The Swamp

U.S. has dominated the game but can't generate too much danger. Paul A is best on the field. Not excited when Weston goes out on a stretcher. Bradley still brings something to possession soccer that the U.S does not have.

And a fluke deflection goal for Zardes

That goal was GARBAGE. I mean, I'll take it (obviously), but that goalie fucked that up spectacularly.

wlu_lax6 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 21, 2019 8:49 pm U.S. has dominated the game but can't generate too much danger. Paul A is best on the field. Not excited when Weston goes out on a stretcher. Bradley still brings something to possession soccer that the U.S does not have.

And a fluke deflection goal for Zardes

With Zardes it’s hard to tell what constitutes a fluke.

OK, having now seen the highlights, I see what the fluke was. But in the bigger picture, I love the way that Berhalter has turned Zardes’ unpredictability into a strength dating back to last year.

Rex wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2019 8:56 am

wlu_lax6 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 21, 2019 8:49 pm U.S. has dominated the game but can't generate too much danger. Paul A is best on the field. Not excited when Weston goes out on a stretcher. Bradley still brings something to possession soccer that the U.S does not have.

And a fluke deflection goal for Zardes

With Zardes it’s hard to tell what constitutes a fluke.

Whenever I hear the announcers say "poor first touch" I immediately assume it's Zardes.

I thought the US played well, especially in the first half. Some of the long, direct passes from the midfield to the wings were very good. Things slowed down when Bradley came on, but that's to be expected.

McKinnie's injury looked brutal. I thought he might've shattered his ankle at first, so it seems fortunate it's just a sprain.

Sabo wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2019 9:08 am

Rex wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2019 8:56 am

wlu_lax6 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 21, 2019 8:49 pm U.S. has dominated the game but can't generate too much danger. Paul A is best on the field. Not excited when Weston goes out on a stretcher. Bradley still brings something to possession soccer that the U.S does not have.

And a fluke deflection goal for Zardes

With Zardes it’s hard to tell what constitutes a fluke.

Whenever I hear the announcers say "poor first touch" I immediately assume it's Zardes.

I thought the US played well, especially in the first half. Some of the long, direct passes from the midfield to the wings were very good. Things slowed down when Bradley came on, but that's to be expected.

McKinnie's injury looked brutal. I thought he might've shattered his ankle at first, so it seems fortunate it's just a sprain.

I agree things slow down with Bradley but I like the way he starts controlling the flow of the ball. Like an old school telephone operator, ball goes to him, he moves it back, gets the ball moves it wide, goes to the ball, moves it again. Pair him with an aggressive passer and some speed (Paul A, Pulisic) for a big through ball and the team creates opportunities. I just don't see that with Trapp (and maybe that is not what this MNT's style is supposed to be).

The Sybian wrote: ↑Tue Mar 19, 2019 12:30 pm

wlu_lax6 wrote: ↑Tue Mar 19, 2019 8:20 am So Adams at Right back and Yedlin at right wing....interesting
https://sbisoccer.com/2019/03/adams-to- ... friendlies

Surprising, but maybe Berhalter knows what he is doing. He said they aren't asking Adams to do anything he isn't comfortable with, so maybe he has experience or the tools, but I wouldn't have expected it.

So that was an interesting role for Adams... Basically a defensive center mid with a reset point at right back. While Stu Holden kept screaming about Adams being out of position when the US turned it over, the US shifted to a 3-back formation when in possession. It actually made sense with Ream, who is more suited to left back in a 3 back formation. [I don't think Ream is strong enough, fast enough or good enough to play CB, and he adds very little as a LB in a 4 back formation]. Long was out way wide on the right when Adams roamed, so it was clearly an intentional formation shift. Like Stu said 30 times, a better quality team tears that apart, but there was only 2 times Ecuador even tested the shift. Interesting idea, and impressive they pulled it off with no training time together, but I don't see that much value in this formation, especially with Yedlin being one of the most solid starters playing in the same position. If it filled a void, like LB, it'd make more sense.

I still want to like Zardes for some reason, but he just isn't good enough to get this many looks. He is fast, and developed skills has a hold up and dish forward, but he doesn't make things happen, has an average shot, a terrible first touch, and isn't a poacher. I'd prefer to see Wood, Morris or even Jozy in that role, and hopefully in a year or two, Sargent makes an undeniable claim on the position. A bit wishful thinking, but the kid seems to have a knack for scoring.

