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Thread: USMNT: The March to Brazil - World Cup 2014

  1. #421
    Daffy Duck RedTeamGo!'s Avatar
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    Re: USMNT: The March to Brazil - World Cup 2014

    Quote Originally Posted by sonny View Post
    The atmosphere was electric at Crew Stadium. I'm not a big soccer guy, but I was smack dab in the bleachers at the north end with all of the American Outlaws and it was impossible not to get swept up on the excitement. Five minutes in, I was jumping and chanting with the rest of the gang. One of the best sporting events I've ever been to.
    I was in the middle of it in Germany in 06. It was beyond intense. At one point on the way to the game against Ghana in Nurnberg American fans filled up a train and some guy was banging his hand against the wall and then screaming every player on the roster's name and people were just going insane beyond name calls. When we departed the train it was like we were walking towards a battle.

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  3. #422
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    Re: USMNT: The March to Brazil - World Cup 2014

    That was incredible. I've been to two final fours, and the atmosphere just trumped anything I've ever experienced.

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    Re: USMNT: The March to Brazil - World Cup 2014

    Quote Originally Posted by bucksfan2 View Post
    A couple of things I noticed in watching the game. The US played well enough to beat a beaten down Mexico team. Its impressive when you consider that they were without their two best players in Bradley and Altidore. The yellow card by Donavan late in the game was stupid, how far does that count against him?

    There were times that the US looked sloppy, had poor spacing, and poor first touches. Granted the US pretty much were sitting back all game and making Mexico press. It worked, it isn't the best soccer to watch, but wins are much better than draws or losses.

    Just in the 10 or so minutes Diskerud was in, he showed that he needs to play and play often. Could he be the next in the line of American players who have an impressive European career?
    Donovan's yellow won't really matter much. If he gets another in the next qualifier, then he misses the final qualifier. If he gets one in the final qualifier, then I think it rolls forward to the 2015 Gold Cup (though there might be provisions that would cost him a WC warmup contest instead).

    I thought the spacing from the U.S. was generally solid. First touch is an issue for most nations, though the U.S. actually is getting better at it. We're better than most Euro teams on it these days (including England). I think Clint Dempsey, who has built an entire career around a sweet first touch, has changed the culture on that. Important to remember that, despite its horrible recent run, Mexico has quality players who can force you into hasty passes and heavy touches.

    Diskerud is becoming real interesting real fast. He needs to jump out of his Norwegian comfort zone this winter (Norway plays a March-November season). His club, Rosenborg, currently sits first in the league standings. The Dutch league might be a good place for him, or Portugal. Though Belgium, Ukraine, Turkey and Greece all would mark solid steps up as well.
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    Re: USMNT: The March to Brazil - World Cup 2014

    Quote Originally Posted by bucksfan2 View Post
    A couple of things I noticed in watching the game. The US played well enough to beat a beaten down Mexico team. Its impressive when you consider that they were without their two best players in Bradley and Altidore. The yellow card by Donavan late in the game was stupid, how far does that count against him?
    IIRC correctly, that counts all through this round of qualifying. Of course since they've already qualified, it's not a big deal. But if he got another in the next game he'd have to sit out the last game.

    There were times that the US looked sloppy, had poor spacing, and poor first touches. Granted the US pretty much were sitting back all game and making Mexico press. It worked, it isn't the best soccer to watch, but wins are much better than draws or losses.
    It worked, and in particular was probably necessary given who was missing, but the US is definitely going to need to produce a level of soccer above "enough to qualify at the top of CONCACAF" to acheive the goals people are starting to buy into. That's said, it's a nice progression, first it was Qualify, then it was Qualify convincingly, then it was qualify at the top of the Federation, now it's simply elevating above that which I think we'll see in the next year.

    Just in the 10 or so minutes Diskerud was in, he showed that he needs to play and play often. Could he be the next in the line of American players who have an impressive European career?
    Agreed, although I thought the defending on his assist was particularly pathetic from Mexico. That whole series of events, Mexico throw in, Mexico kicks out of bounds, US throw in, Diskeruud with nice move to creat space, nice cross, GOAL showed how defeated Mexico looked.
    Quote Originally Posted by BuckeyeRed27 View Post
    Honest I can't say it any better than Hoosier Red did in his post, he sums it up basically perfectly.

