Official Team USA Soccer Thread

[and1GS]

Ya I agree with the above. Youth needs to be mixed into the equation, we can't just have Klinns revert to 'his guys' like Beckerman when it matters most. Beckerman's most valued attribute is that you know exactly what he will do in every situation because he will never surprise you with the horrid or exceptional. It's sad we're valuing that over a guy like Mix who has a certain flair about him.

On a separate note, I think our youth looks pretty good overall, Hyndman and Rubin are my early favorites with Bradford Jameison a close third. Zelalem/Green have a ton of talent, but they are rail thin and I don't think they'll be ready by the next WC.

[Bernman]

To the bold. That's not what's properly done throughout the world. Every country do bring up their young players through international friendlies, tournaments and qualifiers. The sentiment that only developed players are eligible or granted playing time in senior caps is erroneous and will hold the US back in development. No one is saying field a half a team of call ups or young guns but you have to find a way to insert them here and there throughout the campaigns/years. The under 20s aren't enough, clubs are what they are but still doesn't replace international experience.

I did not know that Green mock Landon, that's not cool.

Around the world, and previously with the U.S., they bring up youngish, new players to give them a significant enough chance to prove they are ready in friendlies, lesser comps, and unlosable matches. My biggest complaint about Klinsmann is he doesn't do that, at least with MLS players, which are his biggest base naturally. It's what he did initially with Green, who looked like crap. But that should have been the end of it until after the World Cup, the biggest footballing competition there is. Then he could have given Green continued tryouts after the WC. And actually he did, in one or two games. He looked like crap again, so that's that for a while. It's foolish to continue calling players up who play like crap, in addition to their club play being in the 4th division. Those are spots which could go to other, better prospects at the time, like those who haven't proven they aren't good enough yet and are succeeding with their clubs, to be usable when it counts. That's just playing better odds with prospects, not advocating being old. He's got an old team because he doesn't make the right decisions on which prospects to try, so when it almost inevitably fails, he's left with his original core. And the simple fact is you can't develop players much on senior teams due to the time constraints. As I said, that's the club's job for the most part.

As far as the mocking of Landon, I didn't mean Green, I meant Jurgen's son Jonathan, who is a keeper in the U.S. youth setup.

[Bernman]

Yeah, but who else do you got?
Is Nguyen really good enough for international football?
Diskeruud has looked pretty bad whenever I saw him at NYC, but that whole team was a mess as soon as they brought in the old men Pirlo and Lampard.

Like I've stated before, you guys need to bring in the youngsters and give them playing time(not too much, but still enough to get used to it), cause you need something else to get better.
I mean, just up front there's Dempsey(who I like) but he'll be pretty old once the next WC comes around and I'm not sure if he'll be that good by then.
Then there's Altidore, who's been crap and it seems like Klinsmann doesn't play Zardes much.
etc.

So right now, I think Klinsmann needs to keep implementing younger guys, to have a shot at something more then maybe the knockout stage during the next WC and also wants to keep his promise of developing football in the US.

For the purposes of that Mexico game, I think Feilhaber and Nguyen fit as no. 10's. Feilhaber is basically proven with the national team, at least as a 12th men, going back to the '10 WC when he was 25. And he's seemingly playing the best fb of his life right now. So is Nguyen. Less proven from a national team standpoint. But he's flashed some nice things, he's prime aged, playing really well in MLS, has some projectible quickness, and regardless they just needed a couple creative mids on that team to link the defense and attack, as well as someone higher up to pressure Marquez. Mix would have sufficed too. Even though he's not doing very well with NYCFC, he's been decent in a CAM role with the national team, and has a positive history vs. Mexico.

For the purposes of this friendly and going forward with U.S. football, I think Sebastian Lletget is in the Dempsey territory in terms of very near future stalwarts for the U.S. Now that's an example of a prospect who should be called up and given ample opportunity to succeed. He can play attacking wing or CAM. He came up as a CAM. He's got an excellent touch, ball control, creativity, good speed, decent quickness, and he's built pretty well. Then there's Darlington Nagbe, who is inconsistent, but super talented, projectible with the physical tools, and just became available.

