USMNT
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The plan is an inverted weave: diagonal back passes as we work for the zero zero draw
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Ok! I’m behind you! Pepi! And I can stop talking smack about Dest now. Nice delivery. Totally redeemed all his bad touches with that beautiful chip
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Insurance! Nice
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Feeling good about getting 3 pts now
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Dest back to bumbling around with the ball and lead foot first touches. Maybe we should have subbed him after the assist
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Weah looking electric off the bench
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Wow nice run Weah
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Solid second half.
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It was a good win. I’m a new soccer fan, but stand by my assessment that we need to be more aggressive defensively. We can’t always just outscore opponents, need to stop them from scoring. Alot of that may be due to our youth.
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Good showing last night. The opponent helped, but it was good to see a solid win. Pepi won’t score every game, but he seems to find himself in a position to score pretty often…more than we can say for Sargent, Pefok, et al. Musah brings another element to the team as well. Love the midfield of Musah/Adams/McKennie. The back 4 still are shaky, but I liked the performance.
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@focojayhawk agree that Pepi has a knack in the box and > Sargent . I liked the guys we rolled with, only minor complaints are Dest and Zardes. Zardes was ineffective as usual and Dest looked sloppy save his huge assist to break the tie. Hope we stay consistent with this group plus the missing stars.
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@approxinfinity First off…thanks for the heads up on the American Fiasco podcast. Listened to it in one sitting at work. Fascinating.
I agree on Dest. He is obviously skilled with the ball, but he turns it over a ton and he’s a defender who doesn’t defend. I’m not the most nuanced soccer fan, but I just don’t see it with him. He starts for Barca so what do I know? He and Robinson bring great skill/speed coming forward, but Robinson at least tries on D which seems like a bit more than Dest.
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I watched but didn’t really watch last nights loss. Long weekend of soccer, and I was ready to turn off my brain when I got home. Anyone have some insights?
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I have a lot of thoughts…
–Berhalter did a lot of talking about not looking ahead and treating every game on its own. Then he switched out 7 starters hoping to get a draw to set them up (in theory) for Costa Rica. Made no sense.
–Pepi is hot as a pistol and he sits…for Zardes? Zardes scored at least…except it was for the wrong team. Adams sits…for Acosta…who then takes every free kick? Aaronson sits. All of those are questionable on their own…never mind that they’re already playing without Pulisic, Reyna, McKennie because of injury. Just unforgivable.
–I can’t see it with Bello, Acosta, Zardes, Arriola or Lletget. IMO none of them should even be on the team much less playing in a game like this. They had so many other options both on the squad (De la Torre, Richards, Hoppe, Busio) and left off this set that are so much better.
–Lletget seems incapable of ever playing the ball forward. There were countless times when he had openings forward only to pass the ball back to the center backs. Musah didn’t play great tonight, but he at least tries to push the ball forward. His reward for pushing forward was to be replaced by Roldan (really?). Sadly Lletget is just a Berhalter guy and outside of him getting hurt or stealing Gregg’s wife, there’s little he can do to be taken off of the squad.
–It’s a missed opportunity that will be largely forgotten if they get 3 points against Costa Rica on Wednesday.
Not sure that Gregg is the guy, but don’t think he’s going anywhere sadly. I’d still love to see this team with Pulisic, Reyna, McKennie, Pepi, Aaronson and Adams as their front six. So much potential there. Not much with all of the MLS guys Gregg keeps calling up. We’ll see
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nahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh fuck that
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This team with a better coach could have a bright future.
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Dest looks much better tonight. That strike was money
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@approxinfinity very good player. This team has a lot of talent playing for good Euro clubs. Big key.
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Whew, got the 3 pts
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Outside of the first minute, that was as enjoyable of a half of soccer that I’ve seen the USMNT play in years in that first half. Moved the ball well. Attacked on both sides. Created plenty of chances. The right side with McKennie/Musah/Dest was so good and so dynamic. Bogged down a bit in the second half, but it felt exciting to watch them push forward more. Some of that was going a goal down and some of it was the opponent, but it at least showed that they’re capable of it.