  6. #425
    Waitin til next year bucksfan2's Avatar
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    Re: USMNT: The March to Brazil - World Cup 2014

    Quote Originally Posted by M2 View Post
    Donovan's yellow won't really matter much. If he gets another in the next qualifier, then he misses the final qualifier. If he gets one in the final qualifier, then I think it rolls forward to the 2015 Gold Cup (though there might be provisions that would cost him a WC warmup contest instead).

    I thought the spacing from the U.S. was generally solid. First touch is an issue for most nations, though the U.S. actually is getting better at it. We're better than most Euro teams on it these days (including England). I think Clint Dempsey, who has built an entire career around a sweet first touch, has changed the culture on that. Important to remember that, despite its horrible recent run, Mexico has quality players who can force you into hasty passes and heavy touches.

    Diskerud is becoming real interesting real fast. He needs to jump out of his Norwegian comfort zone this winter (Norway plays a March-November season). His club, Rosenborg, currently sits first in the league standings. The Dutch league might be a good place for him, or Portugal. Though Belgium, Ukraine, Turkey and Greece all would mark solid steps up as well.
    Gotcha.

    I thought I heard this was the US's 7th straight WC they qualified for. They have become the best CONCACAF nation and really should continue to separate themselves from the rest of the nations. They are setting the bar higher and higher with each passing year. Its the reason why the first touches and at times sloppy play are a little disappointing. If you want to compete with the best nations, and I think that is something the US wants, they need to clean up the play.

    I think Diskerud bring another level that many of the US players don't have. The announcers were talking about how he is a guy who doesn't get nervous handling the ball in space. It was fairly evident on his assist when he took advantage of poor Mexican play, took the ball to the goal line and made a great pass. He may be young and inexperienced, but he may just be a guy who can make plays. The US has built a pretty good team of nice players but have few playmakers.

    What in the world happened to Mexico? I didn't get to see the first 20 minutes or so but they looked awful. Too many awful give a ways, just looked like a team that had no business in a World Cup.

  7. #426
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    Re: USMNT: The March to Brazil - World Cup 2014

    I loved the sustained possession from the US at the end of the first half and into the second half. There was good, crisp passing and some creative touches in the final third that set up a number of quality scoring chances (many of which found Mexican defenders, but were still well thought out).

    Jurgen has a lot of work to do in sorting out who is going south with the squad next summer. There are way more people with good claims to be included than there are roster spots.
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    Re: USMNT: The March to Brazil - World Cup 2014

    Quote Originally Posted by Caveat Emperor View Post
    I loved the sustained possession from the US at the end of the first half and into the second half. There was good, crisp passing and some creative touches in the final third that set up a number of quality scoring chances (many of which found Mexican defenders, but were still well thought out).

    Jurgen has a lot of work to do in sorting out who is going south with the squad next summer. There are way more people with good claims to be included than there are roster spots.
    Which is a nice change from the past, when there were a number of guys on the roster who had no business being there. Klinsman has done a good job of working guys into the roster to get experience and build depth.
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  9. #428
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    Re: USMNT: The March to Brazil - World Cup 2014

    Quote Originally Posted by Hoosier Red View Post
    It worked, and in particular was probably necessary given who was missing, but the US is definitely going to need to produce a level of soccer above "enough to qualify at the top of CONCACAF" to acheive the goals people are starting to buy into. That's said, it's a nice progression, first it was Qualify, then it was Qualify convincingly, then it was qualify at the top of the Federation, now it's simply elevating above that which I think we'll see in the next year.
    I generally agree. The next step for the U.S. really is to start winning elimination games at the World Cup. And to do that, their 2013 level of performance needs to be a springboard, not a peak.

    My two caveats are that the U.S. is probably a top 10 team right now and that CONCACAF's level of play has risen along with the U.S.

