Official Team USA Soccer Thread

PANDEMONEUM · Post #281 » by **PANDEMONEUM** » Wed Feb 29, 2012 6:49 pm

The U.S. MNT starting 11 vs. Italy.
Howard;
Cherundolo, Goodson, Bocanegra (c), Johnson;
Bradley, Edu;
Williams, Dempsey, Shea;
Altidore.
Watch live on ESPN2, ESPN3 and Galavision.

i Hate when we play with 1 Forward

Dempsey in the Middle ?
is that good ?
i dont remember him playing in that role before

Post #282 » by **magik9113** » Wed Feb 29, 2012 6:57 pm

Not a bad lineup.
I think Dempsey will be playing in a very attacking role right behind Jozy.. if it were against a weaker defensive team I'd say he should get a lot of looks on goal, but I think it will depend on how Shea and Williams do...they'll have to be active on the wings to open up some space for Dempsey.

PANDEMONEUM · Post #283 » by **PANDEMONEUM** » Wed Feb 29, 2012 7:11 pm

i hate this formation
(id prefer Bradley to move into Dempseys spot, and put Dempsey as the 2nd F or play him behind altidore as the 2nd F)

this formation, imo, has Dempsey in a possession and creative role
those r not his strong points
are we expecting Bradley and/or Edu to possess the ball, and, be on the attack ?

Post #284 » by **magik9113** » Wed Feb 29, 2012 8:48 pm

i feel Bradley and Edu did a pretty solid job first half. Dempsey couldn't do much, should move more forward. Shea needs to play with some confidence

Mr Grant Hill · Post #285 » by **Mr Grant Hill** » Wed Feb 29, 2012 9:56 pm

great W for the team. in my eyes italy is still one of the top 10 teams on this planet. beating them 1-0 on their groud in italy - just nice. good, compact defending, taking one of the few chances you got - thats the recipe against those big teams.

Post #286 » by **magik9113** » Wed Feb 29, 2012 10:00 pm

definitely a good game for USA. Dempsey and Altidore have to be the ones to step up and make the big play, specially when Donovan is hurt, and they did just that. Impressive defending throughout the 2nd half.

HasheemThabeet · Post #287 » by **HasheemThabeet** » Wed Feb 29, 2012 10:08 pm

I thought Edu and Bradley played great in both halves, pretty good defending and were always in the right spot at the right time.

Brek Shea was pretty nonexistent, got killed a lot with balls over the top and letting attackers get behind him pretty easily. Again, he's just not ready to be on The team yet.

Dempsey awoke in the 2nd half, same with Altidore. Howard was Howard.

I though Fabian Johnson had another great game for the US at lb I believe. Played a different position than against Slovenia and still had a good impact on the game attacking and defending including on the Dempsey goal. He's a keeper

Mr Grant Hill · Post #288 » by **Mr Grant Hill** » Wed Feb 29, 2012 10:16 pm

Shea got some problems with his decision-making, but he's still young and will figure it out - hopefully.
Anyway, at the moment it's just about testing, messing with some great teams (probs to Klinsi for picking the right, the BIG teams) and finding out if this team can compete. They can. I tell you, they can!

BUCKnation · Post #289 » by **BUCKnation** » Thu Mar 1, 2012 3:16 am

Very good to see them get a W, considering the team they were playing and the amount of injuries we had. It is excellent to see them get the win. Should be an excellent confidence builder

HasheemThabeet · Post #290 » by **HasheemThabeet** » Thu Mar 1, 2012 5:46 am

Watched the U-23 game vs Mexico, couple of guys who stood out were:
Juan Agudelo: Pretty expected, scored a goal. Definitely belongs on the big boy team, might get some club success if Luke Rodgers gets drunk or Hans Backe gets sober.

Ike Opara: Guy is just an imposing figure athletically, bringing back Eddie Pope flashbacks. He was cleaning up everything in the box and got it done one on one as well.

Mix Diskerud: Guy knows how to create attacks, pretty tricky with his dribbling and passes

Sandlot · Post #291 » by **Sandlot** » Thu Mar 1, 2012 6:41 am

Great result for the senior team but I wasn't terribly impressed. I felt like Italy had a lot of great chances.

Johnson looked solid at the left back spot. I think he has earned his way in to the team since he can play two spots well.

Jozy played better in the 2nd half and I love the pairing with him and Dempsey.

Also, thought Spector looked really good in his short time.

Really bummed that I didn't get to see the U23 game. My cable lied to me about what channel it was on. Really glad we got a result.

Post #292 » by **fatlever** » Thu Mar 1, 2012 5:49 pm

Sandlot wrote:Really bummed that I didn't get to see the U23 game. My cable lied to me about what channel it was on. Really glad we got a result.

same here. got home from work at 9pm, watched USA v Italy on dvr, then bobcats v pistons on dvr. 12:30am and i was ready to give the u-23 game a watch on DVR and it was a mexican soap.

i would have loved to have seen us dominate mexico like that. its been a while.

as for the italy game, i thought the back 7 were fantastic - howard, 4 defenders and bradley and edu. we did get lucky with the offsides calls a few times it seems. that game could have been very different if just one of those calls would have gone the other way.

williams again showed his isnt a winger but a center mid. not sure he will ever get a shot there though, so he better learn how to play out wide a little better. he just doesnt seem to have the pace to beat anyone out there.

love fabian and also specter cleaning up in the end.

sasha didnt really do anything to show me he deserves more PT. there's just too many similar players in the pool that are better at what he does.

dempsey looked gassed at the end. buddle probably should have come on about 5 minutes earlier, but it didnt really cost us so...

