Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[yuma]

Coming back to this I am getting pretty amped up... But also pretty worried.

The US has looked really good and really shaky in their last few friendlies. Of course they haven't played as a cohesive whole since qualifying as generally the European based players play the away European friendlies and the MLS based players play in the home friendlies.

Right now I actually like more of the MLS based players, which is something of a surprise.

I am certainly not Klinsmann but I would hope the lineup he uses is something akin to this:

                                                   Howard
                 Evans                 Onyewu            Cameron         Castillo
                                                   Beckerman
                 Donovan                                                 Kljestan
                                                   Bradley
                           Altidore                                    Dempsey

People might scoff at Beckerman starting, but I really, really like what he allows Bradley to do, basically it allows Bradley to become a playmaker up top while Beckerman stays back as a defensive mid. Whereas when Bradley pairs up with someone like Edu or Jones they use too much of a pulley system where neither really gets forward to create opportunities and they both sit in the central mid too much. At the least I think he makes the team as a potential sub to come in and change the dynamic of the game and shift the formation to more of a diamond midfield.

Donovan's form has been off, but he always comes through in the World Cup.
Bradley has looked amazing since leaving Italy and Dempsey is currently on fire.
Altidore I am worried about. But he is such a force--he is one of the US players that is physically intimidating.

Howard is solid as always and I like Evans and Castillo quite a bit. The centerbacks are a major concern. I am afraid that Omar Gonzalez is going to get the start, but he is very unreliable and I don't trust him a bit. Besler is even worse. Maybe I am forgetting someone instead of Cameron?

Kljestan could be replaced by quite a few people I really like: Zusi is good, Dix is great. As is Bedoya most of the time.

I hope that both Eddie Johnson and Aron Johannson make the team as forwards. MLS fans are talking like Wondoloski is going to make the team and he has played well, but he isn't a World Cup level striker. He can't create opportunities. He is a poacher who capitalizes on mistakes made by defenses. The quality of players we will be up against won't make many mistakes.

Anyone else following the US's ramp up for the World Cup? The next few friendlies should be pretty telling...

Klinsmann is pretty instant that no one is safe from not making the roster, but I would expect that Bradley, Howard and Dempsey are all in for sure.

[greatexpectations]

i fully agree with the inclusion of beckerman, especially with the attacking threats in USA's group. the back four is bit of a mess, a mix of injuries and poor performances. part of me wants to see yedlin out there for some speed in the back line but i think he would get picked to pieces.

beyond that i don't feel all that well about altidore or donovan. nothing against them, i'm just not sure they'll see a ton of time. and i love both kjlestan and zusi. i could see kjlestan being the regular starter with zusi being used as an impact sub.

[Davio]

Whatever happened to Carlos Bocanegra?

[yuma]

Whatever happened to Carlos Bocanegra?

He is currently playing for the cellar dwelling awfulness that is Chivas USA. He is still pretty good, but kinda got old...

Plus he is more of a Bradley player and Klinsmann has been trying to move away from the old Bradley stalwarts for a number of reasons (Dempsey, Donovan and a few others excluded)

[Ozle]

I've always wondered this, what do people outside of England think of the England players?

Over hyped?
Unlucky?
World class but under performing?

There's a massive negativity around our team this year, with most people predicting we won't get out of the group.

Personally I'd drop a lot of the established players and start afresh with some young hungry ones like the Germans did a while back. Bit with the super money they are all on by 21 it's hard to find anyone that looks hungry to prove it!

[Ozle]

Whatever happened to Carlos Bocanegra?

Whatever happened to Freddy Adu?

[theory]

Whatever happened to Joshua Gatt?  That dude won me multiple FM championships with his unbelievable speed.  I'm guessing he's injured?

[yuma]

Whatever happened to Carlos Bocanegra?

Whatever happened to Freddy Adu?

I think he is/was playing in MLS. Certainly didn't meet expectations, but then again he was supposed to be the savior of US soccer at age 14, so I don't think he ever had a chance. I am afraid of the same thing happening to Julian Green--who the US kinda lured away from Germany.

