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World Cup Qualifying

I'm not a Sebatcheu fan. He's too much like Altidore. Once Sargent got into the game the hold up in the central part of the field and subsequent attack buildup was excellent. With Sargent you can also push Pulisic out wide where he is more effective and more comfortable. Aaronson makes things happen. Roldan seemingly
Makes things happen when he comes in. Yedlin came on as a necessity when Dest went down and that hurt the US on both ends. I thought Miles Robinson was strong in the back as well. Adams played great IMO and gives us so much more than what we've had back there.

mcKennie's stupidity and selfishness cost the team. What Alphonso Davies and Tajon Buchanan bring to Canada, that's what McKennie brings to the US. He's a dynamic player who puts a ton of pressure on defenders to be perfect when defending him. 3 pts in Honduras is a must.
 
We have too much talent for it to get better when all the players are on the field. It’s a systems and tactics problem.
 
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Four shots on goal in two games with world class talent up against Canada and El Salvador? Gitouttamahouse.
 
You see very little combination play in the attacking third. In the few instances it happens we look dangerous. What is the cure?
 
I hate the way the US plays. They win time of possession but it’s all in their end. They spend more time figuring how to pass the ball backwards than figuring out how to attack. Honduras attacks so they get the first goal, hopefully not the only goal.
 
Not impressed with Pepi so far either. It’s like the coach is just throwing players on the field with no plan.
 
Man, what a horrible half. We look terrible. Slow. No urgency when Honduras has the ball. Sloppy in midfield. Brooks jogging back on defense on that goal. Just horrible.
 
Three halftime subs and one of them finds the net three minutes in.
 
This is oddly officiated. It’s not all bad, but there seems to be a double standard on what’s called a foul.

Looks like Pulisic coming out. And that’s my point. Our best player gets the crap knocked out of him all game and we have twice as many fouls on us.
 
This is oddly officiated. It’s not all bad, but there seems to be a double standard on what’s called a foul.

Looks like Pulisic coming out. And that’s my point. Our best player gets the crap knocked out of him all game and we have twice as many fouls on us.
Again, the US must insist on not having Spanish speaking CONCACAF refs for qualifiers vs Spanish speaking countries. The games are extremely skewed and the Najar doves get rewarded with fouls while Pulisic gets grabbed, tossed, hip checked etc until he can no longer stand up and not a thing gets called.

Yedlin with an amazing cross in only 2 minutes after coming on and the US goes up 2-1 with 15 min left.

Antonee Robinson should always be on the field for the US. He is ridiculously talented and I'm not sure there is anyone who can match his athleticism either.
 
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I suppose Berhalter can keep his job for now. Brilliant changes at half.

Despite not winning their home game, the US got the number of points you would want as a minimum coming out of these 3 games. It's not what I expected as I felt they should have won vs El Salvador and had they played this aggressive in moving forward they would have.

Now a 4th goal. Pepi involved in 3 of them.
 
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Great second half. We’re about where we should be in the standings. If we hadn’t quit paying attention against Canada, we’d have two more points.

Honduras played their hearts out in first half. This was also a must win for them. They finally ran out of gas and our depth was too much for them. We’ve never had that kind of depth to do that. We are missing GREAT players.

Suspending McKinnie was right call. Next man up.
 
Much better second half. we look so much better when we’re attacking. Pepi was better also. I like Aaronson, he has a lot of speed and seems to play under control. A much needed 3 on the road and that will help our goal differential if that comes into play later.
 
Brilliant changes at half.
That's my point on personnel. What business does Beer?halter have starting Bello, Sands, of course, Acosta and did I see Miles Robinson in there, in a very important game for badly needed points and confidence. If you start the right guys in the first place Beer?halter, you may not need to panic & sub. Hell, you might even have a lead at half-time.
 
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I like the 11 we ended the game with. Of course I think we need Pulisic back for Roldan. Probably McKennie for Lletget or Acosta. And Steffan back in goal.
 
I really like Dempsey as a commentator. He should just be the guy for every broadcast. He’s like the soccer version of Barkley.

