World Cup Thread

[HuffyCane]

If Acosta is on the field he should be taking them. You can argue it’s the only part of his game that is elite. Every goal in qualifying we got off a set piece was taken by Acosta in a single game.

Gio has taken them on the regular for his club. Aaronson takes corners for Leeds. Amongst the starters Adams seems to be the best choice but there’s a vulnerability on the counter. And you lose the decade of understanding between CP and McKinnie who ranks in the top 5 in Europe on scoring off set piece percentage supposedly. Golden Boy needs to step up. We quietly threw money at the best set piece coach in the world to improve this part of the game and we aren’t seeing it.

 

[HuffyCane]

i actually thought Gregg called a pretty good game except for failing to respond to Moore physically challenging Zimmerman and repeatedly beating him. The penalty was caused more by the left wing having a collective mental lapse on the throw in rather than Zimmermans poor decision. Fouls like that are situational. They happen because you are desperate because you know that you have been repeatedly physically beaten and know the consequences coming. So they got the ball behind us while we were flat footed and Zimmerman saw that and lost his composure and gambled. You can see it in his eyes looking at the ref and shaking his finger before the play is even finished.

I’m sure team blames the surrender of the lead on several teammates breaking concentration momentarily rather than the gaffer not adjusting or Zimmerman being in over his head. Which he was. At least in this game. And that’s what champions do, the elite do, they wait for one opening and take your points and leave. So valuable lesson for a young squad. It will be ok.

At the risk of sounding like JK, the coach isn’t out there in transition play. When the players aren’t connecting, it’s up to them to figure it out between themselves. A coach can’t do that during the run of play.

 

[drboobay]

I'm actually pissed about the result more because Berhalter didn't even anticipate what Wales might do in the 2nd half and have an adjustment ready for it. He looked like he was content to park the bus for the most part and try to play solid defense. Always a losing proposition (see Frank Haith). I thought Ream was very good and Adams was a flat out monster. My son said current stats had Adams with the highest number of dispossessing tackles so far. Agree on the set pieces. Maybe McKennie or Adams? Not sure who else takes them.

I suspect we might see Acosta against England with Adams if we play a more defensive style. As I recall he is pretty good on the set pieces. Pulisic was leaving everything short.

 

[quincy101]

I've watched a lot of Chelsea since CP joined them and they have a guy named Ngolo Kante who plays defensive midfield. He's widely recognized as a top 3 player at his position in the world. Sadly, he always seems to be hurt lately. He would be a starter for the froggies MNT ( and Chelsea) now if healthy. The point is, Tyler Adams is faster, tougher, a better passer, as good or better tackler, at the top of Premier League stats in about a half-dozen different categories and so on.

After our 3 group stage games (& hopefully beyond), the rest of the world will know what we know. That Tyler Adams is world-class and indispensible to our MNT.

 

[quincy101]

I keep harping on going through to the round of 16 via goal differential because I believe that us & Wales will mirror each other with a win & a tie or win and a loss.. If this happens, goals conceded & scored between us become so important. However, if Beer?halter makes 5-6 changes to the starters for England & loads up with guys like A. Long, Shaq Moore, Roldan, etc. and we get bombed, you can forget about going through on goal differential. Of course, we prolly, at that point, won't on points either. (Unless we beat England & Iran both and then it's top of the group and we won't meet the Dutch in the 1st knockout round. USA!, USA!))

 

[quincy101]

OK, Pulisic sucks on corners & free kicks. But with Acosta, he had one good game with 3 of his kicks getting assists. Has he had any since? And don't forget, his first assist in that match that led to a goal was the first free kick goal for the MNT since the start of qualification...one & one-half years earlier. Where had he been? And how will he perform in the run of play against the competition.......a worrisome tradeoff.

