Copa america centenario!!!

[CDu]

So, these kids have to choose between college or going pro? And if so, is the salary enough to make it worthwhile?if it is 50,care we just talking 12 or 13 a class on average?

Is the ultimate problem, unlike Europe, that we do not have a professional league that pays even close to the scale that the NFL, NBA, and MLB do?

Is it really a money incentive issue?

(Sorry for all the questions, you obviously know more about this than I do. Trying to get to the nub).

Over half the players in MLS make under $100K per year, so - if the players are in college already - they probably are best served to stay in school unless they can catch on overseas (which is unusual). The MLS isn't a sure-fire career path worthy of foregoing a college degree.

Players at the top of the MLS food chain do quite well, but those at the bottom make $50-60K. And the salaries are skewed heavily towards the bottom.

[AIRFORCEDUKIE]

Checking in on the road on the way from the Bay to Chicago for match 2 tomorrow. A few weeks ago, SBNation selected me to tell my story about how I joined the American Outlaws and some favorite memories. The video just got released today as part of their Fan Stories series. Just wanted to leave it here and if you will be in Chicago or Philadelphia for the matches tomorrow and Saturday, holler at me!

http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2016/...ws-donald-wine

Oh thats you!! Awesome Ive been a member for two years now, were still working things out in the local West Palm Beach Chapter, but membership is growing. Gonna meet up with those guys tonight for the game!!!

[OldPhiKap]

Checking in on the road on the way from the Bay to Chicago for match 2 tomorrow. A few weeks ago, SBNation selected me to tell my story about how I joined the American Outlaws and some favorite memories. The video just got released today as part of their Fan Stories series. Just wanted to leave it here and if you will be in Chicago or Philadelphia for the matches tomorrow and Saturday, holler at me!

http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2016/...ws-donald-wine

Great story, and nice to put a face with a name (let alone a podcast voice).

I . . . .

I believe . . . .


Go USA!! We need three tonight.

[budwom]

if I settle in front of the TV tonight with my cocktail and appropriate futbol snacks, and the Americans lay an immediate egg as they did vs
Colombia, I'm going to have a very petulant tantrum.

[OldPhiKap]

if I settle in front of the TV tonight with my cocktail and appropriate futbol snacks, and the Americans lay an immediate egg as they did vs
Colombia, I'm going to have a very petulant tantrum.

What is an "apropriate futbol snack," and does it have to involve Nutella somehow?

[devildeac]

if I settle in front of the TV tonight with my cocktail and appropriate futbol snacks, and the Americans lay an immediate egg as they did vs
Colombia, I'm going to have a very petulant tantrum.

What is an "apropriate futbol snack," and does it have to involve Nutella somehow?

Budwom lives in Vermont so somehow I expect the snack to include a type of cheese and a tub of Ben and Jerry's . And don't believe "cocktail" for a moment. All he ever mentions to me is his supply of Heady Toppers .

[CDu]

For all the complaints about the old guys, they are the ones getting it done today. Zardes, Wood, and Yedlin have been the shaky ones so far. Wood's goal notwithstanding, of course.

[OldPhiKap]

Wow. Just, wow.

[CDu]

The switch to the 4-4-2 seems to have brought Dempsey to life, as he is playing underneath Wood. His play in the back end of the first half was terrific. And Jones has been a beast.

I have been disappointed in Zardes, who doesn't seem to have much touch. We either need him to be better or we need a better option up front. He has helped on defense though.

Wood seemed to misconnect on a lot of breaks early on, but his goal was fabulous.

The scoreseems a bit deceiving in that our passing was quite bad early. But we really capitalized once play opened up. Both open play goals were terrific shots.

[OldPhiKap]

A few shaky moments aside -- hard to draw up a better result.

Not sure which was more impressive -- four goals, or a clean sheet.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

First five minutes were scary. After that, the Dempsey show.

Great outing for Team USA. Go get another win!

[OldPhiKap]

Columbia up over Paruguay 2-0 past the half, headed to bed soon. If form holds, we are in second in the group and a win or draw against Paruguay moves us on. If I have that right. (Absent the extremely unlikely event of Costa Rica smoking Columbia, with a huge goal differential, large enough to trump of our draw).

[CDu]

Columbia up over Paruguay 2-0 past the half, headed to bed soon. If form holds, we are in second in the group and a win or draw against Paruguay moves us on. If I have that right. (Absent the extremely unlikely event of Costa Rica smoking Columbia, with a huge goal differential, large enough to trump of our draw).

Yes, a win guarantees our advance. A draw all but guarantees it - Costa Rica would have to win by 6 goals over Colombia to overcome the difference in goal differential. A loss would eliminate us.

Obviously, last night's results were about as good as we could have hoped.

