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OT: We may win the World Cup in 2026

I was surprised you thought it would be interesting.
I thought there would be more starters playing for the US. First competitive game since the WC.

But I was wrong. Wasn’t very interesting. Didn’t see much from Reyna, energy-wise, which surprised me some. But Puli brought great intensity.
 
Huge!!

It didn’t help England’s case that Southgate kind of took him to task in the media. His point was valid, but the message was loud and clear.
 
Huge!!

It didn’t help England’s case that Southgate kind of took him to task in the media. His point was valid, but the message was loud and clear.
Yeah, I heard what he said...... And although I agreed with him, that is how you lose a guy who was on the fence quickly.
 
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Ireland had a good performance against France in a Euro qualifier.

Lost 1-0.
 
Ireland had a good performance against France in a Euro qualifier.

Lost 1-0.
Didn't see it but stats look decent. One proxy - far from perfect though - I always look at is corners (I see 8-2 Ireland). Hard to wonder how IRL would look with Declan Rice and Grealish but that's the nature of these things for a small country (population wise).
 
I’m enjoying the TNT/HBO coverage with solid pre- and post-game shows.
I didn’t notice it while watching, but now that you mention it, the guys commenting during the game were pretty decent. Low key and dry. The fact that I didn’t notice them much is evidence of good coverage.

The WC coverage was irritating with all the manufactured drama. If I had to guess, I’d guess that the announcers and commentators were instructed or encouraged to dramatize everything.
 
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Didn't see this posted. We hired Matt Crocker from Southampton as our new US Sporting Director.

I wonder if he’ll understand the unique challenges we face identifying, and developing players in the US. Things have improved over the decades. But while there are challenges universal to all countries, the US has some added cultural challenges I think the others may lack.
 
In Crocker's last role as Southampton's Director of Football Operations, he offered the Manager position to Jesse Marsch, who turned it down. Could mean nothing. Could mean something.
 
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In Crocker's last role as Southampton's Director of Football Operations, he offered the Manager position to Jesse March, who turned it down. Could mean nothing. Could mean something.
Hopefully nothing, or at least hopefully whatever it was won't reoccur w/the USMNT.

I may be in the minority, but I think the USMNT was on the right path and was really only missing some depth to overcome injuries along with two key things:

(1) A central defender or two who can make more threatening passes to forwards, both when already in the attacking third, and when we're counter-attacking from our own defensive third. We seemed to lack that in the last WC, although perhaps Robinson's absence was part of that.

(2) A pure striker type who, given very little time or space, can consistently put the ball on the edges of the frame from anywhere in or around the box. Almost all successful world cup teams have this person but we do not at the moment.

If I were in Crocker's position, I'd seek consistency by either bringing back Berhalter or finding someone with a similar style-of-play philosophy. He's far from perfect, but so are all coaches. And I haven't ever seen a USMNT play a better game of soccer than they have done under him.

What's missing at the moment are those two things from above plus a bit more consistency. And consistency was clearly improving as the WC starters got more playing time together. The team needs tweaking, not a complete overhaul. Continued progress, not starting over.
 
C'mon, man.. historically, US Olympic teams often have naturalized citizens or dual-citizenship situations.. participants and coaches.
It’s done all over. I remember two of the main goal scorers for the German National team were Podolski and Klose, who were born in Poland.
 
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We desperately need a striker to step up. Hoping it's him. 19 goals in Ligue 1 this year good for top 5 in the league.
 
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