The Way to San Jose

The US is off to a terrible start in the Hex, Tim Howard is injured, the team seems in disarray and Klinsmann is under the microscope again.  Did I leave anything out?

The loss to Costa Rica was not unexpected.  We never win at Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica in San Jose; in World Cup Qualifying the USMNT is 0-9-1.  But the magnitude of the defeat (0-4), coming on the heels of the 1-2 loss at home against Mexico, has everybody associated with US soccer scrambling a bit right now.

The attention/blame seems to be spread evenly between the players and Klinsmann.  And that seems about right.  Bobby Wood, Christian Pulisic and maybe Brad Guzan are the only players who weren't bad to awful.  As for the rest, check out the all the 1's, 2's and 3's in this Soccer America player assessment.  Regarding Klinsmann, I think it's fair to ask why he chose to unveil the 3-5-2 for the Mexico match as opposed to some earlier friendlies.  The element of surprise?  Yes the Mexicans were surprised - at how easy it was to shred the defense.  It could have been 0-3 by 30 minutes.  The coach must also take some responsibility for the players coming out so flat in San Jose.  And why did he sub Pulisic, the only one who had generated any offense, albeit limited, in a like for like change with the US already down against Costa Rica?

I have been one of his more loyal supporters.  I thought the 2014 World Cup was fair progress but the 2015 Gold Cup and CONCACAF playoff were disasters.  The US performance in the Copa Centenario this summer seemed like a recovery.  But now I don't know.  If these were just bad games as opposed to a serious problem with the team, the situation in the Hex, with eight matches to go, is entirely retrievable.  If they are symptoms of bigger problems, waiting until after a few more matches in the spring to make wholesale changes may be too late, as we learned with Newcastle earlier this year.


On Other Continents

Brazil (6 points) and Chile (4 points) were the big winners in the CONMEBOL qualifying.  Brazil solidified their position at the top while Chile moved into the top four.  Colombia (1 point) were probably the biggest loser, falling out of the top four and now sitting in a non-qualifying spot.  Some of the marquee matches came up uncompetitive, like Brazil 3-0 over Argentina or Colombia going down 0-3 to Argentina.  Chile-Colombia was 0-0 but devoid of any excitement.  The two Uruguay matches (2-1 win over Ecuador and 1-3 loss to Chile) were probably the best viewing.

I only got to see a few European matches.  England-Scotland was enough of a blowout that I switched at 70 minutes to the more competitive and compelling France-Sweden contest.  Fortunately I had dvred it so I started at about 50 minutes with the score at 0-0.  Sweden got a short-lived lead with a goal at 55 minutes that was matched by Pogba three minutes later.  I recall thinking there was something squirrelly about the goal but don't remember what it was.  Payet got the game winner at 68 minutes.  Croatia-Iceland in Zagreb was competitive but the home team was clearly the better side and deserved their 2-0 win; the visitors probably missed their injured star striker Alfreo (Huck) Finnbogason.


Sports and Politics

An empty MAPFRE Stadium, Columbus Ohio

Sorry gang but though we'd like them to be separate, that's not possible.  I was reminded of this as I tuned into the Croatia-Iceland WC qualifier to see an empty Stadion Maksimir in Zagreb.  Once again, the Croatia national team would be playing in front of an announced crowd of zero following a stadium ban by FIFA because of racist and homophobic actions by their fans.  The spike of similar incidents in the US by people emboldened by the election results made me wonder if it could happen here.  Not if we speak up and speak out.  It is not overly PC to challenge these behaviors, it's being a decent human being.  Let's make sure the picture above is not one from a future US international home match.  It would be extremely disappointing if a US national team ever had to play in an empty park because of a stadium ban.


Green Stadium

BFS Architectural Consultant Philip S. sends along the story of a stadium made entirely of wood, the new home of fifth division Forest Green.  Besides looking really cool, it has an organic pitch cut by solar powered robot mower.   Wood fell out of favor as a stadium material after a fire in 1985 but advances in flame retardant treatments have addressed safety concerns.  The Rovers are currently leading the division by a healthy margin and are on track to promotion to League 2.


Back to Club Football

A rare treat for me this Sunday as the Newcastle match away at Leeds United will be televised (on delay) at 1 pm on beINSports.  Very much looking forward to that.

The EPL schedule gets going early Saturday with Man United hosting Arsenal at 7:30 on NBCSN. Hopefully even with all the craziness surrounding Mourinho/Mourinho and Wenger/Mourinho and the world, the focus will be on the match.  I can dream can't I?  Southampton-Liverpool is probably the best of the 10 am matches and NBCSN has figured this out too.  I might be tempted to check out Watford-Leicester but I think this only available via streaming; the Foxes are six places and three points behind the Hornets.  The NBC match at 12:30 is a London derby featuring Tottenham and West Ham.  Despite four straight league draws, Spurs are hanging in fifth but really can't afford not to get three points at home against the Hammers.  Sunday at 11 is Middlesbrough hosting Chelsea; hard to see an upset there.  Monday is West Brom vs Burnley, which surprisingly is a solid middle table match up.  Still, you'll be forgiven if you skip it.

MLS playoffs continue on Tuesday with the first leg of the conference semi-finals.  Montreal and Seattle are home against Toronto and Colorado at 8 pm (ESPN) and 10 pm (FS1).  Second leg for Colorado-Seattle is Sunday 11/27 at 4 pm (ESPN) while Toronto-Montreal complete their series on Tuesday 11/30 at 7 pm (FS1).  Why it's not Sunday and Sunday, I have no idea.

You know where to find me Sunday at 1 pm...