Based on today's performance only, I would say we would have a much better shot with yedlin and johnson as the outside backs.

Interior D was solid enough I thought, but they just had way too much time and space on the outside (particularly on chandler's side) which put them under pressure again and again. Set piece quality went WAY down after davis and zusi were out and Zusi had some great balls, but Davis was seemingly absent most of the game.

Jones/Berkerman played to a draw today in my mind. Both were ok. Seemed like Bradley played a little more defensively in the second half which helped shore it up.

6/1/2014 8:42:17 PM

Yeah I don't know about the diamond shaped midfield. I think we could get exposed against better teams with that. We'll need 2 CMs playing deep.

6/1/2014 9:14:00 PM

We're going to get exposed against good teams regardless of formations. We flat out don't have the talent in our starting 11 to compete with ze Germans. We can scheme our way to points against Ghana and Portugal which will hopefully get us out of the group, but superior teams are going to be just that against us. Superior.

We got an unfortunate draw. This is probably the most promising US world cup squad we've had, and we're still going to need some good fortune to advance out of the group.

[Edited on June 1, 2014 at 9:22 PM. Reason : I.believe.that.we.will.win...]

6/1/2014 9:19:11 PM

who is that Fabian fucke? He doesn't sound like no damn 'Murican

6/1/2014 11:47:19 PM

Quote :

"We're going to get exposed against good teams regardless of formations. We flat out don't have the talent in our starting 11 to compete with ze Germans. We can scheme our way to points against Ghana and Portugal which will hopefully get us out of the group, but superior teams are going to be just that against us. Superior. We got an unfortunate draw. This is probably the most promising US world cup squad we've had, and we're still going to need some good fortune to advance out of the group."

Exactly. We're talking about a shaky defense like it's a new thing and Klinsmann is ruining our great tradition of solid defense. Against good teams, we're always under constant pressure and prone to mistakes.

In my opinion, Klinsmann knows we can't lock down teams so instead of bunkering and hoping for the best, he's trying to go forward and use our offensive abilities as a kind of defense and to try to make up for that difference by finding the fastest, most athletic guys we can. It's a huge gamble of course but honestly, it's not that much more of a gamble than packing it in and praying for a Robert Green error or 90th minute miracle.

6/2/2014 7:53:53 AM

rossi pwnt, stay home

6/2/2014 8:29:52 AM

Quote :

"We can scheme our way to points against Ghana and Portugal"

Portugal is REALLY good. I wouldn't surprised if they beat Germany.

6/3/2014 3:05:39 PM

wat

6/3/2014 3:20:52 PM

Yeah I said it.

6/3/2014 3:41:59 PM

Really good article on Jurgen and USMNT..

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/08/magazine/how-jurgen-klinsmann-plans-to-make-us-soccer-better-and-less-american.html?curator=MediaREDEF&_r=0

6/4/2014 8:56:13 AM

http://soccer.si.com/soccer/planet-futbol/photos/2014/06/03/meet-the-23-us-world-cup-team?eref=sihp

6/4/2014 11:21:29 AM

^^that article was great

6/4/2014 12:31:48 PM

I see you aimorris, getting shoutouts from Lalas..

6/4/2014 3:57:58 PM

lol me and Alexi go way back on twitter man

6/4/2014 4:51:55 PM

I was almost able to make it through the whole song

6/4/2014 5:00:43 PM

klinsmann reminds me so much of dr. ranjithan. any civil engineers out there feel me??

6/4/2014 5:38:42 PM

Quote :

"I see you aimorris, getting shoutouts from Lalas.."

Came here to post that.

6/4/2014 6:49:06 PM

Nigeria game at 6.

Just hoping for no injuries at this point. Would love to see extended runout for AJ but I'm expecting Jozy to start.

6/7/2014 3:46:30 PM

No injuries for sure, but I would love to see Jozy score just to get something under his belt.

6/7/2014 3:48:11 PM

oh yeah I agree. I'm sure JK will give him another 90 if necessary to get a goal, which I can't disagree with.

In case anybody missed it in the World Cup thread, I started a TWW group for the ESPN bracket predictor

http://games.espn.go.com/world-cup-bracket-predictor/2014/en/group?groupID=28429

password is tww

6/7/2014 3:53:03 PM

Does anyone have a good link for US soccer games? I live in Switzerland and they show none of them here...

6/7/2014 6:07:13 PM

Are we still running the diamond?

6/7/2014 6:08:28 PM

This feed is pretty terrible looking at least to me

6/7/2014 6:14:26 PM

Jozy finally!

6/7/2014 6:34:22 PM

An exquisite finish from Jozy

6/7/2014 6:34:36 PM

Fabian Johnson is the man.

Said it before, but I don't think Bradley's passing is good enough in that position. Switch Bradley for Beckerman and bring on Mix!

[Edited on June 7, 2014 at 6:58 PM. Reason : .]

6/7/2014 6:49:51 PM

Yeah Johnson is definitely the man lately.

