Honduras v USA Match Thread

Probably should have started Bocanegra. The back line has looked shaky with no organization all day.

 

Thanks to sacffc for the link to the match. Will leave it to the others since I only saw the last 20 minutes or so, but we looked totally spent. To give up a tap in to lose was painful. Plenty of blame to go around between Howard, Cameron, and Gonzalez. The back four is a mess, a point is lost, and with a trip to Azteca in match 3, the upcoming Costa Rican match is vital.

 

Yup.

Someone said this on twitter and I agree 100% with it:

 

I couldn't watch the match, but I followed a minute by minute report and it described the U.S. as poor (and that's putting it politely). Hard to believe that Boca didn't start - wonder if he had a knock? Hard to believe you'd throw Gonzalez into his first qualifier on the road in Honduras - that's poor coaching/squad selection and it's on Klinsman's head.

 

guys why aren't we calling Donovan in as a forward he is pretty good.

 

he's taking some time off from international duty...and like Aerosmith, maybe a "permanent vacation."

 

Thank you, Don for your very astute comments about the match. Hope we somehow get a lot better than that showing...

 

Thanks for the summary Don. From what I have listened to the majority opinion is that Klinsmann's subbing off of EJ removed the most effective US player from the pitch. I will give him credit for starting EJ but why pull him? I wish I had seen the match.

 

He has played the last 2-3 games for his club team before this game, so he had been playing prior to today.

I agree that he is on he downside of his career and we eventually need to move on, but the back line looked very disorganized and probably could have used his leadership out there. The starting back line today had a total of eight WC caps combined going into today and none in the Hex.

 

Most of the guys that came in from Europe did not look good, that was bad luck for us in terms of our schedule. But that is exactly why Klinsmann needed to get a mostly settled roster way before the first game of the Hex, but instead he is STILL experimenting. Still trying to make his points, publicly I might add, to various players. Also when you see your players struggling with tired legs, why not bring in the two players who are most used to playing in the heat and humidity and did not travel all the way from Europe - Gomez and Davis. We sit alone in last place in the Hex. Yes there is plenty of time to turn things around, but I see very little to make me confident that can happen and I cant get Philip Lahm's frightening words our of my head. To go along with Klinsmann's history making friendly victories in Italy and Mexico, he has now presided over our first ever loss to Jamaica (in WCQ to boot) and our first ever loss at Honduras in a WCQ match. Someone call an :auto-ambulance:

 

If you want to hear Jimmy Conrad, Lalas, and Rob Stone discussing the match from Lalas' kitchen with a bottle of tequila
http://www.mlssoccer.com/live/channel1

 

Interesting comments on the link. Usually can't stand Lalas' blathering, but have to agree with him that JK needs to stick with Omar. Yes maybe Bocanegra could've of led the line yesterday, but Boca has made more than his fair share of bonehead mistakes. Not sure if it was Conrad, but spot on about WIlliams, Jones, and Bradley not looking like they know what their roles are.

 

The truth you speak Hatter Don.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljgUBurxinY[/youtube]

 

What did Lahm say, Mo?

 

I remember reading somewhere else that Lahm said Klinsmann left the defensive tactics strickly up to the defenders to decide. It has to be taken with a grain of salt because Lahm also criticized other managers. However, I just feel like what we see with the US on the field is sometimes consistent with Lahm's remarks, but it's probably just me making what I see fit his narrative.

http://aol.sportingnews.com/soccer/...-philipp-lahm-blasts-jurgen-klinsmann-in-book

 

I still don't get this obession with playing this odd 4-5-1. Especially the Jurgen version with so damned many defensive mids. If we're going to scrap playing with any width, go to a 4-4-2 and give Jozy another striker for support. Then play Clint on either wing defensively and give him a free role on offense. Much like FFC did under Hughes. Give the opposite winger the option to invert or stay wide and use the fullbacks for width if the wide mids go narrow. Bradley plays box-to-box and you use one of our CDM's like Jones/Williams/Edu/Beckerman to hang back as cover for the back four. They aren't good goal threats anyway. That's pretty much how we played in the Confed Cup.

But it's the Klinsy show, so I'm sure we'll continue trying to play this en vogue style that's sweeping the world, regardless of how it fits the team or the funky league we play in.

I don't know what he can do with the back four other than continue to throw them out there until they gel. That and coach them up, but that allegedly isn't in Klinsmann's repertoire. In fairness, time isn't an asset when you have to play midweek qualifiers w/o an int'l break. What moron scheduled that mess? At least we weren't the only ones hurt by it and we didn't throw away a home match as a result.

I wish the USMNT would stop mirroring Fulham all the time. From no lb, to no strikers, to lacking creativity in midfield, to coaches I have no faith in....whatever trend happens with one, happens with the other. It's really quite annoying.

 

I am losing heart with Klinsmann because I would have thought by now he would have found a preferred roster and formation and had that group drilled for the Hex but by all appearances he is still experimenting to find something that will work. I was leaning toward the idea Bob Bradley was getting far more out of this pool of players than he should have been expected to get before he was fired. In hindsight, I think that assessment is dead on. Klinsmann should be doing better in terms of decision making and organizational skills but I am truly coming to believe that the talent pool he is dealing with is razor thin.

I am not sure if Klinsmann abandoned the 4-4-2 because he fancies another formation or becasue the US has a derth of wings. Even if you pull Dempsey back and start him with Zusi where are the backups? Torres, Williams and Kljestan have been given chances to play wide and have proven they don't function well there. Shea has made an impact as a sub but has run hot and cold at best. Robbie Rodgers was given every opportunity and he didn't cut it. As much as Mo wants to see Adu he can't even hold down an MLS spot at the moment and is a lesser option than EJ who is a defensive liability out wide. At least coaches don't complain about EJ's attitude or work rate. Who else is there that is ready?

Don't get me wrong and think I am making excuses for Klinsmann because his results and the overall performances of his teams has been poor at best but I am not sure how much better Bob Bradley would be doing with this current pool. I hope US soccer is prepared to give Klinsmann's replacement the opportunity to pull in a young pool of players and take some lumps for a while becasue I think we are actually seeing the best of the current group. They must be because both Bob Bradley and Klinsmann have felt the need to keep recycling the same names for the most part.