USMNT WCQ Thread
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Happy 20th Anniversary to this famous photo shoot. Hard to believe the water fountain has been removed and relocated to the Soccer Hall of Fame in Dallas.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/davidmack/infamous-us-mens-soccer-photos-anniversary
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/davidmack/infamous-us-mens-soccer-photos-anniversary
Water fountain relocation is classic. They should have put it in the witness protection program.
I don’t know if anyone else is bothering with the Nations Cup but I watch the team every chance I get. That cobbled together lineup against Granada last night looked awful for most of the first half but finally started to play together. Some of that may have been Granada. For awhile I wasn’t sure if I was watching football or professional rasslin. After screwing up some excellent early chances I finally saw some good stuff from Ferreira. El salvador should be a tougher challenge on Tuesday.
They are tinkering with that double pivot from the deep outside defenders playing essentially false wings. Which we can do against competition like that without getting caught underneath Bornstein style.
It’s interesting but let’s anyone who cares *cough* Wales know that Jedi is accurate on about 10% of his deep passes that aren’t switches.
We need Weston to be healthy and be there man or it’s gonna be a real short tourney.
It’s interesting but let’s anyone who cares *cough* Wales know that Jedi is accurate on about 10% of his deep passes that aren’t switches.
We need Weston to be healthy and be there man or it’s gonna be a real short tourney.
Aside from getting Ferreira off the schneid in a very big way, I'm not sure what was accomplished by Beer?halter's lineup for this match. Maybe Beer?halter got a solid idea of backups but his tinkering with starters continues with only 4 matches left before Nov. When will we see a firm starting 11? Or will we?
Huffy is right about A. Robinson & his service from the left. But, it only takes one good one for a chance on goal. Robinson appears to have put on about 5 lbs. of muscle without any loss of speed. It will make him a better defender.
Huffy is right about A. Robinson & his service from the left. But, it only takes one good one for a chance on goal. Robinson appears to have put on about 5 lbs. of muscle without any loss of speed. It will make him a better defender.
That's the one issue with Robinson. He consistently is able to get the ball deep into dangerous positions but his service into the area is not the quality it needs to be. Frequently too close to the keeper or served into no one in particular because no one has made the run. I'd like to see him pull the ball out and reset the attack until you've got help. With Pulisic playing on that side, getting the ball to #10 should always be the goal because Pulisic can beat MOST defenders 1 v 1.
This lineup was trying to see where the depth will come from. No need to risk injury to Pulisic or Weah in a game like this. I think you'll start to see the rotation Berhalter wants to use come into play in the September window where the US will play some more nations league matches. It's a perfect lead in to get the group to gel and then see what combos work in preparation.
The US' biggest issue will be GK and how many matches Steffen and Turner are not playing and how many Horvath may be playing. I still think Turner is the clear favorite for the US.
I’ve got a buddy over in England that coached professionally in the lower Divisions. He’s a bit of the Anglo-centric snob you probably hate. He’s watched the last couple of games and he’s convinced that Ferreira is a placeholder for Aaronson. That Ferreira won’t even make the plane. He’s just getting his caps up for a possible transfer. What we were asking Ferreira to do against Uruguay could be done more effectively by Brendan. Interesting thought. It would essentially make CP a false nine I guess, but it could be effective.
That’s Twellman’s take on GK. During the broadcast he said it was Turner’s job to lose.
Imagine going through life knowing that you were on a World Cup roster and Landon Donovan black balled you moments before the team sheet was posted.
Imagine being Brian Ching knowing you are on the roster and won’t be playing because your coach and captain don’t rate you as a player. You’re just there because your captain didn’t want someone else.
Then imagine being cut four years later by text message in an airport in the prime of your career after you’ve won two MLS MVP awards in favor of Robbie “I can’t dribble” Findlay. Ching is probably still pissed.
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Twellman was blackballed and cut. He’s got a bit of an inferiority complex because of it. He says a lot of edgy things to compensate for it. And that means he’s wrong a lot or not seeing the full picture on issues. I’m fine with anyone except Johnson.
Per Beer?halter: "We're not in a position right now where we're saying,'OK, this person's locked in, or this person's out. I don't think we're there yet" WTF?? BTW, El Sal tied Grenada last week 2-2. Another couple of Concacaf cupcakes while all the big teams in Africa, So. America & East & West Europe are beating each other's brains out in long lasting tournaments as prep for the WC.
There are cupcakes in each of these regions also, but there are way more solid teams that are getting excellent work in to be ready to go. For example, there are 55 teams in the UEFA Nations League, which will continue into Sept. The survivors will be ready.
While it should be automatic for the USMNT to qualify in Concacaf, we are always under the gun compared to other regions to prepare for the WC by playing weak sisters plus the occasional friendlies out of our region. Just my 2 cents. If we have any success out of our group, it will be due to the skill of our players, not because of our coaching staff.