    As for the first part, after you get past the top six teams in the world - Spain, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Brazil and Argentina - there's a fairly big drop. France, when it has it's act together is in there. Currently it doesn't have its act together. Portugal's solid. England is chronically overrated. But if the U.S. was in Europe, it would qualify comfortably. In South America there's always a flavor of the day team (currently that's Colombia), but the U.S. is better than them.

    Our national team gets downgraded in the media because we don't have a great history in the sport, our top athletes play other sports and our domestic league is still coming together. Yet we have a massive talent pool, we have players thriving in top leagues and outside of laying an egg at the 2006 World Cup, we've been on a pretty steady run since 2001. We've been good for a while.

    As for CONCACAF, the fact that Mexico is on the qualifying bubble with two games to play speaks to how far this region has come. T&T boasts a fair amount of talent and it's not even in the final bracket. Jamaica's getting railroaded in the hex, but it would stand a serious chance at qualifying if it were an Asian or African nation. Costa Rica is a legit good team. Honduras is too, and Panama just went to Honduras and got itself a 2-2 draw. If CONCACAF put its top 10 teams into a qualifier like CONMEBOL, it would look a lot like CONMEBOL (two powerhouses, strong middle, generally tough contests on the road). To the credit of the rest of the continent, it has picked up its game to compete against Mexico and us. Also, and this should not be overlooked, Mexico won the Olympics. That was a big deal.
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  10. #429
    Titanic Struggles Caveat Emperor's Avatar
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    Re: USMNT: The March to Brazil - World Cup 2014

    On the subject of the domestic league, I understand why MLS has resisted calls to move to the international calender, but it's ridiculous that they've got matches scheduled during the qualifications.

    If they want to be taken seriously as a top-flight league, they should at least go dark for WCQs.
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    Re: USMNT: The March to Brazil - World Cup 2014

    Quote Originally Posted by M2 View Post
    I generally agree. The next step for the U.S. really is to start winning elimination games at the World Cup. And to do that, their 2013 level of performance needs to be a springboard, not a peak.

    My two caveats are that the U.S. is probably a top 10 team right now and that CONCACAF's level of play has risen along with the U.S.

    As for the first part, after you get past the top six teams in the world - Spain, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Brazil and Argentina - there's a fairly big drop. France, when it has it's act together is in there. Currently it doesn't have its act together. Portugal's solid. England is chronically overrated. But if the U.S. was in Europe, it would qualify comfortably. In South America there's always a flavor of the day team (currently that's Colombia), but the U.S. is better than them.

    Our national team gets downgraded in the media because we don't have a great history in the sport, our top athletes play other sports and our domestic league is still coming together. Yet we have a massive talent pool, we have players thriving in top leagues and outside of laying an egg at the 2006 World Cup, we've been on a pretty steady run since 2001. We've been good for a while.

    As for CONCACAF, the fact that Mexico is on the qualifying bubble with two games to play speaks to how far this region has come. T&T boasts a fair amount of talent and it's not even in the final bracket. Jamaica's getting railroaded in the hex, but it would stand a serious chance at qualifying if it were an Asian or African nation. Costa Rica is a legit good team. Honduras is too, and Panama just went to Honduras and got itself a 2-2 draw. If CONCACAF put its top 10 teams into a qualifier like CONMEBOL, it would look a lot like CONMEBOL (two powerhouses, strong middle, generally tough contests on the road). To the credit of the rest of the continent, it has picked up its game to compete against Mexico and us. Also, and this should not be overlooked, Mexico won the Olympics. That was a big deal.
    So assuming Panama earns at least a point against Mexico, what's the recommendation for the US roster for the final qualification game against Panama? 1994 team reunion or U-15 National team?
    Quote Originally Posted by BuckeyeRed27 View Post
    Honest I can't say it any better than Hoosier Red did in his post, he sums it up basically perfectly.

  12. #431
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    Re: USMNT: The March to Brazil - World Cup 2014

    Quote Originally Posted by Caveat Emperor View Post
    On the subject of the domestic league, I understand why MLS has resisted calls to move to the international calender, but it's ridiculous that they've got matches scheduled during the qualifications.

