Gold Cup

[TU_BLA]

US beats Haiti 1-0. US looked pretty blah in this one. They settled on playing the ball backwards and going negative too many times. There were runs made and good space to attack and yet Yuiell wanted to be Michael Bradley and play 3 yd passes backwards while Haiti was given time to set up and start pressing. Only one or two times did the US try to turn and advance the ball. The backline was a little discombobulated and left too much space wide...a byproduct of Moore and Vines constantly getting caught up field and not tracking back enough.

I saw enough of Busio to know he should be starting over Yuiell.

 

[Gold*]

Typical Concacaf game. Haiti overplayed everything and tried to outhustle all night. I thought we looked ok for it being the B team and these guys not having played together much. We hit the post twice.

 

[drboobay]

It was such a contrast to the level of play at Wembley.

 

[nevadanatural]

I won’t be as harsh on our guys as the rest of you. I saw more speed on the field than I’ve seen in awhile and while their were a lot of mistakes and a lack of aggression in the second half I saw a lot of potential also. i have no idea how Haiti stacks up in this field but Canada didn’t look that great despite the 4-1 thrashing of Martinique and Mexico drew their first game so this B team could surprise.

 

[HuffyCane]

I won’t be as harsh on our guys as the rest of you. I saw more speed on the field than I’ve seen in awhile and while their were a lot of mistakes and a lack of aggression in the second half I saw a lot of potential also. i have no idea how Haiti stacks up in this field but Canada didn’t look that great despite the 4-1 thrashing of Martinique and Mexico drew their first game so this B team could surprise.

There was speed on the wings that raised my eyebrows. For the first time in awhile. But that may just be the competition out there.

 

[HuffyCane]

US beats Haiti 1-0. US looked pretty blah in this one. They settled on playing the ball backwards and going negative too many times. There were runs made and good space to attack and yet Yuiell wanted to be Michael Bradley and play 3 yd passes backwards while Haiti was given time to set up and start pressing. Only one or two times did the US try to turn and advance the ball. The backline was a little discombobulated and left too much space wide...a byproduct of Moore and Vines constantly getting caught up field and not tracking back enough.

I saw enough of Busio to know he should be starting over Yuiell.

Don’t know much about Busio but would like to know more. Yuell is widely overrated and a yes boy.

 

[TU_BLA]

Don’t know much about Busio but would like to know more. Yuell is widely overrated and a yes boy.

In the SKC games I've seen and even last night his game is very reminiscent of Weston McKennie. Fast on the ball, good technique, finds good space to operate in and makes the right plays. He plays fast. I thought last night the back 5-6 for the US just played too slow and it allowed Haiti to stay in things.

 

[TU_BLA]

There was speed on the wings that raised my eyebrows. For the first time in awhile. But that may just be the competition out there.

Shaq Moore is fast as hell BUT he doesn't have a left foot and it actually caused problems and limited the US attack. Giachinno is a nice player but nowhere near what Arriola is. Vines was OK. And I'm not a fan of whoever started on the right up top from Colorado (Ernie something?) . He just didn't show me much. I liked the kid who came in late who plays in Portland (Erik Williams?) He seemed solid.

Dike is much faster than anyone will give him credit for. And he almost looks like Manute Bol compared to the players around him because he's just that much bigger than everyone.

 

[drboobay]

Zardes has never impressed me btw.

 

[HuffyCane]

Shaq Moore is fast as hell BUT he doesn't have a left foot and it actually caused problems and limited the US attack.

Cobi Jones and Robbie Finley say Hello.

 

[TU_BLA]

Cobi Jones and Robbie Finley say Hello.

Are you saying those guys were no good?

 

[TU_BLA]

Cobi Jones and Robbie Finley say Hello.

And Cobi didn't play the same position they were using Moore in on Sunday. There's a difference if a MF or F lose the ball because they can't use their left in the attack, but if it's your outside back who loses it every time they took his right foot away and all of a sudden you're being countered....that's a big problem.

 

[TU_BLA]

So Costa Rica was wholly unimpressive last night. Guadelupe gave them all they can handle and until a dumbass Guadalupe player karate punched a CR player in the chest, it was going to be a tighter than expected match.

