reposting from gamethread:

Disappointing result, but Belgium outplayed us. It just hurts to see a point blank miss ftw in the 93' then a bunch of chances squandered to force PKs. Plus, that second goal was super soft and inexcusable.

Jurgen should definitely be back. Guy has the heart and WIM of an American.

I feel bad for Howard, he gave everything he had and shouldn't have had to bear that much weight. Yedlin seems extremely promising and Green seems like he has potential even though we didn't see much of him. Wondolowski can get ****ed and never play for us again if that's all has, not like he is a young guy. I know Howard is old, but there is absolutely no reason he should not be back next WC. If you're gonna carry 3 keepers you might as well have a guy like him in camp. Its not going to be a Landon situation where all the field players need to be an option.

I will definitely be watching the rest of the World Cup because the entertainment value is high. I guess I am rooting for Rich Coast.

Idk if I will ever be able to pickup watching soccer regularly for many reasons. One, the euro leagues play at very inconvenient times. Secondly, I don't have any links to teams so I don't really know who I would root for. Additionally, I don't know if I have enough time to commit to following another sport. Most importantly though, I watched 4 games that I actually cared about and can unequivocally say that it is not healthy to watch these games with any regularity. I have packed way more stress into ~400 minutes of soccer than I do into whole season of football, basketball, or baseball.

That said, when is the next tournament that our A team or our up and comers who will be A teamers will play?

http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/the91...ricans-abroad/

Seems like a good primer.

It's hard to emphasize this enough: The US Youth System is 1000% times better than it was when I was in it (I'm 28, graduated high school in 2004). When I was in it, basically only the absolute elite (top 30-40 players) received the type of training that is common in the dozens of academies that now exist.

It was pretty clear from the last 10 minutes how MB90 is in such better shape than most of the players out there. He was sprinting half the length of the field routinely.

Yeah, this. Bradley was tracking back 60+ meters full sprint. Was pretty great.

We have a ton of good young players. I think people are going to be amazed how many top flight players we have 10 years from now, and also that the quality of MLS will rise every year.

Green, Flores, Gedion Zelalem, Marc Pelosi

Tons of young players and tons of players no one has even heard of will be in consideration going forward. We are going to see a TON of interesting stuff happening these next two years for a very key Gold Cup with a Confed Cup berth on the line and then Copa America in 2016.

Will Howard retire from the team? How much longer will Clint last as our best attacking player? Will MB be moved deeper as we try new formations and new players come into the fold?

God help the rest of the world if the talent ever matches the heart of this team.

****ing wondo. I wouldnt be mad if he just nailed the goalie, but come the **** on. But it on frame.

Loved yedlin, bradley played very bipolar, lost a few bad balls, but played zome amazing balls. Juloa ****ing green. Gonna love him 4 year sfrom now. He needs to get some top league time though. Playing second fiddle in europe wont cut it.

Dempsy played his worst game ina long time. Which sucks. Losing Fabian sucked too.

Slil a great run. Gonna prob go to russia in 4 year.

For people asking about our future:

Ben Lederman

Junior Flores

and maybe:

Zelalem

edit: nvm apparently zelalem cant play US now due to some technicality. Boo

Green was lucky that ball ended up in the back of the net.

Green's greatness was in making a run that put him with a free shot on goal from 8 yards out. He put himself in such a good spot that he could mi**** a tough ball and still put it in the back of the net.

unless it's a development in the last month Zelalem is eligible as soon as he gets citizenship and files a one-time switch

Great performance in the tournament, exceeding expectations. Tough way to go out with the Wondo chance in stoppage, but I think the team is likely to continue to improve.

Any list of players for 2018 should include Darlington Nagbe, who will become a citizen next year. He and Green on opposite wings could do some serious damage.

Eh? I don't know of anything that has said he is not on track to play for us. As far as I know he still is.

Man. Just got home. I'm so gutted. I really really feel like we were going to pull that out somehow, even down 2-0.

Positives:
-Tim Howard was amazing. That was as World Class a goalkeeping performance as you'll ever see. There is a reason he is good. He has been playing against the very best competition in the best league in the world for his entire career.

- DeMarcus Beasley -- arguably our best player over the course of the tournament after Howard. Guy was immense. He did a job on some very very good midfielders and never looked overmatched. Never seemed to tire either even in the 120th minute. Really really excellent tournament from him.

