WE MADE IT!!!
take it hondoras
U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
Took a little luck, but we pulled it out, still laughing at the PK that Honduras player Carlos Pavon sailed over the bar.
Conor freakin Casey, wow.
[QUOTE=itsbraille49;435742]WE MADE IT!!!
take it Honduras
U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A![/QUOTE]
fixed.
[QUOTE=Ninerballin;435743]Took a little luck, but we pulled it out, still laughing at the PK that Honduras player Carlos Pavon sailed over the bar.
Conor freakin Casey, wow.[/QUOTE] Yeah, I was a little pissed when I saw Casey starting. I was unimpressed with his last two national team showings, where he looked slow and lazy. He still looked slow in the first half last night, but that 2nd goal was a fine example of how you finish a breakaway off a great pass. The first goal, he probably gets called for a foul around 90% of the time, but I’ll take it (especially after the total dive to earn a free kick on the first Honduran goal). It’ll be fun to debate starting lineups for the future, as a number of our players have had really inconsistent performances (Altidore, Casey, Dempsey, Bornstein, etc).
Feel bad for Pavon. I hope we beat Costa Rica to help Honduras to make it. But we probably play the B team Wed.? And Costa Rica always seems to play better against us for some reason.
We got a little lucky, but all that counts is we made the WC. Now maybe I get to see a little more soccer on t.v. in the future.
Are we sure Carlos Pavon is still alive right now?
I know Casey scored the other day, but I still don’t ever want to see him on the pitch for the national team. He’s terrible, and 2 goals in a WCQ doesnt change that.
He’s Ching lite. And you know your terrible if you arent even up to par with Brian Ching.
[QUOTE=casstommy;435810]I know Casey scored the other day, but I still don’t ever want to see him on the pitch for the national team. He’s terrible, and 2 goals in a WCQ doesnt change that.
He’s Ching lite. And you know your terrible if you arent even up to par with Brian Ching.[/QUOTE]
He missed an absolute gimme from Altidore. I shanked some shots back in the day, but that was ****ing pathetic.
US looks like garbage. Oneweyu looks like he’s half assing it. Down 2-nil to Costa Rica.
[QUOTE=NinerAdvocate;436278]He missed an absolute gimme from Altidore. I shanked some shots back in the day, but that was ****ing pathetic.
US looks like garbage. Oneweyu looks like he’s half assing it. Down 2-nil to Costa Rica.[/QUOTE]
Anyone who lived at least a block from me heard me screaming at my TV for 2 hours last night. I’m so over Bob Bradley. He makes Bruce Arena look like a friggin genius.
This team has so many problems. Now, with Davies out, and Gooch sidelined till early next year, I’m even less optimistic than before.
It really freaks me out to think that we are sending a squad to the WC that consists of Bornstein, Holden, Casey, Ching, and Rogers. And that all of them will see significant minutes.
[QUOTE=casstommy;436329]Anyone who lived at least a block from me heard me screaming at my TV for 2 hours last night. I’m so over Bob Bradley. He makes Bruce Arena look like a friggin genius.
This team has so many problems. Now, with Davies out, and Gooch sidelined till early next year, I’m even less optimistic than before.
It really freaks me out to think that we are sending a squad to the WC that consists of Bornstein, Holden, Casey, Ching, and Rogers. And that all of them will see significant minutes.[/QUOTE]
Lol, you say that as if we have all kinds of talent waiting to play but not getting picked up by Bradley. We finished first in our region what more do you want?? Now we just need some luck in the draw and then we can hopefully get out of the groupstage and from then on anything can happen.
[QUOTE=SteauA;436348]Lol, you say that as if we have all kinds of talent waiting to play but not getting picked up by Bradley. We finished first in our region what more do you want?? Now we just need some luck in the draw and then we can hopefully get out of the groupstage and from then on anything can happen.[/QUOTE]
Winning CONCACAF doenst do much for me, because honestly, we should win it going away. If anything, I think the qualifying this year was too difficult for us when compared to the the talent level/resources US Soccer has vs the rest of the region.
I’ve got a laundry list of problems with Bradley. And I don’t think anyone on NNN is interested in hearing me list them in detail. But in short, I hate his love of using a big unathletic striker to hold up play (Ching, Casey, Cooper). It reduces the American attack to a form of kickball. I hate it.
He also makes incredibly odd lineup selections and substitutions. He seems stuck on certain players that, to anyone who watches an ounce of soccer, are obviously not up to snuff (Ching, Clark, Bornstein, Casey, Beasley, Kljestan).
My ideal lineup would be
-------Altidore— Davies----
–Donavan------ —Dempsey----
-------Bradley—Feilhaber----
–Spector---------- Demerit-----
-------Gooch— Boca------
------------Howard-------
Now with Davies out, I’d be fine moving Dempsey up front with Jozy and putting Torres in Demps spot (Or calling up someone with pace to replace Davies altogether, maybe Cunningham?)
[QUOTE=casstommy;436366]Winning CONCACAF doenst do much for me, because honestly, we should win it going away. If anything, I think the qualifying this year was too difficult for us when compared to the the talent level/resources US Soccer has vs the rest of the region.
I’ve got a laundry list of problems with Bradley. And I don’t think anyone on NNN is interested in hearing me list them in detail. But in short, I hate his love of using a big unathletic striker to hold up play (Ching, Casey, Cooper). It reduces the American attack to a form of kickball. I hate it.
He also makes incredibly odd lineup selections and substitutions. He seems stuck on certain players that, to anyone who watches an ounce of soccer, are obviously not up to snuff (Ching, Clark, Bornstein, Casey, Beasley, Kljestan).