In the first game, Jamaica beat Suriname 2-0. So far, none of the top 5-6 teams in CONCACAF have looked good at all. Mexico, US, Costa Rica, and Canada have all been pretty ho hum. We'll see if Honduras can come away with an impressive game against Grenada. We also get a glimpse at Qatar tonight who was a special invite to the tournament as host of the upcoming WC. We'll see how many players have been granted temporary special Qatari citizen status for the next couple of years.

 

[HuffyCane]

Are you saying those guys were no good?

I’m saying they were out there to create space through speed threat and break the shape of the defense. They were often not able to bring the ball with them when they were doing that. Jones was underrated and returned early to help form MLS. He had serious problems with his game, but at the time rated as an international quality player. We don’t know what he might have become if he stayed in the premier league. Robbie Finley had no business playing for the USA, even in early round CONCACAF. He was out there to create runs for Donovan and Dempsey. Nothing more. It held us back.

 

[TU_BLA]

I’m saying they were out there to create space through speed threat and break the shape of the defense. They were often not able to bring the ball with them when they were doing that. Jones was underrated and returned early to help form MLS. He had serious problems with his game, but at the time rated as an international quality player. We don’t know what he might have become if he stayed in the premier league. Robbie Finley had no business playing for the USA, even in early round CONCACAF. He was out there to create runs for Donovan and Dempsey. Nothing more. It held us back.

Ah. I don't even remember Finley so that tells you how good he actually was. Cobi was one of those players Americans loved to watch early, maybe as much for his style as his ability. I enjoy listening to him as an analyst now. He even admits he might not have made the USMNT if he were coming up now as the quality of players and depth the US now has is 10x what it was back in the 90s.

 

[drboobay]

I saw exactly two players on the field for the US who seemed capable of a semblance of contribution at the International level against real competition, Arriola and Lletget. Maybe a couple of others with a bit of promise.

 

[HuffyCane]

Ah. I don't even remember Finley so that tells you how good he actually was. Cobi was one of those players Americans loved to watch early, maybe as much for his style as his ability. I enjoy listening to him as an analyst now. He even admits he might not have made the USMNT if he were coming up now as the quality of players and depth the US now has is 10x what it was back in the 90s.

Im surprised to hear that you don't even remember him, he started 3 of the 4 USA matches at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa up top opposite of Jozy. He replaced CD9 on the roster, who was ten times the player.

Finley played at Oregon State and was drafted by LA Galaxy to replace Cobi Jones. He was later sold to Real Salt Lake when LA made Mexican acquisitions.

Bradley scrambled for anyone with speed to replace Charlie so short to the roster cut off and Finley had all the performance metrics, but none of the skill. It didn't matter, he stretched Turkey and caused Australia and Slovenia fits. But he go no where near the goal. He was the equivalent of a WR who runs 30 streaks to clear out space for the slot to make catches and tire out the CBs.

Nottingham Forest, which was in the Championship at the time, signed him on a free transfer. He was quickly dealt to a League Two side where he was comically the fastest player on the field, but simply could not dribble with the ball under any pressure. After about 6 games in League Two, he was returned and NF cut him and he came home to MLS.

He is the Skeets Nehmiah of MLS.

 

[Gold*]

A modest proposal: trade the Carribean teams other than Cuba for the Middle Eastern teams. It would be fun as hell to watch.

Also, evidently Qatar has very liberal citizenship laws if you can play soccer.

 

[TU_BLA]

He is the Skeets Nehmiah of MLS.

You're referring to Renaldo Nehemiah of Battle of the Network Stars fame and then the 49ers?

I don't remember Finley at all. And the 2010 WC was the one where Donovan had to score the crazy goal against Algeria near the end of stoppage time to get the US into the knockout round right?

 

[TU_BLA]

I saw exactly two players on the field for the US who seemed capable of a semblance of contribution at the International level against real competition, Arriola and Lletget. Maybe a couple of others with a bit of promise.

