The Official US Soccer thread

[azsouthendzone]

US Soccer rules.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Skin color is not a race, Chris.

You're splitting hairs. Discrimination is an ugly thing no matter how you cut it. I fail to appreciate the nuance.

 

[Stout]

Stuart Holden did not have a good game against Newcastle yesterday. He was mostly invisible, but he was a key negative giving up our goal. Tiote was left alone to cross the ball in for the header goal. Holden tried to shut Tiote down, but he was grossly late, allowing him several touches to set up a great cross.

They did say that he's been playing well lately otherwise.

 

[Zeno]

US is CONCACAF U17 Champs, they beat Canada in the final 3-0 in extra time. I didn't come away impressed despite the score. A lot of long ball, our athletes won it not on skill just our players were better conditioned. Canada did play good defense the whole tournament and hadn't given up a goal all tournament.

I will say this though, the first goal the US scored was awesome.

 

[cardfaninfl]

I will say this though, the first goal the US scored was awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmKhLhDFzPY&feature=player_embedded

 

[Shzm13]

Chicharito, Giovani, Vela all scored this past weekend.... I can almost taste that Gold Cup :-D

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Hopefully the US brings more goals than they do excuses this time.

 

[Milgod]

Chicharito, Giovani, Vela all scored this past weekend.... I can almost taste that Gold Cup :-D

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Hopefully the US brings more goals than they do excuses this time.

What excuses? Do you mean facts? They are different things.

Hernandez has been doing well again, scored against Wigan (again), Southampton and the mighty Blackpool.

 

[Shzm13]

What excuses? Do you mean facts? They are different things.

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Its been almost two years already, let it go.

Hernandez has been doing well again, scored against Wigan (again), Southampton and the mighty Blackpool.

You're damn right he is! More EPL goals than Eddie Johnson, Jozy Altidore, Clint Dempsey, Stuart Holden, Jermaine Jones, Robbie Findley combined.

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Let me know when one of them can hit a Champions League game-winner at Mestalla.

 

[Milgod]

Let it go? I never brought it up.

You can't honestly say Hernandez has been better than Dempsey this year, can you? If you were to put most players in the man u attack they would score goals against the 'easy' teams.

 

[Shzm13]

Let it go? I never brought it up.

Let the excuses go.

You can't honestly say Hernandez has been better than Dempsey this year, can you?

Absolutely better than Dempsey. He's been more productive in far less time than Clint.

If you were to put most players in the man u attack they would score goals against the 'easy' teams.

If ifs and buts were candy and nuts.... and so on, so forth. The previously mentioned players have had an opportunity to face those "easy" teams as well and haven't produced.

 

[Zeno]

and the Mexican inferirority complex rears its ugly head again. Awesome.

I'll wait until this this summer and see how the tournament ends.

 

[Milgod]

Sorry shzm but Dempsey has been brilliant this year. Little Pea has produced against small teams, good for him. I actually think he is, and will be, a good player but he has been placed in a perfect situation. Your blindness when it comes to Mexican players also makes take an active dislike towards them. It's a shame you can't see them for what they are.

As for the Gold Cup . . . . nobody had mentioned it. You brought it up, stating that US fans were making excuses. I don't think one fan would argue the US team that played there didn't get beat. I also think the vast majority would still have chosen to have the good showing at the Confed Cup.

 

[Mulli]

Excuses? You mean like when all Mexicofans go into excuse mode when Argentina is brought up?

 

[Shzm13]

and the Mexican inferirority complex rears its ugly head again. Awesome.

I'll wait until this this summer and see how the tournament ends.

Great contribution Xeno. Im simply trying to spark up some entertaining rivalry talk, the 17yr old chatter only goes so far.

Sorry shzm but Dempsey has been brilliant this year.

I never said that he hadn't been. All I said is JH had outscored him. Where's the foul?

Little Pea has produced against small teams, good for him. I actually think he is, and will be, a good player but he has been placed in a perfect situation.

