The Soccer Thread

[shnsajax]

Not sure who's job it is to make sure this happens, but they need to get their asses in gear.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/soccer-insider/post/arsenal-prospect-gedion-zelalem-moves-to-london-from-washington-to-begin-professional-pursuits/2012/08/13/9e5fcbd2-e559-11e1-8f62-58260e3940a0_blog.html

[Guest]

Nice start.

[wolf stansson]

Landon is bum 'slayin but 4g, 7 a in 4.5 games is fuckin strong.

[wolf stansson]

Brb, going to Cambodia to clear my head and come back better than ever.

[shnsajax]

Brb, going to Cambodia to clear my head and come back better than ever.

 

Watch out for the red and white shrooms.

[wolf stansson]

Think LD did any sex tourism?

[shnsajax]

Wait so Jurgen was suspended for the final?

[wolf stansson]

It's up to the CONCACAF disciplinary committee. It's not automatic.

[shnsajax]

Panama back up 2-1. I'm pretty sure the Mexican keeper has a hit out on someone after the game. Scary ass looking dude.

[Guest]

Watching the Mexican team helplessly complain about time wasting from an opponent is just.....wonderful.

[Guest]

Suck it, Mexico.

[wolf stansson]

This is the most one-sided Gold Cup I've ever seen. The US is just way better than everyone. Klinsmann gets the results I always wanted Bradley to get. They blow out teams they should blow out rather than squeaking by 2-1 or 1-0. He's not a better coach by any means but it's clear he's instilled a belief and a style of play.

[Guest]

This is the most one-sided Gold Cup I've ever seen. The US is just way better than everyone. Klinsmann gets the results I always wanted Bradley to get. They blow out teams they should blow out rather than squeaking by 2-1 or 1-0. He's not a better coach by any means but it's clear he's instilled a belief and a style of play.

 

Yeah. Just comparing the results of this win streak and the previous best (basically the 2007 Gold Cup) you can see the difference.

 

+13 GD over 7 games in 2007

+26 GD over 10 games in 2013

 

+10 GD over 6 games in 2007 Gold Cup with four 1-goal wins

+15 GD over 5 games in 2013 Gold Cup with one 1-goal win

[Guest]

This is the most one-sided Gold Cup I've ever seen. The US is just way better than everyone. Klinsmann gets the results I always wanted Bradley to get. They blow out teams they should blow out rather than squeaking by 2-1 or 1-0. He's not a better coach by any means but it's clear he's instilled a belief and a style of play.

 

Yep, this is exactly what I was hoping for with Klinsmann. An attacking identity and using his cache and celebrity to make lasting change on the development process. It's pretty clear that CONCACAF is not at its strongest, but it's hard not to be excited by these results, and the thought of an in-form Donovan joining the attack we saw in qualifying last month gives me a lot of optimism about next year

[mul21]

So what happened to all the hand wringing about Klinsmann sending messages to people? Was it effective or coincidence?

[wolf stansson]

I think this is going to be long because I've been thinking about that during this streak.

 

The results have to speak to themselves at this point. No one will ever mistake him for a tactical genius, but he certainly seems to have changed the culture of the team for the better.

 

I have a few thoughts that are complete conjecture and probably BS but I feel pretty strongly about.

 

First, that Klinsmann had a very poor grasp of our player pool coming in. He knew the big name guys, but he didn't know anything about our depth. He notoriously tinkered with the lineup every game and got to know the player pool, albeit slowly. Any criticism aimed his way about that was deserved. Second, he is still not a tactical, game-plan manager like Bradley is/was, despite the big results. He is more about instilling a system and forcing competition for those spots. He's stuck to the 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 and has gotten Dempsey and Donovan closer to goal with more freedom to roam. In my opinion, that is absolutely the best system for our personnel, but what's interesting is that when those guys aren't available, he lets their replacements do the same thing instead of reverting to a more conservative approach like other managers have done. That has worked great vs bad teams but I don't think it would look so hot vs elite teams without 3 of the 4 of Dempsey, Altidore, Donovan and Bradley being available.

 

It was still a mistake to keep Michael Bradley at arm's length early in his tenure because he's probably our most important player vs elite competition. I still have reservations about his strong arm tactics with Dempsey ("hasn't done [expletive]"), Altidore (freezing him out when service was the biggest issue, not effort) and it took him a while to understand that we have to play a counter attacking, organized game vs elite competitors and on the road vs CONCACAF. It's hard to argue with the results though. By challenging those guys' spots and telling them they haven't done [expletive], he's also reminding them who he is and what he accomplished as a player. I think that status and challenge has motivated our best players. Deuce and Bradley obviously responded right away, which isn't a surprise knowing the kind of competitors they are. Altidore showed maturity and just kept plugging away at AZ and showed real composure re: Klinsmann and the adversity he faced in Holland. Landon had the biggest problem adjusting to being challenged which isn't surprising knowing the kind of competitor he is. He's the best American player ever. He always has been. He's just never been a big fan of criticism. He has never reacted quickly to being big-timed. He shied away from competition as a young player in Europe, he butted heads with Beckham initially, I think (this is total speculation) he holds his experience at Bayern against Klinsmann (which is totally fair, btw. JK screwed that up for him) and now, just like all those times in the past, he eventually rebounds and comes back better than before. I think it's a manger's job to know their player and what motivates them. I think Jurgen knew that to get the best Landon Donovan he couldn't defer to him like past managers. He had to hold to a higher standard of performance and humility, which has sometimes been an issue on the national team. Shaking him up was a gamble but it appears to have paid off.

