USMNT Roster for March qualifiers released...

[ZooCougar]

Seriously? We brought Dax to sit there in case Bradley got hurt. He wasn't going to play. You really think it would have been an important step for the program to make Danny Williams or Morales fly across the ocean in the middle of their seasons just to sit on the bench? As if either of them has shown that they're on a different level than Dax in an emergency? And don't tell me Hyndman. Different kind of player.

The problem last night was not the roster selections. If you want to criticize Arena, the mistake was changing the formation to force Jones back into the lineup where you knew doing so was asking everyone who had played well to do things differently.

Oh -- and Tim Ream was just terrible. But I notice that all the "MLS sucks, why not more Europeans" of you failed to ask even once why Besler didn't play alongside Omar when they had been through a round of Qualifying together. Friggin Eurocentric hypocrits.

Ream is a former MLS guy, and a total journeyman in the lower levels of English soccer. He's hardly a shining example.

 

[SAMCRO]

US was lucky to get that point. Panama is not a bad team, and they are a good team at home. Panama plays solid defense, but don't offer much in the attack. Considering the US was without 5 starters, playing in a thick, humid, hostile environment, coming out with a point seemed about right. If Panama had anyone up front that was even an average "finisher", the US loses that game.

Zusi worked hard, but had several gaffes that a team with a decent attacker would have punished us for.
Ream seemed lost, in my opinion. He looked indecisive, got caught in no man's land a couple of times. He did recover well in a couple critical moments, but he is a HUGE drop off from Brooks.
Altidore was ineffective, and his first touch continues to be extremely heavy. I'd like to see a pairing of Wood and Dempsey up top, with Nagbe, Pulisic, and F. Johnson behind them. Then Bradley can sit back between the midfield and the back 4. Arena does need to identify MB's successor though.

Getting 4 points out of these last 2 games is about what I, and most, expected... and the US controls their destiny. Hopefully it will be a healthy US squad v. T&T and Mexico in June.

On a separate note... anyone watch T&T v Mexico? The Soca Warriors were robbed of a very nice goal in the 1st half when the linesman incorrectly called off-sides. Mexico ended up winning 1-0. I only caught the first 60 minutes.

 

[ZooCougar]

US was lucky to get that point. Panama is not a bad team, and they are a good team at home. Panama plays solid defense, but don't offer much in the attack. Considering the US was without 5 starters, playing in a thick, humid, hostile environment, coming out with a point seemed about right. If Panama had anyone up front that was even an average "finisher", the US loses that game.

Zusi worked hard, but had several gaffes that a team with a decent attacker would have punished us for.
Ream seemed lost, in my opinion. He looked indecisive, got caught in no man's land a couple of times. He did recover well in a couple critical moments, but he is a HUGE drop off from Brooks.
Altidore was ineffective, and his first touch continues to be extremely heavy. I'd like to see a pairing of Wood and Dempsey up top, with Nagbe, Pulisic, and F. Johnson behind them. Then Bradley can sit back between the midfield and the back 4. Arena does need to identify MB's successor though.

Getting 4 points out of these last 2 games is about what I, and most, expected... and the US controls their destiny. Hopefully it will be a healthy US squad v. T&T and Mexico in June.

On a separate note... anyone watch T&T v Mexico? The Soca Warriors were robbed of a very nice goal in the 1st half when the linesman incorrectly called off-sides. Mexico ended up winning 1-0. I only caught the first 60 minutes.

Zusi is not a right back at that level yet. Maybe not ever. He only really had one or two exchanges with Pulisic that amounted to anything resembling a chance.

I kind of agree with BusinessLawyer. Why didn't Bruce start Besler? He's proven in qualifying and the World Cup.

I don't get Arena's fixation with Jermaine Jones. In some ways last night was just a logical continuation of Jurgen's tenure. Although I think people are starting to see that the problem wasn't just Jurgen.

