Scholarship table
Kinda makes me wish they went after Low.
I see Klinsmann's primary value in terms of building the right system for US Soccer to be successful, much more than his technical coaching abilities. Having said that about his coaching, to quote the Big Lead, "His record is open to criticism, though show me the American coach who has reached the semifinal of a World Cup or steered a European club to the Champions League."
Tough to say what exactly to make of this. A little surprised to see Hamid, but with Guzan and Yelldell trying to win jobs I imagine he's just giving one of the MLS guys a run-out to see what's there for the future. Glad it's a youngster. Can't wait to see Chandler, and he's going to the well on a few guys Bradley seemed to be leaving behind in Castillo, Orozco, and Pearce. In the midfield, glad to see Torres back, but not Beckerman. He's a fine MLS player but has never been impressive as an international. Up front...well, to say the least I'm surprised. Adu, Agudelo, Donovan, fine...but Beasley and Buddle? I think Demarcus' best days are about 5 years behind him, while Buddle is okay but just doesn't seem like a part of the team going forward. Would've rather seen Bunbury over either of them.Still, it's change. This is definitely not Bob Bradley's roster. Can't wait for Wednesday!
No Altidore still because of injury, or was he left off completely?
His emphasis has to be on getting acclimated to his new club (AZ Alkmaar) so he can maybe, you know, actually play for once.
Real Madrid just signed a 7 year old. This pretty ridiculous, who knows what this kid will be like when he is 16 which is when he might get to play. http://news.yahoo.com/madrid-signs-7-old-argentine-prospect-leo-133646438.html
Never a finisher, but he wasn't asked to be. I'd rather have a Brian Ching type who knows his role than an Agudelo who tries to be aggressive and almost always wastes possession.
I thought last night was positive, but it's tough to take much away from it, considering Klinsmann only has 10 days on the job. I liked the formation, I've been hoping for a 4-2-3-1 for awhile. It's very easy when you have wingers like Donovan, Dempsey, and Bedoya to shift that into a 4-3-3 attacking formation, but you don't overcommit most of the time.I really liked moving Bradley up in more of an attacking role. He flourished in that kind of role in Holland. I thought our defense was good and looked quick. I do wish we had tried to hold the ball more. In the middle 30 minutes, we went too often for the killer long balls when possession would have helped us more. Still, our biggest need is a striker, and if not a true, legitimate goal-getting striker, then a center forward who can accept that their role is not to score but to hold up play and allow the wingers to do the finishing. Honestly, as much-maligned as he was, Brian Ching was great at that role. Never a finisher, but he wasn't asked to be. I'd rather have a Brian Ching type who knows his role than an Agudelo who tries to be aggressive and almost always wastes possession.The final 30 minutes were brilliant, best play I've seen from us in awhile. Honestly, it's a travesty that we didn't see a red for the takedown on Rogers and didn't see at least one of the two penalties that should have been given (especially the second). Mexico definitely had the better of play for most of the first half and the early parts of the second, but I'd say we really held our own and probably deserved the win.It's far too early to make any real assessment, but it's something to build on. I'm excited to see what Klinsmann does when he has all the European players available to him for the two September friendlies.
USA sucks in a 4-2-3-1. There are no legitimate target men in this country who can play on their own. The reason they were great in the last 25 minutes was because das German paired Shea and Agudelo with a roving Donovan eliminating the 3-1 on top.
Problem with Bradley last night is that he kept drifting back and taking possession off of Castillo/Cherundolo even though it was clear das German wanted him as the link up top. Bradley is very much a player in transition both for club and country. It'll be interesting to see where he lands club-wise and where Klinsi ends up having confidence in him.
Every striker is asked to be a finisher. Ching should never be back because of all the sitters he's missed in his career. Some of them were shocking. I'd much rather blood a youngster like Juan or Bunbury who has a pair of balls then the prototypical dopey MLS guy who can only score against second rate competition.
Eh. You can parse it any way you like but there is no point in playing someone up top if you don't care whether they score. I'd also like to see a guy like Ching admit that he's not a striker. I'd like to see from the player where they admit they don't need to score to be effective. Where all they need to do is hold the ball and hand off to a non-scoring dominant position player so that they can be the finisher of the group.This is the exact problem with the US system. We abide crap players up top and put abnormal pressure on wing players to finish games for us. Hell, the reason why Landon will go down as the highest scorer is 90% down to the US consistently playing donkeys like Ching. He might be the only American happy to see guys like Ching, Wondo, Buddle, etc. on the pitch.
Aguero had about as good of a debut as you could have for Man City.
Agree, and even though it was against a team that will be relegated, it nonetheless showcased his scoring talents. At first I thought those who genuinely believed Man City could make a run at the title were crazy, but if Mancini realizes how potent his offense is and stops playing with two holding mids... watch out. They are for real.
How about Fabregas to Barca??!Yikes, Real and the rest of UEFA might be in trouble the next 5 years.