US Soccer Catch-All

Hrdina wrote:

Jamaica 1:0 Mexico FT

Goal scored by Kemar Lawrence (RBNY) at 88' on a nasty free kick. Andre Blake (Philadelphia Union) had 5 saves.

Jamaica vs USA on Wednesday at 9 ET in the final. Maybe a little revenge for the 2015 semi-final.

I didn't see the game, but I was surprised that Jamaica won. I saw somewhere that Mexico's best players aren't playing, but still, I'd never guess that Jamaica would knock them out.

Andre Blake kept Jamaica in the game by denying everything. Both keepers did well, really.

Very positive article in the Washington Post today about Arena's leadership of the USMNT at the Gold Cup.

Dom Dwyer just got sold to Orlando. I would be pleased if this took away some of KC's strength.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

Dom Dwyer just got sold to Orlando. I would be pleased if this took away some of KC's strength.

I read on SBI that they did it so that they can bring back Nemeth from Qatar, but now that article has been removed so who knows?

That story was based upon this tweet.

Of course the Revs are looking at him, too.

Let's go USA! TONIGHT!

Fedaykin98 wrote:

Let's go USA! TONIGHT!

Let's go tomorrow!!!

DVR - its past my bedtime

Ego Man wrote:
Fedaykin98 wrote:

Let's go USA! TONIGHT!

Let's go tomorrow!!!

DVR - its past my bedtime :)

U old.

Off to the gym and then hopefully watching the game.

We have non-soccer guests staying with us this evening, and I don't know how much interest they may have...

Godzilla Blitz wrote:

Off to the gym and then hopefully watching the game.

We have non-soccer guests staying with us this evening, and I don't know how much interest they may have...

My house, my USA!

Fedaykin98 wrote:
Godzilla Blitz wrote:

Off to the gym and then hopefully watching the game.

We have non-soccer guests staying with us this evening, and I don't know how much interest they may have...

My house, my USA!

Yup!

I do think that Jamaica is a more favorable matchup for us, and will be watching.

Hoping for a good game, and if Bruce Arena manages to win the Gold Cup while using the tournament largely as a training exercise, color me impressed.

Also watching although I wish I could be watching with THE one and only Dimmerswitch

Real bummer to see Blake go off. He has been one of the best players of the tournament. Amazing saves to prevent that goal.

WOO HOO. Morris made up for his marking on the Jamaica goal.

bigred wrote:

Real bummer to see Blake go off. He has been one of the best players of the tournament. Amazing saves to prevent that goal.


Yeah, I hope he's ok. He's a good guy and has a bright future as a GK.

Go go USA! Nice job by the whole squad, and I hope the strikers got some more confidence after coming up big lately!

I thought Arriola had his best game with the team tonight. I hadn't been that impressed before now. I think they said he was only 22, so he could really keep getting better and become a consistent contributor.

Also liked Nagbe better in this tournament than I ever have before. I guess his old club coach knows how to play him. Loved his tiny daughter fist-pumping after the win!

I won't mention all the players, but I was happy to see Michael Bradley recognized individually with the golden ball. He has been the heart of this team for so long, and has given so much. We are going to look back on his era with longing.

We managed to get back home in time for the second half and actually got our non-soccer friends somewhat interested in the game. Fun second half! Jamaica just ran out of gas in the last ten minutes.

We still look pretty shaky defensively, especially out wide - I also think that even though Miller had a great game, that Blake would have saved that first goal. (Though Jamaica was starting to fade, so we probably would have closed things out in extra time).

But it was a good win, and I'm happy for the team.

And kudos to Bruce Arena for taking the trophy in a tournament he mostly used to assess his roster options for this World Cup cycle.

Hrdina wrote:

WOO HOO. Morris made up for his marking on the Jamaica goal

This was my exact thought when he scored. I think it was his as well. I liked Morris when he broke onto the scene while still at Stanford. He works his rear off and creates some positive things but I have come to see him as a JAG (just a guy) type player for the US, ideally suited for CONCACAF competition but a non-factor against the stronger teams. I had originally seen Nagbe in a similar light but no longer think that is the case. Maybe Morris will turn out the same buy I am not sold yet.