I also don't get Michael Bradley's role. I guess the idea is to have him start the ball and the fullbacks push up higher. But it seems utterly elective to me because we should have centerbacks capable of getting the ball out to a fullback or a midfielder. That ends up creating a lot more space in the midfield which isn't great because we're only playing two center mids. BTW, Ream and Bradley both had some pretty terrible giveaways.

 

[UConnDan97]

Zusi is not a right back at that level yet. Maybe not ever. He only really had one or two exchanges with Pulisic that amounted to anything resembling a chance.

I kind of agree with BusinessLawyer. Why didn't Bruce start Besler? He's proven in qualifying and the World Cup.

I don't get Arena's fixation with Jermaine Jones. In some ways last night was just a logical continuation of Jurgen's tenure. Although I think people are starting to see that the problem wasn't just Jurgen.

I also don't get Michael Bradley's role. I guess the idea is to have him start the ball and the fullbacks push up higher. But it seems utterly elective to me because we should have centerbacks capable of getting the ball out to a fullback or a midfielder. That ends up creating a lot more space in the midfield which isn't great because we're only playing two center mids. BTW, Ream and Bradley both had some pretty terrible giveaways.

I'm actually fine with Bradley serving that role, so long as he's not asked to serve another role and so long as Jermaine isn't trying to accomplish the same exact role at the same exact time. That's my biggest issue. Bradley has shown at both Chievo and Roma that he can play that role at a high level. He was very very good at Chievo which is why Roma bought him in the first place.

So in my opinion, choose either Jones OR Bradley and leave the other one on the bench. There's really no reason to have them both out there at the same time. It slows down the attack and mucks up the transition to the forwards. Think about how many times that Dempsey / Pulisic / Nagbe / Altidore got onto the ball last night. Then compare that against a couple of nights ago. It's night and day. I'm just not sure why both Klinsmann and Arena haven't come to that conclusion yet, and I'm hoping Arena will come to that conclusion very very soon...

 

[ZooCougar]

I'm actually fine with Bradley serving that role, so long as he's not asked to serve another role and so long as Jermaine isn't trying to accomplish the same exact role at the same exact time. That's my biggest issue. Bradley has shown at both Chievo and Roma that he can play that role at a high level. He was very very good at Chievo which is why Roma bought him in the first place.

So in my opinion, choose either Jones OR Bradley and leave the other one on the bench. There's really no reason to have them both out there at the same time. It slows down the attack and mucks up the transition to the forwards. Think about how many times that Dempsey / Pulisic / Nagbe / Altidore got onto the ball last night. Then compare that against a couple of nights ago. It's night and day. I'm just not sure why both Klinsmann and Arena haven't come to that conclusion yet, and I'm hoping Arena will come to that conclusion very very soon...

That role should be redundant and he is too far back. And I take you mean that Bradley would sit back between the two CBs and start the play? I guess I could see that with good Italian players in front of him. He needs to be up further and the centerbacks have to play the ball to him. He needs to be pulling the strings just behind the attackers. I think he is too far back to get involved and we still need a better distributor closer to the attacking third.

Jones should be out of the picture real soon. And the problem with Jones is that he goes where he wants. If he's the second guy in a double pivot then he never stays where he is supposed to.

If we were playing a 3 man or a 5 man mid, then Bradley has to be the holding midfielder and Jones plays the box to box role. That leaves room for a CAM but neither of them are CAMs. Jones and Bradley don't work together in a two man central midfield because Bradley has to cover too much space because Jones is all over the place.

 

[HuskyHawk]

That role should be redundant and he is too far back. And I take you mean that Bradley would sit back between the two CBs and start the play? I guess I could see that with good Italian players in front of him. He needs to be up further and the centerbacks have to play the ball to him. He needs to be pulling the strings just behind the attackers. I think he is too far back to get involved and we still need a better distributor closer to the attacking third.

