USA soccer Mecca
- Thread starter Fk_Pitt
- Start date
Shouldn't have listed the men's and women's Gold Cups. No one cares. Good God though, can we finally start buying players to make MLS a Top 3 league? If not soon, then when?
And yet that's the tournament that you thought that the US should have saved their best players for, even though no one cares about it. And many of the rosters reflect that.
Not Mexico's. They had 8 starters vs US play vs Honduras last night. And while no one cares about the Gold Cup, fewer people care about the Nations League, which are are just 6 friendlies over the course of a year with a trophy at the end.
I like the Gold Cup, it's a nice little 2-3 week event, in the summer at a time when there isn't much sports to watch, I don't watch baseball or golf, my team USA is always in the mix to win, I never really knew of it until 2015, when they came to Baltimore and my daughter and I went to a double header at Raven's Stadium (US v Cuba and Jamaica v Haiti), since then I've been watching it every 2 years, I do just watch the USA games for the most part.
You don't care about the Gold Cup, you don't care about the Nations League, WTF competition that USAMNT plays in do you care about? those are really the only 2 that USA is always a serious contender. I guess you'd be more excited to see them eliminated in the group stage in UEFA
Two things. The Mexican soccer league starts up again soon. This tournament is a good way for some of their players to get in a bunch of at least somewhat meaningful games to get ready for the season, which is completely different than where the US European players are, season-wise.
And of course the people running Mexican soccer know that if they don't win they won't have a job for long. So the people picking the teams have a completely different motivations. For the US it's to make sure the best players are rested and ready for their next club season. For Mexico it's to not lose their job.
maybe now, I think it was 2019 maybe or 2017? USA was doing badly with a B team and after the group stage they brought back the A team guys.
They didn't just decide to do that on a whim. That was the plan all along. I believe that they no longer allow teams to make changes to their roster like that any more.
It’s a shame that the gold cup isn’t what euros are, or Copa America is, or African League of Nations. But it’s obvious what US Soccers rationale is, and one can’t really argue. It is what it is. Blame concacaf. But at the same time, if things were staggered and gold cup was next year, there would be no Copa America participation for the US, and that’s a good thing.
I don't know? all I remember is they brought in the regular A team guys, and they all wore different numbers in the "20s", than usual because their numbers were taken by younger guys in the group stage. Mayb your right, I don't remember if it was planned in advance? And I don't know if they changed the rules?
There's no set pattern to what years the Copa is played in, so there's flexibility in when it's held. Given that they invite guest teams, and that CONMEBOL is interested in the North American market, there should be a way to get the top CONCACAF into the Copa on a consistent basis.
If the US goes, it has to be their A team. In 2007, the US sent a B team after winning the Gold Cup and it wasn't well received. The upside of that though was that it set up the US participation in the Confederations Cup, including the win over Spain.
Personally I think they should prioritize winning the Gold Cup and every other thing they have a good chance of winning. The whole idea of saving the players for the "big" events is kind of silly. Personally, I think they have no chance to win a World Cup in my lifetime. Copa America, all of South America is in that, do you really think they have a shot?
Yes, we have a good team, FOR THE USA, but it's not really that great on the WORLD level. Pulisic is our super star right? Yes he's in the EPL, but he's no better than an average player, he rarely starts and probably sits 40% of his team's games. I think a lot of USMNT fans over rate this generation, they are great for USA sure, but not compared to the top world teams.
Prioritizing gold cup makes absolutely no sense for the long term health of the pool. Literally every player in Europe is in limbo on their club careers and it’s more important to give them their break and then allow them to go back and participate in preseasons with their clubs. With the World Cup being here in 3 years, we need our players in stable club environments so that they can develop and stay in good form. The goal is a good performance in 2026, not to win some second rate trophy in concacaf.
Whatever as long as you don't have some delusion that this group is good enough to win the World Cup in 2026. I'd rather see them win a 2nd rate trophy than nothing at all.
Another thing, Pulisic is a very good player and you’re selling him short. His injuries have been his biggest problem, and it’s difficult for a manager to depend on him given his injury history. And because he’s not English, it makes it easier for a manager to leave him on the bench because if he’s starting him over English players, the English press would make the managers life a living hell.
You are missing the point. The goal is to someday have a program good enough to win the World Cup. Has winning the gold cup EVER moved the needle in this country? We’ve won 7 Gold Cups and yet 99% of Americans don’t care. But a run in the 2026 World Cup to the round of 8 or semifinal helps grow the game exponentially and moves the sport further domestically and grows the game.
My point is more like, he's not an all-pro EPL player is he? And he's by far our #1 star, and a lot of the top teams in the world have half a dozen guys like him or better in their starting lineup.
