Klinsmann is fucked in the head. He's had a grudge against Donovan since he took over the USMNT.
If Klinsmann wanted to cut a player whose skills have eroded, he should have chucked Dempsey, who sucked in England his last two years there. I can see including Johannsson. He's a nice young player who is coming off a good season in a second-tier European League, and Wondo can give them goals if he's used properly.
Still, their biggest issues are with the back line. If Klinsmann can't do better than DeMarcus Beasley at left back, they're in trouble, especially considering the teams they have to play in the first round.

Last edited by artie_fufkin (5/23/2014 10:02 am)

alz wrote:

I don't know if it was because his skills weren't there, or whether Klinnsman simply felt he wouldn't get Donovan's best, which nobody has really seen since the Gold Cup.

I don't think Donovan leaving soccer for a few months to travel the world a bit sat well with Klinnsman at all, and that's sad. But if Klinnsman legitimately feels he's not going to get 100% from Landon, I can see why he chucked him. Would you rather have a guy busting his tail who was a little less gifted or a stellar player who doesn't seem motivated enough?

I'm not saying he's right in this assessment, personally all I saw from landon was the Gold Cup where he was clearly a men among our second tier national players, but apparently a few writers have suggested that was the last time Donovan seemed to have any spring in his step.



 

Even at 32, Donovan is an asset to the team. He has a knack for scoring goals, and big goals, and his absence was clearly evident last night while the U.S. was struggling to find the net against a fifth-tier European side. 
It's astonishing the coach of the United States Mens National Team doesn't like players from the United States. He'd prefer to go into the World Cup as Germany West. I'll be very surprised if Klinsmann's arrogance doesn't sink his team next month and set back the entire operation for years to come. The team I watched last night is going to have a hard time competing with Ghana, much less Portugal and the real Germany.

"I'll watch. Might even put 50.00 down on the US to win. That's gotta pay out like 2500-1...."

They're 200-1, as is Ghana. You want a longshot, play Honduras at 3,000-1.
Brazil is a 3-1 favorite, followed by Argentina at 9-2. 
Germany is 11-2, Spain is 13-2, and Portugal is 30-1. 
You can take Brazil and Argentina against the rest of the field at 13-10. Hmmm ...
 

"when Spain repeats"

The guideline used to be the winning team came from the same hemisphere on which the tournament was being played, but since FIFA started moving the tournament around to places like the U.S., Korea and South Africa, that hasn't been a lock the way it used to be.
And with the way most of the elite South American players have migrated to Europe these days, a guy like Messi playing in Brazil probably isn't too much different than the Spanish playing in Brazil.
It would be hard to bet against Brazil on their own turf, but this is a different Brazil team that's built from the back. The only dynamic scorer they have is Neymar, and his health could be an issue. Hulk could take over the tournament, but he's also prone to suckishness.
An intruiging European team is Belgium. They have the best central defender in the world, a dynamic scorer and some solid pieces that could make them tough to beat. Not saying they're going to win the tournament, but they could make some noise.
 

Last edited by artie_fufkin (5/28/2014 8:50 pm)

"I got no game whatsoever when it comes to betting on sports..."

My gambling skills are pitiful. I could buy every ticket to the state lottery except one and still lose.

alz wrote:

Worst lotto story I've ever heard. Lady got her ticket, hit the numbers and was going nuts. Then the lottery reported no winners. She bought it within one hour of the drawing, so it was for the next draw. Not the one she matched... needless to say she didn't win a second time. I'd consider suicide at that point...

That is an end-of-life scenario.
The only success I've ever had betting on sports was when I was in college. NBC used to have on its football pre-game show a tout named Pete Axhelm, or Axthelm, who was their version of Jimmy the Greek. One Sunday I was sitting around with my roommates sort of half-watching his segment, and one of my roommates blurted "This guy couldn't pick his nose." So we started betting against his picks, and we were up a couple of hundred dollars after a few weeks. But we got greedy and decided to let everything ride on what seemed like an absurd pick by Axthelm, who thought a very bad Jets team was going to cover against a good Buffalo team. It turned out the game was played in a freak blizzard that started about a minute after kickoff. The final score was 7-0, or something similarly low, the Jets covered, and we lost everything.