2016 Centennial Copa America

Discussion in 'Prem talk, Those Other Leagues, and International' started by jumpkutz, May 13, 2016.

  1. BarryWhite

    BarryWhite Well-Known Member

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    Hats off to Argentina because that is an excellent team in all phases of the game. It's so easy to talk about their attack but the defensive pressure they apply is outstanding. There is no denying the US was poor last night but a lot of that should be credited to Argentina.

    I'm going to try and focus on the positives:

    1. Pulisic should get a start in the third place match after a decent showing last night. I'm not anointing him but I do hope he's in the next starting XI.

    2. I'm still happy with the back four. With better midfield play they don't give up four goals.

    3. Zardes was the lone bright spot offensively.

    My biggest concern moving forward is central midfield. Until we can control the middle of the pitch against top teams it won't get any better.
     
    #101
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  2. nevzter

    nevzter Well-Known Member

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    To BW's comment "it won't get any better." I agree. I understand Jones is older but his presence was definitely missed. Why Nagbe is ignored in a first XI is puzzling. Why Bradley plays like me on the rec pitch in also baffling. put in pulsilic and nagbe - do it.
     
    #102
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  3. HatterDon

    HatterDon Moderator

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    I'd like to see Bedoya in the central mid position protecting the back four. That's his league gig. The only other player we have that can do the job at the top European level is Geoff Cameron. Here's an idea, how about Johnson and Bedoya as the center mids and somebody with a friggin left foot at LB.

    Speaking of, whatever happened to the left winger with scrambled eggs for brains that JK was using as a #3?
     
    #103
  4. astroevan

    astroevan Well-Known Member

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    Crazy game last night. How long was that delay?? Looking forward to watching the final rematch between Chile and Argentina.

    It will also be interesting to see how JK and Colombia handle the rematch of our first match. Like others, I'd like to see more Nagbe and Pulisic.
     
    #104
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  5. SoCalJoe

    SoCalJoe Well-Known Member

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    Tim Howard getting the call tonight, Fabian likely out, Brooks might be out as well. I would think Castillo comes in, and Besler for Brooks if he can't go. Hope at some point to see Perry Kitchen, he moved to Hearts and from all accounts has played well.

    Where were you 6 years ago yesterday?

     
    #105
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  6. HatterDon

    HatterDon Moderator

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    Good match, and the better team won. That being the case, it's perhaps unfair to criticize individuals. I don't need to be fair, though.
    1. My MOtM is Jones, closely followed by Cameron. James Rodriguez was by far the best player on the pitch, so this only goes for our team.
    2. Bradley needs to give up the armband; I am starting to agree with those on here who thinks it's affecting his game negatively. I think Cameron is the natural leader on this side and should be the Captain going forward.
    3. Zardes has been gelded by JK. When I first saw him as a late sub for the Galaxy, he would shoot on sight. Now, at least twice a match, he gets the ball in an open position and looks for the pass instead of the shot. He plays well, but he needs to be a bit more selfish.
    4. I didn't mind JK bringing in Pulisic and Nagby late in the match, but when you have a height and strength advantage on dead ball situations, why give one the corner and the other the free kick -- especially when the latter is in Dempsey's neighborhood?
    5. Colombia play fine football, but I hate it when they get into that South American shit in the last 10 minutes. It spoiled what could have been a great exhibition of what international football can be.
    Oh, and SHOOT THE DAMN BALL, ZARDES!
     
    #106
  7. LaxAttack

    LaxAttack Well-Known Member

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    Jan 27, 2007
    We beat teams we probably should have beaten. We lost to teams we probably should have lost to. Klinsmann is still maddening.

    Yay Copa America 2016.
     
    #107
  8. jumpkutz

    jumpkutz Well-Known Member

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    We've got a lot of work to do before Russia. I still wonder how many of these guys will be around for it. Pretty sure Jurgen's not going anywhere before then, so the question becomes, which players WILL be in the mix for '18. After this tournament, I'm just not sure. I do hope we've seen the last of Orozco, Wondolowski, Beckerman, Zusi, Shea, Mix and Chandler. Bradley's regression is troubling, but I'm not ready to give up on him.....yet.
     
    #108
  9. tim

    tim Active Member

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    I have nothing earth shattering to add. But takeaways for me...Brooks and Wood (if they continue to develop/improve) will be the next wave of USMNT stars. The center of midfield is a big concern. Is Nagbe the solution? Haven't seen enough of him in a US shirt to know. But at least up front and in the back, I have more confidence than I have in some time.
     
    #109
  10. HatterDon

    HatterDon Moderator

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    After waiting for this match with a notable degree of excitement, I canceled the recording and turned to America's Test Kitchen episode from yesterday before the half was over.