 

[nevadanatural]

I keep harping on going through to the round of 16 via goal differential because I believe that us & Wales will mirror each other with a win & a tie or win and a loss.. If this happens, goals conceded & scored between us become so important. However, if Beer?halter makes 5-6 changes to the starters for England & loads up with guys like A. Long, Shaq Moore, Roldan, etc. and we get bombed, you can forget about going through on goal differential. Of course, we prolly, at that point, won't on points either. (Unless we beat England & Iran both and then it's top of the group and we won't meet the Dutch in the 1st knockout round. USA!, USA!))

I don’t have much hope for goal differential because we’re not going to score a bunch on anyone. If we score two in a game it’s a big deal but we do have a good defense and it’s not often we give up two or more. That’s why the Wales draw was so disappointing, those two points could well be the difference between the round of 16 and going home.

 

[drboobay]

OK, Pulisic sucks on corners & free kicks. But with Acosta, he had one good game with 3 of his kicks getting assists. Has he had any since? And don't forget, his first assist in that match that led to a goal was the first free kick goal for the MNT since the start of qualification...one & one-half years earlier. Where had he been? And how will he perform in the run of play against the competition.......a worrisome tradeoff.

If we use a defensive minded strategy Acosta could replace Mousa and Carter Vickers could play as an extra CB for Sargent. Consider Weah up top with support from Pulisic.

There was even some chatter about Weah playing CF in the Cup and he did not poopoo the idea.

That would be 2 lineup changes that make sense to me. And of course a formation change too.

 

[Li'l Eric Coley]

If we put McBride and O’Brien out there, we’ll win.

 

[nevadanatural]

Canada played really well against Belgium, in fact I think they outplayed them, but had trouble finishing. Cortois was a big part of that though.

 

[HuffyCane]

Coach Huffy’s team sheet: across the front: CP, Weah and Gio. Aaronson withdrawn/10 bleeding onto the right, two sitters on the double pivot, Mousa and Adams, Jedi, Ream, Zim, and Dest. Rest McKinnie. We are going to need him to beat Iran and he’s on a yellow and hurt and rusty.

England will come in cocky and overconfident. They play a lot of single man marking and three in the back hoping to set a high block and hoping to flood zones. We struggled at linking the ball and 1v1 against Wales. Get your best ball handlers on the field and line them up to string together quick passing and stay narrow. It’s pretty much the opposite of what Gregg wants to do, but our best combo play was in the middle of the field and this business of stretching to the sideline to draw space and 1v1 matchups will be exploited by England on the dispossession. Our guys will be outclassed at some positions defending alone after a turnover. Short crisp passes, narrow lanes, none of this business with Sargent running gorgeous diagonals to the flag that nobody bothers to pass to and draws defenders to Weah. Or chipping it up to raise the block high and hoping to get a cheap turnover that turns into a quick scoring opportunity. It will put a lot of pressure on Musah and Adams to link with CP and Aaronson but there’s going to be space there. England will flood bodies that’s what they do. That means Weah alone between their two center backs with room to roam. They saw him score. Make them respect that, not our dumb sideline game where I best player holds the ball too long.

 

[drboobay]

If we put McBride and O’Brien out there, we’ll win.

Canada played really well against Belgium, in fact I think they outplayed them, but had trouble finishing. Cortois was a big part of that though.

To state the obvious, when you miss an early PK in a match with quality, experienced players like Belgium you are really in a hole. Belgium had 1 decent chance and put it away. Canada controlled the entire first half and part of the second but unable to finish (of course with respect to the Belgian GK who was exceptional).

Hoping that Canada finds a way to advance. They deserved #1 in CONCACAF.

Costa Rica on the other hand...

 

[quincy101]

Get your best ball handlers on the field and line them up to string together quick passing and stay narrow. It’s pretty much the opposite of what Gregg wants to do, but our best combo play was in the middle of the field and this business of stretching to the sideline to draw space and 1v1 matchups will be exploited by England on

I've got a feeling that after the first 5 minutes of passing back & forth in our half, our boys will dump Beer?halter's system and just start playing. Get forward & attack! Up the left side with Jedi, the right side with Dest and particularly through the middle with Adams to Musah. Pressure, pressure, pressure, attack, attack, attack. Adams & Ream passes will get the ball rolling. It might not work but it sure will be entertaining.