Busio can. He's still a teenager and that was his first USMNT cap. There's a reason his name is being talked about a lot for a possible move to Serie A in Italy and I'm sure some Bundesliga and other Euro squads will come knocking. Serie A is a natural for him because of his dad's Italian lineage. He's wildly inexperienced at the highest levels but the raw talent and technical skill is there. IMO Yuiell can play at the level needed but he looked like a deer in headlights the other night. You'd have thunk he was playing in his first meaningful USMNT match, but he started the Nations League semi win over Honduras.

I was more dismayed by the poor decisions and ultra conservative approach. Yeah, it's important to maintain possession, but you've got to look to go forward and the US simply wasn't even looking, let alone trying.

 

[HuffyCane]

You're referring to Renaldo Nehemiah of Battle of the Network Stars fame and then the 49ers?

I don't remember Finley at all. And the 2010 WC was the one where Donovan had to score the crazy goal against Algeria near the end of stoppage time to get the US into the knockout round right?

Correct. Top 5 damnedest things I ever saw. I’ve always wondered if that Algerian keeper died in a car bomb a few weeks later.

Skeets could run like the wind. And couldn’t catch a lick. They had to change the penalty structure of the obstacle course on the Superstars because he figured out he could run around every obstacle take the deductions and still get to the finish line with the fastest overall time.

 

[Li'l Eric Coley]

Correct. Top 5 damnedest things I ever saw. I’ve always wondered if that Algerian keeper died in a car bomb a few weeks later.

Skeets could run like the wind. And couldn’t catch a lick. They had to change the penalty structure of the obstacle course on the Superstars because he figured out he could run around every obstacle take the deductions and still get to the finish line with the fastest overall time.

Howard Cosell and Morgan Fairchild on the play by play most likely.

 

[drboobay]

Busio can. He's still a teenager and that was his first USMNT cap. There's a reason his name is being talked about a lot for a possible move to Serie A in Italy and I'm sure some Bundesliga and other Euro squads will come knocking. Serie A is a natural for him because of his dad's Italian lineage. He's wildly inexperienced at the highest levels but the raw talent and technical skill is there. IMO Yuiell can play at the level needed but he looked like a deer in headlights the other night. You'd have thunk he was playing in his first meaningful USMNT match, but he started the Nations League semi win over Honduras.

I was more dismayed by the poor decisions and ultra conservative approach. Yeah, it's important to maintain possession, but you've got to look to go forward and the US simply wasn't even looking, let alone trying.

He is one of the ones with some promise.

 

[Gold*]

Are we still complaining?

 

[Gmoney4WW]

Are we still complaining?

And you have to ask?

 

[nevadanatural]

I really like the potential of Dike and Hoppe. The defense is scary and not scary good.

 

[Li'l Eric Coley]

Dike was a man last night. It was like when Cosmo Kramer took karate and dominated the dojo!

 

[HuffyCane]

Dike was a man last night. It was like when Cosmo Kramer took karate and dominated the dojo!

I can’t wait to see him go Okie on Mexico.

 

[TU_BLA]

I really like the potential of Dike and Hoppe. The defense is scary and not scary good.

Hoppe's touch and vision are excellent. He is just a good solid player and he does a lot of things well in the creating chances dept. he and Dike were a very complementary pairing.
Quick question...is Chris Richards (Bayern) even considered for the USMNT? I see a couple of old caps on his Bio, but he's got to be decent if he's playing at Bayern and it looks like he's projected as a part time starter for them at CB. I'm not saying he's in front of Brooks, but he should probably be getting the same looks/opportunities Walker-Zimmerman and McKenzie are getting back there.

 

[HuffyCane]

Hoppe's touch and vision are excellent. He is just a good solid player and he does a lot of things well in the creating chances dept. he and Dike were a very complementary pairing.
Quick question...is Chris Richards (Bayern) even considered for the USMNT? I see a couple of old caps on his Bio, but he's got to be decent if he's playing at Bayern and it looks like he's projected as a part time starter for them at CB. I'm not saying he's in front of Brooks, but he should probably be getting the same looks/opportunities Walker-Zimmerman and McKenzie are getting back there.

