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Kicking It: USMNT struggles to find consistency in Gold Cup as World Cup qualifying nears
United States forward Jozy Altidore in action against El Salvador during the first half at Lincoln Financial Field on July 19, 2017. Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Kicking It: USMNT struggles to find consistency in Gold Cup as World Cup qualifying nears

Hello and welcome to 'Kicking it' with Demetrius Bell and Megan Armstrong, two of Yardbarker's most discerning soccer specialists. Gold Cup, World Cup and MLS All-Stars, oh my. Busy week so let's get right too it. 

Okay, let’s just get this out of the way now: watching the USMNT has been rough going so far in the CONCACAF Gold Cup. A lackadaisical showing 1-1 showing against Panama in the group stage in which no one seem interested in the game. Then Martinique able to push the U.S. around as both the defense and the midfield seemed to lack any sort of a rhythm, resulting in a narrow 3-2 win for the club. And then this week. 2-0 win for the U.S. against El Salvador, a win, but juggling players among all the call-ups still resulted in a team that only had flashes of cohesiveness. (And I think we can all agree, even though the USMNT didn’t look sharp, that was one of dirtiest displays of play from El Salvador – unless you can think of something worse.) 

How much longer can manager Bruce Arena muck about grading all the players before he finalizes what he wants to see on the field?

Demetrius: Well, the good news is that CONCACAF’s level of competition is such that a team like the USMNT can put out a B/B+ team and still be able to make a deep run in the tournament. That’s a relief since if any of these teams were any better, they’d probably be out. With that being said, they’re in a weird spot where if they can get it together and beat Costa Rica, they could probably still win it all since US/Mexico on US soil is basically anybody’s game. But yeah, Arena doesn’t have too much time left to get things together if they’re going to have a shot at bringing the Gold Cup back here.

Megan: Demetrius is 100 percent right. CONCACAF Gold Cup doesn’t require the highest levels of competency to be able to compete outside of Mexico, which speaks more to the tournament than to the USMNT specifically. But when zoning in on Bruce Arena and his roster choices, I’m confused. I understand wanting to give basically two sets of rosters a shot to see what you have going forward, but if you’re really trying to win a tournament, is the absence of consistency the way to go? I’m not Bruce Arena, and have no prior coaching experience, so I do not know the answer. But I know what I’ve been watching.

I’d also like to note that, while not as outwardly dirty as El Salvador, Panama’s pants-ing of a Tico is worth mentioning.


United States head coach Bruce Arena during the first half against El Salvador at Lincoln Financial Field on July 19, 2017.  Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Do you have a good sense of what Arena is building around or towards? 

Megan: Bruce Arena’s No. 1 job was to make sure the United States made it to the World Cup. After that, it becomes how the USMNT shows in the World Cup. And then the masses will already have an opinion about what to do in the long-term based on that showing, but I’m not sure Arena is building toward anything beyond World Cup right now.

Demetrius: I’ve said from the moment that they brought Arena back that this was a move done simply to get to Russia. That’s it. They were off to a horrific start with in World Cup qualifying and Klinsmann’s shine had completely worn off, so they decided that they just needed to make a move to right the ship. I feel like after the World Cup we’ll get a better idea of what they’re trying to do long-term but as of right now, the focus was just making sure that they got to the World Cup and they’ll cross the future bridge whenever they get to it.

What has looked promising for the team so far though in the middle of all the usual CONCACAF messiness? 

Demetrius: As far as the Gold Cup goes, I think it’s still somewhat promising that they’ve got a decent shot at winning it despite sleepwalking through most of it. When it comes to individuals, Darlington Nagbe has continued to improve while wearing the USMNT shirt, Omar Gonzalez has shown that he’s willing to step up and make a difference when needed, and Justin Morrow had a tiny bit of a revelation with his performance against El Salvador. Other than that, it’s been kind of rough overall and they’ve got to step things up against Costa Rica or else. 

