Kate has been around a long time covering Champions League for Fox and now CBS. She's good at what she does. But she can't make diamonds out of dog doo doo with the crew they have going now. For some reason, she has some bromance with Charlie Davies, who I find to be irritating as an on-air personality. Too bad it doesn't make sense to bring in the UCL crew with her (Carragher, Richards, and Henry) to cover US Soccer.
OT: We may win the World Cup in 2026
- Thread starter brad1218
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As satisfying as a 3-0 win over Mexico is...the back 4 was a bit of a shambles in terms of organization and shape.
The 4-3-3 we played last night with Musah as the base and two attack minded guys in Gio and Weston flanking him can leave us open at the back because of the disorganization of the CBs, as well as decision making on when the fullbacks bomb forward. we got caught out a few times where both jedi and dest were so far fwd. i would want to see that cleaned up, as a good team would have made us pay on the counter.
Musah though...he was the best player on the pitch. Pulisic had his brace, and others played well...but Musah made the whole thing work with his distribution and ability to cover a lot of ground. reminded me a bit of ngolo kante in his prime in terms of the amount of ground covered.
Turner was very iffy with his ball distribution. I was hoping that playing in Arteta's system would have improved that aspect of his game, but it doesn't seem like it has.
Agreed. It got better for a time, but the first 20 minutes were really worrisome. Things got better for awhile. Then it got disorganized again towards the end of regulation as all the extracurricular activity was going on.
The mids were a bit disorganized throughout the game. Not positive why although Reyna (who's workrate was the best I've seen with the USMNT) may have been the primary cause - he found himself out of position a bit too often. Seemed that was forcing the others to adjust more than should be necessary. I'm not bashing Reyna though, overall he had a good game with lots of positive impact and probably just needs more time in that role w/those players and a bit of watching film and coaching. He does need to stop diving in so much defensively, that's only okay when playing forward.
I think the most positively impactful 3 players in that game, in order, were Weah, Musah, and Puli. Not sure if we had any scoring chances without Weah being instrumental in it. Musah did Musah stuff and did so even while having to make up for the times when Reyna was caught out of position. He's a huge part of the USMNT success and can, at times, be really amazing out there. Puli seemed to take that first missed goal personally and did a great job of making up for it.
agreed on the MF. there were quite a few times where both weston and gio were caught roaming too far from their nominal positions and leaving the MF unbalanced. musah was usually alert enough to go cover, but there were a few moments in transition where a better team would have made us pay.
i also agree that Weah had a great game. However, because of the weaknesses that we had in defense and positional issues in MF, i thought musah really covered up those deficiencies well enough for us to keep a clean sheet, while also being very good in unlocking the attack with his distribution.
Agree. And I strongly agree w/the underlined part. Mexico didn't play very well and a better team would've made us pay for a number of mistakes, in the first half in particular.
It was good to see Pulisic didn't let that point-blank miss get to him. Dude is quite a weapon.
Seemed to me he used the miss as added motivation for scoring.
BTW.. after his 1st-half goal, I could swear some Mexico fan tossed a beer at him.. emptied his cup in his direction. Anyone else catch that?
I love that kid. I guess he is getting a lot of hate online from the Mexican Fanbase.
Not looking past the Nations League final, but... Here is the USA Gold Cup roster. As expected, it is an MLS-heavy B team. Only five players, of which only three are field players, appear on both rosters. Six dual-national debutants will be cap-tied.
USMNT names MLS-heavy roster for 2023 Gold Cup
U.S. men's national team interim head coach B.J. Callaghan has named his 23-man roster for the 2023 Gold Cup. Of the 23 players, 16 will come from MLS teams as most of the USMNT's biggest names will participate in the CONCACAF Nations Lea
prosoccerwire.usatoday.com
Wow. I read that as the players that are trying out for 2026. Hard to argue with last night’s result. It’s almost as if US players should be in playing in Europe to become best equipped for international competition. 🙄Not looking past the Nations League final, but... Here is the USA Gold Cup roster. As expected, it is an MLS-heavy B team. Only five players, of which only three are field players, appear on both rosters. Six dual-national debutants will be cap-tied.
