USMNT latest call ups

I didn't expect it this soon, but it appears JK has decided Deuce is no longer World Cup material. Other than that glaring omission, not too many surprises here. It'll be interesting to see who the keeper's gonna be. And I'm wondering where the goals are gonna come from.

http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/201...r-begining-of-2018-world-cup-qualifying-cycle

 

James, remember Clint and Seattle are still in the MLS playoffs, so that's the main reason he isn't there for these two. I know Nagbe for Portland is also, but it's really early in the process and everyone knows what Clint brings to the table. Seattle advances and no way any party involved would want him to play with the conference finals coming up. Big surprise for me is Fabian Johnson is included, so perhaps JK and him have been communicating.

 

Couldn't be more excited to finally have Nagbe in the team. He's really unlike any other player the US has. He's ability to keep and run with the ball is probably the best the US has ever had outside of Landon Donovan. Nagbe's end product isn't as good as Donovan's, and they play slightly different positions, but that's the closest comparison I can think of.

Of course the downside to this is that my Timbers are still in the playoffs. If we beat Vancouver this weekend it's going to be very interesting to see how JK uses Nagbe. I'd guess he'd probably play no more than 30 mins.

 

I like the Nagbe addition - if just to cap him and then let him return to the Timbers...who will defeat Vancouver this Sunday.

Somewhere ClevelandMo is dancing.

 

The T&T match is going to be on beIN Sports.

 

If I remember correctly, during the last world cup cycle the TV rights are owned by the home team's federation. Though I just did a quick search and it looks like I'm still correct "As many of you know all too well, each CONCACAF nation owns the rights to its home games." (Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/...ualifier-rights-deal.html#mblBFYs2LLG0xT0s.99) though Telemundo has obtained the rights to the spanish language broadcasts for all matches outside the US. Not sure where that puts the english language broadcasts.

 

Doesn't much matter to me. I'm not paying extra, i.e., dealing with Time Warner, to add one channel just to watch away USMNT CONCACAF matches. If I get 'em on what I've got, fine. If I don't, whoopee. If I'm gonna pay extra for something, it's gonna be for St. Louis Cardinal games. And I'm too cheap to even do that. But all that's another topic.

 

I am usually among the last to point at anyone and say they need to be fired and up until now I have not been on the Klinsmann is an idiot bandwagon but ..... Klinsmann is an idiot and he needs to be fired. Don't wait until after the match on Friday because he might accidently win. Do it now and let's move on from this never ending story of roster baiting that he puts me through. If the squad needs a new manager for Friday I am sure we can all pitch in and send the Senator. Her service running this message board makes her at least as qualified as Klinsmann if not more so and as a bonus we can name Boca as her assistant if she needs motivation. I cannot believe that nobody before me has gone off on this roster because Klinsmann has learned nothing from watching the US all of last summer and I don't won't even comment that he left Dempsey off the roster. Let's try this analysis by positional group because I can't afford the therapy that will be required if I try to analyze this any deeper than that.

GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Tim Howard (Everton)

You can't really screw up naming US keepers to the roster so at least he got that right.

DEFENDERS (8): Ventura Alvarado (Club America), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Fabian Johnson (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Matt Miazga (New York Red Bulls), Michael Orozco (Club Tijuana), Tim Ream (Fulham FC), Brek Shea (Orlando City SC)

Let's see what we have here ... oh wait this looks familiar; let’s play how many center backs can you fit in Volkswagen? Alvarado, Besler, Cameron, Miazga, Orozco and Ream can fit into Klinsmann's four seater and even though I thought there was no way he could be back so soon I'll be dogged if one of those big lunks isn't blinkin' Alvarado again. So that gives us six slow, plodding center backs to cover the six yard box and leaves us with one slow, converted midfielder and one injury-prone, converted midfielder to cover the rest of the back. Great job Klinsy because we all know how well this plan has worked in the past. He did throw me a bone and name Yedlin as a midfielder. However, don't get your hopes up because when you look at the midfield position you will know it is way too much to hope that someone playing so well will be slotted into their natural position as a fullback.

