**Official USMNT Soccer Thread**

[Kimchi Papi]

After hearing about the Belize NT financial problems, I felt bad for them.

Landon seems to have come back like a reckoning. I guess going to Thailand to find himself worked out.

Anytime you can score a hat trick it's an accomplishment so kudos to Wondolowski, but you have to remember it was against Belize, not exactly a futbol powerhouse though...

I don't mind the Waldo jerseys but someone at US Soccer please get rid of that dumb crest... Please...

 

[sfc415]

Wondo is a great player to have against weaker defenses. I watch the Earthquakes now and then, and he's a great poacher Always gets himself right in front of goal to get the rebound and tap it in. No hate, that shows that he has a good sense of positioning. It just doesn't work against teams who defend tightly

 

[Kimchi Papi]

It's nice to see the USNT on TV, but playing in the CONCACAF sucks. The teams are meh compared to the rest of the world. In theory, if you have some talent you can only get better playing better competition. The USNT team needs to play more South American & Euro teams more regularly. This CONCACAF play is for the birds now...

 

[ice city fc]

It's nice to see the USNT on TV, but playing in the CONCACAF sucks. The teams are meh compared to the rest of the world. In theory, if you have some talent you can only get better playing better competition. The USNT team needs to play more South American & Euro teams more regularly. This CONCACAF play is for the birds now...

To the USSF and Klinnsman's credit, for the most part they've scheduled top tier competition for friendlies going back the past two years but yea, playing in in CONCACAF is a massive hinderance to our program. Friendlies against strong nations are great but they don't compare to actual competitive matches and tournament play. 

It's so crucial that the proposed joint CONCACAF/CONMEBOL 2016 Copa America comes to fruition. Would be the first step towards making it an official FIFA tournament in the future, of course it's a pipe dream right now but a restructuring of the two federations with the North and Central American countries joining  the South Americans in one fed is the ideal longterm scenario. 

Problem is the U.S. and Mexico have the most to gain from a restructuring of that sort and we are the only countries really hurt by the status quo, that and the voting block we'd face by the thirty something members of the Caribbean zone who outnumber all of the NA and CA members combined. 

 

[deepinthajeep]

It's nice to see the USNT on TV, but playing in the CONCACAF sucks. The teams are meh compared to the rest of the world. In theory, if you have some talent you can only get better playing better competition. The USNT team needs to play more South American & Euro teams more regularly. This CONCACAF play is for the birds now...

With all due respect, I can't disagree with this more.

 

[Kimchi Papi]

It's nice to see the USNT on TV, but playing in the CONCACAF sucks. The teams are meh compared to the rest of the world. In theory, if you have some talent you can only get better playing better competition. The USNT team needs to play more South American & Euro teams more regularly. This CONCACAF play is for the birds now...

With all due respect, I can't disagree with this more.

I'm cool for having a respectful discussion. What are your arguments that support your stance?

 

[ice city fc]

With all due respect, I can't disagree with this more.

What part do you not agree with?

 

[Kimchi Papi]

Someone get this yertle turtle lookin ************ gus off futbol broadcasts... God plz...

 

[Kimchi Papi]

Watching the rebroadcast... I guess none of these Cubans aren't defecting because they're playing really dirty...

Brek looks bad out there...

 

[Deleted member 38182]

Suck it Cuba

Tell me how that democracy taste

 

[Coromanti]

Suck it Cuba

Tell me how that democracy taste

Telling Cuba suck it is like Man U telling Chivas USA suck it. Everyone knows Cuba is garbage at football.

 

[Deleted member 38182]

it was just a dumb joke.

My bad man, didn't mean to offend. Obviously Cuba sucks.

It'd be like me telling Angola to suck it after we beat them in basketball by like 60 points

 

[demps]

this wondowloski to brazil talk...me no like.

 

[Deleted member 38182]

^That.

I think its great that Wondo is able to find the back of the net with relative ease against terrible teams... but put him against a WC caliber back line and that dude is toast.

 

[DeadsetAce]

this wondowloski to brazil talk...me no like.

should be no reason for that type of talk at this point in time. not at all

 

[socluis90]

Interested in knowing who our opponent is going to be next round. We'll have a good idea after today.