We got options. That doesn't mean Klinsmann will use them if he sticks around.

[Bernman]

So, this a friendly, one which should be used to prepare for WC '18. Yet we start Jermaine Jones, Michael Orozco, Brad Evans, and Tim Howard. Even starts for Altidore at F and Cameron at CB are pretty pointless because we have the info we need there. Shea at LW is illogical. I like him as merely a spark off the bench. There's no creative midfielder against Costa Rica's A- team at hom. It's just a combo of trying to coach for your job in every game so getting comfort out of experience, a lack of logic, and a lack of awareness of the pool by Jurgen.

[BUCKnation]

JK just overcomplicates things. Playing people out of position, weird tactics, poor player selections.

As far as the youth go, we are pretty set at CB and keeper as usual at least. Steffen, for what I've seen is legit and Miazga and Cam Carter-Vickers should be starters or at least squad players going into possibly the next WC. Erik Palmer-Brown is another with huge potential at that position.

We may have won the U20 WC with some small luck if injuries and cards didn't bite us.

[Bernman]

JK just overcomplicates things. Playing people out of position, weird tactics, poor player selections.

As far as the youth go, we are pretty set at CB and keeper as usual at least. Steffen, for what I've seen is legit and Miazga and Cam Carter-Vickers should be starters or at least squad players going into possibly the next WC. Erik Palmer-Brown is another with huge potential at that position.

We may have won the U20 WC with some small luck if injuries and cards didn't bite us.

Miazga is one of the very best in MLS and been tested against some really talented and accomplished strikers, and in most cases passed with flying colors.

But CCV is 17, not testing himself against good enough competition, and in all likelihood not ready. Maybe he could get into Camp Cupcake or something like that. But first priority has to be given to prospects proving themselves against adults at a decent level. That's Miazga, Hedges, Farrell, Brooks, etc. Maybe by b4 the WC, when CCV will be 19-20, he'll be ready. But there's not much point in putting him in higher priority games to measure prospects the next couple seasons, unless he surprisingly proves it in lower priority or the EPL first.

[BUCKnation]

You are right, keep forgetting how young he is. CCV is on a team with the right manager at least. Top CB prospect at Spurs and Poch loves playing youth.

Really need to Yedlin to get more game time with S'land. He was the most dangerous player on the team in his one start.

And yeah, no idea why Miazga doesn't get a try on the main US team. Only 20 and tons of experience, plus his size is deadly on set pieces.

[and1GS]

Yeah, but who else do you got?
Is Nguyen really good enough for international football?
Diskeruud has looked pretty bad whenever I saw him at NYC, but that whole team was a mess as soon as they brought in the old men Pirlo and Lampard.

Like I've stated before, you guys need to bring in the youngsters and give them playing time(not too much, but still enough to get used to it), cause you need something else to get better.
I mean, just up front there's Dempsey(who I like) but he'll be pretty old once the next WC comes around and I'm not sure if he'll be that good by then.
Then there's Altidore, who's been crap and it seems like Klinsmann doesn't play Zardes much.
etc.

So right now, I think Klinsmann needs to keep implementing younger guys, to have a shot at something more then maybe the knockout stage during the next WC and also wants to keep his promise of developing football in the US.

For the purposes of that Mexico game, I think Feilhaber and Nguyen fit as no. 10's. Feilhaber is basically proven with the national team, at least as a 12th men, going back to the '10 WC when he was 25. And he's seemingly playing the best fb of his life right now. So is Nguyen. Less proven from a national team standpoint. But he's flashed some nice things, he's prime aged, playing really well in MLS, has some projectible quickness, and regardless they just needed a couple creative mids on that team to link the defense and attack, as well as someone higher up to pressure Marquez. Mix would have sufficed too. Even though he's not doing very well with NYCFC, he's been decent in a CAM role with the national team, and has a positive history vs. Mexico.

For the purposes of this friendly and going forward with U.S. football, I think Sebastian Lletget is in the Dempsey territory in terms of very near future stalwarts for the U.S. Now that's an example of a prospect who should be called up and given ample opportunity to succeed. He can play attacking wing or CAM. He came up as a CAM. He's got an excellent touch, ball control, creativity, good speed, decent quickness, and he's built pretty well. Then there's Darlington Nagbe, who is inconsistent, but super talented, projectible with the physical tools, and just became available.

