USMNT v T & T

I'm a newbie at all this, but I confess to being a bit nervous...
Unless we can pick up a point in Honduras, we'll be going into the last game needing a draw to clinch. Certainly doable at home against Costa Rica, but it sure will be nerve-racking to have everything riding on the final game.

 

Usually I'm baffled by Harkes's non-stop Dempsey criticism, but last night it was deserved. There were (many) times when he would pass it directly to the other team and I couldn't even imagine who he was intending it for. A couple good shots, but a terrible work rate and very, very sloppy passing.

I agree with Andy and Josh...I thought Bornstein was very solid. I also think Spector is our best fullback.

 

About as unimpressive a 1-0 win as possible.

Clark punched his ticket definitively with that cracker.

Bob Bradley and his butt-munching sweatpants should be nervous, as the team looks uninspired, and guess who is in charge of providing inspiration.

 

3 points is 3 points.

That is what I keep telling myself.

I have to keep telling myself this because there is this voice screaming at me from the back of my brain saying, "We Are Not As Good As You Seem To Think We Are!"

Following that message is the flash of reminders from our last World Cup where we looked toothless in the attack and for all the buildup we never looked like scoring.

Say it aint so!

 

By the way - the player that looked like a monster?

Jones.

He always looked dangerous and made Gooch look - dare I say it - kind of wimpy! Jones often beat him on high balls, but more often forced Gooch to give up far too many fouls in dangerous locations because he couldnt out-muscle the stronger and quicker Jones.

 

The Clark nightmare continues for me. Other than the goal I thought he was awful. The pairing with MB is not good. The shot was brilliant. I think he knew he was going to get the hook.

Deuce was pedestrian. I did not like his game at all.

Lando was a threat most of the game - yes, the set pieces need to be better, but he was effective in the run of play. Great ball from Jozy.

M Bradley was better than the last game. He plays better with Benny - and I thought that was obvious immediately.

I thought the D was shaky, and we are going to get exposed.

I like Jozy and Davies better than any tandem we could possibly field.

Benny shows why we need him on the field both offensively and defensively. Holden was a nice spark, and that was amplified given the Deuce showing. Ching did fine as a sub.

Come on Bob, we need something more or we are going to get beat up in Honduras. I am 20 mins into the Honduras v Mexico game, and they are much better than T&T. Please get some new pants b/c that looked like "Bobby got back."

 

Thought it was a lackluster performance across the board outside of Timmy. Everyone was giving the ball away and no one seemed up for it. Seems Harkes only finds it necessary to call out Clint by name for this though, mostly.

One week around Roy and he's saying Demps needs a rest. Bob won't give him one, even though last night was the perfect opportunity to give Holden and/or Benny some time in his slot. Clint should have been on a plane to London on Sunday.

One thing I keep thinking is that it doesn't seem like we have a set plan of attack. If you think about it, between the backs and mids, we have guys playing in 5-7 different leagues (depending on the rotation). I'm wondering if the different styles are causing some of the miscues. When we settled it down in the 2nd half and passed it around, we looked far more threatening and completely took T&T out of the game. I wish we'd do that more often. Instead, it appears we're trying to out-athlete teams most of the time, but only 2-3 guys are doing it at a given time and the rest wind up watching. I'm not trying to hijack the thread into Bob-bashing, b/c they've done the right things and performed better under his lead. But it seems to be getting away from him more often.

The two things I come away from this match with is that the team are playing below their talent level and that Clint Dempsey is the devil.

 

Not sure why everyone expected a blowout, since the US has never crushed them in the Port of Spain. Yes, it was very shaky performance, but it was a winning one. They are certainly capable of winning in Honduras, but a first half like that will spell defeat.

Props to El Diveador for beating Costa Rica, who now look like the team to be playing the 5th place South American team.

 

Bornstein wasn't awful and I no longer wish to inflict harm on Bob Bradley.

Don't know what else to add to the above...the match was akin to a night at the Mustang Ranch: a very sloppy affair.

 

Hatter -

Chill Brother!

I am not sure what it is with you and your celebration of mediocrity. You wear it like a warm comfort blanket!

There is nothing wrong with high expectations.

I will agree with you that those high expectations should not not carry over into hysteria if you are disappointed.

But at the same time - I am not willing to lower my expectations.

I dont like the hysteria that can be found out there either, but hey - at least people care!

 

We, and myself included at times, have great expectations for a squad that is, in international terms, only slightly above-average overall. Our passion and love for this team can sometimes obscure this fact.

