Warning: Soccer Thread

[KurtRambis4]

Copa de Oro begins tonight for the USMNT.

 

[Col. Forbin]

Need to get our D figured out and need to replace the wookie.

But, we are winning at this point.

 

[GhostOfJackie]

I thought Bradley and Beckerman did a terrible job of handling the midfield last night. Our defense has some issues to straighten out but they played an average game. Honduras is just not as good as they used to be and pretty soon our luck with set pieces will go away.

With that said, I still think we win the Gold Cup.

 

[KurtRambis4]

Honduras

isn't that bad. Brazil only beat them 1-0 a few weeks ago, in Brazil. I mean they aren't the best team in the world, but I wouldn't say they're bad.

 

[Drebin]

They played terrible last night. Too many turnovers and unforced errors. They may still win the cup, but there must be improvement. I was particularly disappointed with Bradley. He's better than that. Very sloppy.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

It's early... but I couldn't help but think they need to get the Women's team to show them how to pass and play defense better.

 

[esplanade91]

I thought the lineup was an odd cast of characters. Bedoya, Mix, Aron, and a few other World Cup players didn't start and were never subbed in. In their place were over-the-hill MLS players.

Klinnsman knows what he's doing, but based on the roster last night I can't make any rational observations. Wondo, Beckerman, Zusi, Evans, and Davis are not part of the equation moving forward.

 

[Bulldogg31]

Some of the issues in organizing the back four are Guzan's, but Alvarado was awful. He's young (22) and it really shows. Zardes was bad too.

Bradley did enough to help the team win, especially the set piece to score Dempsey, who is great.

The guy who I don't get is Yedlin. He's played in 19 CAPS and still hasn't scored. He had two good chances last night and blanked on both. What does he bring to the table?

 

[esplanade91]

Yedlin is probably our most promising player, he just doesn't play offense. He's just recently taken Bedoya's spot on the wing because he's easily one of the fastest players we've ever had.

Klinnsman's sets aren't really set up for Bradley's strengths, which is odd considering Bradley's abilities.

 

[Bulldogg31]

I get that he's fast, and in his defense he had to cover for Timmy Chandler (WTF?) quite a bit, I just didn't think he looked good last night. Reminds me of a really fast receiver that never catches touchdowns.

 

[esplanade91]

He's not a scorer though. At least not yet. He's a rightback who in the last 12 months has been playing wing and mid.

Look at his stats from Akron if you like. He's a defender now playing farther forward. I thought he did really well last night, personally. Had a pretty great shot on goal. Chased down a lot of balls that could have been fired at Guzan.

ETA: just watched the highlights, and Bradley asissted a Dempsey goal and had one for himself that wasn't called.

 

[Bulldogg31]

I didn't realize Yedlin was playing so out of position, that does explain his poor finishing on offense. Looks like I'm not the only one though, I've seen grades for him today from 8.8 (huh?) to 4.

The grades on Chandler though are almost unanimously bad.

Also, apparently Alvarado still had the option of moving to the Mexican national team, but playing him last night locked him up for the U.S.

 

[rem101]

Chandler looked awful for most of last night.

 

[FlotownDawg]

Yedlin is a right back playing midfield. Zardes is a forward playing midfield

I don't understand what Klinsmann continues to see in Chandler, other than the fact he's German. He's so inconsistent (and mostly bad) at right back. Yedlin has his moments at right mid, mostly because of his speed and he delivers good crosses, but Zardes looks very uncomfortable playing midfield. Altidore's time has come and gone. He had another disappointing game last night. I think the guy is just lazy and he has a terrible first touch. Zardes or Johanson needs to replace him up top and Mix Diskerud needs to move into the midfield position. Alvarado was awful and should be replaced by Omar Gonzales. Don't understand why Matt Besler is not in the squad. He played major minutes at the World Cup and he is still young. Last night was our hardest group stage game and we made it out with a win even though we didn't play well. Klinsmann should be able to experiment with the lineup against Haiti and Panama and have it set the way he wants it for the knockout stage games. I think after this Gold Cup is over, we will see a lot of the older guys like Beckerman and Wondo moved on and replaced by younger players.

 

[VegasDawg13]

Chandler is awful for most of most nights.

 

[GhostOfJackie]

I just don't see what other people see in Beckerman. I never have. He needs to cut that damn wookey hair anyway. He's too old for that ****.

 

[esplanade91]

I don't understand what Klinsmann continues to see in Chandler, other than the fact he's German. He's so inconsistent (and mostly bad) at right back. Yedlin has his moments at right mid, mostly because of his speed and he delivers good crosses, but Zardes looks very uncomfortable playing midfield. Altidore's time has come and gone. He had another disappointing game last night. I think the guy is just lazy and he has a terrible first touch. Zardes or Johanson needs to replace him up top and Mix Diskerud needs to move into the midfield position. Alvarado was awful and should be replaced by Omar Gonzales. Don't understand why Matt Besler is not in the squad. He played major minutes at the World Cup and he is still young. Last night was our hardest group stage game and we made it out with a win even though we didn't play well. Klinsmann should be able to experiment with the lineup against Haiti and Panama and have it set the way he wants it for the knockout stage games. I think after this Gold Cup is over, we will see a lot of the older guys like Beckerman and Wondo moved on and replaced by younger players.

Golf clap.

 

[rem101]

I sure as hell hope so. We have young talent that needs to be on the field getting tournament experience.

 

[KurtRambis4]

He's been

pretty solid as a DM. Especialially when you take into account where he was 4 years ago.