USMNT - Gold Cup

@CoachK No need for a disclaimer, you raise a number of very valid points. In your second post you mention the AO bar in NOLA, I never even mentioned the one in DC, because I never go. It's a dump, the kind of place you can use a firehose to clean, and I'm guessing they often do.

I paid some more attention to the costume show on Saturday in Cleveland. The folks dressed as an eagle, or George Washington or whatever, are clearly there to get noticed. This week there was one guy, dressed in Blue pants, with white stars, a red and white striped jacket, stars and stripes tie - he looked like a refugee from the Republican National Convention. This guy spent the entire match mugging for cameras and posing with people. If he saw 5 minutes of the match I'd be shocked. It's more than a little annoying.

As for the game, I love Dwyer. Not that he's a great player, but he's the one guy out there with the proper CONCACAF attitude. Take advantage whenever possible, and hit right back when necessary.

 

I like Dwyer as well - he's a pain in the ass to my Quakes and I've seen him play many times, but he just busts his ass like it's the last game he'll ever play. There's a tad bit of McBride in him, and to that, I like him.

 

After the three matches just played the mystery in the roster changes for me is why keep Arriola, Zardes and Pontius and release Kelyn Rowe? Of the four Rowe was easily the biggest threat going forward. I know the press said Arena was yelling at Rowe on the pitch during the first match so I'm wondering if there was some part of the game plan that Rowe was not executing.

 

Totally agree about Rowe, that's a head-scratcher. Also would've liked Dwyer coming off the bench. Obviously with some of the vets on board there's a better chance of winning it, but without Geoff Cameron, John Brooks, and Fabian Johnson it's still only the B team.

 

This is not something that I had previously thought of. Each of the 3 field players (not named Bedoya) play for an MLS team that had multiple players involved with the Gold Cup. One might actually look at the decision being based not on the player's competition at their position, but rather with regards to the other players from their club team. I.E. Besler and Zusi are more important to the US squad (at this time) than Dwyer.

 

I was just wondering about this yesterday...

http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/201...rs-game-for-veteran-usmnt-players-at-gold-cup

 

And a certain Dortmund player?

The issue with Rowe was defensive in nature, from what I read. But from what I could see on tv, it didn't jump out at me, so I don't know what specifically Arena was upset with.

 

I loved seeing the pic of Bradley with the flowing locks in his US debut.

Hoping for a solid performance tonight. I saw the first half of El Salvador v Mexico and they were better than I expected going forward, but were susceptible to crosses on the defensive end. They rolled around whenever touched so hoping we can score early in the proceedings to minimize their time wasting.

 

The only players that should have walked off the field at least 85% satisfied with their performance were Nagbe, Bradley and Howard. Nagbe was a breath of fresh air with his ability to hold the ball and open up El Salvador's defense. Bradley played well even if some of his long passes left a bit to be desired and Timmy was Timmy.

The best thing that could be said about the back four is that Omar and Lichaj scored. Outside of that we saw the same problems as the prior Gold Cup matches with a back four that was unorganized, was beaten multiple times in 1 v 1 situations and was a liability when trying to hold onto the ball. Morrow had a few good combination plays but it would be interesting to know the number of forced and unforced turnovers by the defense. Hedges in particular was at best poor in his distribution and at worst dangerous and I found myself muttering the same complaints about Lichaj as I have been about Zusi in terms of wasteful passes.

Dempsey and Altidore seem to have trouble holding onto the ball as well. I'm not sure how many times Deuce made a poor pass and then glared at the intended recipient last night but it seemed to happen a few times. He had two excellent passes that both should of been assists if not for a poor offside call on Zardes but he started quite a few El Salvador counter-attacks as well. As for Jozy, I'm not quite sure what to think of his performance. He put himself about quite a bit early but his passing was horrible and he wasn't much of a threat on goal.

My last complaint for the US I will reserve for Arena. His substitutions were all wrong last night. Both Dempsey and Jozy should have been off between the 6oth and 7oth minutes. Jozy was completely gassed by the 70th with no defensive effort coming from that point forward and he was walking back onside by midway into the second half. Then if you were going to sub off your best player on the night for another midfielder it should have been Dax and not Acosta that came on. By the time Nagbe came off the game was crying out for a player the could stem the attack and play his way efficiently out of the back.

As for El Salvador, I hope the nipple-twisting, back-biting, gut-punching cheats get the suspensions they so richly deserve when someone reviews this game film. The US should file a complaint if that is allowed. Just for the record I am only referring to those players involved in the incidents and not the team as a whole. I understand refereeing is difficult but is is hard to believe at least one of the incidents was not spotted.

 

Los Ticos have given up 1 goal the whole tournament so the incessant brain cramp defensive lapses we've had every match must stop. Wouldn't be surprised to see this go PKs (no extra time until the Final)

 

Today’s U.S. MNT Starting XI vs. Costa Rica: 2-Jorge Villafaña 3-Omar Gonzalez, 5-Matt Besler, 8-Jordan Morris, 19-Graham Zusi, 20-Paul Arriola, 23-Kellyn Acosta, 24-Tim Howard, 25-Darlington Nagbe, 26-Michael Bradley (capt.), 27-Jozy Altidore

Substitutes: 12-Bill Hamid, 29-Jesse Gonzalez, 4-Matt Miazga, 7-Chris Pontius, 9-Gyasi Zardes, 10-Joe Corona, 13-Dax McCarty, 15-Eric Lichaj, 16-Justin Morrow, 18-Juan Agudelo, 21-Matt Hedges, 28-Clint Dempsey

 

DEUCE OVER EVERYTHING

 

Suddenly thousands of GC Final tix have become available as The Reggae Boyz shock Mexico 1-0 (fantastic 88th minute free kick). Better not count our chickens (the fact they beat us in the semis at the last Gold Cup should help)