Deuce

He does look really slow. Cumbersome.

Hope that goal helps Shea's confidence. He still doesn't look good.

I'd just like to see a little ambition from this club. Not that ambition necessarily guarantees success, but lack of ambition certainly doesn't.

Contingent upon Rooney out maybe?

USA lineup v. Costa Rica: Johnson; Parkhurst, Orozco, Goodson, Beasley; Holden, Diskerud; Bedoya, Donovan, Torres; Wondolowski. Onyewu looked better against Cuba than Goodson did against Belize, imo.

So what? They finished two above relegation last season, with an even better squad.

What facts did you post? That was entirely subjective. All of these posts are.

Actually, you have no idea whether they've improved because we've not played a minute of competitive football yet, their signings could all turn out to be rubbish that don't settle. And while your point may be that Pardew reduces our quality of player, what about their man in charge? He's also unproven and didn't finish the season well. We need a couple of players to strengthen, they needed a massive overhaul. We've got the core of a squad that finished 5th let us not forget, that still counts for something despite last season. Keep your head in the sand, man.

Seb Lletget, West Ham reservist, played in their match today against Colchester. Here's a blurb: http://www.whufc.com/articles/20130716/colchester-1-2-west-ham-united-ft_2236884_3239720 Pretty highly regarded U.S. youth player. Glad to see he's doing well.

If you say so. Watching him play, I'm always afraid those "stick legs" will give out.

Player-for-player, yes, I think we do have a better squad. Though it's not good enough to overcompensate for the absolute fuckwittery of manager Alan Pardew. That's what I'm getting at. We've not done a single thing to improve a club that finished 16th. At the end of the day, it's really not about having the best players at each position.

Sammy absolutely needs to bulk up, at least in the legs. One bad tackle and his shin will snap in half.

Just keeping it real, chaps. Sunderland has improved their lot, we haven't. Simple as. We'll struggle again next season too if things remain as is (and there's been no indication that we're to have a magical summer any time soon).

If we're gonna have to deal with Pardew/Kinnear knocking back the obvious talent in this side, we'll need more than what we have in order to compensate. Pardew is utterly fucking clueless, I'm not sure why we should expect that to magically change this season.

They finished a whopping 2 points below us last season. We can shout from the rooftops all we want that we have the better squad, but it's hardly been proven.

Those wings.

Well, yeah. Pards would have a hell of a time finding a regular position for him, incredibly.

Cavani himself could side sign for Sunderland ( I know) and some of y'all would be like "Hmph, average at best." Blinders on when it comes to Sunderland. No one is claiming their signings make them contenders. But as far as improving the side, they've blown us out of the water so far.

Probably a terribly unpopular opinion, but though Van Persie is the better striker, I think Rooney is the better all-around footballer.

That's hardly true though. Giaccherini is a quality player, Altidore has a lot of promise, and Cabral/Diakite/Roberge are good squad players.

Berbatov is always a good shout. Should bag his customary 12+ if he stays healthy and in the line-up.

Are there any of our players worth taking this year? One of my biggest failings last season was relying too heavily on Newcastle players, had Cisse and Cabaye in the line-up far too often. Maybe take a flyer on Sissoko or HBA.

There was a decent read on ESPN about the Gomez transfer. Ignore the hyperbole http://espnfc.com/blog/_/name/espnfcunited/id/7899?cc=5901 Think it's a good move for both sides. He'll be the main man and score buckets of goals for them.