Pre-match: 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup Group Stage: USA vs Guyana

I see Chile's tradition of neck tattoos remains strong.

 

They still got the same players. Oldest team in Copa.

 

There must be tons of generacion perrdida articles.

 

When we played Chile last spring I was surprised to find out that Vidal is only 32. Seems like he's been playing with them forever.

 

May be. I tend to think it's more that other nations (including CONCACAF) are catching up to our athleticism.

 

You are giving Japan a lot of credit

 

That was after the first half. Second half, they crumbled. But this is sort of their B-team (although young, so quite a few of these guys will be A-team soon).

Qatar, the Asian champs who won the Asian Cup final beating Japan 3-1, has gone to Copa with all their bells and whistles and managed to tie the #9 team in S. America, Paraguay, 2-2, in a fun game.

So it looks that, like Cyndi Lauper used to sing, money changes everything. Qatar is playing some decent soccer. They may be better than us now.

 

As long as US Soccer's current leadership is in charge, expect mediocrity or worse.

 

"Ever" is correct. We had the Women at US Bank Stadium last year, and one of the youth teams came to Blaine a long time ago (Lee Nguyen was featured, if you can believe that), but never the full Nats.

 

It seems that every team that you see is then better than the US.

 

I'm watching the Gold Cup on FS1, and the studio team discussed the match.

Edu wants dominance from the U.S. He hesitated to put an exact number on the number of goals, but after prompting by Fiore and the other guy agreed that 1-0 would not be acceptable. Fiore said 4-0 is the target, which I agree with.

I also noticed that the USA-Guyana banner ad on FS1 shows Pulisic and Altidore.

 

Enjoy it.

Now if I can just get them to play in my neighborhood on July 7.

 

Looks like Leon Bailey (Jamaican version of Pulisic) is finally suiting up for Jamaica. The US could meet Jamaica as early as the QF, depending if they finish 1 and 2 in their respective groups, so bears watching.

Orgill, Tyler Boyd's teammate in Turkey, gets the start at CF over Mattocks. As we saw in the friendly loss, Orgill has fantastic work-rate to go with very good speed. Should be a great match!

 

Well in his defense ELO seems to think so too... though Qatar has jumped 57 spots in one year and we've declined 14.

FIFA FWIW still has us significantly ahead.

Someone who knows better can explain why that is. Does ELO give extra weight to continental championships?

 

These commentators are unnecessarily confident given the team's horrible form. Where are they getting this nonsense from?

 

He’s no worse than Green or Nagbe, but Saief is miles ahead. Unfortunately, he’s hurt.

 

USMNT EUrope would DESTROY USMNT MLS though.

 

Did you watch that game? Because the game I watched had a Paraguay who should have been up 4-0 by the time Qatar got a freak deflected shot and a gift from a backline that looked like ours does to level it.

 

Do you think we could win the Asian Cup?

LOL.

 

I'm with i.e. "minor league" stats are meaningless. its what happens in the "show" that matters.

I would take it a step further than most, though in terms of how the "minors" are scouted....if a ".350" average rarely translates anyway then why couldnt a .250 average translate potentially. I think there is basically no correlation or a very minimal one between MLS stats and USMNT performance.

I know you have to use something and MLS stats make the most sense of things that can be used, but again, I would prefer to just use the eye test. I think there are players who do not put up stats who have games that would translate better to the international game than the "fantasy football stars"...it is good explanation why teams full of fringe MLSers/USLers are beating the USMNT lately.

I don't think stats translate well in soccer. If they are undeniable, fine. Like if a guy scored 30 goals in MLS obviously call him in.

But I am in total agreement...its what happens next that is the key.

Performance-based inclusion would take this team up a notch or two and it shouldn't be a question...it should be a given....doesn't seem like that's going to happen anytime soon though, oddly.

 

Qatar had the best combo play (343 completed passes to only 251) and more possession (57%), they also had the most corners.

Paraguay created the better chances in their usual way --they're a counterattacking team, it's in their DNA. Indeed, while watching it you could see Qatar spent more time in the Paraguayan half, frankly Paraguay was unlucky to lose it.

The game was entertaining though.

 

I chuckled at your intent, but his loan was just terminated early so he could go rehab with his club.

 

At halftime of Jamaica-Honduras, the FS1 team asked McKennie about the upcoming match. McKennie said that the objective is not to get a one goal lead and sit back, instead for the U.S. to impose itself and Berhalter's system.

My paraphrasing.

 

It’s a shame how often he gets hurt. Dude has talent and would be a great fit in 3Gs system.

 

He looks like he has talent, but every time he's played for the US he's been completely out of sync with the rest of the team. Given the quantity of other usmnt newbies that were on the field at the same time, it wasn't a good look for him.