USMNT Talk
- Thread starter MyBoyVilla
- Start date
That U23 game was ugly as hell. Our team was bad, but wow Columbia was diving every time the wind blew, and the ref bought it every time. One guy got love tapped by Khiry on a header challenge, went down in a heap kicking and screaming, got stretchered off, then ran back in at the next whistle. He might as well have just kept the yellow in one hand and the red in the other. 9 men by the time it was over, Gil sent off like 11 minutes after coming on, Miazga pulls a player down in the box for a red... If this is the future of US Soccer then they all better learn to grow up, fast. If they start kicking players and getting in the ref's face for Columbia's diving, what will they do when Mexico starts physically abusing them for 90+?
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Some senior team thoughts:
Officiating - this is getting its own section - Oh my god it was crap
- As someone else already mentioned above, what a difference it is when players are played in position.
- Yedlin looks miles more comfortable as a RB and he showed it last night. Great ball in to help set up the third goal. I think his time playing at Sunderland has paid massive dividends for him so far. Excited to see him grow and develop over the next couple of years.
- Cameron is also much, much better at CB (shocking). It was great seeing his ability to send dangerous long balls from that spot. I truly think that the starting pair needs to be Brooks and Cameron. Thought Birnbaum played well as well, though Guatemala didn't really test him all that much.
- We need to find a LB. I don't know who it is, but somebody else please
- Beckerman in last night's lineup really did help free things up. His positioning was great. However, I just don't think he has what it takes to cut it out against top competition. His best years are behind him, he's slow, his passing isnt very crisp. I'm not a huge fan, but I do think he makes sense in games like this where we should be outclassing the opponent.
- Bradley played well, he's not going to get a whole lot more from me there
- Zusi had a decent game as well. I'm not a big fan of him, and really hope he doesn't make the full squad for Copa America, but he didn't do too bad. I would have liked to see Mix at the AM spot in a 4-3-3, you know, since he plays that for his club. Klinnsman said Zusi got the nod for his set pieces....oops
- Still not a Zardes fan, but I think the ONLY position he can play for the USMNT is as a winger in a 4-3-3. He doesn't have the passing or technical skills to play in the midfield and he doesn't have the finishing to play as a striker. The only redeeming quality he has is his ability to make dangerous runs and open up space and we saw that last night. However, his first touch is still shit. He did ok last night, but I still hope I don't see him in the starting XI again.
- I thought Bobby Wood was fantastic. He made a ton of great, dangerous runs that teammates (I noted Beckerman on several occasions) did not find him. However, if we do want to go to a 4-3-3, it will be hard to keep Fabian Johnson out of the starting spot for LW
Officiating - this is getting its own section - Oh my god it was crap
- Why did this official not use any of the chalk spray for the FKs? He didn't use it for a single one. On the very first FK of the game, Zusi took it and the wall clearly crept forward and Zusi's ball went into the wall.
- I thought the official was extremely inconsistent with his physical challenge rulings. Especially after the US went up 3-0
- Would have liked to see a yellow on Guatemala for diving in the second half. Can't remember the player, but remember it was high up the pitch and it was extremely dramatic. If there wasn't a foul there on the US, then it absolutely had to be a dive, and should have been a yellow
- Why was this guy not using the side judge? (though maybe he had good reason as he was shit too). There was an offside on the US called where play continued on for about 10 seconds or so and Bradley got off another shot. The announcers noted the flag was up, there was no whistle, and you could clearly see that finally after the whistle was blown, the GUA GK was yelling at the ref about this.
- This happened again except on Guatemala and he never even called the offsides. Announcers noted the flag went up, and the ref never blew the whistle. Pathetic. Now, they did ask "What if the ball ended up in the back of the net?" Well...Taylor fucking Twellman....the side judge's flag should still be up. I would like to hope (maybe I'm giving too much credit here) that the ref would finally see this.
