What Went Wrong Against Costa Rica?
The United States lost to Costa Rica Friday night, 3-1, but who should shoulder the blame for the result? The players? The coach? Or were the Ticos simply that much better? Graph your position below and then share your thoughts.
Posted
September 07, 2013 12:26 AM
September 07, 2013 12:26 AM
Costa Rica is Just Better
The U.S. Buckled Under Pressure
Wrong Roster from Klinsmann
Poor Player Performances
No single player played especially well, just like the away match to Honduras. That said, you never write up the script for the Hex expecting to get a result in San Jose because Costa Rica are incredibly difficult there.
—
KXRTI
All I can say is thank god for the snow game. Even
With Bradley this is a tough team for us to best esp with our defense.
—
David Goldstein
ugh
—
JT
Costa rica speed beats klinsi's ill conceived lineup. Ouch
—
Hated in Hartford
Costa Rica had a good game, just couldn't handle the high pressure that the Costa Rican players were putting on us early in that first half. Didn't really settle into the game until the 2nd half, but that 3rd goal really did it.
—
Josh S
Howard could have done better
—
Steve G
All of the above perhaps. MB90 was the biggest problem here, but I disagreed with some player choices and substitutions as well. The boys came out as slow out of the gate as I've ever seen. Shake it off for Tuesday and we're all good.
—
Dan
We missed Michael Bradley worse than I could've imagined. No link between the defense and the midfield, and no creativity when we got to the attack. Excuses are lame, and we should have preformed better even without him, but it's hard to look at this game without the obvious absences.
—
Brett
We lost Bradley. End of story and we lost Jozy's physical presence and hold up play. With those two healthy we don't lose this game.
—
Red
Just a bad night.
—
Trev
I did not agree with Klinsmanns choices at all. F.Johnson needs to play Left Back for us....it's not as exciting but it is whats needed for our defense. They made TERRIBLE marking mistakes. Between Klinsmann, Howard, and the boss of the back line (which we have none) this can NOT happen.
Klinsmann needs to put our best defenders on the back line, and the players need to step to another level as well
—
Connor
We lost that game for one reason: They outhustled our asses. Every 50/50 ball (which was all of them, due to the high pressure) was won by the Ticos. Disgusting performance.
—
Xose
I can deal with a loss if we played good technical football, but to lose like this...it was truly embarrassing.
—
Go USA
Bad line-up and get Orozco and Beasley out of there...never want to see them start ever.
—
Robo
Orozco Fiscal should be investigated for match fixing and Cameron never met a back pass he didn't like.
—
b
Ok, wrong "roster" if that includes line up.
—
Excellency
Missing Bradley was huge and I would have liked to see Mix instead of Cameron for his better on ball composure and passing.n
—
Ben
US has a better team, but sometimes the better team plays poor and loses. Costa Rica just wanted it more.
—
Ben
There were questionable roster decisions to be sure, but many players were just sleepwalking out there. Losing Bradley and Altidore was huge, but we still should have put up a better fight than that.
—
Dan
beasley was 10x worse than orozco...yet orozco gets all the hate?? us fans/coaches lack analytical skills. to wit, eddie johnson has proved he is not a midfielder yet that is where he gets played. fact is, no usa player played well. why? poor lineup decisions, inability to withstand pressure, way too many giveaways, costa rican passion.
—
adam
So disappointed. It was like everyone had a bad game at the same time. : (
—
USA
Jones and Cameron = no midfield possession or link up to donovan, dempsey, johnson; really showed in the 2nd half after subs.
—
Gunnerstahl
Poor roster on an away ground with some really poor decisions and performances.
—
Ryan H
Costa Rica isn't better, but you don't always have to be: they had a better game plan, and executed it very well, especially for the first 25-30 minutes. Poor decisions and some mistakes from many US players, who didn't adjust well to MB90's absence, combined with what we might delicately call a sub-optimal lineup, produced the quick, deep hole we couldn't climb from. No cosmic issues. As always, you're not as good as you look when playing well, and not as bad as you look when playing poorly.
—
John R
Costa Rica are not better in any way. However, the US players all seemed lost after the last minute changes. CR played high and fast which had to be expected since they do it each game at home. Jones, while quick, was all over the place and out of position too often. When he did regain the ball, he quickly gave it away. No link up between defense and offense at all. Beckerman would have been my choice to allow CR offense to break against and hold/slow their play. No one at all seemed to be on their game though.
—
The Josh
Lot of things went wrong - poor roster choices, subpar performances, poor focus. Not sure it was "pressure" as much as perhaps underestimating an opponent and not being in top form.
And I mean no disrespect to the Ticos. They had an excellent plan, executed well, and generally outplayed the Americans, but the epic stinkiness of the US performance can't all be due to Costa Rica being better.
—
cee_jay
Orozco?
—
Mike O
The midfield couldn't complete a pass. Cameron and Jones should never be in midfield together. We have to have more positive play in the center of the park.
—
Ian
Players were not up to the task of an insanely motivated tico squad.
—
Mike
Roster mistakes combined with poor performances led to US mess.
—
Chas
Costa Rica is certainly not a better team. It is a blend of of the other three in addition to a coaching failure to prepare the US for this game, poor starts are %100 coaching issues.
—
Babranski
,m
—
Casey
We lost Bradley, which was a killer from the start. However, Cameron should have played right back, and Beckerman should have replaced Bradley. Orozco was not the right choice.
—
Sean
Players struggled with the absence of Bradley, and Costa Rica looked much more motivated to get a win.
—
Peter Jensen
Bad job by Jurgen, worse job from the players. Costa Rica is better? Uh, no.
—
Brian