There are cupcakes in each of these regions also, but there are way more solid teams that are getting excellent work in to be ready to go. For example, there are 55 teams in the UEFA Nations League, which will continue into Sept. The survivors will be ready.
While it should be automatic for the USMNT to qualify in Concacaf, we are always under the gun compared to other regions to prepare for the WC by playing weak sisters plus the occasional friendlies out of our region. Just my 2 cents. If we have any success out of our group, it will be due to the skill of our players, not because of our coaching staff.
In other news, Costa Rica advances to the World Cup beating New Zealand 1-0
Yo, Huffy. Your Brit pal's comment stopped me cold. Does this happen widely & often? Seems to me that 3-4 games before the WC, there are more important things to deal with than trying to help some kid's pro career. Unless he's good enough to make the final 23, of course. If Ferreira doesn't make the final roster as that Brit says, who will Beer?halter choose at center forward & how much practice with the team will they get?
Post Brexit the work permit rules changed. It’s no longer a minimum number of lifetime caps. You have to have unique talents not available in UK and some EU countries. And thats defined as a regular performer for national team of a Top 50 nation. So, MLS and US Soccer and it’s promotions/events entity Soccer United Marketing all are governed by basically the same people. So all three have an incentive to get the kids starts up against inferior opponents, have him look good for the summer transfer window, up the sale fee, see what he does over there in the last few weeks, etc.
There’s a faction of the twitterverse that think that’s exactly what is happening so Pefok can stay healthy, train with his club and try to get into international speed shape. Ferreira is playing in the last spot on the team and that spot is Pefok’s is the theory. I’m not convinced.
Weah wing. Pulisic false nine. Aaronson/Reyna wide and pinching is what my coach friend thinks. With a lot of overlap and interplay between CP and Aaronson. If true, Musah will need to be more disciplined and won’t get forward as much as we have seen.
The podcasts and internet won’t shut up about Jordan Morris scoring his way on to the team. Ignoring a long list of muscular half step slow strikers who scored in lead up games and then get left off in favor of speed. Conor Casey being the most notable after he scored two in Honduras in 2009 to avoid the US being eliminated from qualifying altogether. If any player ever deserved a courtesy lockerroom spot besides Frankie, it’s Conor. And he got a text instead.
That said, people ignore what it took to get that ball to Morris off his inside shoulder far post fake. That was an absolute dime of a pass. If anyone on the bubble played their way on, let’s hope its LDT. Somewhere John OBrien saw that pass and said to himself, “I used to think I could do that.”
I wonder if setting up camp in a fixed location and playing there for an extended period will mitigate this issue.
You would think training in AZ or playing friendlies in the Middle East would make sense. For some unknown reason we are playing in Ohio then Saudi Arabia in Spain instead.
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De la Torre is 100% a legit player. He is a legit possession 8 or 10 depending on how we're lining up and he's got among the best soccer IQs on the US team right now. He is going to be the reason why Roldan and Busio get left off come November.
Pefok and Ferreira should be in this side before Morris is. Pefok just has more of a nose for scoring and being able to hold the ball up if we need it (although we don't ever seem to use the 9 as a hold-up 9 anymore). Ferreira is a special combo of speed and instinct to get into the spaces the defense fail to see that are there. His on ball tech skill is not to Pulisic or Weah's level (or even Dest's), and his finishing needs to just be more exact. But for my $, he may be the best the US has in terms of finding the space to attack and putting the D on their heels, even more so than Pepi who is the more clinical finisher.
One thing we've learned through qualifying and even this set of matches is that the US is among the most creative sides in the world when it comes to creating attack. They probably should be scoring 3-4 goals per match without a sweat with the # of chances they are creating,
Some MNT news: Jordan Pefok signed by Union Berlin (5th in Bundesliga last season) which missed the ChLg by a point but is in the Europa League this coming season. Here's hoping he performs well to get off Beer?halter's 
list.
Zack Steffen is loaned to Middleborough in the English Championship where he should get plenty of PT. Also, Chris Richards is being looked at by 3 EPL teams (including Leeds).
Finally, there are strong rumors of Tyler Adams to Leeds under Jesse Marsch. Please let it be so.
list.Zack Steffen is loaned to Middleborough in the English Championship where he should get plenty of PT. Also, Chris Richards is being looked at by 3 EPL teams (including Leeds).
Finally, there are strong rumors of Tyler Adams to Leeds under Jesse Marsch. Please let it be so.
Totally agree on Brooks/Richards, but Brooks is another on Beer?halter's bad list. If for no other reason, John Brooks, with his experience, can be a leader & get our other defenders to focus and play their best. I'm guessing, along with Huffy, that it will be Richards/Zimmerman and Brooks will, unfortunately, never see the roster.