What do I like here? If it had been Cameron, Ream, Miazga and Besler to fight it out for the central positions I would have been happy with that but the extra baggage without support for the fullbacks just kills me and before anyone harps I know this is only a couple of games and not a season but Klinsmann really needs to be looking at some other fullback options and Alvarado and Orozco could were really poor all summer. Biggest positive is Miazga getting a look see. Hopefully he has that something special about him.

(As an aside there is a little game that you can play throughout the remainder of this post by totaling up the slow, plodding players throughout the entire US roster. The poster with the highest count can freely post "Klinsmann is smarter than a Bloomin' Onion* on every other Thursday" as often as you like as long as Outback Steakhouse doesn't object.)

*Bloomin' Onion is probably a trademark of Outback Steakhouse so you probably can't post that name in just anyway or anywhere you would like so please substitute your own phrase at random if you deem yourself the winner but keep it clean on this site so the Senator doesn't get mad at me.

MIDFIELDERS (7): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Mix Diskerud (New York City FC), Miguel Ibarra (Club Leon), Jermaine Jones (New England Revolution), Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers), DeAndre Yedlin (Sunderland)

Let's see what we have here ... oh wait this looks familiar because it’s the same game with a different position; let’s play how many center mids can you fit in Volkswagen? Beckerman, Diskerud, Bradley, Ibarra, Jones and Nagbe. Look he did it again; Klinsmann put six center mids in his Volkswagen leaving us one converted defender to cover all of the wing areas. Man DeAndre I knew you were fast but that is some serious giddy up. I can't wait to watch you cross the ball from one side of the field to yourself on the other side. Of course I am guessing that one of our converted forwards like Gyasi will probably cover the other side but you never really know do you.

I do like that Nagbe was named to the roster and I want to like the Bradley is still named to the roster but when you look at the rest of the players named you just know he will be put in an attacking position again instead of that deep lying playmaker position that he was excelling at in Europe. I really don't like this mix of players and I really don't like it a lot.

By the way how many slow, plodding center mids did you count? I count at least four and I don't know one of the other to make a judgement.

FORWARDS (5): Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Alan Gordon (LA Galaxy), Jordan Morris (Stanford), Bobby Wood (Union Berlin), Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy)

At least up top we got a mix of players. One who broods quite nicely in Jozy even if you don't know what else you will get on the pitch, two newcomers who both work hard and could have something to offer, one wily old MLS vet in Gordon who is probably a very good choice for these types of matches because you know exactly what you’re getting as a late sub specialist and a forward that will probably only see time on the wing in Gyasi. There really isn't much to complain about in this selection because if you're going to choose to move on from Clint there are no options that are nailed on.

There are some other MLS guys out there that some would argue deserve a chance but I won't fault giving Wood and Morris the opportunity to grab the bull by the horns based on recent performance. They have probably earned their shot so I hope the gamble pays off. At least the one slow, plodder I count here is in a place that should be reserved for a slow, plodder.

All-in-all I don't like what Klinsmann has done with this roster selection if that is not painfully obvious. Win or lose I won't back away from that statement and I do hope they win.

 

Let the venom flow, thank you, BarryWhite. Tis but a sample size of individuals that have arguably earned the chance to wear the US shirt: Lee Nguyen, Danny Williams, an older, yet still skilled, Feilhaber (who is as damn solid as any other of these MLS mids), McCarty, Zusi - Aguedelo instead of...ahh F$%* it. I'm not the talent scout or manager (that should be the Senator and Boca) but what did Einstein say was the definition of insanity? Exactly.

And the US will win the next two qualifiers and nothing will change - after all, the US beat Germany and the Netherlands this year.........................

 

What he said.

 

Damn good rant, Barry! Only question, is the blooming onion the dumbest or smartest of the Outback appetizers?

 

This kid is NOT a defender. Just sayin'
http://www.espnfc.us/video/champion...video/2728295/play-of-the-day-fabulous-fabian