funny that you guys hate lewis (i dont think he's a starter) but then he scored...

overall, us outplayed them...shoulda been 4-0, donovan has to finish the breakway and multiple other chances we had

wouldnt have guessed 3-0 on all set plays, nor 3 defenders scoring

3/26/2008 5:36:38 PM

we hate on him cause hes like 35, i missed the goal from him, but we were perfectly fine with the first lineup we had in the first half. im not surprised the euro playing americans look miles better than the mls playing americans

[Edited on March 26, 2008 at 8:29 PM. Reason : basically, why play old players in friendlies]

3/26/2008 8:25:12 PM

yeah, he definitely won't be contributing in 2010 and he's not necessary in a crowded midfield

Eddie Johnson is a waste

3/26/2008 8:59:14 PM

Calm down about the roster picks. The friendly rosters have a lot to do with where we are playing. If the game was in America 3 weeks earlier then we probably would have seen more MLS players on roster. Anyway, I think the 3-1 loss to Poland at the 2002 World Cup really pissed the USA off because we haven't lost to them since.

3/26/2008 9:06:30 PM

Barbados won today, so that is who we play in our first qualifier.

3/26/2008 9:27:55 PM

I'm watching Columbus play and the announcer just said the Home Depot Center will host the Barbados game.

3/29/2008 3:13:27 PM

where else was it gonna be?

3/29/2008 3:21:27 PM

I don't know that there was any other place. I was hoping that SAS would get this one (I know I was dreaming). The opening game last time drew about 9,000 people in Columbus. It won't draw too many anywhere.

3/29/2008 3:39:00 PM

sas will get like an exhibition when they are training here...that's all it was both times...for 2006 they played jamaica and in 2002 they just had a scrimmage

3/30/2008 10:12:59 AM

My friend runs the support group for the Railhawks, so he knows all of the front office people. We were all at the bar together and I told him he needed to call the USSF and get the Barbados game. He said that he tried to get the Olympic qualifiers here, but they chose to play in Tampa in a giant empty stadium. They really should have used an MLS stadium for those.

3/30/2008 11:18:59 AM

upcoming schedule is looking great prior to wc qualifying...all in a 10 day period

@ england
@ spain
argentina (giants stadium)

4/13/2008 7:35:13 PM

WLL

haha, england is teh suck

4/13/2008 7:37:09 PM

yeah, I hope we go all out against these teams and it serves as a trial for Bradley. I'm not expecting wins, but if we get embarrassed in all three matches, we need to find a different coach before WCQ starts.

4/13/2008 7:38:17 PM

^That isn't happening. No one else will do any better anyway as coach. We're the USA and we don't have the talent of Brazil no matter who coaches.

4/13/2008 10:18:13 PM

What isn't happening?

And you don't need the talent of Brazil to have a good showing against good teams. There's no question we have decent enough talent to not get embarrassed against good competition.

4/13/2008 10:48:49 PM

yep. just look back at 2002 world cup, we made it to the quarterfinals, and we def looked better than germany in that game..and if we had anyone shooting other than donovan in that first half, we prob score and advance to the semi-finals...

lots of "ifs". but we certainly showed that world cup we have the talent to compete with germany...and it doesnt get much better than them in the world cup stage

4/13/2008 11:12:15 PM

My earlier comment wasn't a knock on what Bradley has done so far... I think he's a decent enough coach but he hasn't had any real games yet. Yeah, we beat Mexico in the Gold Cup and that 3-0 win in Poland was pretty good (even though the scoreline is deceiving because all the goals were from set pieces). I just think this is a great opportunity to see if the team is at the right level of competition because we probably won't have another three game span like this until the World Cup.

4/13/2008 11:15:37 PM

Quote :

"even though the scoreline is deceiving because all the goals were from set pieces"

last I checked they all count the same

4/14/2008 9:21:39 AM

well...current FIFA rankings...

Argentina - #1
Spain - #4
England - #10
USA - #21

i just hope we bring our real team to all 3 games as do the others, none of this mls bs (i could see it in the home again in the usa)

4/14/2008 10:42:00 AM

Quote :

"last I checked they all count the same"

wasn't knocking the win but it wasn't a complete ass whipping like the scoreline leads you to believe

4/14/2008 12:04:55 PM

fifa rankings dont mean anything. there is no way england is the 10th best team in the world...