I do like all the talk about how Berhalter is in constant communication with the player pool and their coaches, and sending videos and discussing tactics with the players throughout the year. Hopefully he can create a more intelligent and deeper strategy with the players if they are discussing things all year, and not just during camps.

I think our pool is finally deep enough that Berhalter can build a team around whatever strategy he wants to employ. He has personnel options to run just about any formation or gameplan, which is excited. Way more interesting than the days of being forced to build around fitness and mental toughness, and grind out games against teams that are better tactically and more skilled. This, along with so much young talent, I am cautiously optimistic about the future.

They weren't so classy in the back trying to finish off the win. Would have been abysmal without Bradley. It's a bit shocking to see guys tun it over in the back trying to protect a lead. No chance that gets it done.

Syb, that was Taylor Twellman doing the screaming, not Stu Holden. I much prefer Holden over Twellman as a commentator because Stu doesn't need to scream or get worked up to make his point.

And I agree with your later points about Berhalter being in constant communication with the pool players and the better talent. This USMNT team feels much different than previous years because there is obvious young talent and they have a coach who seems to give a damn about tactics and having a strategy. It always felt Klinsmann's strategy was to throw a bunch of guys on the field and tell them to play without having a cohesive plan. I don't know what to say about Arena's plans other than they didn't work.

Sabo wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2019 10:54 am Syb, that was Taylor Twellman doing the screaming, not Stu Holden. I much prefer Holden over Twellman as a commentator because Stu doesn't need to scream or get worked up to make his point.

And I agree with your later points about Berhalter being in constant communication with the pool players and the better talent. This USMNT team feels much different than previous years because there is obvious young talent and they have a coach who seems to give a damn about tactics and having a strategy. It always felt Klinsmann's strategy was to throw a bunch of guys on the field and tell them to play without having a cohesive plan. I don't know what to say about Arena's plans other than they didn't work.

Well in the life cycle of building a system, you could see it last night. The moment at the end the first half when the Ecuador player was being treated, a number of U.S. players are standing next to coaches getting very clear coaching (not instruction but actual coaching). And it was not just Berhalter..Wolff had players too.

Sabo wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2019 10:54 am Syb, that was Taylor Twellman doing the screaming, not Stu Holden. I much prefer Holden over Twellman as a commentator because Stu doesn't need to scream or get worked up to make his point.

And I agree with your later points about Berhalter being in constant communication with the pool players and the better talent. This USMNT team feels much different than previous years because there is obvious young talent and they have a coach who seems to give a damn about tactics and having a strategy. It always felt Klinsmann's strategy was to throw a bunch of guys on the field and tell them to play without having a cohesive plan. I don't know what to say about Arena's plans other than they didn't work.

Shit, that was Twellman. Makes me feel better, because I love Stu and felt bad criticizing him. I generally like Twellman, but he does tend to yell and get super critical.

Klinnsman also frequently put players out of position. I remember a game where 7 or 8 players were starting out of their natural or best positions. Totally agree he never seemed to have a plan, and the players weren't happy. He didn't have a system, and didn't merge his game plan with the personnel on hand. He did bring in a lot of German talent that might not have otherwise played for the US, but I think he relied too much on German born players.

HaulCitgo wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2019 10:46 am They weren't so classy in the back trying to finish off the win. Would have been abysmal without Bradley. It's a bit shocking to see guys tun it over in the back trying to protect a lead. No chance that gets it done.

Ream royally fucked up towards the end. He can't make it through a game without a major boneheaded mistake. Not sure he remains in the picture.

Ream almost did it again in the first half against Chile. Not good seeing Pulisic go out with an injury. Good start but after that Chile is bringing it and making the US d look terrible.

Pulisic gets hurt... a lot.

What happens to tiny dribblers. I haven't noticed him missing a ton of time though. Might be some career self preservation going on there. Wouldn't be but so invested in a friendly ahead of important bundesliga matches and an extended chelsea tryout.

I think soccer players seem to get hurt more because they play year-round. So missing a month means you miss some club time or international time almost always.

Talk of Us of A v. Jamaica at Audi Field in DC on June 5th...Gold Cup tuneup.

