CONCACAF Gold Cup

[phreak]

Why did it take so long for Adu to get on the field this tournament? He is clearly our most skilled player with the ball. Not a lot of positive out of that final

 

[KObalto]

Originally Posted by El Argentino

It was kind of interesting to see Adu again, and he played better than I would have expected the journeyman to do. Is he still at Aris in Greece? Who does he club for?



I'm almost accustomed to Jozy letting me down. That kid needs to get drastically better in just about every aspect of his game. He's been kind of getting caps by default (especially after Davies accident),



Altidore and Adu are both playing in Turkey albeit for different clubs. They're both still young and played very well together for the U-19 team a couple of years ago.Jozy needs to finish stronger but was having a very good tournament until he was injured.
Davies has been coming off the bench for DC United and getting goals. He appears to be healing nicely!
EDIT: Apparently a few of them have come on PKs where he has been accused of diving. He got a 1k fine for the second one here. They probably shouldn't have awarded a PK for it, but far from the most blatant dive I've seen:
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[NewYorkIslander]

As far as the Mexico rivalry, we took care of business where it counted (In Japan/Korea in the knockouts). As far as the cheap shots, the Mexican's have always played that way, not just against the gringos. We do seem to get them to boil just over the edge though when we get up on them, and if they hadn't scored quickly after the 2-0 goal I could easily see one of the Mexicans getting sent off.

This was a Concacaf event so the placement of the final in LA made sense, but really US Soccer needs to do a better job of finding venues where there is little to no Mexican population to play qualifiers in. Columbus in January a few years ago was a good one. We play these motherfuckers in NY/LA/Florida and of course they'll have 90% of the turnout at the gates. A buddy of mine was there and tweeted how embarrassing it was...oh well.

What the US lacks, and always has lacked, is a real #9 goal poacher. Someone world class. Someone who you can count on to stick the ball in the net from the top of the formation. Our goalkeeping is solid, and our coaching has evolved to the point where we can truly play smart ball defensively to shut teams down (last night aside). We have decent width historically and with Donovan and Dempsey we have a solid mid field, our strikers have always been unimpressive though. I think the best we've ever had was Brian McBride, no one else seems to be able to succeed in top European leagues, and top class MLS strikers just won't cut it against class opposition like Mexico and WC opponents.

 

[KObalto]

Originally Posted by NewYorkRanger

This was a Concacaf event so the placement of the final in LA made sense, but really US Soccer needs to do a better job of finding venues where there is little to no Mexican population to play qualifiers in.
Hmm, maybe we should play them in London.

Seriously, Mexican-Americans are everywhere in Los Estados Unidos and they travel for their team. I think ESPN:The Magazine just named them the greatest sports fans in the States, and not without reason.
We US fans need to step up our game.

 

[Reynard369]

Originally Posted by KObalto

Hmm, maybe we should play them in London.

Seriously, Mexican-Americans are everywhere in Los Estados Unidos and they travel for their team. I think ESPN:The Magazine just named them the greatest sports fans in the States, and not without reason.
We US fans need to step up our game.

Most numerous? Maybe. Greatest? Doubtful.

 

[Dashaansafin]

Dirty ass Mexicans. Pissed we lost.

 

[BDC2823]

Originally Posted by NewYorkRanger

As far as the Mexico rivalry, we took care of business where it counted (In Japan/Korea in the knockouts). As far as the cheap shots, the Mexican's have always played that way, not just against the gringos. We do seem to get them to boil just over the edge though when we get up on them, and if they hadn't scored quickly after the 2-0 goal I could easily see one of the Mexicans getting sent off.

This was a Concacaf event so the placement of the final in LA made sense, but really US Soccer needs to do a better job of finding venues where there is little to no Mexican population to play qualifiers in. Columbus in January a few years ago was a good one. We play these motherfuckers in NY/LA/Florida and of course they'll have 90% of the turnout at the gates. A buddy of mine was there and tweeted how embarrassing it was...oh well.

What the US lacks, and always has lacked, is a real #9 goal poacher. Someone world class. Someone who you can count on to stick the ball in the net from the top of the formation. Our goalkeeping is solid, and our coaching has evolved to the point where we can truly play smart ball defensively to shut teams down (last night aside). We have decent width historically and with Donovan and Dempsey we have a solid mid field, our strikers have always been unimpressive though. I think the best we've ever had was Brian McBride, no one else seems to be able to succeed in top European leagues, and top class MLS strikers just won't cut it against class opposition like Mexico and WC opponents.

