USMNT

World Cup Qualifying preview: USMNT v Guatemala

This preview is going to be short, because predicting what the US Men’s National Team will do has become impossible. Jurgen Klinsmann’s team and tactical decisions have become utterly mystifying and definitely infuriating. But I shouldn’t be too tough on him, he just made modern history—his team lost to Guatemala for the first time since 1988.

If they lose, Klinsmann is done

That shouldn’t be a bold prediction, but perhaps it is, given how much rope US Soccer has given its erstwhile head men’s coach so far. But here’s the thing: if the US loses tonight, they won’t be going to the World Cup. At least, the prospects become very, very grim. Sure, Klinsmann might last until the math makes it official, but if the US lose at home to Guatemala, then surely his time has come.

And go he should. The German-Californian has accomplished some very good things as US coach, notching impressive wins against European opposition, in Europe, winning the 2013 Gold Cup, getting out of a very difficult group in the 2014 World Cup, “expanding the player pool,” etc. But what he can’t be said to have done is what his hire was meant to do: meaningfully advance the state of the US’s game. The team wins games, yes (less so recently, unfortunately), but the way it does so isn’t markedly more stylish or composed than under Bob Bradley or Bruce Arena. And Klinsmann’s choices on who to play and where to play them have often confounded, making the US team sometimes less than the sum of its parts.

For a man supposed to take the entirety of US Soccer to the next level, it’s just not good enough.

But they won’t lose

All of that said, the odds of the US losing to Guatemala twice consecutively, with the second game at home, is almost nil. They’ll likely even win. Even Klinsmann can’t screw this up. I think. Probably.

So, Klinsmann will live to fight another day. If the US win, their chances to qualify for the Hexagonal will be quite good. Honestly, they’ll be excellent. So, perhaps all this wailing and gnashing of teeth is unwarranted. Perhaps we should all just take a chill pill. … No, I didn’t think so. Freaking out is totally appropriate.

On the bright side, the U-23s have a shot

Unlike their elder counterparts, the U-23s went to Colombia and handled their business on Friday. They got a draw and scored an away goal. Obviously, keeping Colombia off the score sheet is task number one, and a tough one, but if they manage it, they go to the Olympics. If Colombia scores, the US needs to win outright, so it would be a risk to simply sit back and play D for 90 minutes, but that’s a good problem to have, all things considered.

Things might be a lot rosier by Wednesday

While the outlook is a touch overcast just now, if results go the right way tonight, the US senior team could have made a huge stride toward reaching the next stage of World Cup Qualifying, and the U-23s could be in the Olympics. How much difference a day would make in that case. Fingers crossed…

16 Comments

  1. I won’t be one of those among the throng who thinks all is well after beating Guatemala tonight.
    .
    .
    1-0 isn’t good enough that much I’ll tell you…team needs to make a statement tonight…
    .
    trouble is with only so many screen ours for my aspiring little footballers..how difficult it is to choose USMNT when Italy Germany will lay in DVR wait.

    • Zizouisgod says:

      Agreed. Unfortunately, the statement from the players may be that we’re sick and tired of Klinsmann and want him out of our lives. At least, that’s how they’ve been playing lately.

      • Which ultimately I’d be okay with… maybe not qualifying for the World Cup would be a blessing in disguise. Fire the coach. Un-elect the President. Vet the youth after Copa America send off for the senior players: Bradley, Dempsey, Howard, half a dozen others ect ect.
        .
        Honestly..if you know the proper changes were going to be made would you sacrifice the World Cup in 18?
        .
        I would… IN A HEARTBEAT.

      • Zizouisgod says:

        Agreed. Sometimes you have to take a step back to take a few steps forward.

  2. Old Soccer Coach says:

    We are learning how important Landon Donovan was.

    • Zizouisgod says:

      Very true, he was so good for so long that we never noticed the effect until he was no longer there.

    • pragmatist says:

      “If you can’t beat Guatemala at home….you probably shouldn’t be the coach.” – Landon Donovan on Jurgen/USA soccer.
      .

      You can argue that Landon is just as important in retirement as he was in his playing days.

  3. pragmatist says:

    I am not absolving any of the horrendous play that this team has shown recently. However…
    .
    During the 2014 cycle, this team looked completely inept at times. We screamed about the roster selections, the formations, the positions…(any of this sounding familiar?) And then they went out and took Germany and Belgium to the wire, putting in two of the best performances ever authored by our national team.
    .
    Why can’t JK get this team functioning before the WC? Or do these tribulations strengthen the team for the real games? Or did we just get lucky at the World Cup (let’s not forget that Tim Howard owned social media for making 486 saves against Belgium).
    .
    This organization is perplexing. I would just like consistency. Find someone who will provide a steady upward trend so we don’t need to have these conversations perpetually, with the exception of the one month when the games are played.

    • Zizouisgod says:

      Belgium was a good performance by the US? I didn’t think so. We were hanging on for our lives almost the entire -match.

      We looked best in 2014 during the middle part of the Portugal match, but then gave it up at the end due to naviety.

      • pragmatist says:

        Maybe it was just my memories of the excitement of that Belgium game. Like I said, Howard was Superman that day. It was an awesome experience, but no, we were definitely not the better team.

      • Thank you for bringing this to light Zizou every word you write is dead on… some think taking Belgium to ‘the wire’ was some sign of good play… they absolutely dominated every aspect of that game.
        .
        EVERY.
        .
        Tim Howard made outstanding save after outstanding save and yes Wondo missed a sitter that on another day would have made the score 5-2.
        .
        And Germany played nicey nicey against JK, their old chum – – and the US… think if Germany needed to make a statement in that last game they wouldn’t have won 3-0? They were on cruise control and totally in control of every aspect of a game they sleepwalked through.
        .

      • pragmatist says:

        Don’t get me wrong…I’m not deluded enough to think that we should match up with these teams on a regular basis. And we deserved to lose those games on many levels.
        .
        But there were better performances than we have seen recently. That’s not saying much, because our talent level is vastly inferior to many of these teams, but there was a greater sense of urgency in the WC matches. It’s an urgency that is absent at almost all times outside of the WC.

      • old soccer coach says:

        the urgency in the WC is that, as a player, if you look good in three games, you can get an outrageous contract from a foolish managing general partner because you played well in a minor little tournament down in Brazil/South Africa/Germany/etc.

      • ba-bum-bump.
        .
        oh good one sir.

  4. Just don’t put Mix on the field. He shouldn’t be called into camp again. There are too many other midfielders I would rather see play out of position. : )
    .
    Start Pulisic for that matter. Just don’t play Mix. Ever. Again.
    .

    • I’m perfectly okay with Mix Diskerud against Lichtenstein in a random friendly because you have injuries, hang nails and more pressing issues related to your league not having an international schedule… sure..then and only then though.
      .
      He has quality… just not much and he certainly isn’t center midfielder quality for the national team.
      .

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*