Generic soccer thread
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Watching Germany Switzerland
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Team USA performance was…okay I guess? Really should have won by more. Was very unimpressed with Richards. Pulisic was awesome.
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USA USA! Whew. always nice to get the first one out of the way. If only the squad would play with that kind of energy all the time (see Colombia). Keep it up, lads!
I was pretty happy with the effort today. Pulisic was inspired. Adams is back! IMO the team is way different without him in there. Very happy he’s on the field. hope he can stay healthy. And another game without much complaint about Gio.
Yea, @BShark there for sure was stuff to complain about today though. Hard to do so after a win, but i guess it’s normal to critique play. that’s why they have player ratings! Hmm, i may have to start my own player rating review after the games just for fun.
We should have scored at least 5 today. There was some very sloppy play and finishing all over the place, that’s for sure.
Goalie Turner: 7 – Made some saves, but nothing brilliant was needed today. No major flaws with his feet and distribution today either.
Defense: 6. As a whole, they played well, but weren’t tested.
Scally: 7 – effort was there. nothing stands out otherwise.
Richards: 5 – Yikes on the passing and decision making. Starting to wonder about him in a starting role.
Ream: 6 – Also some scary passing at first. More than a few give aways today. Connected on some long balls.
Jedi: 10!!! – OK, maybe not 10, but he was all over the place for 90 minutes. Love that guy.
Reyna: 6 – Played well, but got lazy a few times with passing and defense. He seems a bit slow and a step behind on making decisions what to do with the ball. Overconfident?
Adams: 7 – A welcome sight in the middle. A little rusty.
McKennie: 4 – I used to love Weston. Now I don’t think he fits into a 4-3-3 formation at all. What position should he play? In front of the defense IMO. He barely puts effort in. I have not seen him play well for the national team in awhile. His role needs refining and rethinking. But i always loved his toughness and tenacity previously.
Pulisic: 10!!! – Ha, i know. but that was the most motivated and active i’ve seen him in like forever. Great goal.
Balogun: 7 – His goal was very. nice. Otherwise doesn’t seem to be playing to his potential.
Weah: 8 – I really like his effort as well. Didn’t score, but was up and down the field.
SUBS
Pepi: “A” for effort, but F for finishing. cmon, man!
Musah: 9 – I really think he should be starting most games. Effort, ability, intensity, powerful, skilled. Doesn’t mind knocking over other players.
GGG: As @approxinfinity would say, why is he still coaching! His main flaw today was roster construction. Adams and McKennie don’t match up well in a 4-3-3. Both are mainly defensive minded, and defensively skilled. Not much offensive talent, playmaking ability between em. That limits our ability to push forward and make plays to get the front line involved.
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@rockchalkjayhawk agreed on Richards… He’s had some headscratching moments so far this cycle. I like Balogun a lot more than Pepi, and I think he does a lot of nice things off ball. Pepi just isn’t the answer. I’m glad Balogun is the starter, and hope that continues.
Musah I’ve had issues with in the past. I feel like he is at times slow to react, leading to embarassing defensive breakdowns. I like things he brings offensively.
I do think Adams’ injury has a silver lining in that the whole MMA foregone conclusion was absurd, and working Reyna in there is a good thing, and we have enough injuries, and some players are inconsistent in the midfield, where employomg a rotation of 4 or 5 midfielders makes sense.
I don’t rate Jedi as highly as you, because he often has an awful first touch. He works hard.
Pulisic is still The King. Well done!
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@approxinfinity i agree that a MAR midfield makes more sense than having MMA. At least Reyna thinks “offensively”.
Both Musah and McKennie can bring some toughness to the midfield. Adams is tough, but lacks size. I’m fine probably with either slotting in. But I’m losing some faith in the lackadaisical McKennie. He better start stepping up.
Jedi was a @$#*%!! machine today!
️ Nary a bad touch 
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I recommend watching the US-Panama game only if you’re already pissed off and wanna be more pissed off.
