I definitely want one but I can wait till it's down to $40 on Nike like the white one I recently picked up. Which now has almost the whole team's signatures on it. Except Dempsey, Donovan and Howard. They're too fucking cool to walk around and sign. Clint did some in the corner but wouldn't do everyone like the others.
I was at the practice last night too. I'm stoked about the match. I'll post some pictures tomorrow for sure.
The barber pole jerseys are horrible looking... Makes me think of a Serie B team or something, lol. But yea, looking forward to tonight. Wish I still lived in Florida, woulda been all over the Orlando practices and game tonight. Of course, Brasil on Wednesday should be interesting.
Obviously, the best they've looked under Klinsmann by a mile. I know it's Scotland, but this is everything he's been preaching since he took the job. Possession, quick 1-2 touch passes, constant movement off the ball changing angles, as close to a perfect game played as the US can probably play. All that said, it'll be interesting to see what Brazil brings on Wednesday, lol.
I hope that defensively they are up to it against Brazil because they did not have much to worry about in this game. Offensively though they were magnificent and I hope that it was not because the Scots were really that bad defensively.
I thought we looked pretty good today. I really like the midfield of Edu, Jones, and Bradley. I really think they can control the midfield for us, and get the game into our tempo. Were we in a 4-5-1 today or a 4-3-3? I had to watch on my Ipod, so it was pretty difficult for me to pick up on some things.... Also, I really hope Torres is heavily involved in our qualifying teams, I really like the kid. He just seems so comfortable on the ball, and gives us that little bit of flair in the attack that we often lack. A midfield of Bradley, Jones, Dempsey, Torres, and Donovan with Altidore as the lone striker could be a pretty solid lineup IMO.
They called it a 4-3-3. Apparently Klinsmann is in love with that Terrance Boyd kid (probably cuz he was born in Germany, lol), but there are a few young guns that should be seeing time over the next couple weeks of friendlies, Boyd, Torres, Corona, Fabian Johnson.... But I think Altidore going alone up top is useless. He isn't good enough to hold the ball up or create on his own. If anything, Dempsey could easily play as a striker with Jozy. But with the way Jurgi wants to play, you can really call it whatever kind of formation you want, 4-4-2, 4-3-3, 4-3-1-2, whatever. What they did tonight was perfect, with guys changing positions constantly, the guys up front keeping possession and holding up while the midfielders would overlap and create lanes and options, it was great to see some actual, orchestrated build up as opposed to the repetitive long balls from the backline I'm used to seeing with the US. I can't wait until we finally see Dempsey and Donovan on the field together. I feel like the last time that happened was WC in South Africa?
I think the Gold Cup they played together, but before that probably South Africa. And holy shit I just saw Bradley's goal. What a rip. I think the 4-3-3 is what Klinnsman wanted to play when he came in, but we weren't very successful in it at first. It looked like that's what we were in at times today, with the fullbacks pushing up to get involved as well, and like you said, we had some nice buildups. The one that led to Donovan's 2nd goal (I think it was his second) was nice. Looking forward to seeing how we do in the coming months. He said he is treating the next couple of months as a "5 game tournament" so I'm hoping that means we see the full strength squad as often as possible. I'm really looking forward to seeing what these guys are capable of when we're 100%, especially after today's performance. I'm interested to see how are D holds up against Brazil as well. Scotland didn't pose too much of a threat from what I could tell, so Brazil will obviously be more of a test of our team defense.
Here are some more pics. I'll comment about the game when I'm on my computer. This was definitely a good game to see live, especially from the seats I had.
I hope they have a better performance of the national anthem for the Brazil game because when I heard last nights performance I literally had to mute the TV.
Here is a link to the photos I took during the match. Remember, this was a camera phone https://picasaweb.google.com/113673867484519191356/USAMNTVsScotland#5747003441957200578
