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USMNT best XI

Our man Rico Pepi came on at the half and assisted on the only goal in his team's 1-0 win this weekend.
He’s really fallen has he? This club where he plays…a mid level team in the Dutch first division…is that any better than MLS?
 
Don't worry...Zardes will get warm and Derp will bring him into the WC squad.
 
Is it? Because a mid level team in the English Championship isn’t.
I'd say

1. Top 1/3 Dutch teams
2. Top 1/3 Championship teams
3. Middle third Championship teams
4. Middle third Dutch teams
5. The top 2-3 MLS teams
6. Bottom third Championship teams
7. Bottom third Dutch teams
8. The other 28 MLS teams
 


Meanwhile Ream isn’t even considered.
And neither is Vasquez.
 
Zimmerman and Long both bounced from playoffs today. They won’t be in any form in 6 weeks. Meanwhile, this guy won’t get a sniff because Berhalter wants to play a high line.

 
Zimmerman and Long both bounced from playoffs today. They won’t be in any form in 6 weeks. Meanwhile, this guy won’t get a sniff because Berhalter wants to play a high line.

By comparison, Long had 2. In the 10th best keague in the world. ream did this in the best league.
 
FK, you probably watched the game so you might know this, I saw that Pulisic started today in the Champions League for Chelsea. The formation diagram I saw said he was playing right wingback in a 3-4-1-2. Is that really what Chelsea played, and where Pulisic played in it?

Other Americans in the Champions League, Gio Reyna started and played most of the game for Dortmund versus City in a nil - nil, Weston McKennie scored Juventus' 3rd goal in their 4-3 loss, Cameron Carter-Vickers played the full 90 in Celtics 1-1 draw with Shaktar, and our man Josh Cohen didn't fare very well in Haifa's 7-2 thumping at the hands of PSG. But hey, how many guys can say they gave up goals to Messi, Neymar and Mbappe all in the same game?
 
FK, you probably watched the game so you might know this, I saw that Pulisic started today in the Champions League for Chelsea. The formation diagram I saw said he was playing right wingback in a 3-4-1-2. Is that really what Chelsea played, and where Pulisic played in it?

Other Americans in the Champions League, Gio Reyna started and played most of the game for Dortmund versus City in a nil - nil, Weston McKennie scored Juventus' 3rd goal in their 4-3 loss, Cameron Carter-Vickers played the full 90 in Celtics 1-1 draw with Shaktar, and our man Josh Cohen didn't fare very well in Haifa's 7-2 thumping at the hands of PSG. But hey, how many guys can say they gave up goals to Messi, Neymar and Mbappe all in the same game?
Yeah he played right wing back and Raheem Sterling played left wing back. In Potters system, they were both really high in the attack when Chelsea had the ball, so the position suited Pulisic a lot more than when he played RWB under Tuchel and was unproductive.

overall he had a decent game. There were times that he could have had scoring opportunities but his teammates failed to pick him out. He was involved in both goals. The first one he didn’t get the assist but he dribbled at the back line, passed it to Havertz who then found Kovacic for a goal. The 2nd goal was typical Pulisic. He dribbled from right to left into the box and drew 3 defenders to him and he slid a ball over to Havertz who curled an 18 yard ball into the top corner or the goal.

sadly at the end of his night, Sterling, who was absolutely invisible all night, dribbled down the left side toward the end line and passed the ball back toward the penalty area, where Pulisic ran onto the ball with space. He tried to shoot the ball and whiffed. It looked really bad. All chelsea players missed opportunities last night, but that’s a chance that sticks out like a sore thumb. Probably should have been a goal. I don’t know how many defenders were there to stop the shot from going in.

bottom line is this, is pretty easy to see that Pulisic is Chelsea’s best attacking threat. But he’s always going to be behind Mount and Sterling for the gaffer. That’s just the way it is. We are starting to see that Pulisic is a better creator and might be a better goal scoring threat than Sterling. But if you’re Graham Potter, do you supplant the English star they paid good money to bring in? Over there he’s still highly regarded, whereas Christian is some average American. And I have to wonder if there are other responsibilities and attributes that CP just doesn’t possess off the ball that keeps him out of the lineup? Because it is weird that he’s their biggest threat on the ball and lacks game time. Or maybe his end product in training is just as inconsistent as it’s been in games over the past year.

but for me, maybe I’m biased, but give me that inconsistent end product because what he brings to the squad when he’s on the field is a threat that no other player brings.
 
