The U.S. Men’s National Team will play their final match of the year this morning in the city of Krasnodar as they take on the Russian National Team (10am, ESPN2).
Jurgen Klinsmann has called in a team that is a good mix of regular starters and new young faces to take on a dangerous Russia side that has enjoyed a strong run of form in World Cup Qualifying.
Here is the USMNT lineup for today’s match:
Howard; Chandler, Cameron, Bocanegra (c), F. Johnson; Williams, Jones, Bradley, Gatt; Gomez, Altidore
Yes, that is Josh Gatt preparing to make his U.S. Men’s National Team debut today as a starter.
SBI will be providing live commentary on today’s match so please feel free to follow along with the action here. As always, you are welcome to send us questions, as well as share your own thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (Commentary is after the jump):
So excited! Can’t wait !
Awesome lineup. I’m looking forward to this!
I definitely hope to see Gatt and Chandler combining to make some good runs down the right side, but also expect Gatt and Gomez to switch up some. Could be interesting.
other than vodka, what does one bring to a russian pre-match tailgate?
A negative attitude.
Molotov cocktail?…..bazinga.
Bribe money.
Bride Money?
Caviar!
Well, given this lineup and this coach and the quality of the opposition, I’m afraid we’re in for a disaster. On the other hand, our recent history of away friendlies against good opponents (Italy, Mexico) seems to indicate otherwise. So, I have no clue.
disaster? what would you rather have seen that would be “less” disastrous David?
It wouldn’t have been a disaster to try out something new, get our asses handed to us, and have a better idea of what doesn’t work rather than trying the same thing that had it’s struggles during qualifying.
I bet it’s more of a 4-3-3 than a 4-4-2.
This lineup carries a lot offensive potential. let’s see if it gels.
First time ever getting all 11 starters right and in their position. Call me up Klinsi!
Let’s go boys!!!
I’m hereby shuting dowing my internet so I can watch the game after work without prehand knowledge of the result. Let’s go USA!
Hope your DVR taped all of the extra time as well…
Arrrgh! Full staff meeting in 20 minutes!
Sigh…I guess I’ll just have to read about all the excitement in the post match analysis.
>:’-( angry,sad,pouty face.
A little disappointed with the lineup. To me, it would have made more sense to stick to a 4-2-3-1 like what worked well against Guatemala instead of using a 4-3-3 similar to what had it’s issues against A&B. I would have loved to have seen Diskerud given a chance, even if it were in a 4-3-3. Instead, we get Jones next to Bradley in front of Williams. Pretty stale in my mind, but we’ll see. I said this before the Scotland game and we let loose then.
I suppose it’s probably better to try something new off the bench than from the start. It’s just a tad frustrating.
Isaac,
Russia isn’t Guatemala
Ives is right that Bradley isn’t a defensive midfielder, but I think the main argument is that he and Jones probably aren’t really enough to break down a defense. Bradley is a great balanced presence that should be next to a more creative, shifty midfielder, and in front of an anchor.
Bradley and Jones do have great ball skill for players with such good defensive ability though, and that can make us a great counter attacking team, but last time I checked, that’s not what Juergen was going for.
Espn chat room had a link to an old USA v “Russia” game: link to youtube.com
It’s awesome lol. Mostly for the kits and hairdos. Kinnear’s takes the cake. It’s glorious.
So NO ONE watched this and commented on Dom Kinnear’s epic ‘do? Y’all are missing out, Im telling ya.
If nothing else, there is some serious speek (excepting Boca) out there.
Ives, you nailed the lineup! Looking forward to big showings out of Jozy, Gatt and Chandler! Hopefully we see Swagudelo, Mixx, and TBoyd make cameos in the 2nd half also..
C’mon Yanks!!
Where did you get that crest!? Where can I see a larger version? Looks like it says US Soccer. I vote for that to replace the current and very lame US crest.
It’s owned by Nike so the chances of USSF ever getting the rights to it are minuscule at best, but it’s without a doubt the best crest I’ve seen. Here’s a bigger version of it: link to bigsoccer.com
Stream? I’m in Turks and Caicos and my espn account only works in us. Thanks.
