Unitedstates_coach_klinsmannjurgen_isi_usmnt020114134

How Do You Rate the United States' Performance in the 2014 World Cup?

Did Jurgen Klinsmann make the most of his available talent? Did the players give everything they had? Graph your position below and share your take on the 2014 edition of the U.S. national team.

Posted
July 01, 2014 7:04 PM
Klinsmann Did All He Could
It was a Tactical Mess
Players Overdelivered U.S. Lacks Talent
What Jeff said --> In order to go further we need player development to catch up to our ambitions. Its coming but we weren't at Belgium's level. The players and the coach had to be great just to keep it close. — wandmdave
Let's face it guys, back in December when we drew the "Group of Death", we all feared the worse...welp, we made it through and just got outplayed and overmatched by a strong Belgian side that read like an EPL all star team. Not much you can do. Very proud. #USA — Jeff
Klinsmann did an amazing job with what is available to him. The US is much better than ever before, but they are still lacking players with strong on-the-ball presence. I would liked to have seen some of Diskerud for this reason. The US is getting there but they need more inventive players. Dempsey is not enough and will likely player little to no role moving forward. The development of players like Luis Gil and Rubio Rubin will be huge moving forward. The US has talent coming up, it just needs to develop. — Sean
Need playmaking midfielders badly. Jurgen is a genius to get them this far. — S K
Klinsmann prepared the team, and country, as well as he possibly could have. Substitutions and lineup changes were nearly perfect all tournament IMO. Had the players reach their peak potential at the right time, i.e. Jones, Beckerman, Howard, etc. — @mgibbs12
Klinsmann did great with what we have to work with. Need some Midfielders and Forwards to develop for 2018 in Russia. Julian Green looks great. — Josh Avera
Jurgen should be at the helm for at least four more years. I am proud of this team, but there was something to be desired in that final game. Weird mix of sad and inspired right now. — Brett
#thankyoubasedjurgen — Adam
sad — alex martin
Amazing run. Klinnsman got it all right. Tired of the haters who rent paying attention blaming people. This was an amazing run and this group of players did a phenomenol job against the best teams and best players in the world. The tactics were spot on. — Rotocamel
had a clear cut chance to move on to the quarters. tactics were spot on. had opportunity to win every game. — brennan
We lack the ability to possess the ball in a threatening manner. There are flashes, but overall the scoring opportunities seem to happen chaotically. The team showed tremendous heart and I like Jurgen's vision for the future. . — James
meh — Tim
So proud of what the team accomplished. Getting out of a group of death. I believe we are heading in the right direction. With time and better talent, we will make our way to the quarterfinals again soon. We didn't attack as much as hoped, possibly due to the superior talent of the other teams' midfielders, but we showed flashes of great things to come. Worried about future strikers, but am excited about our future attacking fullbacks. — Bill
Jurgen rocks — Matt
Jurgen brought the right guys, they didn't deliver at key moments this game. Regardless, damn proud. (except of Wondo) — Eric Muller
Yedlin, Jones, Cameron(besides against portugal), Gonzales, Besler, Johnson, Beckerman, Dempsey, Howard, John Brooks, Beasley, Bradley(agianst Belgium), Green, zusi, Bedoya and Howard all played extremely well. We should be proud. — US Fan
What more could you ask of them? We are maximizing our potential. JK is laying the roadmap for the future. Perhaps in 20 years we can have some improved technical ability to go with the ever present American fighting spirit. — Julian G
Klinsmann did a great job with the players available. Would have liked to see us attack more, but an injured ArJo, Jozy, Fabian, and wounded Dempsey and Jones was a big hit to a thin team. Can't fault tactics because we were in every game, if Wondo buries his chance we are in the semis. Subs made the difference in all four games. Can't wait for Gold Cup and next cycle. — Matt
Losing Jozy hurt. Affected our tactics, meant less possession, and Duece and MB120 had to play in uncomfortable positions. — John R
Klinnsman is the man. He made all the right moves. We shouldn't question him like the D-Bag mafia led by Lalas. — Coach L
Klinsmann was pragmatic and got us out of the group. To go farther we need better technical players with better position awareness. It will come but 2014 was always going to be too early to expect that. — Adam
Yes, we do lack the talent to go further. It might be here in a few years, but it's not here now. Klinsmann deserves credit for recruiting well and building up our egos, but got out-coached by WARPIG. That positive mentality he talks about was not present today. — JW
yup — Matthew
Say what you will about Klinsy, he's getting this team ready for the next step. We will under no circumstances get as difficult a draw in 2018 and this team is fairly young. — Erik
I enjoyed every minute - think JK did a great job and they players gave it all they had. While I might have changed some of the lineup, who cares? It was great. We'll get better as time goes on. — SoCal Soccer Mom
Klinsmanns decisions were perfect setting the roster and subs. Can't question him I think. If you would have said that we would have been a couple of chips away from getting to final 8, we would be ok with that. Best team we have ever had. — Clay Paris
How many would have taken a birth into the round of 16 before the tournament? We played above our level and were rewarded by pushing Belgium to its max. Landon Donovan has shown his lack of class since the "snub". I found myself increasingly annoyed by his comments and presence. Would he have contributed? Yes. Is the team now better off to move forward without him? A more resounding "yes"! Not having an additional target forward was the primary blunder of this World Cup, but I don't really see that changing how far we would have advanced. — Tyler S.