You make it seem as if he's only able to produce against inferior teams. Most of you here, seem to ignore the importance of the goals he has scored. 4 game-winners, and a couple more that have saved United's ass from defeat. 12 points less would place United right behind City for 4th place in the table.

Your blindness when it comes to Mexican players also makes take an active dislike towards them. It's a shame you can't see them for what they are.

When did I declare Chicharito to be a legend? Lol, all I said is that Chich, Gio, Vela all scored this weekend and included a friendly jab at you USsoccer fans, because you know that, like always, US-MEX are likely finalists for the cup.

As for the Gold Cup . . . . nobody had mentioned it. You brought it up, stating that US fans were making excuses. I don't think one fan would argue the US team that played there didn't get beat. I also think the vast majority would still have chosen to have the good showing at the Confed Cup.

You're right, I did bring it up. Again, I told you to can the excuses. "That was our C-squad, our best team was in the confed cup," etc. I simply included that I would like to see some more goals from the US side if indeed both teams make it to the finals. 5-0 doesn't reflect the competitiveness of the rivalry.

Excuses? You mean like when all Usfans go into excuse mode when World Cup and Ghana is brought up?

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Precisely, Mulli. Precisely.

 

[Mulli]

I must not really be a US fan, Ghana was the better team by far each time. No question.

 

[Zeno]

Roster for upcoming friendlies...

GOALKEEPERS-Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Tim Howard (Everton), David Yelldell (MSV Duisburg)

DEFENDERS-Carlos Bocanegra (Saint-Etienne), Jonathan Bornstein (UANL Tigres), Timothy Chandler (FC Nürnberg), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Vancouver Whitecaps), Oguchi Onyewu (FC Twente), Tim Ream (New York Red Bulls), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United), Zak Whitbread (Norwich City)

MIDFIELDERS-Michael Bradley (Aston Villa), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Mikkel Diskeruud (Stabaek), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus), Stuart Holden (Bolton Wanderers), Jermaine Jones (Blackburn Rovers), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht)

FORWARDS-Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls), Jozy Altidore (Bursaspor), Edson Buddle (FC Ingolstadt)

 

[Shzm13]

GOALKEEPERS-Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Tim Howard (Everton), David Yelldell (MSV Duisburg)

DEFENDERS-Carlos Bocanegra (Saint-Etienne), Jonathan Bornstein (UANL Tigres), Timothy Chandler (FC Nürnberg), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Vancouver Whitecaps), Oguchi Onyewu (FC Twente), Tim Ream (New York Red Bulls), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United), Zak Whitbread (Norwich City)

MIDFIELDERS-Michael Bradley (Aston Villa), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Mikkel Diskeruud (Stabaek), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus), Stuart Holden (Bolton Wanderers), Jermaine Jones (Blackburn Rovers), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht)

FORWARDS-Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls), Jozy Altidore (Bursaspor), Edson Buddle (FC Ingolstadt)

YIKES!

Parking the bus and countering?

 

[Zeno]

YIKES!

Parking the bus and countering?

Unfortunately the US is not exactly stacked at forward. I fully expect the 4-2-3-1 out of then with the majority of the offense coming from the "3" Dempsey, Donovan & Holden.

 

[CardEd]

GOALKEEPERS-Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Tim Howard (Everton), David Yelldell (MSV Duisburg)

DEFENDERS-Carlos Bocanegra (Saint-Etienne), Jonathan Bornstein (UANL Tigres), Timothy Chandler (FC Nürnberg), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Vancouver Whitecaps), Oguchi Onyewu (FC Twente), Tim Ream (New York Red Bulls), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United), Zak Whitbread (Norwich City)

MIDFIELDERS-Michael Bradley (Aston Villa), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Mikkel Diskeruud (Stabaek), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus), Stuart Holden (Bolton Wanderers), Jermaine Jones (Blackburn Rovers), Sacha Kljestan (Anderlecht)

FORWARDS-Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls), Jozy Altidore (Bursaspor), Edson Buddle (FC Ingolstadt)

Nice to see the Big Boys back together

I will be in Jersey and Nashville for the games - glad the A-squad will be on hand.

 

[Shzm13]

What are the US' strengths/weaknesses, zeno?