PANDEMONEUM · Post #293 » by **PANDEMONEUM** » Thu Mar 1, 2012 8:15 pm

i really like sasha klejstan
but he played horribly
he was watching the ball and his guy got behind him

luckily, spector was there to clean things up
as well as spector played, i think hes not going to be a starter cause he lacks the possession skills, and his passing under pressure is sub par

i hate bradley
but he played very very well
edu and bradley are Defensive Midfielders
and they excel in that formation 4-2-3-1 (in front of the defensive 4)
bradley gets moved up to Midfield, with duties of creating and helping the attack, mostly because we dont have anyone else. and i hate him in that role

johnson and williams both played very well
i like their style of play
and they both have good speed, and i think that makes up for any mistakes they r making right now
so when they get a little more seasoned and eliminate some mistakes, they will improve

i didnt like the role and position that Dempsey was placed in
i thought it was a little new to him
he started off very good
and made himself available for passes and checked to the wings and the DM
but i think he got very tired, and needed to be subed out 10 to 15 minutes earlier
he stopped helping completely
he was positioned as the attacking Midfielder, but slowly started to move to 2nd Forward the more tired he got

altidore is lucky he doesnt have any competition
hes not fast
and he doesnt hold the ball enough (imo)
i like him, and want him to improve
also, hes the wrong type of player to put in a 1 Forward formation

brek is my favorite player on the team
but i want him to take defenders on (when hes 35 yards out and closer)
if hes in a 1 on 1 situation, i want him to think attack and attack

PANDEMONEUM · Post #294 » by **PANDEMONEUM** » Mon Mar 5, 2012 7:11 pm

now we have to wait a while for the next match

May 26, 2012
U.S. Men vs. Scotland
8 p.m. ET
EverBank Field
Jacksonville, Fla.
NBC Sports Network

May 30, 2012
U.S. Men vs. Brazil
8 p.m. ET
FedExField
Landover, Md.
ESPN2, ESPN3, Univision

June 3, 2012
U.S. Men vs. Canada
7 p.m. ET
BMO Field
Toronto, Canada
NBC Sports Network
**********************************************************************
June 8, 2012
U.S. Men vs. Antigua & Barbuda
7 p.m. ET
Raymond James Stadium
Tampa, Fla.
ESPN, ESPN3

jerrod · Post #295 » by **jerrod** » Mon Mar 5, 2012 7:35 pm

PANDEMONEUM wrote:now we have to wait a while for the next match

May 26, 2012
U.S. Men vs. Scotland
8 p.m. ET
EverBank Field
Jacksonville, Fla.
NBC Sports Network

a game on my birthday, that's cool

Post #296 » by **fatlever** » Mon Mar 5, 2012 11:05 pm

PANDEMONEUM wrote:now we have to wait a while for the next match

May 26, 2012
U.S. Men vs. Scotland
8 p.m. ET
EverBank Field
Jacksonville, Fla.
NBC Sports Network

May 30, 2012
U.S. Men vs. Brazil
8 p.m. ET
FedExField
Landover, Md.
ESPN2, ESPN3, Univision

June 3, 2012
U.S. Men vs. Canada
7 p.m. ET
BMO Field
Toronto, Canada
NBC Sports Network
**********************************************************************
June 8, 2012
U.S. Men vs. Antigua & Barbuda
7 p.m. ET
Raymond James Stadium
Tampa, Fla.
ESPN, ESPN3

we do have olympic qualifying to look forward to though

March 22, 2012 U.S. Under-23 Men vs. Cuba 8 p.m. CT LP Field
Nashville, Tenn. Universal Sports Network, Telemundo

March 24, 2012 U.S. Under-23 Men vs. Canada 6 p.m. CT LP Field
Nashville, Tenn. Universal Sports Network, Telemundo

March 26, 2012 U.S. Under-23 Men vs. El Salvador 8 p.m. CT LP Field
Nashville, Tenn. Universal Sports Network, Telemundo

HasheemThabeet · Post #297 » by **HasheemThabeet** » Tue Mar 6, 2012 3:07 am

U-23 games are terrible though

PANDEMONEUM · Post #298 » by **PANDEMONEUM** » Wed Mar 7, 2012 11:07 pm

fatlever

normally i dont watch the U23 team
but
u have convinced me

but, it will b hard to find a link online for the match

PANDEMONEUM · Post #299 » by **PANDEMONEUM** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 7:01 pm

U-23 Men's National Soccer Team
USA vs Cuba
on Universal Sports Network, Telemundo and CONCACAF.com
at 8 p.m. CT
on Thursday, March 22!

so theres a link online we can watch, very nice

Sandlot · Post #300 » by **Sandlot** » Wed Mar 21, 2012 4:37 am

I'm really excited for this U23 team. I think there are a lot of guys with potential to at least be role players some time in the future.