Post-Match USMNT vs. Uruguay 9/10

Discussion in 'USA Men: News & Analysis' started by largegarlic, Sep 10, 2019.

  1. NietzscheIsDead

    NietzscheIsDead Member+

    NO WAR
    United States
    May 31, 2019
    NO WAR
    It seems like the games against Canada are generally low scoring affairs.

    The Yanks should try to score early but not get frustrated if they don't.

    Games like this should be where Berhalter's approach of keeping the ball and attacking from the wings in the final third pays off.
     
  2. SteelyTom

    SteelyTom Member

    Mar 21, 2007
    Boston, MA USA
    Club:
    Pumas UNAM
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Among the wide range of essentially unknowable outcomes during this cycle and the next, is that we become the international football equivalent of the Cleveland Browns, who've shown that having all manner of high draft choices/much-hyped players can fail to result in a competitive club for many, many years.
     
  3. SteelyTom

    SteelyTom Member

    Mar 21, 2007
    Boston, MA USA
    Club:
    Pumas UNAM
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The passionate versus the passionless.
     
  4. lmorin

    lmorin Member+

    Mar 29, 2000
    New Hampshire
    Club:
    --other--
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    gogorath said:

    My #1 critcism of USSF is their lack of engagement with the Latino and African-American communities. Some aspects of this are hard and expensive, but some things are easy, and there seems to be a culture at USSF that only thinks Europe is worthy
    .

    Per @NietzscheIsDead -- FWIW, I heard part of a talk show on SiriusXM FC (the soccer radio channel, for those who might not know) concerning the failure of USSF to be inclusive of Latino players. I know this has been an issue for many decades. I also know that in parts of the US there are firmly established leagues primarily for Latino players and those leagues often have little or nothing to do with the USSF and the rest of the soccer establishment. The reasons for the disconnection are not entirely clear, because it has seemed, over the years, that the Latino community was uninterested or put off, for its own reasons.

    That said, I was surprised to hear that out of the 40 or so senior positions in US Soccer, none are held by Latinos. (I may be mis-remembering the exact number, but the point is the continuing absence of Latinos in the US Soccer superstructure surprised me). Nor do I know for certain that the claim is true. For example, the current president of the USSF is Carlos Cordiero from Colombia by way of Harvard and the Harvard Business School.

    A second claim I heard was made a person who, I think, was former USMNT player, Hugo Perez. He was asked by the show host whether he could put together a team of Latino players who would perform better than Berhalter's current team. His answer was yes. You can make of that what you wish, but I will say that this type of claim has also been made for decades and I find it hard to believe that even US Soccer would shoot itself in the foot for such a long time by allowing coaches Arena, Bradley, Klinsmann and Berhalter to ignore all those unknown Latino stars who are also ignored by MLS. Regardless, the claim points to a level of unhappiness between the USSF and at least one segment of the Latino soccer community that is unfortunate.
     
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  5. NietzscheIsDead

    NietzscheIsDead Member+

    NO WAR
    United States
    May 31, 2019
    NO WAR
    As one who has played in those latino leagues, I can say that the problem is not just USSF. The leagues are insular and ethnocentric, and there are some cultural problems of their own in those leagues. For example, I remember a tryout we had where a tall white guy who looks like an American football player shows up. He came with a latino kid and we're all thinking "What is this guy doing here". Nobody passes him the ball, nobody really talks to him much. He walks up to a ball at 20 yards from goal and rockets a dipping curler past a stunned keeper that rips the net upper 90. He didn't come back after the tryout (where he would have been one of the best players on the team). I can't even speak here about the things said about black players.

    The idea of cultural superiority in soccer is a ridiculous, antiquated, and racist one that still exists in those leagues and in the latino soccer culture in general.
     
  6. LouisZ

    LouisZ Member+

    Oct 14, 2010
    Southern California-USA
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'll give you one story of my time coaching...
    When I left AYSO after coaching U12, I got a core of 5 very good players to move up to club ball. The local club had already a team in that age group and the coach did not want a "B" team, he just wanted my players. My players didn't want to play for him, so I formed a new club/team and went to the next town which was predominant latino and I got their cream of the crop players because they didn't have a club team of their own.
    My team never lost against the local club team that rejected us. They got to be so good that by age 16 I got them playing in men's league during the weeknight.

    I asked my latino players why they never played with the local club team and they said they were never asked and besides, they didn't feel comfortable playing in a team that didn't have any latino players.

    So what happened to my latino players? By age 17 they already started to work and soccer was no longer a priority.
     
