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anon_4dfwm2pijbr0a
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Don't you worry, he's crafting his thesis on how he was actually correct, with all kinds of hypotheticals. If this, that...If that, this...finished off with "you know I'm right."
USA Soccer thread
- Thread starter Fk_Pitt
- Start date
Zach Steffan has been having back spasms and also did not make the trip. Matt Turner gets the start in goal.
Wow, didn't realize they were relegated. That's crazy. I dont follow the Bundesliga as much but Schalk is one of the better clubs historically. The thing about the Bundesliga is its very balanced. You have Bayern on 1 level, Dortmund on another level, then there's not a huge difference between the others. 2 Bundesliga is a good league, probably one of the 10 best in Europe but obviously nowhere near La Liga as you stated. So good for Hoppe
They didn't think he was fit enough, coming off Covid. I said if he was healthy, he would play all 3. He apparently isn't 100%. If I say I guarantee Player X will start vs Team Y but they break their leg before the game, that kinda doesn't count against me just like this one.
Even if heās not 100% can he potentially give you 20 to 30 minutes a game? Maybe his breathing is more of an issue and being able to run full gas for even 20-30 isnāt possible.
Tough to say. Kai havertz missed most of the chelsea season after his Covid. He never really returned to full form. His champions league final winning goal was his first in the entire competition. I really hope that doesnāt happen to Christian. That chelsea lineup is one of the three hardest in the world to crack. Hopefully Christian can be at least a sub in the next USA game and a starter in the last.
Chelsea has a lot invested in a guy who has some terrible luck. Covid, pregame strain, in game hamstring. The return on investment isnāt looking great, and cracking that lineup will be very hard especially with Lukaku now and others playing very well. His time on field is looking less and less by the issue to the point he might not be on the field or in a Chelsea kit.
Yeah but they already made their money back in shirt sales. And he helped them win a UCL. Everything now is gravy.
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anon_4dfwm2pijbr0a
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As talented as CP is, I can't see him sticking around Chelsea after this season unless he takes it to another level. For the U.S., what's nice is missing CP is no longer a death sentence. We have a junkyard dog in McKennie and a workhorse in Ty Adams in the midfield. Another junkyard dog in John Brooks in the back, I'm optimistic we can come away with 9 points come the end of next week. Of course the U.S. achilles heel is who will score up top. I'm interested in seeing what this Ricardo Pepi kid can do if Sargent doesn't produce. If they produce three 1-0 wins I will be very happy.
Great point. Merchandise can take care of potential players not living up to expectations. The US desperately needs these guys to hang in there and play the highest level. I always watch Chelsea play and always look for him to play. I had hopes Landon Donovan could pull off EPL play, but he just couldnāt make it long term. I think Christian has more tools to work with and is very dynamic. But he has to be healthy.
Christian is at a world class level dribbling at defenders. Out wide In a 4-3-3 is where he is best suited in my opinion. And right now chelsea is playing a 3-5-2 and that doesnāt ideally suit him. Heās still good. But just not elite in a system that doesnāt emphasize his skill set. Get him in a different system and he could score 15-20 goals for someone. Letās not forget, heās still young. Imagine him playing for a Liverpool at the age of 27ā¦
Dortmund was such the perfect fit for him. I said back then I didn't think Chelsea was the best fit. I don't think he's quite good enough to be in the 11 every week at a super club.
As for Donovan - he could have played on a lower EPL team but didnt want to take the significant paycut. He also is a different dude. He liked being the dominant MLS dude.
Coaching changes can instantly push a solid player off the field. I always loved Chelsea and the 4-3-3. But coaches make decisions and opponents influence change, and of course getting new players in can also dictate a lot. Adds more to the bad luck for him.
Jorginho just won european player of the year. Now, we know heās not the best player in Europe, but still!!! He won the award and won the two prestigious trophies for club and country. Then a few days ago Tuchel said that Chelsea plays in a 3-5-2 because of Jorginhoās limitations and the need for an extra centerback. So because of Jorginho, chelsea plays with one less attacker. Weird.
