The Soccer Thread

[KaiserCesar]

Zardes on the wing for this one with Johannsson and Altidore up top.

 

http://i.imgur.com/bbNtXmm.png?1

[Guest]

Orozco a center back? Sure why not

[bukie]

More crap defending as a Denmark player is left alone in front of the goal and taps it in for a 1-1 score.

[bukie]

The only reason this is even a game is because of Bradley and Altidore.

[CubInOK]

LOL Bendtner.

[UMFan83]

Man can we fire Klinsmann yet? I'm not even asking from a tactical standpoint because I am nowhere near qualified to comment on that. I'm just sick of watching this team lose.

[CubInOK]

Orozco a center back? Sure why not

Let's pull the plug on this experiment right now.

[USSoccer]

Benny Feilhaber firing a shot on Twitter.

 

If JK doesn't win the Gold Cup and doesn't get treated like Bradley did I'm gonna get pissed. JK should have been fired after the World Cup, not given an extension before the Cup. He's a tactical fool and is fracturing our talent pool and destroying some of our best traits as a NT.

 

Recruiting from 2BL as opposed to supporting and working with MLS isn't going to get us anywhere.

[wolf stansson]

This whole Jozy Altidore and Mike Bradley playing club ball together thing might just work out. Damn. Jozy looks like Sunderland never happened.

 

 

Everyone else sucked.

[Guest]

So Klinsmann is basically Scott Drew, is that about the gist of the reality we're dealing with?

[USSoccer]

So Klinsmann is basically Scott Drew, is that about the gist of the reality we're dealing with?

 

I'd describe him more like a Charlie Weis figure; one spell of success without actually winning anything using largely someone else's core combined with arrogance, self promotion, and increasingly diminished returns in subsequent jobs.

 

But I put the odds at Sunil actually doing something about it at below 5%; he'd probably have to crash out of the Gold Cup AND blow the Confed playoff to force Sunil to actually see what's been clear for a while now.

[Guest]

Yeah, Drew's probably had a bit too much actual success, but I do think the recruiting/player acquisition aspect is important(at this point it might be the only value JK provides), which is why I was trying to think of a 'great recruiter but terrible between the lines' allegory.

[wolf stansson]

I do think the recruiting/player acquisition aspect is important

I'm really starting to wonder. I really only see actual value in it at this point if he gets the players and someone else coaches them.

[Guest]

I do think the recruiting/player acquisition aspect is important

I'm really starting to wonder. I really only see actual value in it at this point if he gets the players and someone else coaches them.

 

I mean, we're not talking about signing 31 year old free agents in baseball here. Even if Klinsmann were a tactical success he'd probably be a longshot to coach the '22 WC, where Green will be 27, Zelalem will be 25 (!), Brooks will be 29, Boyd will be 31, Johannsson and Mix will be 32. Sure he could do a lot to alter their trajectories for the worse until he's gone, but I don't think the fact that the recruiting has helped is arguable.

[USSoccer]

Well, Mix was a Bradley recruit. Brooks is a great athlete but a kind of bad defender; like the CB version of Eddie Johnson. ArJo, to me, is useless unless playing against CONCACAF opposition that's crying on the field.

 

Green is acting like an idiot at the club level. Zelalem I'll grant you; I'm excited about him. Boyd may or may not be any good.

 

My point is, of our core, JK hasn't really recruited any of the guys there. Jones was a Bradley recruit and FJ had already begun the process and filed his one-time switch paperwork prior to JK being hired, which means he was also a Bradley recruit, as was Chandler.

 

He's recruited a lot of depth, which is what happens when you troll BL2 for dual citizens, but I don't think his recruitment is worth all this, especially since it's coming at the expense of looking at MLS guys who should be in the picture over dreck like Morales, Castillo and the like.

 

ETA: FJ was on the radar but didn't commit until after JK called him, so we can credit him with FJ.

Edited March 26, 2015 by USSoccer

[wolf stansson]

It's also impossible to say that Jason Kreis or someone else couldn't have recruited Green, Zelalem and Brooks.

 

Or the guy who will be the best of the bunch, Cameron Carter-Vickers, for that matter.

[USSoccer]

Exactly, plus at this point playing for a program being run into the ground isn't as appealing as playing for one perceived on the rise; JK's recruiting going forward is going to be substantively impacted by poor results, and we've been kind of bad for a year now.

 

Anyone good isn't going to throw their lot in with a US team that isn't winning.

[wvcbxl]

The France v Brazil friendly is mildly entertaining :-)

[shnsajax]

Awesome poster except the Alamo wasn't exactly the result we want. But Merica

 

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/03/31/e32cadbb9cf4e8a6d6fa85c1e089d53f.jpg

[KaiserCesar]

Not a bad result against Switzerland yesterday. The midfield was able to hold some possession, Shea delivered some nice crosses (plus a great one by Bedoya) and Orozco/Brooks looked organized.

 

Still lacking some creativity, but hopefully some of that comes from getting the best XI out there. I'm ready for Rimando to be done with his USMNT career.

[wolf stansson]

So we have friendlies with Mexico, Netherlands and Germany before the Gold Cup. The Mexico game will be a slog because neither coach will reveal anything tactically and we'll probably get our brains beat in by design vs those other two. Jurgen will want to humble the men before the Gold Cup so they don't go in over confident.

[wolf stansson]

http://www.noshortcorners.com/2015/04/sailing-shipp.html

Recently, a rumor has been floated on both sides of the Atlantic that Marseille have now come out more than once to scout Chicago Fire attacker Harrison Shipp. I cannot confirm or reject this claim at this time, but I can tell you that L'OM have yet to make any sort of official approach over the player.

 

It would be a very good thing for Harry Shipp if he could get out of Chicago. Really think higher quality teammates would raise his game a lot.

[USSoccer]

Chicago Fire are a hot mess; Shipp would be wise to get out of there any way he can.

[wolf stansson]

Maki Tall is a US U-20 now. He was one dual national that no one thought we'd poach. He seemed pretty committed to France. Apparently he's a pretty good prospect.

 

http://www.americansoccernow.com/articles/maki-tall-19-scores-in-debut-for-u-s-under-20s

[treebird]

the chelsea game is going really well except for the parts where diego costa died and they gave up a 65-yard goal