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  7. Pegasus

    Pegasus Member+

    Apr 20, 1999
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I'd also add that in the younger national team age groups Hispanics and Blacks are very well represented. LAG and FCD in particular do great jobs with Hispanic players to the point they dominate those programs.
     
  8. UncagedGorilla

    Barcelona
    Sep 22, 2009
    East Bay, CA
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Nat'l Team:
    American Samoa
    Here's a really good article by NBC Sports about the current state of the USMNT - https://soccer.nbcsports.com/2019/09/12/the-usmnt-heading-into-the-end-of-berhalters-first-year/

    Since I just based the soccer media, I like to point out when they get things right. This is purely an opinion piece but I would like to see more of those. A few interesting quotes:
    • "if we’re going to spend two years and use every advanced stat we can find to berate Jurgen Klinsman for not calling up 30-year-old Benny Feilhaber and his 1 assist in 40 caps, then perhaps it’s fitting we discuss Bundesliga and Championship starters not getting called up in positions of weakness (Fabian Johnson, Eric Lichaj)."
    • "if Berhalter is going to call up the 150th best player in MLS on a regular basis, can he put the same league trust in a 28-year-old having the best season of any American (Hollingshead) in the domestic league? For every 500-word think piece on Andrew Carleton when he’s 17 and how he projects, maybe trust information if it tells you a slightly older guy might be onto something?"
    • "All of this is to say Berhalter’s job, overly-simplified, is:
    1. Qualify for the World Cup
    2. Reach the final of all CONCACAF competitions
    3. Look like an adequate footballing nation in other competitions
    4. Make sure he doesn’t lose any talented dual nationals (also the GM’s job)"
    • "That’s actually okay, provided Berhalter let Dest know the objective. We have to assume that’s the case, because using him at left back in the “system” which utilizes center midfielder Tyler Adams as a right back would be an dramatic waste of pace and creativity."
    • "Ultimately, that’s why the bad performances cause so much consternation amongst USMNT supporters. Berhalter is a good coach, but his management has been baffling from the outside looking into camp."
     
  9. grandinquisitor28

    Feb 11, 2002
    Nevada
    All you need to reference is the interview with Arena after the abomination at Couva and hear him shoot down that point with a skeptical sneer, "there are no hidden/miracle players we didn't find," paraphrasing. THat is complete and utter b.s. All you need to to is to look at the 1990-1995 birth year youth teams to know tons of players were missed, heck just note a couple of years back when we had a youth team with zero californians. Pure idiocy of the highest order. Players can and will be found anywhere and everywhere, but there is no greater supplier of mass quantities of potential prospects, especially latino prospects than California in terms of sheer quantity. Any cycle, if there are zero Californians, players were missed, period.
     
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  10. gogorath

    gogorath Member+

    None
    United States
    May 12, 2019
    I can't speak to everyone. It's not that I'm not taking it seriously. But I think there's often a disconnect between complaints and desired actions and what will provide an improved team. And there's also a disconnect between what needs to be true now and what needs to be true in twelve months.

    Honestly, the most important thing is the development of our talent pool.
    I think that article is all over the place, has a number of confusing typos and is just kind of a mess.

    It's not a very cohesive argument with even a cohesive scope. It just seems to be a list of complaints.

    It also needs an editor.
     
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  11. UncagedGorilla

    Barcelona
    Sep 22, 2009
    East Bay, CA
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Nat'l Team:
    American Samoa
    It's just a preface of some things they are going to be diving into deeper but I find it very encouraging. I think it correctly points out many of the same arguments we have on here. Frankly, the discussions I have with people like you have been far more fruitful than all of the USSF-inspired drivel that has come out of all the major media sources (ie ESPN ranking Lovitz as our #1 LB and Felipe Cardenas still categorizing Bradley with Adams and Pulisic) so I'm glad to see NBC is willing to criticize. The questions I see being asked on there are totally valid and haven't been addressed by anyone previously:
    • Should we bring back some older guys to get results?
    • Why are Gregg's guys the ones being chosen ie Lovitz over Hollingshead.
    • Maybe Dest should actually be the RB and not Adams.
    • Berhalter isn't an ignorant person or a terrible coach so why are many of the decisions he's making causing him to look like it. If there is a reason for them, most of us would like to know but the media refuses to go off script most of the time and ask tough but necessary questions.
    All of those were alluded to in the upcoming series they're going to run and if they do full pieces on most or all of those, I will give them major credit. The conversation below shows they are still willing to pump USSF talking points into the conversation but the fact that dissenting voices are allowed is encouraging.
     
