Bradley Out As USMNT Head Coach

[Remember The Alomar]

No posts on last night's friendly?

Overall I'm pretty pleased. We weren't great by any means, but I loved seeing the youth on the field. The team desperately needed some fresh blood. Also, no Bornstein.

I like Buddle (especially over Findley) but he was a total non factor. That could be his own fault, but we also had nobody to link up with him. Bradley just isn't that guy. If Holden or Dempsey were on the field, maybe Buddle would be more effective. Agudelo looked good, though. Same with Brek.

All in all, the team simply looked a lot looser under Klinsmann. Hopefully that lasts.

Can't wait to see the team with Holden, Dempsey, and Chandler all in the fold.

Looked poor the first 45, looked fantastic the last 25 minutes. Can't remember the last time I saw Donovan that threatening. Brek and Agudelo really impressed me as well.

Officiating was dreadful.

[Scrat1]

Looked poor the first 45, looked fantastic the last 25 minutes. Can't remember the last time I saw Donovan that threatening. Brek and Agudelo really impressed me as well.

Officiating was dreadful.

No kidding. Can't believe he didn't issue a red card on the pullback.

On another note: I was struck by how much I've taken Bocanegra for granted over the past couple of years. He's not a superstar by any means, but I'll definitely miss him when he's gone. Hopefully he provides the back line with some stability while we make the transition to the younger squad.

[Basketeer]

No posts on last night's friendly?

Overall I'm pretty pleased. We weren't great by any means, but I loved seeing the youth on the field. The team desperately needed some fresh blood. Also, no Bornstein.

I like Buddle (especially over Findley) but he was a total non factor. That could be his own fault, but we also had nobody to link up with him. Bradley just isn't that guy. If Holden or Dempsey were on the field, maybe Buddle would be more effective. Agudelo looked good, though. Same with Brek.

All in all, the team simply looked a lot looser under Klinsmann. Hopefully that lasts.

Can't wait to see the team with Holden, Dempsey, and Chandler all in the fold.

Bradley needs to be slotted as a defensive, holding midfielder. His distribution is decent, but I'd rather see a healthy Stu Holden feeding the boys up top.

Liked what I saw from the youngsters, especially Rogers, Shea, and Torres. I think a switch from Bradley-era athleticism "out-run your opponent" style is going to be replaced by a more technical style under Klinsmann.

[Basketeer]

No kidding. Can't believe he didn't issue a red card on the pullback.

On another note: I was struck by how much I've taken Bocanegra for granted over the past couple of years. He's not a superstar by any means, but I'll definitely miss him when he's gone. Hopefully he provides the back line with some stability while we make the transition to the younger squad.

Boca is definitely the cog back there. Dolo as well. We're going to need some of these young guys to really step-up in the next year or so.

I'm a little surprised we haven't seen Jay DeMerit. I understand and agree with the need to get the youngsters some playing time, but if we're going to trot out Boca and Dolo, why not DeMerit as well? He was really the unsung hero of our WC defense last summer, in my opinion.

[Scrat1]

Klinsmann round two, here we go.

Can't wait to see Chandler.

[Remember The Alomar]

Totally forgot about the match tonight.

[Remember The Alomar]

What do you think Scrat? From what I saw their play was quite good despite the scoreline.

[Scrat1]

What do you think Scrat? From what I saw their play was quite good despite the scoreline.

This is how I've felt about the Klinsmann era so far. I'm just hoping this is a sign of things to come and we'll gain a little more consistency with time/settling on a roster.

What I'm worried about is the chance that Klinsmann's more creative minded approach won't stick because we might not have the right players for it. Bradley's system sort of worked because we lacked skill around goal so we'd just try to give up as little ground as possible and then score on set pieces/aerial battles. It was very ugly soccer, but considering our roster, it made some sense.

I don't necessarily buy that line of thinking, but I do think it's a possibility. Despite the added aggression and fluidity, we're getting almost no shots off on goal.

Hopefully the shots/goals come as the players adjust to Klinsmann's system.

[Remember The Alomar]

Yeah. There's been spurts of genuinely good soccer, but it's been inconsistent. I won't worry about results until qualifying starts. The likes of Altidore and Aguedelo go need to step up though.

[Scrat1]

http://proxy.espn.go.com/sports/socc...arlisle-soccer

What a goal from Dempsey. (Nice save from Howard as well.) I missed the game due to work, but I'm sure it feels good for Klinsmann and the boys to get their first win out of the way.

[Remember The Alomar]

Shea has been oddly impressive. Overall, they're creating chances--they're just not finishing. I'll be interested to see where the squad's at in 2014.

[Basketeer]

You can definitely see improvements. US dominated the first half against Ecuador, should've had a couple goals at least.

Good to see Gooch back to his old self, loved seeing him romp forward into the attack. Couldn't figure out who the hell was streaking down the field all those times!

Shea has been a revelation at winger and Chandler looks mighty fine at left back. The attack should gel with the return of Donovan, Torres, and eventually Holden. Here's a lineup I'd like to see tried next month, no chance it'd ever happen though:

GK: Tim Howard

LWB: Brek Shea
LCB: Carlos Bocanegra
RCB: Oguchi Onyewu
RWB: Timothy Chandler

DM: Kyle Beckerman
DM: Maurice Edu

CM: Michael Bradley
CM: Landon Donovan

F: Clint Dempsey
ST: Jozy Altidore


I think Brek and Chandler could be lethal as two true wingbacks, streaking up the sides of the pitch. Beckerman and Edu would drop whenever those two go forward and Donovan and Bradley would work towards the middle to clear-up space along the sides, distribute up top. Clint looks awesome playing behind Jozy.