Dest is such a talent going forward. His goal was awesome. He’s also why they gave away the goal as he let his guy behind him. He fits their team as a right back, but there are going to be 3-4 times/game when he gives the opponent a great chance to score. Last night it bit them.
Overall a good win I think. Hopefully they’ll have Reyna and Pulisic back next month when they get Mexico.
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@focojayhawk thought mckinnie and a Robinson looked sloppy and I didn’t like the Steffan over Turner call. Thought Weah deserved the start and didn’t understand why Arriola was playing forward anyway, when they said he was a late scratch replaced by Weah. Glad that happened as we neeeed Weah. Glad Zardes didn’t get on til stoppage time. Team played well, really liked what Adams, Aaronson, Dest and Weah provided
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How many more matches do we have to win to qualify for the World Cup? I mean, for real, it’s like it never ends. Serious… How many more, we’ve beaten damn near all of Central America but for one, how many more?
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Not yet halfway through the third round of CONCACAF qualifying. It is indeed a long process.
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@approxinfinity This is a fun one so far
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@BShark how great was Pulisic coming in and blowing it open? What a cross by Weah. Our roster was exactly what I wanted save Dest missing and Steffan in goal. But Steffan was solid and so was Yedlin.
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Musah/McKennie/Adams in the midfield for the next 5-6 years? I’ll take that any day. Pulisic/Aaronsen/Reyna/Weah as options on the wing? I’ll take that too.
It’s so fun to beat Mexico
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Weah is why you want guys in Europe. His soccer iq is off the charts due to being in the PSG youth system.
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@focojayhawk undoubtedly, and they play dirty against us. We need to get a little tougher.
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@BShark oh yeah, no comparison, not even close. A little over halfway there now right? Qualifying?
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Btw as we approach Thursday’s resumption of qualifiers I wanted to call out that Total Soccer Show podcast is USMNT every day podcast gold https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-soccer-show-usmnt-champions-league-epl-and-more/id327466681?i=1000548981909
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Anybody watch the El Salvador game last night? Nothing wrong with three points. But plenty wrong in the final third. Yikes.
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Not the best performance for sure. Ferreira was an interesting choice up front. I wondered if that was to save Pepi for Canada. As KU fans, we can also acknowledge that the key to lasting success sometimes is winning when you don’t play your best so the three points is all we probably ought to consider for now. If it bleeds into the Canada game, we’ll be writing something else here on Monday morning.
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Ferreira was looking like a really bad call until he had that header to connect to Robinson’s goal. That point blank shank was rough.
Antonee Robinson was a beast, I didn’t know he could be like that… Really impressive.
Zardes also wouldn’t have been my call for subbing in at the 9.
Pulisic looked like he was trying too hard. Hope playing for Tuchel who has had him out of position at Chelsea, sometimes playing wingback this season, hasn’t screwed with him. Bringing on Aaronson was the right call, but was hoping to see Pulisic play through his struggles and find form. There’s still time.
Musah was really good. Mckinnie has had better games. I think he gets a long leash right now because he’s a star at Juventus, but he hasnt really had an amazing game for the USMNT in a while.
Game could have easily been 4-1 or 5-1. I’ll feel much relieved to see Pepi find the back of the net once or twice in these qualifiers.
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Yup, I think we’d feel differently about this game had we actually put three goals on the board. That would have eased my complaints about sloppy play near the goal — a bit.
Musah. So funny you thought he was really good, Approx. I thought he was mostly invisible, which probably means he was doing the dirty work.
Pulisic wasnt involved much. All analysis I read blamed his play on great game planning by the opposing coach. He was surrounded at all times. Do you guys think Pulisic has lost a step or two? I’ve noticed that in EPL play. Injuries catching up to him?
McKennie was very involved. He had his moments. Held on to the ball way too long a few times. Skilled though. Him and Adams are the present and future.