  12. juvechelsea

    juvechelsea Member+

    Feb 15, 2006
    A lesson of Uruguay, to me, is it matters who is doing the wing attacking, and I don't think he has that great a clue. Based on the recent several games it should be Morris and Pulisic. Boyd has basically one good game against a weak opponent. If we were more concerned with routine performance, and less on ideas in heads and confirmation (bias) by one positive game we would see this.

    In terms of the USA, he had the 2 Guyana goals when we won 4-0 but no goals or assists since. If you go back to his NZ history, Boyd had 0G 0A for a team that plays in Oceania against opponents including some decent teams but also Uzbekistan and Thailand.

    In contrast, Morris has history and also recently had 2 TnT assists, 1 Jamaica assist, and the Uruguay goal. To me the starter and backup should have been flipped even before this set of friendlies, further proven by the goal. If we had a brain we would be setting him and then considering our other options eg Weah if healthy, and also Jozy and Zardes as right side players.

    But that would involve taking risks in games that count, which I would advocate as smart but see as unlikely. In a continuing irony we will field a lesser but consistent team ("devil we know") than take a risk on improvement. We will do this "to give us our best chance of winning" even though what it really is, is fear of change. After all, Zardes has played a dominant role and not been accountable to performance, despite not having a goal in 6 straight appearances, his last goals before that coming against Trinidad and Guyana. During that sequence we have most recently lost 2 and tied 1. On a normal team if your striker to whom we whack the crosses didn't have a goal or assist since June, and you hadn't won a game since the regional semi, you'd be shopping the position to help the team, not talking continuity as your best chance.

    There is a continuing conflict on the team between trying new things because the results aren't there, as a means of improvement, and sticking conservative choices out there by equating what we know with our best chance of success. In plain English we have an odd affection for conservatism to play to win for a team not actually winning a lot of big games.
     
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  13. juvechelsea

    juvechelsea Member+

    Feb 15, 2006
    Dest couldn't seize a LB position that is wide open, and I should play him instead of Cannon at RB?????? What?????? Him + Lima is the one side that was working. If the goal of the LoN games were winning you would have already obsessed over finding a LB, and I would still argue that your best chance at running the LoN group table is experimentation, even if just at LB.

    My post above just addressed "older players and playing to win." It's not working. At a certain point of perseveration with playing old to win -- AND THEN NOT ACTUALLY DOING SO -- it should dawn that you are just being conservative. That "it's our best chance to win" isn't objectively true. The only bit that's objectively true is we resist change and people tell themselves it might help us win. That it doesn't happen should place the wisdom of that approach, or the philosophical premise of the decision, in question.

    As I pointed out, despite the fact it's objectively nuts, Zardes has become the reflexive starter, and people now defend it as "this is our starter," like changing it is a risk to our results. Meanwhile no goals or assists in a half dozen games, the last three of which we either lost or tied. In thinking you are protecting "what little is working" you are arguably instead dooming us to "more of the same."

    Normally, historically, getting legal title to your position involved actually playing well every night.
     
  14. deejay

    deejay Member+

    Feb 14, 2000
    Tarpon Springs, FL
    Club:
    Jorge Wilstermann
    Nat'l Team:
    Bolivia
    And that is the aha! moment. The problem with Bradenton wasn't just that it was limited to a smaller amount of players, it was, but that MLS needed to take ownership of the development process. Having Bradenton made things a little more difficult. MLS looking at those players and trying to draft them and then maybe the team having problems integrating the young man in to the first team. It was also easy to discard the young player because he was effectively free. Having teams vertically integrating the development from a young age all the way to the first team meant time and money invested which meant that process had to be right and teams were motivated to figure it out. Things are much saner now even though there is still much work to be done.
     
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  15. gogorath

    gogorath Member+

    None
    United States
    May 12, 2019
    Okay, I understand what you are saying and why you liked. Writing wise, it came across a bit like word vomit to me, but you are talking content, not form.

    Some thoughts on the below, even though you didn't ask.

    I think it's a great question. That said, I actually think Berhalter has answered his point of view in a series of comments.

    He's not bringing in very many people who are older because he doesn't believe they can contribute in 2022.

    He think certain positions age better -- so an older CB has more of a shot than an older outside player (see: Fabian Johnson).

    He wants a blend of experience on the squad, though, which he seems to define as USMNT experience.

    He only wants a "few" of these guys at most.