I think a few experienced players is good for a squad. Brooks and Yedlin should be in the squad but doubt it will happen. Kind of like Klinsman leaving Donovan off the WC squad.
Yedlin is my surprise omission/last man out. His speed and experience with English players may save him.
So the US YNT U20's are going to win the CONCACAF U20 Championship and by making winning their semifinal, qualified the US for the Olympics in 2024. In an shocker, the Dominican Republic is also going to represent CONCACAF in the Olympics as they advanced with a win over Guatemala in the semis in PKs. Guatemala made the semis after knocking out Mexico in the quarterfinals (in PKs). The US beat Costa Rice in the quarters and then Honduras in the semis. RIght now the US is beating the Dom. Republic 6-0. Paxton Aaronsen has been stellar for the US in this tournament. I wouldn't be shocked if Paxton joins his brother in England soon.
He’s the hot name MLS is hyping right now, that’s for sure. MLS gets a portion of the sale on fee from Leipzig for signing his brother. There’s talk that little brother will go there in exchange for a larger portion of that sale on.
They rigged the qualifying rules to almost assure us and Mexico go to the Olympics. Mexico gets another shot next year.
I've watched the last 3 matches of the U-20's & P. Aaronson has scored 6. Wow, I hope his big brother does half as well with Leeds.
So hard to infer from that Dominican Republic match because it got WAY out of hand.
More MNT news: Ethan Horvath to Luton Town in the English Championship. Surely more PT for him there than with Nottingham Forrest that had a solid #1.
Tyler Adams to Leeds Utd. for around $22 million. Awaiting him passing a physical & it's a done deal. Official announcement later this week. Leeds & Jesse Marsch aced out Everton which was also talking to Leipzig about him.
Tyler Adams to Leeds Utd. for around $22 million. Awaiting him passing a physical & it's a done deal. Official announcement later this week. Leeds & Jesse Marsch aced out Everton which was also talking to Leipzig about him.
Adams to Leeds is going to be a good fit and a piece Leeds sorely needs. They still need to shore up the back line but I think Marsch is going to slow them down a bit and play a little more controlled and out of the back instead of so direct and over the top. Adams will help them do that as Will Aaronson.
It's somewhat ironic that on our Independance Day, that Yanks are invading England & Europe (Aaronson & Adams) and here is one more example that very well may happen: Rumors of either Timo (dang, that was close) Werner or C. Pulisic to Juventus for a Juve player plus cash. CP is most often mentioned in this deal.
With Wes McKennie still (for the moment) at Juve, it would be very cool to see him reunited with CP to tear up Serie A and help restore Juventus to its rightful place at top of the table. And it would keep these boys sharp for November.
With Wes McKennie still (for the moment) at Juve, it would be very cool to see him reunited with CP to tear up Serie A and help restore Juventus to its rightful place at top of the table. And it would keep these boys sharp for November.
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More MNT news: Chris Richards is very close to a Cyrstal Palace transfer under Patrick Viera. Please let that happen for one of our starting center backs. For fans of Luca de la Torre, he has been transferred to Celta Vigo in La Liga. This kid will star in 2026.
Finally, for fans of A. Robinson (& I am certainly one), look up a tweet at Fulham Football Club. Jedi blows the minds of his Fulham teammates, & mine too, with one of the coolest card tricks I've ever seen. Must see stuff and I am thrilled this guy is also in the Prem this coming season.
Finally, for fans of A. Robinson (& I am certainly one), look up a tweet at Fulham Football Club. Jedi blows the minds of his Fulham teammates, & mine too, with one of the coolest card tricks I've ever seen. Must see stuff and I am thrilled this guy is also in the Prem this coming season.
So Dike cracked the lineup for West Brom this past weekend coming on as a sub in their ECL opener.
I'm most interested to see Pefok's effectiveness in a much tougher league this year as he features for Union Berlin.
I'm most interested to see Pefok's effectiveness in a much tougher league this year as he features for Union Berlin.
Fulham hosts Liverpool today to kick off EPL action today. Appears that Tim Ream is wearing the captain's arm band for Fulham. Antonee Robinson is also starting. It will be interesting to see how Robinson fares against Trent Alexander Arnold up Fulham's left side as that will be a key matchup come November as well. Because they're both fullbacks I wouldn't expect to see a ton of 1 v 1s between them but I do expect some in the WC. Because Fulham isn't likely to attack Liverpool with numbers today, maybe not so much. Robinson will match up with Salah most of the day too...so far Salah hasn't touched the ball through 10 minutes
Richards move to Palace will be a mistake. Hard to break into that lineup.
Reyna plays 45 with a build assist in a center 10 role. Moving him to the middle and pulling him out early in a draw virtually confirms he’s being shopped for sale.
Reyna plays 45 with a build assist in a center 10 role. Moving him to the middle and pulling him out early in a draw virtually confirms he’s being shopped for sale.
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