Whatever happened to Joshua Gatt?  That dude won me multiple FM championships with his unbelievable speed.  I'm guessing he's injured?

Yeah, he is injured up in Norway. He has never been a consistent player for the National Team. If he can stay healthy there is talk of him being around more for the next Gold Cup and World Cup cycle (PS the US apparently has been invited to 1. host and 2. play in Copa America along with Mexico and one other CONCACAF team) as he is still pretty young

[yuma]

I've always wondered this, what do people outside of England think of the England players?

Over hyped?
Unlucky?
World class but under performing?

Hmmm. From an American perspective I have always felt that England is really good at getting three or four world class players each cycle (the Rooney, Beckham etc...) but have a hard time filling in the gaps. I also get the sense that there is rarely camaraderie inside the locker room. Maybe too many big egos? Or maybe too many grudges from EPL competition that they aren't able to gel? So I wouldn't say they are overrated, but instead have a tendency to underperform consistently.

Also I can't think that the English media helps at all. If they want England to win so badly they should just shut up about them...

[ashersky]

What about Holden?  I like that guy.

[yuma]

What about Holden?  I like that guy.

He is consistently injured. He is a great player, compared (on a slightly lower plane of course) to Beckham, but he has never been consistently on the US team due to injury.

Case in point:

He was out of the USMNT solely due to being injured for two and a half years. But he made the 2013 Gold Cup Roster and then tore his ACL in the Gold Cup Final. I don't think he has had a cap since then.

I would love to see him on the team, but given his lack of play during the last little bit to establish chemistry and I think he is still recovering. I put his chances as very low.

[Davio]

I've always wondered this, what do people outside of England think of the England players?

Over hyped?
Unlucky?
World class but under performing?

Hmmm. From an American perspective I have always felt that England is really good at getting three or four world class players each cycle (the Rooney, Beckham etc...) but have a hard time filling in the gaps. I also get the sense that there is rarely camaraderie inside the locker room. Maybe too many big egos? Or maybe too many grudges from EPL competition that they aren't able to gel? So I wouldn't say they are overrated, but instead have a tendency to underperform consistently.

Also I can't think that the English media helps at all. If they want England to win so badly they should just shut up about them...

Netherlands has the same problem.

We have Van Persie & Robben which are world class or very close to it when they're not injured.
We have Sneijder who is at the wrong end of his career, but still very decent.
Van der Vaart has always been a suboptimal Sneijder, but still useful.
Strootman, from Milan, is sadly injured, he was a pivotal defending midfielder for us.

And the rest are just players from bad teams and bad competitions.

For Netherlands to do well, these mediocre players really have to step up their game, which is going to be really hard against other well balanced teams.

[ashersky]

What about Holden?  I like that guy.

He is consistently injured. He is a great player, compared (on a slightly lower plane of course) to Beckham, but he has never been consistently on the US team due to injury.

Case in point:

He was out of the USMNT solely due to being injured for two and a half years. But he made the 2013 Gold Cup Roster and then tore his ACL in the Gold Cup Final. I don't think he has had a cap since then.

I would love to see him on the team, but given his lack of play during the last little bit to establish chemistry and I think he is still recovering. I put his chances as very low.

Yeah, that's too bad.  I always thought he'd be great in the midfield if he was ever healthy.

I'll root for them, obviously, but Japan is my fallback (and they don't do much better).  My wife's Brazilian, so I'll have to listen to her and her family gloat.

[ipofanes]

And the rest are just players from bad teams and bad competitions.

This should not be comparable to England. Most English players compete in their domestic league, which is among the best in the world.

I'd be pretty certain that a 2nd tier England side would safely beat a 2nd tier Netherlands side.

