USMNT soccer team thread

[jmklinger1]

I read this article, but with a perspective of how to get my son there. Also, I understand that college scouting, at least the big time soccer schools, look at academy's first.
My take away is the developmental academies are the way to go.
Those of you with more experience/knowledge in this area, would you agree.

Hey, so I'm not a Syracuse fan. I went there, but was a sports reporter whose objectivity and dealings with the athletic department/PR staff leave me with little love for "The 'Cuse" in the way that you all do. That said, I saw my story linked to this forum and thought I'd sign up to reply.

Point is, yes, DAs are the focus of top college recruiting for sure. John Kerr, the head coach at Duke estimated that about 80 percent of top 50 DI men's soccer players come out of Development Academies. Sasho Cirovski (Maryland) said he sees no dropoff from the players he recruits from other systems. Kerr said he does.

But also, everything Steve Klein says in the article. PA Classics has been a pipeline, but he too deals with parents who straight-up ruin the game for their children and the kid's desire to play it.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

Hey, so I'm not a Syracuse fan. I went there, but was a sports reporter whose objectivity and dealings with the athletic department/PR staff leave me with little love for "The 'Cuse" in the way that you all do. That said, I saw my story linked to this forum and thought I'd sign up to reply.

Point is, yes, DAs are the focus of top college recruiting for sure. John Kerr, the head coach at Duke estimated that about 80 percent of top 50 DI men's soccer players come out of Development Academies. Sasho Cirovski (Maryland) said he sees no dropoff from the players he recruits from other systems. Kerr said he does.

But also, everything Steve Klein says in the article. PA Classics has been a pipeline, but he too deals with parents who straight-up ruin the game for their children and the kid's desire to play it.

Terrific article. Thoroughly enjoyed reading it...

When my son was very young he played on a team with Juan Pablo Angel's kid Tomy.

Tomy was only five at the time but it was easy to see the kid had a gift. He would run circles around kids 2 and 3 years older and make passes, with the proper weight, that were not passes a five year old makes on the soccer field. Heck, they were passes that most kids twice his age would struggle to see, let alone make, on the pitch.

I imagine that Pulisic was the same.

 

[upperdeck]

wasnt Green the kid who everyone was looking to at the world cup and has fallen off the Map?

 

[CUSU]

wasnt Green the kid who everyone was looking to at the world cup and has fallen off the Map?

Yea, mostly complaining that he was brought to the WC and Donovan was left home. Unlike Pulisic though, Green has never had a significant stint with his clubs first team.

Green played for the US in the friendly vs. Puerto Rico a week or so ago, but was not selected for the final 23 for the Copa America.

 

[jmklinger1]

Terrific article. Thoroughly enjoyed reading it...

When my son was very young he played on a team with Juan Pablo Angel's kid Tomy.

Tomy was only five at the time but it was easy to see the kid had a gift. He would run circles around kids 2 and 3 years older and make passes, with the proper weight, that were not passes a five year old makes on the soccer field. Heck, they were passes that most kids twice his age would struggle to see, let alone make, on the pitch.

I imagine that Pulisic was the same.

Thanks a bunch. And by all accounts, yeah, he was.

 

[OrangeFoo]

wasnt Green the kid who everyone was looking to at the world cup and has fallen off the Map?

The biggest complaint about Green was that Jurgen promised him a spot on the world cup roster if he switched from Germany to the US... this before he was even a first team player for his club team. The US talent pool is way beyond needing to cap second or third team players just because they are at a big club but our German coach doesn't seem to believe this. I truly believe that decision to include Green while booting Donovan is what caused most US soccer fans to lose faith in Jurgen. I'll admit that's what did it for me.

 

[Alsacs]

The biggest complaint about Green was that Jurgen promised him a spot on the world cup roster if he switched from Germany to the US... this before he was even a first team player for his club team. The US talent pool is way beyond needing to cap second or third team players just because they are at a big club but our German coach doesn't seem to believe this. I truly believe that decision to include Green while booting Donovan is what caused most US soccer fans to lose faith in Jurgen. I'll admit that's what did it for me.

Green wasn't the pick that upset me. It was Wondo. That guy is your classic AAAA player. Donovan should have been picked over him.

If the USA had a player who could have finished what Wondo should have against Belgium the USA makes the QFs.

Jurgen carries grudges against MLS players and players that take sabbaticals. When Donovan took himself out of some key 2013 WCQs it did himself in with Jurgen.

