The Official US Soccer thread

[Chaplin]

We finished at the top of CONCACAF with the draw. Helps our WC seeding.

In theory. I think asking for anything good from the international soccer community is a stretch. We'll still end up in a group with Italy, Brazil and Ghana.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Tim Howard had every right to be screaming at his defense. It was atrocious. Good thing qualifying is over, because if it wasn't, with ***** out, our defense would be in BIG trouble.

I slow mo'ed Howard after the goal, it was hilarious, he screamed "EVERY F$CKING TIME"!!! He had every right to be furious, Bornstein and Feilhalber were horrendous. Our best back 4 performance as of late seemed to be with Spector, Boca, ***** and DeMerit during the Confed Cup, I wouldn't be surprised if that were the lineup in the World Cup. ***** is only expected to be out 3-4 months, so maybe he won't be 100%, but he should be close.

Any word on whether or not Jermaine Jones will be an option by WC time? I know he's more of a defensive mid, and won't help with attacking, but frankly he has to be better than our current options.

Connor Casey is a turd, just like Ching. They are garbage anywhere outside of MLS. We'll definitely need Davies to have any chance of doing something in the WC. I know there is a lot of doubt about Davies playing, but I think people will be surprised at how quickly he comes back, and he'll play. Hopefully it'll be something the team can rally around. With a top 2 spot in our group, there's no reason why we can't advance. If we get another group of death, I'll be sick.

 

[Chaplin]

Conor Casey certainly wasn't the best, but he was a damn sight better than Brian Ching. At least Conor was active. With Ching in the lineup, you can barely tell he's there. We're going to miss Charlie A LOT.

 

[Zeno]

Good finish, but let's not forget the fact that we have to be the worst passing team of all the top level international teams in the world. I was literally embarrassed to see Cherundulo, Stuart Holden, Feilhaber and Conor Casey give the ball away that many times. The only guys that could control the ball halfway decent were Landon and Jozy. Bradley had hardly any touches.

Harkes was gushing about Bornstein, and he was GREAT on the offensive side of the field but he was TERRIBLE on defense. Both him and Cherundulo (and even Bocanegra) didn't deserve to be on the field. How can you not mark guys that close to the goal? And then you don't mark the SAME GUY again and he scores a 2nd goal?! Tim Howard had every right to be screaming at his defense. It was atrocious. Good thing qualifying is over, because if it wasn't, with ***** out, our defense would be in BIG trouble.

Cherundolo and Bornstein both had good games, the first goal the fault was on Onyewu the second goal the fault was on Bocangera, at first glance I thought Bornstein was at fault in goal number 1 but after watching the game a second time it was Bocanegra. Bornstein was marking the wide player had he left him to double up on the ball it would have left the wide player open for a free run on goal, Bocanegra needed to step up and at least slow Ruiz's adavnce but he blew right by him. Cherundolo was tireless on that right side and his runs in to the offensive end were both disruptive to the Costa Rican defense and effective for our offense.

Stuart Holden is another guy I will disagree with you on. His passing was sharp and nobody currently in the US pool crosses better.

Feilhaber & Casey should both be ashamed of their performance. Bradley was disruptive but his passing was off (again), he did score one of those goals he is gonna be known for, proper positioning to pounce on any rebound--most of his goals at Heerenven were due to that same thing either proper positioning or well timed runs rather than creating space with the ball himself.

Torres had 1 bad touch in his 30 minutes of work and I didn't count 1 errant pass by him. He deserves more playing time.

The entire US team needs to work on finishing.

 

[Zeno]

We finished at the top of CONCACAF with the draw. Helps our WC seeding.

WC seeding has a lot more to do with your performance in recent WCs than where you finish in qualifying. Our 3 & out in 2 of the last 3 WCs is not going to get us a high seed.

 

[Zeno]

Bradley was a complete idiot not taking Altidore out the very moment he got a yellow card, he made it through.

That was the 14th minute, he wasn't going to sub him that early. He pulled Altidore aside though shortly after and basically told him--if you score keep your shirt on--he knew he planned to rip it off as a tribute to Davies and would get his second yellow. The yellow was BS anyway.

 

[Stout]

That was the 14th minute, he wasn't going to sub him that early. He pulled Altidore aside though shortly after and basically told him--if you score keep your shirt on--he knew he planned to rip it off as a tribute to Davies and would get his second yellow. The yellow was BS anyway.

I don't care if it had happened in the 1st minute. Altidore should have been subbed out. Great, he had a talk with the kid. The aggressive style Altidore kept playing, regardless of any coaching advice, could have easily resulted in another yellow at some point. Thankfully it did not. And yes, the yellow was crap.

As for the seeding argument? I'd rather have a healthy ***** than top of CONCACAF...how about you guys?

 

[Chaplin]

As for the seeding argument? I'd rather have a healthy ***** than top of CONCACAF...how about you guys?

In their eyes, being on top of CONCACAF can mean the difference between bing in a group with Spain and Germany versus a group with Swtizerland and Austria. They are hoping that winning CONCACAF means they'll be put in an easier group. Pretty simple, but I don't know if it will matter so much.

 

[Stout]

In their eyes, being on top of CONCACAF can mean the difference between bing in a group with Spain and Germany versus a group with Swtizerland and Austria. They are hoping that winning CONCACAF means they'll be put in an easier group. Pretty simple, but I don't know if it will matter so much.

I don't really think it matters at all. We finished top of CONCACAF last time only to be thrust into a group of death.

