US Men took down Germany today 4-3 in what has to be the most impressive victory for a Klinnsman-led US team. Even if it was a friendly this was a totally unexpected result. US scored four without Donovan. The US deserved the win being up 4-1 at one point and withstanding a German comeback attempt. Great victory to restart the upcoming WC qualifiers.

definitely exciting considering it's a German side; however, wasn't it their second-string team? I highly doubt Neuer would've let that own goal past him.

Agreed that Germany did not have their entire first side playing. It was a friendly. It is fairly common to have the second string keeper get some game time in these games. That being said, it was still Germany, playing in typical German style and the US still beat them. As in this was not a fluke result.

it was their second string. still a nice win, but not anywhere near the same as getting a result against the german first team.

that is not to disparage the result, it's great and will be a confidence boost to the team. hopefully they can build on this in the upcoming WC quallies...

TheBearsHaveWon;842127681 said:

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Agreed that Germany did not have their entire first side playing. It was a friendly. It is fairly common to have the second string keeper get some game time in these games. That being said, it was still Germany, playing in typical German style and the US still beat them. As in this was not a fluke result.

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TheBearsHaveWon;842127681 said:

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Agreed that Germany did not have their entire first side playing. It was a friendly. It is fairly common to have the second string keeper get some game time in these games. That being said, it was still Germany, playing in typical German style and the US still beat them. As in this was not a fluke result.

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It is a good result but Germany only had 1 starter on the field, the other 10 players were 2nd stringers. It would have been a bit embarrassing to get beat down by the German junior varsity team.

This team still has to play much better, particulaly on defense, if they want to make any noise in Brazil.
Giving up 4 goals to Belgium and then 3 goals to Germany's backups is not getting the job done.

Actually Germany had two starters in Mertesacker and Podolski, the two Arsenal players. Podolski was played out of position and kinda sucked it up, but some of the other players were 2nd and 3rd stringers. None of the Bayern and Dortmund players were in, I dont think? THose two teams played in the final of the soccer/football "Super Bowl." Quite an achievement.

With that said, Germany is ridiculously deep these days, probably the most talented offensive team in the world. There is no more typical German style. Theyre more likely to play like Brazil than England these days.

WildBear;842127698 said:

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Actually Germany had two starters in Mertesacker and Podolski, the two Arsenal players. Podolski was played out of position and kinda sucked it up, but some of the other players were 2nd and 3rd stringers. None of the Bayern and Dortmund players were in, I dont think? THose two teams played in the final of the soccer/football "Super Bowl." Quite an achievement.

With that said, Germany is ridiculously deep these days, probably the most talented offensive team in the world. There is no more typical German style. Theyre more likely to play like Brazil than England these days.

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Podolski has been replaced as a starter by Reus since the last Euro Cup. The Germans played mostly young talent that rarely get a chance to play because their squad is so deep.

Klose was in there too.

Germany is talented, deep, but not so much on offense, most of the top attackers at Bayern or Dortmund are foreign. Like Spain, what makes them really strong is how well they play as a unit, in good part because their coach Low has put together and honed their current nucleus for years now.

The USMNT's home loss to Belgium is not all that bad, Belgium being perhaps the most improved team in world football today. Best national squad they've fielded in decades, maybe one of the top 5 in Europe right now.

The only foreign starting bayern attacker is Ribery. Robben started the last couple months but that was only because Toni Kroos was injured. He was preferred for most of the season over Robben. Mandukic started the final, but Gomez starts the vast majority of their games.

Reus has started a few games, but so has Podolski, who has been nursing an ankle injury for a while now.

Germany is loaded with attacking players. Ozil, Gotze, Reus, Muller, Toni Koos (who many consider to be Bayern's most talented payer, including Pep), then you still have Mario Gomez and Podolski and then the guys who left bc they didnt think they'd make it for germany like Sahin (former Bundesligia player of the year?)

Then there are guys like Andr Schurrle who Chelsea just bought and will probably start, Lars and Sven Bender...

Germany used to be a great system, grind it out nation, but many of the world's finest attacking players are coming from Germany these days.

Yeah, Belgium is another team with a lot of good/great players. Fellani, Hazard and Kompany could play for any team in the world. Benteke is a player a lot of top teams are sniffing around. Those guys didnt all play, but belgium is really good and going to punish you if you make mistakes. US should have done better, but there is time to improve

Cal88;842127709 said:

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Klose was in there too.

Germany is talented, deep, but not so much on offense, most of the top attackers at Bayern or Dortmund are foreign. Like Spain, what makes them really strong is how well they play as a unit, in good part because their coach Low has put together and honed their current nucleus for years now.

The USMNT's home loss to Belgium is not all that bad, Belgium being perhaps the most improved team in world football today. Best national squad they've fielded in decades, maybe one of the top 5 in Europe right now.

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Well yes, Bayern did start 3 foreign attackers in the CL final... The only German attacker on their active CL final roster was Gomez, he's the only pure forward that's German, and he's not all that great, he benefits from having two great wingers at Bayern who are usually breaking down defenses and setting him up. Robben has actually had 22 starts for Bayern this season, he is still a key cog in their system with Ribery on the other side, as the CL final has shown.

