The Official US Soccer thread

[Zeno]

Bocanegra leaves St. Etienne to join Edu and Bedoya at Rangers. Can't say I'm a fan of the SPL.

That team now has 3 Americans with Edu and Bedoya also there. If you are going to be in Scotland, might as well be with Rangers or Celtic, at least you'll play in the Euro competitions regularly.

 

[Renz]

Bocanegra leaves St. Etienne to join Edu and Bedoya at Rangers. Can't say I'm a fan of the SPL.

Ligue 1 >>>> SPL

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Ligue 1 >>>> SPL

Indeed. I enjoy physical soccer over the brand that the ninnies in some leagues play, but the SPL borders on the reckless far too often. Don't like the idea of National Teamers playing there all that much. Rangers (with Boca and Edu going 90 minutes) lost to NK Maribor of the Slovenian league(!) in the Europa league today, so not a good start to their season. At least Dempsey scored two, granted against something called a Dnipro. It will be interesting to see where Klinsmann slots him next month.

 

[Shzm13]

Indeed. I enjoy physical soccer over the brand that the ninnies in some leagues play, but the SPL borders on the reckless far too often. Don't like the idea of National Teamers playing there all that much. Rangers (with Boca and Edu going 90 minutes) lost to NK Maribor of the Slovenian league(!) in the Europa league today, so not a good start to their season. At least Dempsey scored two, granted against something called a Dnipro. It will be interesting to see where Klinsmann slots him next month.

Not to mention that outside of Rangers-Celtic, the rest of the league is absolute garbage. I believe 2nd and 3rd place were separated by about 30pts last year.

On the plus side, Rangers played really well in CL last year.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Netherlands seems to suit Altidore, who scored two for Alkmaar today. Total of 3 in 3 games I believe. Videos here:

http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2011/08/altidore-scores-two-in-alkmaar-rout.html

 

[Zeno]

Netherlands seems to suit Altidore, who scored two for Alkmaar today. Total of 3 in 3 games I believe. Videos here:

http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2011/08/altidore-scores-two-in-alkmaar-rout.html

Good to see. The more he scores the more confident he will become and confidence makes a HUGE difference for a striker.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Somebody get Klinsmann on the phone:

Augsburg, Hoffenheim midfielder and left back Fabian Johnson admitted that he is open to playing for the US national team.

Johnson, 23, arrived at Hoffenheim after spending the previous two seasons at VfL Wolfsburg.

The defender was born in Munich, but is the son of an American serviceman and holds a US passport.

In the past, Johnson has played with the German Under-19, U-20, and U-21 youth national teams but has never played for the senior team.

For the first time on record, Johnson has now indicated that playing for the United States at the international level is a possibility.

"Naturally it's possible, by all means yes," Johnson told YA after the game. " Yes, of course - [if they called] then I would in any case think it over."

...

"I can honestly say that I have not received any phone call [from the USSF]," Johnson added. "So I haven't really thought it over seriously."

More here: http://www.yanks-abroad.com/get.php?mode=content&id=8134

 

[Zeno]

We may have the US military to thank for our WC team before all is said and done. Thank goodness for horny soldiers and willing young German ladies LOL

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

George John, the 24 year old FC Dallas centerback, is off to Blackburn. Might want to give him a call up next spring just in case, as he apparently also holds a Greek passport. Never thought he was EPL material (by a longshot), but what do I know...

 

[Shzm13]

Bayern Munich defender Philipp Lahm is not too impressed with Jurgen Klinsmann's coaching skills and has revealed that the current USA tactician only focused on the physical aspect of the game and left tactical decisions to the players during his time with the Bavarian club.

"The experiment with Klinsmann was a failure. We were only working on our fitness in training. He didn't care much for tactical stuff," cites Bild from Lahm's autobiography 'Der feine Unterschied - Wie man heute Spitzenfussballer wird', which will go on sale on Monday.

Klinsmann took the reins at Bayern in the summer of 2008, but failed to see out the season as he was sacked with five games still to be played.

"It was up to the players to come together before a match and discuss how we were going to play. All the players knew after about eight weeks that it was not going to work out with Klinsmann. The remainder of that campaign was nothing but limiting the damage."

Lahm

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

The chase for Club Tijuana forward Joe Benny Corona just got a bit more interesting.

Corona has been called up by Mexico's Under-22 side for a pair of matches against Chile's Under-22s. Corona is joined on the roster by another California native, Chivas de Guadalajara left back Miguel Angel Ponce.

Corona has two goals in the Apertura for the Xoloitzcuintles (or Xolos) in their first season since being promoted into the Mexican Primera Division. Corona's rising star began during the Xolos drive for promotion, with Corona even scoring the goal that decided Club Tijuana's promotion playoff. In addition to his ability to represent Mexico and the U.S., Corona is also eligible to represent El Salvador, his mother's birth nation.