[Edited on April 14, 2008 at 1:59 PM. Reason : f]

4/14/2008 1:58:56 PM

Pool for the upcoming friendlies against England, Spain, and Argentina:

GOALKEEPERS- Dominic Cervi (Out of Contract), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton FC), Troy Perkins (Valerenga IF), Chris Seitz (Real Salt Lake)

DEFENDERS- Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Dan Califf (FC Midtjylland), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)

MIDFIELDERS- Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Eddie Gaven (Columbus Crew), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Eddie Lewis (Derby County), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids)

FORWARDS- Jozy Altidore (New York Red Bulls), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Kenny Cooper (FC Dallas), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Nate Jaqua (Out of Contract), Eddie Johnson (Fulham FC), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew), Josh Wolff (1860 Munich)

5/16/2008 11:52:03 AM

woot! no twellman

5/16/2008 1:17:55 PM

beasley is back from the acl tear?

5/16/2008 1:47:16 PM

^ yeah, there were rumors he was going to be available in the UEFA Cup final, but he didn't even make the bench

5/16/2008 1:52:39 PM

well that would be our A pool, i wonder what the other teams are bringing

5/16/2008 4:42:09 PM

^ This was the England squad for the US game announced earlier in the week:

Goalkeepers: David James (Portsmouth), Joe Hart (Manchester City), Chris Kirkland (Wigan)

Defenders: Wayne Bridge (Chelsea), Wes Brown (Manchester United), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Portsmouth), John Terry (Chelsea), Stephen Warnock (Blackburn), David Wheater (Middlesbrough), Jonathan Woodgate (Middlesbrough)

Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Aston Villa), David Beckham (Los Angeles Galaxy), David Bentley (Blackburn), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough), Calgary-born Owen Hargreaves (Manchester United), Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Jermaine Jenas (Tottenham), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Ashley Young (Aston Villa)

Forwards: Gabriel Agbonlahor (Aston Villa), Dean Ashton (West Ham), Peter Crouch (Liverpool), Jermain Defoe (Portsmouth), Michael Owen (Newcastle), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)

5/16/2008 5:40:09 PM

Surprised we called up a guy playing in Mexico.

I fully commend them. I think if we had more of a Mexican component to our possession game we'd play better.

5/16/2008 8:22:37 PM

well that is certainly englands A squad. man utd, chelsea, and aston villa representing england well

5/16/2008 9:46:43 PM

Squad called up for England game:

GOALKEEPERS - Dominic Cervi (Out of Contract), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton FC)

DEFENDERS - Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Dan Califf (FC Midtjylland), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)

MIDFIELDERS - Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Eddie Lewis (Derby County)

FORWARDS - Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Nate Jaqua (Out of Contract), Eddie Johnson (Fulham FC), Josh Wolff (Out of Contract)

It's mostly a European based team... Altidore left off the roster probably for fatigue issues, I've read he's more than likely only going to feature in the Argentina game at Giants Stadium.

5/20/2008 10:32:17 PM

jaqua? why?

5/21/2008 12:57:11 AM

Honestly, I think Jaqua deserves a spot more than EJ. At least he hasn't proven himself to be completely worthless at the international level yet (even though everybody knows he will be)

5/21/2008 8:15:31 AM

i guess it just shows the continued sad state of american strikers we raise...its really gonna take a "foreign" striker to bring us to the promised land, a la Rossi

5/21/2008 8:19:55 AM

Quote :

"FORWARDS - Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Nate Jaqua (Out of Contract), Eddie Johnson (Fulham FC), Josh Wolff (Out of Contract)"

5/21/2008 8:22:59 AM

With the developing good midfield (Adu, Edu, Bradley, etc.) they can play Landon as a true forward like he does with LA instead of having him play an offensive midfield... so Landy/Jozy is a pretty good combo for the next few years. But our forwards overall are almost as bad as our left defenders.

5/21/2008 8:23:16 AM

weve got midfielders for days, we have goalkeepers for days, our defenders i am ok with...i would like to see landon play up top now instead of god knows where in the midfield, but im not convinced with our strikeforce until i see someone come up who can really score goals at a 1:2 ratio...a goal every 2 games average. in the region we play in, there shouldnt be any reason why someone great couldnt come up and just annihilate our competition...the jamaicas, the honduras', the el salvadors, etc...


for instance jared borgetti with mexico does/did just that: 87 international games, 43 goals

[Edited on May 21, 2008 at 8:31 AM. Reason : f]

5/21/2008 8:30:07 AM

always been our problem imo we've (almost) always had solid midfielders and we've had some of the best goalkeeping on the international level hands down for quite awhile now. Our defense has come and gone depending on who is back there and our offense is never what it really needs to be to make a move to become a major playear.