 

[dlo13]

Injury news...
-The knee injury that forced Josh Gatt out of the Gold Cup needs surgery. Will miss the rest of Molde's season, which runs to November. Certain that you can write off any chance of him being in Brazil next summer.
-Fabian Johnson was reported to have partially torn an ankle limit, which caused me to have a minor panic. But Hoffenheim clarified that it is minor and he should resume training within a week.

 

[lyonbc1]

Injury news...
-The knee injury that forced Josh Gatt out of the Gold Cup needs surgery. Will miss the rest of Molde's season, which runs to November. Certain that you can write off any chance of him being in Brazil next summer.
-Fabian Johnson was reported to have partially torn an ankle limit, which caused me to have a minor panic. But Hoffenheim clarified that it is minor and he should resume training within a week.

Damn that sucks for Gatt, he could've used the CL qualifiers as a platform did he tear a ligament in his knee or something? He can't catch a break any time we have qualifiers or a gold cup

 

[deepinthajeep]

It's nice to see the USNT on TV, but playing in the CONCACAF sucks. The teams are meh compared to the rest of the world. In theory, if you have some talent you can only get better playing better competition. The USNT team needs to play more South American & Euro teams more regularly. This CONCACAF play is for the birds now...

With all due respect, I can't disagree with this more.

I'm cool for having a respectful discussion. What are your arguments that support your stance?

Of course and sorry for the delayed reply.

I think we should give our region a little more credit. Honduras, Costa Rica, Mexico and in past cycles T&T are formidable opponents and would give any team in the World a game. Granted that's only four teams (counting the US) but to say that we aren't going to improve if we continue to dominate teams we're suppose to dominate is a bit nearsighted and that's where we disagree. I think as US supporters we're guilty of being a little spoiled. We've qualified for every world cup since I was old enough to remember watching TV, and we are consistently either winning or finishing 2nd in our region. I'd much rather dominate "minnow" teams in CONCACAF and have 3 - 4 quality opponents where we're really tested, than not having my native county to root for in Brazil, Russia or Qatar.

Let's look at CONMEBOL for example. If we consider Brazil an outlier b/c they're Brazil. I feel like they also have 4 or 5 quality opponents in Argentina, Columbia, Uruguay, Ecuador and possibly Paraguay. Think we could finish in the top 5 of that group and qualify? I think so.

Where would you rate CONCACAF in a list of the rest of the world's Federations?

This is my assessment:

UEFA
COMMEBOL
CONCACAF
CAF
AFC
OFC

IMO we're one of the top 3 Federations in the World currently.

In fact, there's continued discussions on FIFA permitting CONCACAF to have a fourth guaranteed spot at the next WC (no more play-in game for the 4th place team).

We will continue to improve when our style of play and player technical ability catch up to the rest of the world. It's more about the US and less about our region's weaker teams. We're getting better and I also think our region is also on a come up.

 

[Kimchi Papi]

deepinthajeep -

The problem I have is that I think there needs to be a reorganization of CONCACAF & COMMEBOL. I think they need to be combined into 2 different confederations with the lesser teams being grouped together & so on.

I would also create a system where if the lesser teams get better, they can promote. Conversely, teams in the upper echelon would be relegated if they don't perform. In this system I would create a means for auto qualifying on both levels so that even the lesser teams can make the WC if they play well.

Why on earth are we wasting time playing the likes of Belize, Martinique (which isn't even a country), & Haiti? There's no competition in winning 6 - nil. There are only 3 nations worth anything in CONCACAF.

My son plays for a travel team (some people in other parts of the country call it club soccer) & I'm part of the board of execs. We have teams from U18 on down (boys & girls). We place great emphasis on putting each of the teams in competitive leagues while also being mindful of making sure our kids play top flight futbol. It's no fun losing by 6 or winning by 6.

You only get better by playing better competition. That's been the case in any sport. I just don't see the benefit of playing these lesser teams in helping to build a better national team. It also gives US fans the false impression of what our team really looks like so when we play the first team of a certain nation & we lose, our casual fans are like WTF, didn't we beat Belize 6 - nil?

There is so much more I wanted to say but I tried to keep it short & simple... Hope I got my counter point across...

 

[deepinthajeep]

PSK, Very well put and I think your points are valid ones. Your suggestion of combining CONCACAF and COMMEBOL to make one federation is a interesting (especially a relegation/promotion model you presented) one and I wish there were an alternative 4 year tourney that would do this. However, I maintain that over time our Federation will continue to improve, it has already. You must admit that qualifying in 2002 was a little less difficult than it has been this cycle and the cycle before. Yes, playing top-notch competition every game during qualifying would improve our side but every federation in the world has teams teams destroy and never make it out of qualifying. For lack of a better argument, that's just the way it is - every federation has its fair share of "minnow" teams, right. You maintain CONCACAF has more, correct?