My usual complaint was highly visible…our crossing was mostly awful.
Zimmerman was great. Not sure I like the Weah/Dest combo on the right. Didn’t allow Dest to shine down the wing. Guess that could be true with any combo.
The Canada game is gonna be tough.
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And shiiiittt! Just noticed another conflict Sunday with the Chiefs game!
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Pretty lackluster performance. Our CBs haven’t impressed. Our strategy to play it wide was ineffective. We didn’t reverse the ball across the back line fast enough or probe the central channel enough. Canadas play was more direct. Their d stayed compact and was never stretched. Berhalter said we dominated play. I saw a different game.
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Zardes at the 9 was a head scratcher. If we aren’t getting it in the box there’s no point having your least creative hustle guy at the 9.
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Zardes was clearly a poor choice and provided nothing (including a non-effort on the first goal), but this was an overall fail…made all the more possible by going behind so early and having to chase the game. Canada settled back and let the US possess the ball (thus the stats Gregg bragged about) and then clogged the box. I don’t think it’s the wrong players (Zardes aside), but a shake-up in tactics that would help.
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Great must win tonight vs Honduras. Total domination in the freezing weather. De la torre was all over the place!
So with three games left, there’s some work to be done. I figure Mexico wins out. Likely they finish at worst in 2nd behind Canada. Canada could win all three, but has a couple roadies. The US has two roadies. I pray they at least go 1-1-1 for Four points, which likely guarantees us a Top Four finish. I figure at Mexico is a loss. Home v Panama is a must win, and who knows at Costa Rica! Five points likely guarantees the US a Top Three finish. All could change with some upsets. Or it’s too late to do math and my brain hurts. So, I predict the final finish like this: 1 Canada 2 Mexico 3 US 4 and a possible point total tie between Panama and Costa Rica!
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Start of three game set tonight. I would have felt nerves regardless, but minus McKennie, Dest and Aaronson makes it an even taller task. Really hoping it doesn’t come down to needing points in Costa Rica on Wednesday.
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Going well tonight!
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Solid W. I have to admit that I wasn’t so happy to see Arriola, Ferreira or Moore in the starting XI, but they all played well. Unless they wet the bed in epic proportions, it will be great to be back in the World Cup.
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Shoot, forgot about this thread! Great game vs Panama last night. Totally needed that 3 points.
Looking back at my last post, I figured a loss at Mexico. Glad I was wrong, but after watching the game, we totally coulda walked away with another 3 points. Should woulda coulda. Oh well.
So one point! We need one point!!! Cmon boys!
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@focojayhawk moore looked a little lost but had moments. Happy to see Ferreria. Our biggest question mark right now is the 9. Felt he brings creativity and needs the run to see what we have in him. I have a soft spot for arriola. He always goes so hard knowing hes going to get injured. He was good last night. Very happy to see some de la torre. Kid is a stud. And acosta is my underrated player of the roster. I dont think moussa is a done deal. Both those guys add playmaking ability we need in the middle third.
Reports of Captain Americas demise were premature.
We could still make some noise this WC.
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I should add that Reyna has opened my eyes in the last two games.
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Just saw reminder that this will be (in theory) the last difficult World Cup qualifying period for the US, and the rest of the world.
The US co-hosts the next World Cup with Canada and Mexico, so they automatically qualify.
AND i think that World Cup field expands to 48 teams, with more Concacaf nations getting in.
So, for better or worse, the qualifying headaches should be over.
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We did it! Not pretty but we qualified!
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@approxinfinity It for sure wasn’t pretty, but it’ll be fun to watch them in the World Cup again. It would be REALLY fun to see what this team could do if all fully healthy at the same time…and then could be even more so four years from now when the best players are in their prime
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Didn’t lose by 7 yay.
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Doh! I just hope we have some good friendlies in the summer and fall to get that loss off our brains.
Gotta be weird to want to celebrate after that. Anybody see Pulisic’s post game chat? Somber.
Anyway, they did the job I guess. Onward.
