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I was very critical of Zimmerman after the Wales match, and I didn’t think he was very good against England either. But, I have to give him credit today. He came in off the bench and was very strong in the air. I counted at least 4 headers he cleared out of the middle.

Dest might have played the best match of his life. Certainly the best I have seen him play, and I watched him play for Barcelona for almost a year. The cross he made to Pulisic for the goal was absolutely perfect. He made some excellent plays on defense too. There were times at Barcelona where I didn’t think he knew where the defensive side of the pitch was. Against Bayern, Davies absolutely ran circles around him and they substituted for him at the half. But, today his defense was excellent and Iran had no success attacking his side of the pitch.

There is nothing more to say about Moore. He had no business being on the pitch. And, I don’t get the hype about Robinson. He can run, but that is about the only attribute I see to his game. If you want to watch a 19 year old left back who can really play, watch Alejandro Balde for Spain/Barcelona. He has beaten out Jordi Alba at Barcelona but Luis Enrique for some reason still favors Alba for Spain. Maybe he thinks starting 3 teenagers would be too much.

I know what the offside rule is, and Weah was offside. But, the rule needs to be revised. Only the feet should be considered in determining if a player was offside.

Finally, I thought Brendan Aaronsen did an excellent job after replacing Pulisic. He showed more energy and skill than I have seen from him before.

The Dutch have been my favorite team ever since Cryuff and the Clickwork Orange team of 1974. They rekindled my interest in soccer and helped turn me into a rabid fan. Even having Robben in the team for 12 years couldn’t kill my love for them. To be honest, I won’t know who I’m rooting for until the match starts.
 
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I was very critical of Zimmerman after the Wales match, and I didn’t think he was very good against England either. But, I have to give him credit today. He came in off the bench and was very strong in the air. I counted at least 4 headers he cleared out of the middle.
I do like Zimmerman and he has shown good ability in the air. We will now forever remember him for that foul. But how about Carter vickers? He was absolutely solid.
Dest might have played the best match of his life. Certainly the best I have seen him play, and I watched him play for Barcelona for almost a year. The cross he made to Pulisic for the goal was absolutely perfect. He made some excellent plays on defense too. There were times at Barcelona where I didn’t think he knew where the defensive side of the pitch was. Against Bayern, Davies absolutely ran circles around him and they substituted for him at the half. But, today his defense was excellent and Iran had no success attacking his side of the pitch.
In this tourney Dest has been better defensively than he was on the offensive end. But man, yesterday it all came together didn’t it? His run, and then assist to Pulisic was awesome. McKennies pass was a thing of beauty. And he really was a handful going forward. Now he gets to play against his home country in the World Cup. Lol.
There is nothing more to say about Moore. He had no business being on the pitch. And, I don’t get the hype about Robinson. He can run, but that is about the only attribute I see to his game. If you want to watch a 19 year old left back who can really play, watch Alejandro Balde for Spain/Barcelona. He has beaten out Jordi Alba at Barcelona but Luis Enrique for some reason still favors Alba for Spain. Maybe he thinks starting 3 teenagers would be too much.
Man, I guess you’re used to watching some great right backs, because this might be the only thing in your post I’ll disagree with. Robinson isn’t perfect. He will miss 1-2’s and dribble the ball out of bounds at times…but he is absolutely solid because he gives so much. His fitness is through the roof. And his partnership with Ream is valuable. I don’t have any worries with him on the field. But yeah I suppose he could be a bit better offensively. Shaq Moore on the other hand scares the heck out of me.
I know what the offside rule is, and Weah was offside. But, the rule needs to be revised. Only the feet should be considered in determining if a player was offside.
Agreed
Finally, I thought Brendan Aaronsen did an excellent job after replacing Pulisic. He showed more energy and skill than I have seen from him before.
I’m the idiot who wanted Aaronson to start over Pulisic. I just thought in this game his skill set would have been better served vs the way Iran played. There were times in the 1st half that we could have pressed and turned Iran over and Pulisic was just lagging 5 yards away. Of course Pulisic got the winner so Gregg was right. But we saw what Aaronson could do as soon as he came on. He was good.
The Dutch have been my favorite team ever since Cryuff and the Clickwork Orange team of 1974. They rekindled my interest in soccer and helped turn me into a rabid fan. Even having Robben in the team for 12 years couldn’t kill my love for them. To be honest, I won’t know who I’m rooting for until the match starts.
You’ll be as torn as the Iron Sheik was yesterday. Lol. Or as torn as I was in 1984 when the Steelers played the Dolphins in the AFC championship. I had my Marino dolphins jersey on…but when the game started, I found myself rooting for the Steelers.
 
