Looked completely terrible the first 45. Subbed off Morales and Wondo at half who were both contributing absolutely nothing. I hardly even noticed Morales was on the field the entire first half. Played much better once the dead weight was on the bench, but we need to do better to finish chances. Guzan came up huge one again to earn us a point. Timmy Chandler shouldn't be on the field most of the time, Evans has been much better. Alvarado is also another defender I would rather see on the bench. Gonzalez and even Ream have looked a lot better. I like Zardes out wide where he has space to run rather than up front where he has to work in tight spaces. Johansson has looked dangerous in his time on the field. Dempsey looks solid as usual, I liked him in the CAM role he played against Haiti, but not sure if it should be a permanent change. Altidore has been pretty poor, but it's hard to not imagine him being on the field the rest of the competition.
My problem with Evans is that his first inclination when winning a ball is to put it into the stands. Chandler had a poor game last night with the ball but he did fairly well defensively. Heck, every player on the field gave up the ball too easily, leading to many breaks for Panama. So many sloppy passes, dribbling into pressure, and bad decisions last night. At least they played with more heart than they did in the first 2 games. DD...I know we clinched and we didn't win the group until the game just before ours. I don't know why you keep pointing that out to me. Zardes, typically, has a much better first touch. He might not be a great back-to-goal player and definitely looked more comfortable on the wing. I kind of liked what Dempsey and Johannson brought. They are both creative types that seemed to feed off of each other quite well. I'd like to see that combo more.
LOLs. Nothing to do with other groups. Haha. Yes, because soon-to-be dominant world teams barely beat Haiti 1-0, barely beat Honduras 1-0, and tie with Panama. :grin:
Looks like Altidore will be replaced on the roster for the group stages. Always a pleasure to be a part of @ussoccer all the best to the boys the rest of the way! #KeepTheCup #USMNT — Jozy Altidore (@JozyAltidore) July 14, 2015 Wonder who will replace him? Shame that Morris is recovering from injury right now. Juan Agudelo would be the most talented option, but it could be someone like Alan Gordon who is a more like for like replacement for Altidore in terms of size and style of play.
We had 6 points. Panama had 2 Haiti had 1 Honduras had 1. We had already CLINCHED the group - even if we lose to Panama - they would have only 5 points...and we would still have 6. That is what I am talking about, the group was CLINCHED after game 2 in our group - no one could catch us. So it is confusing when you say we needed to clinch - as that had already happened. Unless you are talking about something else.... DD
So after yesterdays results we pretty much are locked into a match against Guatemala in the quarterfinals (barring Cuba pulling off a result against them). If Jamaica beats El Salvador (or if Costa Rica ties Canada) I like the way our side of the bracket would look like. USA-Guat Jamaica-Haiti
Would have preferred to see Kitchen rather than Corona, but Corona has more experience and was part of the 2013 squad that won it all. Kitchen is still pretty inexperienced, especially on the national stage, but I like what he brings. Overall I'm fine with it though since neither player will likely be seeing much time, and Corona is more than capable if needed.
Also would have preferred Agudelo to Gordon, but I figured Klinsmann would go that way since Gordon is more comparable to Jozy in terms of size and play style.
Yea I agree with you on both points, I feel the only one who should see serious minutes from those 3 is Beasley.
Ah, well now that makes sense.....I was thinking maybe it had something to do with being the number 1 seed after the group stage - I am not sure how that works. Clearly if it is a 1v8, 2v7......scenario it is best to be the top seed, but I don't know how it works in the quarters. DD
Interesting moves. I'm guessing Altidore simply wasn't healthy enough and Juregen liked the Dempsey-Johannson combo. Morales didn't play well and wasn't meshing with the gameplan.
Does anyone know how big of a rivalry between Haiti and Jamaica is in the history of Caribbean soccer/football? Can't wait for the two teams battle for bragging rights and going at it in the quarterfinals on this Saturday.
I told u guys, bunker ball even if effective in a one off sets a team back not forward. Guatemala got what they deserve because they haven't learned how to play real football so they can't when they have to. Bye bye.
