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USMNT vs Cuba (Gold Cup 2013) Game Thread

Beckerman had a much better game today than his previous 2, which was really nice to see. He had great touch on the ball.
 

Brek needs a break

Yeah he needs to play at Stoke City....I said I thought this was questionable call-up....they guy has played very few minutes since his transfer to Stoke in January and at this rate is going to find playing time this season tough as he has missed much of the preseason camp with Stoke....he was done no favors with this call-up....

Robbie Rogers is a name Klinsman might want to consider down the line....really nice comeback to his career of late...if Shea is unable to find playing time....which I suspect this is not going to help find that time....


Klinsmann had no choice but to replace Shea after a miserable first half, which featured passes played out of bounds, crosses sent over the goal and an opening 30 minutes that looked like the one-time MLS MVP finalist forgot to set his alarm. His lack of chemistry with left back Edgar Castillo also caused headaches. Shea is a player whose creativity and daring play has always intrigued Klinsmann, but months on the bench at Stoke City appears to have sapped the Texan's timing and confidence.

<!--startclickprintexclude--><!--endclickprintexclude-->He might be better off leaving U.S. camp and returning immediately to the Britannia Stadium, where new Stoke coach Mark Hughes likely holds the key to Shea's World Cup prospects. He needs to play.
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Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/so...ld-cup-usa-cuba-three-thoughts/#ixzz2YyBCnTal
 
Ya think?....:) Their 'B' team is heads and tails better than both Belize and Cuba....


Grant Wahl ‏<S>@</S>GrantWahl Klinsmann on Gold Cup foes: "Costa Rica is the 1st real benchmark for us."
 



I have only started watching the USMNT in the past couple of months with any earnest, and I am far from being any kind of expert, but I am glad to see that my opinion of Shea was correct. Wow.
 
CornfieldCounty said:
I have only started watching the USMNT in the past couple of months with any earnest, and I am far from being any kind of expert, but I am glad to see that my opinion of Shea was correct. Wow.
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To be fair to Brek, he usually plays much better. He rarely plays a pretty game but it is usually very creative and effective. He played horribly today but even though it isn't acceptable, it is understandable with how little he has played over the last 7 months.
 
I'm not a huge fan of Shea but I agree 100%....he needs to play and this is not going to help him at Stoke City with a new head coach......because I doubt he will start again in this competition after a poor performance today.....honestly I am a loss as to why Klinsman would all him in knowing this and why Stoke City would agree to it....unless they are sending Shea a message that playing time is going to be scarce at Stoke...

He has talent, but as you said he is very rough around the edges and needs to hone that....and going to the EPL was probably not a great move in that sense....especially to a lower tier team who needs more of a finished product....I could see him ending up like Eddie Johnson did at Fulham....and that is not a good thing....


HuskerSoccer04 said:
To be fair to Brek, he usually plays much better. He rarely plays a pretty game but it is usually very creative and effective. He played horribly today but even though it isn't acceptable, it is understandable with how little he has played over the last 7 months.
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We have discussed this ad-nauseam....


Defensive issues continue to crop up

Yes the USA are scoring bucket loads of goals – 16 in their last three games if your counting – but defensive mistakes are still happening. For Cuba’s opener Castillo got sucked into the play and exposed the whole U.S. backline by getting beaten to the byline. Then captain Oguchi Onyewu was slow to react and let Jose Alfonso nip in front of him to score. Sluggish defending cropped up, and these defenders playing this way means they’re unlikely to oust any of the USMNT regulars. For large spells the U.S. dominated Cuba, but defenders need to stay switched on. Look what happened away to Jamaica last month when Jermaine Beckford scored from a set piece to equalize late. Silly mistakes will cost the US if they keep cropping up between now and World Cup 2014.
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http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2013/07/13/three-things-we-learned-from-usas-victory-over-cuba/
 




Interestingly enough those who say DredBecks did not have a good game against Belize the numbers prove them wrong....

Then again I remember the tirade that Mike Bradley took from more than likely these same folks....and we know where that led to...:) :) :)


Taylor Twellman, who as a player had a bit of experience taking grief from U.S. fans. "Some players have a bad reputation, some don't. In Beckerman's case, do I think it's unfair? Yeah, I do."

Tuesday's 6-1 hammering of Belize was another example. At one point, a tweet (since deleted) appeared, asking: "What does [U.S. manager Jurgen] Klinsmann see in Beckerman?" It sparked a litany of complaints towards the midfielder, among them his unwillingness to play the ball forward and his penchant for giving the ball away.

The numbers told a different story. Beckerman, who was not made available by U.S. Soccer to be interviewed for this story, completed 51 of 55 passes in 45 minutes of work, 37 of which were played forward. One of those passes was put on a platter for Chris Wondolowski to head home for his second goal of the evening. Another telling ball was played to Jose Torres a short while later, only for the Tigres midfielder to hit his shot straight at Belize goalkeeper Shane Orio.
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http://espnfc.com/blog/_/name/usnationalteam/id/236?cc=5901
 
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Red Reign said:
Interestingly enough those who say DredBecks did not have a good game against Belize the numbers prove them wrong....

Then again I remember the tirade that Mike Bradley took from more than likely these same folks....and we know where that led to...:) :) :)
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You post a lot of tweets and messages from Ives Galarcep, right? Here is a tweet from Ives in regards to Beckerman's play against Belize:


 
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On top of that, you were so sure that Beckerman, RSL player of course, had such a good game against Guatemala. Yet every single source that you constantly use on this board rated him as having a bad match that game. I'll give credit when credit is due...Beckerman had a good match against Cuba. I'm all about "what have you done for me lately," which makes me more concerned with what Beck did against Cuba than he did against Guatemala and Belize. But to suggest that he had a good game against Guatemala would be a gigantic stretch. And to suggest that he did not struggle against Belize would also be a stretch. Beckerman struggled mightily against Guatemala, improved somewhat against Belize but still had his struggles, but then improved significantly against Cuba and had a very solid performance.
 
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We have to fix this and frankly I'm not sure how we are going to be able.....and that is very concerning considering that we are less than a year to Brazil and there are very few matches left at the international level to get this this thing straightened out....and as we have been talking about all along the good to great teams will carve our A or B defense up....



Red Reign said:
We have discussed this ad-nauseam....


Defensive issues continue to crop up




http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2013/07/13/three-things-we-learned-from-usas-victory-over-cuba/
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