    If they want to be taken seriously as a top-flight league, they should at least go dark for WCQs.
    I disagree with that. Plenty of other nations play March-November schedules. All but the very top leagues could play during WCQ weeks. It's really only the superteams that lose a big chunk of their roster to national team service. The Africa Nations Cup is far more disruptive to France and England than WCQs are to MLS teams and they manage to muddle through.

    Also, MLS plays in the upper regions of North America. It gets cold here. I know I'm not overly enthused at the idea of seeing an MLS game in February. However, I really enjoyed the game I went to in August. The MLS schedule is fan friendly and I wouldn't chuck that for the sake of conformity. And I say that as someone who does argue for MLS to conform in other areas of league setup. Yet the time of year when MLS plays is fine by me, preferable in fact.
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  14. #432
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    Re: USMNT: The March to Brazil - World Cup 2014

    I think we have pretty good depth of "good," and have been making the most of what we have for awhile now. It's the absence of "great" that might be holding us back from the next step. We can point to several guys who can play with the best, but that very top shelf -- the one where you find stars, or at least guys good enough to be lineup fixtures for teams that expect to make the Champions League across the pond -- is pretty empty. Sometimes it seems like we're just one or two players away. Then again, like M2 said, the top-shelf talent is pretty concentrated and once outside the top eight or so, those teams usually aren't full of stars either.
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    Re: USMNT: The March to Brazil - World Cup 2014

    Quote Originally Posted by IslandRed View Post
    I think we have pretty good depth of "good," and have been making the most of what we have for awhile now. It's the absence of "great" that might be holding us back from the next step. We can point to several guys who can play with the best, but that very top shelf -- the one where you find stars, or at least guys good enough to be lineup fixtures for teams that expect to make the Champions League across the pond -- is pretty empty. Sometimes it seems like we're just one or two players away. Then again, like M2 said, the top-shelf talent is pretty concentrated and once outside the top eight or so, those teams usually aren't full of stars either.
    Spain/England/Germany/Brazil/Argentina/Holland/France all have their best athletes playing soccer.

    The best athletes from the United States are playing football, basketball and baseball.

    I often wonder what American soccer would be like if you took Reggie Bush, Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson, Lebron James, Chris Paul, Bryce Harper, etc from birth and have them only play soccer.

    I just find it difficult to believe Reggie Bush would not be one of the greatest soccer players in the world if he played soccer his whole life.

    How about Lebron James in the middle of the box on corner kicks? I don't think any player in the world could stop him in that scenario.
    Last edited by RedTeamGo!; 09-12-2013 at 08:57 AM.

  16. #434
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    Re: USMNT: The March to Brazil - World Cup 2014

    Quote Originally Posted by RedTeamGo! View Post
    Spain/England/Germany/Brazil/Argentina/Holland/France all have their best athletes playing soccer.

    The best athletes from the United States are playing football, basketball and baseball.

    I often wonder what American soccer would be like if you took Reggie Bush, Chris Johnson, Adrian Peterson, Lebron James, Chris Paul, Bryce Harper, etc from birth and have them only play soccer.

    I just find it difficult to believe Reggie Bush would not be one of the greatest soccer players in the world if he played soccer his whole life.

    How about Lebron James in the middle of the box on corner kicks? I don't think any player in the world could stop him in that scenario.
    This is a fair argument but with the exception of Brazil the United States dwarfs those countries in size and population. It would be interesting to see how many youth soccer players the US has as opposed to the better nations.

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    Re: USMNT: The March to Brazil - World Cup 2014

    Quote Originally Posted by bucksfan2 View Post
    This is a fair argument but with the exception of Brazil the United States dwarfs those countries in size and population. It would be interesting to see how many youth soccer players the US has as opposed to the better nations.
    I think most American athletes do grow up playing soccer when they are young. Not all, but soccer is the most popular sport for kids under 12 in America. Now obviously at some point they stop, but I think the US issues with development have more to do with youth coaching than quantity of the number of kids playing soccer.


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