This will be a very close game. T&T won at Guatemala, so this will be the first of likely two qualifiers in Port of Spain (this round and in final round aka The Hex). Every match down there has been either a draw or a 1 goal win either way (US leads 5-2-2), even in the years where the US has been a settled side. I think Tim Howard will be back in between the pipes, what lineup changes, if any would everyone like to see?
Don't know about lineup changes, but I do know that we stand a better chance of getting a result from this one if we can keep Kenwyne Jones at bay. He's clearly their best player, and if we play him tough and make someone else beat us, I'll be encouraged. If he causes us problems, I'll be discouraged.
From the Mr. Obvious department... http://www.sounderatheart.com/2015/...verjoyed-to-see-clint-dempsey-left-off-roster
Orozco in at RB, Yedlin pushed up to mid, Zardes up top to be paired with Jozy. Wood is the odd man out of the starting lineup.
missed the game and couldn't record it. Reviews? By the way, I usually welcome criticism of JK, but the piling on about leaving Dempsey off the squad for these two matches is out of line. Deuce was trying to get a title for the Sounders; leaving them in what should be the continuation of the playoffs is wrong.
Although I didn't see any of it, it sounds like more of the same. The fact we managed a point out of it means Klinsmann gets another pass, probably at least until the home and away series with Guatemala at the end of March. If we don't look better by then, perhaps we'll see the change we've been looking for.
And we still can't scrape together much offense against anyone with a pulse w/o Dempsey. I agree with Don, there was a very good reason leaving him off of the squad. However, as Barry & I have discussed, I'm worried about this team going forward. Hopefully it's just a JK problem. That's easily remedied.
The result last night wasn't so bad, but the way we got it was really underwhelming. That T&T team was incredibly beatable, and really only threatened us a couple times going forward. In the last 15 mins, T&T sat back and invited us to attack and go win the game, and instead we played position in the middle of the field. It was clear both teams we're satisfied with a point. Watching this game I thought about when JK took over and talked developing an identity and playing attacking soccer. What the hell happened to that? Most discouraging for me from last night was our central midfield. We really got nothing from that partnership of Jones and Bradley. I was excited when I saw Nagbe about to come on, but instead of putting him in the middle, JK farmed him out wide where he couldn't get involved in the play. For me, the Jones and Bradley partnership is a little too much like the Gerrard and Lampard partnership. Both are good players, but I don't think they work together, they're too similar. Both are kind of midfield engines, scrappy players that need a partner that's more creative in possession (like Nagbe).
A thoughtful analysis from The Guardian's Graham Parker. http://www.theguardian.com/football...hat-we-learned-from-usas-world-cup-qualifiers
As the author points out, Yedlin is entertaining to watch, good or bad. He sprung Jozy who in turned put a perfect ball up to Zardes, who puts that in 9 out of 10 times.
