USA v Costa Rica

FWHORN

FWHORN

10,000+ Posts
Match up tonight on the astroturf of Sarprissa.

Havent gotten a point there in 8 tries. Any kind of point out of tonight would be huge.
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Beasley at back left. love it. i think he could be in the mold of an Ashley Cole or Grosso.

we'll see how the Rica approach it tactically since they've had some video to study on it.

Go Nats!!!
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wish we were more physical.

looks like altidore is the only one out there using his body.
If Gooch is going to play this scared with a yellow, put someone in who will get hte yellow and knock someone on their azz
 
3-1 ticos. While the performance was poor, the loss is by no means devastating. Coming into the last round of qualifying you had to figure the two most likely losses were tonight and in August against Mexico. This does mean there can be no stumbles at home and this Saturday against Honduras in Chicago is now a must win.

Meanwhile Cayman is hosting Sepp Blatter tomorrow to open up the CIFA building and the head of CONCACAF is on Island too for the ceremony.
 
Honestly, I expected a loss the moment I saw our lineup--three forwards, two of whom play wide (Altidore and Dempsey) and another withdrawn (Donovan) meant we'd have nobody with the physical presence to tangle with the Ticos' centerbacks.

Our formation wasn't to blame for the three goals, but it's certainly at fault for all but being shut out.

Also, as much promise as I see in Torres, he clearly was not ready for a start of this magnitude. Bradley would've been better served starting Donovan at left mid, so he and Beasley could work together. Those two have undeniable chemistry that dates back to their days as teenagers. Torres and Beasley? Not so much.

Credit Costa Rica, though--those first two goals were gorgeous ... just beautiful soccer.
 
I could take a whole bottle of Tylenol and still have a headache from watching that disaster. I've always been a fan of DMB...But that was one of the worst performances from a Nat I've seen in a long time. People on Big Soccer are mad that Bradley took out Torres but IMO Torres and Beasley were horrid together and Torres was equally responsible at not backtracking early in the game.

I wish I understand why Adu does not get any time with clubs.....Every time I get a chance to watch him he does great things on the ball...either running at defenders or laying the ball off at guys feet to put them in position to do something grand. I could understand how his supposed lack of defensive prowess could undermine him on a national level...but on second rate clubs?...I just don't get it.

Horrible, horrible night....
 
I went to a wine tasting with one group and then a steak dinner (con vino) with another group before hitting a bar for after dinner beers. I am soooooooooo glad I didn't stay home to watch this crap on my computer with a feed that would have crapped out every 7 to 10 minutes.

[wipe brow]

I just don't understand losing to ANYONE in CONCACAF. Maybe tying, but not losing.
 
I actually dont agree with that sentiment, Napoleon. If you inserted "at home" then I would agree...however playing on the road in CONCACAF can be very difficult and these teams do have talent. Greater power than the USA have lost to teams worse than Costa Rica. I can't name specifics at the moment but I know great European powers have lost or tied small nations I'd never heard of before during qualifications.
 
I never thought I would ever see the US outmuscled by a CONCACAF team, but that's exactly what happened. Costa Rica took it to the nats last night. The US didn't have a shot on goal until the waning moments. And Honduras has a much more physical style of play. The last time Honduras played in the US in a qualifier, they won.

Let me ask y'all, if Honduras somehow gets a result, and the US lays an egg in South Africa, will Bradley still be the coach at the end of the month?
 
I just watched the match and it was odd. I really think the pitch put us way off our game. I wasn't expecting a win, but that was just god awful.
 
I dont understand why FIFA allows such fields. When I worked for USA Rugby we had a hell of a time finding suitable places for matches because there were a ton of restrictions, including the absolute fact that you could only play on natural grass.
 
Blaming the field only goes so far: We got our butts kicked. As much as soccer has improved in the US over the last 2 decades, we still are not at an elite level.
 
Our lineup on Wednesday was sorely lacking in the toughness department.

Beasley is not a defender, and shouldn't be playing there. He's not physical enough to play defense. He should be a 2nd half sub if we need to add a speedy winger.

Mastroeni is perhaps the slowest midfielder I've ever seen, played very tentatively, and is over the hill. Having him in the lineup is scandalous.

Dempsey, as good as he is at times for Fulham, is not a dependable player for the USA. Wheter it's positioning, intensity, athleticism, or desire, he just doesn't bring it very often for the red, white, and blue. I don't think he made a single tackle on the ball the entire game.

Boca and Gooch played scared, too. This team looked really unprepared, which points back to coaching.

I'm very concerned about Saturday's match with Honduras. M. Bradley is out, so we'll probably have an abomination in the midfield, like Clark and Mastroeni. Kljestan and Ewould be better, hell give Feilhaber a shot, but don't let Pablo play again.

Our team needs a collective kick in the ***. Put Edu and Donovan in the middle, Torres and Adu out wide, and Altidore and Davies up top. I don't know who to put at LB. Bornstein? Spector? Demerit? DMB sucked, and Pearce has not impressed. Maybe we should try Edu at LB, though I think he's our best DM.
 
gemstate - you're going to have to do more than just saying "fail"

people who think dempsey hasn't played well can point ot his lack of execution, not running to space and poor touches.

the last time he impressed me in a USA kit was in the world cup.

might be time to get someone in there who has more of a motor.
 
Telling people who don't agree with your assessment of the national team's lineup to stop watching soccer is childish. You said it yourself; he's a tweener. Sometimes, even a great player isn't a good fit in a lineup. Unless you think our entire national team ought to be built around Dempsey, there are going to be times when he's not the best choice for the starting 11.

You can go back to being Mr. Superior now.
 
we won't know if anyone's better if we don't give them a shot.

it seems Dempsey is maxed out on his ability, so lets try something new possibly, that's never a bad idea.

his player ratings haven't been fantastic, so maybe not just two people on this board think he hasn't been playing well.

5.5, 5, 6, B-, 5.5, 4 (put up all the ratings i could find for the 4 games so far, tried to get more than one for each game).

Again, no one on the team should be an automatic, including donovan. Maybe dempsey could play better somewhere else on the field, but where he is right now, he not doing a lot of good or a lot of bad....and maybe we could find someone who could spark.

I wish you wouldn't think it was something personal, if he trots out there vs honduras i'll hope he gets a goal, i want the team to win; not for certain guys to be on the pitch or on the bench.
 
didn't know espn did ratings, honestly didn't think to look those up.

I'm holding Dempsey to the standard of when a player has the ball, more often than not a positive pass (or attempt) comes from it or even a good play to keep possession.

When he doesn't have the ball, to move around and create an opportunity for someone to get him the ball (however unlikely it is that bradley will find him).

There's a lot that can be changed with this team, and Dempsey is contributing a minimal amount of anything would put him in the top half in my opinion. (right after the entire midfield
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your posting guidelines comment has me a bit confused. are you talking more about the "fail" aspect of not thinking Dempsey is playing good ball?

I'm just not sure what service it is you're talking about. haven't seen any crunching tackles in a while, or physical overpowering (which he can do, and should have good training playing in the EPL). When it comes to getting fouls, it looks like Altidore is going to be one of our best for a while, kid just puts himself in good position of the ball.
 
"It was the pitch...." Geez.
If our high school team can win at home, on grass, on Tuesday night, then go across town and win, on artificial turf, on Friday night, surely the USMNT can adjust.
 
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