Klinsmann has the future of US Soccer looking bright. US Soccer: Sport of the future... since 1972 — Brendan
Good effort, got out of the group. Some players stepped up, others...not so much. Overall, aside from roster selection, a few moments of brilliance from world-class players, and Altidore's injury, it was a success. — BDM
We were simply over-matched by a very talented Belgian side. There is very little tactics can do to help you with that. The future looks very bright and that is a future that should (and deserves to) include Jurgen Klinsmann. — Chris
Still lack talent — David
Did well. It hurts. So many complements to give. There were also negatives. Excited for the next 4 years + — LC
I think both are true: the US lacks talent and the Players Overdelivered. Questionable 23 man roster ended up looking good. Couldn't have thunk that Bradley would be so poor, but others stepped up. Kudos to JK and the team! Sidenote: happy that JGreen got his goal but he didn't belong on this team. Senior USMNT is not a development platform. — Gregor
Even I finally got on the USMNT band wagon. Usually I am all doom and gloom. Hardest draw ever for the USMNT. The made the country proud. Now it's time for the kids to deliver in the next cycle. Julian, DeAndre, Juan, ArJo. — Dr. Doom
Overdelivered doesn't do justice to the talent displayed. Jurgen brought out performances other coaches could not. — Jeff T.
Lost the ball too much — Dc
Happy with Klinsman. His players showed up to play and the whole team played better than sum of their parts. What more can you ask for. — William Sadock
Klinsmann realized he had 3 stars who could produce true magic: Bradley, Dempsey, and Howard. Two of them showed up, Bradley had flashes. Klinsmann relied on them for this cycle to bridge the gap for the Greens, Brooks, Yedlin's, and Gils. The defense over performed: Gonzalez and Besler should get new club contracts in Europe if they want. Fabian also showed he has the makings of a star, and Jermaine Jones saved his best for last. Ultimately the US laid the foundation for a deep run in 2018 — Alex
Nobody was perfect. — Stacy PFEIFFER
We did well, for the crop of players we had we did well. — Diddly Didwell.
