gobillsgo Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 USA gets drawn into (one of) the Group(s) of Death with Germany, Portugal, and Ghana. That'll be a tough advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BilliKat Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 Mother trucker... : / Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken class of 15 Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 Kinda reminds me of when SLU was put in the Midwest region, with #1 overall seed (and eventual champ) Louisville, Duke, and the "12 seed", Oregon... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigMouthBilliken Posted December 6, 2013 Share Posted December 6, 2013 If someone were to turn on ESPN today for the first time in their life they would think that Americans actually care about soccer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majerus mojo Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 Considering we only have to beat Jamaica and a few other also-rans every 4 years to qualify for the WC.. the draw is the draw. You're not gonna be an elite squad til you beat the other elite squads. Bring it. That said, the first match against Ghana would appear to be make or break for advancement chances. Nate Silver had USA chances of advancing our of the group at a tick under 40%.. right behind Portugal at approx 40%, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MB73 Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 If we can just get some production out of our midfielders... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moytoy12 Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 If we can just get some production out of our midfielders... Maybe, if klinsman ends his man crush on jermaine jones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emoracze Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 Considering we only have to beat Jamaica and a few other also-rans every 4 years to qualify for the WC.. the draw is the draw. You're not gonna be an elite squad til you beat the other elite squads. Bring it. This! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littlebill Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 Maybe, if klinsman ends his man crush on jermaine jones. The man's great at his job...making the middle ugly for other teams. He's not out there to be creative. Sacha on the other hand.... We should be fine if we come to play. Our back line is a huge question mark. We're the second best team in this group, and we should advance if we play well. In Jurgen I trust Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moytoy12 Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 The man's great at his job...making the middle ugly for other teams. He's not out there to be creative. Sacha on the other hand.... We should be fine if we come to play. Our back line is a huge question mark. We're the second best team in this group, and we should advance if we play well. In Jurgen I trust If his job is to be a turnover machine, make the occasional good pass and sit on the ground and whine about being hacked, then he is great. Jones shouldn't be anywhere near the starting 11. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moytoy12 Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 The man's great at his job...making the middle ugly for other teams. He's not out there to be creative. Sacha on the other hand.... We should be fine if we come to play. Our back line is a huge question mark. We're the second best team in this group, and we should advance if we play well. In Jurgen I trust Agree on the back line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littlebill Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 If his job is to be a turnover machine, make the occasional good pass and sit on the ground and whine about being hacked, then he is great. Jones shouldn't be anywhere near the starting 11. I disagree, but regardless, he plays at a level that's higher than ANYONE else in the US system, and that's the biggest thing keeping him in the team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moytoy12 Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 I disagree, but regardless, he plays at a level that's higher than ANYONE else in the US system, and that's the biggest thing keeping him in the team. I don't watch many of his club games, but if he can't perform well with USMNT then his club performance doesn't mean much. I think he is a bad partner for Bradley. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majerus mojo Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 Agree on the back line. US back line vs. Ronaldo should be a real treat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littlebill Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 US back line vs. Ronaldo should be a real treat. So will our attack against their defense, which isn't good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littlebill Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 I don't watch many of his club games, but if he can't perform well with USMNT then his club performance doesn't mean much. I think he is a bad partner for Bradley. Has a similar role with Schalke. Makes the game a mess in the middle. Goal is to make it hard for the opponent to use the midfield to connect the play from defense to the attack. Succeeds in arguably the best league in the world (& Champions League as well). I think his nastiness compliments MB4's technical skills greatly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted December 8, 2013 Share Posted December 8, 2013 The problem with Jones is that he is far too frequently out of control. I appreciate his toughness and physical play. But many times he's overagressive leaving himself out of position, he turns the ball over too much as he's less skilled with the ball at his feet than most central defenders. Add to the fact he's called for a lot of penalties in bad spots as he lets