- And now, the offsides call on Ethan Finlay was not a bad call.....it was CRIMINAL. This could maybe be a bit hyperbolic, but I'm not sure I recall an offsides call that bad. Usually they are kinda close and I disagree as I sit and watch slow motion replay, but this one was not close at all.
U-23 Thoughts (I'll keep this super short)
- Kellyn Acosta sucks. Nothing more
- Polster, bleh
- Miazga had an awful game. I know he's better than this, but yesterday was bad.
- I'm now certain that Herzog needs to go as manager of this team. I have never seen a US team lose itself like they did last night (2 stompings on players) and overall the team was playing out of control. Now I understand that they were losing, and Colombia was diving around and instigating (though we did a damn good share of the instigating as well), and that second yellow call on Gil was atrocious, but I've never seen a US team act that way and it is not acceptable. (I will give Gil a pass on losing his shit at the end there, he's already been given the red, and I don't know what the ref was looking at it on that play)
So in Guatemala Mix gets tasked with a perplexing position in a funky lineup and is left hanging out to dry, and then last night Zusi gets to play the position that Mix has excelled in under Vieira's reign.... Let's not set people up to fail or anything....
Those weren't just thoughts, that was thesis length. Impressive if typed on a phone.
This, this, this. And the worst part is, the media talking heads eat it all up. Cough Twellman cough.
Twellman is such a blowhard. It's like he attended the Lalas-Wynalda School of Punditry of How to Listen to Yourself Speak While Being a Hypocrite. He's so shortsighted with his analysis and if he held himself to the same standards he places on his "targets" then he'd have been the most bashed-in player ever.
I love how the USA narrative goes from, "We're Doomed! The sky is falling! Fire Klinsman! Fire Gulati!" To, "We're into the World Cup! That loss on Friday was was just a fluke! Dos a Cero! F*ck Mexico!" After one victory over a lackluster Guatemalan side that never looked like it was in the game.
Other Observations/thoughts:
Why the hell were there more Colombian fans than American fans at the U-23 game? At one point the commentators on ESPN2 said that the crowd was roughly 60-40 in favor of Colombia. Other than the section of American Outlaws I saw a whole lot more people rooting for Colombia in yellow. It's disgustingly disgraceful that the USA can't even get home field advantage while playing in the USA!!
Other Observations/thoughts:
- USA was pressing high up the field to great affect. It disrupted Guatemala's rhythm and prevented them from getting anything going from the back.
- Everyone started in a position they were comfortable with. Yedlin was a prime example of this. He looked much more comfortable in his natural RB as opposed to wherever the hell Klinsman played him in Guatemala.
- The old guard was back for another fight (when it mattered most) The players looked much more comfortable around one another on the field. It seemed to allow them to play freer and take more risks which lead to 4 goals.
- Why are USA we cap tying Pulisic now? Is he going to be another Julian Green and go incognito after playing a few games for the USA?
- Why couldn't USA have played with the same style of play in Guatemala as they did last night in Columbus?
Why the hell were there more Colombian fans than American fans at the U-23 game? At one point the commentators on ESPN2 said that the crowd was roughly 60-40 in favor of Colombia. Other than the section of American Outlaws I saw a whole lot more people rooting for Colombia in yellow. It's disgustingly disgraceful that the USA can't even get home field advantage while playing in the USA!!
Big difference in Pulisic and Green. Pulisic is getting real minutes for a top German team. Croatia wants him badly and with a game comfortably in hand, why not give him 10 minutes and tie him to the US (and likely his brother too who is a Youth US player and has aspirations of playing for the US) ?!?
Where are you seeing this. People feel better to be sure but there's still no confidence expressed about the future and most everyone still wants to fire the coach.
PS the rest of your post is mostly on point.
I saw this type of reaction all over Twitter.
That might not be the most accurate watt p gauge how fans really feel.
Ref was horrible last night. Completely missed the Guatemala LB standing on Jozys chest. Dempsey always seems to be in the right place at the right time.
Well if that happens I guess we never have to worry about being without Mix due to international duty.
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