of the change of focus with youth development in a few cycles.
There are actual “World Cup Qualifiers” matches. This was the Gold Cup.
Winning the Gold Cup qualifies the team for the Confederations Cup which has become kind of a precursor or trial run of the World Cup.
The CONCACAF WC Qualifiers have started, but it is only the first round and only one game has been played. The USA is the #1 ranked team and the top 6 get a bye to the 3rd round. So we won’t be playing for a while.
3 teams from these qualifiers will make it to the World Cup. Then there is also the chance that a CONCACAF team can play the winner of the Oceania’s group and take their spot. So CONCACAF can get 4 in that case.