    It's not a bad plan (though I don't value the USMNT experience as much). Now whether the results we are getting mean that maybe we need to pull back and bring in some old talent just to qualify is a valid question. Fabian at LB, if he were willing a good example of a guy who might help at this time next year but not in 2022.

    Is the question why certain players over others? Or is the question about Gregg's guys in the sense of Zardes and Trapp? Because I don't think there's any tie between Berhalter and Lovitz. I think he prefers him probably entirely on style of play and that could be answered.

    There was a good article on here posted about Zardes that I thought was really great in pointing out his strengths and why he gets so much time. We all know his weaknesses, but I've actually come around on Zardes. He shouldn't play over Jozy or Josh ... but I actually think he may really be the best overall of the general giant mass of mediocrity we have below it. But only for lack of options.

    Is the article is an honest examination of what Lovitz does well, how he fits into the selected role, etc. versus overall talent, it'll be interesting.

    If it's Lovitz sucks, Gregg's an idiot. Eh. I'm already not encouraged by some of the metrics they were trying to use, and I don't think Lovitz is better than Hollingshead.

    I guess I will judge the article on whether they actually try to see his POV or not; or just assume he's an idiot.

    This is one of the things I thought was presumptive about the article. There's not a lot of evidence that Berhalter is going to be incredibly dogmatic about how he runs his fullbacks. We've seen almost every version.

    I hope that article acknowledges that we don't have a LB. We have a number of suitable options at RB.

     
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  16. juvechelsea

    juvechelsea Member+

    Feb 15, 2006
    #190 juvechelsea, Sep 12, 2019
    Last edited: Sep 12, 2019
    People do realize that world champion France has Clairefontaine ie centralized elite youth development. And that having handed development to clubs there are maybe 2-3 doing their job right. It's not that they outfought Bradenton or other options in a marketplace of production, and Bradenton closed from shame. They had the path cleared for them, by double tapping Bradenton, and then aren't doing much with it. And then we are working out way through a talent gap. Shouldn't we just be wading into the sea of players churned out of these academies?????

    I think many like the political implications of decentralized, business-based player development. I think some like the idealized eurosnob mimickry it embodies (reality in Europe is more complicated). But there is an argument to be made that turning over development to forces that didn't seize the reins by their own success might be part of the reason we are meh about churning out talent now. When UVa grads or Bradenton kids were filling a lot of the team that was earned, there were NCAA trophies and U20 high finishes.

    I don't see where with the exception of NYRB and FCD (and maybe a couple others), they have earned precedence. In fact in Houston right now I would tell players to go play traditional club. We don't develop well or promote up the graduates and use them on the first team. Cappis, the Servanias, and others end ran us to Dallas despite living here. Players living here are as likely to be successful playing for the club Texans as for the Dynamo.

    There were similar arguments about college for decades and I'm not sure that one's really resolved as I watch Morris and Baird on the tean. The theory is interesting, and over time more and more are turning pro as teens. But in reality if the argument is that academies and USL are preferrable to college that's how it needs to routinely play out. The fact is every rookie of the year but Najar went to some college.

    Personally if I bought your theory I'd have still wanted more quality academies producing players before I tear down the offending opposing idol statue. And I personally think it's some mix of snobbery and politics because the best team in the world uses a government academy to train up its next generations of elite players. More to the point, there is nothing but perhaps some sort of asset jealousy that says we couldn't have academies in general but then centralization for the very best. Just like you would have your traditional club and then ODP/YNT. "Oh, but the academies will take it from here and handle it." Tell me when they do.

    To me this is kind of like "the system." Let's believe in vague abstractions over objective results. Just like we should be favoring the best system for the players in the pool to win, we should be pimping the development strategies that work in practice.
     
  17. UncagedGorilla

    Barcelona
    Sep 22, 2009
    East Bay, CA
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Nat'l Team:
    American Samoa
    @gogorath Agreed on the article. I actually have a Journalism degree and he almost lost me when he got into FIFA video game ratings but I like the idea that some critical pieces are going to be written by a major media outlet. I don't listen to Extra Time but I do listen to TSS and Scuffed. More casual fans don't do that which is why I like NBC doing what they're doing.

    TSS is okay but they bring a lot of guests that peddle propaganda and I would definitely include Felipe Cardenas on that list. Short diatribe on him but the fact that he compared Tata's club coaching in Atlanta to what Gregg is doing with the USMNT while not acknowledging that Tata had literally 100x longer to work with his team was asinine. Sam was fantastic. That may have been the best TSS podcast I've ever heard. Paul Tenorio is hit and miss but I don't think he's brave enough to ask anything but fake tough questions.