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FK, you probably watched the game so you might know this, I saw that Pulisic started today in the Champions League for Chelsea. The formation diagram I saw said he was playing right wingback in a 3-4-1-2. Is that really what Chelsea played, and where Pulisic played in it?

Other Americans in the Champions League, Gio Reyna started and played most of the game for Dortmund versus City in a nil - nil, Weston McKennie scored Juventus' 3rd goal in their 4-3 loss, Cameron Carter-Vickers played the full 90 in Celtics 1-1 draw with Shaktar, and our man Josh Cohen didn't fare very well in Haifa's 7-2 thumping at the hands of PSG. But hey, how many guys can say they gave up goals to Messi, Neymar and Mbappe all in the same game?
I was thinking about Ream again yesterday, and is it possible that it’s Zimmerman who is keeping him from getting a sniff? @sjerzpitt2 I’d appreciate your thoughts too. I’m a Zimmerman fan but he is a flawed player. He lacks pace and recovery speed. Is it that they are too similar to each other, and Gregg simply prefers Zimmerman and doesn’t have room for another like player? If looking at it like that…I can’t say Zimmerman is a better player than Ream. Could Zimmerman really play and captain a Premier League team like Ream does?

a big key for the USA in my eyes is who Berhalter plays alongside Zimmerman. And certainly there’s no chance Ream could be that guy for multiple reasons, right??
 
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Those first three goals from PSG were absolutely world class. Having those three strikers on the same team attacking you is criminal. Messi with the outside of the foot shot, wow. I think first three goals all came from almost the same spot shooting to the right post. The goalie was fully extended and could barely get a finger on any of those goals.
 
I was thinking about Ream again yesterday, and is it possible that it’s Zimmerman who is keeping him from getting a sniff? @sjerzpitt2 I’d appreciate your thoughts too. I’m a Zimmerman fan but he is a flawed player. He lacks pace and recovery speed. Is it that they are too similar to each other, and Gregg simply prefers Zimmerman and doesn’t have room for another like player? If looking at it like that…I can’t say Zimmerman is a better player than Ream. Could Zimmerman really play and captain a Premier League team like Ream does?

a big key for the USA in my eyes is who Berhalter plays alongside Zimmerman. And certainly there’s no chance Ream could be that guy for multiple reasons, right??


I agree that you can't play Ream and Zimmerman together, but as I have said before that's no reason for Ream not to be on the team. What if Zimmerman gets injured? What if he plays like crap the first game or two and you need to put someone else out there?

And I think that if you went to Ream and told him what you planned his role to be he would be fine with that. He wouldn't be one of those guys bitching and creating drama because he's not out there every game. There really is no reason for him to not be on the team, other than the coach doesn't like him.
 
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The player in best form right now could be Tyler Adams. While Leeds has been struggling, they beat Liverpool today and Adams has been one of, if not their best players.

comp videos don’t often tell the whole story, but I have to think this is a pretty good summary of his match today.

 
The player in best form right now could be Tyler Adams. While Leeds has been struggling, they beat Liverpool today and Adams has been one of, if not their best players.

comp videos don’t often tell the whole story, but I have to think this is a pretty good summary of his match today.



He looks pretty good from that video, but we need to see him play that way against someone good, not a mediocre mid-table team like Liverpool!
 
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The player in best form right now could be Tyler Adams. While Leeds has been struggling, they beat Liverpool today and Adams has been one of, if not their best players.

comp videos don’t often tell the whole story, but I have to think this is a pretty good summary of his match today.

He's honestly been close to being the best 6 in the PL this season, its nuts. He fits Jesse's system so well, and ggg's system awfully, so he's gonna be wasted at the wc cause ggg won't adapt to his players.
 
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