 

[quincy101]

I've watched a lot of Christian Pulisic. To me, he plays the biggest in the biggest games. For example, a semi-final in the Champions League 2 years ago vs Real Madrid, he scores for Chelsea in the 1st leg and sets up Mason Mount for a goal in the 2nd. And, of course, Chelsea goes on to become European champions. I expect CP to have a major role in our victory over the Rosbifs.

 

[TU_BLA]

I keep harping on going through to the round of 16 via goal differential because I believe that us & Wales will mirror each other with a win & a tie or win and a loss.. If this happens, goals conceded & scored between us become so important. However, if Beer?halter makes 5-6 changes to the starters for England & loads up with guys like A. Long, Shaq Moore, Roldan, etc. and we get bombed, you can forget about going through on goal differential. Of course, we prolly, at that point, won't on points either. (Unless we beat England & Iran both and then it's top of the group and we won't meet the Dutch in the 1st knockout round. USA!, USA!))

We're better than the Dutch with the exception of Van Dijk. They've got good players but I think we match up well with them, have a slight advantage at GK and our fullbacks and with our wing forwards in terms of speed.

And their coach is better. Berhalter seems to think this is Rec soccer and everyone gets a chance to play.

 

[TU_BLA]

To state the obvious, when you miss an early PK in a match with quality, experienced players like Belgium you are really in a hole. Belgium had 1 decent chance and put it away. Canada controlled the entire first half and part of the second but unable to finish (of course with respect to the Belgian GK who was exceptional).

Hoping that Canada finds a way to advance. They deserved #1 in CONCACAF.

Costa Rica on the other hand...

Canada deserved a goal at some point but Courtois is the best keeper in the world right now (according to my son) and he did nothing to leave that designation in doubt. He was simply brilliant as he was in UCL finals last year vs Liverpool. But Canada pretty much neutralized most of the Belgian big names for most of the game. It was one of the worst, least efficient/effective games I've ever seen DeBruyne play. Canada's speed up top puts a lot of pressure on teams...and we all know now it wasn't just the US and Mexico they can make look bad. Davies, David, and Buchanan are monsters to deal with. I expect both David and Buchanan to score moves to top Euro teams. Davies already features for Bayern.

 

[TU_BLA]

I've got a feeling that after the first 5 minutes of passing back & forth in our half, our boys will dump Beer?halter's system and just start playing. Get forward & attack! Up the left side with Jedi, the right side with Dest and particularly through the middle with Adams to Musah. Pressure, pressure, pressure, attack, attack, attack. Adams & Ream passes will get the ball rolling. It might not work but it sure will be entertaining.

If England starts Maguire against us, we will get at least one PK in our favor. My son called him the Statue of Old Trafford. He simply doesn't move all that well when needing to track back on through balls.

 

[TU_BLA]

Coach Huffy’s team sheet: across the front: CP, Weah and Gio. Aaronson withdrawn/10 bleeding onto the right, two sitters on the double pivot, Mousa and Adams, Jedi, Ream, Zim, and Dest. Rest McKinnie. We are going to need him to beat Iran and he’s on a yellow and hurt and rusty.

England will come in cocky and overconfident. They play a lot of single man marking and three in the back hoping to set a high block and hoping to flood zones. We struggled at linking the ball and 1v1 against Wales. Get your best ball handlers on the field and line them up to string together quick passing and stay narrow. It’s pretty much the opposite of what Gregg wants to do, but our best combo play was in the middle of the field and this business of stretching to the sideline to draw space and 1v1 matchups will be exploited by England on the dispossession. Our guys will be outclassed at some positions defending alone after a turnover. Short crisp passes, narrow lanes, none of this business with Sargent running gorgeous diagonals to the flag that nobody bothers to pass to and draws defenders to Weah. Or chipping it up to raise the block high and hoping to get a cheap turnover that turns into a quick scoring opportunity. It will put a lot of pressure on Musah and Adams to link with CP and Aaronson but there’s going to be space there. England will flood bodies that’s what they do. That means Weah alone between their two center backs with room to roam. They saw him score. Make them respect that, not our dumb sideline game where I best player holds the ball too long.