 

[CaptTurbo]

Onyewu out 3-4 months with torn knee tendon

 

[Renz]

As for the seeding argument? I'd rather have a healthy ***** than top of CONCACAF...how about you guys?

Onyewu needed games if he was going to be effective at all in the WC. He wasn't going to see any playing time at Milan, so he needed to be playing with the national team. Playing him was the right decision.

Onyewu was hurt in a non-contact situation. It happens. Just look at Davies. He wasn't even on the pitch when he was injured.

 

[Stout]

Onyewu needed games if he was going to be effective at all in the WC. He wasn't going to see any playing time at Milan, so he needed to be playing with the national team. Playing him was the right decision.

Onyewu was hurt in a non-contact situation. It happens. Just look at Davies. He wasn't even on the pitch when he was injured.

Bah...Onyewu needs games LEADING UP TO the WC. A game in October would have absolutely no impact on how he would play come Summer '10. Playing him was the wrong decision, even more so because we all know that freak injuries can occur (Rob Moore, anyone?). I mean, I wanted us to win, don't get me wrong, but I really wanted us to go with the youngsters in this one.

 

[Chaplin]

Bah...Onyewu needs games LEADING UP TO the WC. A game in October would have absolutely no impact on how he would play come Summer '10. Playing him was the wrong decision, even more so because we all know that freak injuries can occur (Rob Moore, anyone?). I mean, I wanted us to win, don't get me wrong, but I really wanted us to go with the youngsters in this one.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but couldn't this same injury happen to anyone, regardless of age? It's not like Onyewu is injury-prone, right? Sounds just like 20/20 sour grapes to me.

 

[Stout]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but couldn't this same injury happen to anyone, regardless of age? It's not like Onyewu is injury-prone, right? Sounds just like 20/20 sour grapes to me.

lol Riiiiiight. I was worried about injuries and didn't want us to start the stars, but we did start the stars and one got injured, so it's 20/20 sour grapes now. Suuuuuuure.

 

[Chaplin]

lol Riiiiiight. I was worried about injuries and didn't want us to start the stars, but we did start the stars and one got injured, so it's 20/20 sour grapes now. Suuuuuuure.

It sucks that Onyewu got injured, but are you really surprised? It's not like he's been playing a lot of soccer for the past month and a half since he's been buried on AC Milan's bench. Bradley is a crappy coach, but neither you nor he can predict the future. Onyewu needed minutes on the pitch--and these were the only minutes he's gotten in a couple months.

 

[Stout]

It sucks that Onyewu got injured, but are you really surprised? It's not like he's been playing a lot of soccer for the past month and a half since he's been buried on AC Milan's bench. Bradley is a crappy coach, but neither you nor he can predict the future. Onyewu needed minutes on the pitch--and these were the only minutes he's gotten in a couple months.

I'm not saying I was worried that Onyewu would get hurt, but that I was worried that someone would get hurt and/or get a red card. And no, it isn't good that ***** hasn't been playing, but playing a single, isolated game in October was in no way going to help him this summer.

 

[Zeno]

US plays a friendly tomorrow against Slovakia 10AM ET on FSC.

Here is the full roster...

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan, Marcus Hahnemann and Troy Perkins.

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra, Jonathan Bornstein, Steve Cherundolo, Jimmy Conrad, Clarence Goodson, Frankie Hejduk, Chad Marshall, Heath Pearce and Jonathan Spector.

Midfielders: Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey, Benny Feilhaber, Sacha Kljestan, Dax McCarty and Robbie Rogers.

Forwards: Jozy Altidore, Conor Casey, Jeff Cunningham and Eddie Johnson

Donovan, Ching, Holden are in the MLS Semi's so thats the reason they won't be there and I'm guessing Bradley gave Tim Howard some time off to rest and let the other GKs get a chance to play.

I like that Dax McCarty made the team, I think he is more talented than Kljestan.

 

[Zeno]

Slovakia 1 US 0

Bornstein fouls in the box to give up a penalty mid-way through the first half and the US manages pretty much nothing offensively. It is amazing the difference with the team when Donovan isn't out there.

What an incredibly boring display.

Next game is against Denmark on the 18th.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

US to play the Netherlands in Amsterdam on March 3rd. They also have a game against Honduras in LA on Jan. 23rd and a rumored game against Mexico some time around there.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/soccer/12/16/us.netherlands.ap/index.html

 

[Chaplin]

US to play the Netherlands in Amsterdam on March 3rd. They also have a game against Honduras in LA on Jan. 23rd and a rumored game against Mexico some time around there.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/soccer/12/16/us.netherlands.ap/index.html

I'm probably going to try to get to the Honduras game.

But I definitely like the the Netherlands friendly. We'll probably lose, but that is a GREAT tuneup game.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/301070-will-charlie-davies-be-on-the-united-states-2010-world-cup-squad


At least a little hope that Davies may be ready as well as *****. With both at full strength, I think we could make things interesting against England.

 

[CardEd]

***** and davies interviews........


http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/international/2009/12/03/bs.roth.us.soccor.cnn.html

http://www.freesoccerhighlights.com...arlie-davies-first-interview-since-car-crash/

 

[Shzm13]

Classic US, avoiding the Azteca 8)

 

[Zeno]

Classic US, avoiding the Azteca 8)

Mexico actually makes more money travelling to the US which is why more of their friendlies are played in "neutral" US stadiums.

I wouldn't mind seeing a true neutral field game between the US & Mexico, maybe in England or somewhere as a warm up match, although not sure what the interest would be to the Euro's.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

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