***Official USMNT Thread***

[shagcarpetjesus]

In case anybody is interested in who is in camp for this pair of friendlies:

GOALKEEPERS
David Bingham (San Jose Earthquakes), Ethan Horvath (Molde FK), William Yarbrough (Club Leon)

DEFENDERS
Steve Birnbaum (D.C. United), John Brooks (Hertha Berlin),Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Timmy Chandler (Eintracht Frankfurt), Omar Gonzalez (Pachuca), Fabian Johnson (Borussia Moenchengladbach), DeAndre Yedlin (Newcastle)

MIDFIELDERS
Paul Arriola (Club Tijuana), Alejandro Bedoya (Philadelphia Union), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Lynden Gooch (Sunderland), Perry Kitchen (Hearts), Sacha Kljestan (New York Red Bulls), Christian Pulisic (Borussia Dortmund), Danny Williams (Reading)

FORWARDS
Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Julien Green (Bayern Munich), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders FC), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes), Bobby Wood (Hamburg SV)

 

[cypack747]

Do people have predictions on the lineup today? Here is what I'd LIKE to see:

Wood Altidore​

Kjestan​

Pulisic Gooch

Bradley​

Johnson Cameron Brooks Yedlin
Horvath

I can't remember which side Gooch usually plays on for Sunderland, so he and Pulisic could be swapped.

Edit: Formatting did not turn out as expected, but you get the idea, 4-4-2.​

 

[coolerifyoudid]

Is there grass there, or did they spray paint concrete?

 

[3TrueFans]

Wow, that field is horrendous.

 

[shagcarpetjesus]

One more friendly tonight for the US against New Zealand in DC. Most of the European based guys were released to their clubs and a slew of MLS players were added for this game.

 

[thatguy]

hope we get gooch, hamid and more julian green. maybe get some kitchen?

 

[LeaningCy]

Anyone else impatiently awaiting the USAvMEX ticket lottery email? The selection is now a day overdue. We live about an hour from Columbus so I'm really hoping to score a couple.

 

[ianoconnor]

Brotherton who subbed on for NZ played for the Des Moines Menace this summer. Plays collegiately at Wisconsin.

 

[BLRNerd]

FIFA has ruled out Asia and Europe for 2026 WC, so it might be possible for a US hosted WC.

 

[srjclone]

FIFA has ruled out Asia and Europe for 2026 WC, so it might be possible for a US hosted WC.

That would be awesome. I thought the Copa America was handled well, I know teams (maybe just media members) we're complaining the travel was a bit much, but there are so many quality stadiums in America you could set it up to happen all on the west coast, east coast, or mid-west and still would be able to come up with 4-5 solid stadiums with do-able travel.

 

[BLRNerd]

If anyone's focusing on the US club side of things, Tampa Bay Rowdies and Ottawa Fury have jumped ship to the USL from NASL. (NASL is far less stable than USL, which has MLS backing and various B team MLS Clubs)

The word is that more NASL teams are expected to jump ship too, so those that are passionate about Pro/Rel and want it ASAP are not happy about the news.

 

[thatguy]

Klinsmann fired. Bruce Arena will probably be interim. I think JK did a ton for growth of this sport in America, recruited some good dual nationals and brought attention to the game here.

As far as who the next coach will be, think there has to be some desire. Tons of potential, some young talent, dying to win fanbase, money to be had, plus anyone above the poverty line doesn't let their kids play football anymore, so the talent pool should be growing.

 

[shagcarpetjesus]

It's good to see Arena has walked back his comments about how USMNT players should be born in the US from a while back. We are not in a position to get picky with our player pool over some weird patriotic litmus test.

Arena doesn't necessarily excite me, but I am enthused to finally have somebody leading the team who is a capable tactician. I honestly don't care if we sit back and hit hard on the counter. The idea that the US isn't advancing as a soccer nation if we aren't playing like Barcelona has always seemed silly to me.

 

[tim_redd]

It's good to see Arena has walked back his comments about how USMNT players should be born in the US from a while back. We are not in a position to get picky with our player pool over some weird patriotic litmus test.

Arena doesn't necessarily excite me, but I am enthused to finally have somebody leading the team who is a capable tactician. I honestly don't care if we sit back and hit hard on the counter. The idea that the US isn't advancing as a soccer nation if we aren't playing like Barcelona has always seemed silly to me.

Not crazy about Arena either. We need all the talent we can get. As a (in)famous coach once said, "You play to win the game."

 

[thatguy]

I kind of thought they would bring Arena in for the Jan camp and perhaps the March matches then try and get someone for the push to Russia that was a little younger, think this hurts US development.

As far as tactics, one thing Americans produce in spades is absolute speed, which is why a counter type of playing style will work, just not real pretty.

 

[shagcarpetjesus]

It's USMNT night in the MLS playoffs. Toronto was down 3-0, but goals from Jozy and Bradley got them back to a 3-2 road result which puts them in a pretty good spot going back to Toronto in the second leg.

In the other semi, Jordan Morris just scored one for Seattle to tie the game up at 1 in the first half.

 

[BLRNerd]

32 Players called to the Janurary Camp (all MLS due to it not being a int'l break), two friendlies against Serbia Jan 29th and Jamaica Feb 4th

GOALKEEPERS (5): David Bingham (San Jose Earthquakes), Stefan Frei (Seattle Sounders FC), Bill Hamid (D.C. United), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake), Luis Robles (New York Red Bulls)

DEFENDERS (10): DaMarcus Beasley (Unattached), Steve Birnbaum (D.C. United), Brad Evans (Seattle Sounders FC), Greg Garza (Atlanta United FC), Matt Hedges (FC Dallas), Taylor Kemp (D.C. United), Chad Marshall (Seattle Sounders FC), Keegan Rosenberry (Philadelphia Union), Walker Zimmerman (FC Dallas), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)

MIDFIELDERS (12): Kellyn Acosta (FC Dallas), Alejandro Bedoya (Philadelphia Union), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Sporting Kansas City), Jermaine Jones (Unattached), Sacha Kljestan (New York Red Bulls), Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy), Kekuta Manneh (Vancouver Whitecaps FC), Dax McCarty (New York Red Bulls), Darlington Nagbe (Portland Timbers), Chris Pontius (Philadelphia Union), Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew SC)

FORWARDS (5): Juan Agudelo (New England Revolution), Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders FC), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes), Gyasi Zardes (LA Galaxy)

 

[shagcarpetjesus]

Benny!

I've been one of the guys who was fine with Klinsmann's ambivalence with Feilhaber, but I'm happy that everybody else can go crazy on the Benny hype train for a while.

It's interesting to see guys like Stefan Frei and Kekuta Manneh who aren't even eligible to play for the US yet get called in.

 

[BLRNerd]

Dempsey was invited to the camp as well but rejected it due to the irregular heartbeat issue. While Jones is listed as unlisted, he's been linked to LA Galaxy for the new season,

I am not happy to see Zardes there really, don't want to see him near the national team again

 

[StormnClone58]

Dempsey was invited to the camp as well but rejected it due to the irregular heartbeat issue. While Jones is listed as unlisted, he's been linked to LA Galaxy for the new season,

I am not happy to see Zardes there really, don't want to see him near the national team again

Did he steal your gf or wife? ... what gives? ... he's arguably one of our better attackers, and you know bruce wants to thump his chest by bringing in his galaxy players ...