Anybody got any good links? at school
Where is EJ? Where is Wondo?
EJ, mls playoffs. Wondo, he’s hard to find.
What’s with the blue vest jerseys? Are the stripes in the wash?
Yikes Danny Williams. He doesn’t wanna see that replay. Huuuuuuge blunder.
horrible start.
Oh, dear. That was a cheap goal.
Danny Williams is a commi!
Doesn’t appear to be William’s blunder on replay. Jozy inexplicably runs through as he’s taking the kick and he hits Jozy and then the ball.
Wtf was Jozy doing.
…Why is this the only person saying this on here?? Its the truth and no one has said it. Should Danny have looked behind himself when he kicked? Maybe. But its still a crazy coincidence for that to happen, so I’m not even all that mad.
Damn. USA with horrific touches all over the field, most notably in their own third. Not a good recipe.
pleased to see how the US is sticking to the idea of playing the ball through pressure. passes are a little off, yes, but if they stick to this they might be OK.
Looks like Boca doesn’t feel like being a part of a beat down haha
Not Clarence!
If the game continues to go this way and then we have to hear from everyone how horrible Jozy was I’ll lose it. He hasn’t seen one iota of service and how’s that his responsibility? I swear he just needs a bit more service than what he’s getting with USA.
He and Gatt can’t find each other yet.
They look totally overmatched here. Nothing connects, no one looks settled.
Nice build up. Two in a row to Gatt. Maybe we can see something happen here.
That was an old school Bradley special!
Man we look disjointed.
Everyone needs to calm the heck down.
This is Russia. They’re undefeated through qualifying, have not allowed a goal, just beat Portugal pretty soundly. They’ve beaten the Czech Republican 4-1 and Italy 3-0 this year.
They are near being one of the top 5 hottest teams on the planet and we’re holding our own right now starting 3 players that haven’t suited up in a dozen matches.
They’re not starting several of their top guys either and its ok to talk about the USA in respect to itself regardless of its opponent. I don’t hear anyone saying anything that warrants a “calm the heck down” statement. Everything said so far has been pretty reasonable and well said.
Russia pressing really well.. nobody has any space.
We don’t look as bad as the commentary makes it seems. Russia isn’t getting many chances either. It’s just a typical away USA game. Compact in the back with brief offensive bursts. In fact we’ve been having more of the ball in the past 20 miuntes or so.
Surpised the ball hasn’t dropped for us yet..
JK … yet another poor selection. I think it’s clear to everyone that Williams, Jones and Bradley can not all be on the pitch at the same time.
Lalas! Mustache!
If you read the match commentary it makes it seem like we’re getting killed out there. We’re pretty much even aside from the blunder to be frank. We’re not being dominated or outplayed by any stretch so far.
Yeah, all doom and gloom commentary. We’ve gone toe to toe outside of that miscommunication. Possession was nearly even and we’ve got up field a few times in good positions.
I don’t think this is a case of being dominated or outplayed. I think this is a case of shooting ourselves in the foot and causing our own problems. Obviously Im referencing the goal, but also about all the easy balls we’ve given up on passes and in possession. All the needless fouling their players when their player is going nowhere. All the times we didn’t challenge for a 50-50
That was the first 30 mins anyway. The last 15 we started rectifying those mistakes and looked muuuuuuch better out there.
What do you expect? All this build up for this game and not once did I see a time posted over the past 4 days for the match.. Sure it’s on ESPN. wtf?
I totally understand that we are playing a very strong Russian side. I would be fine if they were winning simply because they’re the better team. What drives me nuts is that we’re losing NOT because Russia is necessarily outplaying us but due to the fact of just silly, silly mistakes that just shouldn’t happen. BAD passes in our own half (to say the least!) and just simple things like not playing the ball to feet, trying to dribble around 3 guys, trying to thread the needle, etc. That’s what drives me nuts.
We are definitely starting to mesh better and play with confidence. Other than the miscommunication on the goal this isn’t half bad for a collection of players that haven’t played together.
Yes the commentary for some reason though seems to think Russia is Barca out there.
