Hi! We’re
the Red, White and Blues Brothers and this is our color-coded U.S. Soccer blog.
Chip writes in red and Danny
writes in blue. We cheer for the U.S. and you better too!
Well, it's a busy couple of weeks for U.S. Soccer! Friday night down in Jamaica the Yanks had us fans on an emotional roller coaster, but our boys pulled off an exciting win in stoppage time! A trip back to the Pacific Northwest and we're ready to do it again! It's USA vs. Panama in Seattle Tuesday night for our 5th game and the halfway point in the Hexagonal round of our CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying.
Up next: Tuesday, June 11. USA vs PANAMA, CenturyLink Field, Seattle, Washington 9:30pm EST, 8:30pm CST, 7:30pm MST, 6:30pm PST
Watch on: ESPN, WatchESPN, UniMas
Follow on Match Tracker at ussoccer.com
and via Twitter @ussoccer
Now Here's Chip with our Game 4 Recap from Friday night...
Hey USA fans. It was a nice, strong win in Jamaica... but we certainly can't rest on our laurels or our Heartys. We will still need to play with a lot of heart in the up coming games this summer. (Oh, I get it Laurel and HEART-Y! Sometimes your sense of humor is more like a Hardy Boys mystery!) We can't afford to give away points in our home games. In other words, we need to strive for 6 points in Seattle and in Salt Lake City. 4 points would be OK, but I don't want OK. I want brilliance! And we can do it. We will surely miss Zusi against Panama, thanks to a second yellow card. Someone will just have to step up and then he can come back against Honduras. We also have to be careful with several players carrying yellow cards. A yellow card in the Panama game for several players would mean a 1 game suspension. I don't think we can afford to lose any players for the Honduras game, especially Bradley, Dempsey or Evans.
Friday night's hero, Brad Evans received a yellow card for celebrating after his amazing goal! All he did was put his shirt over his head, run to the sideline and laid on his back before he was mobbed by his teammates. I think it was crossing the touchline and leaving the field, but I guess it could have been "delay of game". I think the Panamanian referee could have let that slide. I think the game is better with goal celebrations.
Now for an assessment of the game. I felt we controlled and dominated the first half. This made me very happy, but I also felt we were lucky to be up 1-0 at half. Another breakdown in the defense gave Jamaica a golden opportunity in the 42nd minute, but luckily the right post held strong. Of course, we hit a post early on too, so fair is fair. I don't think goalposts operate on a basis of fairness, but each team just missed and hit the post in the first half. Either goal would have been a huge momentum swing as Bradley's post was in the second minute of the game and Jamaica's was right before halftime.
Speaking of post shots. Is it just me that thinks this, or is Michael Bradley the best player on the field these days? He controls and dominates the mid field and seems to do it with ease. He always knows where the ball should go and almost always gets it there. Nobody ever dribbles around him when he is on the defense and he can get a shot off once and a while too.... as he did when he hit the left post early in the game. We can thank our lucky stars and stripes we have him on our team!
Well, Budweiser awarded Altidore the man of the match and I thought Zusi was the best player for the U.S. on Friday. It's a bummer he has to sit out Tuesday's game with that yellow card suspension.
On to the second half. I felt we played fairly well in the second half as well, but a little sluggish. Blame it on the heat and humidity perhaps? Or partaking in Jamaican customs at halftime? One thing is for certain, we need to shore up the line on free kicks! Jamaica has 3 goals off set pieces in the past two games against us. That is unacceptable! I would blame this one on late sub Eddie Johnson. He was out of position in the end. He is a forward and a goal scorer, so can we really blame him or should we blame Jurgen for the substitution choice? I don't really like to "blame" anyone, so let's move on and hope that both people learn from their mistakes.
However, I sure would like 5 minutes with Jurgen to discuss his substitution choices. So much for moving on! It looks like Chip is getting fired up. We now return to his rant, already in progress... I understand his hand was forced a little with the Jones injury (let's hope his injury is not serious) and bringing Cameron in. I am not sure about the Castillo sub? He didn't seem to do too bad, but he didn't seem to do too much either. Maybe he needs to develop more. But I am baffled by the Johnson sub. Was Jozy exhausted? Hurt? If so, why not bring in a fresh defender for him and move Beasley up to fill the void? Beasley could attack some and still get back to help on defense. Or were his legs done too? These are things I don't know by watching on TV, and I sure would love some insight into it! In an earlier post I mentioned Johnson scoring two goals and being in form. I am not so sure about that anymore. He didn't impress me, and he certainly didn't seem to understand the situation of the game. I can think of at least two times where he pushed the envelope forward late in the game when he should have settled and controlled. Another goal at those times would have been nice, but the play wasn't there in my opinion. Of course, that is just MY opinion. What is YOUR opinion? The Red White and Blues Bros. want to hear from you!
