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Thread: Back to the important stuff....

  1. #136
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    Re: Back to the important stuff....

    US 2 Ghana 1 in a friendly. Dwyer and Acosta each get their first international goal. Fourth straight time the match between us and them has ended in a 2-1 score. Series tied at 2.

    Looking forward to tomorrow's Confederations Cup Final, Chile vs. Germany. Should be a good one.

  2. #137
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    Re: Back to the important stuff....

    Gold Cup opener.... USA 1 Panama 1

    No surprise there, eh, as this marks the 4th straight match with them that has ended 1-1. Except for Dwyer, nothing good to say about any of the newbies. Dwyer scored our goal last night, but more importantly he is playing well and making things happen. Applies a lot of pressure from his striker's position. Acosta is just out there....running around, chasing the ball, being out of position play after play after play. He is only 21, a youngster, but if he was truly a "world class" type player, he'd already be showing more. I can't see Arena wasting a roster spot on him for the World Cup.

    Same thing with the other youngsters currently on the Gold Cup roster. None of them act like they've played the game before. Simple, mental things like where to be on certain plays as they develop, both on the offense and defense. They are out of position time after time. Nerves? Maybe. But come on, man! they're wearing the uniform of the US National Team!!!

    Next up, please....

  3. #138
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    Re: Back to the important stuff....

    USA vs. Martinique tonite.

    Gotta have the 3 points.

  4. #139
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    Re: Back to the important stuff....

    Quote Originally Posted by dawg80 View Post
    USA vs. Martinique tonite.

    Gotta have the 3 points.
    US 3 Martians 2

    R U kidding me! Our B Team sucks. Martinique doesn't even have a FIFA sanctioned team, or a program. They are amateurs. Yet, they pushed our B Team to the limit!

    On a bright note, I like the way Agudelo plays. Needs to elevate his fitness level, but I think he might be a good addition to our WC roster. Want to see him play some more though before I make a final judgment. None of our B Team defenders or midfielders, the newbies I mean, have shown they have what it takes. Germany would have scored 12 goals against us last night, maybe 15. The gap between WC class talent and our B Team is enormous. Beyond enormous!

    I understand, and support, Arena for putting together this roster for the Gold Cup this summer. While it's nice to win such tourneys, in the big picture we to develop young players at the international level. It's just that....it's hard to watch. It's cringe-worthy! As one would expect, the biggest weakness on the B Team is the midfield. Heck, even our A Team struggles in the midfield at the WC level. Finding world class (World Cup (WC)) midfield talent is the key and is hard, even for soccer elite countries. Brazil has fallen off these past 5 years because they have a mediocre (by WC standards) midfield.

    Our back 4 is also a struggle. But, we can patch together a "good enough" back line considering we have good Keepers, and IF we had a strong holding midfield(er). Michael Bradley used to provide that for us, and he was legit good. MB has dropped off, partially because Landon Donovan is no longer our #10. LD dropped back and helped our midfield a bunch on defense. It's the reason LD is the best player in US history; the guy was awesome on defense.

    Anyway....Nicaraqua is next. Just win and move on.

  5. #140
    65's Top 10 Worthless Poster Blue Dawg has a reputation beyond reputeBlue Dawg has a reputation beyond reputeBlue Dawg has a reputation beyond reputeBlue Dawg has a reputation beyond reputeBlue Dawg has a reputation beyond reputeBlue Dawg has a reputation beyond reputeBlue Dawg has a reputation beyond reputeBlue Dawg has a reputation beyond reputeBlue Dawg has a reputation beyond reputeBlue Dawg has a reputation beyond reputeBlue Dawg has a reputation beyond repute
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    Re: Back to the important stuff....

    The best international teams have great promotion structures and club teams. In any sport. Think about the difference between, say, the NY Red Bulls and Man U. Laughable. So its really no surprise that we struggle more than we improve.

  6. #141
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    Re: Back to the important stuff....

    Anyway....Nicaraqua is next. Just win and move on.

    We won and moved on.

  7. #142
    Moderator & 2008 NFL Survivor Contest Champion sportdawg has a reputation beyond reputesportdawg has a reputation beyond reputesportdawg has a reputation beyond reputesportdawg has a reputation beyond reputesportdawg has a reputation beyond reputesportdawg has a reputation beyond reputesportdawg has a reputation beyond reputesportdawg has a reputation beyond reputesportdawg has a reputation beyond reputesportdawg has a reputation beyond reputesportdawg has a reputation beyond repute sportdawg's Avatar
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    Re: Back to the important stuff....

    Quote Originally Posted by dawg80 View Post
    Anyway....Nicaraqua is next. Just win and move on.

    We won and moved on.
    Nicaragua/El Salvador - what's the difference

  8. #143
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    Re: Back to the important stuff....

    Quote Originally Posted by sportdawg View Post
    Nicaragua/El Salvador - what's the difference
    Ah....not much.

    Didn't know how right I was!

    El Salvador is ranked 103rd in the World FIFA rankings, Nicaragua 105th. The US is ranked 35th.

    CONCACAF is weak, well, even more so than usual.

    Mexico is the highest ranked, at 16th. Costa Rica is 26th.

  9. #144
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    Re: Back to the important stuff....

    US vs. Costa Rica tonite, Gold Cup semi-final. Mexico vs. Jamaica in the other semi.