So if you're England and think the US might take this approach, do you counter with TAA on the right and a Grealish somewhere in the MF wide on the left? I am thinking Dest will simply be overmatched by Grealish and TAA can get behind Jedi if he's pushing high. TAA is simply one of the best at delivering quality crosses and guys like Kane and Grealish eat those things up. If England stays with a Foden or Sterling on the left, we're due for a battle of leprechauns as the combined height of Dest and one of those 2 players might be 8'5" 😂😂😂

 

[drboobay]

Canada deserved a goal at some point but Courtois is the best keeper in the world right now (according to my son) and he did nothing to leave that designation in doubt. He was simply brilliant as he was in UCL finals last year vs Liverpool. But Canada pretty much neutralized most of the Belgian big names for most of the game. It was one of the worst, least efficient/effective games I've ever seen DeBruyne play. Canada's speed up top puts a lot of pressure on teams...and we all know now it wasn't just the US and Mexico they can make look bad. Davies, David, and Buchanan are monsters to deal with. I expect both David and Buchanan to score moves to top Euro teams. Davies already features for Bayern.

For those of you old enough to have watched the original NASL Roughnecks in person that Belgian player taking his only real chance made me reminisce about Georgio Chinaglia of the NY Cosmos.

He would seem like he was drifting around doing nothing most of the game, get 2 touches, and score 2 goals.

 

[Li'l Eric Coley]

For those of you old enough to have watched the original NASL Roughnecks in person that Belgian player taking his only real chance made me reminisce about Georgio Chinaglia of the NY Cosmos.

He would seem like he was drifting around doing nothing most of the game, get 2 touches, and score 2 goals.

Georgia was such a prick and he loved being the villain. I was always a fan of Karl Heinz Granitza. The Chicago Sting is still one of my favorite logos ever.

 

[drboobay]

Harsh decision against Ghana on that penalty. Unfair IMO.

 

[nevadanatural]

Harsh decision against Ghana on that penalty. Unfair IMO.

Couldn’t agree more, he got the ball and that was a fair shoulder charge.

 

[HuffyCane]

For those of you old enough to have watched the original NASL Roughnecks in person that Belgian player taking his only real chance made me reminisce about Georgio Chinaglia of the NY Cosmos.

He would seem like he was drifting around doing nothing most of the game, get 2 touches, and score 2 goals.

Exactly. It’s why the possession game/stat is widely overrated. The only two metrics that matter are chances created and rest for the defense.

 

[nevadanatural]

Brazil is looking pretty tough, they might have the team to take it all this year.

 

[drboobay]

Brazil is looking pretty tough, they might have the team to take it all this year.

Just one match so far though...

 

[Li'l Eric Coley]

Just one match so far though...

Yeah, the Brazil I like to remember is the one who took a seven-goal blitzkrieg up its backside from the Germans. Such a glorious day.

 

[quincy101]

Oh my! Huffy's concern about Iran was suddenly justified in stoppage time vs Wales as they scored twice. Wow! Wales was down a man & the Iranians took full advantage late. I like this result and still believe we can go through with a win vs Iran (gulp!) and a goal or 2 vs England today, regardless of the Rosbif result.

The score was 0-0 until stoppage time early this morning when the Wales goalie got the RC for a high boot in the 85th minute. Goal differential is Iran minus 2 & the US is 0.

 

[nevadanatural]

Wow, virtually the same lineup as against Wales. The only change is Wright for Sargent. I don’t know anything about Wright so I don’t know if this is a good move or a bad one. The ref was yellow card happy against Wales so I have to ask, how many yellows do you get before you have to sit a game?

 

[TU_BLA]

Wow, virtually the same lineup as against Wales. The only change is Wright for Sargent. I don’t know anything about Wright so I don’t know if this is a good move or a bad one. The ref was yellow card happy against Wales so I have to ask, how many yellows do you get before you have to sit a game?

