Cugalabanza Posted June 17, 2016 Author Share Posted June 17, 2016 Wow, that was a nervy one and an outstanding game. USA will be without Jones, Wood & Bedoya for the semifinal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cugalabanza Posted June 20, 2016 Author Share Posted June 20, 2016 USA is up against it vs. Argentina tomorrow (6/21) night at 9pm on FS1. It's hard enough playing a red hot Argentina, but with three of our hardest working players (Wood, Bedoya, Jones) suspended, it becomes a real long shot. I'm hoping Klinsmann decides to go more in the direction of Pulisic and Nagbe as opposed to Beckerman & Wondolowski. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LewPort71 Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 Raise your hands if you had predicted the 7--0 Chile win over Mexico. < sounds of crickets > Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Observer Posted June 20, 2016 Share Posted June 20, 2016 USA is up against it vs. Argentina tomorrow (6/21) night at 9pm on FS1. It's hard enough playing a red hot Argentina, but with three of our hardest working players (Wood, Bedoya, Jones) suspended, it becomes a real long shot. I'm hoping Klinsmann decides to go more in the direction of Pulisic and Nagbe as opposed to Beckerman & Wondolowski. Bedoya is a "meh" player to miss but Wood has been a consistent threat and Jones dominates space physically. They will be sorely missed. Definitely not the same time with Beckerman, Nagbe, Zusi arriving as the backups. To this point, the US has played well. Really like this group. A few players (I'm looking at you Bradley) continue to confound me with the occasional great play and then the massive bonehead one but there's hope for this crew. Argentina is a buzz saw so they will need to be disciplined and compact and make the most of counter attacks and any set pieces. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magox Posted June 21, 2016 Share Posted June 21, 2016 Bedoya is a "meh" player to miss but Wood has been a consistent threat and Jones dominates space physically. They will be sorely missed. Definitely not the same time with Beckerman, Nagbe, Zusi arriving as the backups. To this point, the US has played well. Really like this group. A few players (I'm looking at you Bradley) continue to confound me with the occasional great play and then the massive bonehead one but there's hope for this crew. Argentina is a buzz saw so they will need to be disciplined and compact and make the most of counter attacks and any set pieces. Out of the three Bedoya in my view is the most replaceable. Wood's speed and constant runs puts a lot of pressure on defenses and considering Argentina's defense isn't all that fast it could have been pretty valuable seeing him out there opening things up for Dempsey. I'm guessing they will move Gyasi Zardes up front considering his speed is close to Wood's. I also think we will see Pulisic probably come off the bench in the second half unless we somehow have the lead in the second half. I think we will probably see Fabian Johnson move to one of the outside midfield spots with Besler once again stepping in on the backline to replace him. Zusi I think will move into Zardes midfield spot and either Nagbe or Beckerman stepping in for Jones. I think Klinsman will be tempted to put Nagbe in there but will ultimately go with the safer choice in Beckerman. By the way here is a good read by Bedoya. I do think he's underrated, he does a lot of things that don't show up in the stats but he's good at keeping possession and an excellent defender from the wings who has a tremendous workrate which cannot be understated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cugalabanza Posted June 22, 2016 Author Share Posted June 22, 2016 **** awful first half. As soon as I saw Klinsmann's starting lineup, I knew all that "let's take it to them" lip service was a bunch of bull ****. And what's up with Bradley? He's gotta get his head fixed. He's turning the ball over with his first touch every single time he gets the ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LewPort71 Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 Messi > Ronaldo That argument is over. Doggone Argentina is good. WOW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Observer Posted June 22, 2016 Share Posted June 22, 2016 Messi > Ronaldo That argument is over. Doggone Argentina is good. WOW Never been an argument in my mind. Ronaldo is a great player with a tremendously flashy game. Messi is the best player I can recall seeing. IF he's moving forward, you're basically screwed as a defender. And yeah, so Argentina is a bit better than the US. The US needed top defending and some luck to make it a game. They got neither, and look awful to boot. The goal in the 4th minute killed any chance for them to win a gritty match. And yeah, that free kick was pretty nice. I think we will probably see Fabian Johnson move to one of the outside midfield spots with Besler once again stepping in on the backline to replace him. Zusi I think will move into Zardes midfield spot and either Nagbe or Beckerman stepping in for Jones. I think Klinsman will be tempted to put Nagbe in there but will ultimately go with the safer choice in Beckerman. It didn't matter who was in based on this performance but Wondo seems like a terrible choice. I'd have prefered to see more speed up top with Dempsey. The only chance they would have had was with an occasional counter with serious speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cugalabanza Posted June 22, 2016 Author Share Posted June 22, 2016 (edited) Just a terrible performance. Yes Argentina is good, but the U.S. made it so easy for them. More unforced errors than I've ever seen in a game. Bradley was an absolute horror show, the worst player on the field by a wide margin. Overall, a scared, panicky effort. No joy to be had. Edited June 22, 2016 by Cugalabanza Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LB3 Posted June 26, 2016 Share Posted June 26, 2016 Welp. Third place game. Let's go 'Murica! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cugalabanza Posted June 26, 2016 Author Share Posted June 26, 2016 They played quite well, just couldn't get the finish. 3 or 4 very solid chances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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