    Last time we played CR we got crunched, 4-0, in a WC qualifier. It got Klinsmann fired. Now, 12 games later, under Bruce Arena, we have not lost a match. Tonite, neither side will have its true A Team, but their back-ups are better than ours. CR, based on its ranking, should be a slight favorite tonite. But, we have brought in more first-stringers than they did for the knockout phase of the tourney.

    Arena has to change the formation to provide additional help for our woeful back line. I'd use a 4-2-3-1. Two holding midfielders, Bradley and .... well, someone else.

    Hoping we can escape with a 1-0 win.

  10. #145
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    Re: Back to the important stuff....

    US 2 Costa Rica 0

    It was the Clint Dempsey show! Came off the bench in the 66th minute, 0-0, and CR enjoying the run of play. Tim Howard had two great saves to keep the score level. Dempsey's experience and quality showed immediately. He was in the role of attacking midfield, below Altidore and Morris. The US won possession of the ball and dominated play over the final 24 minutes. Dempsey assisted Altidore with a perfect pass, and then CD equaled LD with his 57th career goal on a 22-yard free kick, perfectly played around the wall and inside the near post. Good stuff....no great stuff from CD!

    We have also found another midfielder, Darlington Nagbe.

    http://www.foxsports.com/west/story/...ta-rica-072317

    We are on a 13-game unbeaten streak since Arena returned. The all-time best is a 16-game streak in 2004-05....under Arena.

    Coaching makes a difference.

  11. #146
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    Re: Back to the important stuff....

    Quote Originally Posted by dawg80 View Post
    US 2 Costa Rica 0

    It was the Clint Dempsey show! Came off the bench in the 66th minute, 0-0, and CR enjoying the run of play. Tim Howard had two great saves to keep the score level. Dempsey's experience and quality showed immediately. He was in the role of attacking midfield, below Altidore and Morris. The US won possession of the ball and dominated play over the final 24 minutes. Dempsey assisted Altidore with a perfect pass, and then CD equaled LD with his 57th career goal on a 22-yard free kick, perfectly played around the wall and inside the near post. Good stuff....no great stuff from CD!

    We have also found another midfielder, Darlington Nagbe.

    http://www.foxsports.com/west/story/...ta-rica-072317

    We are on a 13-game unbeaten streak since Arena returned. The all-time best is a 16-game streak in 2004-05....under Arena.

    Coaching makes a difference.
    Dempsey off the bench was brilliant. Shifted the entire game. CR was done when he came in. He almost broke the record. Deuce will be used more and more like this in the future. This is the role Donovan should have had in 2012, but Klinsmann was too much of an asshole to admit it.

    Arena is developing young talent AND keeping the best of the experienced players.

    Nagbe looks legit.

    Vilifana, Acosta are getting better. Acosta did better with Bradley in to help him. Defense kept good formations for the most part. Howard made two great saves.

    Also Jordan Morris made some great runs. Three legit strikers give us some options (Wood, Altidore, Morris)

  12. #147
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    Re: Back to the important stuff....

    Jamaica 1 Wetbacks 0

    US vs. Jamaica in the Gold Cup final.

    Love it:

    http://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer...723-story.html

    Only 43K at the Rose Bowl. Hah! looks like Trump's policies are having an effect on illegals being here!

    As for the game, and the aftermath, couldn't happen to a nicer bunch. Loved the shock look of all those Mexican fans.

  13. #148
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    Re: Back to the important stuff....

    Tonite!!

    USA vs. Jamaica

    They knocked us out of the 2015 Gold Cup beating us 2-1 in the semis. Time for a little payback. But, it won't be easy.

    Jamaica is very athletic. Their players are big and fast. A lot like Usane Bolt and the Jamaican track team, they can run. They are athletic and talented, but not always organized. We should be able to play a better brand of soccer.

    They are ranked 76th in the FIFA world rankings. The US sits at 35th. But, as Lou Holtz once said, you don't have to be the best in the world, just the best team in the stadium on that day. Jamaica is very capable of beating us tonite. But, they won't: US 2 Jamaica 1 (Dempsey sets US career scoring record with game-winning goal).

  14. #149
    65's Top 10 Worthless Poster Blue Dawg has a reputation beyond reputeBlue Dawg has a reputation beyond reputeBlue Dawg has a reputation beyond reputeBlue Dawg has a reputation beyond reputeBlue Dawg has a reputation beyond reputeBlue Dawg has a reputation beyond reputeBlue Dawg has a reputation beyond reputeBlue Dawg has a reputation beyond reputeBlue Dawg has a reputation beyond reputeBlue Dawg has a reputation beyond reputeBlue Dawg has a reputation beyond repute
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    Re: Back to the important stuff....

    Costa Rica was a good win. +29 Elo points! (if you're following my stuff in other threads, *this* Elo is the real one (well, really the real one is for World Chess Rankings)). Those numbers give the US about a 77% chance to win.

    http://www.eloratings.net/gold_cup.html

  15. #150
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    Re: Back to the important stuff....

    Jamaica is really fast and plays solid stifling defense in the middle.

    I love the way Jordan Morris plays. Full speed all the time.

    That being said he did lose his man on the corner kick that led to the goal.

    Lucky for him that he found the net late in the game to get the point back.

    Nagbe is really good at controlling the ball. Would love to see him and Pulisic controlling the midfield.

    Besler plays very fundamentally sound defense. He keeps his mistakes to a minimum. Him and Omar in the back were good.

    Gold Cup Champions once again.

    BTW, Arena hasn’t lost a game in 14 games! That’s impressive.

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