We got options. That doesn't mean Klinsmann will use them if he sticks around.

God I am just praying Nagbe gets the call up ASAP now that he's a citizen. I think he provides the attacking verve from the wing we've been looking for, basically looks like Yedlin on the wing if he was more polished in attacking positions. Lletget is very promising as well, though that's a bold statement on his potential seeing as Dempsey is, IMO, the most talented USMNT player of all time. He could be the proper CM to allow Bradley to play more of a deeper lying holding role, which I think he would excel in (but who knows lately with Michael...).

I agree with BUCKnation that JK overcomplicates things with poor positional choice. Yedlin's not a winger and looks unaware in the final third while there have been weird choices along the backline quite often.

**** looks bleak guys.

[Det the Threat]

For the purposes of that Mexico game, I think Feilhaber and Nguyen fit as no. 10's. Feilhaber is basically proven with the national team, at least as a 12th men, going back to the '10 WC when he was 25. And he's seemingly playing the best fb of his life right now. So is Nguyen. Less proven from a national team standpoint. But he's flashed some nice things, he's prime aged, playing really well in MLS, has some projectible quickness, and regardless they just needed a couple creative mids on that team to link the defense and attack, as well as someone higher up to pressure Marquez. Mix would have sufficed too. Even though he's not doing very well with NYCFC, he's been decent in a CAM role with the national team, and has a positive history vs. Mexico.

I've watched the guys play thanks to that TV deal between the MLS and Eurosport(ES1 + ES2) which provides up to four(normally three) MLS games per weekend.
Feilhaber's a guy who's name I still remember from his days with HSV, were he couldn't make for whatever reason.
He's a good player and could provide some passing etc.

Nguyen looked solid when I saw him play for the Revolution but you never know if it's enough internationally. Though, you still need to play him to find that out.

Mix, on the other hand, needs a 180° turn to help out the team, given his terrible form in the league. Not sure if he could do that, but that's the managers job to decide.

For the purposes of this friendly and going forward with U.S. football, I think Sebastian Lletget is in the Dempsey territory in terms of very near future stalwarts for the U.S. Now that's an example of a prospect who should be called up and given ample opportunity to succeed. He can play attacking wing or CAM. He came up as a CAM. He's got an excellent touch, ball control, creativity, good speed, decent quickness, and he's built pretty well. Then there's Darlington Nagbe, who is inconsistent, but super talented, projectible with the physical tools, and just became available.

We got options. That doesn't mean Klinsmann will use them if he sticks around.

Lletget is with the Galaxy, right?
I haven't seen him play that much but I think I still remembered that name from a goal or assist I saw this season.

Klinsmann is in a tough spot right now.
I think he'd still like to play the youngsters(and should do so, cause they're the ones that could help make the difference later on), but he'll certainly try and quiet the critics by playing a good round of qualification and that's easier with established guys.
Though, doing so would certainly bite him in the a$$ at some point down the line, IMO.

[magik9113]

Miazga has maybe been best CB in the whole MLS...definitely looks like he'll be a national team starter for many years, but who knows.
Yedlin is a bit overrated because of what he potentially could be, but he will never fulfill that without club playing time.
Klinsmann is absolute crap. Let him keep calling up Altidore so we can miss the world cup.
USA don't have great players to select from but doesn't mean we have to play like crap and be on par with Jamaica, worse than Costa Rica.
With each day that goes by and he is still coach, I die a bit inside.

[NotaHypeJob]

Nagbe under performs in MLS, don't really think we should count on him saving much. I agree he's very skilled but eventually you got to produce something in terms of goals and assists.

I think guys like Lletget or a Poku if he decides to play for the US could help more. Manneh is the dream

[Bernman]

Manneh is a reality. He only has a year to go until citizenship, and he's holding out because he's young and his birth country isn't very appealing football-wise.

Poku is a dream. He's already playing in friendlies for Ghana and is a couple years away from citizenship. That ship has pretty much sailed.