Some players were amazing. Think JK used substitutes well. — Matt
After Jozy's injury after 20 min in the first match, we had to switch tactics. Still missing the difference maker in this squad and need improved depth. Please no more Wondo, Davis type players. Only a few holes to fill, and we are improving. — Dave
Keep on truckin' Let's face facts. This team isn't perfect nor the manager. The effort made me proud. Brazil just took a 7-1 beat down in a semi. Until the USMNT is so talented it can go toe to with Germany and risk an unholy skinning, we're going to have to be satisfied with being plucky underdogs. I'm happy with that. — James
There's no doubt that the US lacks the transcendent players that suit up for the elite squads. Jurgen gets credit for getting us through the group, even though our roster did not match the formation and we had no backup on the roster for Jozy. Jurgen gets more credit for recruiting the German-Americans but has more work to do with Zelalem. — Gerry
Man, I don't fucking know. Just proud of our boys for getting to where they got. — Dan
Man Down — Professor Dinosaur
What a cup. — Swag Daddy
Execution was poor, much poorer than in Portugal game. I really feel it goes back to feeling lesser than the opponent causing the lack of composure on the ball resulting in lack of ability to maintain possession and build out of the back. — Gunnerstahl
Klinsmann went crazy with it. He didn't bring a starting XI and substitutes for each role; he brought a bag of tools that he used at different times throughout each game. It was daring, and worked surprisingly well, but a "never give up" attitude couldn't save our players from their own fatigue and injuries. — Geo
just not good enough — dave
We way exceeded expectations. We qualified in record fashion, and we advanced from the toughest WC Group we have ever been in. I put this performance ahead of 2002. No offense to Mexico, but 2014 Belgium is an infinitely tougher knockout round opponent than 2002 Mexico. — cruyff
i feel very unsatisfied — C
Players did the most they could. We are just not on the same level as Belgium. — scott
tough luck with jozy going out, everything changed. klinnsman mistakenly did not bring a back up, nor landon donovan. the team as a whole still does not match up with the upper-eschelon, and i think it's more likely to come in 2022 than it is 2018. — alex
The Portugal give-away had dire consequences, as it forced JK to go with a conservative lineup and tactics vs. Germany. That was our chance to see Mix and Johannsson and rest players. The biggest roster faux pas was Davis -- perhaps over he who shall not be named -- who simply didn't look like he belonged. — FricosisGuy
Definitely an achievement getting out of group but wanted more — Justin
We advanced from a tough group and put forth a passionate and positive (but ineffective) performance against Belgium. Curious to see where the USMNT is after 4 more years of Juergen. — Pwyll
Great job — william
1-11, we don't quite have the talent of the elite sides, say, the WC14 semifinalists. (Maybe 2-11; our #1 can hang with any netminder on Earth.) We were very organized, however, and we executed a game plan that got us out of a tough group, a feat that was about a 38% chance according to popular statistical models. The coach had a notable roster omission--and gets docked for that--but he got oh so many things right. He needs to stay through WC18. ~OGx3 — OGx3
Klinsmann made some good tactical decisions, but got big ones wrong. While as a whole the team wasn't as fluid as it should have been there are certainly some standout players from this tournament, ones that may be a help in future tournaments. Overall, I would give the U.S. 7. — Jack
Anytime the team does better than expected it is hard to blame the coach. Still I think he could have done better. Some luck came our way as well. — Jeff
We'll done — Jon
The players were good, but not as good as they appeared. The tactics were sloppy, though the ideas were good. The US was helped by a Portugal that was injured and a mess tactically, and a Germany that was fragile at the back. We did well, but our player development, as a nation, needs more work. — Chris
Klinsmann dug himself a hole with roster selection but made almost all the right subs and changes. Talent/depth-wise, it's clear we are still half a generation behind the elite teams. — Drew
I think we would have done better with a healthy Jozy — brown bag
Team was always in trouble, and when Jozy went down they were in big, big trouble. It's amazing they got out of the Group stage and kept it close vs. Belgium. That's down to a handful of players (eg Howard, Jones, Beckerman) and some good moves by JK. But Klinsman showed little tactical sophistication vs Germany or Belgium. — philsoc8
US soccer is developing well, but I do question some of Klinsmann's tactics, which seemed to have an overly-defensive posture, or perhaps we were just that outmatched. However, the future is bright, and Klinsmann is laying the foundations for (hopefully) a world cup trophy within the next handful of world cups. — LMorse
