Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
Johan Cruyff has passed (don't smoke, kids). A true giant. Here's a good retrospective: http://soccer.nbcsports.com/2016/03/24/video-johan-cruyff-highlights/
English Premier League Thread 2015-2016
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
Bobby Wood to the Reds?
wettsten
- Chicago
wait. harry redknapp is the manager of jordan?!?!?!
Interesting. Having only watched him in his handful of national team caps, I've never really thought too highly of him. But he's only 23 so still plenty of room to grow.
Just for their last two AFC qualification matches. Doing it as a favor to Prince Ali, who recently lost the FIFA presidency election.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
Not EPL, but what the hay. The USMNT attempts to atone for their disaster in Guatemala last week. Game is @ 7 on ESPN2. Afterwards, the US U23s play Columbia. 2nd leg, Olympic berth on the line.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
They scored early and we're largely dominated thereafter. They will have to play better tonight. If they concede the first goal, they're in trouble.
KBLEE
- Montgomery, IL
Yeah - but they did that as the away team. Conditions will be much more favorable for them tonight.
Columbia's U-23 team is definitely a better relative level of competition and might very well just be a better team period than Guatemala.
It is hard to overstate how important the two games are tonight.
It would be a dramatic hit to US soccer if both teams lose. Not only would we not be fielding a team for the Olympics (which we really should be able to do given our resources), but we would most likely fail to reach the World Cup for the first time in 25+ years. It would also probably be the end of our relationship with Jurgen.
It would also kill a lot of the momentum US Soccer has been building since 1990 as we’d be looking at a 6 year drought of major TV coverage of the international team.
I actually think we’ll do fine tonight and this will just be yet another bump in the road, but still it is pretty crazy how big tonight’s games are. Thank goodness they are both on ESPN2 rather than Bein or NBC Universo!
It would be a dramatic hit to US soccer if both teams lose. Not only would we not be fielding a team for the Olympics (which we really should be able to do given our resources), but we would most likely fail to reach the World Cup for the first time in 25+ years. It would also probably be the end of our relationship with Jurgen.
It would also kill a lot of the momentum US Soccer has been building since 1990 as we’d be looking at a 6 year drought of major TV coverage of the international team.
I actually think we’ll do fine tonight and this will just be yet another bump in the road, but still it is pretty crazy how big tonight’s games are. Thank goodness they are both on ESPN2 rather than Bein or NBC Universo!
Yeah I'm really excited about tonight. I expect USMNT to take care of business tonight. The truth is something like this almost always happens in WCQ. They drop points, people panic, and the next game at home turns into a must win. And they always win that must win game. Playing on the road in Concacaf many times neutralizes the difference in talent level between the US and the home team. The field is terrible, it's hot and humid, and many times the referees seem to favor the home team. That's tough to deal with when most of the team plays on perfect fields, perfect training facilities, and mild weather. It forces you to grind it out and make a goal out of nowhere most of the time. Mexico drops points to inferior competition on the road all the time too. Plus, their keeper played the game of his life. I expect a 3-0, maybe 3-1 win today.
As for the u23 team, that first leg was really fun to watch. Over 20,000 Columbians fans showed up for a youth match and they were loud. The temperature was over 100 and the young yanks found a way to get a result. Jordan Morris still looks promising, but he is still pretty raw. He has no left foot which will really hurt at the next level. And Emerson Hyndman might quickly turn into my favorite national team player ever. He's so good at controlling the game with his distribution. I'm not sure he lost the ball once in the first leg. The only problem he has is he's so small. But if Jurgen can find/develop a big, strong, no nonsense CDM then Hyndman and Gedion Zelalem will control the US midfield for many many years.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
Klinsmann's job is on the line tonight. Hopefully, he won't play Diskerud and Gonzalez. They really stunk in GC. Guys need to step it up, big time. Sucks that Besler is hurt.
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Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
On second thought, scratch Orozco. Worse tire fire than Gonzalez. Cameron back to CB.
Agreed. And put Yedlin at RB instead of midfield. I just saw Christian Pulisic was brought in. Does Klinsmann throw him out there? I hope so, I can't wait to watch him play.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
I want to see the kid play too, but you don't trot out a 17yo in his debut with such high stakes. Now is not the time to experiment. If Zusi is healthy, play him. Agreed on Yedlin.
Looks like Klinsmann agreed with you about Zusi. And both CB's have been replaced by Cameron and Birnbaum. Don't really know much about Birnbaum so let's see how he does.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
Need to step on them. Let's go!
No Pappa.
No Pappa.
Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
Couple of golden, blown opportunities. But the team answered the call. Now the U23s need to take care of business.
ChiCityHoops34
- DeKalb IL
Michael Bradley was great tonight.
Pretty underwhelming performance from the u23s but Columbia were clearly the better team from top to bottom. Really sucks to not be going to the Olympics again. That's a huge missed opportunity for the youth players. If I'm Klinsmann, I'm going to use the more promising youth players in the Copa America in place of the older players that won't be around in 2018. Guys like Kyle Beckerman, Jermaine Jones, Chris Wondolowski, Tim Howard, and maybe even Clint Dempsey.
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Joel Goodson
- respect my decision™
U23s were owned. Columbia's clearly better, but that performance was embarrassing.
Deleted member 3875
D
Guest
U-23's looked like U-17's last night. Totally outclassed and outplayed. Still waiting for the slumbering USA giant to wake up. Been about +30 years now.
This weekend's Premier League schedule (all times Central):
Saturday
6:45 AM, NBCSN: Aston Villa vs. Chelsea
9:00 AM, NBCSN: Arsenal vs. Watford
9:00 AM, USA: Norwich vs. Newcastle
11:30 AM, NBC: Liverpool vs. Spurs
Sunday
7:30 AM, NBCSN: Leicester vs. Southampton
10:00 AM, USA: Manchester United vs. Everton
Saturday
6:45 AM, NBCSN: Aston Villa vs. Chelsea
9:00 AM, NBCSN: Arsenal vs. Watford
9:00 AM, USA: Norwich vs. Newcastle
11:30 AM, NBC: Liverpool vs. Spurs
Sunday
7:30 AM, NBCSN: Leicester vs. Southampton
10:00 AM, USA: Manchester United vs. Everton