[AIRFORCEDUKIE]

I don't know what match you guys were watching where Bobby Wood was playing poorly. The guy was putting constant pressure on up front. He lost the ball a few times, but that was more from aggression and where he was given the ball. His attack opened things up for everyone. I like the adjustment Jk made, having Dempsey drop back some and letting Wood and Zardes be the attackers. This lets Dempsey be his creative self, which by his PK goal and two assists even if one was on accident, it paid off.

The two bad spots were pretty clear to me, Zardes and Yedlin didn't have great games. In Zardes case he just has a really bad first touch and I don't know if there is any fixing it. He had at least three or four chances at break aways or a chance to make a play that he foiled on his own with a poor first touch. As far as Yedlin goes, he played his role fine on defense. Attacking and going forward though he just seems to get in the way.

The player of the game for me was John Brooks!!! How good is that guy? He dominated his matchup, I don't even think he allowed a ball to get trough around the front of the goal. All of the Ticos chances came from the sides at poor angles.

Fabian Johnson stood out to me as well, you didn't notice him much on defense because he was just that good. However, he was also able to get forward and make some things happen. None of it resulted in goals but anytime you can get Fabian moving forward and creating its a bonus for this squad.

Jermaine Jones rebounded well from his awful performance vs Colombia. I think he was just in a bad matchup vs them and he was better suited for the Costa Rica matchup. Thats just the way its going to be with him now, sometimes he will be able to hold his own. Other games he will be too slow and too old to keep up and make any kind of difference. It's up to Klinsmann to identify when that is.

Finally I am a little disappointed we didn't get to see Nagbe or Pulisic this match. I get why we didn't we were up 3-0 and no need to risk an injury to our best reserves. However the conspiracy theorist in me thinks it was just Klinsmann trying to make a point with all the criticism hes gotten since the Colombian match.

Now on to Paraguay!! We need at least a tie, but a win would be better then we can move on to the Knockout stage and with the right matchup could make some noise.

[budwom]

What is an "apropriate futbol snack," and does it have to involve Nutella somehow?

Allergic to hazelnuts, so Nutella has been on the Do Not Fly list for some time now. Most logical beverage for Western Hemisphere
futbol would be tequila, but last night I went with a New Hamster beer, Smuttynose porter, and of course it was disappointing.
Nice packaging, though! What was I thinking?

The way Costa Rica came out buzzing, I feared it was going to be another bad night. Very nice win, but I don't get the
feeling this U.S. team can get very far...hoping to be proved wrong.

Just read an interesting Sports Illustrated article on Neuer, and how he has changed goalkeeping...pointed out he's not one to
just punt the ball downfield and hope for the best, no need to turn the ball over. And watching Guzan last night, I really wondered
why he continually blasted the ball downfield...yeah, he got one or two breaks going, but more often than not CR ended up with the ball.

[OldPhiKap]

I went with a New Hamster beer, and of course it was disappointing.

Never let it be said that budwom is not consistent. ;>)

[CDu]

(condensed version)I don't know what match you guys were watching where Bobby Wood was playing poorly.

The two bad spots were pretty clear to me, Zardes and Yedlin didn't have great games.

The player of the game for me was John Brooks!!!

Fabian Johnson stood out to me as well, you didn't notice him much on defense because he was just that good.

To be clear, I was the one noting Wood's struggles, and that was based on the first 30 minutes of play. In those first 30 minutes, while he was making deep runs it seemed like every time he touched the ball it resulted in an immediate turnover. And this was painful because we really struggled to possess the ball in that first third of the game. However, after that shaky first third, he did settle in some. The goal was a classic center forward goal: posting up, turning and striking quickly past the defender and keeper. Wood remained threatening the rest of the way, though after the goal he did return to his earlier habits of not really adding much in terms of connection on his runs. In aggregate, anytime a forward scores a goal it almost has to be deemed a successful game. But when I was complaining about his play, he really had been playing poorly.

I completely agree that Zardes and Yedlin were weaker performers. Though each deserves some praise as well. Zardes did a fantastic job of tracking back and helping Yedlin on defense early, which was critical given the 4-3-3 formation. And Yedlin's blazing run up the right side and subsequent cross led to the PK. But I agree that those two were the weakest performers of the non-keepers (Guzan wasn't great, but wasn't tested either).

Totally agree on Brooks and Johnson. Brooks (and Cameron, though he was tested to a lesser degree) really locked down the central defense. There were only a couple of chances Costa Rica got threw the middle, and thankfully they didn't convert. Otherwise, they were limited to sharp angles from the wings, and had very few threatening chances. Johnson teamed with Jones a lot out there and really stymied the Ticos. Almost all of Costa Rica's threats came from Yedlin's side of the field, and with good reason.

I think that the decision to have Dempsey return to more of a deep-lying forward role really helped him. He's so much better when he can face the goal and attack with support on his wings. His assist for Jones was, in my opinion, a mistake on his part. I think he should have played the ball to Bedoya who was sprinting toward the post with no defender in sight. Fortunately, Dempsey's misplay of the ball landed on Jones' right foot, and Jones put in a beautiful shot to the far post just past the keeper. But aside from that mistake, Dempsey just looked much more comfortable collecting the ball in the middle third and running at goal. Every time he got the ball in these situations he looked threatening.

