With Premier League side Swansea City languishing in 17th place following a dismal start that’s yielded four points from seven matches, the Swans have acted quickly to fire manager Francesco Guidolin and replace him with former USMNT boss Bob Bradley.
Throughout the tenure of Jurgen Klinsmann as the head coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team, American soccer fans have watched the team take steps forward, as they did by advancing out of the group of death at the 2014 World Cup, only to also watch them take steps back, as they did by losing in the semifinals of the 2015 Gold Cup.
The positive atmosphere surrounding Clint Dempsey’s return to light training on September 14th has been dashed following the devastating Seattle Sounders’ announcement that the 33-year-old forward will not return in 2016.
2016, you scoundrel! First, we had the trauma and ecstasy of Lionel Messi’s short-lived retirement. Now, we have this: Landon Donovan is set to end his retirement to return to the LA Galaxy for the remainder of the MLS season.
Two goals from Jozy Altidore, one from Sacha Kljestan and another from Paul Arriola lifted the United States to a 4-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday night in Jacksonville, Florida. The United States entered the match having not mathematically guaranteed their spot in the ‘Hex’, although elimination would’ve required a failure of momentous proportions.
However, the USA were brilliant on the night — particularly in the second half. Trinidad and Tobago almost kept the match even throughout the first, but Kljestan opened the scoring in the 44th minute.
OK, let's get the qualifiers out of the way before we jump into any analysis: St. Vincent is terrible at soccer and so are the Grenadines. You can't really learn anything from how anyone played in a game between such mismatched opposition.
We can learn, though, from who played. Because Clint Dempsey is out, USMNT manager Jurgen Klinsmann started Bobby Wood up top with Jozy Altidore. Both scored.
Bobby Wood’s play hasn’t been dissected to the level with which we’ve examined Gyasi Zardes. Wood, at 23, doesn’t come with the ‘phenom’ label that’s attached to Jordan Morris. He doesn’t uniformly divide opinion like Jozy Altidore or Chris Wondolowski. Wood has endeared himself to USMNT supporters without ever triggering the American soccer hype machine.
It's down to this international break for Jurgen Klinsmann and the USMNT to advance in World Cup qualifying, and the squad has been picked. Did he pick Wondolowski? Of course he picked Wondolowski.
On Friday, the Seattle Sounders released a distressing statement concerning Sounders and USMNT forward Clint Dempsey. The 33-year-old will be undergoing medical evaluations for an irregular heartbeat over the coming days, missing Seattle’s match against Portland on Sunday and the United States’ September World Cup qualifiers against Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago.
While Jozy Altidore’s goalscoring record for Sunderland will always torment him like a black spot, a piece of low-hanging fruit for doubters who refuse to recognize his enormous talent, those who’ve followed his career of late will know that it’s his troublesome hamstrings which remain his personal Kryptonite.
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