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World Cup Qualifying

More like impossible. At this point in time, if he’s fit he should start (other than some sort of player rotation decision in a “3 games in 10 days” window).
Reyna is a bit different in that he is still building his reputation and credibility at the international level.
 
It's time for Beer?halter to get serious about a starting 11...... not 7 changes from the 1st game to the 2nd and 8-9 changes yesterday. Pick your starters & play their a$$es off. They're young, they can hack it.

Everyone says these Euro guys are young-true. They say they are inexperienced-also true. But only in the sense that Beer?halter keeps jacking around with lineups. These guys have to practice & play together to become our team to go to WC war with.

These Euro guys come from some of the top club teams in Europe. Some may start for their team or come off the bench. Hell, they get more experience at practice vs their teammates-playing against top players.

Does Beer?halter know, in his gut, which players will get him to the promised land? Man, with this guy, I just don't know.
 
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Despite not being called up in the last 3, Carrot Top must be in the final 24 going forward for Beer?halter. Sargent was praised by his coach for his play vs Brighton last Saturday. Very active, very dangerous. Unfortunately, he could have easily won the match for Norwich. About 18-20 yards out from a slight angle with an open net, he hits it too softly & a defender stops it from going in about a yard from the goal line. He learned that lesson the hard way.

Sargent just needs to SCORE! Either for us or the Canaries to get his confidence back. His experience & skill will serve him & us well...if Beer?halter will give him another chance.
 
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Despite not being called up in the last 3, Carrot Top must be in the final 24 going forward for Beer?halter. Sargent was praised by his coach for his play vs Brighton last Saturday. Very active, very dangerous. Unfortunately, he could have easily won the match for Norwich. About 18-20 yards out from a slight angle with an open net, he hits it too softly & a defender stops it from going in about a yard from the goal line. He learned that lesson the hard way.

Sargent just needs to SCORE! Either for us or the Canaries to get his confidence back. His experience & skill will serve him & us well...if Beer?halter will give him another chance.
I do like Sargent as a player but he needs to be that true 9 wherever and whoever he is playing for. He's a lot bigger and able to absorb some of the physicality that Zardes cannot. He's exceptionally good at finding space in and around the box. I don't think he quite matches Pepi in that regard though. That kid's movement is sublime.

And Norwich's result against Brighton is a surprising one in that Brighton has been sneaky good in the early going of the EPL this season. Norwich is going to be relegated this season and it's not going to be particularly close. They just don't have the requisite combo of solid defense and enough goal scoring to get out of the hole they've dug themselves. Last year Leed's stayed up because they were scoring a ton of goals and always looking forward because their D was sorry. Well, the D is still sorry and the goals aren't coming and they are going to be in a fight to stay out of relegation.
 
Dest starting for Barcelona in a UCL match against Kiev today...as a forward. Brooks starting for Wolfsburg vs RB Salzburg (and Brendan Aaronson). Young Boys play later vs Villareal and I would assume Pefok starts. Other possible USMNT lineup features are Chris Richards with Bayern, Weah with Lille, McKennie with Juventus. Not sure if Pulisic is back yet but Chelsea plays Malmo today as well.
 
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It just makes me proud that so many of our MNT guys are with big clubs in Europe and getting to play in the Champions League ( & the Europa League tourney as well). In addition to Bla's post above, I watched some of the RB Leipzig match vs PSG (with M'bappe & Messi). Tyler Adams played the full 90 & did well. Jesse Marsch had to be proud of his guys after playing PSG so tough. Leipzig took the lead, 2-1, after about 60 minutes, but a guy named Messi gets a hat trick (including 2 PKs converted) & PSG beats them.
CP news is getting better. After being on the shelf with an ankle injury for over 2 months, he's back practicing with Chelsea. And just in time, too, since Timo Werner & R. Lukaku both went out with injuries vs the beatdown of Malmo, Sweden, 4-0. Surely CP won't start for Chelsea, but coming off the bench is a distinct possibility next week-end. And if he stays pain free in that ankle, he'll be back with the MNT for Mex next month. Here's hoping.
 
reading through the play by play of Salzburg's game, Aaronson was one of the best players on the field setting up a number of chances for Okafor and getting a couple SOG himself.
 