Either way, the fact that we're even having this conversation is good for the sport in this country. This is only the beginning - wait until you see what happens after Brazil.

 

[ice city fc]

Of course and sorry for the delayed reply.

I think we should give our region a little more credit. Honduras, Costa Rica, Mexico and in past cycles T&T are formidable opponents and would give any team in the World a game. Granted that's only four teams (counting the US) but to say that we aren't going to improve if we continue to dominate teams we're suppose to dominate is a bit nearsighted and that's where we disagree. I think as US supporters we're guilty of being a little spoiled. We've qualified for every world cup since I was old enough to remember watching TV, and we are consistently either winning or finishing 2nd in our region. I'd much rather dominate "minnow" teams in CONCACAF and have 3 - 4 quality opponents where we're really tested, than not having my native county to root for in Brazil, Russia or Qatar.

Let's look at CONMEBOL for example. If we consider Brazil an outlier b/c they're Brazil. I feel like they also have 4 or 5 quality opponents in Argentina, Columbia, Uruguay, Ecuador and possibly Paraguay. Think we could finish in the top 5 of that group and qualify? I think so.

Where would you rate CONCACAF in a list of the rest of the world's Federations?

This is my assessment:

UEFA
COMMEBOL
CONCACAF
CAF
AFC
OFC

IMO we're one of the top 3 Federations in the World currently.

In fact, there's continued discussions on FIFA permitting CONCACAF to have a fourth guaranteed spot at the next WC (no more play-in game for the 4th place team).

We will continue to improve when our style of play and player technical ability catch up to the rest of the world. It's more about the US and less about our region's weaker teams. We're getting better and I also think our region is also on a come up.

It's not that we wont improve playing in CONCACAF, the argument is that we'd improve at a greater rate in a stronger federation and I don't think that can be denied. You get better by playing the best competition.

There's no way CONCACAF is stronger than CAF, not at the top or as a whole. It's not even close, we're much closer to the AFC. 

I guess it just comes down to personal preference but I would gladly accept the risk of not making the world cup every odd year in exchange for playing against the best competition in the Americas. 

 

[deepinthajeep]

You make it seem as if missing the World Cup or going every other cycle would not set the US back significantly. You'd rather play in a CONCACAF/COMMOBOL super federation than go to the WC in 2018??? I mean, that's your opinion and I respect it but I don't see how possibly missing a WC helps us in the least bit.

In regards to CAF being stronger than CONCACAF - I think these are the strongest nations from CAF - Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa (not going to Brazil), Cameroon, Algeria. Aside from IC, Ghana and Cameroon, I don't see how we're "no way" stronger than that AFC. I'd take Mexico, Costa Rica and the USMNT over Algeria, Nigeria and Egypt any day of the week.

 

[ice city fc]

We're no longer at the point where missing the World Cup would be the death sentence for the sport in this country.  In just the last two years TV networks have invested over a billion dollars in soccer, the sport is here to stay and will continue to grow regardless of how the U.S. performs on the field. I'm not saying missing the WC wouldn't be a setback but it wouldn't be the significant setback it would have been ten years,.  I guess it just comes down to a different viewpoints but to me, fear of not making the World Cup is no reason not to play against stronger competition. 

I really don't think a reasonable argument can be made that CONCACAF is as strong as CAF.  It's the U.S., Mexico, Honduras, and Costa Rica vs Ghana, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Egypt, Nigeria, Algeria, Mali, Tunisia, Senegal, South Africa. They have a greater number of decent teams and a faaaaaaar deeper pool of accomplished club players.

Egypt and Nigeria > Costa Rica and Honduras

 

[deepinthajeep]

I feel ya HAM, I do. Just difference of opinion I guess.

Who starting tonight? Has the lineup been posted yet?

And can we PLEASE get Castillo out of the LB spot? He's okay getting forward but a complete liability in the back. Shea needs to sit.

And listen, I have no issue w/ Wondo being a 3rd forward option in Brazil this summer. So far the only forwards who are definitely going are Jozy, Clint and Herc. I'd take Wondo over Boyd. What do yall think?