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US Men's National Team (13 Viewers)

SlimShady said:
If they red carded every time a guy faked injury, the problem would go away. Or mandatory 10 min substitution 
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IMO the NFL needs to adopt the soccer stretcher and keep the game moving when guys get hurt.  No reason to stop the clock -- just get them off the field.  And +1 to your idea too -- if you leave the field injured, you're out for 10 (game) minutes.  Kellen Winslow abused the #### out of this loophole back in the day.

 
wdcrob said:
IMO the NFL needs to adopt the soccer stretcher and keep the game moving when guys get hurt.  No reason to stop the clock -- just get them off the field.  And +1 to your idea too -- if you leave the field injured, you're out for 10 (game) minutes.  Kellen Winslow abused the #### out of this loophole back in the day.
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They might need a different stretcher type and a few more carriers.   

 
wdcrob said:
IMO the NFL needs to adopt the soccer stretcher and keep the game moving when guys get hurt.  No reason to stop the clock -- just get them off the field.  And +1 to your idea too -- if you leave the field injured, you're out for 10 (game) minutes.  Kellen Winslow abused the #### out of this loophole back in the day.
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wat

 
Sebowski said:
It's funny. Ireland will surely be celebrating their Euro performance. Singing and dancing knowing they over achieved. Meanwhile we are bemoaning a 4th place finish. 4th place in a tournament with those teams is a huge overachievment for us. We need to accept our place as a mid major of sorts. Lets beat our rivals win our conference and hope celebrate the occasional upsets over the big boys.
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The narrative for Ireland fluctuated widely in this tournament just as it often does for the US.  They had a bad pre-tourney friendly loss to Belarus.  They probably deserved something against Sweden, but were thoroughly curb-stomped by Belgium.  At that point, the press were out for blood and Roy Keane was publically ******* on the players for the team he was an assistant manager of.  It wasn't pretty.  But one win against a Italy team with nothing to play for changed the entire narrative (reinforced by a feisty first half against France). 

Overreactions by the press come with the territory of being a country taking this stuff seriously.  For the US, they legitimately played poorly against Argentina, but Argentina has also played really well for most of this tournament.  The US has beaten elite teams before, but we've never beaten an elite team that played up to

 


Sconch said:
wat
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I think he's just trying to speed up the turtle like NFL games.

In soccer it's-

Guy gets hurt, physio comes on, magic spray, guy limps off then comes right back in. ~1min

Non soccer fans...BOOOOO he is faking, why did he have to go out?

NFL it's-

Guy gets hurt,  commercials, come back from commercial, look at angles of how he got hurt. ~4min

Player comes back in, YAY HE'S A WARRIOR

But the main reason I want to see it is I want to see BJ Raji go off on a stretcher

 
Ramsay Hunt Experience said:
The narrative for Ireland fluctuated widely in this tournament just as it often does for the US.  They had a bad pre-tourney friendly loss to Belarus.  They probably deserved something against Sweden, but were thoroughly curb-stomped by Belgium.  At that point, the press were out for blood and Roy Keane was publically ******* on the players for the team he was an assistant manager of.  It wasn't pretty.  But one win against a Italy team with nothing to play for changed the entire narrative (reinforced by a feisty first half against France). 

Overreactions by the press come with the territory of being a country taking this stuff seriously.  For the US, they legitimately played poorly against Argentina, but Argentina has also played really well for most of this tournament.  The US has beaten elite teams before, but we've never beaten an elite team that played up to
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The drunk Irish guys at the pub at 6AM couldn't have put it any better.

 
Sebowski said:
It's funny. Ireland will surely be celebrating their Euro performance. Singing and dancing knowing they over achieved. Meanwhile we are bemoaning a 4th place finish. 4th place in a tournament with those teams is a huge overachievment for us. We need to accept our place as a mid major of sorts. Lets beat our rivals win our conference and hope celebrate the occasional upsets over the big boys.
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'Huge overachievement" overstates it imo. Considering that Brasil sent a B team and deserved to go out when they did, how many of the 11 teams that dropped out in the quarters or before can claim they deserved better than the US? Mexico, maybe Venezuela and Peru can say they are on our level if not a bit stronger, but I don't think that means the US is way over its head finishing 4th in this tournament.

 
CletiusMaximus said:
'Huge overachievement" overstates it imo. Considering that Brasil sent a B team and deserved to go out when they did, how many of the 11 teams that dropped out in the quarters or before can claim they deserved better than the US? Mexico, maybe Venezuela and Peru can say they are on our level if not a bit stronger, but I don't think that means the US is way over its head finishing 4th in this tournament.
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I don't think the US overachieved, but I think it's a decent statement to say that they performed like a team that would challenge for qualification out of COMNEBOL.  I really can't remember a time where I felt the US played better than average in four out of six competitive games and only played legitimately badly in one game (against a legitimately terrific opponent).