Real quick, Pulisic has been dinged up most of this season. And he gets whacked a lot because he relies on quick touches at a defender's feet, hoping they guy lunges in so he can scoot by with a double-tap or some other subtle thing. A lot of defenders just to the professional thing and just whack at his ankles, which is a decent percentage play when he's 3 yards from the touchline doing that stuff, so a free kick from there isn't a huge deal.

So we get fall matches against Cuba and Canada as part of the Nations League (and a chance to cap tie some folks). So Bermuda, Curacao, Martinique, and Haiti are a league ahead of El Salvador and Jamaica.

LEAGUE A
Group A: United States, Canada, Cuba,

Group B: Mexico, Panama, Bermuda

Group C: Honduras, Trinidad & Tobago, Martinique,

Group D: Costa Rica, Haiti, Curacao,

LEAGUE B
Group A: French Guiana, St. Kitts & Nevis, Belice, Granada

Group B: El Salvador, Dominican Republic, St. Lucia, Montserrat

Group C: Jamaica, Guyana, Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica

Group D: Nicaragua, Suriname, St. Vincent & Grenadines, Aruba

LEAGUE C
Group A: Barbados, Cayman Islands, St. Martin, U.S. Virgin Islands

Group B: Bonaire, Bahamas, British Virgin Islands

Group C: Guatemala, Puerto Rico, Anguila

Group D: Guadalupe, Turks & Caicos, St. Maarten,

wlu_lax6 wrote: ↑Thu Mar 28, 2019 7:10 am So we get fall matches against Cuba and Canada as part of the Nations League (and a chance to cap tie some folks). So Bermuda, Curacao, Martinique, and Haiti are a league ahead of El Salvador and Jamaica.

LEAGUE A
Group A: United States, Canada, Cuba,

Group B: Mexico, Panama, Bermuda

Group C: Honduras, Trinidad & Tobago, Martinique,

Group D: Costa Rica, Haiti, Curacao,

LEAGUE B
Group A: French Guiana, St. Kitts & Nevis, Belice, Granada

Group B: El Salvador, Dominican Republic, St. Lucia, Montserrat

Group C: Jamaica, Guyana, Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica

Group D: Nicaragua, Suriname, St. Vincent & Grenadines, Aruba

LEAGUE C
Group A: Barbados, Cayman Islands, St. Martin, U.S. Virgin Islands

Group B: Bonaire, Bahamas, British Virgin Islands

Group C: Guatemala, Puerto Rico, Anguila

Group D: Guadalupe, Turks & Caicos, St. Maarten,

How did Guatemala fall into League C? Look at some of the teams (they aren't even countries!) in League B.

Where the fuck is Bonaire!!?

=-=-=-=

Oh, wait. I can't read, apparently.

Go Bonaire!!

The Sybian wrote: ↑Thu Mar 28, 2019 9:50 am
How did Guatemala fall into League C? Look at some of the teams (they aren't even countries!) in League B.

Guatemala could not enter due to FIFA suspension after missing the deadline of 1 March 2018


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019%E2%8 ... qualifying

So Men's National Team Union sent note saying don't schedule a game on Sod over turf the. They started hearing rumors of the friendly vs. Venezuela...US Soccer said...we are playing in Sod over turf.

Provisional 40 man for the US Gold Cup. So the team will be selected from this group.

Goalkeepers: Zack Steffen, Ethan Horvath, Sean Johnson, Brad Guzan, Tyler Miller.

Defenders: Cameron Carter-Vickers, Marlon Fossey, Miles Robinson, Matt Miazga, Reggie Cannon, Greg Garza, Antonee Robinson, Andrew Gutman, Nick Lima, Aaron Long, Daniel Lovitz, Tim Ream, Omar Gonzalez, Walker Zimmerman.

Midfielders: Tyler Adams, Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Michael Bradley, Wil Trapp, Duane Holmes, Sebastian Lletget, Djordje Mihailovic, Darlington Nagbe, Cristian Roldan.

Forwards: Jozy Altidore, Paul Arriola, Corey Baird, Tyler Boyd, Joe Gyau, Gyasi Zardes, Jonathan Lewis, Jordan Morris, Christian Ramirez, Josh Sargent.