6/7/2014 7:04:09 PM

oh fuck please get up Deuce

6/7/2014 7:19:39 PM

oh Jozy

6/7/2014 7:28:31 PM

That fucking goal...

6/7/2014 7:28:33 PM

MB way better this half

what a fucking goal

6/7/2014 7:29:17 PM

Michael Bradley is the best player on this team, in my opinion. When Michael plays well, America does well.

6/7/2014 7:35:32 PM

yep.

I'd argue that Jones playing well is key for Bradley to play well too. He's so underrated

[Edited on June 7, 2014 at 8:05 PM. Reason : JJ]

6/7/2014 7:43:02 PM

Omar Gonzalez has been a mess. I hope we stick with Besler/Cameron with Brooks the CB off the bench. Omar is just too slow to read and react at this level, and really doesn't help unless we are playing a team that is lobbing crosses/free kicks in constantly.

6/8/2014 8:41:13 AM

I don't think we will get out of the group but I am more optimistic about the long term potential of the USMNT than I ever have been. Jurgen has his critics but I hope he gets time to see out his plan...

6/8/2014 9:22:48 AM

Jurgens “plan" needs to be to stay involved with youth development long after his stint as coach is over. Soccer development in this country is the only thing stopping us from taking the soccer throne and never giving it back to the rest of the world. We have an enormous amount of kids who play the game as compared to the rest of the world. The problem is, these kids only play on their rec teams, etc. When they go home and play pickup games, they're playing basketball or football, most likely, and not getting those extra hours perfecting ball control movement, etc.

I know Klinsy loves to hate the MLS, but I would love to see him or someone with the vision to push our only domestic league to greater heights (changing the calender, promotion-relegation, stronger and more far reaching youth academies, etc.) If US soccer wants to be the elite power we all know it can be, then our domestic league needs to be appealing to American youths to encourage them to play soccer most and foremost (pickup games played on blacktop, south America style).

In my opinion, the short term goal needs to be getting Americans to play for top tier leagues like La Liga or EPL, but the long term goal needs to be elevating the MLS to become a major player in the American sports landscape.

6/8/2014 4:23:59 PM

^thats a very good summary of a bunch of thing Jurgen has already done/said he would do/or expressed a desire to do.


Saw this car right next to me at JVille tailgate yesterday, one of you folks??

6/8/2014 8:05:07 PM

LOL @ Summit Church

6/8/2014 8:35:08 PM

This is a pretty great analysis: http://insidethefilmroom.com/usa-vs-nigerian-world-cup-warm-breakdown-kyle-beckerman-effect/

The only thing I'm not set on is Bedoya as the other guy in midfield. Not sure how else it would be, though. Zusi or Diskerud, I guess.

6/9/2014 12:00:51 AM

Yeah, I thought ESPN got that graphic wrong when the game started but it looked more a 4-3-2-1 to me at first, then definitely ended up more as that diamond. Bedoya is way better defensively than Mix/Zusi. I think Zusi might be the most overrated players on the roster actually, which is why dropping Landon isn't just about Green or Davis imo.

I wonder if Jones will be on that right side for the Portugal game. I wouldn't feel as scared about Ronaldo if Jones/Johnson were dealing with him.

[Edited on June 9, 2014 at 8:10 AM. Reason : that is a really good link. love that gif of Jones tracking back]

6/9/2014 8:07:20 AM

^^Thank you for this website.

6/9/2014 9:45:08 AM

Ghana fucking up S Korea..

We are going to need to use our hands, bite and be racist to have any chance..

6/9/2014 8:44:33 PM

got my lollipop jersey ready for next week!

6/9/2014 9:29:25 PM

http://www.sportingnews.com/soccer/story/2014-06-09/world-cup-2014-us-soccer-jurgen-klinsmann-group-of-death-starting-lineup

6/10/2014 8:40:52 AM

Exciting times ahead for the USMNT. I think this team has more than enough in them to sneak out of the group. Regardless of what happens in Brazil this is an exciting young team with the right man leading them. Klinsmann has laid a solid foundation for the US to really build on and get to the next level. I hope Klinsmann sticks around till 2018, he is really building something special here.

6/10/2014 6:44:27 PM

i agree now but that whole opinion changes if we go to brazil and lose every game.

6/10/2014 9:42:06 PM

^ I am not going to put much stock into a potential failure at this tournament. Klinsmann is still the right man for the job. Lose Klinsmann now and risk losing the momentum of a required change in the US footballing system. The mentality needs to change from the ground up, Klinsmann is the only one who will and can do it for the USMNT.

6/10/2014 11:29:33 PM

If we lose every game it will be chalked up to a tough draw

6/11/2014 10:42:53 AM

I
I believe
I believe that
I believe that we
I believe that we will
I believe that we will win
I believe that we will win the next World Cup in 2018!

6/12/2014 1:27:38 AM

kind of lame that none of our games are on ABC or something (unless I'm reading the TV schedules wrong). I mean ESPN is no problem for me personally, but still, we can't get 3 US games on network TV once every 4 years?

6/12/2014 9:14:21 AM