Danny, anything you want to add?
Why yes Chip, thank you for asking! Since you're asking our readers their opinions of coaching tactics and strategy, I have a few items I'm curious about... Tim Howard's beard and Jurgen Kilinsmann's wardrobe choice. Tim, it's great to have you back in the net after recovering from your broken back, but c'mon man, lose the beard! You're one of the only players on the U.S. team that a casual American sports fan might recognize on the street and now you have a disguise. And Jurgen, I think it's totally cool that you brought the team down a few days early to enjoy Jamaica and to watch the Mexico/Jamaica game, but your khakis and T-shirt was a bit too laid back. You looked like you were coaching your daughter's Saturday morning youth game.
And I'd like to point out, that Klinsmann started the same line-up 2 games in a row for the first time since he became the U.S. coach in 2011. Unfortunately with Zusi and Jones out, he won't be able to continue the streak. In the three U.S. away games in the hex, they've worn 3 different uniform combinations. In Honduras in February they wore the all-blue kit and in Mexico in March they wore the all-white kit as the Mexicans wore all black. On Friday they mixed it up a bit by wearing white shorts with the navy blue jersey and socks. Maybe they did that because Jamaica wore black shorts, but it got them a win, so in September when they resume qualifying on the road, I hope they wear the lucky kit.
And things to watch for the Panama game... Panama is coming off a 0-0 tie with Mexico on Friday. That's huge for them, even at home. They're currently in 4th place in the hex. Brad Evans should get a hero's welcome at his home stadium in Seattle. Eddie Johnson also plays for the Sounders and he got a hat trick against Panama (as a sub!) in 2004. Ok, it was 9 years ago, but still that's pretty cool. Panama is playing only their second game on the road in the hex. They tied Jamaica back in March. Panama has never qualified for the World Cup. They have only 1 player playing in the Eastern Hemisphere (Rolando Blackburn plays in Slovakia) and only one player in The MLS (Blas Perez plays for FC Dallas but he might miss Tuesday's game.
Let's Go U.S.A!
Well, it's a busy couple of weeks for U.S. Soccer! Friday night down in Jamaica the Yanks had us fans on an emotional roller coaster, but our boys pulled off an exciting win in stoppage time! A trip back to the Pacific Northwest and we're ready to do it again! It's USA vs. Panama in Seattle Tuesday night for our 5th game and the halfway point in the Hexagonal round of our CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying.
Up next: Tuesday, June 11. USA vs PANAMA, CenturyLink Field, Seattle, Washington 9:30pm EST, 8:30pm CST, 7:30pm MST, 6:30pm PST
Watch on: ESPN, WatchESPN, UniMas
Follow on Match Tracker at ussoccer.com
and via Twitter @ussoccer
Now Here's Chip with our Game 4 Recap from Friday night...
Hey USA fans. It was a nice, strong win in Jamaica... but we certainly can't rest on our laurels or our Heartys. We will still need to play with a lot of heart in the up coming games this summer. (Oh, I get it Laurel and HEART-Y! Sometimes your sense of humor is more like a Hardy Boys mystery!) We can't afford to give away points in our home games. In other words, we need to strive for 6 points in Seattle and in Salt Lake City. 4 points would be OK, but I don't want OK. I want brilliance! And we can do it. We will surely miss Zusi against Panama, thanks to a second yellow card. Someone will just have to step up and then he can come back against Honduras. We also have to be careful with several players carrying yellow cards. A yellow card in the Panama game for several players would mean a 1 game suspension. I don't think we can afford to lose any players for the Honduras game, especially Bradley, Dempsey or Evans.
Friday night's hero, Brad Evans received a yellow card for celebrating after his amazing goal! All he did was put his shirt over his head, run to the sideline and laid on his back before he was mobbed by his teammates. I think it was crossing the touchline and leaving the field, but I guess it could have been "delay of game". I think the Panamanian referee could have let that slide. I think the game is better with goal celebrations.
