USMNT Roster for March qualifiers released... | Page 3 | The Boneyard

USMNT Roster for March qualifiers released...

SAMCRO said:
We are one injury away form Landon Donovan coming out of retirement.
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I'd take Donovan right now over Wondo, and I wouldn't think twice about it...
 
businesslawyer said:
1. That wouldn't, for two games, be a bad thing.

2. Even if it was a bad thing, I'd buy everyone in the sports bar a beer if Wisky was there and I got to watch him watch it happening.

3. Why not bash Donovan in a thread bashing Wondo. What are they -- 1 and 4 all time in MLS goals scored? Why, there must be hundreds of strikers who have accomplished that.
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Agreed with #1 and #2. With #3, they may only be separated by a couple of positions on the all time MLS goals list, but those two are in two completely separate classes of talent. It isn't even close. The only question would be how fit Landon is, and how quickly could he become fit to join the team...
 
businesslawyer said:
1. That wouldn't, for two games, be a bad thing.

2. Even if it was a bad thing, I'd buy everyone in the sports bar a beer if Wisky was there and I got to watch him watch it happening.

3. Why not bash Donovan in a thread bashing Wondo. What are they -- 1 and 4 all time in MLS goals scored? Why, there must be hundreds of strikers who have accomplished that.
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On point 1 respectfully disagree, as UConnDan97 pointed out earlier, I think there were a number of other options Arena could have brought in, but odds are whoever it is is not getting meaningful minutes barring an injury.
On point 2, well done. I laughed out loud, and I'd pay a cover charge to see/hear Wisky watch that happen.
On point 3, my post was more of a commentary on how bad the USMNT has been bitten by the injury bug and less of a bashing of Donovan. I was a fan when he was playing, and he is one of the best all time USMNT players. I just don't think he exited gracefully (but that horse of an argument was beaten enough years ago).

Reality is the only way Wondo sees the field is if (a) we have a solid lead on Honduras and/or Panama and Arena wants to rest a Forward, or (b) one of the Forwards get injured. I don't foresee a scenario where Arena subs him in a close match.
 
businesslawyer said:
1. That wouldn't, for two games, be a bad thing.

2. Even if it was a bad thing, I'd buy everyone in the sports bar a beer if Wisky was there and I got to watch him watch it happening.

3. Why not bash Donovan in a thread bashing Wondo. What are they -- 1 and 4 all time in MLS goals scored? Why, there must be hundreds of strikers who have accomplished that.
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He's not in match shape so don't kid yourself.

I mean, why don't we call up Eric Wynalda while were at it. That would only be slightly less valid. I don't care how many goals you score in a league not particularly known for good defense.

Wondo is lucky we let him back in the country after Brazil.
 
The forecast for San Jose tonight is temps in the mid-50's with rain early, tapering off around start time. Was hoping it would have been a little bit colder, but oh well. I still don't get why all qualifying matches v. Mexico and Central American teams aren't played exclusively in KC, Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake, Columbus, and maybe Denver. Save California for the likes of T&T or whichever Caribbean nation we play in qualifying. The good thing is that San Jose only seats 18,000, so the US fans should be able to get the heavy majority of the tickets, and give it more of a home field feel.
 
SAMCRO said:
The forecast for San Jose tonight is temps in the mid-50's with rain early, tapering off around start time. Was hoping it would have been a little bit colder, but oh well. I still don't get why all qualifying matches v. Mexico and Central American teams aren't played exclusively in KC, Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake, Columbus, and maybe Denver. Save California for the likes of T&T or whichever Caribbean nation we play in qualifying. The good thing is that San Jose only seats 18,000, so the US fans should be able to get the heavy majority of the tickets, and give it more of a home field feel.
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How about Anchorage?
 
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ZooCougar said:
How about Anchorage?
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even better. you just made me think of the movie Mystery, Alaska...
Mystery-Alaska_l.jpg

what a great cast.
Russell Crowe
Hank Azaria
Mary McCormack
Burt Reynolds
Colm Meaney
Ron Eldard
Michael McKeanan
Beth Littleford
Mike Myers
Phil Esposito
Little Richard
Steve Levy
Barry Melrose
Tie Domi
 
Missed the game but saw the highlights on SC (see ESPN does have some small purpose still! ;)). Looked like it was a complete rout. Good to see considering how much we were all concerned by the amount of injuries.