My point was that Germany doesn't have any pure strikers right now anywhere near the caliber of a Klinsmann or Rummenigge, they have been getting the job done with midfielders who play well together, in this way they are similar to Spain.

Yeah, I'll give you they dont have any great strikers. Gomez is decent, better than what most give credit for and not exactly trash. He does score a decent amount and usually finds himself starting. Germany does still play pretty traditionally and doesn't really use false 9.

Spain had Torres and Villa has top notch strikers until the last 2 years, so while they're heavily reliant on their midfield (now) and possession game, they did have two top, top strikers. The last 1-2 years, they have shifted even more towards the midfield. Germany doesn't really play like Spain, but both are very strong in the middle. You could make a case Germany has more stars than Spain (34 year old Xavi, Iniesta, Cesc...that's about it for true stars).

22 starts is ok for Robben, but Bayern plays 65 games a year? Plus, it looks like he is going to be sold this summer since they dont see a need for him w/Gotze coming in and Kroos back from injury

Cal88;842127730 said:

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Well yes, Bayern did start 3 foreign attackers in the CL final... The only German attacker on their active CL final roster was Gomez, he's the only pure forward that's German, and he's not all that great, he benefits from having two great wingers at Bayern who are usually breaking down defenses and setting him up. Robben has actually had 22 starts for Bayern this season, he is still a key cog in their system with Ribery on the other side, as the CL final has shown.

My point was that Germany doesn't have any pure strikers right now anywhere near the caliber of a Klinsmann or Rummenigge, they have been getting the job done with midfielders who play well together, in this way they are similar to Spain.

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Actually Santi Carzola and David Silva are probably in the same class. The US need a few midfielders like that. Looks like Bradley has gotten much better

I thought beating Italy in Italy was more impressive, not to take anything away from this win. Heck, we didn't even have Donovan playing. That hurts us more than Germany playing their second string. They clearly have more depth and a greater pool of players to choose from for their national team.

vanity;842127683 said:

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it was their second string. still a nice win, but not anywhere near the same as getting a result against the german first team.

that is not to disparage the result, it's great and will be a confidence boost to the team. hopefully they can build on this in the upcoming WC quallies...

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It's OK. I remember getting whacked by Brasil's 3rd string unit (I think a young Kaka was on it). It's nice to beat a world power like Germany in any context.

WildBear;842127719 said:

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Yeah, Belgium is another team with a lot of good/great players. Fellani, Hazard and Kompany could play for any team in the world. Benteke is a player a lot of top teams are sniffing around. Those guys didnt all play, but belgium is really good and going to punish you if you make mistakes. US should have done better, but there is time to improve

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I love Fellani. COYB!

GranadaHillsBear;842127876 said:

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I thought beating Italy in Italy was more impressive, not to take anything away from this win. Heck, we didn't even have Donovan playing. That hurts us more than Germany playing their second string. They clearly have more depth and a greater pool of players to choose from for their national team.

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Donovan is currently a shell of his former self. The above statement would have been true in 2010 but I don't think e is nearly as important as he once was.

Holmoephobic;842127924 said:

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Donovan is currently a shell of his former self. The above statement would have been true in 2010 but I don't think e is nearly as important as he once was.

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I'm not sure about that. I know he's taken some time off due to being burned out. Since he hasn't played much he's clearly rusty.

GranadaHillsBear;842127943 said:

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I'm not sure about that. I know he's taken some time off due to being burned out. Since he hasn't played much he's clearly rusty.

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I think Klinsy needs to get Donovan back into the mix very soon for the hexagonal. There is no doubt an even rusty Donovan can help the USMNT. US Soccer is not a program with talent all over the place. I believe Donovan is still the most talented player in the program, even at his age. I mean if you are playing guys like Eddie Johnson and DeMarcus Beasley, you have to bring Donovan back soon before he gets completely out of sync. I heard Klinsy called up like 3-4 goalkeepers? That's a waste.

Having Michael Bradley back for the Germany game was huge. The Belgium game would have been closer if he was there. He is the calming presence in the midfield that the USMNT needs to have. Outside of Dempsey and Howard... he is the most important player right now for the team to have on the field at all times.

KoreAmBear;842127906 said:

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I love Fellani. COYB!

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haha good shot, KAB. he would no doubt sell for more $$$ than anyone else on everton, and mirallas was our most dangerous attacking threat last year (when healthy). the belgian national team is no joke

Let's not forget that the Spanish liga ended on Saturday, so they were missing Ozil and Khedira as well. Still a fun and exciting (although not particular well played) game. I'm more concerned about our qualifiers. Go USA!!! Go Bears!

ianbearnson;842128028 said:

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haha good shot, KAB. he would no doubt sell for more $$$ than anyone else on everton, and mirallas was our most dangerous attacking threat last year (when healthy). the belgian national team is no joke

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What do you think of Martinez as new manager? I've always liked him at Wigan.

EBBear2009;842128021 said:

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Having Michael Bradley back for the Germany game was huge. The Belgium game would have been closer if he was there. He is the calming presence in the midfield that the USMNT needs to have. Outside of Dempsey and Howard... he is the most important player right now for the team to have on the field at all times.