Yellow card accumulation before being suspended is 2. At some point they get wiped out...maybe before the semifinals?

 

[HuffyCane]

Correct. they are reset for the quarter finals. If you get a yellow in the quarters and the semis, you miss the final.

Wright makes sense. The understanding between CP and Sargent was poor. Sargent made some beautiful runs that CP didn’t see. And he made some meaningless ones too because CP was busy dribbling backwards or being caught in possession. As long as the passes are clean and quick and they both stay narrow we appear to be willing to bruise up the middle and create space wide presumably for Jedi.

Wright and CP have been playing together since like age 13. So he’s the natural replacement. Reyna must be hurt and being saved for Iran.

All the stuff about a team effort and needing others to play a role beyond CP appears to be garbage at least for this game. This is CP’s team and it appears to be all going through him. Chelsea struggled with that identity. He can confirm that decision or prove them wrong today.

 

[quincy101]

don’t know anything about Wright so I don’t know if this is a good move or a bad one.

Wright plays in the top Turkish division which ain't bad futbol. He's scored 9 goals for his club team in 13 games. Again, I'd prefer Sargent, but this kid might unlock our relative scoring problems.

 

[TUcandoit]

The crowd noise is so much louder than the broadcasters. I can't even hear what they are saying. Fox needs to fix this.

 

[GoldenCaneKC]

Entertaining first half. Back and forth with both teams having some decent chances. Robinson has been a little careless with the ball, but overall I’m happy with the performance so far. Especially with the quick passing through the midfield.

 

[nevadanatural]

Rather lackluster first half. Other than the hot shot by Mount I think the US had the best chances in the first half despite trailing badly in time of possession. McKennie should have netted that ball he got in the middle of the area. Pulisic off the crossbar literally hurt.

 

[nevadanatural]

I’m not happy with this result, satisfied but not happy. I don’t like the Iran win over Wales. I would much rather have seen a draw. We have to beat Iran now and we are not an offensive powerhouse. We create a lot of chances but just can’t seem to finish.

 

[Gold*]

Quite a game. Wasn’t big on Moore playing. I don’t know why Wright started. I think the deal on Reyna is who he plays over. I’m unhappy they we don’t start Aaronson, who might be our best player. I love Zimmerman but he is a liability right now.

All that said, it went better than I thought it would.

 

[TU_BLA]

US played the better today. Had the Brits on their heels much of the 2nd half and they were pretty gassed. Pulisic was the best player on the field for either team and maybe Turner should be starting for Arsenal. He was phenomenal and other than looking awkward with the ball at his feet, he played superbly. Ream was strong again and the one weakness I saw was Zimmerman trying to pass out of the back. The number of turnovers he was directly responsible for was way too high for me. Moore played OK but the drop off from Dest is very noticeable. Maybe we need to see Scally out there if Dest is not. Time to throw the sink at Iran. They're capable but I think we're rounding into form and are a pretty formidable side.

 

[TU_BLA]

Quite a game. Wasn’t big on Moore playing. I don’t know why Wright started. I think the deal on Reyna is who he plays over. I’m unhappy they we don’t start Aaronson, who might be our best player. I love Zimmerman but he is a liability right now.

All that said, it went better than I thought it would.

I thought Wright was about as effective as Sargent TBH. I don't think we had enough with Sargent and Reyna in to really see if they could make a difference.

 

[nevadanatural]

Sargent does have our only goal of the tournament.

 

[GoldenCaneKC]

Sargent does have our only goal of the tournament.

Tim Weah was the one who scored against Wales.

Overall, a solid performance. Not great, but serviceable. Agree about not liking Moore out there. He looked timid and uncomfortable when faced with any amount of pressure from England.

The good thing about a draw is now our fate is squarely in our own hands. Win and we’re in. And if we can’t beat Iran, then we don’t deserve to be in the knockout stages anyway.