Let's Translate from Foxborese to English. Ecce Foxboro! [1]" You disagree with me, therefore you are stupid" [2] "You disagree with me, therefore you are blind to reality." [3] "As a starter, McNamara had a nice season. So it's a smart move to play that guy in garbage time." [4] "My peeps were shocked he played even in garbage time." [5] "Shelton sucks. If he plays well for KC then he doesn't play well for KC, cuz' my peeps roll their eyes so much does he suck." [6]" Lewis? Such an inconvenient truth....hmmm......The OverLords work in mysterious ways. All Hail the OverLords!" [7] "Americans are bitchy little girls. Suck it. " [8] "Don't worry, be happy! It's for the Children! The Future is Freakin' Radiant! " [9] "If you're going to argue, make sure you don't disagree with me. And remember, you may say Mix, you may say Dix, but, kerud, I say Shit."
Not worth going into but I didn't rate Lewis all that highly. Having said that I agree that Ramirez should be on the list.
Zimmerman isnt close to making a first team roster. My starting XI includes 5 players that could play a form of enforcer. Miazga, Yedlin, Adams, Mckennie and Wood. Brooks is mild mannered, but could be imposing as well. Not sure why you would want Zimmerman after calling so many of our defenders Troncos. He is much less mobile than Brooks or Miazga. I dont think it was the players but the attitude Arena created in the team. Altidore protected Pulisic against Mexico. See play from 2:50... Pulisic strips the ball away, gets free and then wacked by a mexican play. Altidore immediately ran that player over. Good thing he didnt make better contact.
Panama targeted Pulisic and eventually took him out, which ended up hurting us in the fateful match at T&T because he was gimping around. He nutted up to score a goal but didn't do much else in the match. There was no leader on the field vying for him verbally to the ref, or disincentivizing with their own rough play in revenge (it has to be targeted though or it's just going to compel more rough play). You could also say this cascades down from a lack of leadership at the top of USS because this was happening at the youth levels too. It's a referendum on CONCACAF but also the U.S.' lack of lobbying or taking proper action to change the culture. The US could decide to sit out the CONCACAF championships for example if other repeat offenders like Honduras and El Salvador weren't forced to. But that would mean a small profit loss now for a bigger profit gain later, and we've seen these guys can't accept the former so they end up missing the World Cup, Confed Cup, and Gold Cup Final. That's a lot more than they'd lose on a youth tourney.
Berhalter's 2 games have been against less than MLS talent (game 1) and average MLS talent (game 2). There are those here that weigh that info too heavily IMO. I am a loner in the camp on this one but I've always liked Lichaj's potential too. And he's versatile on a backline. Maybe not a starter but a full camper to me over the guys like Zimmerman, Opara, etc.
These games dont tell us anything about the team. This is just a free tryout for average players to show that they can raise their game and show that they might have potential to have an impact at the international level. I cant help you with Lichaj. I like that he is a hardened professional, but talent is less than we need to make a step up as a team. I'm usually for giving younger players a shot over veterans, but most of who I think should be our main players are young and up and comers still need some time, so would have no problem with a guy like Lichaj playing a limited role.
If you're going to transition from 4 at the back on defence to 3 at the back on offense you could get away with playing a central defender at full-back because they're not going to get caught upfield.
Tyler Adams and "enforcer" don't belong in the same sentence together. Or Yedlin or McKennie for that matter. Miazga or even Bobby Wood can bring out the bad boy. Much of being an effective "enforcer" is perception. If you don't carry that aura, it ain't gonna take..
I don't think you have watched Adams much. He is very good at getting in a hard foul with no repercussions. Maybe it is his baby face and big smile, but he rarely gets carded. But he does get stuck in. Altidore is the opposite, has no idea how to foul and gets carded without sending a message. Beyond goon retaliation, which some will be needed, having more options in attack and more ways to attack would take the pressure off. "Hack A CP" worked because he was all we had. If 2-3 guys are around CP ready to foul him and meanwhile Sargent and Weah are combining for goals on the other side of the field, the opponent will either lose or pull guys away from CP. Further, if CP thinks he isn't the only option he might get rid of the ball sooner and not try to dribble five guys with the last guy nailing him.
Knowing WHEN and HOW to foul is a big part of being an effective competitor. If Adams has some of that savvy at still a young age, that's all to his credit. The answer to taking the steam off of CP is to have enough legitimate offensive threats to render him one among many. When push comes to shove, for several reasons, Adams is not the player you want sending the subtle messages.
All three of those guys are athletic, intense, put in hard tackles and dont back down from anyone. Adams and McKennie are both leaders and would carry an aura if deployed correctly. McKennie has already sat out a game this season for yellow card accumulation.
What an odd question. Nationality has nothing to do with the premise. We are discussing the idea of having some deterrent physicality in the lineup to where the opposition isn't going to get away with one-sided bullying of your skill guys. Adams, McKennie and Yedlin are athletic and competitive. They may be able to impose their play on the pitch but imposing that physico-psychological edge is a whole different game within the game.
What I take away from Camp Cupcake 2019: Let's continue the build up by calling in Pulisic and Sargent and Weah and leave Adams and McKennie in Germany for the March friendlies. Adams I would call for GC for sure. Wes, I'm not so sure.
Whatever your reasoning is for this, it doesn't sound like that is the way GB is going. They are building a culture. You are going to see the best players (with an eye on 2022), in GB's opinion, called in and play. You saw it with this camp. Unlike previous cupcakes, everyone wasn't played for showing up. The best guys got all the minutes. GB is trying to actually introduce competition and professionalism to the national team. Lip service has been made to it in the past, but we know it wasn't really followed. Adams and McKennie will be there and Roldan will have to fight for his minutes with them. Like he did with Acosta and Delgado this camp. Or it might be a European only camp with maybe Bradley/Trapp and Steffan. MLS players will be just starting their season. Aaron Long will probably have a CCL game the day after the Chile game. MLS guys in January, Euro guys in March, and everyone in June. A possibility.
It is possible that the only things Stewart and Berhalter wanted to take out of this camp are: 1. Learn how to teach a system in as short a time as possible 2. Decide whether it is Trapp or Bradley going forward. The media is pretty sure Bradley won the competition. But why are they so sure? Bradley looked good passing against Panama, but Panama was a truly low level of competition. Much worse than Bolivia, Costa Rica, or even Bosnia. Trapp's second half against CR was as good. Trapp was played with the closest to the best 11. Trapp was played against the tougher opponent. Trapp in the first half against CR was mind boggling bad on defense. Bradley was super passive on defense. It is possible that Trapp was being recklessly over aggressive because he saw Bradley was so passive and was trying to make an impression. Trapp is younger than Bradley by far. Bradley would have to be much better to take minutes from him at this point in the cycle. Bradley seemed calmer in possession, but again, I would have been calm on the ball with the time and space he had.
Mystery solved as to why Glad was sent home. He's in really poor form, and apparently had another similar gaffe, that time he actually got away with. Lots of rotating parts (it's preseason, after all), but here's the goal that made it RSL 1, Iwaki FC 1 in the 74th minute. 😬 😬 😬 pic.twitter.com/VDNX41T5CB— Salt City FC (@saltcityfc) February 9, 2019 He has to re-discover confidence or motivation. If anything he should have more of the latter now that MLS seems a little more willing to sell and the national team manager a lot more so to integrate.
True, but part of the problem is that CP is often more likely to beat 5 guys (well, maybe two) than he is to see his options early enough.
It is amazing that he had 5 assists in the Hex. I really enjoyed the two he played to Dempsey against Honduras... he actually had quite a a few good passes in that game playing as a number 10.