Nations League A, Camp 1, Cuba/Canada, Oct. 11/15

Berhalter announced in today's press conference that Sargent will start tomorrow's match:

Josh Sargent will start vs. Cuba, Gregg Berhalter says. Zack Steffen has not trained but is fine, he added. #usmnt

— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) October 10, 2019

1182405724468645914 is not a valid tweet id

And Steffen, who has apparently been nursing an injury this week, is good to go.

 

I disagree. They can miss a match for an injury or skip a friendly every once in awhile when the U.S. has a busy schedule, but the best players need to play their international matches.

 

At least we know that Sargent will start once.

 

In what way?

 

Watching the Trinidad-Honduras. It's been a pain, so far. We're so lucky to be in C-CAF.

PS: Half of this Trinidad team started in Couva: Hyland, Cyrus, Jones, Garcia, Paul. Honduras is dominating, and Trinidad at home looks a lot worse than the one we faced. Guess they're missing Kevan George as the anchor in midfield.

 

You move your youngsters up from youth to main team faster than other top NTs. Frankly, I like it.

 

Ah, okay. The saying is that when you're good enough you're old enough

 

Pulisic qualifies for a WP without the EU passport.

Xenophobia rarely translates to soccer players.

 

When did he enroll in college?

Pomykal is stil 2 years behind when Morris even entered MLS.

Most players don't play out their contract in soccer, at least not when they are in demand. Right now Pomykal is closer to Adams or Miazga than Morris. Maybe he ends up more like Morris and staying.

But that's not set in any kind of stone yet.

 

You are right. The Morris route is different. The Marky Delgado route then.

 

I just want to see Sargent with the first team. He has only played with the bench guys and fringe players.

 

Or, and stop me if this sounds crazy, but Dallas offered a 19 year old kid a 6x raise and more money than most people make in a lifetime to extend his contract by three years.

Which in no way impedes his ability to go to Europe if he really wants to do so. And he's never really expressed a hurry to get there -- in fact, the opposite, in many interviews.

But no, no, that's probably not it. It's probably some insane conspiracy theory where Gregg Berhalter was pressured to tell Paxton he needed to stay in MLS to stay on the team.

Poor Paxton, as he collects them paychecks, doing exactly what he was already under contract to do anyway.

What a twisted machine US Soccer and SUM are! It's amazing you've uncovered it all.

 

You love to have these imaginary arguments with people that don't exist saying things nobody has said.

Has FCD ever sold a player with 4 years left on his contract? 3? 2?

Pomykal isn't leaving until after the next World Cup; unless FCD has completely changed their view on these things.

Pomykal's new contract can't be a HG deal. So, wouldn't MLS be involved and wouldn't FCD only get 75% of the fee? Or has that changed? They will be setting a super high price and will be happy nobody will match it.

 

WTF are you talking about? I literally ********ING POSTED the conspiracy theory I was responding to.

I admit that's just a post full of strange, semi-related commentary, but given the context was a post about Pomykal, how do you intrepret that?

FCD has publicly announced they are at least partially moving to a development and selling model. Their new GM/Technical Director, etc., was brought in in large part for his expertise in the world market.

There's no doubt FCD doesn't want to become a revolving door. But if Pomykal wants to go, he can force a move. FC Dallas watched their team explode when they tried to keep Mauro Diaz and someone else against their will. They know it doesn't work.

Paxton may never want to leave, but that's a different question.

Why do people act as if MLS is like a sentient AI and not an organization that is owned by the owners? Pomykal may no longer be on a home grown contract but MLS central didn't chip in on a transfer fee here so I'm not sure they will be nearly as invested.

MLS won't want Dallas to sell Pomykal for below market rate ... but why would they have to? Shouldn't there be a bid around market rate? If Pomykal wants out and Hunt can get his $4M or whatever, I'm not sure why central MLS would even have an argument.

If you are sad that MLS wouldn't sell Paxton for peanuts, that's true. But this contract doesn't change that at all. In fact, they are more likely to deal a higher salaried Paxton than a cheaper one, frankly.

In the end, if Paxton wants to force a move, he will get one.

 

Or they could be Panama, Bosnia, Peru and Jamaica?

 

It's great news that Sargent is playing, hopefully he has a chance to shine with the A-team (at least the part of it not injured).

Miazga is not exactly a living example of anything. Maybe wages, if Chelsea pays him nicely. Otherwise, he's playing for one of the worst Championship teams.

 

Sargent starting Cuba likely means we’re stuck watching Zardes vs Canada

 

I don't really view some players playing for the Egg as positive and Sarge would be one. Sarge is an intricate and subtle player and there is little room for such traits in the System. I've enjoyed watching Sarge with Bremen recently and I'll hold judgment on Sarge under Berhalter but I'm not optimistic.

Hope it doesn't end like this

 

That is a pretty simplistic argument. I personally have no clue which one is ahead of the other. I havent seen either play a lot recently. I have heard others say that Toye's game is limited. The clips I have seen have mostly him running on to balls and finishing. He looks to be a good athlete and finisher. I would guess that Wright is much better with the ball at his feet taking players on.

I thought the other statement was then odder one. Claiming a 21 yo playing in the Eridivisie is nowhere.

 

Why are you bringing up Adam's and Steffen. They got out. The complaint is about players that stay. The league can be a good option for a couple of years, but beyond that players development has consistently shown to stall. Steffen wasnt ready to go abroad and Columbus provided him a chance to play as he matured. Adam's is a huge outlier. His club moved players to make room for him. They also sold him to themselves for a number much lower than other teams ask. It is very hard to reconcile what Leipzig paid for Adam's and the price they put on Long.

Who has Pomykal blown past? The only people who think that are MLS fans. I'd say that Ledezma has blown past Pomykal. It is absolutely amazing how much he has improved since the u20 WC. Pomykal has struggled recently and locked him into a contract that has stagnation written all over it.

 

May have to wait a few years as this may have reflected the missing generation. We should start rating our pool by how many players good to great Euro teams want our players. When as you point out none were signed for years perhaps we should be worried that we will have another disastrous cycle.

 

And in so doing will be cap-tied.

 

You are consistent with your silly takes. I've never been more excited about Pulisic. Have you read his comments about his situation?

 

Here is what you said.

And this is nonsense. Pomykal hasnt blown by anyone.

Yes, some succeed and some fail in Europe. Where are the examples of high quality Americans that have only played in MLS?

 

I dont see the point in playing any of the crap players that Berhalter called in to make up the B team.

When are people going to realize that professional soccer players play games regularly with just a few days rest? Do people here think this because MLS doesnt play midweek since nobody will show and/or MLS teams get knocked out of CCL early?