US Men's National Team Soccer Thread! (lower division thread)

[sunny_cat]

my son and i are in that picture

[sunny_cat]

Tonya, I was the hipster sitting with the redheaded hipster.

[Tobias]

my son and i are in that picture

i can tell because his hair is all jacked up from the wind in the 5-series

[MakeItRain]

What would Donovan actually add to this squad? Everything he brings to the table, someone else brings more of, except for being a step behind and a defensive liability.

Absolutely, there are better players than him on the roster. Julian Green is absolutely not one of them. Same thing goes for Goodson. He's much better than Brooks. Anyone arguing for LD to be on the roster is just arguing for there to be the best 23 players going to the World Cup which is only every four years. Honestly, I don't disagree with that.

i always find it funny when people think they know more than a head coach about player talent and ability, especially at Jurgen's level. If he included Green instead of Donovan, it's because he thinks Green provides a greater benefit to the team than Donovan.

For fucks sakes man, you're better than that. What a lame response, this is a message board if you don't want to talk about this stuff then GTFO.

If you're claiming that Donovan only provides goal scoring, I don't agree, then you're calling him a poacher and he's 10x the poacher that Wondo is and I love Wondo. Fact is that either Green or Wondo aren't playing at all and if there will be someone who will have their ass stapled to the bench then why not Landon.

We will never know this, but I'd admit I was wrong if the coaches got an indication that Landon would not be happy as a role player or a no player then I'd be okay with it, he does have a history of not being the best teammate ever.

Did you guys see Klinsmann's son tweet mocking Landon?

didn't seen this until now, but wow is it so wrong on so many levels. try and come to terms with the fact that Donovan isn't what he once was, and that a players legacy doesn't change what he is today. i love how everyone assumes Green will be on the bench, and that Jurgen's family totally hates America. gmafb.

How often do you watch Landon and LA these days? Serious question. Also, how many times have you seen Julian play? Serious question.

Get the eff out of my face with all this "we're not allowed to question Jurgen" bull crap.

OFTEN.

Of course you are allowed to question Jurgen, but the butt hurt coming out of this is so beyond stupid. The same people that are pissed about this are the same people who were very upset that Bocanegra was outed; the same people that were pissed about Bradley getting canned; the same people who still think that American's can just go out there and win on good ol' American gusto. What Klinsmann is trying to do is far more important than hanging onto the mediocre dreams that American soccer was built on. In addition to the fact that Donovan is not a fit with the current team for many reasons (style, tactics, physical ability), his absence benefits the growth of US soccer and it's future. I'm not saying Donovan isn't the best American to ever play the game, because he is. There is no denying that. I'm just saying that he is not what he was, and American soccer has moved in a different, better direction. Stop feeding into the bullshit notion that being the best American to ever play the game equates to being anything but an average to below average soccer player in the world spectrum.

This is amazing redirection. In my post I mentioned how I think the current version of Landon would fit on this team. Asava responds by talking about legacies, past USMNT personnel decisions, and most comically Jurgen's country of origin. Let's for a second pretend like we didn't spend a while page in that other thread talking about how the coach doesn't need to be American. If you don't want to talk about Landon Donovan that's fine, but I don't want to talk about oscar Arena, Cobi Jones, or where Suni Gulati was raised either.

Very very impressive strawman you built there asava though, bravo.

also pointed out the laughable assumption that Green (not Wondo, but should have said Wondo as well) were going to have their "asses stapled to the bench." the only time you talked about Donovan's soccer abilities was when you claimed he was 10X the poacher Wondo is, which, historically, is true, but not presently. keep grasping for straws and maybe you will finally grasp ahold of something substantial.

i wasn't saying that Donovan only provides scoring. he doesn't. at this point he does not add or provide the team with any ability that is not already available to a higher degree via other players. Zusi is all around better than what Donovan would be on the right side, and brooks provides explosiveness in a sub role. Dempsey, Mix and Wondo give better attacking ability in the air and in support of the the front. Jozy, Johannson, and Green provide more pace, touch and creativeness. Bradley is head and shoulders above anyone on the team.