- Jermaine Jones -- **** you haters. Guy is awesome. Brings an attitude to our midfield and really had an exceptional tournament, including the goal of the tournament.

- Yedlin -- Kid is a stud. He gets forward incredibly well. Young and looked like he belonged more than most guys. Needs to move to Europe to develop to an elite level

- Fabian Johnson -- does a great job getting forward. Teams seemed to exploit his side a little too easily at times, and get in behind him, but he offers a lot going forward. Could be a RM of the future if we can get a true RB

- Beckerman -- put in very solid performances and anchored the midfield extremely well. Allowed Jones to have more of an impact on the game than usual too. Unlucky not to start today

- Julian Green -- good on him for coming in and scoring a goal. Beautiful run, beautiful touch. Something we lacked. Wondo doesn't do that **** in MLS, and Green was better with his first touch than Wondo was all game. People read way too much into friendlies against Azerbaijan on both ends.

AMERICA -- Incredible fight. Even down 2-0 we kept playing. Biesler was way too soft (again doesn't play against good competition and Lukaku moved him off the ball way too easy) to go down 2-0, but very proud of the way we fought back. That free kick play was something special and I back Deuce to to put that in every time.

Negatives:
- MLS...our MLS guys, outside of Beckerman were AWFUL. Really really really awful. I hope Jurgen realized this and addresses it in the future.

- Michael Bradley -- You can talk about heat maps and how much distance he covered all you want, but anyone who watched and watches on a regular basis would realize how abysmal he was. He is our pivot between defending and attacking, and in a team that was pretty much looking exclusively to counter attack he gave the ball away way too easily, sloppy passes, lost possession. Just simply not good enough. Yea he put in a good ball for the goal already down 2-0 when he had all the time in the world, but we need way way way more from him

- Chris Wondolowski -- Should never EVER ever be on the team. We all knew it. Hopefully this is the end of 32 year old MLS guys ever getting a look because they score goals in MLS. That miss is inexcusable at the professional level. Dude is now lower than Conor Casey and Jonathan Bornstein on my ****list.

- Brad Davis -- was awful in his sole appearance and was clearly not good enough to the point where it stood out.

- Graham Zusi -- Brek Shea x2 Again, a lot of potential but is a coward and won't make the move to play against good competition at a top level where you get better.

Proud to be American, but really wanted another game. It was right there. I completely trust in Jurgen. Every single foreign guy we brought in was better than what we had. Why didn't Diskerud get a look over someone like Brad Davis? Sucks we have to wait 4 years, but excited to see how the kids develop. And there was definitely a place for Landon Donovan on this squad...

No one is mentioning Stu Holden.

If he ever manages to heal up he should be a lock for the starting XI.

This was a good run. Honestly, though, I can't help but feel a little empty. This really could have been better. Between Jozy's injury, blowing the W against Portugal, Wondo's blown chance...

lol no. Just no. Just stop.

im fairly drunk and read the wiki page that I linked. I think you may be right though and he just cant play for USA futures.

Holden will be just short of 33 in Russia after a career of injuries. Not seeing it.

If he DID get healthy though, he could play a roll over the next two summers.

ARGGGGH SO TILTED BY THE POST SO DUMB ON SO MANY LEVELS.

beasley and gonzalez

edit: forgot the worst part about bradley this game....his ****ing free kicks. He played B/B+ game outside of that though.

I take it LFC will not be joining us in the MLS thread lol

The disappointment is understandable but you guys should focus less on the guy missing one of your few decent chances and more on how your team allowed us 30+ shots on goal. Opposition won't always be this unclinical and on another day this could've gotten ugly.

That said, massive credit for those final 15 minutes, put a decent dent in my life expectancy.

We're all aware of how fortunate we were to be even after 90, just annoyed that the chances we had to win/tie weren't taken.

just can't see it happening for Holden. He's 32 in Russia and after missing the better part of 2 years who knows what he's got left.

also on the prospect list: Erik Palmer-Brown

Juventus made a bid for him but KC won't sell

Who played well? All of our Euros played better than all of our MLS guys except Beckerman.

Howard was unbelievable today. He has played his entire career in a top league against the best competition in the world. There is a reason he was that good today, it wasn't luck.

Bradley -- horrendous
Zusi -- horrendous
Wondo -- can't believe he was even on the team, horrendous
Davis -- horrendous
Biesler -- soft because 45 year old Thierry Henry's and Chris Wondolowski's don't knock you off the ball