That they did so while their most consistent player had kind of a stinker of a tournament is kind of doubly surprising.  Add in the fact that Pulisic did enough to make us feel good about keeping him with the senior team going forward, and it was an encouraging tournament. 

 
Ramsay Hunt Experience said:
I don't think the US overachieved, but I think it's a decent statement to say that they performed like a team that would challenge for qualification out of COMNEBOL.  I really can't remember a time where I felt the US played better than average in four out of six competitive games and only played legitimately badly in one game (against a legitimately terrific opponent).

That they did so while their most consistent player had kind of a stinker of a tournament is kind of doubly surprising.  Add in the fact that Pulisic did enough to make us feel good about keeping him with the senior team going forward, and it was an encouraging tournament. 
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When is the last time Bradley put in an inspired performance?  Seems like he has been pretty inconsistent for a while, but that may just be faulty memory on my part.  I thought we were just chalking that up to Klinsmann playing him out of position.

 
Colombia -- somewhat of a bad game, mostly for how toothless US was offensively, - result

Costa Rica -- strong game, ++ result

Paraguay -- strong game, + result

Ecuador -- very strong game, ++ result

Argentina -- terrible game, not totally unexpected, --- result

Colombia -- decent game, - result

Would have liked to see a draw or win in one of the Colombia matches and a better fight vs Argentina, but winning the other three games outright and playing well to do it is solid.  Win outright was < 50% in all three of those matches.  The win against Ecuador in the q-finals makes it an overall success IMO.

 
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Sinn Fein said:
When is the last time Bradley put in an inspired performance?  Seems like he has been pretty inconsistent for a while, but that may just be faulty memory on my part.  I thought we were just chalking that up to Klinsmann playing him out of position.
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He had good games defensively in the middle of this tournament, but still gave the ball away too much.  Great motor, nice instincts for winning the ball, but not enough technical skill to match up with better players.  Hard to figure out what to do with a guy like that.

 
Sinn Fein said:
When is the last time Bradley put in an inspired performance?  Seems like he has been pretty inconsistent for a while, but that may just be faulty memory on my part.  I thought we were just chalking that up to Klinsmann playing him out of position.
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Germany friendly, Dutch friendly come to mind.  But I think he's been largely good in many games people have complained about him.  Even in this tournament, his positioning really helped the team.  But his passing from deep positions was inconsistent and we needed him to be a metronome.  He was also a bit tentative in the tackle.  Maybe he was trying to avoid cards or maybe he was dinged.  Tough to know.  We found out only later that he played the entire 2014 World Cup with nerve damage in his foot.  In any case, he was clearly outplayed by Jones and probably by Bedoya.  I can't remember the last time I thought Bradley was our worst player in the center of the pitch. 

 
wdcrob said:
He had good games defensively in the middle of this tournament, but still gave the ball away too much.  Great motor, nice instincts for winning the ball, but not enough technical skill to match up with better players.  Hard to figure out what to do with a guy like that.
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Isn't that sort of the definition of inconsistent?

We don't currently seem to have a viable option for the playmaker role, so its not that he is keeping anyone out of the lineup, though I'd like to see more of Nagbe.  Maybe leave Bradley as the DM/holding MF and find a new playmaker.  I wonder if Pulisic can play a #10 role in the future, rather than out wide?

 
Sinn Fein said:
Isn't that sort of the definition of inconsistent?

We don't currently seem to have a viable option for the playmaker role, so its not that he is keeping anyone out of the lineup, though I'd like to see more of Nagbe.  Maybe leave Bradley as the DM/holding MF and find a new playmaker.  I wonder if Pulisic can play a #10 role in the future, rather than out wide?
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In that epic article on Pulisic that NR posted (IIRC) a few weeks ago Pulisic said his dream is to be the US #10.  He thinks that's his ultimate role, and the one he wants to play.  Here's hoping.

 
CletiusMaximus said:
'Huge overachievement" overstates it imo. Considering that Brasil sent a B team and deserved to go out when they did, how many of the 11 teams that dropped out in the quarters or before can claim they deserved better than the US? Mexico, maybe Venezuela and Peru can say they are on our level if not a bit stronger, but I don't think that means the US is way over its head finishing 4th in this tournament.
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I think it is a bit overstated as well.

I bet if you look at confederation tournaments all over the world, the likelihood of the host country making the semi finals is fairly high.

Or maybe a better way to say it, if this was a huge over achievement, how do we classify the 1995 semi final run while having to be in South America to do so?

 
Bradley hasn't been great since before Brazil...he had a few terrible games in Brazil. 

I can't recall a player in the prime of his career that has gone from the team's best player on the team to potentially the worst in the lineup in such a short time span...it has to be mental.

Hopefully JK has a plan to replace him if his suckiness persists...I thought he should have been benched personally.  His performances were downright awful.