The McKinnie chipotle ad is a first rate troll job.
 
That's my point on personnel. What business does Beer?halter have starting Bello, Sands, of course, Acosta and did I see Miles Robinson in there, in a very important game for badly needed points and confidence. If you start the right guys in the first place Beer?halter, you may not need to panic & sub. Hell, you might even have a lead at half-time.
Bello was a disaster. But Berhalter also admitted to getting the formation wrong. US started in a 3-5-2 and switched to a 4-3-3 after half and the CB he took off was Brooks. Miles Robinson and McKenzie took over as the CBs after half and the D was much much better centrally. But the mindset changed after half too. The US went more offensive and didn't mess around with the ball in the back too much playing long balls over the top to limit the pressure and turnovers. And Antonee Robinson was fantastic in carrying the ball forward which was a huge key. Teams today value possession over attacking and pressure and sometimes it's over done as teams never look to get forward. And you see it at all levels. I get keeping possession but only bad things can happen to your team if you play with the ball to much in the back.
 
We just might have found us a center forward. Ricardo Pepi got all the pub for our victory last night & rightly so, but Brenden Aaronson has 2 goals & an assist in the 3 matches. Kid has a nose for being in the right place at the right time. And for RB Salzburg recently, he scored in both games in a playoff for the Champions League this season which they achieved. That experience will serve him well for his club team & the MNT.
 
I like the 11 we ended the game with. Of course I think we need Pulisic back for Roldan. Probably McKennie for Lletget or Acosta. And Steffan back in goal.
I’m fine with Turner in goal, he’s got great hands and almost inhuman reflexes. He does need to improve with the ball at his feet but I think overall he will keep more balls out of the net than Steffen would.

will these guys now go back to their clubs until the first week of October or will they stay together and train?
 
I really like Dempsey as a commentator. He should just be the guy for every broadcast. He’s like the soccer version of Barkley.

The McKinnie chipotle ad is a first rate troll job.
I’d party with Deuce!
 
We just might have found us a center forward. Ricardo Pepi got all the pub for our victory last night & rightly so, but Brenden Aaronson has 2 goals & an assist in the 3 matches. Kid has a nose for being in the right place at the right time. And for RB Salzburg recently, he scored in both games in a playoff for the Champions League this season which they achieved. That experience will serve him well for his club team & the MNT.
Aaronson's activity when he came in put the Honduran defense on their heels...along with Robinson. Bello wasn't really getting forward or attacking on the left side and it really hurt Pulisic as both defenders on that side were able to bottle him up without having to concern themselves with an overlapping run.

All of the changes last night paid dividends for Berhalter as did the change in formation. Hopefully he remembers this for the next series of games in 1 month. And hopefully Brooks starts playing like the experienced CB he is and not like a 14 year old who just got moved to the position from a F position. You'd hope that CBs at this level would have more positional awareness than Brooks showed in the last 2 games. Both the goal from Canada and the one from Honduras last night were partly Brooks' fault for not marking that backside runner. Charlie Davies ripped him last night during the halftime analysis saying he got caught ball watching and a CB of his level should know better than that. Davies called the subs too calling for Bello and Brooks to be subbed for at halftime. I think he also called for the change in formation. A 3-5-2 will work but you've got to be willing to attack in tight spaces or play the ball over the top. If you're playing passive and holding the ball in the back, in that formation you're begging for trouble.
 
I’m fine with Turner in goal, he’s got great hands and almost inhuman reflexes. He does need to improve with the ball at his feet but I think overall he will keep more balls out of the net than Steffen would.

will these guys now go back to their clubs until the first week of October or will they stay together and train?
They will all go back provided there's no crazy COVID protocol they need to endure like quarantining for 14 days before being able to train and play. If that's the case, they should just stay here.