USMNT names MLS-heavy roster for 2023 Gold Cup
U.S. men's national team interim head coach B.J. Callaghan has named his 23-man roster for the 2023 Gold Cup. Of the 23 players, 16 will come from MLS teams as most of the USMNT's biggest names will participate in the CONCACAF Nations Leaprosoccerwire.usatoday.com
Not looking past the Nations League final, but... Here is the USA Gold Cup roster. As expected, it is an MLS-heavy B team. Only five players, of which only three are field players, appear on both rosters. Six dual-national debutants will be cap-tied.
USMNT names MLS-heavy roster for 2023 Gold Cup
U.S. men's national team interim head coach B.J. Callaghan has named his 23-man roster for the 2023 Gold Cup. Of the 23 players, 16 will come from MLS teams as most of the USMNT's biggest names will participate in the CONCACAF Nations Leaprosoccerwire.usatoday.com
The USSF typically rolls out their B/C squad for the first Gold Cup following a World Cup. This is fine for 2023 - we may see a few players who move up the ranks. My understanding is the other nations - Mexico, Canada, Panama, Costa Rica will also go with younger players.
However, I continue to wish that CONCACAF would schedule the Gold Cup once every four years rather than twice in a four-year cycle.
This was interesting. Shows how silly the anti-GB sentiment is:
The soccer world reacts to Gregg Berhalter’s stunning USMNT return
Gregg Berhalter is back as the U.S. men's national team head coach, and people are handling the news with calm, measured thoughts. And why wouldn't they? It's been a completely normal process in which Berhalter's contract ran out just
prosoccerwire.usatoday.com
I see an article with a bunch of embedded tweets. The lowest form of journalism. What's the interesting part?This was interesting. Shows how silly the anti-GB sentiment is:
The soccer world reacts to Gregg Berhalter’s stunning USMNT return
Gregg Berhalter is back as the U.S. men's national team head coach, and people are handling the news with calm, measured thoughts. And why wouldn't they? It's been a completely normal process in which Berhalter's contract ran out justprosoccerwire.usatoday.com
A
anon_ivydyf0amkzay
Guest
That GB has coached the most goals per game and most wins of any USMNT coach. I didn’t know that. But, if it’s true, I’m not surprised. He’s been good. I really don’t understand the antipathy towards him.
I think it is because some people think he has underperformed based on the talent at his disposal. If you believe that then you wouldn't be impressed with goals per game stats vrs other regimes - especially since he has definitely scheduled on the weak side. Certainly if you look at the Trinidad match that eliminated us from 2018 - that lineup is way worse than what GB has at his disposal now. It's a bit funny though because you really have to give him credit for recruiting Dest and Musah which made the team more talented. Anyway, the other reason for antipathy is more how I land - this upcoming world cup was a stars aligned deal. Quasi-hosting and our golden generation in their mid 20s. That's the time to bring in a (expensive) heavyweight coach IMO. Our performance at the last World Cup was just.... ok. Wasn't enough to double down with this guy to me.
That’s a very reasonable take. I don’t think he has under-performed, but realistically, it’s impossible to say either way. Maybe he has, maybe he’s maximized the potential - just no way to prove either thing.
However it’s, of course, always possible someone else could do a better job. I was open to someone new. I just hoped whomever it was would continue in the same style of play, the same direction developmentally.
I think the team has been on a good trajectory with GB, always improving, and would like to see how the team evolves along the same path. I like that GB has encouraged possession and creativity and aggressive attacking. And I’ve seen no reason not to trust his personnel choices.
A lot of the comments GB makes after games correlate with my observations about where the team needs to focus. IMO, he’s pushing the players in all the right ways and, while they don’t always achieve the stuff he’s asking from them, the player’s comments often confirm that they agree w/his direction and are trying. This is critical, IMO, to the team reaching its potential.