See our discussion earlier. I think he should start opposite Brooks. The foot pairing is complimentary and he has speed and athleticism that is starting to fade in Brooks that they others don’t have. He’s fifth on the unofficial pecking order right now, mostly due to injury.

 

[drboobay]

Hoppe looked promising as did Dike. Need to see them together with sustained minutes vs higher level competition.

 

[TU_BLA]

Hoppe looked promising as did Dike. Need to see them together with sustained minutes vs higher level competition.

Hopefully they'll start together vs Canada.

 

[TU_BLA]

US scores 20 seconds in and then isn't dangerous the rest of the game. US gets riddled with injuries. Walker-Zimmerman goes out in the 15th minute with an injury. Dike went down with a shoulder injury.

Busio is going to be good but he's not quite ready for the biggest stage IMO. This version of the USMNT lacks the speed through the midfield to really attack and press. Lletget is slow and can't recover back to defend. Busio was routinely getting torched by Tajon Buchanan (who may have been the best player in the field today). The D held together OK. Pines is not ready for this stage. Robinson was good in the back today. Vines was good today. Moore scored but wasn't effective as an outside defender. US wins their group and will play the 2nd place team between Costa Roca and Jamaica and will likely avoid Mexico until the finals if they are fortunate enough to get there.

 

[drboobay]

Busio is not yet strong enough on the ball. He is too easily dispossessed. Needs to build up some strength.

Hoppe had some burst when he was on the field. I would have swapped him for Zardes much earlier.

 

[TU_BLA]

Busio is not yet strong enough on the ball. He is too easily dispossessed. Needs to build up some strength.

Hoppe had some burst when he was on the field. I would have swapped him for Zardes much earlier.

Zardes is a 1-dimensional player and I think that's the biggest issue people have with him. He's going to run a ball down and try to beat someone 1 on 1 and then go towards goal. Hoppe is a much more complete player and will create chances for others if it's not there for himself. As far as the US "B" side winning their group, that's a good thing to help develop depth. It gets harder from here. In the past I recall sides being able to change some roster spots out once you hit the knockout stage but I'm not sure that is still the case.

 

[HuffyCane]

Hoppe is growing on me. He gets visibly upset at his own mistakes.

 

[drboobay]

Dike was not good today but I would stick with him over Zardes. We already know Zardes' ceiling.

 

[HuffyCane]

Dike and Busio are being heavily shopped, if healthy they will play.

 

[TU_BLA]

Dike was not good today but I would stick with him over Zardes. We already know Zardes' ceiling.

The entire team outside a couple of the defenders were not good today. Dike needs someone to create chances for him. He's not the type of player who is going to receive the ball 30 yards from goal and create his own chance. He needs guys like Pulisic and Reyna to get the ball into the attacking 3rd and picking him out in the box. He is usually the biggest player on the field. He makes most defenders look tiny when he's out there and he's able to physically hold off defenders and create chaos in the box.

While I like Lletget's ability to serve dangerous balls into the box and pick out passes to teammates, he isn't beating defenders to move the ball forward. None of the US MFs were really willing to do that. Busio and Acosta were too tentative in their approach to getting things up the field. Again, the number of 4-5 yd passes between Busio and a defender that had no purpose was staggering. All they did was give Canada time to keep pushing up the field and turn those passes into pressure situations (and Pines failed miserably at...he is not good on the ball at all). Donovan Ricketts used to always tell my son's team "Pass with purpose". And the US wasn't doing that...passes weren't relieving pressure and they weren't being used to open up space for others and the US certainly wasn't using the long diagonal passes that should become available when moving the ball side to side. The opportunities were there, the US just wasn't taking them yesterday.

Matt Turner is a stud too. I don't always like his decisions to play the ball out of the back because the US is too deliberate in the way they do that, but he's got great instincts off his line. I'd like to see him back there for a game or two during qualifying and the "A" team defenders and MFs in front of him.

 

[TU_BLA]

Dike and Busio are being heavily shopped, if healthy they will play.

I guess MLS is in the final stages of negotiating Busio's transfer to Venezia in Italy. $10-$11M transfer fee PLUS other incentives from Venezia.

MLS may be more willing to hold on to Dike and pay him more as he is clearly a huge marketable name for them.