USMNT - 2026 Cycle - The Next Chapter

[Nonlinear FC]

Just a general take: Folks took WAY too much from the first leg. Can't stress enough how much that terrible field fucked with what the US wants to do on and off the ball.

[mister d]

Agreed but also taking too much positive from this one? Not that the US wasn't in control, but conceding two was kinda gross and if you squint you can see a typical "better team without the result" here.

[HaulCitgo]

No way. That was the best attack I've ever seen from the national team. Yeah competition. With a different scoreline they would have shut it down. Big opportunity to build cohesion and try stuff.
The press looked confused though. Not sure they have the parts for that. Vasquez looked like shit. Zendejas was fine. Pepi looked like hed be outclassed against better competition. Pulisic can do whatever he wants so long as he nets two

[mister d]

I'm not sure we're saying anything all that different? They looked infinitely better than before but those 4 goals came on presumably far lower xG and then they conceded 2. I'm not convinced they have it in them to simply lock down when needed, but that could be a matter of who's playing more than anything. Also possible I'm just not ready to be optimistic this early on.

[Nonlinear FC]

You should be optimistic.

The amount of interchanging going on with every position other than the center backs was unprecedented. THAT is what a real manager does.

We utterly confused JAM by having our wingers, outside backs, central midfielders and striker all interchanging--going inside out and vice versa all night long. By doing so, we neutralized JAM's strength, which is their speed and dynamism down the flanks.

The two goals are not great, but they scored when the game was pretty much over (3-0) and we pretty much immediately scored again to make it 4-1. I'll take 4-2 and fixing our attack all day long.

[Giff]

Fuck this team. I’m not rooting for any Trump supporters.

Shake on it?

Certainly not dancing a jig for the guy.

[HaulCitgo]

Just weah to mckennie to beat man city in the champions league. Ho hum

[Nonlinear FC]

Fucking banger, too. What a goal.

[HaulCitgo]

https://www.givemesport.com/usmnt-janua ... world-cup/

[wlu_lax6]

Camp Cupcake team with a fairly uninspiring 3-1 win over Venezuela. Great strike on the first goal. But before that a missed bad PK taken. Costa Rica will be a stronger test Wed.

[HaulCitgo]

Thought they looked good. Only saw second half but I'd say inspiring. They've got the beginnings of some depth. And they played hard. Maybe a Venezuela C team also but definitely some stuff to build on and guys that should get another look

[wlu_lax6]

The RSL guys are very noticeable on the pitch tonight. CR is not putting much pressure anywhere on the field and the US press has been strong.

[wlu_lax6]

Nice, get your first national team goal and the gaffer is back in the locker room "looking for handwarmers"

[The Sybian]

Nice, get your first national team goal and the gaffer is back in the locker room "looking for handwarmers"

They don’t have a guy for that? Turned on the game just before the second goal, what a banger! Great pass, too.

[The Sybian]

This Agyemang guy looks like he has potential. He looks big (or CR is tiny), fast and drives hard to goal. And when did Charlotte get an MLS team?

[mister d]

Nice, get your first national team goal and the gaffer is back in the locker room "looking for handwarmers"

They don’t have a guy for that? Turned on the game just before the second goal, what a banger! Great pass, too.

Not if he was looking for handwarmers while taking a shit.

[Nonlinear FC]

A few guys stood out and both teams that got trotted out were clearly playing in a deliberate and mostly organized manner.

It's just difficult to take too much out of these games given the competition. I've always liked Luna -- he brings some grit and creativity in the middle. Dude played most of the game with a broken nose, which is insane. The kid that comes from D3 soccer land is quite impressive.

All three finishes were at a higher level, regardless of the competition.

[The Sybian]

Didn’t realize the U-17s are playing WC qualifiers. Beat US Virgin Islands today 22-0. Total shots were 52-0. We need to get into CONMEBOL. Should be a tougher match Wednesday against …. St.Kitts and Nevis. Guh.

[HaulCitgo]

One dude put in TEN

[Nonlinear FC]

It's a little weird to have the US playing in these rounds of a competition like that. A waste of everyone's time, really.

I turned the game on and watched them score 3 goals in 5 minutes and moved on with my time.

[The Sybian]

It's a little weird to have the US playing in these rounds of a competition like that. A waste of everyone's time, really.

I turned the game on and watched them score 3 goals in 5 minutes and moved on with my time.

Chase Adams and his 10 goal night strongly disagree.

[Nonlinear FC]

I mean, these types of games are what makes a guy like Jesus Ferreira "credible" strikers on the big boy team. I don't feel like looking it up, but he scored 4 or 5 goals against very shitty competition, padding his stat line in a ridiculous way and justifying him being the number one option for almost 2 years.

[The Sybian]

I mean, these types of games are what makes a guy like Jesus Ferreira "credible" strikers on the big boy team. I don't feel like looking it up, but he scored 4 or 5 goals against very shitty competition, padding his stat line in a ridiculous way and justifying him being the number one option for almost 2 years.

Yeah, I was mostly joking. I remember Ferreira getting 4 against some crappy Island nation. But I’m sure Adams is happy he played yesterday.

[garyclark]

Daryl Dike is healthy again.

[mister d]

The good thing about americans not giving a shit about soccer is they haven't ruined tonight for me like they did the 4 Nations Cup.

[HaulCitgo]

Good to be Marlon Fossey, Brian White and Patrick Schulte. 1, 3 and 3 caps but it's there for the taking. Better to be Diego Luna who has 3 caps but feels like a shot at the final roster.

[mister d]

I doubt White has a shot, but the other two might just given the positions?

[Nonlinear FC]

I doubt White has a shot, but the other two might just given the positions?

Schulte probably has an inside track right now, but that's a really muddy situation. Guys like Turner and Horvath are running out of time to grab regular playing time. I don't think you can bring a guy that's only getting Cup minutes. Or, put another way, you can bring one of those 2, but both dudes aren't getting a slot unless they fix their playing situations next year.

As I said upthread, I really like Luna. I don't think any of the other MLS midfielders bring much, frankly. (To be fair, I'm increasingly unfamiliar with younger MLSers.)

And at forward, I don't have stats, just a long history to go on. Guys that are at the Landon, Deuce, etc level of play (can score in the EPL) are the exception to the rule. If you are parked in MLS, I don't trust that you can produce against anything other than minnows. And I don't think we need a bunch of dudes like Brenden Aaronson (grit! hustle! doesn't finish!) We need a couple of those guys for specific situations, but we need creators and finishers and frankly the style and speed of play in MLS doesn't produce that long-term.

[P.D.X.]

watching in spanish so... is this straight to pens if tied?

[degenerasian]

watching in spanish so... is this straight to pens if tied?

Extra time

[mister d]

Or that.

[The Sybian]

Mother fucker. I was driving all night and just watched the highlights. WTF!?!?! Entire package was nothing but US chances, then a goal. Shocked to see Tessman in and McKennie as the 10 with Reyna on the bench. I know Reyna isn’t getting many minutes, but he is still the creative engine of this team even when he isn’t playing for club.

[Nonlinear FC]

I don't understand Tessman. Dude is a waste of space.

Pulisic had very little to do with this game, which needs to be fixed.

I dunno, not like they played like ass, but it was much more disjointed than I would've expected.

[HaulCitgo]

Creative engine more than a bit much. I like guys some dont but im gonna trust pretty much everyone who has coached the guy since the last world cup and assume they are not leaving some top level playmaker on the bench for no reason.

[wlu_lax6]

2-1 L to the Maple Syrup Boys