He was a beast against Panama.
He was a beast against Panama, and I completely understand why he was put back into net.
If I get a career in telling the future, I will let you know.
Have had several good opportunities but cannot finish.
But on the very far outside of the post.
Last two looks of theirs were about as good as any opportunity for either team
Pathetique.
Post
Omar.
Morris!
2-0 USA
wake the hell up out there
That was a completely horrible goal to let in.
Defense is absolutely brutal. The US could very well be tied (thank-you post) or losing. My U14s mark shirts better than this!!!
US soccer looking the part of, US soccer
#Arenaball
defense optional for both sides
You cannot avoid horrible performances such as this. Have to get the W and move on.
at least it was an exciting second half? Didn't see the first half. Wasn't too disappointed with the second, all things considered. Guzan made a bad play that he only misses 1 of 10 times, probably. And then the guy made a hell of a play getting around Hedges to make a play (and even that required a bit of a fluke bounce).
Not good, but it's a win with the lowercase b team. I'll take it.
It feels like Festivus.... cuz I got to air some grievances.
ARRIOLA -- I never, ever want to see that dude in a USA jersey again, and I don't care if I mispelled his name or not. I'm sure he's a nice kid and all that, but, he can't play at this level, period. Go earn a nice living in MLS, get a job as a HS gym teacher afterwards, and don't eff up our national team anymore.
GUZAN -- Why do I feel like, if Bill Hamid was in net, it would have been a clean sheet. The guy just continually underwhelms. And what's with his distribution -- those random boots into the middle of the defense. Those aren't 50/50 balls, those are 0/100 balls.
RONDON -- If Arena has had an eye on this guy for a while... I ain't seeing it. It was like he wasn't even out there.
MORRIS -- Slow/fat white dude. Can't keep up with anyone, but, has a knack for being in the right spot. He's frustrating, he's like, 95% of the time a waste, but that other 5%....!
ZARDES -- I think he's just not going to be a contributor when we play actual, you know, good teams. He has pace, he has game smarts, he just lacks precision/skill that makes for a great winger. His crosses are not pinpoint, his get the ball taken off of him too often. So he can beat Martinique and Nicaragua, but he's not useful against El Tri or CRC.
LICHEJ -- another name I probably mispelled. Sounds like "Lehigh." Made mistakes, but generally recovered. I guess he gets to keep playing, if this were Soccer Survival Island.
AGUODOLA -- and yet another mispelled name. Somewhere between Arriola and Morris, which like, isn't good.
Basically, we didn't have a TEAM out there. We had a bunch of guys. Basically our fourth-stringer guys. A bunch of MLS guys (mostly) against AMATEURS...and were nil-nil at half, gave up a 2-goal lead, only won by 1. Geesh. THAT WAS EMBARRASSING.
I would be so happy to never see Arriola again.
Comparison, except they are completely different players.
We can all debate whether Morris is "fast enough" when those Carribbean/French defenders were blazing past him for loose balls. If you think he's fast, then, whatever, man. Maybe you will want to race in the Indy 500 with my daughter's Kia Soul.
But as to his disappearing act, I am vindicated. ESPN's guy's description of Morris's performance last night:
While Morris did have two of the U.S. goals, he was way too anonymous for nearly a half-hour stretch in the first half. Against an opponent such as Martinique, the U.S. can get away with that, but it simply cannot happen in the knockout stages.
http://www.espnfc.us/concacaf-gold-cup/59/blog/post/3155332/united-stat…
Morris is at best, at this point, a bench-rider on the "A" squad, but given his lackluster MLS season, I wouldn't even put him on the team for the last 4 qualifiers -- unless for the last game we've locked up a spot and the 10th game is a throwaway.
were mostly correct. A bit unnecessary to call him a "slow/fat white dude". He is...oddly shaped for a professional soccer player but if "deceptively fast" applies to anyone, it probably applies to him. Which is obviously a bit of a backhanded compliment since he's not absolutely fast, but he is faster than he looks and he does get in the right spots to somewhat make up for the lack of blazing speed and finishes pretty well.
That said, he was nonexistent in the first half and definitely shouldn't see time in meaningful international competition - at least at this point. I don't think anyone is denying that.
But your assessment of Morris is WAY off.
He was behind them all night, including a very likely hat trick if it was not for a horrible call on a "non" offsides.
i --> long e
ch --> like scottish "loch" -- a harsh "h" sound
a --> like "open up and say AHH" at the doctor's
j --> soft j = y
and I don't think it's even possible to blow it at this point. 4 pts would be enough to advance as a third place team, although it would be very embarrassing to lose to Nicaragua.
Oh, look. Guzan gave up yet another soft goal. It's almost like it's becoming his calling card. There wasn't much he could do about the 2nd goal (deflection) so he gets a pass on that. But he definitely got caught sleeping on that first one.
Wow. That is the first thing you've ever said on this board that I agree with.
We still don't have the right tactics, line-up, or coach. Arena is fine, but for anyone who believes he's going to get the U.S. to the next level, these last two matches demonstrate how unlikely that is. When was the last time we had a coach that helped us overachieve our talent level on a consistent basis? Probably Bora?
Don't get me wrong--Arena and Bradley are very good coaches. But we have not a coach with the imagination to take us to the next level, and we still don't. While our talent level is still clearly behind the world's superpowers, if we want to progress faster we need to find someone who will implement some wholesale changes--and that probably means Gulati has to go.