Honestly... This is exactly what I expected. The US and Klinsmann get a bit of a bump because of the group they dealt with, but I think this was bare minimum. It was no small task to beat out Ghana and Portugal, but I still expected them too. Overall, we had a few guys who just weren't good enough and didn't deliver, and I still highly question a few of Klinsmann's roster choices. Particularly the lack of a Jozy backup and the idea that 60 excruciating minutes of Brad Davis was better than having Landon Donovan on the roster. — Alex
I still think some of his JK decisions were off like no Donovan, starting Davis, Wondo instead of ArJo, and subbing so so late in games. But over all, very proud of the team and think they all did well. — Mark
The US won't catch up to the top countries until/unless we drop the NCAA pathway to pro soccer. By the time players graduate they are already 4-5 years behind in their playing careers. Maybe have MLS set up tuition accounts for high school leavers that can be used after they leave pro sports? — ex_sweeper
I should have been there. — Terrence Boyd
I really like klinsmann. I might've liked to see a little more attacking integrity, but I understand his decision for the most part — Cnr
Beside Howard and some flashes of what might be from the youngsters, this team was over matched in terms of talent for the whole tournament. Tactics were a retread of everything we've seen since 1994. You could've marched the German army through the space we yielded to Belgium yesterday, but the result might have only been worse had we played differently (no doubt a function of our overall lack of quality). — yerma
klinsmann is a good coach, controversial sometimes, but does well. The players performed mostly to their abilities (except bradley!) tactically didn't quite work out like the attacking soccer we were hoping for, but probably if we do the attacking thing against teams as good as we were playing we get destroyed. our bend and not break tactic keeps the games close. — taylor
Tactics were a mixed bag, but we need better players to get past the Round of 16. — Dan
20 Minutes! When Jozy Altidore blew his hamstring, all tactical plans were destroyed for the roster Klinsmann chose. Forced to move Clint Dempsey to the lone forward and Michael Bradley into the hole proved to be too much to overcome. Overall, the difference between all the teams is razor thin. — Bill Anderson
We made it out of the group of death. We also played the majority of the tournament without Altidore, who was an integral part to our game plan. We scraped and scrapped in the BEL game despite being overmatched talentwise. Proud. — BC2002
Eh, JK did fairly well here with what he had, which (as Belgium showed us) isnt' enough. No excuses for performing poorly and not advancing farther in 2018, assuming the development of these young guys continues. — WondoBra
The team did an excellent job advancing out of a tough group, but the failure to bring a second big striker to Brasil hurt the team. Was it a mistake or are is our talent pool too thin? Not sure but this team wasn't as good as our 2002 team. — LR
to old to rock and roll to young to die — rudy
Wouldn't "US lacks talent" and "Players Overdelivered" be on the same side of the quadrant? Seems like one side should be "US lacks talent but played well" and the other side should be "Player's failed to deliver on their talent potential". — Tom
He didn't have many options after the slew of injuries. — 1800Notgonnahappen
how bout them Ticos? — Gray Hobbs
we can't play defensively and expect to win at this level. JK was supposed to bring an attacking style. — chris
Klinsmann backed away from the attacking style of soccer he promised. Part of that is because of the team he took. There needed to be a potential replacement for Altidore and more pure speed in the midfield or on the wings. Why Beckerman didn't start in the last game, I don't know. — Mike D
Hooah — Telemoondo
Disgraceful for not taking Donovan. Bob Bradley got the sack for the same result 4 years ago. I don't see how this was any sort of improvement from last time around. — Max
I think our lack of ball control and passing accuracy were our Achilles heel again in the tournament. That's on the players. Where JK dropped the ball is in not having an effective plan B for Jozy going down early, something that any coach worth his salt should plan for. — Xose
Unfortunately the last game I didn't understand his selections. He moved Cameron up to CDM to help the attack?? But really it was Beckerman's possession that was dearly missed. Not sure why Aron didn't come on (yes I said this even before Wondo's miss.) A true shame Johnson went off injured I think that played a huge huge factor in terms of tactics. Great WC though! — Connor
Wondowloski missed but come on, it was expected for a player of his quality. — Fart
The attitude and work ethic was apparent in the squad performances but in hindsight a lot of time was squandered by JK in WC lead up with squad experimentation. Still felt like an unsettled lineup going into group games. — MrTuk
Team played from behind far too often (so much for Klinsmann's ideal possession-based style unless the team was down by a goal or two). That said, they did what they needed to do: combat the critics and get out of the Group of Death. And they nearly stole one from Belgium, too. All in all Klinsmann did a good job and I look forward to next year's Gold Cup and beyond. — Daniel