We need someone to actually orchestrate the attack. It’s not Jones, and it’s not Bradley. They’re great players individually but we can’t have them on the field at the same time, specially with a defensive midfielder behind them. Bring Diskerud on for Jones, place him directly behind the forwards, then bring Kljestan for Gomez and have him drift into the space between lines. Don’t talk about proactive soccer and then play three box-to-box/defensive midfielders. This is simple stuff. No. Bradley and Jones aren’t pure defensive midfielders, but they’re not attacking midfielders. They’re good at both. That’s not enough. Get a freaking specialist out there and attack.
Freddy Adu!
*ducks*
At this point, how much worse could it be? Not saying I approve, but it’s bound to be better than having Jones and Bradley next to eachother in front of a defensive midfielder. Why does a coach who preaches more proactive, possession soccer not know this?
I just don’t think Diskerud has the chops for this level of play, but I bet we will find out this half.
I would rather him get a chance then keep using Jermaine Jones, who we know isn’t enough if he’s next to another box-to-box central midfielder.
Crow tastes better with a pinch of salt.
Crow tastes better with a pinch of salt.
Ooops…..he made you put your foot in your mouth didn’t he…lol
The commentary is ridiculous. In no way has Russia dominated this game.
+1
+2
They just want a reason to hate Klinsmann.
What are you talking about? No one is hating on JK. Not in here right now. Isaac is the only one questioning his on field tactics and I hardly call that hating.
They’re talking about the commentary at the top.
The team looks so much better–better than Russia in the second half so far.
What is JKs first change of the second half? Mixx for Williams? Kjlestan for Williams?
We look a lot better in this second half, and after the first 20 minutes.
Chandler has the most interesting running style. It is unique.
What is Juergen waiting to change? We’ve no ideas in the midfield. Get Diskerud out there. Give him a CHANCE. I’m not calling him a savior. If he doesn’t do well, that’s okay. It’s a friendly. But at least TRY shit.
Agudelo up off the bench… We need to change our central midfield, not swap a forward. This is ridiculous…
We have mixx, boyd and gyau on the bench and klinnsmann brings Agudelo?
And Gatt is the one off. Why not Gomez? We know what he can do.
Is Danny Williams making it his personal mission to lose this game?
Did you know Tim Howard is pretty good?
Klesjtan, terrible subs. No wonder possession going down.
Timmy coming up big. looks like we are limited to a quick one-touch give and go *counter-attack*
Michael Bradley and Jozy are not running. Flat out. They are jogging around the field.
Michael even more so, what are their problems?
Can Jermaine Jones just get off the field? He’s a good player, but he’s not what we need right now. This is ridiculous.
Get the F off the field Jozy.
Don’t worry gents, Edu is coming on soon. Should solve our possession and offensive issues today
Everyone on this board CAN STFU about Jozy from here on out.
relax.
Don’t do it…
When you want to go to it
relax.
If you REALLY think Jozy is our problem, I don’t know what to tell you. I’ll try I guess. Jozy is playing really well in Holland and doing good things. Showing lots of skill and improvement. Do you think that’s because he’s just a worse player for Nats? Really? Or, is it more likely the team chemistry and players around him for club and country are different? Is it anyone’s fault? Is it something solvable? Hard to say, clearly JK hasn’t figured it out yet. But to say it’s all Jozy is just, frankly, dumb.
Ives I’ve got 3 comments still awaiting moderation. It’s really hella annoying.
Down by 1 and we swap a d-mid for a d-mid. Utterly ridiculous.
The point of this match is to get run-ins for people. Relax.
You telling people to relax. That’s rich.
Sorry your favorite player is awful.
Nah. All the USA players are my favorite because they wear a US shirt and i support them. I don’t think it’s worth tearing them or down or constantly being a negative nancy or speaking so much hyperbole about everything. Your unrestrained bias and dramatic manner of talking is just grating. But Im sure you’ll never understand that about yourself so I don’t even know why Im responding. I guess I just feel obligated to stick up for our boys.
Agreed Mem. I don’t think Jozy is playing well for the Nats, but A just comes off as an obnoxious, histrionic dbag.
We all root for the same team.