Who wants to look at the quarterfinal scenario for the USA? I hate to look ahead…but I wonder that it might makes the other games more interesting if we know how it could potentially impact us. I think it’s todays games that directly affect it.
 
Unless you can link the interview (and please dont), I am going to pretend you are making this up for 2 reasons:

- PSU effing sucks at soccer, that makes no sense, really Christian???

- I don't want to lose respect for him
Well...when he was coming out, would Pitt even be a viable option? Now? Maybe it would have been Pitt. So let's just think back to that snapshot in time.
 
I could only follow bits and pieces in the second half, was the 9+ minutes of added stoppage time accurate, and fair?
Was it in line with the amount of stoppage time in a weekly club game? No. But it was in line with the way it's been calculated in this tournament, maybe slightly higher.
 
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I thought Joshy Sargent was really solid. He did a bunch of little things and created some opportunities.

I think the Dutch are not insurmountable obstacle Saturday. I think there really are only 3 teams who are set apart. Spain, France and Brazil. The rest of the blue bloods are really good but not on their levels.

I'm somewhat on board with Mike about Antonee. What made his errors yesterday easier to deal with is his pace and stamina to make it back to his end on defense and be effective. But his 1st touch plenty of times was absolutely dreadful. Sometimes coming down that left wing, I've though about him as "the little engine that could" He is getting better, but you'll see him just kinda put his head down and just run, not much touch and sometimes outpaces the ball. Regardless and overall, yes I do like him and glad he's ours. There was a short report that Inter Milan are sniffing around for a possible $20 million move for him. Only a failed medical kept him from AC Milan in January 2020.

I really never want to see Shaq Moore on the pitch again. He was the epitome of dreadful yesterday. And I don't blame him, he is what he is....I blame Captain Dipshit.
 
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Well...when he was coming out, would Pitt even be a viable option? Now? Maybe it would have been Pitt. So let's just think back to that snapshot in time.

Vidovich was hired in 16 and he graduated in 17 so yes. I'm not saying he should have went to Pitt but PSU soccer blows and that place is a cesspool. Anywhere but there.
 
is....I blame Captain Dipshit.
Interesting discussion on the Football Show this morning with my guys Charlie and Neil.

Charlie had a profound take that Carlo Ancelotti will be managing Canada in the next World Cup. Charlie is good friends with Carlo and says this is not inside info but just a strong feeling. Carlo has a house in Vancouver and his wife is Canadian. Charlie also said your boy Gregg has secured himself as the manager for the next 4 years and World Cup. Ugh.

Neil said that the US has to do what they can to get into the UEFA Nations League and Copa America. There you go SMF…I teed it up for you.
 
I thought Joshy Sargent was really solid. He did a bunch of little things and created some opportunities.

I think the Dutch are not insurmountable obstacle Saturday. I think there really are only 3 teams who are set apart. Spain, France and Brazil. The rest of the blue bloods are really good but not on their levels.

I'm somewhat on board with Mike about Antonee. What made his errors yesterday easier to deal with is his pace and stamina to make it back to his end on defense and be effective. But his 1st touch plenty of times was absolutely dreadful. Sometimes coming down that left wing, I've though about him as "the little engine that could" He is getting better, but you'll see him just kinda put his head down and just run, not much touch and sometimes outpaces the ball. Regardless and overall, yes I do like him and glad he's ours. There was a short report that Inter Milan are sniffing around for a possible $20 million move for him. Only a failed medical kept him from AC Milan in January 2020.

I really never want to see Shaq Moore on the pitch again. He was the epitome of dreadful yesterday. And I don't blame him, he is what he is....I blame Captain Dipshit.
I think Sargent's performance has been underrated, he had spectacular hold play and made some great runs. He just needs to bury one. Definitely our starting 9 if healthy.
 
Interesting discussion on the Football Show this morning with my guys Charlie and Neil.

Charlie had a profound take that Carlo Ancelotti will be managing Canada in the next World Cup. Charlie is good friends with Carlo and says this is not inside info but just a strong feeling. Carlo has a house in Vancouver and his wife is Canadian. Charlie also said your boy Gregg has secured himself as the manager for the next 4 years and World Cup. Ugh.

Neil said that the US has to do what they can to get into the UEFA Nations League and Copa America. There you go SMF…I teed it up for you.
Interesting about Canada. They have a golden generation right now and a top class manager could bring it all together. However I think they'll have issues in the back and in goal mainly with the age of the key players. Attacking, they are very strong though.

I hope that is just Charlie's opinion about Geggy getting 4 more years. I mean what about putting in Shaq Moore says, 4 more years?