Sure, the US was lucky last night, and it received some questionable calls, but they were just good enough to allow for a single moment of brilliance to earn 3 points. Many teams have ridden such a formula to great success, and while playing sloppy and relying on good fortune is playing with fire, there can be plenty of positives taken from the result.

Also, Gooch will see plenty of the pitch real soon as Milan's current back-4 aren't great, and the Champions League and domestic cups are just starting up in Serie A (or did he transfer to Spain?!? :twisted: )

 

That is a good point - and one that was made on one of the programs recently - Italy looked like garbage and played a snoozefest brand of football where they squeaked out results... Then they went on to be World Champion - Again.

As much as I really do not like Italian football - that does give us hope and call for calm.

 

I have often not agreed with the commentators (was it always Harkes) when they criticized Dempsey's play, but like FFC24 and Nick, I did agree last night. In fact Harkes was being kinder than I would have been. I hope he was sick or suffering battle fatigue because if not then he was just out and out lazy. Don, based on your criticism of Donovan, I have to wonder if you werent confusing him with Dempsey. I know you know the difference between the two so perhaps it was the horrible video quality. It looked like the game review video for the local high school team, taken by the 15 yr old team manager? Then the ESPN highlights were nice and sharp.

Bob should have subed Dempsey or as Ag said, sent him back to London on Monday. One of the benefits of having Bob is that he knows the US players, but it is starting to seem like something is up with Demps on the Nats. He runs hot and cold. I know players have bad patches or entire bad games, but when Dempsey does it appears to me to be the result of his effort rather than being off.

Also, has anyone here seen my old friend Michael Bradley, can you tell me where he's gone? He used to be amazing but it seems now he's just lazy. I just looked around and he's gone.

Very frustrating play from the US and I share Don's concerns 'bout Gooch. It's a conspiracy along with the Adu conspiracy (and Beasley) to keep promising US players from getting playing time. Hope you're right Nevzter, but we shall see if Gooch cant make his way into an inadequate AC Milan D.

 

Granted, this morning I said to myself that we got the 3 points, and that was all that really mattered. I think that we are complaining about what is happening is because not only do we have certain expectations for our team to win, we also have expectations on how they play. My thought is that play like yesterday shows that that type of play is not going to cut it against better teams. That was our top team, so ideally it should look good against a team like T&T.

I feel a strong passion about this team, so it eats me up when I see performances like last night. I want to see a solid execution of simple plays in terms of passing and controlling the ball, making runs to space, marking on defense and finishing opportunities (or at least take the shots created). I want to see fire in the belly of our guys in the form of hustle and emotion. I am happy about the result, but again that type of play will make it difficult to get max points against better teams.

 

Can anyone name a sporting event (any team sport) and announcer that has dogged a player's performance like Harkes has Dempsey? In any one game, much less several of them like this. It's about as unprofessional as you can get.

And to be clear, I think Bob should have sent him back b/c he appears to need the rest. Based on the soccer schedule he's kept, the minutes he's logged, and b/c Roy has said as much, he ought to be tired. He's not alone in that. There are a number of guys on the Nats that could probably use a day off b/c they feature prominently for both club and country.

As far as effort, if he can't get a game off, I'd much rather see him conserving energy against a poor T&T team than against Everton. It's not like he's mailing in the whole match. As Don pointed out, he did make some critical plays in the game. He also made a lot of mistakes. Tired people tend to do that.

 

Fair enough Ag and I hope you are right. But I bet against Everton Demps is his all out usual self. Maybe that's what you want but I bet if you asked Clint whether he would rather beat Everton or play in the 2010 WC he would choose the latter. Therefore, he should carry his weight in a WC qualifier or say he needs a rest. I saw no critical plays by him that a number of US midfielders couldnt have made. He was the least effective midfielder out there.

 

after this grueling summer i'm officially weary of the USMNT, and everything surrounding it.

i'm not going to watch the next two matches because we've all but qualified for 2010.

and there's no point in rehashing the same arguments ad nauseum, or ridiculous hype, or slagging off of under productive players, or questioning Bob "Lawrie Sanchez" Bradley.

see everyone on December 4 regarding this topic.

 

I'm doing the opposite. I'll be watching HON-USA on TV and I already have my ticket for the USA-CR game.

I expect us to lose at Honduras, so we need at least a point at RFK against the Ticos to avoid CONMEBOL. I'll be there to do my part to help them do just that.