My ideal lineup would be
-------Altidore— Davies----
–Donavan------ —Dempsey----
-------Bradley—Feilhaber----
–Spector---------- Demerit-----
-------Gooch— Boca------
------------Howard-------
Now with Davies out, I’d be fine moving Dempsey up front with Jozy and putting Torres in Demps spot (Or calling up someone with pace to replace Davies altogether, maybe Cunningham?)[/QUOTE] We’ve got to get Dempsey out of the midfield, his defense is absolutely terrible. He also isn’t that great setting up other players, and tries to get too cute with the ball. But he has a knack for finishing around the goal.
We still need a speedster who can finish. I wonder if Donavon could fill this role? I know he’s our best playmaker, so taking out of the midfield is probably not smart, but I’m not sure who else you put up there. And his finishing has gotten much better. Maybe a player like Feilhaber could fill in as playmaker to some degree.
I think Holden has potential as an interesting playmaker, but he gets lost on defense right now. Supposedly Jermaine Jones and Castillo will figure into the lineup in the back once they get healthy.
I agree on Clark, a decent defender but his passing is so imprecise it kills our offense.
I agree with Dempseys D. He kills us at times. And seeing him step over a dead ball 4 or 5 times before he kicks it into the defenders shins makes me crazy. But like you said, he does have a knack for finishing around goal…something that this team doesnt have a lot of.
If I were to move him up front, I’d want to see Torres fill his spot. He just sees the field so well. I think he has a long life on the MNT
We still need a speedster who can finish. I wonder if Donavon could fill this role? I know he's our best playmaker, so taking out of the midfield is probably not smart, but I'm not sure who else you put up there. And his finishing has gotten much better. Maybe a player like Feilhaber could fill in as playmaker to some degree.
Donavan has been in top form when he is able to play out of the midfield. He’s quick, but he cant finish to save his life (he can take a hell of a PK though 
). I’d love to see a midfield in the next few games with Donavan, Feilhaber, and Torres. I just think each have the holding ability and vision to do some damage. I don’t think our backline could stand to see this trio for very long though. Maybe if we went with 5 mids and played Jermaine Jones (if he’s ever healthy) and Edu?
[QUOTE=casstommy;436382]
Donavan has been in top form when he is able to play out of the midfield. He’s quick, but he cant finish to save his life (he can take a hell of a PK though 
). I’d love to see a midfield in the next few games with Donavan, Feilhaber, and Torres. I just think each have the holding ability and vision to do some damage. I don’t think our backline could stand to see this trio for very long though. Maybe if we went with 5 mids and played Jermaine Jones (if he’s ever healthy) and Edu?[/QUOTE] Hard to argue, but I do think Donovan has gotten better than he used to be. His Confed cup finish against Brazil on the breakaway was a thing of beauty. The question is, who is better in that role? I’m not sure we have someone that would do a better job. I guess you could play Dempsey and Altidore, but neither have the speed to really stress a smart back line. A lot of bad options at the moment. I hope some players emerge in the next year.
[QUOTE=casstommy;436366]Winning CONCACAF doenst do much for me, because honestly, we should win it going away. If anything, I think the qualifying this year was too difficult for us when compared to the the talent level/resources US Soccer has vs the rest of the region.
I’ve got a laundry list of problems with Bradley. And I don’t think anyone on NNN is interested in hearing me list them in detail. But in short, I hate his love of using a big unathletic striker to hold up play (Ching, Casey, Cooper). It reduces the American attack to a form of kickball. I hate it.
He also makes incredibly odd lineup selections and substitutions. He seems stuck on certain players that, to anyone who watches an ounce of soccer, are obviously not up to snuff (Ching, Clark, Bornstein, Casey, Beasley, Kljestan).
My ideal lineup would be
-------Altidore— Davies----
–Donavan------ —Dempsey----
-------Bradley—Feilhaber----
–Spector---------- Demerit-----
-------Gooch— Boca------
------------Howard-------
Now with Davies out, I’d be fine moving Dempsey up front with Jozy and putting Torres in Demps spot (Or calling up someone with pace to replace Davies altogether, maybe Cunningham?)[/QUOTE]
Your post made it seem like Mexico doesn’t even exist. Sure, we have better resources but they have better natural talents that get born there every day and they have a much better league.
Other than that I can’t say I disagree with too much in your post except for the fact that Beasley hasn’t been called up in forever and is pretty much done with the MNT. I don’t understand your love for Feilhaber. He has never impressed me. I agree with the back four you have but I would make it like this:
Bocanegra - Demerit - Gooch - Spector
If it seems familiar it’s because we used it in the Confed Cup and had great success.
In fact here’s who I think we should start with in the WC:
[center]Howard
Spector - Gooch - Demerit - Bocanegra
Bradley
Depsey - Donovan - Holden
Altidore - [insert not worthy striker here][/center]
Stuart Holden hasn’t impressed lately but his pace cannot be ignored and if there’s something we’ll need against WC opponents it will be pace because I have a feeling we’re not gonna be dominating possession so the counterattacks will have to be lightning fast and Holden (along with Donovan) can do that.
Believe me though, I’ve had my issues with Bradley as well. I wanted him gone before the Confed Cup started but the way he rallied the troops in that tournament changed my mind about him. I trust he can managed the team to a fine WC next summer.
[QUOTE=SteauA;436348] We finished first in our region what more do you want?? .[/QUOTE]
Can someone who knows stuff about this explain how we “barely” made the WC if we finished first in the region? :blink:
[QUOTE=EE9er;436407]Can someone who knows stuff about this explain how we “barely” made the WC if we finished first in the region? :blink:[/QUOTE]
You know how the Chargers made the playoffs last year? Kinda like that.