USA Soccer thread
- Thread starter Fk_Pitt
- Start date
it was pretty much only arena leagues at that point. i'm sure there were little semi-pro leagues around but true pros were only in the arena leagues. and i doubt too many of them didn't have off-season/side jobs.
OK but those guys, like the 90/94ish era all played in Europe. Harkes, Wynalda, Lalas, etc.
I'm not sure why you think the guy who is the leading scorer for a team that will be playing Manchester United next week in the Champions League doesn't even deserve a shot. Especially on a team that is seriously lacking a high level striker.
He may or may not be the answer (or an answer), but if you never play him how would you ever find out?
Is there anyone, anywhere, ever, who has said that every player who plays in Europe is better than every player who plays in MLS? Because you keep posting as if people say that all the time. Please point one of these posts out, just to educate the rest of us.
It's only three games, but Panama is certainly playing a lot better than most people expected them to. That could be a really tough game down there.
I ripped on him after the Canada game for not making his subs or any changes to the way they were playing until too late, so I should also give him credit for the fact that pretty much every change he made last night, including the formation, worked out just about as well as possible.
Now we could also have a discussion about what in the heck he was thinking to come out in that formation with those players in the first place, but I will leave that for a different time.
Landon Donovan took the easy way out. He was great but should have challenged himself. As bad as klingsmann sp he was right about Donovan's commitment to fitness and playing the highest competition. Donovan had the ability to play premier league and didn't want to
Move
Move
Don't worry, he'll be here any minute now to tell us how he's this really knowledgeable super fan, even though he has no idea who is on the roster and why guys that he thinks should be playing aren't. Because apparently you have to be really into the minutiae of a team to actually know who is playing for it.
BTW, in the game last night they kept having ads on the sideline message boards for "Zambos", and I couldn't help but thinking that Zambos surely must be the Honduran version of Bojangles.
Nobody says it straight out, but there's always that insinuation when they go with an MLS player over a Euro player, or lose to a team full of MLS players.
Donovan was just a different kind of dude. He was happy as a clam making $5 million/year to live in LA and be the face of MLS. I mean I cant say I really blame him. Would you take a paycut to move to say Northern England just so you can play in a better league?
Not a Super Fan, but I do watch the games and know most of the players
Maybe he liked playing in his home area SoCal, maybe he got way more money with LA than he would of made in EPL. Really when it comes down to it, it's PROFESSIONAL soccer.
So are leagues in South America that are played on dirt pitches and players play at gun point. I can’t watch it. Come to think of it, I can’t watch most leagues in most sports. I just don’t have the bandwidth.
Most of what I watch is decided by if I have a favorite team in it, and I do prefer it to be played in my country and time zones, that's why its really easy for me to watch MLS, I've been a DC United fan on and off from the start. I find it impossible to care about EPL, games are in the morning, I don't even like 1 PM Steelers games that I watch, too early, give me at least 4 PM. And also, no matter how I've tried, I can't attach myself to a team in an English city. It's the same reason I don't care to watch Bama vs Clemson football, I need a rooting interest more than I need quality.
Time zones are important. I couldn’t strike up an interest in the Japan Olympics. I don’t even like the USA Concacaf games that seem to always get played after 9-10pm. Drives me nuts. The EPL fits my schedule. I enjoy the AM games with my coffee.
AND.....the focus of most European and South American soccer leagues......there is one sport. There isn't another. So of course these leagues, their teams and the fan support is uber. It is like the entire continent of Europe is Alabama when it comes to college football.
I like when games start between 7-9 PM. I might even watch a game at 9 AM if a team I liked was playing.
For Steelers games, I'd prefer the 4 PM slot every time. Not a fan of 1 PM. and I do like SNF, MNF and TNF.
For Pitt football, I wish we had more 4-8 PM starts and less Noon games. I even prefer Thursday or Friday Night to noon games.
No, there isn't. It's like you can't understand that if someone thinks that some particular player who plays in Europe is better than some particular player who plays in MLS that that is no way, shape or form an endorsement of all European players or an indictment of all MLS players.
You surely don't realize this, but there is a web site that tracks all the guys playing in Europe (and elsewhere abroad) who could theoretically play for the US National team. They are currently tracking over 100 players. Nobody, literally nobody, would ever suggest that Tim Murray, starting goalie for FC Honka in the first division of Finland is a better goalie than Matt Turner because Murray is playing in Europe and Turner is playing in MLS. And yet that's what you seem to think happens.
Please then, if you are right point out one person, just one, who thinks that Tim Murray is a better goalie than Matt Turner because Murray starts for a team in Europe and Turner plays in MLS.
Just one will do. I'll wait.
USMNT forward Jordan Pefok beats Man United in Champions League!
www.espn.com
Young Boys 2-1 Man United (Sep 14, 2021) Game Analysis - ESPN
Expert recap and game analysis of the Young Boys vs. Manchester United Uefa Champions League game from September 14, 2021 on ESPN.
Good enough to score a goal to beat Manchester United in the Champions League, not good enough to play for the US against Honduras.
At least according to one person here.
He's certainly better than at least one of the players on your list, and it is possible that he's better than all four. It's also possible that he's not, but you'll never know if you don't give him a chance.
I think he's probably a better overall player than Zardes but when you need 1 goal in 1 game for the US, I'm taking Zardes every single time. All he does is score goals.
Except he doesn’t. I think it was laid out quite eloquently and definitively in this forum that his goal total is padded based on performances against bad teams. Now granted, if you need one goal to qualify and the game against a T&T, maybe then you take him because 99% of the time that’s the type of team he has success against. I don’t dislike him though, he can be a useful bloat. Unlike Sargent, who I can’t see the appeal.
Who do you think we are playing in CONCACAF? These Central American teams + Jamaica are comprised of mid-tier MLS players + guys making $20K/year playing in their domestic league.
I guess you didn’t read the rest of my post. But then again, if it’s in a high stakes environment, would you really be comfortable putting him in the starting lineup if you’re GB?