Read better, I didn't say Green and not Wondo would be stapled to the bench, I said EITHER Green or Wondo would be stapled to the bench, but even that had additional context that required clarification that you didn't give until now. Your last post was fine and I actually don't have an issue with your second paragraph. No one would have had a problem if you would have led with that instead of "you guys don't know more than the coach, muh muh muh" and "you guys don't like Germans, harumph harumph harumph."

[MakeItRain]

Our view on the field pitch last night during the USMNT game.



We sat right where Benny took that free kick that went off the crossbar early on.

hipster correction

Also did they use the ESPN audio?

[asava]

Maybe if you people weren't still hung up on WW2

[Tobias]

"you people" smdh

[MakeItRain]

I mean, this guy

[asava]

 

[sunny_cat]

I love Jozy. I also would be fine if Johannsson started up top with Dempsey. Thoughts?

[Tobias]

i think i'm ok with about any of our options up top - probably my area of least concern (not because of talent but because of what they'll be asked to do).  hold things up, maybe poach a few.  our goals can come from about anywhere..

we're gonna need some monster play from our midfield - we've got ample talent there imo but they're really gonna need to show up

[Tobias]

just realized that sounds like the most generic soccer post ever but whatevs

[MakeItRain]

I love Jozy. I also would be fine if Johannsson started up top with Dempsey. Thoughts?

my thought is that you can go eff yourself

[sunny_cat]

I love Jozy. I also would be fine if Johannsson started up top with Dempsey. Thoughts?

my thought is that you can go eff yourself

[scottwildcat]

Big fan of Johannsson, but I think it has to be Jozy and Demps.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[slobber]

just realized that sounds like the most generic soccer post ever but whatevs

It sounded really smart until you posted this. FWIW, I am going to memorize what you said and say that to some other people who know less about soccer than I do.

[sunny_cat]

Big fan of Johannsson, but I think it has to be Jozy and Demps.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I mean, probably, but just imagine the possibilities with Aron!

[asava]

I don't know if Aron Bacon is strong enough physically to handle being alone up top, but he does provide a different dynamic to the attack. It will be interesting to see if we continue to use that diamond formation. It almost entirely falls apart when Dempsey isn't there to be the Robin to Bradley's Batman. The quick passes just do not develop as well as they should when Wondo had to step in. Any idea if we will continue to use the 4-4-2?

[sunny_cat]

Yeah, I was only talking about him playing next to Dempsey in a 442 diamond.

We should continue to use it but with Beckerman behind Bradley instead of Jones.

[asava]

Yeah, I was only talking about him playing next to Dempsey in a 442 diamond.

We should continue to use it but with Beckerman behind Bradley instead of Jones.

it's a weird problem with Beckerman back there. His passing and on-the-ball awareness are far better than what Jones brings to the table, but Jones has the necessary recovery speed to protect when Bradley stretches the backfield into a semi-compromised position. Then again, Jones is rough ridin' unpredictable and makes plenty of stupid decisions when it comes to challenging. Don't know which is worse, having Beckerman be a average athlete or having Jones be an average soccer player.

[Tobias]

Don't know which is worse, having Beckerman be a average athlete or having Jones be an average soccer player.

when MIR referenced sophie's choice in a different thread he meant to post it in this one

[MakeItRain]

I finally got around to watching the Champions League final and the post game studio show did a segment on Donovan getting cut. All of the panelists not only agreed that Landon should have been on the roster but they also accused Jurgen of having an agenda with how he handled the situation.

[sunny_cat]

Your move asava

[asava]

I finally got around to watching the Champions League final and the post game studio show did a segment on Donovan getting cut. All of the panelists not only agreed that Landon should have been on the roster but they also accused Jurgen of having an agenda with how he handled the situation.

Well if that isn't clear cut evidence that HCJK is out to destroy American soccer, then I don't know what is.

[Institutional Control]

I don't understand why anyone wouldn't be in favor of building for the future.