Jones should be out of the picture real soon. And the problem with Jones is that he goes where he wants. If he's the second guy in a double pivot then he never stays where he is supposed to.

If we were playing a 3 man or a 5 man mid, then Bradley has to be the holding midfielder and Jones plays the box to box role. That leaves room for a CAM but neither of them are CAMs. Jones and Bradley don't work together in a two man central midfield because Bradley has to cover too much space because Jones is all over the place.

I'm with you on this. Bradley has developed an allergy to the attacking half of the pitch. As soon as the ball or he, gets that far forward, he sends it back. Often he sends it back to a defender who is marked 1-1 by an opposing forward, even when there are open teammates in the attacking half. I can't explain it. If he feels the slightest pressure he sends the ball back. Every opponent knows this. He also looks much slower than he once was. I have to wonder if that's part if it. If he gets beat, he can't really recover. Without Brooks last night he was even more cautious than usual.

Jones seems to be trying to play the role Bradley is supposed to be playing. They aren't working together at all. Until then, play just one of them and put Pulisic in that CAM role. I don't care what his natural role is anymore. He needs to be the guy touching the ball more than anybody else.

 

[SAMCRO]

Here's what is up next for everyone in June
Jun. 8, US vs. T&T; CR vs. Panama; Mexico vs. Honduras
Jun. 11, Mexico vs. US
Jun. 13, Panama vs. Honduras ; CR vs. T&T

Anyone know why the US/Mexico play the second game 2 days before everyone else in the group?

I'd predict, coming out of this, the standings will be
Mexico 16
Costa Rica 13
Panama 8
US 7
Honduras 4
Trinidad & Tobago 3

then there will be 4 matches left to be played, and the US will be thru the toughest portion of their schedule (both Mexico matches are complete, and @ CR is done), while Panama will still have to go to Mexico and the US... advantage good guys.

 

[UConnDan97]

That role should be redundant and he is too far back. And I take you mean that Bradley would sit back between the two CBs and start the play? I guess I could see that with good Italian players in front of him. He needs to be up further and the centerbacks have to play the ball to him. He needs to be pulling the strings just behind the attackers. I think he is too far back to get involved and we still need a better distributor closer to the attacking third.

Jones should be out of the picture real soon. And the problem with Jones is that he goes where he wants. If he's the second guy in a double pivot then he never stays where he is supposed to.

If we were playing a 3 man or a 5 man mid, then Bradley has to be the holding midfielder and Jones plays the box to box role. That leaves room for a CAM but neither of them are CAMs. Jones and Bradley don't work together in a two man central midfield because Bradley has to cover too much space because Jones is all over the place.

He shouldn't sit in between the center backs for any appreciable amount of time. Just enough to receive the ball and link to the attacking mids. The major problem as you've mentioned is that Jones is all over the place. Bradley's play actually worked well with Pulisic in the middle and I suspect it would work well with any attacking mid. But that's my ultimate point. Jones is not that person. They should never play together. Like...not ever...

 

[progrocks]

Anyone know why the US/Mexico play the second game 2 days before everyone else in the group?

I would guess cause MEX has to go to the Confederations Cup

 

[ZooCougar]

I listened to an interview with Emerson Hyndman this morning. Despite scoring regularly for Rangers, which has been a training ground for a long list of established USMNT stars, he has never been contacted by or spoken with Bruce Arena.

Meanwhile MLS and Arena's flavor du jour Kellyn Acosta who has never done much of anything is getting hyped out of the solar system.

 

[SubbaBub]

I think we should be looking at playing MB and JJ 45 minutes each or rotating on back to back matches.

No successor to either has been identified, they play the same position at this point and both are subject to fatigue.

Can their egos handle it and is Bruce man enough to do it? The alternative in 2017 is to play someone inferior or cast one out of the pool.

It seems rather obvious to me and better than trying to shoehorn the two of them on the field. Pulisic has taken over the top of the diamond. It's done. Now fit the rest of the squad around him.