Siebatcheau is impressing in the French 1st division early on at 19 years old. I don't want us to keep falling into the trap of getting enamored with players who solely grew up elsewhere, but we could use forwards, and he's not in his mid 20's and in a 2nd division somewhere.

But I'm pretty convinced by Morris at this point. One flyer that Jurgen has taken which has actually panned out. I thought he'd be of better use in the Mexico and Costa Rica games than olympic qualifying. He has speed, strength, no fear, decent technical ability, and shows pretty good awareness. Only considerable worry is the stamina I think. I'd start him against T&T, actually.

Nagbe has been strong with his play lately. I've watched part of all of his recent games, and he's taking more initiative to run at players, cover territory off the dribble, and make plays in the attacking 3rd, even if it doesn't always result in a simple stat (he's dropping deeper). WhoScored rated him as MOTM this last game, and he's getting high ratings in that department (he's always been high on Squawka). It might be now he sees light at the end of the tunnel. I don't think being an MLS lifer is appealing to most talented players. He was pretty consistently good at the beginning and leveled off. I think as a U.S. manager you have to be cognizant of this, and be ahead of it, or breath life into guys who are starting to die as prospects. Jurgen says he understands the psyche, but what he's still clueless about in his fifth year is how to avoid feeding it further in the U.S. system.

Outside of the ones already mentioned, guys who deserve a real shot are: Kitchen, Hedges, Acosta, Finlay, Farrell, Hamid, Powers, Agudelo, Shipp, Maars Johnsen, Lichaj, Sapong, Rogers, Trapp, Bruin, Salinas, and Birnbaum. They've stood out to me in MLS (a couple outside) the last year or two. I can't say they'll all be impact players or even contributors, but they deserve a shot to see if they are, and discard the ones who aren't in a few tries. I thought Kitchen and Sapong actually looked good in a very limited opportunity internationally, yet they didn't even get returned to the team. Birnbaum started and got praised, but that's the last we've seen of them. And they were among the luckier ones.

[magik9113]

I think Grella deserves a call up. Maybe after NYRB win the cup this year

[Bernman]

Miazga is flirting with playing for Poland, taking the stance that he'll probably play for whoever calls him first. But Jurgen has his lil' policy where he'll never call up new MLS players outside January camp. He should call him up for WC qualifying. Miazga is ready right now. It wouldn't even be a cap-tying issue.

We already lost Tchani to Cameroon. They called him up to their WC qualifiers. That means that Cameroon has called up more American eligible MLS players for their debuts outside January camp than the U.S. has during the tenure of Jurgen Klinsmann. I don't know if Tchani was a big loss, but he was kind of an interesting player. Solid, imposing athlete who could tackle and pick out passes down field. It wouldn't have shocked me if he proved to be a rotation player for the U.S. He should have been tried out. It's a bit of a loss.

Nagbe, Lletget, and Miazga have had really strong playoff performances. Nagbe played out of his mind last game. He's the one player who Jurgen has publicly showed interest in for the upcoming qualifiers, but it's kind of an I'll believe it when I see it kind of thing. And he's a special case because he's been forced to wait a long time.

I think there's a good shot Jurgen goes down as the most toxic figure in modern U.S. futbol history. I really wish he weren't getting these qualifiers to screw up integration-wise. I hope we beat St. Vincent's because losing to them would be disastrous, but losing to T&T wouldn't, so if that gets Jurgen canned, that's what I want to see happen.

[PANDEMONEUM]

JK gets credit finding the dual nationals, outside of the MLS
but
he doesnt find/get, cap-tie, any from the MLS/usa
thats doesnt make sense to me at all

CB has been an issue for a while
jurgen hasnt tried out enough guys to solve the issue
instead,
he tries to put Jones there, and Cameron
reaches with Alvarado
then calls in Ream and Orozco as the emergencies
and those 2 are barely mediocre

now, FB is also turning into an issue
i like Garza, but hes having issues starting for his club
and JK hasnt used him and put the spotlight on him with usa
Shea, is never consistent with club or country (one of my fave players)
now JK and Fabian with a lovers quarrel
and I HATE T.CHANDLER

i dont expect JK to call in a bunch of noobs for WCQ matches
but he can call in new guys for the bench spots
and if they outperform who we thought was going to start, then great

idk what 23 will be called in for these 2 matches
now would be a great time to start dumping the oldies and blooding some noobs or youngs