In a recent ESPN profile of Corona, Corona stated that he had been on former U.S. national team Bob Bradley's preliminary roster for the Aug. 10 friendly against Mexico but didn't end up making the final roster after Bradley's firing. During his conversation with ESPN, Corona admitted that he has been in contact with the current regime under Jurgen Klinsmann, who sent a scout to watch him in a recent match against Puebla.

http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_...d-up-by-mexican-u-22s-admits-us-interest.html

 

[Shzm13]

"Mexico is my priority now," he said. "It's a hard decision, but most likely I will play for Mexico."

Joe Corona

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Hopefully he enjoys keeping the bench warm. Regardless, we have plenty of mids anyway.

 

[azsportsfan01]

Fabian Johnson joins the US team from the German team.

http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/ne...switches-countries-named-united-states-roster

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Full Roster:

GOALKEEPERS-Tim Howard, Bill Hamid
DEFENDERS-Carlos Bocanegra, Edgar Castillo, Timothy Chandler, Steve Cherundolo, Clarence Goodson, Zach Loyd, Michael Orozco Fiscal, Heath Pearce, Tim Ream
MIDFIELD-Kyle Beckerman, Clint Dempsey, Maurice Edu, Fabian Johnson, Sacha Kljestan, Jeff Larentowicz, Robbie Rogers, Brek Shea, Jose Torres
FORWARDS-Juan Agudelo, Jozy Altidore, Teal Bunbury, Landon Donovan

Obviously not the full strength team due to a lot of guys with new/uncertain clubs, but lots of interesting names. Larentowicz's name still sticks out, and not in a good way. Surely somebody like Diskerud would have been a better choice. It will be interesting to see what kind of role they envision for Johnson. Sure he's listed as a midfielder here, but with LB still a sore spot and no Lichaj, one would think he could get a look there at some point.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Two more for Jozy as AZ Alkmaar moves on in the Europa League.

Videos here (with bonus Springsteen): http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2011/08/americans-abroad-europa-league-rewind-1.html

 

[cardfaninfl]

Sacha Kljestan! I'm now officially rooting for the kid. He's like Rasputin - appearantly, you just can't get rid of him.

 

[slinslin]

Fabian Johnson joins the US team from the German team.

http://espn.go.com/sports/soccer/ne...switches-countries-named-united-states-roster

Johnson was never even in consideration for the German team so far.

 

[Stout]

Sacha Kljestan! I'm now officially rooting for the kid. He's like Rasputin - appearantly, you just can't get rid of him.

Boo! I HATE this guy. He sucks out loud!

Johnson was never even in consideration for the German team so far.

Fail. Your soccer arrogance rears its ugly head once again. He switched allegiance--he had played for the younger national team, and has switched allegiance. Who mentioned or cares whether he was 'considered' for the German team? You just felt the need to plug that your national team didn't want him anyway.

Oh, and I didn't know you were from Germany.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

I'm upset that Freddie Adu wasn't selected for this team.

 

[Shzm13]

http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_...d-up-by-mexican-u-22s-admits-us-interest.html

These players were called up for Mexico's team for the U22/olympic team that will be competing in the 2011 Panamerican games.

I looked up the countries competing in this tournament, and the US is one of them. I'm not sure if they'll be sending a football team or not, but if they do, who will they be including?

 

[azsouthendzone]

I'm upset that Freddie Adu wasn't selected for this team.

+1

I am confused about the love for Tim Ream. I don't get it. I am also confused about the lack of call ups for Omar Gonzalez. The guy is a beast on the back line. He dominates MLS and Ream gets dominated by MLS. Am I missing part of the equation? As long as he gets a look for qualifying.

 

[Renz]

Fail. Your soccer arrogance rears its ugly head once again. He switched allegiance--he had played for the younger national team, and has switched allegiance. Who mentioned or cares whether he was 'considered' for the German team? You just felt the need to plug that your national team didn't want him anyway.

Fabian Johnson, who started for Germany in the final of the Under-21 European Championship just two years ago, switched allegiance to the United States...

Now Johnson sucks though.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

These players were called up for Mexico's team for the U22/olympic team that will be competing in the 2011 Panamerican games.

I looked up the countries competing in this tournament, and the US is one of them. I'm not sure if they'll be sending a football team or not, but if they do, who will they be including?

The US is not sending a team this time (neither is Canada for that matter). There was not a qualifying tournament for the North American teams like for Central America/Caribbean and South America.

 

[coyoteshockeyfan]

Fabian Johnson will still participate in camp, but is not eligible to play in the Costa Rica and Belgium friendlies while his FIFA paperwork is processed.

http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_...usmnt-soccer-hoffenheim-jurgen-klinsmann.html