I watched the US women play South Korea yesterday and it was a very exciting game for a 0-0 draw. Sophia Smith has incredible ball skills and if she can get her finishing in line with her footwork she could be the next star forward.
 
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Watching Norwich play Chelsea. Pulisic still out. Sargent starting up top with Pukki for the Canaries. It's 3-0 Chelsea in the 1st half. Norwich simply isn't good. Their back line and midfield are disasters and the forwards are not doing anything to put any pressure on Chelsea when they do get the ball in the attacking g 1/3.
 
Watched the women play South Korea again tonight, this time they won 6-0. Both the men’s and women’s teams are really deep right now. The women’s qualifying starts in January and these young players are going to be skilled and hungry.
 
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Watched the women play South Korea again tonight, this time they won 6-0. Both the men’s and women’s teams are really deep right now. The women’s qualifying starts in January and these young players are going to be skilled and hungry.
Smith, Pugh, Mercurio...are all going to be nightmares for the rest of the world.
 
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ChLg group stage games continue today & Wed. McKennie, Dest, Weah, Brooks, Aaronson all play and yes, C. Pulisic is back in the Chelsea squad & likely to get some minutes vs Malmo (in Sweden) today.
 
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I watched John Brook's Wolfsburg beat Brenden Aaronson's RB Salzburg 2-1. Brooks played well but missed a sliding clearance that Aaronson picks up but can't score. Aaronson has so much energy-never stops running. After getting Salzburg into the ChLg in that 2-game playoff, he needs to score while in it.

CP gets 16+3 minutes in Chelsea's 1-0 victory at Malmo. He gets in from a tough angle but shoots it high & wide in stoppage time. Hope he plays this weekend & next for Chelsea so Beer?halter can use him up vs Mex on 11/12.

The irony might get really thick as Eden Hazard at Real Madrid-who has played little due to fitness & injury, is in serious consideration for Chelsea, again. Fitness & injury, sound familiar? Thas rite, the guy-C. Pulisic, who replaced one of Chelsea's greatest, might himself get bounced if Hazard comes back. And it was with part of the money(120 million pounds) that Chelsea got for the transfer of Hazard to Real that financed Pulisic's transfer from Dortmund. Whew!!
 
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I've been following Jesse Marsch's career since Huffy turned me on to him. He has RB Leipzig in the Ch Lg but unfortunately in a group with Man City & PSG. City might beat them up but PSG (with M'Bappe & Neymar-no Messi today) gets all they want from Leipzig. Today's match in Leipzig had them up 1-0 after 8 mins & missing a PK after 10.

PSG tied it up & then took the lead when a linesman was too slow to see a pass that was offsides in their build-up. Late on, Leipzig wins a penalty & converts this time for a 2-2 final. As noted above, Leipzig had a lead on PSG after 60 or so minutes in the first leg but lost on 2 PKs from Messi.

Leipzig will not advance to the knock-out round but I really like Marsch's attacking style. He even got a yellow card for protesting a foul call. I can't imagine Beer?halter with that much fire in the belly. PSG knows how tough his guys are to play.

While 8th in the Bundesliga, they are only 3 points out of 4th place. I hope they start moving up the table for Jesse Marsch's & Tyler Adams sake. Adams is a fixture in Marsch's central midfield. Can a guy dream that one day Jesse Marsch will replace Beer?halter and coach the USMNT?
 
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WCQ Roster for next week's games:
No Brooks (bad form), no Dest (injured). Not having Dest might be problematic TBH. Felt he was the best US player the last set of games.

