What's Next For the USMNT?

First, we have to ditch the 4-2-3-1. Personally, I hate that formation and I won't let my boys play for a coach who runs it as a default formation. This style targets speed up top and favors long ball passes for break away runs. Great strategy as long as your opponent has a crappy back line.

Second, we have to find a better attacking mid than Michael Bradley. He's too slow and many of his passes are ill timed and off the mark. Third, We need to replace Beckerman as a holding mid. He struggles 1v1 and dives in too much.

Third, somehow we have to connect the dots to the younger ages and work more on passing in tight spaces and playing the ball wide to get numbers into the attack. We spend too much time chasing youth trophies and not enough time actually creating world class soccer players.

Finally, we have to come out strong every game. Mentally, it can be difficult to stay focused after you blow out a team 6-0. It's easy to get full of yourself and take your eyes off the prize.

If there is a ray of hope in the disaster that was the CONCACAF Semifinal is on October 9 we get to play the winner of Mexico v Jamaica for a spot in the 2017 Confederations Cup. We have three months for the USMNT to get their sh$t together and play a 4-4-2. Unfortunately, we don't have the talent to run an opened up 4-4-3 (Too bad Brek Shea turned out to be a bust because he had the potential to play a powerful left forward in that formation).

I'm not a fan of the 4-2-3-1 either .... personally, I think the USMNT would be better suited in a 5-2-1-2 (5 across the back that flexes to 3 athletic CB's and having Yedlin and Johnson bomb down the flanks like Roberto Carlos and Cafu did for Brazil) - 2 holding midfielders (as much as I respect Beckerman, even he knows he is way over the hill) - 1 CAM that is given a free role on the pitch (I agree, I don't think this "creative" position 100% compliments Michael Bradley's game) - 2 forwards the work together (big little combo like Quinn/Keane, Crouch/Defoe, etc.....)

Regardless --> it is all up to the players on hand at Klinsmann's disposal. I think the real issue this tournament (and a reoccurring theme for the USMNT) is that we lack any real dynamism and "personality" on the pitch. Nobody besides Dempsey really goes out there and puts their proverbial "stamp" on the pitch. Stronger personalities is something every quality Championship Team over the years needs (Germany 2014, Chelsea 05-06, 14-15, Arsenal 03-04 Invincibles, United 98-99 Treble, etc....)

Lets not overreact to one game or one tournament. Fans were very pleased with wins in the Netherlands and in Germany not long ago (albeit friendlies).

Also keep in mind, the USA could have won this game by 2-3 goals if they finished their chances a little better. The team created opportunities, but couldn't capitalize - that happens in soccer.

You also have to give Jamaica credit, they played very well and were in good form coming off the Copa America where they lost 3 one-goal games to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.

2015 is a transitional year after the 2014 WC. The ultimate goal is a great WC showing in 2018, the 2015 Gold Cup isn't all that important in the big picture. It is more important to experiment with players/formations adding new talent to the player pool.

Mexico could very well win this tournament - do you think that country is feeling good about their team after the last two (ref) gifted games?

The US has a lot of work to get done in the next 3 years, then again so does Mexico. And after a strong WC, how did Costa Rica fare in the Gold Cup? This is also true of many international teams outside of CONCACAF as well.

Not time to panic, this will be a long process...

Very True Coach Paul ... it's a marathon; not a sprint! We were definitely out-played by Honduras, Haiti was the surprise package of the Gold Cup, lethargic against Panama, destroyed the in-tatters Cuban Team that gave us a false sense of reassurance, and simply got beat by a Jamaican side who executed their game plan and took their chances. ..... it could be worse in a way --> look how embarrassed Miguel Herrara and Guardado looked after they slept-walked into the Final with some "dubious" decisions.

The marathon/sprint analogy doesn't apply at this level. It's a series of marathons after many years of sprint training. I don't believe this is an overreaction to an epic meltdown, it's more of another opportunity wasted because we don't have a firm understanding of the fundamentals.

I totally agree with Arsenal1984 in regards to the chemistry or personality of the USMNT. One could also make the same argument with Argentina. The difference is they have one of the top players of our time.

