Must Win Time
On Monday when Manager Jürgen Klinsmann named his 24-man roster for the two upcoming World Cup Qualifiers on Friday and Tuesday the news was more about who wasn’t available than who was actually named. Gone are Tim Howard (back), Fabian Johnson (hip), Timmy Chandler (hamstring), Steve Cherundolo (knee), Danny Williams (illness), Edgar Castillo (facial fractures), Jose Torres (hamstring) and Jonathan Spector (ankle). That’s not even mentioning a healthy Carlos Bocanegra being left off because he’s not getting any minutes for Racing Santander in the second division in Spain nor Landon Donovan’s “hiatus.”
So with all this adversary they are already facing what do you think happens? Brain Straus of the Sporting News decides it’s a good time to publish this, which more or less rips Klinsmann apart on every level imaginable. Over the course of several weeks Straus spoke to 22 individuals with ties to the U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT) or its members including 11 current players based in MLS or abroad. The rest of the sources make their living in American soccer on some level. These “anonymous sources” revealed three central themes per Straus:
1) Klinsmann and chief assistant Martin Vasquez either lack the tactical acumen and/or game-day chops to successfully lead the team or fail to communicate their plans effectively.
2) Too much time and too many resources are spent on initiatives that don’t translate to the pitch.
3) Constant lineup changes and building resentment over the perceived importance and attitude of the German-born players are harming team chemistry.
I’ll give Straus credit for writing an interesting, albeit exceedingly long, article and I’m sure the publishing was timed to generate the most possible buzz. But come on, we are in dire straits after only one game and any real fan of American soccer actually wants the USMNT to qualify for the World Cup not do their best to sabotage them.
Which leads me to the players who contributed to the piece; who in the fuck do they think they are complaining like a bunch of prima donnas? I must have missed where the USMNT won anything significant to the point where the players feel that they have the expertise to talk about doing things differently. Of course Thursday a bunch of players came to Jürgen’s defense but those who spoke to Straus are missing the point. U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati hired Klinsmann to shake up the status quo and if these whiney bitches don’t like it drop them for good and move on. Everyone’s focus needs to be on the task at hand and not politics or back stabbing.
End rant.
As I said in my Hexagonal Preview Friday’s match against Costa Rica (7 PM Pacific on ESPN) was always going to be a must-win with three of the first four matches on the road, even if we had earned a point in Honduras. Now it’s possible that Gulati and Klinsmann may have out smarted themselves a little by choosing to play the match in Commerce City, CO. Granted the 18,086 tickets sold out in 60 minutes but I don’t think they were counting on snow being in the forecast. That’s right, there’s a 60-80% chance of light snow from 8-10 PM Mountain Time. Not only that but the temperature at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park during the match is forecast to be between 35-29 feeling like 27-20 with a 10 MPH wind. I’m sure Los Ticos won’t like the conditions but will our guys really perform their best under those circumstances?
As for Jürgen’s starting 11 Brad Guzan will take Howard’s spot as goalkeeper and there really shouldn’t be much of a drop off since there are whispers around the English Premier League that Brad is actually having a better season than Tim anyway. The defense in front of Guzan is by far the biggest question for the USMNT with SEVEN defenders not even available.
Omar Gonzalez is a lock to start in the middle but who joins him there is anybody’s guess. At first I thought Clarence Goodson made the most sense but Klinsmann doesn’t love him so maybe Maurice Edu slides back from the midfield if Jürgen wants to put the most talent he can on the pitch. Geoff Cameron is another option (he started there against Honduras) but I see him playing on the right side since that is where he plays for his club team. If the recently revived DaMarcus Beasley doesn’t get the call to play on the left side opposite of Cameron that means the fourth defender will be an MLSer, most likely Matt Besler or Justin Morrow, neither of whom fills me with confidence.
The midfield will feature Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones for sure with Edu also likely if he doesn’t end up defending. This brings us once again to the “Landon Donovan Spot.” Eddie Johnson and Sacha Kljestan played there against Honduras but did not impress. In my opinion we need some serious speed in this position and I’d love to see Brek Shea get a chance. If Shea is deemed too raw then I’d love to see Beasley get a shot to relive his glory days once again.
Newly minted captain (rightly so I might add) Clint Dempsey will be one of the forwards and Jozy Altidore should be the other. Of course Jürgen favorite Herculez Gomez is also in the mix as is Johnson. If we need a goal late Klinsmann absolutely has to sub in Brek and Terrence Boyd and play them with Bradley, Dempsey and Altidore. Since Jürgen played the young bucks on defense in the first game why not infuse the youth of Shea and Boyd on offense this time?
On Tuesday we travel to Mexico City and the feared 104,000 of Estadio Azteca (7:30 PM Pacific on ESPN) where our players are sure to be pelted with all manner of things including bodily fluids. I don’t hold out much hope of gaining a point against El Tri which is why Friday’s game is so important. If we lose to Los Ticos Klinsmann’s job and our World Cup hopes are officially in jeopardy. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that though.
> Late Thursday U.S. Soccer announced the venues for the four remaining home World Cup Qualifying matches.
6/11 – Panama at CenturyLink Field; Seattle, WA
6:30 PM on ESPN
6/18 – Honduras at Rio Tinto Stadium; Sandy, UT
6 PM on ESPN
9/10 – Mexico at Columbus Crew Stadium; Columbus, OH
5 PM on ESPN
10/11 – Jamaica at Sporting Park; Kansas City, KS
TBD on ESPN
> On 3/13 the Group C matches for the Gold Cup were also announced and here is the USMNT “B” team’s schedule.