    Instead of two attacking, creative, and breathlessly skilled teams squaring off, all I got was a free-style diving competition with each player evidently shot down by a scoped 30-06 arising from the dead waving an imaginary red card. Et tu, Messi?

    I remember now why I stopped watching Argentine league football many years ago and why I've shown so little interest in Copa America over the years. South American football embodies everything that American sports fans hate about the game. You won't see this crap from Northern Ireland, Wales, Iceland, Croatia, etc. etc. If this is how CONMEBAL determines quality, I'm happy to walk away from it -- for good. I hope we never accept another invitation from these 4th rate opera extras. Viva CONCACAF!
     
    #110
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  11. SoCalJoe

    SoCalJoe Well-Known Member

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    I'm deleting the taping without watching for a different reason. We were over at a friend's for a bbq and someone wanted to see who won and they were just going to extra time. In total agreement with the thoughts of South American football in terms of the theatrics and 'gamemenship' which is nice word for cheating, and can't comment on the first 90 minutes. However, the 30 minutes plus PKs I saw was 2 teams that know and hate each other too much. There was 3 or 4 legitimate straight red cards that weren't called because it looked like the ref said 'screw it, you guys want to kick the hell out of each other go ahead!'.

    I'll respectfully disagree HD in that I hope we accept and even host it again. If Messi is indeed hanging up the cleats for Argentina it was great he brought his ability on US soil for real (yes he pulled a "Oh Nooo Baggio' PK, but in the first 15 of extra time Messi's perfect pass and Aguero's header was somehow finger tipped over the bar by the Chilean GK should of won it). Usually the best football is played before a Final anyways.

    The US had a very respectable showing and we learned a few very important things:
    • John Brooks & Bobby Wood have arrived
    • Brad Guzan is not Tim Howard
    • Whoever the best LB in MLS is needs to be invited to next camp
    • Jones & Dempsey look like they want to make one last WCQ run
    • May good fortune shine on Aron Johansson's health and he returns.
     
    #111
    Last edited: Jun 27, 2016
  12. jumpkutz

    jumpkutz Well-Known Member

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    The first half was about the ref. The second half was about not screwing up. I hope Messi changes his mind. We don't get to see that much of him here, although I've never thought he was as effective for Argentina as he is for Barca. I think the club's passing philosophy better suits his style than the typical international game plan. And he's got some fair players around him at Camp Nou, although Argentina ain't exactly a pickup squad. CONMEBOL does need to clean up it's discipline and diving act. Apparently it's still SOP down there, and it's 2016. Stop it already (see Gareth Bale's yellows from Spurs).
     
    #112
  13. jumpkutz

    jumpkutz Well-Known Member

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    One more observation, and I'll shut it for a bit. After watching a lot of this tourney and the Euros, it appears to me that we are lacking in a couple of basic skill sets, relative to our competitors: passing and dribbling. Just watching the elite countries proficiency at these skills relative to ours, well, it kind of starts jumping out at you after a while. It's especially noticeable when the pace picks up, or during a counterattack, or during a long spell of possession by one side. They're better under tighter marking and pressure, and in congested spaces. Until we get more kids who can dribble and hold onto the damn ball like they do, we'll stay right where we are...a second tier power with a scant chance of upsetting the best to win a major trophy.
     
    #113
  14. HatterDon

    HatterDon Moderator

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    I think we stress teamwork and tactics too much at the youth level. Our kids don't get a chance to be jealous.
     
    #114
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  15. jumpkutz

    jumpkutz Well-Known Member

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    Sounds plausible to me. Would also explain why our best player (still) was "developed" in a trailer park in East Texas.
     
    #115
  16. MicahMan

    MicahMan Administrator

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    Mar 4, 2014
    I coached my son's U15 team a while back and everyone's ball handling was put to shame by a kid who had just move from Columbia. He was so fluid and fast with the ball that others barely had a chance to take it from him. I told him that he was pretty special but he replied that everyone played like that back in Columbia. He was a good kid and could have just been modest, but it made me want to visit a typical school in Columbia to see what their play looked like.
     
    #116
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  17. HatterDon

    HatterDon Moderator

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    and we'd do well to remember that another FulhAmerican -- Brian McBride -- wanted to start a striker's school to inculcate in young players the fact that some times it's NECESSARY for a striker to be selfish. I don't know what happened to that school.
     
    #117
  18. nevzter

    nevzter Well-Known Member

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    Montgomery Burns purchased the rights to McBride's camp and sold it to Outer Mongolia FC Developmental, Inc. A tax shelter, no doubt.
     
    #118
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