We can all sit around and talk about how we had opportunities but just came up short in finishing. My argument is that if we had started the first half the way we played the second half, it would have been a different outcome. The team and coach hasn't figured out a way to play at a high level consistently. We are too slow in the middle, overly reliant on speed up top and suspect on defense.

Ouch! we are definitely a work in progress and one can hope that each successive group of young USMNT players will advance our standing in the world each passing year.

I heard an excellent comment from an MLS player on XM Radio who said that the young players (youth academy and up) have more training and opportunity and are playing at a much higher level than ever.

I am confident that our youth players will continue to improve and every year seems to bring more US players and fans closer to the beautiful game (I am a proud of our developing players in the USA).

Finish1 - well said on Argentina. Just like the old Real Madrid Galatico's and Argentina 2006-2015 - on "paper" the team-sheet should scare the pants off you, but often times the end-product Trophy doesn't exist, because the STAR players do not compliment each other on the field and overall team chemistry is thrown off.

What if the USMNT took the "Bill Belicheck Approach" .... NO; not deflating soccer balls or spying on opponents (however we did make Costa Rica play in a blizzard LOL!!!) --> Belicheck had Jimmy Johnson as one of his mentors. Both Coaches had a distinct knack for developing undiscovered talent. The NFL has the Wounderlich Test, but I think these two guys grade players higher on Sports IQ. I'm a firm believer in the Dutch Total Football, but I am also very concerned how the USMNT is unable to adapt/change tactics throughout a game to exploit opponents weaknesses. We're too rigid! We lack distinct personalities to pull us over the hump to grind out the result(s)!

It's not an overnight thing, but I hope Klinsmann has a plan to get us moving in that direction

Massive over reaction.  It's one game after playing well in the World Cup and many friendlies recently.  

Am I a fan of JK?  No I'm not, but these things happen in sports and in the world of International Football over the past decade the gap is much smaller between the best and the worst.

Fundamental mistakes were made in this game (they are in every game) that ultimately cost us.  It doesn't mean we don't have a grasp on the fundamentals, it means the other side capitalized on our errors.  There are many matches where teams make 20 fundamental errors, none of which lead to a goal.  There are matches in which 2 errors are made that lead to 2 goals.

Fair enough. I have given specific examples of where I see consistent breakdowns in the fundamental aspect of the game for the USMNT. For which, if we don't improve from the structure of youth soccer, we are destined to repeat.

Just for the sake of argument, point out where you believe we are world class (sans scrimmage wins) and prepared to consistently win at the higher levels. If possible, connect the dots back to NTX.

finish1 wrote:Fair enough. I have given specific examples of where I see consistent breakdowns in the fundamental aspect of the game for the USMNT. For which, if we don't improve from the structure of youth soccer, we are destined to repeat.

This is where the future will be decided for the USA. Losing to a country with 3 million people shows how important it is to immerse players in the game, but it also proves that the game is not defined by the wealth of a country, but by the 4 pillars of it's players.

slrsoccer2 - I don't Finish1 or myself are going over the top with a snap-judgment reaction .... if anything his "rant"/observation/opinion was very subdued from some of the crap I've seen written since Wednesday evening.

I 100% agree .... fundamental mistakes are everywhere on the field ... it's whether or not the your opponent is able to capitalize on them (they are even MORE glaring here at the Youth Level). Honestly, I had a very strong feeling after the Cuba game that the USMNT was going to overlook Jamaica for a hopeful Dos A Cero game in the Final. Jamaica executed their strategy, got a few breaks to go their way, but I feel they overall deserved the result --> although I also feel Panama was extremely "unfortunate" ... if that's the PC Term that needs to be used haha!!!

Like you said, the gap is closing in International Soccer/Football. Access to view the sport has grown immensely since the late 90's - we've seen a definite spike here in the USA as well. Smaller countries like Slovenia and Jamaica are proving they can hang in there with some of the big guns out there.

Not sure where world class came into the conversation, I certainly never said the US is world class.

