USMNT in general

N

Napoleon

2,500+ Posts
They're not in Wembley anymore, but there are still plenty of things to talk about.My latest question is:

How come Canada is more of an offensive threat than the United States?

With Hargraves on the English team and some other young-ish stud deciding to play for Holland, Canada is still much more of an offensive threat than we are.

They lost 3-2 to Brazil in Seattle this week and from the article, it seems like they were unlucky not to have 1 or 2 more.

"Canada fights valiantly in loss to Brazil" The Link


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De Rosario is Canadian as well. An argument can be made that he is one of the top forwards in MLS.

I don't know. I thought the US was on an upswing after '02. Turns out that may have been a fluke. And, barring a change in coaching and philosophy, that might be an "every 50-year fluke."
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I posted this on the Wembley thread, but I want to add to it as well:

[start]If our forwards suck so much, and they are even worse on the U-23 level, then how come we aren't hearing anything about "El Sueno"?

Jorge Flores has scored in 3 consecutive games and actually captained the US U-20 team that went to Argentina last December.

988SttUq.jpg


Jorge Flores [end]

And the Suenos MLS 2008 winners (there are two this year) are also kids to look at. Especially the FC Dallas winner. He was born in Argentina (but no way will he ever get an opportunity to play for that country), but grew up in Arlington. Last year, as a senior (I think), he scored 40 goals. I know he was playing against high school kids, but 40 goals is a lot of goals for a ~20 game season. And he looks tall.

There are tons of kids like this in the US. Hopefully the academies and development teams the MLS teams are forming will offer hope for the future. Especially offensive players.
 
I don't think you have to worry about us being an every 50 year fluke. Soccer is on a major upswing in the USA. Don't forget it was only 18 years ago that we returned to the World Cup. Think about that....We have made tremendous strides since 1990. Unfortunately I think we are at least another generation of players away from being able to say we belong in the Top 15 of the world. I'd love to see Jozy and Adu lead a Golden Generation for the USA though. We've already done a great job of becoming arguably the cream of the crop in CONCACAF (Think back to 1990 where we had to fight with Trinidad & Tobago to get to the World Cup).

I feel the biggest problem we have is a lack of creative players...Which is not just a Forward problem. Adu has a wonderful flair for creativity, hopefully he will mature in other areas as he plays more. In Jozy we have possibly a world class 9 should he continue to improve and move over to Europe.

I was very frustrated against England but I think when looking at the big picture you can't help see good for the USA in the future considering we've barely tapped into the possible talent in America and we're able to compete now.
 
I think that the 2002 WC fooled people into believing we were further along than we were. If you look at the games we played and the group you end up saying "Hmm...Maybe it wasnt that impressive." Lets take a look:

3-2 Portugal - Grabbed an early lead and held on against a team that seriously underachieved.

1-1 S. Korea - Perhaps our most impressive game as we pulled out a draw against a seriously quick team with amazing fan support.

1-3 Poland - Played absolutely terrible against this sub-par team. After this stinker we only advanced because Korea went for the win instead of drawing with Portugal. Portugal would have moved on had Korea not won that game.

2-0 Mexico - Beat the team we dominate from our own region.

0-1 Germany - Yes, we played an amazingly inspired game against Germany and should have had a chance to score on the hand ball; but we still lost.

I still get excited about the 2002 WC but in the end who we played and what we did was not overly impressive. I think the team we have today is a better overall team than the one in 2002.
 
Here is a goal Jorge Flores Scored last week

Napoleon, I agree with you that while the US has become the dominant team in CONCACAF, it really doesn't mean all that much, because, after all, it is CONCACAF. Mexico came to that realization long ago, which is why they pressed hard to play in all the South American championships at club level, as well as the Copa America. They have had some success, but havle lifted only one trophy in 6 finals appearances. Mexico used to also schedule very difficult friendlies, but those have tailed off because of their very salatious relationship with SUM. Mexico is contractually obligated to play firendlies this week, both in the US. I would have much preferred they go over to europe to to play tune-ups with Euro competitors, but $$ dictacted they stay stateside. Just another in a long list of reasons why I think Mexico has stagnated for the past 20 years.

Things are looking up, though. Next season, Mexico will have at least 14 players in European leagues. Considering Mexico has advanced to the knockouts in their last 5 world cups relying almost exclusively on local league players, they might have a chance to go a little further, provided they qualify.

That is why I like that the US is playing much tougher foes before qualifying starts. It will also be nice to one day see MLS teams in the Libertadores, Sudamericana, etc. It can only help. Unfortunately for both Mexico and the US, because of their CONCACAF ties, they will both almost certainly be drawn into "groups of death" because of FIFA's draw procedures. Unless FIFA modifies the draw to include team strength, Mexico and the US are doomed to the minnow pot of Asia and CONCACAF.
 
Didn't want to start an entire new thread, but still wanted to get some insight & projections for the match/thrashing against the Spaniards.

I hope Adu will start and get at least a half, if not 60+ minutes; I'd like to see M. Bradley push forward more today as well. If the attack is as bad as it was last week and they put another goose egg on the scoreboard, God help us all...

Prediction: 4-1
 
Unless Adu starts up top I can't see Bradley pushing forward because Adu would take the attacking midfielder position. Dempsey and Beasley are locks on the wings. I think due to the inclusion of Pablo you will see him playing defensive midfielder and we'll try how he works with Bradley in the middle.

As for the forwards...I'm assuming Johnson starts again. Let's hope Wolff doesnt trot out there to start the match.

The USA usually responds well after bad performances so I think the team will come out better but I'd be surprised if we won. I'll go with 3-1 Spain but as always hoping.....and yelling and cursing for a win!!!
 
Right now they are just painful to watch. Tomorrow will not be pretty against Argentina.
 
Roster for Argentina released:

Goalkeepers (3): Dominic Cervi (out of contract), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton FC)

Defenders (6): Dan Califf (FC Midtjylland), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock)

Midfielders (7): Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Eddie Lewis (Derby County), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids)

Forwards (3): Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Eddie Johnson (Fulham FC)

I'm guessing we'll see:
GK - Howard/Guzan as the first two games
D - Cherundalo, Gooch, DeMerit, Pearce
M - Beasley, Adu, Bradley, Edu, Lewis
F - Johnson

If Donovan can play then I think you'll see Edu on the bench and Donovan up top with Johnson.

At least no Wolff!!!
 
I'm off to see the Argentina game in a couple hours.

Really looking forward to seeing the Argies, but it is hotter than hell here. 95+ right now with a few thunderstorms around. I'm a little nervous that the marque names won't play for that long in the heat
 
Hell , that was pretty cool. Lightning and a ton of rain (and I was under the overhang) plus the rain stop just as the match ended

Thank God for Tim Howard, but the US looked pretty ok overall. A little (lot) shaky at the back at times. I'll take the draw
 
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