Jozy may not run, but he tracks back and defends. I’ll take it.
well there it is haha.
Was someone saying Bradley can’t bring it on? Something about too defensive?
GOOOOOOLLAAAAAZOOOOOOOOO
Nepotism.
lol.
Edu to Agudelo to Bradley.
Klinsmann asks this board to get on his nuts.
LOL. That’s why he’s the coach and not playing FIFA on his PS3….
A says:
November 14, 2012 at 11:27 AM
Michael Bradley and Jozy are not running. Flat out. They are jogging around the field.
Michael even more so, what are their problems?
Guess that includes you too
I wasn’t critiquing Klins. Bradley belongs on the pitch, but he was jogging all over. Glad he redeemed himself.
Hey Twellman, how’s that for defensive mindedness you wanker?
Oh Twellman, it’s like he totally forgets how awful he was for the USMNT
Jozy blows it again.
This guy doesn’t belong on the pitch for us.
Man I tired of hearing your anti-Jozy agenda. Get over it already. Talk about doom and gloom. Jeeeesus. I don’t understand the rooting against a young attacking talent who wears a US shirt. Btw that play to JJ from Altidore just now was damn good.
Good for him, that doesn’t bring back the perfect goal scoring opportunity he blew or the laziness or the bad passes.
+1
Plus. A whole bunch of US players were having a bad game today. Not just Jozy.
Exactly, not sure why the blame always falls on the strikers when they don’t convert the ONE chance they get every half.
jozy not stepping up when this was a showcase game for him. some good but when he’s been put in good positions, has not taken advantage.
Except for that good pass to jj there lol.
Hideous finish by Jones. He will never be a scorer, sure — but that was just awful.
F you Goodson.
Goodson is such a tool. Always looks like the spoiled rich kind on the field if something doesn’t go his way. Think it’s time to move on, we can do better than him as a depth CB, but not until JK gives others a chance
Boneheaded play for sure but mistakes happen. Would like to see some other options (younger) at CB eventually though.
Spoiled rich kid? Ha that’s terrible
And Goodson tops it off with another giveaway…
Goodson is terrible. Neeeeeed to find CB tandem ASAP
He’s not that bad, but he’s not starter material. He’s still a decent option as an emergency clog. That PK call seemed pretty soft.
Unfortunately, the US don’t have that many viable CB options right now.
Disagree that there aren’t other viable options at CB
Overall, a pretty good effort by a patchwork team in a hostile away game vs. a pretty decent European team. It was a pretty even game between 2 squads who are very close in strength. We made 2 blunders, and we paid for them. That’s pretty much the difference in the game.
Mixxxxxxxxxx
MIXXXXXXXXXXXX
Ok, I take it back. Diskarud can play at this level.
+1
hahahahahahahaha……I like it
YES! WHATD SAY?!?! DISKERUD!!!
Good hit even with that fortunate deflection. Good technique and awareness. Bright future, good on Klins to get him in this game.
Yeah, we scored more goals against Russia than the Czech Rep., Italy and Portugal COMBINED.
MIXX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! USA USA USA USAAA!!!!!!!!
Rocky just knocked out Ivan Drago! USA! USA! USA!
Perfect coaching by JK.
Fist goal Edu and Agudelo for the setup.
2nd goal Boyd and Mix
Make no mistake… while we got a 2 all result…. we were far from good….. Bradley and Howard about the only ones worth a mention…. Edu came in and did fine….I thought Jones was better than people want to give him credit for but he made a bunch of mistakes too….
Gatt is the next Rogers but I think he can develop into something more but he must take players on when on the wing.
I think we did quite well. Coming into Russia with a makeshift team and drawing twice while only allowing goals consecutive to big blunders is a pretty good performance.
No, we were good. We got bossed by a better team, but came away with a point. We had two well fought goals…Russia had a gifted goal and a penalty. All of the questions raised in this game are about our depth. Williams and Goodson have both had their share of poor games.
Yeah no. It was his first cap for christ sake. He showed good movement off the ball. I don’t fault him for being a bit tentative to take players on against a good Russia team in his first cap.
Holy (crap) I leave with 3 minutes left and we come back to tie?! I love this team and I love this country!