Can't say enough about the play of Jones in this match though. He was his usual dominant self in a defensive midfield capacity, but his ability to transition from defense to offense last night was magnificent. He almost single-handedly created his goal, sprinting from his defensive mid position to steal the ball from a Costa Rican defender, sliding to pass the loose ball to Dempsey, then recovering to provide support for Dempsey's run, then finishing clinically. But Jones' ability to track back and act as both a fifth defender and then push the ball up the field himself was such a huge dynamic.

[AIRFORCEDUKIE]

To be clear, I was the one noting Wood's struggles, and that was based on the first 30 minutes of play. In those first 30 minutes, while he was making deep runs it seemed like every time he touched the ball it resulted in an immediate turnover. And this was painful because we really struggled to possess the ball in that first third of the game. However, after that shaky first third, he did settle in some. The goal was a classic center forward goal: posting up, turning and striking quickly past the defender and keeper. Wood remained threatening the rest of the way, though after the goal he did return to his earlier habits of not really adding much in terms of connection on his runs. In aggregate, anytime a forward scores a goal it almost has to be deemed a successful game. But when I was complaining about his play, he really had been playing poorly.

I completely agree that Zardes and Yedlin were weaker performers. Though each deserves some praise as well. Zardes did a fantastic job of tracking back and helping Yedlin on defense early, which was critical given the 4-3-3 formation. And Yedlin's blazing run up the right side and subsequent cross led to the PK. But I agree that those two were the weakest performers of the non-keepers (Guzan wasn't great, but wasn't tested either).

Totally agree on Brooks and Johnson. Brooks (and Cameron, though he was tested to a lesser degree) really locked down the central defense. There were only a couple of chances Costa Rica got threw the middle, and thankfully they didn't convert. Otherwise, they were limited to sharp angles from the wings, and had very few threatening chances. Johnson teamed with Jones a lot out there and really stymied the Ticos. Almost all of Costa Rica's threats came from Yedlin's side of the field, and with good reason.

I think that the decision to have Dempsey return to more of a deep-lying forward role really helped him. He's so much better when he can face the goal and attack with support on his wings. His assist for Jones was, in my opinion, a mistake on his part. I think he should have played the ball to Bedoya who was sprinting toward the post with no defender in sight. Fortunately, Dempsey's misplay of the ball landed on Jones' right foot, and Jones put in a beautiful shot to the far post just past the keeper. But aside from that mistake, Dempsey just looked much more comfortable collecting the ball in the middle third and running at goal. Every time he got the ball in these situations he looked threatening.

Can't say enough about the play of Jones in this match though. He was his usual dominant self in a defensive midfield capacity, but his ability to transition from defense to offense last night was magnificent. He almost single-handedly created his goal, sprinting from his defensive mid position to steal the ball from a Costa Rican defender, sliding to pass the loose ball to Dempsey, then recovering to provide support for Dempsey's run, then finishing clinically. But Jones' ability to track back and act as both a fifth defender and then push the ball up the field himself was such a huge dynamic.

I can see that maybe Woods goal and his later form made me ignore the start of his game. I will be keeping a close eye on him on Saturday.

I wonder if its time to replace Zardes in the lineup. Klinsmann has to see what everyone else sees. I get the potential, but maybe Nagbe would be a better fit? However, as far as Yeldin goes, I don't think we have a better option in that position.

[CDu]

I wonder if its time to replace Zardes in the lineup. Klinsmann has to see what everyone else sees. I get the potential, but maybe Nagbe would be a better fit? However, as far as Yeldin goes, I don't think we have a better option in that position.

I would love to see Nagbe get more time, though I'm not sure that playing him in place of Zardes makes the most sense. Zardes' role on the right wing was terrible in the attack, but he really helped support Yedlin on rightside defense. And as you note, there's no real alternative to Yedlin in defense. If you play Nagbe in the right winger role, you get much better offense but you put the right side of defense at substantial risk, especially in a 4-3-3 look.

If anything, if we stay in a 4-3-3, Nagbe makes more sense as a replacement for Bedoya. There he can take the attacking midfield role and Jones and Bradley can be the deep lying mids. As far as replacements for Zardes, I don't really have a good answer unless we switch to a 4-4-2 (or a 4-4-1-1 with Dempsey behind Wood) formation. In that formation, Bradley and Jones as central defensive mids and Nagbe and Bedoya or Zusi playing the more attacking mids on the wings, and Dempsey playing a deep-lying center forward behind Wood. I would be quite okay with that strategy.

[OldPhiKap]

Not to look ahead, but if we advance we would play either the winner or the runner-up of Group B (Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Haiti). Brazil (1 point) plays Haiti (0 points) at 7:30 est tonight. Peru (3 points) plays Ecuador (1 point) at 10.