So you think he's not played because he's American? Go look at Chelsea's stats, out of 38 games he only played in 24 and started only 8. Or was he injured at all? I don't know?
He has the best goals and assists per 90 than any player chelsea had had over the past few years. But injuries had made it difficult for him, and easy for managers under fire to play English guys like sterling.
And yes Pulisic as an international player for the USA, is as good as anyone. Our team is not overrated. Against England and all their stars, who was man of the match? Hint: his initials are CP.
These are the players for England in that game vs the US at the World Cup, and the current transfer numbers attached to them this summer:
Bellingham 115 million
Kane 100 million
Declan Rice 100 million
Mount 60 million
Others in their lineup like sterling, graelish, Phillips, etc went for that kind of money last summer. Yet it was CP10 who rose to the occasion.
Bellingham 115 million
Kane 100 million
Declan Rice 100 million
Mount 60 million
Others in their lineup like sterling, graelish, Phillips, etc went for that kind of money last summer. Yet it was CP10 who rose to the occasion.
Let's hope so, I'd love to see them do well in the WC, go further than before, I guess we'll see?
It’s always going to come down to the draw in The World Cup, and then we are going to have to upset a world power or two to make a run. They all say winning the World Cup is the goal, but if you held anyone’s feet to the fire I’m sure they’ll all admit that they have no shot. But a deep run in a World Cup we are hosting is the peak of the mountain and the only thing that will grow the sport domestically. All decisions should be made with that in mind. Which is why they should have made a real coaches hire.
I do think a Gold in the Olympics can grow the game a little because Americans love the Olympics and dont know its a U23/B team tournament. In fact, I dont think it can be argued that besides the World Cup, winning the Olympics would be bigger than Gold Cup, Nations League, and even Copa America in terms of getting the non-diehards to watch and gain interest. This is why I hope they are able to get 1st teamers to play next summer.
If you really want to win the Olympics, whoever among the A players is under 23, send them.
I don’t agree, as I don’t think anyone really cares about the Olympics anymore. But I won’t argue it.
How do they qualify? What’s the process? Or is it a moot point as host?
If you mean qualify for the Olympics, the US has already done that. The qualifier was (for some reason) 2022 CONCACAF U20 tournament. The US pretty much pummeled the field, winning their four knockout games by a combined 16-0. Included in that was a 6-0 win in the final over, of all teams, the Dominican Republic. So while the DR will be playing in the Olympics next summer, our pals from south of the border will be watching the DR playing.
Sucks to be them.
By the way, the only other team qualified so far is the French, as the hosts. But the UEFA U21 championship that is going on right now will decide three more spots, and the U23 African Cup of Nations that has also started will account for three more teams. So by the end of next week nine of the 16 will be decided.
On the other hand, if you mean the Copa America qualifiers, the six CONCACAF teams will be determined by the four semifinalists from the 23-24 Nations League, and the other two will be determined from a playoff of the four 23-24 Nations League quarterfinal losers.
Because apparently SMF forgot to tell everyone that the Nations League is just made up bullshit and the Gold Cup is where it's really at.
Because apparently SMF forgot to tell everyone that the Nations League is just made up bullshit and the Gold Cup is where it's really at.
I dont like how they allow French territories, Martinique and Guadeloupe in this. They arent FIFA members and their teams are lower division French players who have never been to those islands.
Should they allow Puerto Rico? Because that's who Martinique beat in their last match to qualify for the tournament.
On the other hand, Guadeloupe beat Guyana. And they aren't even physically located in the CONCACAF region, they are a South American country. And of course the US will play St. Kitts tomorrow, but that's only because they beat French Guiana.
So literally, of the six teams in the qualifiers for the last three spots, five of them shouldn't be allowed to play by your logic.
As a starting point, only FIFA nations should be allowed. I think Puerto Rico is in FIFA so yes they should be allowed. Though I'm not sure I understand the arbitrary nature of which territories FIFA allows and which they do not. If PR is in FIFA, Guadeloupe and Martinique should also be. And if Guadeloupe and Martinique are allowed in Concacaf, so should Greenland.
i still don't get why the ussf just doesn't come to their senses and join uefa.
Let them have their fun. Why would you care about such a trivial thing? First you wish the USA could leave CONCACAF because it's too easy, then you complain the weakest teams bring in a few ringers, and still suck. Sometimes USA brings in some Euros that have American fathers, but otherwise never been here.
They have some MLS guys who played against the US like Osorio and Miller and Borjan is on the team. But they're missing their top guys like David and Davies. And I think the drop off may hurt them worse than the US because, while Canada's top couple guys are probably better than the US's, they have far less depth
