soccer soccer soccer

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Was reading Brian Straus's article/interview with Dempsey and then they just drop this picture of him as Jim Halpert from draft day like it's nothing. Gotta prepare a guy for this stuff.

 

 

http://cdn-s3.si.com/s3fs-public/styles/inline_gallery_desktop/public/si/dam/assets/13/06/12/130612221806-dempsey-38-single-image-cut.jpg

[wolf stansson]

2004 was very lit. Cardinals won 105 games. I lost my virginity with the same haircut that my future favorite athlete had at the time. I had the greatest summer of my life. Very lit times.

 

 

http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2016/05/18/clint-dempsey-usa-usmnt-donovan-klinsmann-copa-america

[shnsajax]

Wondo over Morris. horsefeathers!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[soccer10k]

"Hey Louis, thanks for winning the FA Cup an hour ago. Oh by the way, you're fired."

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Tim Ream just scored in this Puerto Rico friendly and not one of the 4 camera angles the broadcast has caught him actually striking the ball.

[USSoccer]

This game should be tied. We're terrible.

[wolf stansson]

It's really good that Morris was called up for the Copa. Without the Olympics, that's top international competition he'll need to get comfortable in since he's pretty much definitely going to go to Russia.

 

 

 

Oh, wait. I guess scoring a bunch of goals in MLS isn't as good as a few goals in NCAA.

[wolf stansson]

As always, f this lineup and f Jurgen.

[wolf stansson]

This game is valuable if you think it's of value to learn about problems we've known about since the world cup but still haven't fixed.

 

If you think that sounds dumb, then this game is very dumb.

[wolf stansson]

HOLY F

After 6 years, klinzy is finally playing Michael Bradley at the correct position! If only for this 45 minutes.

[wolf stansson]

Bradley at the 6, nagbe at the 8 is LIT.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

This is my first real look at Bobby Wood. Is his first touch normally Zardes-bad?

[wolf stansson]

This is my first real look at Bobby Wood. Is his first touch normally Zardes-bad?

Nah. Wood is wood. Z is cinder block.

 

 

Having three technical players the caliber of Fab, Nagbe and Pulisic on the same side of the field is really a thing.

[UMFan83]

Goal!

[sneakypower]

Bradley at the 6, nagbe at the 8 is LIT.

...and there it is

[wolf stansson]

Yedlin YA BURNT that dude. Great finish by Nagbe.

[wolf stansson]

The kid is a starter, you guys. Not that a squad player for a top ten team in the world being a US starter is shocking. But it's shocking that he's 17.

[wolf stansson]

Bradley at the 6, nagbe at the 8 is LIT.

...and there it is

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[wolf stansson]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/drewjolsen/status/735654268460511237[/tweet]

 

100% completion rate.

[brinoch]

General thoughts... 2nd half left side was great -- Nagbe, Johnson, Pulisic was a possession monster. Pulisic is the real deal. He needs to play. Ecuador was over-rotating and they still couldn't stop them. Nagbe-Bradley is a thing, too. It just really opens the game up for MB, and plays to his strengths as a 6. He has a partner that can operate in tight spaces, the game is in front of him, and his vision for long passes can be best used.

 

Yedlin looked great. Zusi is still slow, but with a better technical complement (not Zardes), that can work. Bedoya played well. Brooks was good.

 

I'd probably start this as my XI right now:

--------Wood--------------Dempsey-----

------------------Pulisic-------------------

---------Nagbe------------Bedoya--------

------------------Bradley------------------

Johnson---Brooks---Cameron---Yedlin

------------------Guzan-------------------

 

We aren't going to win COPA, but this is a line-up that can qualify for Russia and maybe do some damage with experience.

[USSoccer]

The group that started the 2nd half is the group that should be starting games for us. Beckerman and especially Zardes are terrible internationally, albeit for different reasons.

 

Not a shock that when a two guys who can hold possession, move with and without the ball and move with purpose come in Dempsey and everyone else look a lot better. It would have been nice to see that for a full 45 instead of the "stand around and do nothing" thing we got in the first half.

[wolf stansson]

Even horsefeathering Klinzy can't take the fun out of a US team with Michael Bradley, Fab Johnson, DeAndre Yedlin, Christian Pulisic, Darlington Nagbe and Clint Dempsey on the same field.

 

 

My XI when healthy:

 

--------------------------------Howard

Yedlin----------Cameron-----------------Brooks----------------Fab

--------------------------------Bradley

Bedoya---------------------------------------------------------Pulisic

---------------------------------Nagbe

----------------------------Dempsey

------------------------------------Altidore

 

 

 

A part of me would still love to see an MLS left back emerge from the Robbie Rogers, Brek Shea, Jorge Villafana ether or somewhere in Europe to move Fab up to the midfield and use Pulisic off the bench as a change of pace/style sub. That's pretty much beyond hope at this point though.

 

Wood is knocking on Altidore's door just by virtue of scoring goals for his club and now moving to the Budesliga. Even if I don't quite see it yet, it's meaningful. Besler to me is still much steadier than Brooks but Brooks' superior talent is something that needs to be fostered before Russia. Miazga should come for Cameron's spot in the next two years as well, but there's a lot for him to do yet. Would be nice to see Zach Steffen or Ethan Horvath make a play for the keeper spot. That's a huge weakness right now.

 

Basically Jurgen sucks but it's refreshing that after a two-three year development black hole, we've got young players pushing through. Wood, Morris, Miazga, Carter-Vickers, Finlay, Pulisic, etc.

 

 

I know at this point, posting horsefeathers like this is beyond redundant and boring, but WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY does Jurgen have to horsefeathering fail over and over before he realizes what EVERYONE ELSE knows? Before his first cap, what did literally EVERYONE say about Darlington Nagbe? EVERYONE said, "super talented, disappears on the wing but is a game-changer when played centrally." For years Caleb Porter fell into the same temptation to use him on the wing because his speed is so damn dangerous, but he eventually figured out that even though it doesn't utilize his greatest strength, that speed and dribbling, quite as much, his ability to combine makes him more valuable. Jurgen obviously doesn't watch MLS, or if he does, thinks he's smarter than MLS managers and get something out of a player that the guy who's been coaching him since he was 18 can't, but it's so frustrating and I hope he dies in a helicopter crash or something.

Edited May 26, 2016 by wolf stansson

[wolf stansson]

Also, I'll never not love Mike Bradley. So smart.

 

 

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[Transmogrified Tiger]

A part of me would still love to see an MLS left back emerge from the Robbie Rogers, Brek Shea, Jorge Villafana ether or somewhere in Europe to move Fab up to the midfield and use Pulisic off the bench as a change of pace/style sub. That's pretty much beyond hope at this point though.

 

Isn't Kellyn Acosta in that mix too? He just got called in as a defender, right?

[wolf stansson]

A part of me would still love to see an MLS left back emerge from the Robbie Rogers, Brek Shea, Jorge Villafana ether or somewhere in Europe to move Fab up to the midfield and use Pulisic off the bench as a change of pace/style sub. That's pretty much beyond hope at this point though.

 

Isn't Kellyn Acosta in that mix too? He just got called in as a defender, right?

He's said publicly a few times he's a midfielder, not a defender. Not that that has ever slowed the Klinz down. He's only 20, so if he can do it, by all means. I want Fab closer to goal, whatever it takes.

 

 

 

Also, for all the dilettantes out there, Men In Blazers are bringing their trademark blend of pandering, disingenuous US Soccer coverage to the Copa on Vice Sports. They'll cover the Copa and the Euros, presumably doing bits like they did from Brazil.