Looks like Sargent is getting another start as a RW today in a 4-4-2. Wonder if Norwich is looking to go on the offensive and score some more goals in a winnable game vs Watford. Looks like Norwich is running 3 9's today with Sargent, Puuki, and Idah
USMNT WCQ Thread
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Sargent with a peach of a goal for Norwich and the canaries, wearing the most obnoxiously bright orange/red uni's that may be scarring my LED screen, have a 1-0 lead and out of the relegation zone (live table) at least for now.
Holy crap...in slo mo this goal is freaking ridiculous.
Holy crap...in slo mo this goal is freaking ridiculous.
So the Canary fans in attendance at Watford started a "U-S-A" chant as Sargent was leaving the field post match (ended up a 3-0 Norwich City win). The EPL on NBC commentators were talking about that being an extreme rarity.
Carrot Top's 1st goal was incredible. He starts a run into the box when the cross comes in. The ball is a bit behind him so he sticks his leg behind him and deflects the ball just under the crossbar & in. Wow! His 2nd was a header. Norwich City, everyone's favorite to get relegated, is now 2 points clear of the drop zone. A long way to go & they still might not stay up.
I've been touting Josh Sargent for these qualifiers coming up and now, Beer?halter must call him up. His experience & overall play demands it.
I've been touting Josh Sargent for these qualifiers coming up and now, Beer?halter must call him up. His experience & overall play demands it.
No Sargent and no Pefok on the list just released. Looks like all the rest of the Euro based players are being called in. No John Brooks either and that is probably more a form thing.
I think Berhalter is just still pissed about Brooks being lazy and walking around in the box as the guy he should be marking scores a goal on us (see previous USA vs. Canada WCQ, 62nd minute).
Someone please tell me how FIFA and CONCACAF allow Canada to host games on artificial turf fields? I was under the impression that for men's games and for FIFA world events, the field had to be natural grass? What is Canada going to do when they host games in 2026? Game on Sunday vs Canada is in Hamilton, ONT at Tim Hortons Field (where the Hamilton TiCats play). Just a bad look TBH.
Good news is CONCACAF has instituted VAR for the remainder of the WCQ cycle...wonder how much $$$ the US and Mexico had to fork over to subsidize this for Honduras, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panama, and Jamaica
Good news is CONCACAF has instituted VAR for the remainder of the WCQ cycle...wonder how much $$$ the US and Mexico had to fork over to subsidize this for Honduras, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Panama, and Jamaica
Here's a question for Beer?halter. Why, if Josh Sargent has not been scoring, does his Norwich coach continue to start & play him? He has started or played in 18 EPL games so far at the mid-point of the season. I'm OK with Jordan Morris and hope he does well. But to lose out to guys like Ferriera, Arriola or Zardes is incomprehensible to me.
And of course, Beer?halter now looks like a fool for not calling him up after Sargent has been directly responsible for 2 wins in a row for one of the worst teams in the Premier League. The 21-yr old has been playing against the best in the world, has unceasing energy, tracks back from his left-forward position to help on D, is certainly match fit and after the last 8 days, his confidence is sky high.
Meanwhile, Herr Tuchel has done CP a big favor by not playing him the last two weeks. Tommy Tuchel must be down on him. OK fine. CP will be ready to rock for 90 minutes in at least two, maybe all 3 matches coming up. And transfer rumors are heating up with Barcelona being prominently mentioned. Anywhere for a big club where CP gets to play all the time will be fine with me.
And of course, Beer?halter now looks like a fool for not calling him up after Sargent has been directly responsible for 2 wins in a row for one of the worst teams in the Premier League. The 21-yr old has been playing against the best in the world, has unceasing energy, tracks back from his left-forward position to help on D, is certainly match fit and after the last 8 days, his confidence is sky high.
Meanwhile, Herr Tuchel has done CP a big favor by not playing him the last two weeks. Tommy Tuchel must be down on him. OK fine. CP will be ready to rock for 90 minutes in at least two, maybe all 3 matches coming up. And transfer rumors are heating up with Barcelona being prominently mentioned. Anywhere for a big club where CP gets to play all the time will be fine with me.
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Tuchel has a near impossible job in trying to keep all the egos at Chelsea happy. They spent way too much on guys like Werner and Lukaku and essentially you have to play them, especially after Lukaku called Tuchel out and basically bitch-slapped him in the media.
As for Sargent, his recent form probably deserves a call-in. Berhalter is also sort of stuck as there is quality all over the place for the US right now. I don't get the Ferreira call in as, IMO, he has yet to prove himself at this level. It was sort of like Klinsmann bringing Green in and leaving Donovan at home simply to lock Green into USMNT. I don't mind Morris being there and I don't mind Zardes (see previous post). But if you have Morris, you can leave Arriola or Roldan at home. They all essentially take up the same space...and having Sargent means you have a capable 1 v 1 defender from your 9. I have not seen that from Pepi yet and I'm not sure he's really been called upon to be that. Even if you bring Sargent off the bench for Pepi late, he gives you more in the defensive aspect without sacrificing the ability to counter and attack. I did notice in the game the other day, when Watford had deep set pieces or corners, Sargent drops deep into the box as his ability in the air is really good and helps solidify set piece defense.