He’s a bit of an odd duck and that can be off-putting in interviews. But the players seem to like and support him, which is way more important than how the outside world views him.
Yes I think we are in the same general spot. I'd like to think most of our previous coaches (outside of maybe Bora) WANTED to play attractively - it was just the personnel wouldn't allow for it. And to add to mine above - regarding the new striker who could have picked England - GB also should get some credit for recruiting him. Based on what I'm reading (never seen him play) the market is valuing him as our 1 or 1a talent. So a huge, huge get at a position of critical need.
I'm not 100% down on re-hiring Triple G, but this pretty much expresses my opinion on the utter ridiculousness of the USSF hiring process. That said, I hope he is able to demonstrate more tactical flexibility against top-shelf opponents. Thankfully, we'll all get a close look at what transpires at Copa America 2024.
I see it looks like Aaronson in the Adam's role tonight? Interesting. I've been asking for Scally for a while - let's see what he can do.
Aaronson’s been high energy to start, but maybe needs to calm down a tad defending.
I’m irritated by the loss of players to stupid red cards.
We're gonna win the Gold Cup and the World Cup in 2026, just like the thread says! Have only seen the 2nd half, since I was watching the golf until then, but those goals looked nice and we've had a lot of chances in the 2nd half, although Canada has too on some mistakes by the US. Ought to be able to close this out.
GB is Tr4sh. Any other coach would have a high goals per game
The reason for the Most Goals per game is that UEFA started doing Nations League in 2018. As a result when typically USA would be looking for a QUALITY international friendly, these were not there anymore. A couple of windows were taken away.
Without the ability to schedule teams, CONCACAF started their Nations league in 2019 as well as scheduling more CONCACAF games to fill those windows
So now double the amount of CONCACAF games and Less European/South American games
Only showing EUFA and COMEBOL matches
2013-2017(Non Gold Cup or World Cup/Qual Games) Only 4-years
Belgium L 4-2
Germany W 4-3
Bosnia Herze W 4-3
Scotland T 0-0
Austria L 1-0
Ukraine L 2-0
Turkey W 2-1
Czech W 1-0
Ecuador T 1-1
Columbia L 2-1
Ireland L 4-1
Chile L 3-2
Denmark L 3-2
Swizerland 1-1
Netherlands W 4-3
Germany W 2-1
Peru W 2-1
BRazil L 4-1
Iceland W 3-2
Ecuador W 1-0
Bolivia W 4-0
2019-2023 (European - Conmebol Non-WC games) 5 years (USA did not play any games from 2/1/20 - 11/12/20 - only 4 total games in 2020)
Ecuador W 1-0
Chile T 1-1
Venezuela L 3-0
Uruguay T 1-1
Wales T 0-0
Northern Ireland - W 2-1
Switzerland - L 2-1
Bosnia - W
Uruguay - T
Serbia - L 2-1
Colombia - T
Instead we can beat Grenada 7-1 and 5-0 in Nations League to pad the stats for people who think GB is good.
The last 2 games have been reflective of what we expect the USA to do.
If GB were coaching, he would be starting Paul Arriola, Kellyn Acosta, Jesus Ferreira, Jordan Morris and Cristian Roldan........ While brining in Gio & Balogun with 15 minutes to go just because GB doesn't know how to use dynamic players in his garbage "System". GB wouldn't even plan Messi if he had him.
This crew is hard to listen to. They’re right about Weah, though. player of the tournament IMO. When we got beat up by Canada in the WC qualifier, Weah wasn’t there. Last couple games, he’s been involved in every goal, and his defending tonight was huge (good adjustment by Callaghan).
Sloppy game tonight, Canada improved in the second half. US struggled in possession most of the game. And a lot of mental errors. But a win’s a win. Saw some nice moments by Reyna, who was good in both games.