The problem with your "logic" is that Pulisic got covid BEFORE you made your pronouncement, not after. You knew that he was already compromised and yet you still said "They need to win and he will be rested in some ways. They need to make the WC so that means he starts and plays most of the 3 games"
It's as if you don't know that people can still see what you actually said and when you actually said it.
I know what I said. I also figured he was vaxxed and barely had any symptoms and thus would be at or near 100%
Yes, because all high level athletes that have to quarantine for 10 days lose no fitness or game shape or anything.
I mean seriously, if you know what you said then you know that your response to sjerz was pure bullshit. It's as if you think that admitting you were wrong about something is a character flaw, so you are willing to say anything, no matter how dumb it is, to try to justify why you being wrong just wasn't your fault.
Assuming he had little to no symptoms, he would have been staying in, training at home. We're talking a little over a week here. Pulisic is a world-class athlete. You dont go from that to a guy who can't play 30 minutes in 10 days. You know better than this.
I know that you were wrong, clearly and obviously wrong, and now all you are left with is making excuses as to why you weren't really wrong.
I'd say that you know better than this, but I think that it's pretty obvious to everyone here by this point in time that you might actually not know better. Which says a lot.
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anon_4dfwm2pijbr0a
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It's very close to being a must win. If they lose to Canada and lose or draw to Honduras, they're really behind the 8 ball.
Last night was extremely disappointing. I didn't watch the whole match, just the last 20 minutes but that was 20 minutes of disjointed play. I would like to think the 1st 70 minutes weren't of the attitude "we're in CA, let's play for the safe point"
Now if they come out and get 3 against Canada and look solid doing so, the attitude changes. 9 points from this 1st window wasn't a pipe dream, it was a legit reality. Last night on post game Paramount Charlie Davies was a cheerleader about how 1 point on the road in CA is good. Gooch was very critical. The Football Show this morning are being very critical as well.
And I'll be honest, let Matty Turner keep his spot. I'm bullish on him. I know he wasn't tested but that's another clean sheet for him.
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anon_4dfwm2pijbr0a
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Imagine being a Spaniard today. They lost their opener to Sweden. Sweden is a nice team but they should not be beating Spain.
Not sure anything yet is must win in a 14-game schedule, but you certainly cannot lose to Canada at home.
I would say no in the sense I still think they qualify for 2 reasons
1. There's 8 teams and 14 games now....which I believe CONCACAF put in place to make sure the US and Mexico qualify. The more games, the more likely that the most talented teams rise to the top. In the old Hex and just 10 games, 1 or 2 home losses and you're kinda screwed.
2. This is the worst CONCACAF has been in a long time and also the best the US has been. I know last night doesn't validate that but I feel there is a massive drop off from US/Mexico to #3 who I believe is Canada though Canada is going to have an impossible time winning in Central America so not sure I'd pick them 3rd.
I would say that if the US does lose, it takes away their chance to qualify "easily" and will be in a dogfight for the full 14 but there's almost no way they don't qualify in this format. They are so much better than the other teams and you couldn't say that in past WCQs
I don't think that any second game in a 14 game season where you only have to finish in 3rd (or kinda 4th) is a must win. But....
Last night's game showed all the same issues that this team has and needs to figure out how to overcome. They actually did create a couple really good chances. They just didn't put any of them in the goal. They got an open header from about eight yards off a free kick in the first half and put it over the bar. Weston McKinnie had a free header in the box in the second half and put the ball just wide. You have to bury chances like that, and far too often the US doesn't. Josh Sargent did on occasion show some good hold up play, but it rarely lead to a good chance either for himself or someone else. That's just not good enough.