Disaster in every way. I was pretty pleased coming off the Bolivia game. Now I’m back to thinking that half the time they just don’t give a sh*t and put zero effort in.
The defense was dazed and confused. They just watched as unmarked guys ran freely in space. Grrr.
I could go on and on. Now we pretty much have to beat Uruguay to advance.
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@rockchalkjayhawk Weah screwed the team big time with a stupid decision that got him red carded. This group doesn’t have the composure or discipline to be consistently good. And now, they’re in a terrible spot where they probably have to beat Uruguay to advance and even that might not be good enough since Panama is capable of putting a big number on Bolivia.
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GGGs subs were atrocious. I want us to lose to uruguay and get the GGG show over with.
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CCV is bad. Should have seen Mussah. Couldnt believe subbing Balogun for Pepi. Come on dude.
And several of Pulisics set pieces were flat.
We arent correcting correctable problems.
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I am very high on BJ callaghan. He is always right there. This group can do great things with him at the helm.
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@approxinfinity I was shocked that dumbass GGG brought in Cardoso over Musah. Musah was exactly what we needed at the moment. Toughness, defensive presence with some offensive ability to go forward. I semi understand bringing in Pepi. His one great quality is the effort he puts in up and down the field on defense, which again is what we needed for long stretches. But taking out Flo was odd. He was in the groove. maybe tired. I would have considered taking off Puli. he offers nada on D).
That game just pissed me off. Weah is a freaking idiot of epic proportion. within 17 minutes he was pissed enough to kill? wtf!!
I really thought he’d switch two a 4-4-1 ish thing with Pepi instead of bunkering down totally. That just confused our already confused defense even more. I’m really down on Richards at this point. CCV was extremely lucky not to be sent off. Another brilliant decision by a US player.
On a positive note, the Flo goal was very nice. As was Weston’s effort that was called back. Both lefty shots?
I really would prefer to advance, but tough call. GGG is a dolt that needs to go.
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We need to fail before they send off GGG because the US soccer problem goes deeper than GGG.
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Colombia looks like the best team not named argentina in the west atm
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I want Jurgen Klinsmann to become the director of US Soccer. He doesn’t need to coach because he’s not great at that, but his vision for building US Soccer is desperately needed and would work long term.
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I like that idea.
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Colombia hammering CRC.
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Colombia is pretty strong. how’s the game? violent yet? i’m growing weary of the aggressive play. maybe i’m getting old!
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Oh i meant hammering like pretty.
James is such a great passer and surrounded by oodles of talent this year
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Brazil is showing good form against Paraguay. Colombia vs Brazil could be good final group game.
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Catching up on Brazil now. Entertaining game.
I thought that straight red to the Paraguay guy was uncalled for. Seemed like a 50-50 leg tussle.
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WOW! What a goal in England Slovakia!!
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Mexico’s fans sloshing beer all over the place and then getting the PK call reversed in the 97th minute… you just hate to see it, Colin Robinson!
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Intense game btwn France and Belgium
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Cheap ass goal sends France thru! But they are the better team and likely deserving.
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And wow! Didn’t realize Arrowhead is ground zero for the massive US game tonight. Great. We need some Arrowhead magic for sure.
Think we’ll win? I haven’t looked, but maybe we get lucky and Uruguay benches its top guys.
We can win this game. Need to start and finish energized. Go USA!
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I want a win or a loss, no tie. No excuse not to send GGG packing.
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Maybe we would win if they suspended GGG and not the Uruguay coach…
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oh that’s right, the Uru coach suspended because the team didn’t make it out on time for halftime? crazy.
Musah and Gio in the lineup. I’m gonna fire up the bbq, then fire up the game!
For you BBQ eggheads, i’m experimenting with grilled pesto chicken tonight. No clue if that will be instantly combustable or what! Hoping for some robust flavors.
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US would be eliminated if current results hold with Panama and Bolivia.