[Edited on May 21, 2008 at 8:55 AM. Reason : ]

5/21/2008 8:53:49 AM

Quote :

"im not convinced with our strikeforce until i see someone come up who can really score goals at a 1:2 ratio...a goal every 2 games average."

Landon's 35 in 99 games isn't too far away from what you desire, especially considering he's done it from a midfield role. And Jozy is close too, 1 in 3 games

It would be nice to see a US forward scoring a goal every other game on a regular basis, but does piling up goals against weak competition define quality? I've been looking through all of our forwards' statistics after I read your post, it's deceiving to look at US stats because we never really play anybody good... I mean, EJ has 11 goals in 32 games but we all know he just won't cut it. In all of Freddy Adu's youth service (U17-U23), he has 24 goals in 40 games -- will that translate to goals for the men's team?

[Edited on May 21, 2008 at 9:11 AM. Reason : .]

5/21/2008 9:05:23 AM

how many of those were landon pks? for the most part hes played as a secondary striker, kind of like what scholes used to play at man utd...which ive always hated, so i hope he can score loads more as an out and out striker.

makes me wonder though, where is dempsey gonna play? i guess hed have to be put out wide on the right, with beasley on the left and i assume two of either feilhaber/bradley/clark in the middle, from what its lookin like with this coach



[Edited on May 21, 2008 at 9:11 AM. Reason : i prefer feilhaber and bradley, beast of the dutch league]


donovan does have a greater than 1:2 ratio in the mls as a member of the galaxy...but it is the mls, so im not sure what to think of that

[Edited on May 21, 2008 at 9:13 AM. Reason : f]

5/21/2008 9:08:22 AM

well for this game, it's not a certainty Beasley will start because he's coming off the injury so you might see Eddie Lewis start out there. I'm sure Bradley will be a pussy and play Bradley/Clark as holding mids with Landon in an attacking midfield role so maybe Dempsey will be the lone striker to start, even though it's obvious from his time with Fulham as a lone striker that he sucks in that role.

5/21/2008 9:14:55 AM

well i was thinking more in the future, if everyone is healthy.


and on the edit you put up there^^^. thats what i was kind of saying about our region, we should have people who score loads of goals with the competition we routinely have...yet we dont

[Edited on May 21, 2008 at 9:23 AM. Reason : f]

5/21/2008 9:22:07 AM

Yeah, when everybody's healthy... he'll probably end up on the right if he's not playing up top because Beaz/Adu will play the left side and because Bradley always plays the two holding midfielders, there won't be much room in the middle for him.

5/21/2008 9:40:35 AM

Don't forget mastroeni in the mid...bocanegra and onyewu in center back

5/21/2008 9:46:37 AM

I'm bored at work... watching the U23s in France against Turkey -- it's mostly guys trying out for the last few spots on the Olympic roster but we looked miserable in the first half. It's 3-2 right now and Feilhaber just left with an injury.

5/21/2008 11:27:46 AM

Don't forget that the senior team plays England live on ESPN Classic tomorrow (3-28-08) at 3:00pm et and it will also be shown in tape delay on Galavision at 7:00pm et.

[Edited on May 27, 2008 at 7:42 PM. Reason : .]

5/27/2008 7:41:55 PM

anyone know if the game will be on basic time warner cable? It seems that espn classic is now vh1 classic

5/28/2008 2:37:00 AM

^^sweet thanks, i havent even been paying attention at what channel it would be on, i was prob just gonna check fox soccer channel

5/28/2008 4:57:25 AM

oh we back

I'll probably be watching from work because the office has been slow lately so I'll post the link to whatever stream I find if anybody else needs it or doesn't have ESPN Classic

apparently Landy has a sore groin and might not be playing which means a likely EJ/Dempsey combo , Dempsey by himself , or EJ by himself

oh and also, fuck BB if Eddie Lewis starts

[Edited on May 28, 2008 at 8:23 AM. Reason : Lewis]

5/28/2008 8:22:48 AM

jesus, england is gonna destroy us. they are using rooney as a striker behind ashton it appears, so that rooney has a target man ahead of him. which means rooney is prob gonna get more shots, which means howard better have a great game.

sadly if donovan doesnt play, were prob gonna play a 4-5-1 and i can go throw up all over my tv at how defensive it will be...im praying to any god that may exist that bradley proves me wrong, but ive seen enough US soccer the last 10-15 years that we wont attack england

5/28/2008 8:29:37 AM

^ Bullcrap. England is so incredibly overrated it's silly. At worst we'll tie.

5/28/2008 8:34:36 AM