Was Neil talking about just the competitions or getting into either confederation? I could really get on board with the U.S. playing in either. That'd be a real tune up for 26
 
I think Sargent's performance has been underrated, he had spectacular hold play and made some great runs. He just needs to bury one. Definitely our starting 9 if healthy.
Most definitely. I hope he is healthy because I think he can be effective against the Dutch. Maybe not scoring but definitely making an impact.

I wish we could pay FIFA and the FA off to buy Harry Kane.
 
Interesting about Canada. They have a golden generation right now and a top class manager could bring it all together. However I think they'll have issues in the back and in goal mainly with the age of the key players. Attacking, they are very strong though.

I hope that is just Charlie's opinion about Geggy getting 4 more years. I mean what about putting in Shaq Moore says, 4 more years?

Was Neil talking about just the competitions or getting into either confederation? I could really get on board with the U.S. playing in either. That'd be a real tune up for 26
I think just the competitions.
 
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By then he will be a star in Europe…maybe even follow his friend Erling Haaland to Man City where his Dad Claudio played.
I wonder if he has any regret filing for the USMNT. I really can't see him and his dad being too happy right now.

But also, is there any chance Borussia has basically pressured Geggy into resting him?
 
Most likely opponents in rd of 8 would be Argentina, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Australia if they hold on vs a good Denmark team.

Root how you must.

Group C winner vs group D runner up is the rd of 16 match up.
 
Most likely opponents in rd of 8 would be Argentina, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Australia if they hold on vs a good Denmark team.

Root how you must.

Group C winner vs group D runner up is the rd of 16 match up.
Things could align quite nicely. If they can get by the Dutch then the semi's is a real possiblity.

The quarterfinal matchup would be against either the Socceroo's, KSA, Argentina or Polska.

Of those 3, no thanks to Argentina. I think if Messi gets out of the group stage, it's gonna be tough to stop the Argentinians.

Polska is good but beatable, KSA I think is also beatable.

I'm actually picking Polska to tie Argentine and Mexico to beat KSA, sending Polska and depending on goal differential Mexico or Argentina through.

I have a feeling Mexico is going to throttle KSA and I hope they do.
 
Things could align quite nicely. If they can get by the Dutch then the semi's is a real possiblity.

The quarterfinal matchup would be against either the Socceroo's, KSA, Argentina or Polska.

Of those 3, no thanks to Argentina. I think if Messi gets out of the group stage, it's gonna be tough to stop the Argentinians.

Polska is good but beatable, KSA I think is also beatable.

I'm actually picking Polska to tie Argentine and Mexico to beat KSA, sending Polska and depending on goal differential Mexico or Argentina through.

I have a feeling Mexico is going to throttle KSA and I hope they do.
KSA has the unique advantage of essentially playing together as a club team in the World Cup, given their whole lineup comes from the same club essentially. They would have been a nice bet to win their group. I wonder what the odds were. A small throwaway bet could have yielded a decent return. This also is a poor Mexican team by their standards.
 
KSA has the unique advantage of essentially playing together as a club team in the World Cup, given their whole lineup comes from the same club essentially. They would have been a nice bet to win their group. I wonder what the odds were. A small throwaway bet could have yielded a decent return. This also is a poor Mexican team by their standards.
Mexico almost escaped
 
Mexico almost escaped
It’s a funny game huh? You were right about them today. How does KSA look so good against Argentina and so poor today against the worst Mexico team in over 40 years?

538 gave Mexico a 16% chance of advancing an hour before kickoff…and they were so close!
 
It’s a funny game huh? You were right about them today. How does KSA look so good against Argentina and so poor today against the worst Mexico team in over 40 years?

538 gave Mexico a 16% chance of advancing an hour before kickoff…and they were so close!
Mexico was absolutely dominating. With any luck, they coulda had 4 or 5.
 
It’s a funny game huh? You were right about them today. How does KSA look so good against Argentina and so poor today against the worst Mexico team in over 40 years?

538 gave Mexico a 16% chance of advancing an hour before kickoff…and they were so close!

SA is awful. Middle Eastern football is terrible. Iran is exactly what I said they were: Costa Rica. Can they beat us, especially at their place? Sure. But on a neutral field, the US is much better.
 
It shows you how entertaining it could be when a team plays freely and knows that they need goals.

When Mexico was up 2-0, I'm not sure they realized that conceding 1 didnt matter at all because they needed to win 3-0 or 3-1. Each would have gotten them through. I didnt realize it until Landon Donovan said it and even Ian Darke was confused by that. I think they should have been playing ridiculously aggressive, like 1 defender, Ochoa up on corners, etc. Because like I said if they get caught and SA make it 2-1, you still go through with a 3rd
 
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