USMNT Roster for Panama, T&T

[UConnDan97]

Played in EPL for a long spell and was successful and actually delivers results.

To be fair, if we are going to talk about saying whether or not the MLS contingent are those who haven't had long stints outside of MLS, then it looks more like:

MLS: Nagbe, Besler, Acosta
Foreign (Europe or Mexico): Arriola, Gonzalez, Villafana, Howard, Dempsey, Pulisic, Bradley, Wood, Altidore, Yedlin

And based on that definition, this team is a LOT less "MLS-like". That's why I think the MLS portion of this debacle is overblown. Yes, the league does ridiculous things that don't allow the game to grow (i.e., relegation, designated player spots). But we also need a coach who understands tactics and who understands the appropriate combination of players to put onto the pitch. We haven't had that in a long while.

Blow the whole thing up and start again...

 

[ZooCougar]

To be fair, if we are going to talk about saying whether or not the MLS contingent are those who haven't had long stints outside of MLS, then it looks more like:

MLS: Nagbe, Besler, Acosta
Foreign (Europe or Mexico): Arriola, Gonzalez, Villafana, Howard, Dempsey, Pulisic, Bradley, Wood, Altidore, Yedlin

And based on that definition, this team is a LOT less "MLS-like". That's why I think the MLS portion of this debacle is overblown. Yes, the league does ridiculous things that don't allow the game to grow (i.e., relegation, designated player spots). But we also need a coach who understands tactics and who understands the appropriate combination of players to put onto the pitch. We haven't had that in a long while.

Blow the whole thing up and start again...

Arriola-maybe but Liga MX isn't equal to the EPL, can't compare his Odyssey to Dempsey's
Gonzo-Liga MX nope
Villafana-Doesn't even make the gameday roster in Liga MX
Howard-Isn't good anymore
Dempsey-OK
Pulisic-Never played professionally in the domestic league
Bradley-Is no longer a good player or the player he once was.
Wood-Same as Pulisic
Altidore-Middling experience abroad. One good year in the Eredivisie. Not comparable to Dempsey. Sought refuge and a payday in MLS like Michael Bradley.
Yedlin-Good player has now spent more time abroad than in MLS.

ASN article: The Missing Years: U.S. Soccer’s Development Gap

I thought that this made some sense. There definitely appears to be a gap in talent, Jurgen often talked about how the younger generation of players had been slow to push the older generation out.

 

[businesslawyer]

Wes McKennie, welcome to the midfield.
EPB, CCV, welcome to the back line
Sargent, get your work in n U17 and get ready for some call ups to the senior side.
Jordan Morris... get healthy, and get overseas to play club
Brooks... get healthy for godness sake... drink more water, stretch, eat more veggies and fruit.. do whatever you need to do to stay on the pitch.
Kellyn Acosta, time to get regular minutes, don't blow it.
All the young goalies.... get loose.
Pulisic... you need to start impregnating some of the USWNT to spawn some freak soccer team for WC 2040.

Forget U.S. female soccer players. Someone needs to make Pulisic spend this offseason in a cathouse on the Brazil/Argentina border.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Speaking of tactics, why did I think I was in Storrs on a chilly November day in the mid 80's, watching UConn play an inferior team, with nothing but repeated long balls into the box (or wide of it), then losing 2-1 after having 75% of the possession. It was like the ghost of Joe Morrone coached that first half.

Sadly, I suspect you weren't seated next to a 1/2 barrel. Absent the possibility of soggy, swamp-like field conditions, you'd have to be mid-80s sh|t faced to think Arena's tactics made much sense last night. Without a single alcohol beverage during the game, late afternoon today I still feel worse than on more than a few mid-80s days after ...

 

[HuskyHawk]

Forget U.S. female soccer players. Someone needs to make Pulisic spend this offseason in a cathouse on the Brazil/Argentina border.