Megan: Even though I just said I don't totally understand all of the player shuffling, I do think the new faces we got to see during group play was very promising. Dom Dwyer had two goals in two caps. Nagbe, as Demetrius says, continues to get better on the international level. I think the most optimistic way to look at this USMNT Gold Cup run is by individual-to-individual performance instead of the team as a whole.


United States defender Omar Gonzalez (3) scores a goal past El Salvador midfielder Darwin Ceren (7) and defender Ivan Mancia (5) during the first half at Lincoln Financial Field on July 19, 2017. Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

And what has you the most concerned about the team with the World Cup qualifiers on the horizon in just over a month, especially now since the US is playing Costa Rica in the Gold Cup semis ahead of their September 1 qualifier?)

Demetrius: I’ll be honest: I’ll take a loss in the Gold Cup if it means that they can pick up the win against Costa Rica in qualifying. If they win the latter then they’ll basically be good as gold when it comes to making it to Russia. With that being said, it should be telling that I’m willing to write off the Gold Cup as a possible “L” because of the inconsistency and lack of cohesiveness that I’ve seen from the squad in this tournament. They definitely have the potential to beat Costa Rica in the Cup, but with the way they’ve looked so far, anything is possible at this point – both good and bad.

Megan: World Cup over everything. But Demetrius is right: the fact that we’re sitting here so passive about Gold Cup, or seeing a loss in Gold Cup as a tradeoff for a qualifier win, is a larger issue. Ideally, we shouldn't have to choose or even occupy the idea that both aren't sure bets.


Atlanta United midfielder Miguel Almiron is a welcome addition to the MLS All-Star team.  Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Turning our focus back to MLS, now that the league is back from their international break, we have a brief couple of weeks before the All-Star Game against Real Madrid. With the roster announcements this week, what surprised you from the selections? 

Megan: Ike Opara had the best response to a snub of anyone. [Editor's note: Not a PG response.] Second place: this light-hearted (maybe?) Twitter spat between Minnesota and Sydney Leroux Dwyer.

My personal opinions about inclusions and snubs, though, is no Tim Melia? No Josef Martinez? I don't know about Melia, but I believe if Martinez played for a more established, “popular” club, he'd have been voted in. He's been so exciting. I guess as long as Tim Howard is still part of this league, goalkeepers who are actually having a stellar season won't be voted in as All-Stars. 

I'm also upset at the snub of Cristiano Ronaldo. 

Demetrius: Atlanta United will be sending three players to the All-Star Game. Miguel Almiron has been having a fantastic season, and Greg Garza’s USMNT pedigree probably helped him get onto the team as well. However, Michael Parkhurst’s inclusion was a bit of a head-scratcher when you consider the fact that Josef Martinez still exists. I guess the injury layoff must have cost Martinez, because he’s definitely been one of the best and most entertaining players on one of the most entertaining teams to watch.


Jul 11, 2017; Kansas City, KS, USA; Sporting Kansas City starters pose for a team photo near the name Neal painted on the field in honor of co-owner and CEO of Cerner corp Neal Patterson, who died last week before the start of the match against FC Dallas at Children's Mercy Park. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports USA TODAY Sports

Any last thoughts this week? 

Demetrius : Shout-out to the Seattle Sounders for turning a 3-0 second-half deficit against D.C. United into a 4-3 victory. The crazy thing about this is that this is the second time they’ve erased a three-goal deficit in a single half, but this time they managed to get the fourth goal and win the game. It’s also very impressive that they did it with a handful of starters either busy on Gold Cup duty or injured. 

Megan: Ah, yes. We’ve now entered the time of year where the Seattle Sounders arise from hibernation and become world beaters. 

But for me, in Kansas City, the talk has been about the passing of Cerner CEO Neal Patterson, whom nobody outside of Kansas City probably really knows about. But the truth is, without him and his partners at Cerner and OnGoal LLC (the Illigs, for example), who bought the then-Kansas City Wizards in 2006, there would be no more soccer in Kansas City. Which, given what Sporting has become, is insane to consider. 

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