Predicted Line-up USA v Scotland

So here’s my quasi-predicted line up. A mix of what I want and what I think it’ll end up being.

Tim Howard

Dolo – Bocanegra – Onyewu – Johnson

  Bradley – Jones – Torres

Donovan – Gomez

Wondo

I’ve heard talks a 4-3-2-1 Christmas tree formation, so that’s how I’m going to base my line up. Goodson, Parkhurst and Jozy, who's not actually officially eligible til the 28th, all just came in and we know that Dempsey is scrapped due to the groin issue he’s got going on. So none of them guys will probably feature in todays line up.

Moving on, I want to give Terrance “The Body” Boyd (announcer’s messed his last name up during Olympic qualifiers thought it was catchy) the start up top, but he hasn’t even made a start for his club squad, so I just couldn’t do it. I don’t believe that Wondo is best up top at the Int’l level but dude’s in crazy “MLS form” so we’ll see how that all shakes out.

Donovan’s a given, even after his recent lack of desire interview (shout to Grant Wahl)

Gomez play's out wide at times with Santos and can be a 2nd FWD and given what I just said about Boyd, the absences of Jozy/Clint, and with Corona just getting into the full Men’s squad I think Herc get’s the nod. 


* A litte more on Corona, I don't even know this kid's best position to be honest. Thought he was a winger for Tijuana then I see him in the middle for the U-23's, who knows? No really.. who knows? I'm trying to find out.

I think General Bradley is a given at this point.

Jones had a fantastic season in Germany and in Europe I give him the nod.

I know Torres isn’t a number 10, probably more of a deep-lying play maker, along the lines of a Pirlo. However, I do think that our second to last and last passes will come from him, so he get’s the start from me. (where the hell is our number 10's ?! Freddy, Mix, Benny, etc…? all in abstentia. step it up fellas)

Dolo and Carlos are both given’s and even though Cameron has “been impressing” in camp I think Gooch edges him out.

I actually wouldn’t mind letting Castillo have a go at left back. A bit weaker comp than Brazil, maybe get his confidence up, but that’s not what these games are for. As Jurgen has already said, so Johnson get’s the start.

Howard.

Debris Settles and Dust Get’s Swept Off…

I’ve been crying a river all season about the lack of depth we have at the center-back position and in one fell swoop the powers that be went out and halved it. Which now leaves us with a whopping total of 1, yup, ONE… * crickets sounding *  No disrespect to Mr. Lahoud, I’m sure he’s a hard working midfielder/professional and I even see that he's quite the humanitarian, but as a fan I’m miffed. I don’t see how his acquisition makes us a better team, something that the FO is always preaching as the main criteria when deciding to approve deals.  New York made out, Chivas hit a home run and the Union are stuck on an empty couch with no play, what gives!! Complete rubbish.

Another thing, I don’t like Peter No’wack, there I said it. I think he’s an absolute poison to our team. He comes off as a complete jerk in the press, appears to ship off any player who he doesn’t see eye to eye with, constantly twists and fabricates the truth, all while managing to stagnate the growth of our younger players by either not playing them or lining them up in unnatural positions. He just keeps making us worse and I don’t know why no one else can see it, or why everyone who matters is just ok with it after they’ve been given such an obvious body of evidence.  For this weekend’s matchup against FC Dallas I hear that we’re planning on playing three up top in Martinez, Mwanga and Pajoy, a slight step in the right direction, but I just DO NOT like this guy coaching our team. I tried to give it some time and let things pan out, yes I know it’s still early, but there’s just too much smoke around this guy for there not to be fire. He’s like that creepy guy at the party hitting on your sister and then she comes over with the ol’ “he’s such a nice guy” bit... yup, that's No’wack in my eyes. Not buying it bro! And to Mr. Sakiewicz, if you’re condoning his actions without batting an eye, maybe we need to keep close watch on you too.

I’m really not a Debbie Downer all the time, but this season has been a wee bit frustrating, as you all have witnessed. With that being said, I do think we have the ability to be a very strong club in the Eastern Conference.  If we can hover around that 5^th spot until some summer reinforcements arrive (buy some got damn defenders) then I think we’ll be just fine. Until that transfer window opens up however, I believe it’s going to be more of the same. Keep DOOP-ing folks and I’ll catch ya soon.  

Jurgen Klinsman is Ruining U.S. Soccer.

The title isn't my thoughts exactly, as a matter of fact it's not my thoughts at all to be honest, but it was that simple Facebook status from a friend, which prompted this post (Thank you friend)

His argument being, from a coaching standpoint he just doesn't really like the guy, doesn't think he's cutting it tactically. Likes JK's marketability, but that’s about it, just doesn’t think much is there. So in a nutshell, with JK coming in and turning the USMNT on its head, the implementation of the 4-3-3 has done more harm than good. He believes the change in regime breaks our team down and doesn't allow for them to develop a culture and a tactical mindset.

Naturally I had a comeback and decided, you know what, I should put it in the blog!

The reason why it isn't working or seems to not be working is because he doesn't necessarily have the players who properly fit the 4-3-3. We don't really have a ton of "true" international caliber wingers in our current crop. DMB (getting old, probably the truest) Brek Shea (not there yet) Landon (not a winger) Josh Gatt (too young) Joe Gyau (too young) Fabian Johnson (seems LB bound for now) [My Depth Chart] So now, you slot those players in, and can they compete on an international level and win consistently given that formation? In short, no they can't.

