Soccer - USA Men's National Team

[theprofessor]

Wow. I just got around to reading this thread and disagree here. When Mexico is in the mix, I wouldn't say a loss to them is a major dissapointment.

I am happy that this is an establishing win for the new coach. To me, that is the major accomplishment.

to me, i look at winning the gold cup as similar to tech's winning the wac. it's not the national title, but it is a major title. every year, i expect us to compete for and win the wac title. yes, there are other good teams. boise state is very solid, similar to mexico in soccer. but do i expect to beat them? yes. i expect to beat mexico every time we step on the field with them. just like i expect us to beat boise and fresno and hawaii every time. every time.

[Bigdog13]

to me, i look at winning the gold cup as similar to tech's winning the wac. it's not the national title, but it is a major title. every year, i expect us to compete for and win the wac title. yes, there are other good teams. boise state is very solid, similar to mexico in soccer. but do i expect to beat them? yes. i expect to beat mexico every time we step on the field with them. just like i expect us to beat boise and fresno and hawaii every time. every time.

I somewhat agree. I like your comparison of the WAC/Gold Cup. But sometimes you can expect a win that is unrealistic. I am a realist. Last year I expected Hawaii to hand our ass to us and thats exactly what happened. Frankly they could have named the score if they really wanted to. You are a smart guy and I think deep down before that game you knew that too. 8 or 9 times out of ten the best team wins. When we have the best team I will expect us to win.
I am not certain US soccer is at the point yet where we can meet those expectations yet. We still have MAJOR weaknesses we need to address. I think US Soccer is moving in the right direction. Maybe I just think we are moving a little slower than you do. In the end though its where you are going not where you are at and I like where Tech and the US MNT are going.

[theprofessor]

I somewhat agree. I like your comparison of the WAC/Gold Cup. But sometimes you can expect a win that is unrealistic. I am a realist. Last year I expected Hawaii to hand our ass to us and thats exactly what happened. Frankly they could have named the score if they really wanted to. You are a smart guy and I think deep down before that game you knew that too. 8 or 9 times out of ten the best team wins. When we have the best team I will expect us to win.
I am not certain US soccer is at the point yet where we can meet those expectations yet. We still have MAJOR weaknesses we need to address. I think US Soccer is moving in the right direction. Maybe I just think we are moving a little slower than you do. In the end though its where you are going not where you are at and I like where Tech and the US MNT are going.

oh, trust me, i know we have a long way to go. and, honestly, i'm not sure we'll ever get to the point where we're consistently a top 10 power in the world. i sure hope so. but i'm not sold yet.

but i still believe we should be the class of concacaf. we've passed mexico, and while they give us a good game every time, i believe we are 9-0-3 the last 12 times we've played? i think that's right. so, yes, it is an expectation that we win the gold cup every time.

[Bigdog13]

oh, trust me, i know we have a long way to go. and, honestly, i'm not sure we'll ever get to the point where we're consistently a top 10 power in the world. i sure hope so. but i'm not sold yet.

but i still believe we should be the class of concacaf. we've passed mexico, and while they give us a good game every time, i believe we are 9-0-3 the last 12 times we've played? i think that's right. so, yes, it is an expectation that we win the gold cup every time.

Isn't that 9-0-3 on US soil or is it overall?

But I guess I just think Mexico is more talented than us. I see a better brand of soccer when I watch them play. (better passing, more fluid) I think they have a bad mental block against us though. I think they are psyched out and waiting something bad to happen. We kind of junk the game up when we play them. Almost like the equivalent of "street ball" in the NBA. And they can't handle it. If you notice when they play traditional powers like Brazil and Argentina they usually play much better than when they play us. I also think, to our credit, that our players are in much better shape than theirs or most teams for that matter.

Eventually they are going to get a good coach and become a world power. Being in the homebuilding business I have a lot of Mexican friends that are avid followers of Mexican soccer that tell me Sanchez doesn't even start their top talents. One of my friends told me it's like if Bradley decided not to play Donovan or Dempsey just because he didn't like them.

But I do think we are the best in CONCACAF (not saying much) Just not by as much as I would like. I hope someday we can compete better with European and S.A. teams.

[duckbillplatty]

Isn't that 9-0-3 on US soil or is it overall?

I'm pretty sure that's on US soil.

[DallasDog]

It's U.S. soil.

[RealityCheck]

Mexico dominated Brasil 2-0 in their Copa opener. Could have and probably should have been 3-0 or 4-0.

US v Argentina, 7:45 pm Thursday on GOL TV and Telefutura. I'll have to keep an eye on that while watching Joe Smith and BC against Toronto.

[Bigdog13]

Isn't that 9-0-3 on US soil or is it overall?

But I guess I just think Mexico is more talented than us. I see a better brand of soccer when I watch them play. (better passing, more fluid) I think they have a bad mental block against us though. I think they are psyched out and waiting something bad to happen. We kind of junk the game up when we play them. Almost like the equivalent of "street ball" in the NBA. And they can't handle it. If you notice when they play traditional powers like Brazil and Argentina they usually play much better than when they play us. I also think, to our credit, that our players are in much better shape than theirs or most teams for that matter.

Eventually they are going to get a good coach and become a world power. Being in the homebuilding business I have a lot of Mexican friends that are avid followers of Mexican soccer that tell me Sanchez doesn't even start their top talents. One of my friends told me it's like if Bradley decided not to play Donovan or Dempsey just because he didn't like them.

But I do think we are the best in CONCACAF (not saying much) Just not by as much as I would like. I hope someday we can compete better with European and S.A. teams.

It's fun when you get to quote yourself. :icon_wink:

Mexico 2 Brazil 0.

[RealityCheck]

I want to see Eddie Johnson 100% healthy and fit too!

Looked pretty healthy to me on that fantastic run and PK goal.

[Bigdog13]

Of course we get stomped in the second half but I think we all pretty much expected this with Landon and Co. sitting these games out.

[dawg80]

Looked pretty healthy to me on that fantastic run and PK goal.

Of course I meant to get healthy and stay healthy. He's been injury-proned his whole career. It's not just an injury that sidelines a player for a month, it's that his level of fitness drops off too, while recovering. That often translates into several months of building back to a world-class fitness level.

EJ has a nose for goals. The US needs him roaming around up-top. Especially given the loss of McBride to retirement. The US is depending too heavily on Donovan to be that big-time scorer. That is not what LD is best at. He is a great attacking-midfielder, scoring goals as part of the offense, but more importantly, getting those assists.

[Bigdog13]

Of course I meant to get healthy and stay healthy. He's been injury-proned his whole career. It's not just an injury that sidelines a player for a month, it's that his level of fitness drops off too, while recovering. That often translates into several months of building back to a world-class fitness level.

EJ has a nose for goals. The US needs him roaming around up-top. Especially given the loss of McBride to retirement. The US is depending too heavily on Donovan to be that big-time scorer. That is not what LD is best at. He is a great attacking-midfielder, scoring goals as part of the offense, but more importantly, getting those assists.

Totally agree.