GKs: Sean Johnson, Zack Steffen, Matt Turner
D: Cannon (yay), McKenzie, Chris Richards, Antonee Robinson, Miles Robinson, Joe Scally (Borussia Mongladbach), Sam Vines, Yedlin, Zimmerman
MF: Acosta, Adams, Busio, Lletget, McKennie, Musah, Roldan
F: Aaronson, Arriola, Jesus Ferreira, Pep, Pulisic, Weah

Cannon being back takes a little sting out of Dest not being available. Looks like Pepi has curried the favor of Berhalter over Sargent and Pefok. I like the core group of defenders although I'm not crazy about Vines...and I don't know anything about Scally. I'm stiill mystified as to the appeal of Lletget as the 8 or 10. Personally I hop we run the 4-4-3 with the following lineup:

GK: Turner
D: Cannon-M Robinson-McKenzie-A Robinson
MF: Musah-Adams-Aaronson-McKennie
F- Pulisic-Pepi- Weah

Knowing Berhalter though, we're likely to see a 3-5-2 that looks like this:

Zimmerman-M. Robinson- McKenzie
Cannon- Adams-McKenie- Pulisic-Weah
Aaronson-Pepi

If he does do this, I'd rather see Aaronson in the 10 role and Pulisic pushed up top with Pepi, and Richards in over Zimmerman as he gives the US a little better athleticism and speed in that role and can likely keep up with Jimenez, Lainez, Funes Mori, and Chucky. I don't trust Zimmerman in that spot against El Tri...the US already has enough trouble playing out of the back as it is, Zimmerman would make that crazy. And Turner should just punt the ball out of trouble the entire time...screw trying to play out of the back and giving Mexico extra chances without having to work for it.
 
I'm OK with the goalies. With A. Robinson, Tyler Adams, Busio, McKennie, Weah, Pulisic, Aaronson and Pepi, along with Richards, Zimmerman, M. Robinson and maybe Lletgett-we've got a chance vs Mex. But who the hell is Joe Scally (0 caps), J. Ferreira (2 caps) or Sam Vines (8 caps)??

It's too late in the (qualifying) game to be experimenting with inexperienced guys from MLS. What is Beer?halter thinking? If we get past Mex & Jamaica, Beer?halter will be the luckiest SOB on the planet.
 
Zero caps! 18-19 yrs old, but might be better than some others with his Bund. experience.
 
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Well, Tommy Tuchel sets on his hands while Burnley are taking it to them late while behind 1-0. Meanwhile, CP sits on his hands. After Burnley scores to tie it up, then Tuchel has to put in CP & Mason Mount in the 84th but too late. Chelsea drops 2 points & CP gets a whole 8 minutes.

What are the ramifications for CP, Beer?halter & Mexico in 6 days?? Let's review: Pulisic has practiced very little with a team(both us & Chelsea) and has played a whopping 25 minutes or so lately in over TWO MONTHS! It would be criminal if Beer?halter starts him or plays him more than 30-35 minutes vs Mexico. And my guess is we will need him desperately.
 
Josh Sargent's Norwich City coach (Daniel Farke) just got sacked. It's kind of interesting that Brit bookies have Frankie Lampard &/or John Terry as favs among a couple of others. Carrott Top could do worse than learning from either of these two worthies. What means Nm.please. No Mas? Not Meaningful? Nasty Mutha?
 
Whoa!! Tommy Tuchel: "I hope the US National team are responsible with him and they don't overuse him too much..." "He's a big player for us..." "Hopefully, everybody, including himself, is responsible and doesn't get carried away by emotions."

Well, CP has to feel good that his club-team coach is concerned enough to say things like the above. On the other hand, Beer?halter has been known to run CP in the ground. For example, CP is in covid quarantine for ten days & practices only by "himself". Three days later, Beer?halter plays him the full 90 & starts him in the next. This is Honduras where he wrecks an ankle and 2+ months later finally gets back on the pitch.

No one should poor mouth Beer?halter (not even me) or CP if he only gets 30 minutes or so vs Mex & maybe 40+ vs Jamaica. He apparently still has pain but will play through it for club & country.
 
Amazing game except for rigged officiating.