I yearn for a USMNT starting XI where all 11 are starting for BPL. La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, French league teams.

MLS sucks compared to these leagues. Until MLS follows the traditional soccer calendar it will always be an inferior league.
I get they don't want to compete with the NFL, NBA, CFB but if they play in the summer its an inferior league going up against the top international tournaments.

 

[OrangeFoo]

Green wasn't the pick that upset me. It was Wondo. That guy is your classic AAAA player. Donovan should have been picked over him.

If the USA had a player who could have finished what Wondo should have against Belgium the USA makes the QFs.

Jurgen carries grudges against MLS players and players that take sabbaticals. When Donovan took himself out of some key 2013 WCQs it did himself in with Jurgen.

I yearn for a USMNT starting XI where all 11 are starting for BPL. La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, French league teams.

MLS sucks compared to these leagues. Until MLS follows the traditional soccer calendar it will always be an inferior league.
I get they don't want to compete with the NFL, NBA, CFB but if they play in the summer its an inferior league going up against the top international tournaments.

Eh... most of our Nats players get released for the big tournaments anyways so I don't think the summer schedule is that big of a deal in terms of how our team competes in international tournaments. The biggest issue with MLS is that it is not embracing being a talent producer for the European big leagues like a lot of the countries in the western hemisphere do. MLS is for some reason going the opposite direction and signing veterans from other leagues and players out of their primes which is hurting our player development. To make matters worse the majority of our established veterans all decided to come home to the MLS rather than sticking it out in Europe and for the most part have lost that edge that playing with the elite give you. I remember 5/6 years ago, on a given weekend, there would be at least two or three EPL matches that had decent US participation along with a few Dutch and German ones. These days outside of goal keepers and geoff cameron and yedlin who both play on teams that are brutal to watch I almost never see US players on Euro matches. I agree with you that I miss the days when most of the starting X1 was established in Europe but I feel like we are going the opposite direction.

There was a WSJ interview with Jurgen yesterday which was fascinating because Kilinsie talked about how we do a good job of developing kids until they are 17 or so but the recent trend is after 17 the kids fall of the earth or fail to develop. He is exactly right... there is an entire missing generation of players in the 20-25 range who should be our future and they are nowhere to be found. So instead we have to rely on the Dempsey's. Jones's, Beckman's et al.

My hope for the future is the the we seem to be building an world class pool of center back talent in Brooks, Vickers, Miazga, the kid from KC and others I'm sure I am missing. But everywhere else I see very little depth... sure we have Yedlin at RB, Pulisic and Nagbe in the midfield, Wood at striker but we need 5 more dudes like them. And what happens if they get hurt? We have no real LB depth (castillo, & Orozco... really?), we seem to really lack in wide players and no proven strikers outside and no proven dmids. If some of these young dudes don't start turning into game changers we are going to be in a world of hurt for the next decade.

 

[JDubbin]

USMNT plays relatively well against 3rd in the world ranked Colombia in the Copa America and still catches a 2-0 L. It's frustrating when we just can't seem to catch a break, or have someone step up and show some magic on a finish...

 

[OrangeFoo]

USMNT plays relatively well against 3rd in the world ranked Colombia in the Copa America and still catches a 2-0 L. It's frustrating when we just can't seem to catch a break, or have someone step up and show some magic on a finish...

The defense played well, Bradley was terrible. Here's the problem... Players like zardes, jones, wood and Dempsey played about as well as they could and outside of two Dempsey shots we didn't threaten Colombias goal. We have no game changers.

 

[Alsacs]

Watching this game was frustrating but we didn't embarrass ourselves. Dempsey was the only forward who looked world class.

I thought Cameron and Brooks looked good in the middle last night. Our forwards just can't score against world class teams consistently. Also, while Columbia may be ranked 3rd they aren't the 3rd best team in the world. They don't keep possession like the top teams in the world they rely on counterattacks to much for a top 5 world team,

I agree with Foo Michael Bradley is a joke as captain. His game has completely gone soft since leaving Roma for MLS. He melts and makes bad passes when pressure is put on him and he doesn't make plays. He is example 1 why MLS sucks for our player development in MLS.

Enough of Jermaine Jones the guy doesn't do anything anymore and he is slower use Dagbe or Pulisic's younger legs. We need a draw today between Costa Rica-Paraguay or we are in big trouble to advance.

 

[CUSU]

Frustrating game because I thought we played decent outside of the corner conceded and Yedlin's handball, but thats how the cookie crumbles sometimes.