In the 2nd half, Robinson was huge, anticipating and clearing a number of passes into the box that could have been very dangerous. Have always loved Weah and I'm really excited to see what Balogun brings to our long lost search for a striker, given what he showed in Ligue1 this year. Loved Reyna's pass, but his strength to hold off the defender while firing a strike into the back of the net was impressive.
The USA team is truly the CONCACAF giant. Tremendous play. I love Balogun. He's clearly the best #9 we've had in some time. He was feisty and a difference-maker. His goal tonight instantly became one of my favorite USA goals (and all due credit to Reyna). Ojeda used the term predatory - a great descriptor. Balogun also ups the ante for other USA strikers. This is a great thing.
Looking forward to Copa Oro - Should be some good tests for the B/C team.
Looking forward to Copa Oro - Should be some good tests for the B/C team.
I like Reyna centrally. All the angst WC about Weah vs Reyna - turns out I think the ideal is both playing.
I was saying, during the qualifiers, that having both in the field at the same time seemed like a key for the US to score. Weah has pace, Reyna has the ability to create on the ball. The two have complimentary skill that does even more to unbalance the opponent‘s D than either can do alone.
I thought Reyna looked pretty good in a holding mid role against Mexico. But he shined as an attacking mid against Canada. And one thing the announcers hinted at was accurate - Reyna is a whole lot more impactful when his work rate is higher, which happens when he’s more active defensively. Like so many other skill players, defending gets his head in the game more than waiting around for a pass.
I think there are good things to come for the US. The Gold Cup squad looks a little boring, missing so many starters as it does. But perhaps we’ll catch a glimpse of some upcoming talent.
I’ve never been more positive about the direction of the team.
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These are good points. Can’t argue any of them. I can’t remember the last time the US had so many quality options at midfield.
Think there is a place for Reyna, Puli, Weah, and Musa in the midfield. When Adams gets back from injury it will be interesting to see how he fits.
I am not a GB fan at all after watching him coach my club team (Crew). While it looked like his tactics adapted throughout the cycle, I don’t think he’s a great in the personnel department. I also think US soccer has progressed to the point where we should expect to get out of our group so to me it wasn’t a super special accomplishment. And he has a player pool far more advanced than his predassessors.
More controversially- I find it interesting that people are referring to this as a golden generation of players. I also disagree and think it is antiquated (late 80s/early 90s) mindset. The Donovan, Mathis, Beasley, JOB group would be a golden generation for the US. This group, while good and helping take US soccer to the next level, isn’t a golden generation. It is a representation of how far the US youth and academy system has advanced. We should come to expect these types of player going forward to be our new standard.
Think there is a place for Reyna, Puli, Weah, and Musa in the midfield. When Adams gets back from injury it will be interesting to see how he fits.
I am not a GB fan at all after watching him coach my club team (Crew). While it looked like his tactics adapted throughout the cycle, I don’t think he’s a great in the personnel department. I also think US soccer has progressed to the point where we should expect to get out of our group so to me it wasn’t a super special accomplishment. And he has a player pool far more advanced than his predassessors.
More controversially- I find it interesting that people are referring to this as a golden generation of players. I also disagree and think it is antiquated (late 80s/early 90s) mindset. The Donovan, Mathis, Beasley, JOB group would be a golden generation for the US. This group, while good and helping take US soccer to the next level, isn’t a golden generation. It is a representation of how far the US youth and academy system has advanced. We should come to expect these types of player going forward to be our new standard.
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Big if will be if reyna can stay healthy long enough to play a full tournament, let alone a full season at club level. Rumors floating that he'll be available this summer for a cut rate of 20-25m simply because he can't stay healthy.
So with the roster being announced today for the 2023 World Cup, should we talk about it here and hopefully keep the discussion somewhat insulated and soccer focused or should it have its own thread which will undoubtedly attract the haters?
I'd rather see a separate WWC thread. The dolts will troll either thread.
I vote to keep it here and change the thread title to something about the build up to the next world cup. Haters gonna hate, so we just mock and/or otherwise ignore them and they'll go away.
Incidentally, what "2023" world cup?