I'm not sure about Arriola being in anymore...I like him as a player but I think his time is past with the USMNT. I prefer Roldan in that spot, especially late in games as he is an excellent defender and does a nice job of holding/possessing the ball when you need it.
LOL, US is making Honduras play in St. Paul on Feb. 2. That's kind of a d$ck move, honestly. Fortunately for everyone, it's supposed to be pretty warm that day with a high of 19 tho it's supposed to be breezy with wind chills around 0.
Taylor Twellman thinks it's ridiculous the US is trying to freeze teams out as a tactic to win when the US has the superior players right now and that might be true even with Mexico. Right now the US has the better players and deeper pool of players in all of CONCACAF. I know Mexican fans don't want to believe that. And don't look now, but Canada is not far behind the US and Mexico in terms of talent pool (Canada still needs a dynamic 6 and a GK IMO). Mexico's stars are aging and the core of the teams is 30+. Only a couple of the regulars are under 30 led by Chucky. The entirety of their back line is OLD. Avg age of starters vs us was almost 29. By contrast, US starting group was 23. When Jesus Fereira came on for Pepi in that game, the avg age of the US lineup went up! The oldest players who played in that game for the US were Zimmerman and Yedlin who are both 28. And remember, Yedlin played because Dest was injured.
US could play these games in Carson, LA, Orlando, Houston and still win easily and not giving the fans, officials, and players on the sideline frostbite.
Unless the US team has had several weeks of extended cold weather practice, it won't help them anyway. You don't roll in on Thursday and expect to be acclimated by Wednesday. Especially against Honduras, it shouldn't matter.
LOL, the fans will be fine. 19 is balmy for the locals.
A good friend of mine is from Minnesota and I always thought it was hilarious on the few absolutely freezing days at TU, he'd be walking around campus in shorts. They can take it I know. Of course, now is about the time they start putting the junker car on the pond and selling calendar squares as to when it will fall through the ice.
It begins tonight. That is, a beatdown of one of the weak sisters in CONCACAF's last eight. Then, a win vs Canada (without Alphonso Davies) and finally a mauling of the other weak sister, Honduras. If it doesn't work out this way, it will be because of Beer?halter's personnel selections, e.g. too many of those MLS guys he called up for a pre-camp....camp. None of them had played a game for about 6 weeks, and will not be match fit after only practicing. Not to mention skill levels vs our Euro guys.
I care not that El Sal & Honduras have to play in much less than humid, tropical conditions. It's about time that the USMNT has even a slight advantage with weather &/or altitude, not to mention fans throwing "stuff" at our players.
I care not that El Sal & Honduras have to play in much less than humid, tropical conditions. It's about time that the USMNT has even a slight advantage with weather &/or altitude, not to mention fans throwing "stuff" at our players.
I hope you’re right. I’m still pissed about that own goal the last time we played Honduras.
Where did this Ferreira come from? So far he’s had two great chances, one from point blank, and put them both over the net.
FC Dallas. Kid is fast as hell too. Too much messing around with the ball in the midfield and too much "hero" ball. Pass the damn thing and move
All the talking heads are saying we must be way better. Well, hell's bells...this team, with a starting line-up that has only practiced together, will be better. And Salvador played very tough. The only problem I had with the starters was maybe Ferriera for Aaronson or Pepi. We had plenty of chances & nobody to finish. Plus, I was surprised to see Tim Weah start. He has been hurt and only recently came back for Lille in 2 matches totaling about 85 minutes. Please don't use him up, Beer?halter.
I liked the energy and fight from this team. It's just a darn shame we can't get that 2nd goal.
I liked the energy and fight from this team. It's just a darn shame we can't get that 2nd goal.
Weah is a phenomenal talent. Musah needs to move the ball quicker. He's a very talented player but still learning that he no longer needs to beat every defender 1 v 1.
I've said this before but the US, Canada, Jamaica, and any other English speaking countries in CONCACAF should insist on using out of region referees whenever they play a Spanish speaking nation from the region. They get screwed EVERY TIME. The Mexican crew in the US game tonight was atrocious and biased. The crew doing the Jamaica game was biased. I haven't seen the Canada match, but these refs are awful.
I've said this before but the US, Canada, Jamaica, and any other English speaking countries in CONCACAF should insist on using out of region referees whenever they play a Spanish speaking nation from the region. They get screwed EVERY TIME. The Mexican crew in the US game tonight was atrocious and biased. The crew doing the Jamaica game was biased. I haven't seen the Canada match, but these refs are awful.