Dempsey and he have something and Dempsey is still the only finisher on the team. My past comments on him aside. I still think he hates Wood, but he clearly is warm to Pulisic. Put all three up top. Give Clint Altidores role and see how that works.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Here's what is up next for everyone in June
Jun. 8, US vs. T&T; CR vs. Panama; Mexico vs. Honduras
Jun. 11, Mexico vs. US
Jun. 13, Panama vs. Honduras ; CR vs. T&T

Anyone know why the US/Mexico play the second game 2 days before everyone else in the group?

I'd predict, coming out of this, the standings will be
Mexico 16
Costa Rica 13
Panama 8
US 7
Honduras 4
Trinidad & Tobago 3

then there will be 4 matches left to be played, and the US will be thru the toughest portion of their schedule (both Mexico matches are complete, and @ CR is done), while Panama will still have to go to Mexico and the US... advantage good guys.

You are giving CR two wins? I think they'll struggle @panama as we did. Mexico @Honduras isn't a guaranteed 3 points either, but I'll give it to them (Honduras did tie CR). Here's my prediction. CR ties Panama. Mex beats Honduras. US beats T&T. US ties Mexico. Panama ties Honduras. CR beats T&T. I think my math is right.

Mexico 14
Costa Rica 11
US 8
Panama 7
Honduras 5
Trinidad & Tobago 4

 

[SAMCRO]

You are giving CR two wins? I think they'll struggle @panama as we did.

I thought Panama was at Costa Rica. If it is at Panama, I'd say it's a draw. If it's at CR, the Tico's win

 

[HuskyHawk]

I thought Panama was at Costa Rica. If it is at Panama, I'd say it's a draw. If it's at CR, the Tico's win

Mexico and CR are on the road in those first games.

 

[Samoo]

Look out for Oregon-born Marco Farfan. 18 y.o left back homegrown by the Timbers Academy. Started because of injured Vytas the last three games and likely won't give up the position. Made MLS team of the week two weeks ago and played another solid game on Sunday in Phili.

 

[ZooCougar]

Look out for Oregon-born Marco Farfan. 18 y.o left back homegrown by the Timbers Academy. Started because of injured Vytas the last three games and likely won't give up the position. Made MLS team of the week two weeks ago and played another solid game on Sunday in Phili.

Sporting plays in Portland this weekend. #1 offense vs. #1 defense and both teams had good representation on the team of the week.

I am starting to think Ike Opara might be a better right sided Center Back than Omar Gonzales. He's just as skilled, more athletic and quicker. Before his injury a few seasons ago he was on the verge of a call up.

 

[Samoo]

Sporting plays in Portland this weekend. #1 offense vs. #1 defense and both teams had good representation on the team of the week.

I am starting to think Ike Opara might be a better right sided Center Back than Omar Gonzales. He's just as skilled, more athletic and quicker. Before his injury a few seasons ago he was on the verge of a call up.

That one starts at 4:30 am my time. Rarely get to see the Timbers play but they are playing amazingly well to start the season.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

I listened to an interview with Emerson Hyndman this morning. Despite scoring regularly for Rangers, which has been a training ground for a long list of established USMNT stars, he has never been contacted by or spoken with Bruce Arena.

Meanwhile MLS and Arena's flavor du jour Kellyn Acosta who has never done much of anything is getting hyped out of the solar system.

Acosta has been very good thus far this season. He's gonna take JJ's spot sooner rather than later in the holding mid position

 

[ZooCougar]

Acosta has been very good thus far this season. He's gonna take JJ's spot sooner rather than later in the holding mid position

Jermaine Jones is a holding mid? He's pretty much a do whatever he wants kind of mid. Acosta is a product of the MLS hype bubble I'm not sold on him yet, we need to see him go up against good competition at some point.

 

[ZooCougar]

More proof that Bruce Arena is nothing more than a glorified gym teacher.