    Scuffed has some of the best analysis but they are way over the top on young players. I think they would basically play a U23 team if they had their druthers. I like to listen to them for their analysis and updates on the youth but I don't think they view the national team the same way I think it should be viewed which is to make the best team possible at present.

    Lovitz specifically is my biggest roster issue. If someone were to ask Gregg a question like "What does Lovitz do that other guys in the pool like Hollingshead, Robinson, etc don't?" I think that would be a very good question. I don't care about his WhoScored rating. Those are essentially meaningless to me. But if he's there to be an attacking sub, obviously guys like Robinson and Hollingshead are better. If he's there because he's a stout defender, obviously guys like Lichaj are better than him in that category. He just has no skills that are even average at the international level when you're playing Mexico. He pretty much got burned immediately upon subbing in on Friday then mishit simple passes causing us to lose possession.

    I actually do give Gregg a fair bit of credit for starting Dest at LB. I would have liked him to get a game at RB as well but I was glad to see the flexibility of the system. I don't know that I agree with having two attacking outside backs with Trapp and/or Yuell as a sole 6 but it was a worthy experiment. I don't think Dest will be our starting LB in 2022 but I think he could well be our starting RB then so I'd like to see him tried there.

    Zardes - So, to be clear, I am not in the #NeverZardes camp. I thought it made all the sense to call in a guy on a hot run of scoring in the domestic league. That being said, he has played way too much based on what he's produced. I coached for a long time and I can absolutely see the little things Zardes does that coaches appreciate. He seems like a good teammate and isn't as incapable as some people think. However, there is no reason he should have received the lion's share of the minutes to this point. He doesn't fit our system very well and we need someone a bit more creative from that spot. Zardes is a runner who can get on the end of crosses and throw his body in between the ball and the defender to cause problems plus he seems to have iron lungs. We're asking for a lot of positional interchange, dropping into connect, hold-up play, and key passing/playmaking ability from that spot. I can't think of a worse system for Zardes' strengths.

    I think I come from the opposite side of this politicized era in the USMNT (in the sense that I think there are major problems that still exist) but I appreciate that you're logical and acknowledge that things aren't all good. I hope you see that I do the same to acknowledge they are also not all bad. I think this roster was a step in the right direction. I'm looking forward to these next two windows and seeing if more worthy experiments will be tried.
     
  18. Excellency

    Excellency Member+

    LA Galaxy
    United States
    Nov 4, 2011
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    So the right side where Boyd was playing didn't work but the right side where Cannon was playing worked.

    How about the right side where Morris was working some games ago when his performance was criticized severely. It wasn't working but the right side Cannon was playing in that game worked?
     
  19. juvechelsea

    juvechelsea Member+

    Feb 15, 2006
    #193 juvechelsea, Sep 12, 2019
    Last edited: Sep 12, 2019
    dudes, we started dest FOR OFFENSE, and

    he got burned twice

    one for a goal in a game we lost 3-0

    once in the game we tied, no goal resulting, meh 1-1 tie

    and where are my goals and assists the other way???????

    this is my yedlin argument all over. he has talent going forward, but once i can show you the tangible negative mark, where are my goals????? this has to net out positive and mere SHOTS don't offset goals allowed

    sane people would be saying he is an interesting future prospect work in progress, or a bench tactical wrinkle with the attacking skills. but the reason we are where we are is people are like "start him."

    nor do we even run the process objectively, either. if robinson is giving up goals this goes to his candidacy. he disappears. if dest does that's something to be fixed while we integrate him. if long gives up a single goal in a lengthy stretch of games, against mexico, on a 3-on-2, we should throw his position back open. if brooks gives up 4 goals in a game, i am reminded he plays in the bundesliga.

    candidates are not being treated equally. there are no consistent standards. accountability to mistakes varies. this is like modern politics.

    what concerns me is with the tepid efforts to populate LB recently, the best option right now, if we were opposed to the risk of experimentation, would probably be Ream -- or swapping Cannon across and starting Lima right. i could rattle off a list of people but they would all be new to the team or long absent. we haven't kicked the ball much downfield from last cycle at LB, knowing we have an issue. and like last cycle all the frustrating choices seem to have their little fan clubs in spite of it all. how about fanboying people who play well every night??????
     