Now for an assessment of the game. I felt we controlled and dominated the first half. This made me very happy, but I also felt we were lucky to be up 1-0 at half. Another breakdown in the defense gave Jamaica a golden opportunity in the 42nd minute, but luckily the right post held strong. Of course, we hit a post early on too, so fair is fair. I don't think goalposts operate on a basis of fairness, but each team just missed and hit the post in the first half. Either goal would have been a huge momentum swing as Bradley's post was in the second minute of the game and Jamaica's was right before halftime.
Speaking of post shots. Is it just me that thinks this, or is Michael Bradley the best player on the field these days? He controls and dominates the mid field and seems to do it with ease. He always knows where the ball should go and almost always gets it there. Nobody ever dribbles around him when he is on the defense and he can get a shot off once and a while too.... as he did when he hit the left post early in the game. We can thank our lucky stars and stripes we have him on our team!
Well, Budweiser awarded Altidore the man of the match and I thought Zusi was the best player for the U.S. on Friday. It's a bummer he has to sit out Tuesday's game with that yellow card suspension.
On to the second half. I felt we played fairly well in the second half as well, but a little sluggish. Blame it on the heat and humidity perhaps? Or partaking in Jamaican customs at halftime? One thing is for certain, we need to shore up the line on free kicks! Jamaica has 3 goals off set pieces in the past two games against us. That is unacceptable! I would blame this one on late sub Eddie Johnson. He was out of position in the end. He is a forward and a goal scorer, so can we really blame him or should we blame Jurgen for the substitution choice? I don't really like to "blame" anyone, so let's move on and hope that both people learn from their mistakes.
However, I sure would like 5 minutes with Jurgen to discuss his substitution choices. So much for moving on! It looks like Chip is getting fired up. We now return to his rant, already in progress... I understand his hand was forced a little with the Jones injury (let's hope his injury is not serious) and bringing Cameron in. I am not sure about the Castillo sub? He didn't seem to do too bad, but he didn't seem to do too much either. Maybe he needs to develop more. But I am baffled by the Johnson sub. Was Jozy exhausted? Hurt? If so, why not bring in a fresh defender for him and move Beasley up to fill the void? Beasley could attack some and still get back to help on defense. Or were his legs done too? These are things I don't know by watching on TV, and I sure would love some insight into it! In an earlier post I mentioned Johnson scoring two goals and being in form. I am not so sure about that anymore. He didn't impress me, and he certainly didn't seem to understand the situation of the game. I can think of at least two times where he pushed the envelope forward late in the game when he should have settled and controlled. Another goal at those times would have been nice, but the play wasn't there in my opinion. Of course, that is just MY opinion. What is YOUR opinion? The Red White and Blues Bros. want to hear from you!
Danny, anything you want to add?
Why yes Chip, thank you for asking! Since you're asking our readers their opinions of coaching tactics and strategy, I have a few items I'm curious about... Tim Howard's beard and Jurgen Kilinsmann's wardrobe choice. Tim, it's great to have you back in the net after recovering from your broken back, but c'mon man, lose the beard! You're one of the only players on the U.S. team that a casual American sports fan might recognize on the street and now you have a disguise. And Jurgen, I think it's totally cool that you brought the team down a few days early to enjoy Jamaica and to watch the Mexico/Jamaica game, but your khakis and T-shirt was a bit too laid back. You looked like you were coaching your daughter's Saturday morning youth game.
And I'd like to point out, that Klinsmann started the same line-up 2 games in a row for the first time since he became the U.S. coach in 2011. Unfortunately with Zusi and Jones out, he won't be able to continue the streak. In the three U.S. away games in the hex, they've worn 3 different uniform combinations. In Honduras in February they wore the all-blue kit and in Mexico in March they wore the all-white kit as the Mexicans wore all black. On Friday they mixed it up a bit by wearing white shorts with the navy blue jersey and socks. Maybe they did that because Jamaica wore black shorts, but it got them a win, so in September when they resume qualifying on the road, I hope they wear the lucky kit.
And things to watch for the Panama game... Panama is coming off a 0-0 tie with Mexico on Friday. That's huge for them, even at home. They're currently in 4th place in the hex. Brad Evans should get a hero's welcome at his home stadium in Seattle. Eddie Johnson also plays for the Sounders and he got a hat trick against Panama (as a sub!) in 2004. Ok, it was 9 years ago, but still that's pretty cool. Panama is playing only their second game on the road in the hex. They tied Jamaica back in March. Panama has never qualified for the World Cup. They have only 1 player playing in the Eastern Hemisphere (Rolando Blackburn plays in Slovakia) and only one player in The MLS (Blas Perez plays for FC Dallas but he might miss Tuesday's game.
Let's Go U.S.A!
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