The Breakdown: WCQ US v. Jamaica

Tim Howard was his usual self tonight, made the necessary saves when he was called upon and yelled at his defense in a way only a goalkeeper can J

I thought Cherundolo's crosses into the area needed to be better, but his defending was pretty good given his speed and age. Good understanding with Zusi. I felt like there was a 10-15 minute stretch where it was just those two playing.

Cameron was decent on the night. Got turned around pretty good on that Luton Shelton break away, but other than that he was pretty solid, strong in the air. 

Bocanegra had a good night; don't really remember any big faults. He too was strong in the air. 

Zusi played surprisingly well for this being his first "big game" SKC will surely benefit from his recent stretch with the USMNT. Wish he had been the one to send in more crosses as opposed to Cherundolo, but I liked what I saw out of Zeus tonight. 

Now Danny Williams I was less surprised about. I've been able to see him play a couple games for Hoffenheim and I thought he was just as good then. Also, it doesn't take a genius to realize that a player will improve once placed into his natural position PAGING MR. KINSMAN!

I remember in the early Jermaine Jones days I didn't know much about him, but he sent a beautiful over the top pass to Jozy for an assist versus Poland Watch Here  and I remember thinking, wow, this guy can pass! Further along into his USMNT career and my thoughts remain the same. He's a great passer of the ball, case in point, 36’ USA v Jamaica www.watchespn.com Jones pass to Zusi, which he dummied. My only issue with Jermaine is that sometimes he tries to pull of the impossible pass when the simple would suffice. All in all, I thought he had a solid performance. Now let’s see some consistency.

Jose Torres *sigh*…  seems like every article I came across was over the moon about Torres game. I really don't see what was so great about it... He didn't really add or take away for me. Yea he was solid on the ball, no joke Sherlock, he has the best control on the team. But we've got him on the outside so.... Did he kill it as a rw/rm? No. He controlled the ball well, and kept it moving, nothing spectacular. Not a JFT hater, quite the opposite. I just don't think he's being utilized properly. You wouldn’t get mad at a teacher for failing to teach physics properly when degree is in history, so why should Jürgen be so "frustrated with his play"? Play him in natural position dammit! (sorry, rant over)

Dempsey looked like you’d expect someone to look like after not playing for three months. I’m not worried about this guy. Him, Michael Bradley and Tim Howard are the most important players on the squad IMO and barring any injury I’m sure they’ll be ready to deliver when called upon.

Gomez had a monster game. He was my man of the match, good runs, great hunger and scoring the game winner doesn't hurt. I like that he’s finally being given the chance to show what he can do. I hope that some other national teamers will get their shots in the upcoming months as well.

Jozy didn’t really do much to win back his starting spot in the limited minutes he got. Hopefully that doesn’t hurt his confidence too much. I take him as the fragile type.

Brek looked like I he has all season long for FC Dallas, subpar.

Edu added energy for some tired legs I guess? *Ron Burgandy shrug* Hopefully the Stoke move helps his midfield game...

No Words...

Well thankfully I didn’t have to watch the USMNT lose to Jamaica tonight. Fortunately, I was in Canada celebrating my cousin’s wedding… aka I was “riding round and gettin it” In the end I didn’t even need to see the game to know what the result was going to be.  At around 8 o clock I scooped a relatives phone for a quick peak at the starting lineups… Really? Are you kidding me? You didn’t start Bocanegra? The last/only guy on the current roster who’s actually played in Jamaica? Really? Are you kidding me? You really thought that putting Beckerman, Edu and Jones (all CDM) on at the same time was going to produce any type of offense?

Look, I respect Klinsman just as well as the next man. I appreciate his optimism and his attempt at change, blah blah blah. I like that he has a large influence in Europe and can help our players get trials, transfers and the like, but that will only get you so far in my book. There is absolutely NO, and I mean NO reason that we should have gone to Jamaica and not come away with at least a point. Ok, yea I get it we’re playing away. Clint Dempsey hasn’t played in like 3 months. We didn’t have Donovan or Bradley, but I MEAN!!!! Seriously bro??? I hate to even think about us not making it to the next round, but the fact that we couldn’t even come away with a stinking point from this match is extremely discouraging. I don’t want to call for Jürgen’s head or anything like that just yet, but he’s toeing the line awfully close. I just don’t get it.

I’m going to have to catch the replay on ESPN3 once I get back to the States just to see what exactly went wrong but… like I said from the starting line up sheet alone. I really don’t imagine seeing anything other that defensive non-attacking soccer. YOU CAN’T FIT A SQUARE PEG IN A ROUND HOLE. PLAY THESE GUYS IN THEIR NATURAL POSITIONS AND GET THE FREAKIN POINTS!!!

Talk about a buzz kill… literally!

WCQ: Yes Way, Jose

It sure does feel like whenever it comes time for an international fixture we're always losing somebody. I'm sure that as I write this someone somewhere is getting injured.. "no jinx" (when I originally wrote this Gatt was as healthy as could be)

I'll say this though, it's getting a tad bit easier to fill spots when a player goes down. Which speaks well of the continued soccer development in this country. For right now, Michael Bradley, Landon Donovan, Edgar Castillo and now Josh Gatt are all out for the upcoming games. With Clint’s recent transfer to Tottenham and him not playing a competitive game in about 2 ½ months I doubt he’s at his sharpest and will more than likely start on the bench.

As for this new Josh Gatt dilemma, what can you do? I was really looking forward to seeing this kid too. From the random YouTube footage I've been able to get a hold of and yanks-abroad.com updates, Gatt seems like a quality player and one who could add some much needed width to that winger-less 4-3-3 we like to employ so much. I imagine anything he could bring to the table would be better than the Danny Williams out wide experiment. Danny’s a CDM/CB btw… Hopefully this will open the door for Chris Pontius to be called in as a replacement, but I’m not holding my breath on that one.

Now, looking at our current USMNT injury situation with a “glass half full” mentality I'm actually pretty excited to hopefully see Jose Torres slide into the center of the park. When Juergen pushes Jose into the attacking third I feel like his talents are wasted. I’ve always seen Jose as a deep lying playmaker who can both mix it up and get the offense going. Think Dax McCarty when he was on FC Dallas, but better. Instead, Juergen’s got him playing in a more D.C United version of Dax McCarty. As I recall that worked wonders for Dax! McCarty now plays for the Red Bulls and has since reprised the role which made him a standout in Dallas. Maybe Klinsman would be wise to do the same with Jose.  I understand that a coach’s job is to challenge players in hopes of bringing their talents to the next level, but sometimes you just can't fit a square peg into a round hole…

With the first game being played in Jamaica, I imagine that we’ll probably go out somewhat defensively. Here’s the lineup that I wouldn’t mind seeing.

              

Howard

Cherundolo   Cameron Bocanegra  Johnson

Jones       Torres    Beckerman

Gomez              Shea

Altidore

None of the the midfielders I have starting actually fit the facilitator role, but then again we're not exactly producing them in bunches here in the States. On this current roster Zusi probably fits that role best, but with this being an important away game, I don't see him starting as he's still fairly new to the USMNT setup. In the back I think we're pretty set and up top is really anyone's guess. Go U S A !!!