I really don't understand why Azerbyhoweveryouspellthatcountry parked the bus. What was the point in a friendly? It was all the weirder because their coach is also a part-time consultant for the USMNT and a personal friend of Klinsmann, so you would think that he would have been inclined to play the game straight up.
Yes he is. If Azerbaijan had an inkling of a desire to find our goal, we would've been down a couple to them thanks to his play. He was the main reason (along with Chandler) that Turkey had so many chances in the first half. No coincidence that when Brooks came in, Turkey didn't have many chances at all up the middle the 2nd half. He's confused as hell out there right now, his marking and positioning is questionable, his passing out of the back is atrocious, and he's slow and will get beat by faster attackers that Ghana/Portugal/Germany have. The nicest word I've read regarding his play in these 2 games is "underwhelming". He's a liability back there, and at this point, I'm willing to give Brooks a chance and hope his potential becomes real, rather than rely on Besler.
If Omar Gonzalez is truly healthy (and if not, we wasted a roster spot with him), we'd be better off going Gonzalez/Cameron in the middle if no Brooks. I don't think Besler should be on the field at all, but neither should Chandler, and at this point we're running out of options. That would leave Johnson (unfortunately our best defender at the moment) and Beasley (blech) on the outsides. God help us...
Have you seen Omar Gonzalez play in the past 6 months? Nothing but inconsistency and makes 2-3 mistakes a game. Hell he was responsible for both goals Mexico scored in April, and that's probably what solidified him losing his spot to Cameron. Cameron-Besler is the best combo that we have at the moment no matter what you cry about.
I'm not "crying" about it, why you gotta be a jackass about it? We're on the same side here. And I still question why Gonzalez even got a roster spot if he's hurt and not going to help us. But it's more about just how bad we are across the board on the backline. Hopefully some 15-18yr old up-and-coming players realize the value in learning solid defensive play and focus on that rather than trying to be the star, as that's about as sure of a path to making the MNT as can be in the next 4 years if there's even a modicum of ability.
I'm really liking the change Klinnsmann made against Nigeria. Putting Beckerman next to Jones solves the problem I stated above.
I've been wrong before, but my gut feeling is that we advance past the group stage. This may sound shmaltzy, but I've followed these guys closely, and they will boldly & proudly carry our banner through the WC as far as we can go with Jurgen leading the way with his no-nonsense approach.
It could happen but I'm only cautiously optimistic. I think the first match against Ghana will set the tone for us. A point would be okay but if we can capture all 3 that would be very motivating to the squad as they go up against Portugal, a squad that is very suspicious in my opinion. That Portugal match is going to be very interesting if we beat Ghana and Portugal loses to Germany.