 
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Ramsay Hunt Experience said:
The narrative for Ireland fluctuated widely in this tournament just as it often does for the US.  They had a bad pre-tourney friendly loss to Belarus.  They probably deserved something against Sweden, but were thoroughly curb-stomped by Belgium.  At that point, the press were out for blood and Roy Keane was publically ******* on the players for the team he was an assistant manager of.  It wasn't pretty.  But one win against a Italy team with nothing to play for changed the entire narrative (reinforced by a feisty first half against France). 

Overreactions by the press come with the territory of being a country taking this stuff seriously.  For the US, they legitimately played poorly against Argentina, but Argentina has also played really well for most of this tournament.  The US has beaten elite teams before, but we've never beaten an elite team that played up to
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Not the point. Replace Ireland with Hungary then. 

 
CletiusMaximus said:
'Huge overachievement" overstates it imo. Considering that Brasil sent a B team and deserved to go out when they did, how many of the 11 teams that dropped out in the quarters or before can claim they deserved better than the US? Mexico, maybe Venezuela and Peru can say they are on our level if not a bit stronger, but I don't think that means the US is way over its head finishing 4th in this tournament.
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Dissagree. Brazil anomaly aside, every team in this hemisphere wanted to win this thing. It's the Euros/Cup of Nations, whatever the ####. It's important. List every team/country in the hemisphere and put USA 4th. It's above us. We over achieved. Kudos. See you in 4 years (hopefully). 

 
wdcrob said:
Who would you replace him with?
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I would try Danny Williams or see what Perry Kitchen can do.

We also need to watch Emmy closely this fall and winter if he can break through at Bornemouth, that could give us another option next year during the majority of the hex games.

 
wdcrob said:
Williams is already 27, plays for a bottom-third Championship team, and hasn't even featured as a member of the 23 lately.
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I was answering for who I would try not for who I think JK would try.  It is clear that JK does not rate him as a player.

There is a chance the team he plays for may improve this summer.  Swansea has been talking to Reading since this past winter and now Newcastle, Aston Villa and Sunderland have all joined the talks, according to the various rumor sites.

Williams is no game changer but if he played the exact same for the US as he has in the past, I would say it would be an improvement over Bradley.   The issue with Bradley is that it is not one game, or one tournament or one full round of qualifying.  His play over a span of a year or more has declined (as we have all recognized).

 
but Reading fans will be asking themselves if they are really that fussed to see him go.

Aside from the odd-spectacular long-range strikes and runs from midfield, the German-born midfielder has a rather poor touch, and takes a fair few pot-shots due to a lack of invention in the final third.
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Sounds like he's a natural fit for our midfield!

 
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Yeah, doing some detailed and in-depth research and analysis in the last five minutes has left me with the impression that this is backup QB syndrome -- where the guy not playing is always preferred to the mediocre guy you already know.

 
When you look at the skill of our players versus those on the other teams I believe this was a very successful tournament for the US.

 
wdcrob said:
Yeah, doing some detailed and in-depth research and analysis in the last five minutes has left me with the impression that this is backup QB syndrome -- where the guy not playing is always preferred to the mediocre guy you already know.
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This is very true, but it is still worth acknowledging that Mikey should not be a lock starter any more.  

We don't have any game changers JK is overlooking but that doesn't mean trying something new is automatically going to be worse either.

 
when the starting 11 isn't good enough, people cry for the backups. but the backups aren't better otherwise they'd start, no? so when the backups come in and people are screaming that they shouldn't be on the roster in favor of 17 year olds who aren't... maybe it means your roster isn't deep because there isn't the talent.

it's not like this is Brazil or Germany where guys with long, great careers ahead of them are waiting in the wings but can't crack the roster because they're behind legends.

or is Klinsmann actually Ted Thompson in disguise? purposefully sabotaging the team from the inside because he was hired by the board to destroy the franchise?

 
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mr. furley said:
it's not like this is Brazil or Germany where guys with long, great careers ahead of them are waiting in the wings but can't crack the roster because they're behind legends.
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Two points

1) Mikey is treated a bit like a legend by JK.  I don't think there is any other player who has performed as consistently poor as Mike that Jk has not tried to replace in some form.  

That doesn't mean that anyone Jk would pick would be any better mind you but Mike does seem to be getting the longest rope of any player under Jk

2) we always lament our lack of depth compared to the best countries ( and it is true) but even a country with seemingly unending depth like Brazil can struggle in a tournament when missing even a handful of its top players.

 
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Just checked the ELO rankings again, updated through yesterday morning.  Couple things...

1) We lost to the #1, #7 and #7 teams in the world and we beat the #15, #22 and #35 teams in the world.  We're currently ranked #23 as a result.

2) Chile might leapfrog Germany with the draw vs Argentina last night.  If they do, we were watching #1 vs #2 in the final.

Again, no ratings system is perfect but this is the one I thought looked closest to "right" before the tournament.  You can quibble if you like, but the rankings are in the right ballpark overall IMO.

 
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