  20. UncagedGorilla

    Barcelona
    Sep 22, 2009
    East Bay, CA
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Nat'l Team:
    American Samoa
    Yes. Cannon should not be the starter on a permanent basis. He is fine. Dest has more potential and from the games I've watched him, is far less prone to defensive errors on the right side than the left. It's time for one of our "old guys" like Lichaj (who I know you and I both like) or Johnson to come back and play LB until Gloster is ready or someone else steps up. I'd give Lima a shot as well. Ream should be moved to CB permanently.

    We have the wrong older players. The older players we have now are guys who were never good enough. There are lots of young guys who objectively belong in our best 23. I think if we brought back a few more of our players who are actually good and can defend it would make a big difference and not skew the team too old at all. Think about it. From the GC roster if we swapped out Ream/Lovitz for Lichaj/Hollingshead we actually get slightly younger and more talented! Move Ream in for Gonzalez spot, play Dest and Cannon as RB's (I'm not done with Yedlin though when he's healthy), remove Zimmerman for Brooks (or Miles Robinson in effect), then all of a sudden we have a backline mostly comprised of guys who can actually defend that is younger than our GC group. Not to mention swapping Adams in for Bradley...

    Agreed. I don't hate Zardes but he's a very poor fit for what Gregg is asking him to do. I think a lot of Gregg's experiments should have been abandoned earlier. We're getting into the danger zone of it being too late. This last roster was encouraging and we saw a few things like two outside backs that both had freedom to attack but we failed to see other things like a destroyer-type at the 6.

    Final thought, I believe the job of the national team coach is to win games. If we're not winning, the answer is not to keep things the same. However, I'm not sure the answer is to call up a U23 team either. There's a balance we need to strike and there a few overlooked older guys that I think could help and would be more comfortable taking to the Saprissa than someone getting their fourth cap. If they don't perform, then maybe we do have to call in the kids. But the answer to the LB problem is not more Lovitz and the answer to the 6 is not more Bradley/Trapp!
     
  21. juvechelsea

    juvechelsea Member+

    Feb 15, 2006
    i mean, it's not like dest is in position and right side and the cross gets around him. dest gets megged or toasted. broken off at the ankles if this was basketball.

    oooooo. ooooooo. fanboy that!! wtf are people thinking.

    boyd also hits his shots a ton. so. what.
     
  22. Excellency

    Excellency Member+

    LA Galaxy
    United States
    Nov 4, 2011
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    But Morris playing ahead of Dest was motm v. Uruguay.

    He is 18.

    If we had a real manager we could go 3 in the back with Dest at wb but Egg wants to cram all players into his system.
     
  23. Excellency

    Excellency Member+

    LA Galaxy
    United States
    Nov 4, 2011
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy
    We have seen the Zardes problem in GC when we compared his performance to Jozy's. Sorry, but that was night and day.
     
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  24. juvechelsea

    juvechelsea Member+

    Feb 15, 2006
    nagbe isn't accepting phone calls. his generation is talent challenged. i understand in standard practice you don't rely upon the U23s and U20s. but if the 28 year old is insufficient, and he was the best of his age cohort, what exactly are your options?????

    at this point basically what is happening is people are keeping jobs on ageism. it is quite true that individual young players may not turn out well.

    But why is this so scary???? you take Pomykal, Weah, Pulisic, McKennie, Miles Robinson. you ponder Sargent. you bring in Richards and Soto. you set aside Dest, yueill, etc. that sort of sorting is what NT coaches do. it's what any coach would have to do. ideally you do it earlier in the process instead of next year.

    with our talent gap in the nagbe zardes generation, you can't just come to the edge of that cliff, get nervous, and go grab your security blankets, knowing those results already aren't there. that's how you repeat missing qualification by playing it safe.

    i mean, where are these "right aged" guys??? i could name some, but it's going to be lletget, holmes, gall, green, fairly obvious people to me who no one much else seems to want around when i mention them. if you think it's within the people GB is trying you're nuts. roldan, mihailovic, yueill, etc., are what they are. they probably couldn't beat canada straight up in camp cupcake.
     
  25. gogorath

    gogorath Member+

    None
    United States
    May 12, 2019
    Who has defended Zardes as "this is our starter" or mentioned that changing him would be a risk to our results?
     
    Grumpy in LA and UncagedGorilla repped this.
  26. UncagedGorilla

    Barcelona
    Sep 22, 2009
    East Bay, CA
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Nat'l Team:
    American Samoa
    @juvechelsea I'm genuinely curious who would be your 23 for an important set of games as of today? I understand experimenting and also think we should be doing so but I'm not totally clear on who all you are wanting.
     

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