On Turner...he reminds me a little of my son. He looks lanky and awkward and, at times, wholly unathletic, but he gets the job done. The thing with his feet...from what I've seen, I don't think Steffen or Horvath are better. That was my one criticism of the US' GKs is this group doesn't have a player with dynamic feet in the position (think Neuer). TIm Howard and Brad Guzan were good with their feet. Casey Keller and Brad Friedl were excellent with their feet. It's almost like the US ID group started looking for the kids that could make the one insane Sportscenter Top 10 save and valued that over being able to play through the GK. I will say, Turner made an excellent play last night on the one thru ball that Miles Robinson and he didn't really communicate on and Robinson pulled off the ball and then Turner took a heavy touch, made a good 2nd touch around an attacker before he kicked the ball 80 yds to the other goal box. Knowing playing out of the back and thru the GK isn't a strength of this team, I wish Berhalter would implore them to look for more over the top stuff and let the insanely athletic MFs and Fs go to work.
 
Some Euro press articles speculate that CP will be named as one of 3 Chelsea players involved in a package deal for Leroy Sane from Bayern Munich. If CP ever leaves Chelsea, Bayern ain't chopped liver. He speaks German (kinda) after his years at Dortmund. And Bayern always wins the Bundesliga, not to mention a couple years removed as Champions of Europe.

I would hate to see it. But I bet he would get way more PT in Germany. After a positive Covid test, CP misses a couple games, goes with the MNT, gets an ankle injured & will likely miss some more games for Chelsea. Hardly encouraging for Tommy Tuchel to start him when he's fit, let alone come off the bench. Chelsea, the current European champs, are flat loaded at CP's position.
 
They will all go back provided there's no crazy COVID protocol they need to endure like quarantining for 14 days before being able to train and play. If that's the case, they should just stay here.

On Turner...he reminds me a little of my son. He looks lanky and awkward and, at times, wholly unathletic, but he gets the job done. The thing with his feet...from what I've seen, I don't think Steffen or Horvath are better. That was my one criticism of the US' GKs is this group doesn't have a player with dynamic feet in the position (think Neuer). TIm Howard and Brad Guzan were good with their feet. Casey Keller and Brad Friedl were excellent with their feet. It's almost like the US ID group started looking for the kids that could make the one insane Sportscenter Top 10 save and valued that over being able to play through the GK. I will say, Turner made an excellent play last night on the one thru ball that Miles Robinson and he didn't really communicate on and Robinson pulled off the ball and then Turner took a heavy touch, made a good 2nd touch around an attacker before he kicked the ball 80 yds to the other goal box. Knowing playing out of the back and thru the GK isn't a strength of this team, I wish Berhalter would implore them to look for more over the top stuff and let the insanely athletic MFs and Fs go to work.
Turner is better than Guzan ever was. Guzan is the most overrated keeper that has ever existed on the US team. I do not understand how he got the accolades he did. There was not one time he made a save that I said, "Damn that was amazing!" He was a screw up waiting to happen
 
I think all of our keepers are kind of C+ to B- level. There's no Tim Howard walking through that door.
 
I follow only TU and the USMNT - that is the entirety of my sports interests. At least got 1 win this week.
 
A couple of MNT guys in group stage of Champions League: Brenden Aaronson has the best chances in a 1-1 draw vs Sevilla for RB Salzburg. Then there is young Pefok (or Siebecheu) who scores very late for Young Boys (Swiss League champs) to beat none other than ManUtd in their group. Obviously, a major upset and Pefok's legend continues to grow.
 
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A couple of MNT guys in group stage of Champions League: Brenden Aaronson has the best chances in a 1-1 draw vs Sevilla for RB Salzburg. Then there is young Pefok (or Siebecheu) who scores very late for Young Boys (Swiss League champs) to beat none other than ManUtd in their group. Obviously, a major upset and Pefok's legend continues to grow.
That goal was gifted to Pefok. My son was screaming at Lingard for the pass back because it was to no one in particular AND it was way to soft. My son's a GK and he's pretty sure De Gea didn't call for that pass back in that situation probably understanding the numbers Young Boys had forward at that moment. It was good to see Pefok bury it though in a pressure situation.

McKennie got in as a sub for Juventus in their 3-0 win. Dest didn't get in for Barca's dismantling at the hands of Bayern. Brooks got red carded for Wolfsburg who ended up earning a draw at Lille.
 
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