Anyone know why Lletget was subbed off at the 18'? Seems like an early exit and that's usually due to injury. The last thing this team needs is more injuries.
 
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UCFBfan said:
Missed the game but saw the highlights on SC (see ESPN does have some small purpose still! ;)). Looked like it was a complete rout. Good to see considering how much we were all concerned by the amount of injuries.

Anyone know why Lletget was subbed off at the 18'? Seems like an early exit and that's usually due to injury. The last thing this team needs is more injuries.
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It was an ankle injury. No word yet how serious.
 
Excalibur said:
It was an ankle injury. No word yet how serious.
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Thx. Don't know much about him as a player. Saw his first goal but that's about it. Is he a big loss? I feel like at this point any injury is bad for this team
 
LIuconn said:
Hey guys, Honduras, yes, but where did CP play?
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Everywhere, he's still not a true 10 though. But what he does is pretty awesome. Donovan said Tenacious P is miles ahead of where he was at that age.
 
SAMCRO said:
Wow!!!!
Dempsey, Pulisic, everybody.... just wow!!

Now, please sub off Dempsey now that he's got his hat trick. Save him for Panama.
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This game can be summed up with two statements:

1) Deuce is back
2) Pulisic is here

Those two together looked magical. Good efforts by a lot of people including Altidore, Nagbe, Cameron, etc. But two players absolutely flipped this game on its head. Fantastic...
 
UConnDan97 said:
This game can be summed up with two statements:

1) Deuce is back
2) Pulisic is here

Those two together looked magical. Good efforts by a lot of people including Altidore, Nagbe, Cameron, etc. But two players absolutely flipped this game on its head. Fantastic...
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What worried me before the game was that Pulisic doesn't have the likes of Dembele and Aubamayang to combine with. But what really happened is it gave Dempsey another top class talent to play off of and he made guys like Lletget who couldn't even get on the team sheet at West Ham look good. Even Altidore..

And I will actually praise Arena for taking attacking mindset at home. There was no compromise there. I wouldn't expect that same mindset on the road against Panama by but I hope I am wrong.
 
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ZooCougar said:
Armchair Analyst: Bruce is back as US beat Honduras like a drum

There is an OPTA chart in there with CP's incomplete passes. He simply does better on the wing, even still he was pretty effective.
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A lot of last night's formation was dictated by trying to deal creatively with all the injuries. Obviously, we learned that Arena isn't thrilled with Klejstan, but I'm guessing that when Wood returns you might see him in the Dempsey role, Dempsey in the Pulisic role and Fabian and Pulisic on the wings.

It hasn't gotten a lot of talk, but playing Villafana over Demarcus, and it working, is a huge step forward for this team. I thought Villafana had a quiet but competent game, but if we have some youth and speed at left back to pair with speed at right back in Yedlin and Fabian being allowed to play forward, the odds of moving our level of play forward have gone way up
 
ZooCougar said:
What worried me before the game was that Pulisic doesn't have the likes of Dembele and Aubamayang to combine with. But what really happened is it gave Dempsey another top class talent to play off of and he made guys like Lletget who couldn't even get on the team sheet at West Ham look good. Even Altidore..

And I will actually praise Arena for taking attacking mindset at home. There was no compromise there. I wouldn't expect that same mindset on the road against Panama by but I hope I am wrong.
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This reminds me of the Donovan-Dempsey combo. The offensive production those two had together vs when they were apart was night and day. I used to crack up when people would argue the change was due to the coaching or formation. Nope...it's that the world class player had another world class player next to him finally.

And that's what happened last night in a nutshell. Give Arena credit for the selection of key personnel (Lletget, Cameron wide, Nagbe on the wing, etc.). But ultimately Honduras had no answer for our two superstars...
 
UConnDan97 said:
This reminds me of the Donovan-Dempsey combo. The offensive production those two had together vs when they were apart was night and day. I used to crack up when people would argue the change was due to the coaching or formation. Nope...it's that the world class player had another world class player next to him finally.

