**Official USMNT Soccer Thread**

*sigh

JK's personnel decisions are the worst.

Danny Williams clearly isn't a winger. While players like Bedoya, Sacha, and Benny don't even get a look.

It's getting a little ridiculous. I'll reserve my final judgement for when everyone gets healthy.


In regards to the game, our defensive and Timmy Howard were clearly the bright spots in the otherwise forgettable matchup. Hopefully JK doesn't trot out the same starting side against Slovenia, Tuesday.
 
Jozy and Howard played great. Disappointing with another loss, but I think we played ok. Clearly Beckerman and EDU should not be starting. I think we have other players that can play that CDM position. I dont get why Klinsy think Williams is a winger. Dude is strictly a CDM. Dempsey held on to the ball to long. He need to distribute better, but I know he is no no#10.
All in all, I am frustrated by the losses, but we need to ride the ship. I want to see what Klinsy can do when he has everyone back and healthy.  Hopefullt Holden and Torres come back sooner rather then later.
 
Looks like a 4-4-2 is the way to go. I was impressed with Buddle. He looked like a no#9 today. Fabian was impressive as well. He plays better on the wing then Williams. The score should have been 4-2, but the referee overlook that handball in the box. Overall, We look better offensively then we had the past 6 games.
 
Good win. Buddle with a goal 
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, he looked sharp overall. Johnson played well also. The defense still needs some work, we gave up too many chances. 
 
Great read per Olympic Team selections. If anyone has the rest of the article, please feel free to post.


[h2]http://insider.espn.go.com/sports/soccer/blog/_/name/us_national_soccer[/h2]
[h2]U.S. National Soccer Team Blog[/h2]

[h3]Going for Gold: 11 for England 
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[/h3]
November, 28, 2011
Nov 28

By Brent Latham

The U.S. Olympic team finally began to take shape at the recent megacamp in Germany. So what better time to start to piece together the puzzle and give you a projected lineup for the 2012 Olympic team?

Even if Olympic coach Caleb Porter was tied up with his collegiate coaching duties at Akron, the camp gave us plenty of clues to what youth technical director Claudio Reyna is thinking. Four scrimmages took place, two for the full U-23 team and two more for a team of U-20s (including a handful of older players from the last U-20 cycle). The way those teams were divided, along with the way the rest of the camp shook out, give us a sense of what the Olympic roster will look like next summer.

But first, some notes:

• Standout performers at the Germany camp included forward Terrence Boyd, who helped his stock tremendously, bagging a pair of goals in two games -- the second as a second half sub -- and defender Royal-Dominique Fennell (call him Nick, for short), who looks like a strong candidate to fill an experience void in the middle of the defense.

• Some players we might have included in the team this time last month spent the camp with the junior varsity U-20 team, suggesting a drop on the depth chart for former U-20 standouts Conor Doyle, Sebastian Lletget and Perry Kitchen. Others from that age group, including midfielder Amobi Okugo and defender Zarek Valentin, seized chances with the first team.

• There were 34 players at the recent camp, and that's a big number. However, we can't pick our Olympic team solely from this camp. A half-dozen U-23 players made the trip to France and Slovenia with the full team, and if Porter has his pick, he'll obviously include most or all of Danny Williams, Timmy Chandler, Jozy Altidore, Brek Shea, Alfredo Morales and Bill Hamid in his final squad. But qualifying in March falls outside FIFA match dates, so the U.S. will almost certainly be short at least a few of its Europe-based players due to club commitments. Chandler and Williams are the most likely to be unavailable, and the list could quickly grow to include Altidore, Morales, Fennell and Boyd as well. Given those absences, the likes of Joe Gyau, Tony Taylor, and Jared Jeffrey may be called upon for qualifying but ultimately miss out on a place at the Olympics.

One of the more interesting roster spot battles will be at center forward. The coaching staff prefers a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3, so there's probably not space on the 18-man roster for three big forwards. The spot behind Altidore will come down to a choice between Boyd and Teal Bunbury. It's hard to imagine leaving either out at this point, but Porter would have to drop a midfielder or winger to bring all three.

• There are still some camps to be held on this side of the Atlantic, but the large roster in Germany featured the majority of the U-23 candidates not with the full team. One absentee who sticks out, though, is Freddy Adu. With so much experience, including the 2008 Olympics, he must at least be in the discussion for the No. 10 spot. His main competition behind Mixx Diskerud would be Dilly Duka and Juan Agudelo, who has been getting some reps in this role. And taking Adu probably means leaving a winger like Taylor or Gyau at home, so the choice isn't as clear cut as it seems.
• If the U.S. makes the Olympics, the team will be allowed to add up to three over-age players, and it's always fun to speculate who might be a good fit. A central defender would be an obvious choice -- Omar Gonzalez, who misses out on the age cut by only a few months, might fit in well. With a 4-2-3-1 in mind, it would also be tempting to add some depth in defensive midfield from the long list of full national team candidates, maybe a Kyle Beckerman or even Michael Bradley. Jose Torres, who skipped the 2008 Olympics while waiting for a call from Mexico, would also make an interesting addition as a versatile attacking option in central midfield.
Thoughts?
Click to expand...
 
Roster for the upcoming January camp,


GOALKEEPERS: Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)

DEFENDERS: Geoff Cameron (Houston Dynamo), A.J. DeLaGarza (LA Galaxy), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), George John (FC Dallas), Zach Loyd (FC Dallas), Michael Parkhurst (FC Nordsjaelland), Heath Pearce (Chivas USA)

MIDFIELDERS: Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt), Benny Feilhaber (New England Revolution), Jeff Larentowicz (Colorado Rapids), Brek Shea (FC Dallas), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)

FORWARDS: Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls), Teal Bunbury (Sporting Kansas City), C.J. Sapong (Sporting Kansas City), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)


The three guys representing for KC are a big part of the reason why they were so fun to watch this year.
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I'll be going to Nashville for the U23 tournament in March. Best u23 side ES has fielded in years...that game vs USA to close out the group should be epic and here's to hoping ES and US qualify to London.
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I agree only in the sense that he needs to be building chemistry with those guys giving the team the best chance to qualify and return home with Gold at the end of the summer.

From a development standpoint I don't see what he has to gain by training with the U23s opposed to the full national team.

The things he needs to improve on, he needs to improve on, and training at the highest level possible will not hinder that process, especially given he's already proven that he has the ability to compete at that level.
 
Lineup...


1-Bill Hamid
2-A.J. DeLaGarza
3-Heath Pearce
4-Michael Parkhurst
5-Geoff Cameron
6-Jeff Larentowicz
7-Graham Zusi
8-Jermaine Jones (capt.)
9-Teal Bunbury
10-Benny Feilhaber
11-Brek Shea
 
I thought it was a solid first half by the US.

Shea had some great shots on goal and Bunbury had a great bender.

Parkhurst and Zusi are definitely showing up.
 
I agree not a bad first half even though I thought it was a little sloppy. I just think pretty highly of this group and think they're capable of more.
 
Bunbury is looking real solid. As the solo guy up top he does a great job of holding up the ball and distributing. Exactly what Altidore needs to do more of.
 
Yeah Bunbury's really the only thing I've seen this half that I've liked. Except for him taking that shot when we had 5 on 4. Should have dropped it or crossed it. Oh well.

Gotta start hitting these chances though. Cant let Venezuela hang around if we can help it.
 
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