[yuma]

US 30 man roster was released today:

GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa/England), Tim Howard (Everton/England), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)

DEFENDERS (11): DaMarcus Beasley (Puebla/Mexico), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), John Brooks (Hertha Berlin/Germany), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City/England), Timmy Chandler (Nürnberg/Germany), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders FC), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Clarence Goodson (San Jose Earthquakes), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim/Germany), Michael Parkhurst (Columbus Crew), DeAndre Yedlin (Seattle Sounders)

MIDFIELDERS (10): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes/France), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana/Mexico), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Mix Diskerud (Rosenborg/Norway), Maurice Edu (Philadelphia Union), Julian Green (Bayern Munich/Germany), Jermaine Jones (Besiktas/Turkey), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)

FORWARDS (6): Jozy Altidore (Sunderland/England), Terrence Boyd (Rapid Vienna/Austria), Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders), Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Aron Johannsson (AZ Alkmaar/Netherlands), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)

Happy to see 2 RSL players made the team (Beckerman and Rimando). Excited to see a lot of MLS players in the mix (14 with probably our historically best three players coming from MLS in Bradley, Dempsey and Donovan)

Couple of surprises: Julian Green with only 1 cap making the cut, no Brek Shea, no Eddie Johnson. And including Timmy Chandler and Joe Corona back with the team...

[yuma]

Also no Onewyu or Castillo who I thought would potentially start in the back

[ashersky]

I was hoping for a McBride comeback.

[soulnet]

It is kind of funny, with all the Europeans that read this forum, that mostly people from the US are posting in a discussion about football.

[Ozle]

Well, England team has just been announced.

Not bad really, seems Hodgeson has picked on form rather than the same old players (who will have retired by next tournament)

Still not expecting us to get out of the group stages though.

[ashersky]

Brazil...

Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Toronto FC), Jefferson (Botafogo), Victor (Atletico Mineiro)

Defenders: David Luiz (Chelsea), Dante (Bayern Munich), Thiago Silva (Paris Saint-Germain), Henrique (Napoli), Maicon (Roma), Dani Alves (Barcelona), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Maxwell (Paris Saint-Germain)

Midfielders: Luiz Gustavo (Wolfsburg), Paulinho (Tottenham), Fernandinho (Manchester City), Ramires (Chelsea), Oscar (Chelsea), Willian (Chelsea), Hernanes (Inter Milan)

Forwards: Hulk (Zenit St. Petersburg), Bernard (Shakhtar Donetsk), Neymar (Barcelona), Jo (Atletico Mineiro), Fred (Fluminense)



All in all...not as scary as it could be.

[yuma]

Brazil...

Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Toronto FC)

I was pretty surprised to find out that their number 1 goal keeper was a MLS player. He hasn't looked all that great from the Toronto games I have seen, although his defense has left him out to dry all season long...

[Ozle]

Yeah he is on loan from QPR. Can't even make a championship sides team...

[Joseph2302]

Well, England team has just been announced.

Not bad really, seems Hodgeson has picked on form rather than the same old players (who will have retired by next tournament)

Still not expecting us to get out of the group stages though.

If we didn't have the hardest group, I would think we had a chance... Saying that, if we can get out the group stages, then I believe we can get to quarter finals, before facing Spain, Netherlands or Brazil (and probably losing). 2nd round would be one of Columbia (apparently the seeded team in Group C), Greece, Cote d'Ivoire or Japan, all of whom seem beatable.

[soulnet]

If we didn't have the hardest group, I would think we had a chance... Saying that, if we can get out the group stages, then I believe we can get to quarter finals, before facing Spain, Netherlands or Brazil (and probably losing). 2nd round would be one of Columbia (apparently the seeded team in Group C), Greece, Cote d'Ivoire or Japan, all of whom seem beatable.

It is called Colombia, and they are probably harder than the Netherlands nowadays (though is hard to tell given that the last official match is almost a full year before the start of the WF). Japan I have no idea, but I have read they are pretty good.

By the way, I think the cup will go to Brazil, with Germany being a close second favorite. Argentina is way overrated (I still hope, though).

[ipofanes]

Germany will need a bit of luck to make it past the group stages. If they manage to, they could advance all the way to the semis (again) but not past that (again). I don't see how they can replace Khedira, especially since Gündoğan is injured too. Also, Löw's tactical decisions.