Unbelievable! Love that huge smile on Diskerud’s face!
aaaaaaAAAAaaaaaa
GOOOOOOAALLLL!!! DISKERUD DISKERUD DISKERUD! i now know who you are! we all do and we love you for it!
*stoked*
What’s with the ‘moosestaches’? Alexi, Sasha? Someone hold them down ans shave them, please!!!
Movember. Raising awareness and money for prostate cancer. Respect.
Sacha’s a hipster. He’s had the ‘stache for awhile.
Great result by the U.S. playing on the road. The U.S. has to fix a few things up, but I think they will be fine. Give credit to the U.S. Twellman and Lalas. How about criticizing Russia for the 2 U.S. goals?
Great goal by Bradley & Diskrued.
I think Aguedelo should be played as an active mid role. he has great offensive instincts and passes well.
Can people finally admit how good JK’s coaching is? This isn’t the first time his in game adjustments are proven decisive, or that his controversial callups have paid off big time.
Props. Some big positives today not just in winning the game but blooding some new talent in a smart way. And I remember someone saying something about how if we won this game we’d have the single year highest winning % in Nats history.
His starting lineup was absolute crap. That’s why I’m not gonna rush to give him credit.
Why was it crap? Aside from the Williams blunder, we were pretty solid and not really threatened.
And don’t forget that the sapping job done by the starters allows the subs to reap dividends, as well. So you can’t say: oh we should have started Mix since he scored. Maybe Mix scored because the players in before him wore out their Russian counterparts and allowed for his opportunity to even be possible.
That is what they used to say about BB.
Then when that got sorted they said his subs were crap.
You just won’t give JK any credit.
So all in all a fun way to spend a Wednesday morning and a good look at future prospects. Now it’s time to get serious. Get to business. It’s the big time next year boys, and the Hex ain’t no joke. Can’t wait.
Thank god for iPads and espn live streaming. Made my work morning much less productive but oh so enjoyable
Im juat thankful espn “allowed” us to watch this on using watch espn and not black it out like they do sometimes for iPad users.
I guess ESPN and DirectTV don’t have an agreement. who’s your internet provider to stream ESPN live?
Comcast. I actually don’t have cable, just hi-speed Internet. Which is why I can’t sign in to get ll their games on watch espn. But my question is why some and not others?
On another note, if we could secure Timmy Chandler out of all this, it would do wonders for our team depth.
+1
Everyone knows Goodson is slow and physically weak. There is no way he should be anything more than a 4th or 5th string option.
On a side note… can we all just finally come to the agreement that Hope Solo is a media whore mixed with a little bit of white trash?
I am sorry but you do not marry Jeremy Stevens unless you just love the limelight…he has a wrap sheet a mile long and was even a person of interest in the death of his girlfriend at the U or W…. honestly Hope… you could have done much better…
so we tied Russia, beat Italy and Mexico all games in their home fields and next month we will drop to spot #50 and Mexico will climb to #15 in the FIFA rankings
PROs:
* Never-die-attitude. in fact, seems like we play better a goal down. We got what it takes to win against anyone, even w/o our star players Deuce, Donovan, and Boca.
* Coach Klinsmann wins again. Key subs made the difference. MAD MAX! DISKERUD! DISKERUD!
* Young Guns shine – Agudelo, Mad Maxx lit it up!
* USA FANS! I was so pissed when we gave up the penalty. Then we scored in the final minute! SO STOKED! that’s the best way to finish the game. We got the last laugh! Mine was delirious!
CONs:
* Jozy. gotta produce to play. make room for the young guns. ’nuff said.
* we gotta attack like this (last 15) all game.
* that horrible, terrible announcer (not the englishman). he said “USA lost” at the 89th minute. what a chump! FIRE HIM!
ON THE FENCE:
* Jermaine Jones. so good, then his last touch is terrible! but he can work on that.
* Sacha. his ‘stache gave him a new look, and I gave him another chance – cept he too has an iffy last touch. still shows promise.
Great game all around! Stoked about our team. that’s how you come back in an away game! that’s our USA! we never die! Old Ironsides mo’fo’!