his emotions take over. If he's on the field it needs to be with a true playmaking mid where his only concern is to win the ball and get rid of it. However, Bradley is more of a hybrid mid with decent attacking skills and the ability to be an outstanding defensive mid. His pairing with Jones is not ideal imo. Not a knock but Bradley is not an outstanding attacking mid. The central defense will cost us a game in this world cup. Who the heck is going to stop Renaldo? We don't have a center back who doesn't far too frequently get lost in the game. We give up so much space and allow too many easy runs into space as we are watching the play rather than forcing the play. We can't give Renaldo that space or the chance to get behind us at all. I'd have to seriously consider having someone just shadow him and get a bit physical with him. Whatever we do we have to be all over him and we can't lose focus for 1 second. The guy is a tireless worker and can easily turn just a little space into a goal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zink Posted December 8, 2013 Share Posted December 8, 2013 The problem with Jones is that he is far too frequently out of control. I appreciate his toughness and physical play. But many times he's overagressive leaving himself out of position, he turns the ball over too much as he's less skilled with the ball at his feet than most central defenders. Add to the fact he's called for a lot of penalties in bad spots as he lets his emotions take over. If he's on the field it needs to be with a true playmaking mid where his only concern is to win the ball and get rid of it. However, Bradley is more of a hybrid mid with decent attacking skills and the ability to be an outstanding defensive mid. His pairing with Jones is not ideal imo. Not a knock but Bradley is not an outstanding attacking mid. The central defense will cost us a game in this world cup. Who the heck is going to stop Renaldo? We don't have a center back who doesn't far too frequently get lost in the game. We give up so much space and allow too many easy runs into space as we are watching the play rather than forcing the play. We can't give Renaldo that space or the chance to get behind us at all. I'd have to seriously consider having someone just shadow him and get a bit physical with him. Whatever we do we have to be all over him and we can't lose focus for 1 second. The guy is a tireless worker and can easily turn just a little space into a goal. The only way I see us stopping Ronaldo is if we let Bedoya start the game and just tell him to partner up with Cameron (please dear god not Brad Evans) and stay back on our right flank. Even then he will get some chances, he is just that good. Our CB pairings' positioning will be key, as they need to be able to recover onto him when he inevitably gets by the first defender. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littlebill Posted December 8, 2013 Share Posted December 8, 2013 The problem with Jones is that he is far too frequently out of control. I appreciate his toughness and physical play. But many times he's overagressive leaving himself out of position, he turns the ball over too much as he's less skilled with the ball at his feet than most central defenders. Add to the fact he's called for a lot of penalties in bad spots as he lets his emotions take over. If he's on the field it needs to be with a true playmaking mid where his only concern is to win the ball and get rid of it. However, Bradley is more of a hybrid mid with decent attacking skills and the ability to be an outstanding defensive mid. His pairing with Jones is not ideal imo. Not a knock but Bradley is not an outstanding I agree and disagree. I think Klinsi's system is ideal for MB4. It lets him roam free in the middle and make it his own. I think JJ is a good compliment to him as he makes things difficult for the opponent with his physicality, which compliments MB's distribution skills. However, I agree with you about JJ with his over aggressiveness. I think that's something that Klinsi needs to rein in before we get to Brazil. I think Bradley has turned into an outstanding box to box CM- a poor man's Yaya Toure (best CM in the world IMO) Also, it's Ronaldo. With an O. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slufanskip Posted December 9, 2013 Share Posted December 9, 2013 I agree and disagree. I think Klinsi's system is ideal for MB4. It lets him roam free in the middle and make it his own. I think JJ is a good compliment to him as he makes things difficult for the opponent with his physicality, which compliments MB's distribution skills. However, I agree with you about JJ with his over aggressiveness. I think that's something that Klinsi needs to rein in before we get to Brazil. I think Bradley has turned into an outstanding box to box CM- a poor man's Yaya Toure (best CM in the world IMO) Also, it's Ronaldo. With an O. My bad on Ronaldo. I agree on MB being a good 2 way or box 2 box CM, but I think his distribution skills are adequate not great. One of the problems I see with the US, is though we have improved greatly with our ability to maintain possession is that too much of that possession is negative. We don't play the ball quick enough through the midfield. Jones doesn't help this at all. My preference would be to see MB as the defensive mid paired with a more offensive minded CM. However, I will acknowledge we don't seem to have that player. Mix might be an option but I'm just not sold yet. If Jones could play more under control I could live with him, especially against the better offensive teams. However, JK hasn't seemed to be able to get JJ reigned in yet ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BACKHANDtheRICAN Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 So we have 3 fun games to watch the USA play in the World Cup. Should be real barn burners.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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