The two young defenders both look pretty good out there.

Hopefully the two young strikers can come in and do the same.

WOOO! Bob!

Bunbury, Agudelo, and Spector expected to play in the second half according to him.

Posted this in skype, and it pretty much sums up the first half imo:

this team is so unorganized (as expected)
I like that they have some creativity in the side
but we are so sloppy with the ball
and dare I say, we are being out manuevered tactically (like it matters in this game)


Anyway, not a bad game so far from an entertainment POV. Pretty open and back and forth. SA playing much better than us, partly as a result of them pushing up the LB pretty far when they are in possession, which is overwhelming our midfield since someone on our bench hasn't told one of the CF's to drop into midfield.

Findley was the only CF in the first half.

i like what bradley was saying at the half. Burnberry/Agudelo/Spector should be some good subs. Findley Gaven Lichaj out?

Let Lichaj play, take Bornstein out, imo. Not that Bornstein's been terrible, just that the minutes mean more to Lichaj's development.

I have no idea who the guy is then, but one of our players is pressing way to far up the pitch when SA have the ball and its allowing SA to overload us in MF. Really mostly going off memory, but SA had 4-5 people around our box for most of their tries from open play.

Like I said though, the match is pointless, but it is alarming seeing this team not adjust to what is happening. The players either don't get it, or BB doesn't. Or perhaps neither care since its just a friendly.

AGUDELOOOOOOOOOOOO

Pretty sick year for Agudelo. 14 minutes in the MLS regular season, then all of a sudden starting/playing 80 minutes in an important playoff game and then BOOM national team call up.


and i'd guess it was Gaven you saw pressing too far up the field.

<3 gaven and hope i see more of him, but he's kinda meh for national team.

Yeah it was Gaven. Dude has an amazing hair+beard combo.

GG Tim Ream. He deserves to be here more.

AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ahh he looked so happy after seeing it went in.

JUAN AGUDELO

THERES ONLY JUANNNN AGUDELO!




JUANN AGUUUUUUUUUUDELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOO

Thems be some U-20 hookups right there

AGUDELOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

That was nice

GOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

anyone got a list of the starters and the subs? i don't recognition many names on the pitch for the us.

agudelo youngest player to ever score for the USMNT according to the broadcast.

pinoy, the US is playing a B or C team of young players. There's a starting lineup somewhere up thread.

Juan!

Sick performance by what was essentially a U-20 team, future is bright imo. Knew that after the milk cup though.

Yeah, all of the new guys looked good-to-great out there; although, to be fair, we only saw like 5 minutes of Boss. Lichaj was more than solid at RB and is the clear front runner to replace Dolo in a couple years, but not before that. Bedoya looked better too, which made me less upset about him starting.

Spector was awful. Just unwatchable. Bornstein wasn't that good, but he was miles ahead of Spector. I don't know how he's gonna turn it around exactly, but he needs to get out of West Ham and go actually play somewhere before he somehow gets worse.

Findley was what we thought he was. When you can't even start for your MLS team at 25, you shouldn't be playing for the national squad.

It took Guzan a bit to get comfortable out there, but he looked fine once he got his feet under him.

Rogers showed some flashes, and he is still just 23, but the MLS midfield players shouldn't plan on any long stints with the USMNT any time soon.

Someone tell me more about this Diskerud guy.

Yea, I would love to hear more about him. He impressed me.

The only WTF part of Bradley's call-ups. Almost zero chance that either of them play a substantive role in WCQ given their age, so why bother?

Diskerud is half/half Norwegian/American. Actually has games for jr teams from both countries and had stated in the past that he was open to a call from either.

I'm not really sure there was ever much doubt though. If the US wanted him he was playing here. Any MF we can have that will produce some nice creative control on the ball is always welcome. It's such a departure from traditional bulldozer MFs that we've capped over the years. I guess kudos to Bradley for not letting the kid slip through the cracks.

Who from the folks that played have a genuine shot at a spot on the Gold Cup roster? Lichaj, Goodson, Bedoya, Guzan obv... any others? Does Lichaj have any experience on the left side? He seems a nice compliment back there to a line with Dolo, Boca and Gooch/Goodson. Also Heath Pearce is prob still in the mix though I don't much care for him. It's certainly a pleasant sign that these U20 back line kids are getting a shot at some international call ups and we're not pounding our head against the wall with the same old same old (please don't let me quote that if/when Spector/Gooch/Boca/Bornstein get owned at Gold Cup next year)

I like Lichaj and think he's going to be the answer, at least in the near future, as 'Dolo's replacement. It's an interesting spot actually. He's just beginning to break in with Villa (getting the occasional EPL time, and playing in cups and such) and he's looked very good in his first two caps with the USMNT.

Part of me says he could be one of the breakout players of the Gold Cup and put his claim on the RB position for this cycle. That would probably be fine with me since Dolo isn't the answer in Brazil.

It's an interesting spot because 'Dolo is so much more experienced right now. There's a lot on the line in the Gold Cup (the Confed Cup birth, which is huge, plus "**** Mexico" which is pretty huge too), and WCQ starts before you know it.

So do you hope that Lichaj continues his development at club level, ride 'Dolo through the Gold Cup and much of the WCQ, and then hope Lichaj is in a spot to jump in about a year or so prior to Brazil?

Or, do you start going with Lichaj now, thank Dolo for his service, and essentially use him as cover. This has the benefit of getting Lichaj some super valuable experience (playing on the road at places like Saprissa can be very good for a player imo), but of course it's the riskier option than the experienced vet coming off a good WC. Higher risk, higher reward.

Tough call.