And every U.S. serviceman at Ramstein AFB needs to get busy marrying and knocking up German women. We've done ok with that so far, but more is better.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Arriola-maybe but Liga MX isn't equal to the EPL, can't compare his Odyssey to Dempsey's
Gonzo-Liga MX nope
Villafana-Doesn't even make the gameday roster in Liga MX
Howard-Isn't good anymore
Dempsey-OK
Pulisic-Never played professionally in the domestic league
Bradley-Is no longer a good player or the player he once was.
Wood-Same as Pulisic
Altidore-Middling experience abroad. One good year in the Eredivisie. Not comparable to Dempsey. Sought refuge and a payday in MLS like Michael Bradley.
Yedlin-Good player has now spent more time abroad than in MLS.

ASN article: The Missing Years: U.S. Soccer’s Development Gap

I thought that this made some sense. There definitely appears to be a gap in talent, Jurgen often talked about how the younger generation of players had been slow to push the older generation out.

On this, it was never clear to me whether this was because the players lacked ability, or whether the coaches were timid and fearful of playing the kids. Probably a mix of both. Pulisic broke through be being so good he couldn't be ignored. But how many of the young guys are equal to the veterans, and with some playing time, would surpass them? They don't really seem to get a chance.

 

[LIuconn]

On this, it was never clear to me whether this was because the players lacked ability, or whether the coaches were timid and fearful of playing the kids. Probably a mix of both. Pulisic broke through be being so good he couldn't be ignored. But how many of the young guys are equal to the veterans, and with some playing time, would surpass them? They don't really seem to get a chance.

We do, the problem is our coach played a meaningless tournament and the rest of the hex with a bunch of never-was career MLSers.

U.S. team youth need to push older players out - Jurgen Klinsmann

"We hoped for more push from the younger generation, so our message consistently is when they are with us you've got to make your case. You've got to come out of your shell.

"You've got to speak up and ask questions. Push the older ones out. This is your job. In general, my experience over the last five years is that American talent takes longer, maybe because the college culture is still there in the middle of it.

"Meanwhile, you have European or South American kids at 18, 19, biting the legs off the older ones. Here [a player] needs to be maybe 22, 23, so that kind of personality jump comes a bit later with our players."

 

[UConnDan97]

I thought that this made some sense. There definitely appears to be a gap in talent, Jurgen often talked about how the younger generation of players had been slow to push the older generation out.

And Klinsmann did nothing to change that, either.

How often did we see a central midfield without Bradley or Jones? I feel like we went the better part of 5 years where at least one of the two were out there. And if it wasn't both out there, it was normally due to injury. We would see a random Danny Williams sighting or someone else who would have one or two games to prove themselves, and then we'd return to the same old.

And then we wonder why we don't have creative midfielders from ages 24 - 28 or so??? Arena didn't help the situation. He had the entire Gold Cup to do it, and what did he do? He used Acosta way too much even though he struggled in group stage, and then decided that the tournament was SO important that he needed to bring back the same damned 6 players in the knockout stage that we always have play. Rinse, and repeat.

Folks like Feilhaber, Klestjan, Kelyn Rowe, etc., never really got a true chance to shine. Blame the coaches...

 

[UConnDan97]

We do, the problem is our coach played a meaningless tournament and the rest of the hex with a bunch of never-was career MLSers.

U.S. team youth need to push older players out - Jurgen Klinsmann

"We hoped for more push from the younger generation, so our message consistently is when they are with us you've got to make your case. You've got to come out of your shell.

"You've got to speak up and ask questions. Push the older ones out. This is your job. In general, my experience over the last five years is that American talent takes longer, maybe because the college culture is still there in the middle of it.

"Meanwhile, you have European or South American kids at 18, 19, biting the legs off the older ones. Here [a player] needs to be maybe 22, 23, so that kind of personality jump comes a bit later with our players."

Yeah, so when Miazga has a really nice game in the Gold Cup and scores a goal from the center back position even, we don't see him ever again in the center back role and we just stick with Gonzalez??? Okay, Bruce. Thanks for your insights. Now, hit the road...