Tyler Miller instead of Hamid? Guzan instead of Hamid?
Still surprised Russell Canouse can't get a sniff.

wlu_lax6 wrote: ↑Mon May 20, 2019 11:11 am Provisional 40 man for the US Gold Cup. So the team will be selected from this group.

Goalkeepers: Zack Steffen, Ethan Horvath, Sean Johnson, Brad Guzan, Tyler Miller.

Defenders: Cameron Carter-Vickers, Marlon Fossey, Miles Robinson, Matt Miazga, Reggie Cannon, Greg Garza, Antonee Robinson, Andrew Gutman, Nick Lima, Aaron Long, Daniel Lovitz, Tim Ream, Omar Gonzalez, Walker Zimmerman.

Midfielders: Tyler Adams, Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Michael Bradley, Wil Trapp, Duane Holmes, Sebastian Lletget, Djordje Mihailovic, Darlington Nagbe, Cristian Roldan.

Forwards: Jozy Altidore, Paul Arriola, Corey Baird, Tyler Boyd, Joe Gyau, Gyasi Zardes, Jonathan Lewis, Jordan Morris, Christian Ramirez, Josh Sargent.

Tyler Miller instead of Hamid? Guzan instead of Hamid?
Still surprised Russell Canouse can't get a sniff.

Nice to see a Derby player make the squad

I was surprised John Brooks and DeAndre Yedlin weren't in the preliminary squad, and then I just read both are out with injuries.

Nation's League draw is official

A -- United States, Cuba, Canada

B -- Bermuda, Mexico, Panama

C -- Martinique, Honduras, Trinidad and Tobago

D -- Costa Rica, Curacao, Haiti

The top team in each League A group advances to the semifinals in March, and the last-place team is relegated to League B.

The U.S. intends to play exhibitions on the September FIFA dates for national teams.
US will play at Canada on Oct. 15 and at Cuba on Nov. 19.

I gotta say, these new uniforms are definitely red.

Missed the first half but this is some pretty low quality ball. Give me the US U-20 team over either side.

Golly!

Rex wrote: ↑Wed Jun 05, 2019 7:20 pm Missed the first half but this is some pretty low quality ball. Give me the US U-20 team over either side.

Just texting a friend that I am so jealous he forgot to record the game. Horrible to watch, but Sargent looks good.

That was just bad soccer. I stopped watching it and went to bed (had it DVR'd.)

The Sybian wrote: ↑Wed Jun 05, 2019 9:06 pm

Rex wrote: ↑Wed Jun 05, 2019 7:20 pm Missed the first half but this is some pretty low quality ball. Give me the US U-20 team over either side.

Just texting a friend that I am so jealous he forgot to record the game. Horrible to watch, but Sargent looks good.

And...Sargent is left off the Gold Cup roster.

So, they didn't send him to the U-20 World Cup team and they don't put him on the main roster. This is just so much pure fuckery. Still. US Soccer is such a shithole right now.

I don't understand the Sargent move, AT ALL.

You're not wrong, but the odds of Jozy picking up an injury this weekend are about 150% so he'll get into the squad anyway, and Soto is getting a great opportunity in Poland and doing well with it.

Nonlinear FC wrote: ↑Thu Jun 06, 2019 9:27 am I don't understand the Sargent move, AT ALL.

And all the Berthalter acolytes nationally are circling the wagons. God I fucking loathed his hire. This is such a shit show.

So who do you drop for Sarge? I probably drop Morris. Even with decent form in Seattle he is not fully proven he is back from his injuries. It is interesting they list Arriola as Forward when he really is an outside midfielder.

Also I wonder if Sarge only making the US camp was because his team would not release him for the u-20s. Do the U-23s have anything lined up for games? I could not find anything but the US Soccer site is not great for information on many of the national teams. I also wonder if US Soccer/Gregg realizes this is a kid who needs a break after his first full year of Euro pro/negotiation with his club (or I hope).

The only non-sinister, non-moron thing I can think of is that they cut a deal with his club that they will release him for the Olympic qualifying tournament in the fall, where he would be the man instead of a backup.

He should be there over Zardes, but Zardes and Trapp are on there as teacher’s pets so, there we are.

tennbengal wrote: ↑Thu Jun 06, 2019 10:46 am He should be there over Zardes, but Zardes and Trapp are on there as teacher’s pets so, there we are.

Zardes has been dangerous in the MNT games I have seen since the coaching change.