OT: World Cup

[Big12Mustang]

Biggest problem for us last night was that our training camp for the month prior to Brasil should not have been in Palo Alto. They should have been in the hottest, most humid corner of the southeast somewhere. Probably Houston to get good facilities. Bradley runs our midfield and he couldn't run by the second half. The injuries to Besler and Altidore are exactly the type that relate to conditioning as well.

Florida would have been optimal. Good facilities and relatively similar weather.

[HarvCrimYaleBlue]

Wowzers. España failing to make it out of the group? I did not see that one coming.

[smusic 00]

Wowzers. España failing to make it out of the group? I did not see that one coming.

They looked like kaka against Chile today. My man David Silva can rest up for an EPL title defense now, though.

[78pony]

Dennis Miller opined on it tonight on O'Reilly. Soccer: you could go play it, shower, eat dinner , take a nap, and come back & tune in - and not miss a thing.

[StallionsModelT]

The end of era for Spain. Lots of great players probably played their last World Cup. You have to wonder if the more physical style of Germany will start to become en vogue much like teams that have tried to emulate the one touch possession style of Spain this past decade.

[JasonB]

Dennis Miller opined on it tonight on O'Reilly. Soccer: you could go play it, shower, eat dinner , take a nap, and come back & tune in - and not miss a thing.

I would accuse him of mistaking baseball for soccer, but I suppose he didn't because you don't have to take a shower after playing baseball.

[LA_Mustang]

I BELIEVE THAT WE CAN WIN!!

[LA_Mustang]

I STILL BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN! #USA

[LA_Mustang]

Sucks that we lost and I know I'm the only one on here who cares, but Tim Howard is amazing. That's bringing your A+ game to the biggest stage in the world.

[SMUer]

I'm disappointed in the style of play we left with. We looked fluid and creative in our WC warmups but I saw old USA against Germany and in full-effect today. We were supposed to be moving past that with Klinnsman. Positives are that our younger guys looked like they had world-class skills and that it's a testimate to how far we've come that we can get out of the G.o.D. playing rather poorly through long stretches. Negative is that we are only a few individuals away from old-USA. Someone watching us for the first time in four years wouldn't notice much improvement. Timmy was great.

[redpony]

I have watched all of the cup games. The spanish announcers even commented that the U.S. displayed no heart or fire. That was stating the obvious until the last 10 min. of extra time. Dempsey looked like he was asleep and Bradley was his usual self- totally inept. There were a few who wanted to win but the others looked like they had lost before the game had even started. Tim Howard saved our butts so many times it was incredible, the rest looked like zoombies.

I hope Klinsman gets rid of the deadwood and gets players who are proud to be playing for the U.S. and will give 100% to win.

[ponyboy]

Mack Brown didn't coach the US, did he?

[JasonB]

Holy crap, you guys are way too harsh.

There is a reason Belgium is considered a dark horse to win the cup. All of their players play for major teams. There is a ton of talent on the team.

The US was tactically much more aggressive against Belgium than we were against Germany. The absolute biggest problem was that Dempsey is not a target forward, and Bedoya and Zuzi are not athletic enough to make a positive impact on the wings against really good players. And defensively, Gonzalez specifically is not athletic enough to play at this level. He gets toasted whenever isolated and other players have to scramble to cover.

The US has crossed one gap. Previously, we were just outclassed, we had players who couldn't play in the higher leagues. Now we have stepped it up a notch. We have several players who can play on average teams in the top leagues all over the field, which we could never say before. Dempsey is a stud on an average EPL side, but is average at a top 5 EPL team. Cameron good player on an average EPL side. Jones was a solid player on a good Bundesliga team. Bradley is a stud on an average Serie A team, and average on a very good Roma team. Beasley is a good player on an average mexican team, Bedoya good on an average French team. Johnson stud on an average bundesliga team. Zuzi would be an average player on an average EPL team. Besler would be a decent defender on an average EPL team. And of course Howard is a stud.

In prior years, we had a limited number of players who could play in the top divisions. Now we have more than a full side of them. This allows us to dominate and play attacking soccer in Concacaf and against lesser teams, but when we are missing an Altidore and Bradley is a little off, we really struggle against the best teams in the world.

And anyone who compares 2010 to 2014 is nuts. The 2010 team relied on late goals to get past freaking Slovakia and Algeria. This team beat Ghana, tied (and deserved to beat) Portugal, and played Germany and Belgium tough.

The next gap to cross, for the US to move into the elite, is to develop the difference makers. Take these players who are all good enough to play in the best leagues, and add a couple of players who can stand out on the best teams. And for the first time, we have several of those players on the radar. Bradley is world class when allowed to play at holding mid. Hydman looks great at Fulham. Green has a chance to be great. Yedlin may be playing at a top team in a couple of months. Altidore still has great potential, and Terrence Boyd may be just as good. Johansson is really good. Brooks, Gyau, Packwood, Gatt, Diskerud, Gil, as well as several others who are starting to get a foot in the door at clubs in Mexico and Germany may be able to take the next step as well. And we are stacked in net when Howard retires. Add to that the continued improvement in the MLS academies and the significant increases in the salary cap that MLS teams will see in the next two years, and the US talent will continue to grow.

Howard, Dempsey, and Jones will all be missed but the US may be able to cross that next gap in 2018, and perform as one of the elite teams in the world.

[PonyKris89]

Yep JasonB, we should be very excited about the future of American soccer. Tim Howard is a heckofa goalie. Would not be surprised to see Belgium win it all.

[smusic 00]

Belgium is the strongest squad right now.

We will win a World Cup before England does.