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Probably true. We need Omar Gonzalez not to be out of position so often though. He has immense talent but he needs to be much more tactically sound.

KoreAmBear;842128057 said:

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What do you think of Martinez as new manager? I've always liked him at Wigan.

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He's done well at Wigan, but his defense was terrible this year. I know they were missing their first 3-4 CBs for parts of the season, but it still shouldnt be THAT bad. He'll have to keep clean sheets at Everton and move from there. We'll see how it goes, but it is going to be tough to keep Everton as a top 8 team...unless Bale and Suarez go and those teams waste the fees...

KoreAmBear;842128057 said:

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What do you think of Martinez as new manager? I've always liked him at Wigan.

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based on what i've seen on the bearinsider.com's of the everton world, i seem to be in the minority who are in favor of martinez as new manager. lots of people really knock him for managing a club that got relegated, but he had far fewer resources and worse players at wigan than he will at everton. i like his style of soccer (football...whatever) and think he'll do fine...defense has never been a strength of his but with jagielka anchoring the backline as captain for the next few years, i'm not to worried about that.

and everyone will get a chance to judge for themselves when everton play juventes on july 31st at AT&T, and then either LA galaxy or madrid in LA a few days later! san francisco is...toffee territory!

coyb

WildBear;842128062 said:

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He's done well at Wigan, but his defense was terrible this year. I know they were missing their first 3-4 CBs for parts of the season, but it still shouldnt be THAT bad. He'll have to keep clean sheets at Everton and move from there. We'll see how it goes, but it is going to be tough to keep Everton as a top 8 team...unless Bale and Suarez go and those teams waste the fees...

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i don't think it will be has hard as you think to keep everton top 8, they already have a solid squad in place, and fellaini excepted, i don't see any of the core players moving on anytime soon. just gotta start integrating young players like duffy and barkley to replace people like hibbert, osman, distin, etc. who are all nearing the end of their careers.

i agree that defense has never been martinez' thing, but jagielka is a top 2 CB for the england national team right now. heitinga seems to be on his way out, but distin/duffy will be solid enough compliments (they both have height where phil does not) to jagielka that i'm not terribly concerned the back 4 will be an issue

depth is the biggest issue right now, so as good as felli is, i would not be crushed if he were sold and the money is reinvested in a couple solid midfielders or a STRIKER WHO CAN CONSISTENTLY SCORE GOSH DARNIT.

don't think calling any sports team a '1 man team' is ever fair, but liverpool doesn't finish in the top half of the table without suarez and tottenham doesn't come close to qualifying for the CL without bale this year. both teams have their issues which will be exponentially compounded were either of those players to leave.

As you mentioned, Everton are going to lose players in the nest 2-3 years and he'll to find some top players to stay in the top6-8. Finding a fellani or osman, leighton baines isn't easy. With a thin squad and and even thinner budget, the margin for error is small.

I think Liverpool and the spuds would have done ok without without their stars (Arsenal got more points this year than they did w/Cesc and Van persie), someone would have stepped up, maybe. question is how good their managers are and who they bring in. Wenger has shown he is one of the two best for a reason. Bale will be sold for 60M+, that's three top, top players, but do you trust them to invest it wisely? probably not. Liverpool has shown they buy junk for 3x the price, so they got the same issues. plus, hard to find 3 20M players who will take 70k/week. they usually want 100k+, so that might be an issue.

Looks like Germany and even Spain (lowest avg salary of the big leagues) are the places these teams should go to find players, not other british teams who just got an extra 25-35M thanks to new tv contracts.

ianbearnson;842128070 said:

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i don't think it will be has hard as you think to keep everton top 8, they already have a solid squad in place, and fellaini excepted, i don't see any of the core players moving on anytime soon. just gotta start integrating young players like duffy and barkley to replace people like hibbert, osman, distin, etc. who are all nearing the end of their careers.

i agree that defense has never been martinez' thing, but jagielka is a top 2 CB for the england national team right now. heitinga seems to be on his way out, but distin/duffy will be solid enough compliments (they both have height where phil does not) to jagielka that i'm not terribly concerned the back 4 will be an issue

depth is the biggest issue right now, so as good as felli is, i would not be crushed if he were sold and the money is reinvested in a couple solid midfielders or a STRIKER WHO CAN CONSISTENTLY SCORE GOSH DARNIT.

don't think calling any sports team a '1 man team' is ever fair, but liverpool doesn't finish in the top half of the table without suarez and tottenham doesn't come close to qualifying for the CL without bale this year. both teams have their issues which will be exponentially compounded were either of those players to leave.

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WildBear;842128079 said:

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Looks like Germany and even Spain (lowest avg salary of the big leagues) are the places these teams should go to find players, not other british teams who just got an extra 25-35M thanks to new tv contracts.

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definitely definitely definitely. liverpool spends 15 mil each on henderson and downing, while swansea brings in michu under everyones noses. benteke and lukaku (both belgians) score more prem goals than any englishman. since martinez is spanish after all, hopefully he has knowledge/connections that allow him to make a couple of those shrewd signings