EDIT: I thought the quote came from Arena, but the same applies to Klinsmann...

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

And every U.S. serviceman at Ramstein AFB needs to get busy marrying and knocking up German women.

Well that, and Pulisic and other US Bundesligers might just stay en Deutschland and smile on a fair number of frauleins ...

 

[ZooCougar]

And Klinsmann did nothing to change that, either.

How often did we see a central midfield without Bradley or Jones? I feel like we went the better part of 5 years where at least one of the two were out there. And if it wasn't both out there, it was normally due to injury. We would see a random Danny Williams sighting or someone else who would have one or two games to prove themselves, and then we'd return to the same old.

And then we wonder why we don't have creative midfielders from ages 24 - 28 or so??? Arena didn't help the situation. He had the entire Gold Cup to do it, and what did he do? He used Acosta way too much even though he struggled in group stage, and then decided that the tournament was SO important that he needed to bring back the same damned 6 players in the knockout stage that we always have play. Rinse, and repeat.

Folks like Feilhaber, Klestjan, Kelyn Rowe, etc., never really got a true chance to shine. Blame the coaches...

Yes unfortunately Jurgen didn’t invent time travel.

 

[SubbaBub]

On this, it was never clear to me whether this was because the players lacked ability, or whether the coaches were timid and fearful of playing the kids. Probably a mix of both. Pulisic broke through be being so good he couldn't be ignored. But how many of the young guys are equal to the veterans, and with some playing time, would surpass them? They don't really seem to get a chance.

There was a lot of "reputation" players on the squad who (obviously) aren't better than mid to low level CONCACAF players.

 

[ZooCougar]

Well that, and Pulisic and other US Bundesligers might just stay en Deutschland and smile on a fair number of frauleins ...

Pulisic makes 8 mil a year.

In MLS the best he could hope for based on league rules is a home grown contract worth 150-170k a year.

Pulisic is paid more than the combined pay of most MLS rosters.

 

[ZooCougar]

There was a lot of "reputation" players on the squad who (obviously) aren't better than mid to low level CONCACAF players.

Reputation or “legacy”.

 

[ZooCougar]

We do, the problem is our coach played a meaningless tournament and the rest of the hex with a bunch of never-was career MLSers.

U.S. team youth need to push older players out - Jurgen Klinsmann

"We hoped for more push from the younger generation, so our message consistently is when they are with us you've got to make your case. You've got to come out of your shell.

"You've got to speak up and ask questions. Push the older ones out. This is your job. In general, my experience over the last five years is that American talent takes longer, maybe because the college culture is still there in the middle of it.

"Meanwhile, you have European or South American kids at 18, 19, biting the legs off the older ones. Here [a player] needs to be maybe 22, 23, so that kind of personality jump comes a bit later with our players."

Jurgen literally dug his grave when he spoke stuff like that.

Only in MLS is a 22 year old considered a “rookie”.

 

[LIuconn]

JK would have brought one euro (or nasl, lord that was awesome)-based 19 or 20 yr old to the roster at minimum, even for the sole purpose to stick it to MLS. To your point, he can't go back in time and grab current age Miazga or McKennie

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Pulisic makes 8 mil a year.

Yup, and that's a lot of smil€s!

 

[Excalibur]

We do, the problem is our coach played a meaningless tournament and the rest of the hex with a bunch of never-was career MLSers.

U.S. team youth need to push older players out - Jurgen Klinsmann

"We hoped for more push from the younger generation, so our message consistently is when they are with us you've got to make your case. You've got to come out of your shell.

"You've got to speak up and ask questions. Push the older ones out. This is your job. In general, my experience over the last five years is that American talent takes longer, maybe because the college culture is still there in the middle of it.

"Meanwhile, you have European or South American kids at 18, 19, biting the legs off the older ones. Here [a player] needs to be maybe 22, 23, so that kind of personality jump comes a bit later with our players."