Canada is up 1-0 right now at half. Costa Rica and Panama are 20 min in and no score yet. So far Costa Rica has looked the better of the two although Navas showed everyone why he's one of the best GKs in the world with a nice 1 v 1 save early (may have been his only touch so far). If Costa Rica wins, it will further solidify the top 3 as the top 3 in the region and the wee will be a dogfight for the 4th spot into the playoff.
Amen to that. BTW, Honduras got whacked by the Canucks, 2-0. Speaking of Canada, ticket sales for our match up there has been bizarre. First, they sell out. Then, the gov't decides that's too dangerous due to covid and refunds all ticket prices. Then, they decide to fill half the stadium capacity and resell about 12k tickets. How udderly Canadian.
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15 min to go Costa Rica up 1-0. The Ticos may be a tough result next time the US plays them. They're not playing great but Navas is back between the pipes and he has been outstanding in this game. And they seem to have settled on trying to see this one out at 1-0. Panama blew a golden chance at 55 minutes when they countered off a corner kick and had a 5 v 1. Player en centro for Panama decided to go it alone instead of passing to any one of 4 players who were wide open, and the one Costa Rican defender who was back makes a brilliant tackle and takes the ball away.
They probably said so-arry and then went and had some maple syrup covered poutine.
I thought we played fine. We utterly dominated the second half of that game. Even when we had breakdowns we made them look silly moments later.
I would have rather seen Pepi out there. I don’t understand why we play Ferreira and leave Dike off the team. I feel like Dike is a more unique played/ potential matchup problem if you aren’t going with Pepi.
I would have rather seen Pepi out there. I don’t understand why we play Ferreira and leave Dike off the team. I feel like Dike is a more unique played/ potential matchup problem if you aren’t going with Pepi.
Dike isn't ready yet. Everything with him is being a bull in a china shop...except these players he's going against are way more skilled than the hacks he is used to playing against. His biggest problem is just not identifying space and getting to it quickly enough. With the way the US builds their attack from the outside in, it's imperative your 9 is making dynamic runs to space in the 18 and Dike isn't consistent enough with that yet. As for Ferreira...I think I had the negative reaction when the starting XI were revealed. However, it was clear that he has pace for days and would be putting the ES backline on skates as long as he was in there...and he did make the dynamic runs into space.
I think you will see mostly the same XI vs Canada on Sunday with these changes: Aaronson on the left for Ferreira, Lletget for Musah OR Aaronson for Musah and move Pulisic to the left side in Ferreira's spot, insert Pepi into the 9. The only other change is maybe Miles Robinson in for Richards but I thought our back 4 played really well last night, especially the middle of Richards, Zimmerman, and Adams. We occasionally gave up the outside counter because Antonee Robinson and Dest get so far upfield in the attack.
This game wasn't particularly close except for the score. US probably should have had 3 goals minimum and probably 4 or 5. Obviously the finishing quality needs to be better but I also think the service in from Dest and Robinson on the outside needs to be a little more focused and have more purpose instead of just firing the ball across the field. And the US' outside attack can rival any nation on the planet right now.
My problem with Ferreira wasn’t his positioning or speed, he did get on the ball in dangerous positions, but his poor finishing. His first chance was forgivable because he was a way out in the box and players often miss shots from that distance trying to keep it away from the keeper. His second chance though he was two yards or less from the goal and all he had to do was redirect the ball into the net and he boots it over. I don’t know if it was nerves or ability but if that game had ended 0-0 I would join the crowd calling for Berhalter’s dismissal. It’s ok to work new players in but let’s do it in friendlies or after qualification is guaranteed.
100% his finishing needed to be better. Twellman called him out right after the 2nd miss and said he needs to finish that with his left instead of trying to go outside of foot on his right.
We had multiple looks from inside the box which weren’t put on frame. Gotta get better. Few things (soccer related) frustrate me more than a shot from 10-15 yards out which sails over the crossbar.
My son thinks it's hilarious that everyone tries to blast high hard shots on frame all the time and then get upset when the keeper saves them. It's easier for keepers to get to everything waist high and higher. Truth is, the lower the shot the tougher it is for the keeper to get down and save and also harder to control the rebound. Costa Rica's goal last night came off a shot (waist high) that the Panamanian keeper saved easily but he parried it directly to a Costa Rican player who knocked a low hard shot past the keeper. Panamanian keeper really should have caught the 1st shot (or at least attempted to).
I am convinced the US has air superiority in any game they play. McKennie has like a 40 inch vertical and gets higher than any player I've ever seen. I think that's where the US needs to look for their chances (and McKennie and one other last night missed chances for headers yesterday...and McKennie's runs in the box off set pieces are dynamic and no one can keep up with him, see what he's been doing at Juve the last 3 weeks).
And maybe this is the argument for Sargent to be in the lineup as well considering the service that Robinson and Dest seem to be dishing right now.
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