There have been 20 World Cups in which all have been won by 8 countries and of those 20 3 of those countries have won 13 of them. All of which are countries where the culture is soccer and they have been playing for 100 years. All of which have a foundation of professional leagues (which dominate all other sports) and youth systems designed to feed those leagues.

We have a professional league that is just barely 20 years old with a unorganized youth system. Hell, we just started consistently qualifying for World Cups 25 years ago...after a 40 year absence. This is a cultural issue and you don't change any culture overnight, it happens generation by generation.

I realize that it is un-American to not be upset when we aren't the best in the world, but the bottom line is that it will take some time to reach that goal. Even if we do reach that pinnacle, we might only sit atop the mountain for 4 years before being knocked off our perch.

The issue as I see it is that there has been no plan the we have stuck to, we want results now. Here we are changing our structure again with age groups, small sided games and field sizes. What happens in 10 years if this doesn't work? Are we going to blow it up and start over again?

So I ask, why are we so dominant in the women's game and not the men's? We have the same youth structure, the same coaches, same clubs, college soccer and we have a disaster of a women's league? What do you think is the difference?

Good points all around and I agree with most of what we're talking about. We need to blow up the current youth system because it doesn't work. We put too much pressure on the kids too early on too big of a field. Reducing the play to small sided games for pre-pubescent youth is a step in the right direction.

Regarding the difference between the USWNT and the USMNT, I believe the women are better organized in the attack, defend more efficiently and generally make better decisions with their passes.

Totally agree the US game has improved tremendously since I started playing in the 70s and we are getting better. Maybe my expectations are too high at this stage of soccer development in this country or maybe we aren't doing enough today to ensure better results sooner.

Your expectation isn't too high. The more passionate people like you the better.

However, I just am not in the same place with you on our youth system. I think the issue is at the top more than it is at the bottom. There has to be an outlet and there has to be a carrot that our kids are chasing. In other countries that carrot is fortune, fame an notoriety. In addition to that it is free schooling, housing and food. In our country it is MLS or college and most could go to college regardless.

I know I am in the minority, but I also don't quite buy into the winning and pressure spin put out by a bunch of parents. As for pressure, what a 10 year old feels trying to win some big tournament in NTX or SoCal is nothing compared to the 10 year old in a European or S American youth academy just trying to hold on to their spot so they can make the U11 team. Especially knowing the fact that these big clubs are constantly scouting to find better players to take their spots. If anything I don't think our kids play under enough pressure both physically and metaphorically. It is a game to us and our kids, it is a culture and a way of life for those in other countries.

My question about the MNT and WNT was somewhat loaded as I was curious to see if you would respond with "girls in the US have been afforded the chance to play at a higher level in youth soccer and above much longer than girls in other countries." To me that is why I think we are ahead of the rest of the world on the women's side, just like it's the reason I think we are behind on the men's side.

The Sting article that floated around here is a prime example. We used to send a club team from Dallas around the world that would beat other National Teams, many times handily. Our girls had a head start on the rest of the world, we are seeing others start to catch up, just like we will on the men's side.

Anyways, good conversation. I always enjoy speaking with someone who actually has some knowledge based opinions and isn't just repeating what the heard some U8 coach tell them.

Finish, we have the players that you are talking about now but the US system is so corrupt that they are not being identified to be put in the system at an early age. The US system takes BSF approach and thinks this is the way to play. the entire Everyone from the top needs to be put on notice. Including klinnsman.

finish1 wrote:Fair enough. I have given specific examples of where I see consistent breakdowns in the fundamental aspect of the game for the USMNT. For which, if we don't improve from the structure of youth soccer, we are destined to repeat.

