Credit deserved to the Mexican team. They are extremely talented and very fast. A real threat internationally. With that said, the US looked pretty terrible in the back...not that I am saying anything new. I got home and started watching in about the 10th minute while the US was up 1-0...when my brother explained to me the starting lineup...I was pretty shocked. Adu was a good addition, I'm glad to see him starting to fill the ideal we had about him when he was 14, that he is good. With that...I like Donovan, I do and starting him was pretty obvious, however, maybe it is more of the subs, but I think there was some poor decisions. Like Ant0n said above, there are some better athletic players that could have been on the field that weren't. Cherundolo is a tough keystone to replace. I think Kljestan played pretty damn good in his appearances and Edu is just solid. Going in, we didn't have the talent we should and injuries really hurt us. The obvious being Altidore and Cherundolo, but let's not forget about some other players that have shown they are talent for the US, but were not available for the Gold Cup. Guys like Stu Holden who is battling an injury, Onyewu who just hasn't returned to form, Tim Ream...did he get hurt?, Edson Buddle...where was he?, Jose Torres?, Demerit, the list can get extensive. These guys either are injured or just have seemed to lost their touch? I don't know...
Fast is an understatement, although that could be due to the lack of speed in our back 4. I passed out when it was tied at 2, just caught the highlights now. Congrats to Mexico, well played.
From a Spurs fan perspective... Gio dos Santos can't stop drinking in Europe. If you show up to practice hungover everyday, its kinda hard to actually make any meaningful contributions. But as soon as he puts on his Mexico jersey, its like he turns from Clark Kent to Superman. Its always been that way. The problem yesterday was simple. Dolo went down and we got left playing the single worst player in American soccer history. All 4 Mexican goals came down the left side. One of the worst performances I've ever seen was turned in last night by Bornstein. I hope this is the last we'll ever see of him on the intl stage because I swear, if I see him in another important match, I may go full Ant0n and demand everyones head. There were other problems and all that, but I fully believe that if Bornstein was never born, the USA wins that match last night.
I made a comment earlier in the chatbox about the Mexi F being so damn fast. The 2 injuries hurt us but they continue to push through and get to the finals. US continues to do well in these other tournaments and now we have to make that next step in doing well in the big daddy, World Cup. Don't know too much technical stuff but US continues to get better, I read before the match we were over matched but came out and took a 2 nil lead and then our backline showed its colors. So that is something that obviously that needs addressed and it has been pointed out in several posts. It seems from a guy that doesn't watch soccer but just mostly US games, that they are getting better and starting to contend with the more skilled teams but we lack the elite speed of these Mexi and Argentina teams
To be fair to Gio, he has gotten time, he has played every second half of the season the past 3 season. Everytime he has gone out on loan, he has always played very very well. 'Arry will take a big hit with this one. He is still ideal for this team. Everyone can see RDV didnt have the legs to finish games out and 'Arry still didnt want to let the kid play. Maybe 'Arry had a grudge, but his "drinking" was a bit over blown. One drunk Christmas party with the team, yet he had no drinking issues in Spain or in Turkey, or hell even with the tractor boys. The problem on Saturday was, well, they just werent good enough. This Mexico team is a top team and brought the heavy hitters, while USA didnt really play their top top players let alone defense. Gooch, Jay, Omar G, Chandler, and others werent there. It was a weak squad. Landon, Clint, and Carlos and Timmy. Who else? Compare that to Rafa, both of their starting holding mids, and then Andres, Chich, Gio, and Dynamite up top. Even at 2-0 i wasnt convinced. Both goals came against the run of play. Theyll learn. They are making progress. And whenever I talk about the USMNT, i like to always say a very very speacial FUCK YOUUUUUUU to one Giuseppe Rossi, and Neven Subotic. Fuck off fuckin fuckbag fucks. Kthxbye