Altidore's play has been good, which means I am just waiting for his next injury to strike and set him back. It just seems to be the unfortunate pattern. I also did not find myself swearing at Bradley for terrible turnovers in the Midfield or fouling an opponent 20-25 yds from the goal (though I think there was one). He seems to be dialing back in as a steady force.

Dempsey made an impact again when he came on the field.

I think Arriola deserves a nod for his work on the wing. If he would improve on his crossing and take on a few more players we have a good option on that side.

Fedaykin98 wrote:
Ego Man wrote:
Fedaykin98 wrote:

Let's go USA! TONIGHT!

Let's go tomorrow!!!

DVR - its past my bedtime :)

U old.

Don't be jealous young pup, you will get here one day.

Loved the game, liked the pressure we put on the Jamaican turtle. The spin that Jozy put on his goal was unbelievable.

I'm glad I got home late from work (maybe 5 miles from the game) and missed most of the first half. Oy, what a mess in the back.

Defensively frail, and bereft of ideas other than trying to dribble past the population of Costa Rica.

Feels like we will be lucky to qualify via the playoff, at this rate.

I wasn't able to watch every minute sadly, but I really liked the connectivity of the attack in the first half, despite the results. It wasn't quite as good in the second, but it wasn't all bad. We did great at putting balls into dangerous positions and creating chances that ultimately missed. Costa Rica did great defending against them and exposing our defense with a few really good passes and well-timed runs.

In the second half, Costa Rica started to take over and they were doing a great job of pushing Pulisic off the ball. Dempsey was clearly fired up. Hopefully the lessons of this game will stick with us for the remainder of qualifying.

This was Arena's first loss this time around, I believe, and we can still take 3rd in the Hex. We're done playing the two strongest opponents. We need to be at our best in Honduras next week.

I only saw the last 15 minutes, which wasn't pretty. It looked like a lot of players were trying to be heroes and dribble through the Costa Rican defense. We sure seemed to be making it easy for them, with the exception of a couple of threatening passes. I'm glad to hear that the whole game wasn't like that.

Super big game on Tuesday in Honduras, eh? We're even on points with them at #3 and #4 in the standings, but have a substantial goal differential edge. A tie would be good enough, but a loss would really make things shaky.

The announcers made it seem like there were so many Costa Rica fans there that it essentially didn't play like a home game? By the time I was watching it seemed like a lot of US fans had left so it was hard to tell. One announcer went so far as to criticize the choice of venue.

Godzilla Blitz wrote:

The announcers made it seem like there were so many Costa Rica fans there that it essentially didn't play like a home game? By the time I was watching it seemed like a lot of US fans had left so it was hard to tell. One announcer went so far as to criticize the choice of venue.

I live nearby, and I would never choose this area for a WCQ (except maybe against Canada) because there are large ex-pat gatherings from almost every country we might play. Too bad we couldn't have made them play in the Colorado snow again.

Yeah, the game v Honduras is huge, and given the shellacking we gave them in our home game as well as their poor performance in the Gold Cup, we have zero excuses for anything other than three points. This is a defining moment in the campaign.

Fedaykin98 wrote:

Yeah, the game v Honduras is huge, and given the shellacking we gave them in our home game as well as their poor performance in the Gold Cup, we have zero excuses for anything other than three points. This is a defining moment in the campaign.

Playing them in Honduras with an expected heat index of over 100 degrees adds some difficulty that wasn't there in previous matches. By no means an easy result. If we let them stick around or let them score first, the crowd stays amped up, and suddenly it's not at all what it was in previous matches.

I'm interested to see how the US team responds to Friday's result. A good team should come back fired up but I don't know what kind of team this is. As you mention it's a defining moment in the campaign, and I think a defining moment in Arena's new tenure as well.

These idiot commentators. We lose one match to Costa Rica and everything is "this broken, shattered team", "They lack confidence", "Are they entering this match in fear?"

bigred wrote:

These idiot commentators. We lose one match to Costa Rica and everything is "this broken, shattered team", "They lack confidence", "Are they entering this match in fear?"

Uh.....

EDIT: WELL THANK FREAKING CHRIST.