Just for the sake of argument, point out where you believe we are world class (sans scrimmage wins) and prepared to consistently win at the higher levels. If possible, connect the dots back to NTX.

finish I agree with you 100% sir, and this beat to death saying/excuse of its a marathon not sprint DOES NOT APPLY at this level hell how long can we us that I think our YOUTH system is also a huge failure when it comes to identifying "true real talent" and we have just hammered the BFS player into our heads then wonder why we don't win the big games when they count. for example last night I watched two of our top 99 teams play and 1 team is a top nationally ranked team they easily dominated the other team and connected very well on mistakes made by the other team and the speed of play was tremendous but yet here was were I saw part of the failure, many many times this top team lost possession because of the ball and made terrible passes BECAUSE the play was way too fast!!!! their first touch was very poor at times and basic ball control looked very poor as well so its no wonder we cant get better skilled and soccer IQ players into the USMNT because the players that can are considered too slow and don't play fast enough well that's what NTX thinks anyway.

oh and forgot to add politics also play a huge part in the breakdown and our 1v1 skills are just totally crap!!!!

omega striker wrote:oh and forgot to add politics also play a huge part in the breakdown and our 1v1 skills are just totally crap!!!!

personally, i've always felt that even though soccer is a team sport (notice the same is true of basketball, football, and baseball) more emphasis should be put on 1v1 situations. if you have to similar talented subjects, have a dual so to speak. then put the best of those two on the higher team

soccerdadrandy wrote:

omega striker wrote:oh and forgot to add politics also play a huge part in the breakdown and our 1v1 skills are just totally crap!!!!

personally, i've always felt that even though soccer is a team sport (notice the same is true of basketball, football, and baseball) more emphasis should be put on 1v1 situations. if you have to similar talented subjects, have a dual so to speak. then put the best of those two on the higher team

agreed sir and why we don't already is completely ignorant

Most of N TX youth soccer and the men's and women's national teams are built on English style play. The difference is that the women's national team actually play like they do in the Premier League, fast attacks, fast play off the ball, one touch passing. 1v1 are not encouraged in this type of play. Oh, and by the way not encouraged on most N Texas team practices. Sometimes I think it's not politically correct to beat the coaches pet(s) or the favored player. I also see this in US style Futsal. 1v1 techniques in my opinion, are one of the cornerstones of a well coached team. I can see the coaches point of view though, if player A is always getting beat by players B, C & D, that means he has to offer player A more skills training, while conducting the team training as well. After Academy (10 yrs old), most group skills options dry up. Coach will have to tell parents to get him private training. Kind of a conflict of interests...so the cycle is never broken.

1v1 skills are ok, but they tend to make the players try to take the ball down the pitch goal line to goal line and we already have enough home coaching that emphasizes too much individualism in a team sport.

Technical brilliance is all that matters in youth academy so it is easy to succeed later when it is expected. Small, agile players need to learn to shield the ball and need a superior soccer IQ to level the effects of BFS players.

BFS players need to learn how to use both feet and focus on their technical ability and physicality.

In U11 and up player's should start focusing on more specific roles and emphasize performance in the defense, midfield or offense. failure to learn a position will prevent you from being identified and playing at the higher levels.

Player skill is what will decide your future.

USA! USA!

finish1 wrote:USA! USA!

you are patriotic good sir

USA plays with a distraught look on their faces, like a kid that is being forced by dad to play. Mexico looks like being at the game of their life and having fun. USA knows their skills don't match and it always shows.Something needs,to change in a big way.

I wasn't a fan of the 4-4-2 that Jurgen put out there .... Jones and Zardes were wasted on the flanks. It was pretty apparent that Mexico's game-plan was to get in behind Beasley at every chance (and Jones did switch over to be his cover instead of Zardes), but in the end it didn't pan out.

The #1 thing I see from the USMNT is that we lack any real DYNAMISM on the field and off the bench. Yes - Yedlin and Bobby Wood did provide a much needed spark off the bench, but Wondo isn't that spark-plug of a player we need in crunch-time.

"If" I was Klinnsman and had the same player personnel at my disposal, I would have gone with a 5-2-1-2 that flexes into a 3-4-3 on offense ..... we have plenty of options at CB (Besley, Cameron, Alvarado) ... have the speedy Yedlin and Fabien Johnson as wing-backs (offering defensive cover with 5 at the back + having the speed to get forward bombing down the flanks) .... 2 holding mid's in (Jones and Beckerman) ... Michael Bradley in the hole .... and either Altidore/Dempsey or Zardes/Dempsey as the Forwards