7/9 – Belize at Jeld-Wen Field; Portland, OR
8 PM on TBD
7/13 – Cuba at Rio Tinto Stadium; Sandy, UT
12:30 PM on TBD
7/16 – Costa Rica at Rentschler Field; Hartford, CT
5 PM on TBD
(all times Pacific)
So with all this adversary they are already facing what do you think happens? Brain Straus of the Sporting News decides it’s a good time to publish this, which more or less rips Klinsmann apart on every level imaginable. Over the course of several weeks Straus spoke to 22 individuals with ties to the U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT) or its members including 11 current players based in MLS or abroad. The rest of the sources make their living in American soccer on some level. These “anonymous sources” revealed three central themes per Straus:
1) Klinsmann and chief assistant Martin Vasquez either lack the tactical acumen and/or game-day chops to successfully lead the team or fail to communicate their plans effectively.
2) Too much time and too many resources are spent on initiatives that don’t translate to the pitch.
3) Constant lineup changes and building resentment over the perceived importance and attitude of the German-born players are harming team chemistry.
I’ll give Straus credit for writing an interesting, albeit exceedingly long, article and I’m sure the publishing was timed to generate the most possible buzz. But come on, we are in dire straits after only one game and any real fan of American soccer actually wants the USMNT to qualify for the World Cup not do their best to sabotage them.
Which leads me to the players who contributed to the piece; who in the fuck do they think they are complaining like a bunch of prima donnas? I must have missed where the USMNT won anything significant to the point where the players feel that they have the expertise to talk about doing things differently. Of course Thursday a bunch of players came to Jürgen’s defense but those who spoke to Straus are missing the point. U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati hired Klinsmann to shake up the status quo and if these whiney bitches don’t like it drop them for good and move on. Everyone’s focus needs to be on the task at hand and not politics or back stabbing.
End rant.
As I said in my Hexagonal Preview Friday’s match against Costa Rica (7 PM Pacific on ESPN) was always going to be a must-win with three of the first four matches on the road, even if we had earned a point in Honduras. Now it’s possible that Gulati and Klinsmann may have out smarted themselves a little by choosing to play the match in Commerce City, CO. Granted the 18,086 tickets sold out in 60 minutes but I don’t think they were counting on snow being in the forecast. That’s right, there’s a 60-80% chance of light snow from 8-10 PM Mountain Time. Not only that but the temperature at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park during the match is forecast to be between 35-29 feeling like 27-20 with a 10 MPH wind. I’m sure Los Ticos won’t like the conditions but will our guys really perform their best under those circumstances?
As for Jürgen’s starting 11 Brad Guzan will take Howard’s spot as goalkeeper and there really shouldn’t be much of a drop off since there are whispers around the English Premier League that Brad is actually having a better season than Tim anyway. The defense in front of Guzan is by far the biggest question for the USMNT with SEVEN defenders not even available.
Omar Gonzalez is a lock to start in the middle but who joins him there is anybody’s guess. At first I thought Clarence Goodson made the most sense but Klinsmann doesn’t love him so maybe Maurice Edu slides back from the midfield if Jürgen wants to put the most talent he can on the pitch. Geoff Cameron is another option (he started there against Honduras) but I see him playing on the right side since that is where he plays for his club team. If the recently revived DaMarcus Beasley doesn’t get the call to play on the left side opposite of Cameron that means the fourth defender will be an MLSer, most likely Matt Besler or Justin Morrow, neither of whom fills me with confidence.
The midfield will feature Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones for sure with Edu also likely if he doesn’t end up defending. This brings us once again to the “Landon Donovan Spot.” Eddie Johnson and Sacha Kljestan played there against Honduras but did not impress. In my opinion we need some serious speed in this position and I’d love to see Brek Shea get a chance. If Shea is deemed too raw then I’d love to see Beasley get a shot to relive his glory days once again.
Newly minted captain (rightly so I might add) Clint Dempsey will be one of the forwards and Jozy Altidore should be the other. Of course Jürgen favorite Herculez Gomez is also in the mix as is Johnson. If we need a goal late Klinsmann absolutely has to sub in Brek and Terrence Boyd and play them with Bradley, Dempsey and Altidore. Since Jürgen played the young bucks on defense in the first game why not infuse the youth of Shea and Boyd on offense this time?
On Tuesday we travel to Mexico City and the feared 104,000 of Estadio Azteca (7:30 PM Pacific on ESPN) where our players are sure to be pelted with all manner of things including bodily fluids. I don’t hold out much hope of gaining a point against El Tri which is why Friday’s game is so important. If we lose to Los Ticos Klinsmann’s job and our World Cup hopes are officially in jeopardy. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that though.
> Late Thursday U.S. Soccer announced the venues for the four remaining home World Cup Qualifying matches.
6/11 – Panama at CenturyLink Field; Seattle, WA
6:30 PM on ESPN
6/18 – Honduras at Rio Tinto Stadium; Sandy, UT
6 PM on ESPN
9/10 – Mexico at Columbus Crew Stadium; Columbus, OH
5 PM on ESPN
10/11 – Jamaica at Sporting Park; Kansas City, KS
TBD on ESPN
> On 3/13 the Group C matches for the Gold Cup were also announced and here is the USMNT “B” team’s schedule.
7/9 – Belize at Jeld-Wen Field; Portland, OR
8 PM on TBD
7/13 – Cuba at Rio Tinto Stadium; Sandy, UT
12:30 PM on TBD
7/16 – Costa Rica at Rentschler Field; Hartford, CT
5 PM on TBD
(all times Pacific)
posted by D$ at 10:16 AM
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