OT: Gold Cup- USA vs Martinique

Submitted by uncle leo on

Let's DO THIS!

Lots of changes in the midfield. Morris getting the start up front.

 

mgoblue0970

July 12th, 2017 at 10:43 PM ^

Defense is absolutely brutal.  The US could very well be tied (thank-you post) or losing.  My U14s mark shirts better than this!!!

TrueBlue2003

July 12th, 2017 at 11:09 PM ^

at least it was an exciting second half?  Didn't see the first half. Wasn't too disappointed with the second, all things considered.  Guzan made a bad play that he only misses 1 of 10 times, probably.  And then the guy made a hell of a play getting around Hedges to make a play (and even that required a bit of a fluke bounce).

Not good, but it's a win with the lowercase b team.  I'll take it.

superstringer

July 12th, 2017 at 11:13 PM ^

It feels like Festivus.... cuz I got to air some grievances.

ARRIOLA -- I never, ever want to see that dude in a USA jersey again, and I don't care if I mispelled his name or not.  I'm sure he's a nice kid and all that, but, he can't play at this level, period.  Go earn a nice living in MLS, get a job as a HS gym teacher afterwards, and don't eff up our national team anymore.

GUZAN -- Why do I feel like, if Bill Hamid was in net, it would have been a clean sheet.  The guy just continually underwhelms.  And what's with his distribution -- those random boots into the middle of the defense.  Those aren't 50/50 balls, those are 0/100 balls.

RONDON -- If Arena has had an eye on this guy for a while... I ain't seeing it.  It was like he wasn't even out there.

MORRIS -- Slow/fat white dude.  Can't keep up with anyone, but, has a knack for being in the right spot.  He's frustrating, he's like, 95% of the time a waste, but that other 5%....!

ZARDES -- I think he's just not going to be a contributor when we play actual, you know, good teams.  He has pace, he has game smarts, he just lacks precision/skill that makes for a great winger.  His crosses are not pinpoint, his get the ball taken off of him too often.  So he can beat Martinique and Nicaragua, but he's not useful against El Tri or CRC.

LICHEJ -- another name I probably mispelled.  Sounds like "Lehigh."  Made mistakes, but generally recovered.  I guess he gets to keep playing, if this were Soccer Survival Island.

AGUODOLA -- and yet another mispelled name.  Somewhere between Arriola and Morris, which like, isn't good.

Basically, we didn't have a TEAM out there.  We had a bunch of guys.  Basically our fourth-stringer guys.  A bunch of MLS guys (mostly) against AMATEURS...and were nil-nil at half, gave up a 2-goal lead, only won by 1.  Geesh.  THAT WAS EMBARRASSING.

 

Needs

July 12th, 2017 at 11:18 PM ^

Can't count on Bedoya to bring anything but endless running. Gets into good spots and then always disappoints with the final ball.

Those are the kinds of performances that had both Villa and Middlesboro fans saying good riddance to Guzan.

superstringer

July 13th, 2017 at 9:09 AM ^

We can all debate whether Morris is "fast enough" when those Carribbean/French defenders were blazing past him for loose balls.  If you think he's fast, then, whatever, man.  Maybe you will want to race in the Indy 500 with my daughter's Kia Soul.

But as to his disappearing act, I am vindicated.  ESPN's guy's description of Morris's performance last night:

While Morris did have two of the U.S. goals, he was way too anonymous for nearly a half-hour stretch in the first half. Against an opponent such as Martinique, the U.S. can get away with that, but it simply cannot happen in the knockout stages.

http://www.espnfc.us/concacaf-gold-cup/59/blog/post/3155332/united-stat…

Morris is at best, at this point, a bench-rider on the "A" squad, but given his lackluster MLS season, I wouldn't even put him on the team for the last 4 qualifiers -- unless for the last game we've locked up a spot and the 10th game is a throwaway.

 

TrueBlue2003

July 13th, 2017 at 1:38 PM ^

were mostly correct.  A bit unnecessary to call him a "slow/fat white dude".  He is...oddly shaped for a professional soccer player but if "deceptively fast" applies to anyone, it probably applies to him.  Which is obviously a bit of a backhanded compliment since he's not absolutely fast, but he is faster than he looks and he does get in the right spots to somewhat make up for the lack of blazing speed and finishes pretty well.

That said, he was nonexistent in the first half and definitely shouldn't see time in meaningful international competition - at least at this point.  I don't think anyone is denying that.

Sten Carlson

July 13th, 2017 at 12:28 AM ^

First off, what does Morris bring white have to do with anything? Secondly, Morris was the ONLY bright spot in an otherwise very lackluster performance. He showed pace when needed, patience, and a nose for the goal. We need more players like him, IMO, with instincts to team up with Wood and Pulisic.

I'm with you on Guzan though. He makes some amazing fast twitch saves, then falls asleep on relatively easy ones. I wasn't expecting much from this lineup at all, and was actually a bit surprised at the beginning flurry they showed. But, like often times is the case, they had too many severe breakdowns. Forturnately, there was a slow, fat, white guy busting his ass to make plays!

truferblue22

July 13th, 2017 at 12:24 AM ^

rough outing. sure as hell hope Arena uses all 6 available roster changes and brings in 6 of the big boys for the knockout round (provided we don't blow it).

fksljj

July 13th, 2017 at 1:34 AM ^

Oh, look. Guzan gave up yet another soft goal. It's almost like it's becoming his calling card. There wasn't much he could do about the 2nd goal (deflection) so he gets a pass on that. But he definitely got caught sleeping on that first one.

Ron Utah

July 13th, 2017 at 1:27 PM ^

We still don't have the right tactics, line-up, or coach.  Arena is fine, but for anyone who believes he's going to get the U.S. to the next level, these last two matches demonstrate how unlikely that is.  When was the last time we had a coach that helped us overachieve our talent level on a consistent basis?  Probably Bora?  

Don't get me wrong--Arena and Bradley are very good coaches.  But we have not a coach with the imagination to take us to the next level, and we still don't.  While our talent level is still clearly behind the world's superpowers, if we want to progress faster we need to find someone who will implement some wholesale changes--and that probably means Gulati has to go.