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Angel Hernandez has come out of retirement and is trying out soccer as his next gig in officiating. He is reffing tonights copa match between US and Uruguay.
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Alright. Time to shitcan Greggg!
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Both US and Mexico out in the group stage. Say whatever about Uruguay’s goal, the US never should’ve been in this position because they shouldn’t have lost to Panama. That Panama loss is up there with the loss to Trinidad and Tobago in 2018 WCQ. Berhalter isn’t the man for the job and needs to fired after this embarrassment of a performance.
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Well that didn’t go well. I’m all for it. Down with GGG. I hope by the time i wake up tomorrow he’ll be out the door. I wonder if he’ll actually resign.
Per the game…generally it was a nice effort vs a quality team. We had a few chances, but shit the bed in the box with a lack of composure, and skill.
Can GGG take Chris Richards with him to Malta or whatever country he’ll coach next? He lacks skill from what i’ve seen lately.
Speaking of skill, our midfield needs a revamp. I honestly like Adams and Weston, but they don’t contribute much on offense in a 4-3-3.
I’d like a new coach to explore a different formation if we stick with those two defensive-minded guys in the mid. They have skill in other areas. Play em on top of each other some how.
We couldn’t score, but otherwise a well played game. Kinda.
Geez, now for the production values on TV! Wow. Soooooo bad. I was about to think i was going crazy watching ants march on the field from a mile away, but then the broadcasters actually complained about it too. So weird. It got better as the game progressed. Who makes these decisions? I had the same complaint the other day with a Copa match. I wonder if these big stadiums in the US don’t have prime camera spots for soccer.
Sucks.
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Turkey just got done beating Austria in a downpour in Leipzig in the game of the Euro’s so far. Turkey’s goalie made the save of the year in the closing seconds off an Austrian header.
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Brazil fans packed the stadium for tonights game… Go Colombia!
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Maybe some of those yellow shirted fans were Colombian as well. nm. Good game.
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Hey, that Brazil game was one if the best so far.
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I’m laughing at the internet right now.
All the ridiculous stories listing absolutely unrealistic coaching candidates to take over for GGG include Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp. c’mon, man!
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Spain and Germany has been painful to watch. 30 minutes in and already 3 yellows, an injury sub, and bunch of fouls. This game just has zero flow and rhythm to it because they can’t go more than a minute or two without a foul being committed.
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Going to be an interesting week for USMNT
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@approxinfinity said in Generic soccer thread:
Going to be an interesting week for USMNT
You think this week is Berhalter week? Or something else going on?
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@rockchalkjayhawk I think Berhalter gets the ax this week, yes.
We will see Jesse Marsch and Canada competing in a semifnal against Argentina Tuesday and I expect Berhalter will get the sack thereafter.
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@approxinfinity Are we generally considered to be inferior to Canada in soccer? I don’t follow super closely, especially considering I coach soccer. Did Canada make it there because of a favorable draw? I know we were considered favorites to move through the pool play but choked big time against inferior teams.
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@wissox we are supposed to own north america at this point. Canada is playing with house money atm. I think we were ranked 11th in the world before this tourney (which was unrealistically high) and I think Canada was in the 30s? prior
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There we go. https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/40480333/usa-coach-gregg-berhalter-fired-copa-america
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But I would like to pursue Pochettino, Chelsea did him dirty and he was building something.
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He gone. More time to BBQ poolside with Claudio Reyna?
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From The NY Times: Klopp says thanks but no thanks.
Jurgen Klopp has rebuffed an approach from the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) to take over as the men’s national team head coach following the dismissal of Gregg Berhalter.
Initial contact was made with Klopp regarding the possibility of leading the USMNT but he reiterated that he would like a break from football, according to sources privy to the matter. Despite that, interest remains, sources add, from US Soccer in making the 57-year-old their next head coach.
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I keep reading stories that put a strike against any coach without international experience. I don’t get it. Why does that matter? Coaching is coaching, right? What am I missing?