The development gap between the Donovan/Dempsey/Bradley/Howard generation and the current U20 players is pretty obvious to anyone paying attention. The current u20 generation came up in Jurgen's development system. The players in their early-mid 20's did not. Hopefully that becomes his lasting legacy, because he was a disaster of a tactical coach who deserved to be fired.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

The development gap between the Donovan/Dempsey/Bradley/Howard generation and the current U20 players is pretty obvious to anyone paying attention. The current u20 generation came up in Jurgen's development system. The players in their early-mid 20's did not. Hopefully that becomes his lasting legacy, because he was a disaster of a tactical coach who deserved to be fired.

I think our top players in Europe and here who are under 22 have good potential and the opportunity to be a very good team by the time the next qualifying cycle rolls around. Our defensive prospects look to be really good, Miazga, CCV, EPB, Adams, Olasunde, Glad and Redding, to go along with Yedlin and Brooks, looks pretty bright. Midfielders look pretty good at the core with, just to name a few, Mckennie, Gooch, Zelalem (hopefully), Hyndman, Pulisic, Carleton, Acosta and Arriola. Forwards are a little bit unknown, although i should put Puli there instead of at midfield. Still have Bobby Wood who will only get better, Sargent looks to be a stud, Haji Wright could be as well, Joshua Perez is still out there, and Akinola has looked very good, the group doesn't seem to be as far along as the midfielders or defenders.

 

[meyers7]

Played in EPL for a long spell and was successful and actually delivers results.

 

[meyers7]

I seriously doubt Bruce is interested in continuing as coach. It was a 50/50 proposition if they did qualify. Bruce came in knowing he was a stopgap.

I hope so.

 

[meyers7]

We can go back and forth about it, but it's painfully clear that Jozy was playing in a midfielder-type role instead of an advanced role. It's painfully clear that Bradley's tendency to play the defensive role which he was comfortable playing was leaving a large gap between the forwards and midfield because we didn't have a "trequartista" out there like a Dempsey or Feilhaber. It's painfully clear that the formation put more pressure on Nagbe to play defense, which it's clear that he doesn't really do, as evidenced by Tim Howard having to do a little "left-side defending" while Villafana was out of position due to covering Nagbe's responsibility.

And again....all of that is on Bruce...

Can go back and forth all you want, but we were in a 4-4-2 diamond. It was painfully clear.

I've explained what we were doing, you can believe it or not. Doesn't change what it was though.

 

[meyers7]

Forget U.S. female soccer players. Someone needs to make Pulisic spend this offseason in a cathouse on the Brazil/Argentina border.

And every U.S. serviceman at Ramstein AFB needs to get busy marrying and knocking up German women. We've done ok with that so far, but more is better.

I've always advocated for some military bases in Brazil/Argentina/Spain.

 

[meyers7]

On this, it was never clear to me whether this was because the players lacked ability, or whether the coaches were timid and fearful of playing the kids. Probably a mix of both. Pulisic broke through be being so good he couldn't be ignored. But how many of the young guys are equal to the veterans, and with some playing time, would surpass them? They don't really seem to get a chance.

Well they certainly should now.

 

[SAMCRO]

Fired head of CONCACAF, Trinidadian Jack Warner 'reveling' in the US loss to his Soca Warriors. One of their Asst coaches also took some shots at the US as well.
LINK
Some of Warner's quotes..
"I have not been in better spirits. This is the happiest day of my life," Warner said. "It [the win] couldn't have given me greater joy."

"They have used their government to help to dismember FIFA in a way that is unimaginable. And last night on the field of play Trinidad and Tobago reduced them to their knees,"

"And for me personally, it has reduced the U.S. to a laughing stock. Last Sept. 27 when the judge ruled against Jack Warner there was a party in the U.S., they were quite happy,"

"As far as I am concerned this is the beginning of the end for U.S. football," he said. "Nobody in CONCACAF likes the U.S."