Underperformed, underwhelmed, and managed to squeak out of a group that due to injury (self-inflicted and otherwise) turned out not to be that tough. Not being able to take advantage of Belgium's porous back line was a shame. — Christopher
Our tactics appeared to be to give the opponent all the space they needed to turn and look for attacking options - making good teams seem even better. And then giving the ball away instead of working the triangles to beat the pressure. It wasn't until they were backed into a corner that they began pressing and playing with some urgency - and actually putting the opponent on their heels. The US has the talent. I agree with JK that it seems to be a mindset - to give too much respect to the 'good' teams. The US already has the talent, the challenge seems to be in getting them to consistently play up to their ability for a 90+ minute stretch. I also put some onus on JK for roster selection. LD is not superman by any means, no one is. But he still would have been a big upgrade over Wondo and Davis (and Zusi this tournament)- no offense to them. They're good in their own right. However, JK should take responsibility for that, but he'll never have to. — MikeM
Tactics weren't awful, but his 23 were questionable. — Sean
<-- how? — not sean
<--- Nigga you stupid. — Betty White
Considering the amount of space for shots opponents were allowed in the attacking third, round of 16 appearance was surprising — Zach B
I agree with the guy above. If we were going to be as devoted to the 541/433 as we were then we needed another target forward and players who can really play wide forward. Wondo is not a lone target forward and Zusi/Bedoya can't be our two forward wings. Should have been Altidore/ED/TB up front. Zusi/Bedoya on one side and Dempsey/Donovan/Green on the other side. — Tom
<-Bro the US wasn't committed to the 4-5-1 coming in, Altidore getting hurt forced our hand. It's on Klinsmann for not bringing a backup, but I'm pretty sure the 4-4-2 diamond was the plan going in. — Broseph
<---Bro, dude, that just makes the point about Klinsmann's poor roster selection more poignant. He didn't seem to have a backup or a backup plan if Altidore when down...and a diamond requires narrow midfielders, which Zusi and Bedoya weren't suited to. Bro, c'mon bro. — Tom, Lord of Bros
Bro, nobody is more cognizant of the need for a Jozy backup than I. Eddie Johnson shoulda been there. But remember that one of the wings in the diamond was Jones, and Bedoya was perfectly serviceable there (didn't set the world on fire in the cup on the outside...). — Franz Broseph
some nuts substitutions that happened to work out, but klinsmann got lucky — jt
The players who were there did what they could. Players left at home could've done so much better. Tactical straitjacket didn't help. We played way too timidly, showing opponents entirely too much respect. — Brian
Players did a phenomenal job and should be applauded. Got out of the toughest group, with the toughest travel schedule of anyone in the whole tournament. It's clear that the horses were never the same after Manaus, but it really does appear they were hamstrung by some questionable decisions, both in terms of personnel and tactics, immediately before and then during the Cup. — Swa
all he could with what he had — jimcactus
It's hard to blame or even measure up the players' performance when the manager has no viable backup for his center forward and insists of playing his best field player out of position. Of course, when the manager puts in a decidedly conservative lineup, you're going to see defensive, conservative soccer. — KXRTI
Klinsmann got the best out of the players for sure, but he also lacked the tactical creativity or confidence needed. Round of 16 should now be the minimum standard — Caleb
I don't know that it was a "tactical mess" but I would absolutely say that Klinsmann failed to bring the right backups and then tried playing too many players out of style...especially among our front three or four. — Tom
Tactical mess — Superfan1623
Team actually did better at the 2010 WC.... — AL
<-No. — Broseph
Played Amazing: Howard, Fabian Johnson, Jones, Dempsey, Yedlin Played Well: Beasley, Besler, Beckerman, *Green, *Brooks Held their weight: Gonzalez, Bedoya, Zusi, *Altidore Under performed: Cameron, Bradley, Davis, Johannsson, Wondo * are based on the few minutes that they played I am all for Michael Bradley. He worked hard during the tournament, but statistically underachieved. He was forced to play the role of 1.5 or 2 players, and no one can do that. You have to admit that there were diamonds in this squad, and there is a promising future. I would have liked to see Mix play the CAM role of the midfield diamond, so that Bradley could fall back. But, Fabian, Yedlin, and Green all show a promising future on the international stage. I thought that it was tactically poor that 3 of my under-performers were questionable decisions (Davis, Johannson, and Wondo) and that there was no possible replacement for Altidore. Instead of Wondo or Johannsson, a possible target forward off of the bench could have been: Eddie Johnson, Terrance Boyd, or possibly even Kenny Cooper. Also I am still upset that Landon Donovan did not make this team. With Johannsson hurt and Brad Davis, also 32 y/o, being ineffective, Landon would have added much to this team. — pauliewil
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