Cameron is a true utility player. They guy is smart and athletic enough to play anywhere. Even as far forward as CAM. I think it's sad we don't have a better option at the bottom of the diamond. Jermaine Jones is a liability against technical opponents (he can run with anybody).
I think he should. He's either the #1 or #2 set piece taker on the team and works better in space than Bedoya.
Wings I would say. Gokhan Gonul and Caner Erkin. Hedache was at the game I doubt he would reply here Turkey sure needed more experience players like Arda Turan, Burak Yilmaz,Mehmet Topal, Semih ( instead of match ruiner Balta) . Well some of these youngsters are gonna be good soon.
This. Jozy is capable of being the lone target - showed good strength and ability with his back to the goal. He needs to be immense moving forward.
Starting 11 GK A (Onur) Trabzonspor goalkeeper. One of the best Turkey has had in recent years. RB A ( Gokhan Gonul) This guy smokes , does no training , and still is the best RB CB D ( Ozan Tufan) I never heard of this kid before these friendly games. CB ( Balta) should be Z , but I would say C LB C ( Ishak Dogan) has a really good potential in the future CDM A ( Sahin) Dortmund star CDM A ( inan) Galatasaray star who was nowhere to be found the entire season. AML A ( Caner) as if now best player Turkey has along with Arda. AMR B ( Oguzhan) Besiktas found this kid in England. RVP says he will be a star one day,but he is weak right now. ST B (Erdinc) he usually plays if Burak Yilmaz is not available.
Ah, makes sense. I always liked him as a player, but I can't say I know enough about the Turkish National Team to know if he'd still be a top choice.
Just got back home and saw this. Tapatalk doesn't notify when you're tagged. Anyways, I'm not that familiar with the Turkish side as much as I am with the US anymore. As a matter of fact, I was all in my US jersey, marching and chanting with AO, etc. Beshiktas has broken down the team pretty much like I would have. There were some key names missing in the Turkish team (and Altintop is not one of them, he hasn't played all season). Arda Turan, Burak Yilmaz, Semih Kaya would have made a big difference in my opinion. Turkey also doesn't perform well when the game doesn't matter, or opposition is a team that you can look down on (not US, but teams like Azerbaijan). So you put a full squad Turkish team in a WC game, things would have looked different. Unfortunately same goes for US. They like to match opposition. I will disagree with Jozy comment above. The game that I watched today, he was lazy, not putting everything out there. Not only that, he can't bury it in when it comes down to that. If that's our lone target in the WC, we're screwed. I actually hope Wondo gets the chance. Jozy is not the Jozy that should be. I know he has had his break throughs in the past, but WC is not the place to put him out there and hope he magically comes out of his stint. I didn't like the way he looked today. If he's in there for his size, he needs to use his size wisely, not draw foul after foul.
I think the players were also being cautious about their health right before the tournament. I bet they read the news and see all these players getting injured, having broken legs, broken arms... If I was on the pitch against Turkish youngsters who are trying to prove themselves I wouldn't fully force myself to play in the game either
I just read the earlier posts as well. Jones or Beckerman is always going to be the choice in the starting 11 along with Bradley in my opinion. I don't like Jones, but he has been one of the stronger players in fact. I'm all for a Jones Bradley Zusi and a LM (Davis has surprisingly been good, Bedoya is promising, who is WC level we'll see), and then Dempsey and a forward (Wondo or Jozy). Diskerud and Johansson to be first alternates for mid and forward. Defense is a whole different horror story. I have very little hope about those guys. Defense doesn't just pick up form. Those guys have serious positioning and marking problems and those problems will not go away in two weeks. God and Tim save us, and we may pull a miracle to make it through the group.
We play like that in the WC and we'll easily be down 2-0 going into the half. 1st half was attrocious yesterday, IMO. 2nd half we played a little better, but Julian Green's play disappointed me. He didn't look like he was up to speed at all on either side of the ball. Was also really hoping to see Aron Johannsson get some PT. Hopefully we'll see him against Nigeria.
Brad Davis does nothing for me. Sure he can swing the cross in but Zusi is not bad on service either. I surely hope he doesn't start Saturday vs Nigeria or I might chunk a drink from the stands. Also in my opinion Wondo is a poacher. He doesn't really do much to create his own shot and is much better used as a late sub not as a starter. Johannson has a better shot at starting at forward for us before Wondo in the WC. This will be my 5th USMNT game ever and I'm 4-0 so far. Lets hope it stays that way when I fly to Florida.
I hope so. Really hoping we see him start or at least get some substantial PT this weekend. Not a fan of BD either, especially after seeing that crossing ball that Suzi placed last weekend. Beautiful cross.
Nigeria will be a big test for us. I'd imagine we'll see our starting lineup. -------------------Howard---------------------- Johnson -- Besler --- Cameron -- Beasley ---------Bradley----------Beckerman--------- --Zusi-----------Dempsey----------Bedoya-- -------------------Altidore----------------------- I think the only places up for grabs are left back (Beasley or Chandler), CDM next to Bradley (Jones or Beckerman), and LM (Bedoya or Davis). The only one I don't know who I would like to see start is left mid. Bedoya and Davis have both looked ok in the friendlies and I don't think any of them ran away with the job before that. Chandler looked like shit against Turkey, if he starts against Nigeria and puts in another poor performance I'm not sure if JK can start him over Beasley. Beckerman/Jones is a battle that I think is fairly even in Klinnsman's mind as well, although I think he favors Jones slightly. Beckerman has been impressive with his discipline and composure, but doesn't give that physical presence that we may need against Germany and Ghana. I still think I'd like to see him start though.
I'm probably crazy, but I think Edu is a better option than Beckerman. Composure is great and all, but I don't think we can afford to rely on someone like him in the defensive midfield against the athletic teams in our group. Beckerman is the least athletic and skilled individual player on our roster. Sure, he can pass the ball, but how many times have you watched a USMNT or Real Salt Lake game and been floored by a pass or defensive stop he made? 0 times. I think JK likes Davis because the things he does well (passing, corners, crossing, set pieces and creating space) he thinks he can utilize in specific situations. Davis murders set pieces from right of the goal and, as good as Zusi is, we don't have anyone that can take those kicks like Brad can. Bedoya is probably a better overall player, so goes the difficulty in the decision.
I've been watching this on repeat all day... Still gives me goosebumps. This one's shitty quality, but they have a look back of it on Watch ESPN where they talk about it that is good stuff. Also, found this while I was looking for that video on youtube. Pretty cool. Only 5 days away..... It can't get here soon enough.