This official needs to be suspended. Herrera should have been tossed and the no call on the red card was probably racist, especially when black players got yellows for US. Eff Concacrap. It’s rigged third world crap. I would sue them and get an injunction on any cards after the Mexican tried to gouge Aaronson’s eye out.
 
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My player grades...

DeAndre Yedlin (B- / C+): Played solidly for a guy with his level of experience. Was close to drawing a needless card with his attitude.
Weston McKennie (B): The goal was a bit of luck, but he's a fighter and deserved to snap out of his slump. He made some boneheaded decisions in build up. The Yellow Card and missing the next game knocks him down a bit for me.
Zack Steffen (B+): Wasn't really tested in the second half. But had a few quality saves in the first. Unnecessary Yellow Knocks him from an A-
Tyler Adams (A-): He's a defensive anchor for us and he showed it.
Walker Zimmerman: (A- / B+) Won quite a few headers for us and played heady defense. Really a breakout game.
Antonee Robinson: (C) Was not always thrilled with his defense. He can certainly advance the ball as a wingback, but he showed some vulnerability defensively.
Tim Weah (A): Played his position nearly perfectly. He knows how to control the space he occupies and he never seems to take bad runs. Pressured the right side of Mexico's buildup perfectly.
Miles Robinson (C-): The Red was unnecessary. Luzano was showing him up. Needs to do better. I would have rather seen Richards.
Brenden Aaronson (B): This guy is basically the Energizer Bunny, and had the ref been paying attention he would have drawn the Red for us.
Yunus Musah (B): Solid game. He had some good runs and some bad givups much like McKennie. Him and McKennie too often occupy similar space.
Ricardo Pepi (C-): Certainly not his best game. He had a couple flicks, but he tended to get in the way of the attack more than he advanced it.

Pulisic (A): Made a perfect run into the box and provided the spark we so desperately needed from him. Glad to see him rounding back into form.
 
The important thing…DOS A CERO!!! Rodriguez should have been ejected for riding Aaronson like a horse then gouging his eyes, dirty, dirty player. Weah was fantastic, I love his quickness on that wing. Steffen was stupid to come all the way to the opposite end of the field during that free-for-all and draw a yellow. 14 points, top of the table, +2 GD on Mexico…I’m feeling good tonight.
 
We will have at least two players that are going to be ineligible for the Jamaica matchup in Miles Robinson and Weston McKennie. Great to see Pulisic get the first goal of the match tonite after coming off the bench. I do like how this squad plays better than our last attempt at a WC bid. I feel good.
 
It was a terrific, entertaining performance. Imperfect and hot headed but no complaints.
 
I still think the US needs to insist on non-CONCACAF, non-Spanish speaking refs for games vs Mexico. We get screwed every time. Also, not having VAR b/c the 3rd world countries in the region can’t handle the tech requirements is bogus. You can’t handle it, you don’t get to host games.

The US “a” team is better than Mexico’s “a” team.
 
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Weah was my player of the match
That cross onto CP's head was sublime. Just love to watch that kid. Now we are beginning to realize that Beer?halter might have a goalie (selection) issue. There must be a reason that defending Premier League champs ( and favored to repeat) Manchester City just this week gave Zach Steffen a brand new 4-year contract extension. Steffen must have been sky high but it didn't affect him in that 1st half.

Very proud of the RW&B.
 
steffen is super talented. Big, strong, and athletic…prototypical GK. But Turner seems to have that knack for making unreal reaction saves in big moments despite his awkward, unathletic looking style.

I have now witnessed Weah in consecutive games being the absolute stud we’ve been hearing about for years. He was the best player on the field for both teams. Mexico’s outside backs simply struggled to keep up with our outside attackers the whole game.

we can put to bed the arguments of why the US beat Mexico and who was using “b” sides during the summer tournaments, as the US showed they were the better, more complete, and deeper side currently. No Dest either and that really would have destroyed Mexico on the outside even more.
 
At least I have 1 team I support that is playing well. And I don't have to waste money on season tickets either.
 
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