And the other thing is that it's great to have the higher skilled young players on the team, but some of these guys are so full of their own abilities that they attempt to make the great, low percentage play way too often rather than just settling for the "right" play. Guys with the ball continued to try to beat two and even three guys on the dribble when they had simple, easy passes to teammates to keep possession. Yeah, if you can beat those three guys off the dribble you are going to be in a great position. The problem is that you almost never actually do it, and all that you get out of it is a turnover. They need to make the easy pass a lot more often and attempt the highlight reel plays a lot less often.
That was not Spain's WCQ opener. The Europeans have played a couple "windows" of games already. Spain is in a five team group and has now played all four of the other teams in their group. The are 2-1-1, with a draw against Greece. Sweden has played three games and is 3-0-0 and in first place. Yesterday's results made it such that even if Spain wins the return game in Spain and all the rest of their games, if Sweden wins the rest of their other games Sweden will win the group and Spain will be forced into a playoff for a spot in the World Cup.
They needed a bit more of a blue collar mindset last night especially with what looked to be a typical poor Central American pitch. To your point, they were trying to play too beautiful.
Yeah, that's a good way to put it. Make the easy play rather than attempt the fancy one.
Hopefully one thing that some of the young guys learned last night was that the refs are going to allow these games to be much more physical than your typical European league game is. Which is all the more reason to make the simple play rather than try the beautiful one.
Breaking news, I got an email while we were tailgaiting at the football game today that I won the lottery for US - Costa Rica tickets at the new Columbus Crew stadium!
Looked when I got home and I actually got pretty good seats too. Now I need to win the Mexico ticket lottery.
Looked when I got home and I actually got pretty good seats too. Now I need to win the Mexico ticket lottery.
I did too. Where do you want to meet for the carpool.
Also, when is the Mexico lottery? I thought only Supporters and FC Cincinnati season ticket holders were eligible.
The Mexico lottery is supposed to be the same rules as the Costa Rica lottery, so if you had a chance at one you should have had a chance at the other. I thought the Mexico lottery was supposed to have started earlier this week, but I haven't received an email about how to enter like I did when it was time to enter the Costa Rica lottery.
See, I don't think we will. How did we even get to enter the CR lottery? I got an email but no idea why as I have no official affiliation with US soccer other than being a youth volunteer coach. Is that why?
You were supposed to be a US Soccer "insider", which doesn't seem to mean much more than downloading their app and setting up and account on their web site. You don't have to pay anything (because I never have), although if you do you would have a greater chance to win the lottery.
I sent them an email earlier today and they actually responded pretty quickly and said that the sign up for the Mexico lottery would not be until mid-September. Which is not what they said in the original email that they sent out. But whatever. If you aren't a "member" on their web site I have no idea if you will get the Mexico email or not.
And now, back to US Soccer. Gio Reyna is out both tonight and against Honduras with a hamstring strain. Weston McKennie is sitting out tonight's game for violating team rules. Zach Steffen has tested positive for covid and is out of both of the next two games. That'll make things a little bit harder.
And in the world of qualifying elsewhere around the world, the Argentina - Brazil match this afternoon was abandoned after just a couple minutes. Brazil now has a rule that anyone who has been in the UK in the recent past who comes into the country must quarantine for 14 days. When Argentina flew into Brazil on Friday apparently the four EPL players that are with the team did not disclose that they had been in the UK on the immigration forms, as they were required to do. Right after the game started Brazilian immigration officials went on the pitch and stopped the game, not allowing the Argentines to continue. Eventually the game was abandoned. There is talk that FIFA will require Argentina to forfeit the game for violating Brazilian immigration laws. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
But Reyna is out with an injury and McKinnie has been suspended for a violation of team rules. SMH
This lineup makes me want to barf.
OK, McKennie is out but you don't have anyone better than Lletget, Pefok, Acosta, Aaronson....well actually I like Acosta but he's nothing special. This squad isn't much better than their Gold Cup "B team"
Where is my man, Zardes? All that dude does is score goals.