Did he mention anything about the post game ceremony. After the game Howard was pissed since the game was played in LA and the entire post game ceremony was done in Spanish. If I had gone to that game and stuck around to watch the post game ceremony only to hear it being conducted in Spanish, I would have been pretty damn pissed myself.

We have a world class striker. He just happens to be playing for Italy.

 

[embowafa]

Originally Posted by Dashaansafin

Dirty ass Mexicans. Pissed we lost.

Stay classy, buddy.

 

[KObalto]

Originally Posted by BDC2823

We have a world class striker. He just happens to be playing for Italy.

QFT. Giuseppe Rossi. Sigh.

 

[El Argentino]

Originally Posted by BDC2823

We have a world class striker. He just happens to be playing for Italy.

Originally Posted by KObalto

QFT. Giuseppe Rossi. Sigh.
Ugh... forgot about that one. Could it really be that what is actually missing from the USMNT and the country at large is just frankly National Pride? Does anyone really think that Germany would permit French immigrants (hypothetically here) to show up in more massive numbers for ANY cup final between the two teams? I'm trying to think of where else in the globe this could remotely be a similar issue... Germany and Turkey perhaps? France v/ Algeria? I mean, you have Rossi wanting to make a dent for Italy rather than with the country where he was raised. You have the Subotic case already discussed - now he's making quite a name for himself in the Bundesliga (Dortmund, I think?). Both of these guys could be absolute STARS for the USA - like build the team around them, but they'd rather climb up through the national teams of their "parents'" (to say it that way...) To be slightly political here, IMO seems like outspoken patriotism here in country has even dropped over the last 20 years. Is this transferring over to performance on the pitch? Can we not retain possible stars because it's uncouth to be an American on the world stage?

Originally Posted by BDC2823

Did he mention anything about the post game ceremony. After the game Howard was pissed since the game was played in LA and the entire post game ceremony was done in Spanish. If I had gone to that game and stuck around to watch the post game ceremony only to hear it being conducted in Spanish, I would have been pretty damn pissed myself.
Couldn't agree more. I'm a fluent speaker, and it would've still pissed me off. I hate coming across as one of those " 'merickuh! " type of nationalists, but c'mon...

 

[Nov Spur]

Mexico/US fandom is something of a unique situation. Remember, Germany Turkey went off without hardly any conflict when they played in Euro 2008, as I recall there were many Turkish neighborhoods in Berlin flying both flags. While there's perhaps more animus between France and Algeria, for one thing there is quite a large gap between the two in terms of talent, and also France has a long history of employing immigrant players. There is real live resentment between the US and Mexico to this day, not to disparage any Turks or Algerians who have ill feelings for their host nations, but Americans and Mexicans have a genuine competitive rivalry going on. So I don't think its national pride thats the issue.

I've never been overtly critical of Bob Bradley in the past, but I think he has to get the ax for this failure. There were times in the game where he didn't seem to have a plan b, and that's inexcusable. The tactics from the outset in this game were flawed, despite their initial success; trying to beat Mexico at their own game was always a fool's errand. The US could have easily walked away 4 or 5 to 1 had Bradley taken the team aside at half time and told them to play ugly route 1 football down the throat of Mexico's keeper (who was flapping at everything that came into his box). Its not pretty to watch, but it can be incredibly effective, especially against a team like Mexico who haven't a chance in hell at winning aerial balls against a team as tall as the US.

 

[Reynard369]

Originally Posted by El Argentino

To be slightly political here, IMO seems like outspoken patriotism here in country has even dropped over the last 20 years. Is this transferring over to performance on the pitch? Can we not retain possible stars because it's uncouth to be an American on the world stage?



Players choose to play for other national teams like Italy because they have a greater chance of winning medals. Subotic is different from Rossi, because the former moved to the US when he was around 12 or 13, while Rossi lived his whole life in the US.

 

[venessian]

I don't consider Rossi an American player. Yes, he was born in NJ (to Italian parents) but moved back to Italy at age 12. His entire international career, from U-16 on, has been for Italy. I don't see why he would or should ever play for the US team.

 

[KObalto]

Originally Posted by venessian

I don't consider Rossi an American player. Yes, he was born in NJ (to Italian parents) but moved back to Italy at age 12. His entire international career, from U-16 on, has been for Italy. I don't see why he would or should ever play for the US team.

Messi moved to Spain at 12. He still plays for Argentina.

 

[TRINI]

It's because these guys have a limited playing life to win international cups/medals and they don't want to waste it with national teams that are either always be building and/or underdogs.