USMNT vs Peru and Brazil

And Spurs are idiots for loaning out Yedlin. That ball he chased down in the penalty area to start the winning goal sequence was very much above average. Whatever his shortcomings, the lad's got pace...and you can't say that about too many of our players.

 

I think a lot of the reason why they were playing FB was due to injuries to Beasley, Johnson and Chandler (he had a quote earlier this week with something like he would have started Beasley at LB and Johnson at RB if everyone was healthy).

Klinsmann has been complaining about Cameron not getting minutes at CB at Stoke for the past year so I think he sees him at CB (who can also sub in at FB).

 

Jurgen Klinnsmann has been known to hold a grudge against guys that take a 'break', throw in a perceived lack of ambition club wise (JK excludes the MLS guys that have maximized themselves from a business standpoint) and it's been a long road back for Matt Besler. The manager has wanted a Alvarado/Brooks partnership to take off, but it has been sub-par. I'm of the opinion that Besler is by far our best CB and should start tonight and a month from now. Bottom-line JK needs to worry about the other 3 spots, because Besler should be the first name he lists for the backline.

 

Besler won't start tonight because he has rejoined Kansas City.

 

Ummm did I just see that Orozco and Alvarado are the starting CB pairing. Oh please tell me I need to see the optometrist even more than I thought.

 

Wow, saw that Barry. So much for Besler being back in good graces..Orozco & Alvarado???

 

Chat room anyone?

 

Agree with everything except the last one. I think we'll have more energy, ambition and incentive than El Tri, who don't have to win the match.

 

Jump, remember this upcoming match is a one-off for the Confed bid to Russia so Mexico has as much to play for as we do. Throw in that it's at the Rose Bowl which will have an 80-20% ratio of El Tri to US fans and this will be not be easy. The only positive I can think of is Mexico has been playing nearly as bad through the summer. They got multiple horrific referee calls at the end of games to advance at the Gold Cup.

Some great points HD, hard to argue any of them, just my two cents;

3. Perfect adjective in describing Bradley's play. His passing/free kicks were atrocious.

4. I agree somewhat. Asking Bedoya to play the Beckerman/Williams role against the likes of Brazil had a predictable outcome, that was a poor coaching decision. Cameron doesn't have that excuse. He has been dreadful for the US (don't forget how bad he played as a CB at the WC) to the point of confusion on how he gets any minutes at Stoke. Cameron has played a ton of RB also, so his pathetic display last night (he played longer than Bedoya so I'd say he was the worst of a bad 11) was down to him. Mystifying how solid he plays in the Prem compared to suiting up for the US.

7. Cannot agree more. As Matt & Barry stated in the chatroom last night, we are so Deuce dependent it's scary. Where is the next US player that inspires and raises the rest of the squad's play? Already stated my thoughts on Besler. He needs to start with either Omar or Brooks, any other combination is a wrong choice.

11. Never have been a fan of 2 term WC Cycles for coaches, and beginning to wonder if JK will even see it through. If the US loses next month combined with a poor Copa America next summer could spell trouble. Matt told me to back away from the cliff, but don't be surprised if it isn't a highwire act qualifying for the WC this time around.

 

That US performance was, to be polite...disjointed. I watched Mexico do well against Argentina for 80 minutes, go up 2-0, only to collapse against Aguero and Messi (no shame there). Yep, the US is in for an ass-kicking next month if the squads I saw play last night for the US and Mexico squared off. Each country played an elite team, and Mexico was damn good against a better opponent. Maybe der komissar can still lace them up?

 

Personally I think everyone so far has been overly polite. To be succinct the US stunk up the joint last night starting with Klinsman. Bedoya was set up to fail and Orozco and Alvarado was not a CB tandem that any rational manager would have selected.

I am the proverbial glass half full person and I am having trouble coming up with positives about the match but here is what little I can offer.

Yedlin had flashes of excellence. If he can learn to consistently create something at the end of them he will become a handful to deal with going forward.

Tim Ream's passing out of the back bypassed multple defenders on several occasions but the US never had enough people forward to take advantage.

Hopefully Dempsey and Fabian Johnson will recover in time for the Mexico match. If not, we are in real trouble against Mexico.

Oh, I almost forgot to add that Klinsman could come to his senses and start Besler.

 

I think I stumbled into the overreaction zone here. We lost to Brazil in a friendly, BURN IT ALL!!!

That's kind of tongue in cheek, but I do think people are reading too much into this. The last thing I want to do is defend Klinsmann, his grinning silhouette haunts my dreams, but we did just beat a very strong Peru side less than a week ago.

I managed to watch the whole game without curling into the fetal position. Here are a couple takeaways I had (some don't quite jive with HD's).

• I think Alvarado can be a solid player for us. He's an aggressive pressing CB, which I like, but he needs a Sweeper type behind him and needs to cut out mistakes (obviously). Orozco doesn't do anything for me.
• I don't think Yedlin had a good game. He gave the ball away far too easily (including for their first goal) and doesn't run at defenders when he has the opportunity as much as he should. Of course he shows flashes, but I prefer a player that can keep the ball consistently.
• I thought Zardes again played well. For me, he picks his chances to run at defenders much better than Yedlin, and keeps possession well. I can't see anyone taking that left wing spot from him.
• I don't like Bradley in the hole behind the striker, especially if that striker is Jozy. In my team, Bradley would play deeper with Jones where he can use his energy to win the ball and move it forward.
• As other have said, I think a more experienced lineup is needed against Mexico. I would probably go for Besler and Brooks in the back (I'm not an Omar fan).

 

I may be wrong here, but I don't think Besler went back to KC because he was out of favor. Sporting KC requested him back and there was a quote from Klinsmann saying they saw what they needed from him during the camp. I know JK hasn't started him much since the World Cup but hopefully he realizes his folly.

Alvarado is too aggressive. Both defending and in thinking that he can make the 40 yard pass over the defense. He needs to play more simply and find better position defensively. He gets burned too many times for my liking.

 

You are not wrong about the reason behind Besler returning to KC Evan. However, why he got so little action against Peru when Klinsman knew he was leaving raises red flags for me.

Chicago just for the record I am usually the guy telling everyone to slow their roll on making judgements based on friendlies unfortunately I can't this time. The flaws we are seeing are repeating from Gold Cup play and they are getting worse not better. Peru looks like the blip on the radar and I'm pretty sure they had neither of their first choice strikers in the squad. Things just haven't looked good in 2015 in general to me.