I couldn't find the article, but Jurgen's has said that he's not exclusively dialed into the 4-3-3. He has even gone as far to say that he'd ideally like to play a 4-3-1-2 with Dempsey in the hole.  While Bradley's formations and tactics yielded results, his style was a bit more reactionary vs. Jurgen's, who is attempting to be more proactive and take it to teams more so than we have in the past. Let’s not get it twisted though, Klinsmann is no dummy, I’m pretty sure he realizes our players don’t possess the level of talent anywhere near that of a Germany, Spain or Brazil and will allocate the current players we have to positions where he thinks they fit best in the proper formation. What people need to understand is that not everyone can play like Barca, if that were the case then everyone would be doing it and it be absolutely freakin’ awesome, but that’s just not happening. I liken it to USA Basketball, as good as these other countries have become and begun to "close the gap" they are still miles way from matching us in basketball talent. You’re not going to see any country emulate USA Basketball’s style of play for some time… if ever. Unfortunately that's where US soccer is in comparison to the traditional soccer powers, it’s going to take quiiiiiiiiite some time for us to reach top ten status.

What Jurgen is trying to do is transform us from a team who just hangs in there to a team that can go out there and compete, toe-to-toe with the best. It's going to take some time, and who knows, we may never get there, we're not exactly a soccer country, then again we used to be a baseball country and now look at us...

These next spat of games we have coming up should give us a better indication of just how far this little transformation of his has come. As he's said in interviews leading up, these next 5 games are all about results. I'm not saying he's the best coach ever, that we are going to win the next world cup or that every coaching decision that he's made up until this point goes without fault (call up Sacha, stop calling Beckerman and please don’t put Danny Williams out wide anymore) but the guy is pointing our guys in the right direction and he's making sure that it starts with the youth and continues all the way through until they reach the top. I’m sure the diehards out there know the type of talent that we've got coming through the pipeline, and I have to say… I’m pretty damn excited about where we could possibly be headed and I for one am glad Mr. Klinsmann is at the helm.

And for those of you who don't know what talent is coming through the pipeline,  just give Brian Sciaretta a follow @briansciaretta 

A Rivalry By Any Other Name..

I have zero time for this post, but I figure if I don't seize the moment now while this Man United v. Man City game is still fresh in everyone's mind it probably won't have the same impact later. Unfortunately I missed the game today, had to work. I did however manage to sneak away just long enough to hop on my boss's laptop and catch that sick header by Kompany. 

As I was gearing up to not watch, but follow this game via twitter (what a let down right) I was recalling all the articles I’d come across leading up to this game. I believe it was David Hirshey who said it best when he labeled this match as the "Gem in the Prem" 

Now I've only been following the beautiful game since 2006, but you don't need to be a soccer genius to know that Manchester City has played second fiddle to United for quite some time now, à la Clippers to Lakers, leaving these match day fixtures mostly a formality for the boys from Old Trafford. Light Work. That was until 2008 when Sheik Monsour got bored and figured, “ah what the hell, I’m gonna buy a football club today.” At least that’s how I imagine the idea impulsively flashed across his mind. Fast forward to present day and here we are, witnessing the fruits of the Sheik’s labor. We watched as one of the greatest football clubs of the Premier League era uncharacteristically relinquished its eight-point lead atop the Barclays table to their sky blue neighbors.

All of this hoopla got me to thinking about our own American rivalries. To name a few standouts, I think of classics like Celtics/Lakers, Yankees/Red Sox or a little closer to home Cowboys/Eagles. When you think about it none of those probably come close to the intensity of that City/United game that was played earlier today. I mean yeah, all the aforementioned rivalries are heated and provide their own particular bite, but none of those fans have to cohabitate with one another on a daily basis. I mean sure, your always going to have that one random guy who loved Emmitt Smith as a kid and refuses to root for his home team, but for the most part, the South Jersey/Philadelphia community is going to root for the Eagles. (That is of course when we’re not hating their guts)

So what do you do when there’s two home teams? How do you even decide? Now, I haven’t taken the time to scour all the major sports and compare rivalries, like I said, I’ve got homework. However, at a quick glance, most sports fans in this country don’t have to make the tough decision a choosing between two teams, let alone two powerhouse teams (sorry Mets/Clipper fans) Which brings me to the point of this entire spiel, while there our a few markets in this country which are large enough to accommodate two professional teams within the same sport, the remainder markets can not. Then you look at really any of these teams from the big leagues over in Europe (the Prem, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga) and the proximity in which these fans are from each other and you really get a sense of rivalries can be. No wonder there’s always rioting and other crazy shenanigans.  Can you imagine for a second, if by some random act of God all of Boston were whisked away and set it down in New York? Or even better take all the Cowboy fans and relocate them to Philly?! It’d be pure bedlam I tell ya. HAH! Also, I think it goes without saying, but I have no intentions of taking anything away from our good ol’ American rivalries, just viewing them from a different perspective is all, in light of my fútbol knowledge.

Oh yeah, and to all the Citeh fans out there, congrats, looks like those United/City meetings just got a little bit more entertaining, enjoy the ride. Here’s to being a little less of an afterthought mate!