 

[SUfanNC]

It was tough to watch. I don't think we played bad but it is tough to get things going when the ball is turned over. I thought defensively we played well. Here is what I would like to see.

Goalie: Howard (Although Guzan is not bad)
Defense: Yedlin, Brooks, Cameron, Johnson: Thought they looked solid
Midfield: Bedoya, Bradley, Pulisic, Zusi: I don't think Bradley was terrible but he made a few mistakes. I believe he is a strong defender and passes well and always keeps the ball moving. I would like to see what Pulisic can do with a little more time on the field as well as play with first teamers. I would like him to sit higher on the pitch than Bradley. I like some of the passes Bedoya attempted and Zusi can make passes as well. I would like Bradley to receive the ball from the defense and distribute.
Forward: Zardes, Dempsey Clint is solid but he cannot create for himself. He makes good runs and fills space but has lost some speed and dives to much to get the calls because of lack of speed. He is also our biggest set piece threat even though the first one went into the wall. The second was simply just a great save. Zardes has pretty good touch and good speed and size.

Off the bench: Wood, Nagbe

 

[storange]

The defense played well, Bradley was terrible. Here's the problem... Players like zardes, jones, wood and Dempsey played about as well as they could and outside of two Dempsey shots we didn't threaten Colombias goal. We have no game changers.

Bradley was off indeed. I think he had about 8 bad give aways many in the middle third ,always damaging.

 

[kirbivore]

Fire Klinsman

 

[upperdeck]

columbia wins out and we get a win/tie. can they do that? i thought they played ok friday night, but the passes to finish off the plays was off so they generated few chances. do they bring in the young kids sooner so they actually can produce this time. by the time they touched the ball friday the game was almost over.

 

[Alsacs]

columbia wins out and we get a win/tie. can they do that? i thought they played ok friday night, but the passes to finish off the plays was off so they generated few chances. do they bring in the young kids sooner so they actually can produce this time. by the time they touched the ball friday the game was almost over.

Columbia is not going to win out. They weren't impressive they took advantage of bad marking on a corner kick and got a 50/50 handball PK.

The USA broke them down but couldn't finish in the last third or even make keeper touch the ball until a Dempsey freekick in the 2nd half.

I expect one of Costa Rica or Paraguay to atleast draw with Columbia.

I think we need to beat Costa Rica by 2 goals to really feel good.

4 points may screw us on goal differential unless we win by 2 goals.

Dagbe should start over Jones. Sitting Zardes wouldn't annoy me either he was nothing against Columbia. Wood got no decent service and Dempsey was trying to force it.

I really wish we had somebody to challenge Michael Bradley. His regression has really hurt the team. He was out of position at the World Cup. He was awful in the Gold Cup last year and was awful against Mexico in the ConFed playoff match.

With Ecuador-Brazil drawing a QF with Brazil isn't a lock for the runnerup if things play out.

 

[SUfanNC]

I'm ready for this game!!!!! We need a good showing

 

[CUSU]

Need 3 points tonight. Does Juergen stick with the same lineup?

 

[Alsacs]

Need 3 points tonight. Does Juergen stick with the same lineup?

I heard Dagbe is starting. Most likely for Bedoya and rumor is Dempsey may start on the bench because of the beating he took last game.

 

[OrangeFoo]

Today's presser by Galati was quite revealing... it looks like if Jurgen goes 3 and out, he's going to have some hard questions to answer.

I think we beat Costa Rica tonight... I actually liked how the team played against Colombia and I think they will be able to unlock the Costa Rica D.

 

[OrangeFoo]

I heard Dagbe is starting. Most likely for Bedoya and rumor is Dempsey may start on the bench because of the beating he took last game.

Who is starting over Dempsey? Please don't say Wondo. I'd rather get a Fab at Left Mid and bring in someone else to the LB as I don't think CR has the most amazing attacking talent.

 

[Alsacs]

Who is starting over Dempsey? Please don't say Wondo. I'd rather get a Fab at Left Mid and bring in someone else to the LB as I don't think CR has the most amazing attacking talent.

I would play a 4-4-2 if no Dempsey and put Pulisic in. If Wondo never plays another competitive match I would be fine.

 

[creatorsgam]

Great first half tonight. Was that Bobby Wood playing with his back to the goal??? Excellent use of the body to shield and turn for the goal.

 

[longislandcuse]

USMNT looking fantastic tonight!!