 

Basically I think when it comes to man-management, Jurgen is a high-risk/high-reward manager. He pushes his players relentlessly and so far it's worked great. I think it speaks to the American soccer player's willingness to keep grinding and be humble and because of that, it may work here when it didn't work at Bayern or long-term with Germany.

 

What he's done well is he has opened up spots for competition, specifically he has done a good job trusting MLS players in big spots rather than sticking with the old guard. His motivational tactics, however heavy-handed they are, have gotten results from his best players. What I think has been the most important thing is how he has seemingly gotten more consistency out of the team. In the past, the US team has always felt bipolar. Vs CONCACAF teams, they were full of swagger and confidence. Vs Mexico away and against teams full of world club stars they took defeats when they came like they were inevitable. Now it seems like they play to the level they should play, regardless of opponent rather than down or up to the level of their competition so it means they're more dominant vs CONCACAF and more consistent vs big international teams. Good national teams have to be ruthless. The competition for spots has to be intense. In the past, we haven't had the luxury of being able to foster that. We've always had spots on lock down because our elite talent has been thin. MLS has created an environment where Jurgen can bring that competition to where it needs to be. We have better depth and better players now more than we ever have and I think the Brian Strauss article was indicative of a player or players struggling to adjust to that competition.

 

I'm curious what will happen after Brazil. Yesterday Pep Guardiola said he wants to coach the USMNT after Bayern because he loves living in America and he loves the American sporting spirit. I could see a 3-4 year run at Bayern and then JK moving to technical director and Pep coming in.

[wolf stansson]

Cool vid from Michael Bradley about growing up in MLS, feat. a shot of Bob with shoulder length, greasy locks:

[shnsajax]

Pep coming in after Jurgen is some pretty serious stuff. No clue to what our player pool will look like for 2018, but we should have depth.

 

I've said it before, but I think Landon is having more fun than he has had the past 5 years. I know he has had a lot of personal issues that I am sure affected him. Still would like to see him make one more run at Everton (or another EPL team)before his career is on the downswing.

[CubInOK]

Pep coming in after Jurgen

Please elaborate.

[shnsajax]

Pep coming in after Jurgen

Please elaborate.

 

Check out the bottom of Wolf's comments.

[Guest]

@KeeganPierce: Spanish journo Santiago Segurola reports in Wed's (print) edition of @MARCA that #PepGuardiola would like to someday coach #USMNT 2/8

 

@KeeganPierce: Quote: "Pep's ideal scenario includes the possiblity of someday coaching the U.S. nat'l team. He likes the American sporting character." 5/8

[wolf stansson]

Pep coming in after Jurgen

Please elaborate.

 

Check out the bottom of Wolf's comments.

It was in Marca yesterday.

[USSoccer]

I think the Strauss article brought a lot of things to the forefront more quickly than it would have otherwise. Whether or not it brought the players together, focused them all, changed some of JK's approach or whatever, it seems as though that's the tipping point.

 

There is a marked difference in his tactical approach this year as opposed to 2011-2012. The key is that 4th attacker. In 2012 we were playing games with maybe 3 at best; most games featured Dempsey and Altidore on an island by themselves while we played guys like Danny Williams out of position. That stopped. That's huge.

 

There are still some things that will need to be done, though, primarily where to play Donovan and Dempsey, assuming JK brings LD back into the XI for the Sept qualifiers.

[wolf stansson]

Pep coming in after Jurgen

Please elaborate.

 

Check out the bottom of Wolf's comments.

It was in Marca yesterday.

Here's more: http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2013/07/25/marca-pep-guardiola-would-coach-usmnt-one-day-sideline

[bukie]

I think I like the idea of a diamond formation with Altidore-Donovan-Dempsey-Bradley with Altidore up top and Bradley in the back with Dempsey and Donovan on either side between them, but I'm not sure the best way to fill out the roster behind them. Christmas tree formation seems a little defense-heavy, extra forwards seems too attack-heavy.

 

And I'm still not sure who the best four defenders are. Maybe Cameron-Gonzalez-Besler-Cherundolo with Fab at mid? Goodson has probably had a good enough Gold Cup to enter the convo as well, at least in JK's mind, since he's playing him over Gonzalez.