 

[Shzm13]

Arqueros
Justo Villar (Real Valladolid, España)
Diego Barreto (Cerro Porteño)


Defensores
Paulo da Silva (Real Zaragoza, España)
Antolín Alcaraz (Wigan, Inglaterra)
Aureliano Torres (San Lorenzo, Argentina)
Marcos Cáceres (Racing, Argentina)
Miguel Samudio (Libertad)
Victor H. Marecos (Brescia, Italia)
Darío Verón (UNAM, Mexico)


Mediocampistas
Cristian Riveros (Sunderland, Inglaterra)
Edgar Barreto (Atalanta, Italia)
Enrique Vera (LDU Quito, Ecuador)
Osmar Molinas (Olimpia)
Marcelo Estigarribia (Newell's Old Boys, Argentina)
Nestor Ortigoza (San Lorenzo, Argentina)
Marcos Riveros (Nacional)
Herán Perez (Villarreal, España)


Delanteros
Osvaldo Martínez (Monterrey, Mexico)
Edgar Benitez (Pachuca, Mexico)
Lucas Barrios (Borussia Dortmund, Alemania)
Oscar Cardozo (Benfica, Portugal)

For those of you wondering who Paraguay is taking. Lucas Barrios has been amazing this year for Borussia Dortmund, it'll be interesting to see if they can stop him.

 

[Zeno]

What are the US' strengths/weaknesses, zeno?

Defense, fitness, toughness, goalkeeping & wing play...weaknesses are speed of play(not a lot of it outside of Donovan), creativity (Dempsey is about it) and instincts (especially around goal).

Positionally the US has depth on defense and is building depth in the central MF (Edu starts and produces for Rangers but he may not start for the US--because of Bradley & Jones)...there is currently nobody on the roster to pick up the slack with Donovan out of the lineup and they lack any kind of depth at forward (or even guys who should start internationally at this point).

 

[Gaddabout]

Edson Buddle? Really? Time machine, anyone? I guess it's cool to have someone from a German league, even a second division team. He does have two goals and one assist in 8 games this year.

 

[Zeno]

For those of you wondering who Paraguay is taking. Lucas Barrios has been amazing this year for Borussia Dortmund, it'll be interesting to see if they can stop him.

I'll be at the Paraguay friendly. Good to see Paraguay is bringing an experienced squad.

I wonder what changes we will see from the US from Argentina to the Paraguay matches.

 

[Zeno]

US U20 WCQ Roster

GOALKEEPERS - Zac MacMath (Philadelphia Union), Cody Cropper (Ipswich Town).

DEFENDERS - Gale Agbossoumonde (Djugardens IF), Greg Garza (Estoril Praia), Moises Hernandez (FC Dallas), Sacir Hot (New York Red Bulls), Sebastein Ibeagha (Duke University, Houston Dynamo Academy), Perry Kitchen (D.C. United), Zarek Valentin (Chivas USA), Korey Veeder (Columbus Crew).

MIDFIELDERS - Sebastian Lletget (West Ham), Amobi Okugo (Philadelphia Union), Moises Orozco (UANL Tigres), Dillon Powers (Notre Dame University), Kellyn Rowe (UCLA).

FORWARDS - Eder Arreola (UCLA), Conor Doyle (Derby County), Joe Gyau (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim), Omar Salgado (Vancouver Whitecaps), Bobby Wood (1860 Munich).

This is the most Pro heavy US U20 roster ever.

They are missing some pretty good players from that roster too -- Juan Agudelo (NYRB), Alex Zahavi (Macaiba Haifa), Fabian Huerzeler (Bayern Munich II), Josh Gatt (Molde FK) & Adrian Ruelas (Santos Laguna).

The tournament kicks off on the 28th. Here are the groups...

Group A
Guatemala (host)
Honduras
Jamaica

Group B
United States
Panama
Suriname

Group C
Canada
Costa Rica
Guadeloupe

Group D
Cuba
Mexico
Trinidad & Tobago

Top 4 teams qualify for U20 WC

All the US games will be on ESPN3