November 13, 2015 5:30 PM CT
MNT vs St. Vincent & The Grenadines Busch Stadium; St. Louis, Mo.
ESPN2, WatchESPN, UniMás, UDN

November 17, 2015 TBD
MNT vs Trinidad & Tobago
Away
beIN Sports, NBC Universo

zardes --- morris --- yedlin
.......bradley - benny
.......... williams
shea - besler - CB? - fabian
........... guzan

howard ?, yarbrough, hamid ?
CB3 ? CB4 ?
evans inj ?, L.FB2 ?
cameron DM / R.FB / CB4
nguyen, diskerud, kljestan
wood

we want to call in some young guys and some new guys
and here i am posting about Benny, Kljestan, Evans
and i still like Bedoya inj/sick and Zusi

checked all of the lineups in 2015
here are all the fringe / youngers that got into games
wooten, aj, corona, brooks, morales, agudelo, kitchen, birnbaum, hedges, gil, rubin

Miazga just mentioned above
everyone loves Nagbe and Lletget
Lichaj always an option

[Bernman]

Jurgen is better at integrating the worse pool of dual nationals. The ones who grew up almost exclusively elsewhere so they're not as apt to be passionate about playing for the U.S. and probably got rejected by another country so their upside is not that high.

That 2015 young player list is pathetic. And the more promising guys like Hedges, Kitchen, and Agudelo got a cup of coffee. Kitchen even looked good in his, and Agudelo scored an excellent goal, but they're out. Birnbaum was solid, and he was out too. However: Brooks, Corona, Wood, Morales, etc.; they'll get chance after chance thru struggles. He's trying to tell players it pays to go to Europe. But if he really wants a good European league to pay American players, he's gotta play them first. Doesn't get it, or doesn't want to. And if he hasn't gotten it at this point, hard to envision he ever will.

IMO, CB is the strongest part of the pool. Jurgen not even being able to get that position settled shows his incompetence in a microcosm.

[BUCKnation]

Looks like Miazga and Nagbe got a call up.

[Bernman]

How low are our standards now that those two call ups are worth satisfaction, while he leaves off Lletget, Hedges, Kitchen, Maars, Dempsey, Nguyen, Feilhaber, Agudelo, Rogers, Lichaj, Farrell, Finlay, etc.; and calls up Jones, Beckerman, Gordon, Alvarado, Ibarra, Orozco, Jozy, and Shea (bad fit against bunkers and looked like crap last time out)? I bet Miazga and Nagbe just get sub appearances to cap-tie them and so they pay their dues, while Hamid picks up splinters as Guzan continues to display poor range and Howard ages. I just want this sporting nightmare to end. Can't afford to lose to St. Vincent at home but definitely rooting to get beat by T&T on the road if that's what it takes for Jurgen to go.

[truth18]

Being of Trinidadian descent, I would be rooting for them regardless, but if it gets Jurgen fired, that's even better.

[PANDEMONEUM]

Your USAvVIN World Cup Qualifier Roster

GK: Guzan, Hamid, Howard.

DF: Alvarado, Besler, Cameron, Johnson, Miazga, Orozco, Ream, Shea

MF: Beckerman, Bradley, Diskerud, Jones, Nagbe, Yedlin.

FW: Altidore, Gordon, Morris, Wood, Zardes

Dont need Orozco, Ream, Beckerman, Jones, Gordon
thats at least 5 guys where there are equal or better options available

Alvarado, Shea, Altidore.
some people like, some dont.
Shea and Altidore have definitely had their moments
Shea is good as a late game sub
i think we can completely move away from Altidore
Alvarado, is barely average, but i can see some potential.
my biggest issue with adding him, instead of a big CB with close or equal foot skills, is we lose out on a big body crashing the box on corners and free kicks.
we are a very poor team in the air.