And that's what happened last night in a nutshell. Give Arena credit for the selection of key personnel (Lletget, Cameron wide, Nagbe on the wing, etc.). But ultimately Honduras had no answer for our two superstars...
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Actually, Honduras had no answer for anything. Without taking anything away from us, it was frankly shocking how bad they were.
 
businesslawyer said:
A lot of last night's formation was dictated by trying to deal creatively with all the injuries. Obviously, we learned that Arena isn't thrilled with Klejstan, but I'm guessing that when Wood returns you might see him in the Dempsey role, Dempsey in the Pulisic role and Fabian and Pulisic on the wings.

It hasn't gotten a lot of talk, but playing Villafana over Demarcus, and it working, is a huge step forward for this team. I thought Villafana had a quiet but competent game, but if we have some youth and speed at left back to pair with speed at right back in Yedlin and Fabian being allowed to play forward, the odds of moving our level of play forward have gone way up
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Villafana definitely had a solid game. As for the strike force, I was quietly wondering what happens when Wood comes back. There isn't a chance in hell that Dempsey or Pulisic sits, which leads me to believe that either Dempsey goes back to the attacking midfield role or that Altidore sits, with the latter being perhaps more likely I would think. Which would be interesting to me because Altidore had been on a good run over the past 6 months or longer...
 
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Biz, he's the most complete player we've ever had - and he's so much better than Landon. It's painful to hear those comparisons. He needs to be compared to Hazard and other class 10s

That's what he is
 
LIuconn said:
Biz, he's the most complete player we've ever had - and he's so much better than Landon. It's painful to hear those comparisons. He needs to be compared to Hazard and other class 10s

That's what he is
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Exactly he is closer to Hazard than Landycakes.
 
LIuconn said:
Biz, he's the most complete player we've ever had - and he's so much better than Landon. It's painful to hear those comparisons. He needs to be compared to Hazard and other class 10s

That's what he is
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Without putting pressure on him, he could become our first real international star. If he keeps this up through Russia, Bundisliga won't be able to keep him.
 
Had some down time yesterday while watching England v Lithuania, and decided to look at the history of the Hex, and how many points it generally takes to ensure 3rd or 4th place. I am very confident the US will finish top 3, and probably top 2 (I believed we'd be top 3 before the thrashing of Honduras ... but, I thought I'd play the numbers game as it was a cold, dreary Sunday in NYC and the wife was out most of the afternoon, so had some free time)

Over the past 5 Hex's (when they went to this format), the fewest points a 3rd place team has earned was 14 (Jamaica in 1998), and the most was 17 (the US in 2002). The fewest points a 4th place team has earned was 11 (Mexico in 2014), and the most was 16 (Honduras in 2014).

Considering that, 14 total points should be enough to secure 4th place, and a home & home play-off against a team from Asia (probably one of Uzbekistan, Australia, or Japan), and 16 points should secure 3rd place. The US, sitting with 3 points today, has 21 points available to get in their next 7 matches. H/H v. T&T, H/H v. Panama, @Honduras, @ Mexico, and H v Costa Rica. Putting my magic hat on, I think we get all 6 v. T&T, 4 of 6 v. Panama (predicting a draw tomorrow), 1 @ Honduras, 0 @ Mexico, and 3 v Costa Rica. This will safely put the US in top 3 with 17 points. Any unexpected losses (meaning anyone but Mexico) will make things very interesting, and a little 'nervie' going in to the final 2 matches in October (Panama home on 10/6, and T&T away on 10/10). If you are any team, you want enough hay in the barn going in to those October matches.The plus side is teams from Central America always seem to neutralize one another, and nothing is a given. I am not at all concerned about not finishing in the top 4 (actually think we will finish top 2), but you do not want to be in that play-off match up v. a team from AFC. Last cycle CONCACAF played Oceanic, and Mexico got New Zealand.. a much easier match up than a team from AFC.

Now, would you rather have complete mayhem tomorrow, or have all the bigger teams win? Mayhem is T&T over CR, Honduras over Mex, and of course US over Pan, making the standings Mexico (7 pts), US, CR, Hond, T&T all with 6 pts), and Panama with 4 points. This keeps everyone in play, but makes it pretty messy. OR.... US, Mex, and CR all win, more clearly separating the top 3 a bit form the field.... I want mayhem.
 
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