Agree with the decision. Re: the call-up, Lletget's playing well IMO. If you call-up guys like Weah and Green who are barely getting first team starts of playing in the bottom of 2nd divisions, I think Lletget should be there.
Weah is at PSG and got s couple of sub appearances this season. I don't follow the French leagues at all so i guess it's possible he's playing for their reserve team and just got called up? I agree with your point about Green, but as far as I'm ware it doesn't really apply to Weah. I agree Lleget is playing well, but I don't think his play deserves a call up to Nats. I think the best thing for him now is to keep getting consistent minutes until he plays himself back into pre-injury form.
I like this appointment. I think he's thorough, and he's not new to this role. An experienced hire who understands US Soccer. Plus, I love his quotes: https://www.si.com/soccer/2018/06/06/earnie-stewart-us-soccer-usmnt-general-manager Stewart said in a Q&A published by U.S. Soccer that the most important qualities he’s looking for in a coach are people-management skills, and the ability to communicate and implement tactical principles and a consistent style of play during the short period in which a national team is together. [Hello impact of JK.] In his article on mlssoccer.com, he also has some quotes about the desirability of the job, and some good comments that aren't "inferiority complex" sounding. He's positive, and I like it. Let's see what he can do!
I loved Stewart as a player. I was at the amazing '94 WC game when he scored the game winner in our 2-1 upset of Columbia. But what was most impressive to me was Ernie's composure and intelligence both on the field and off. I just Wiki'd him and here are a couple of Ernie fun facts: 1) he played every US match in the '94, '98 and '02 WC's and 2) he scored 8 goals during our WC 2002 WC qualifying run. Not bad for a midfielder!
I am sorry but I can't let this go unchallenged. Obviously you must have watched the game with your eyes closed and the sound off. When I looked at the Opta link you provided I noticed that it did have the ability to show the action by half. So I did that and what did I find, you ask, exactly what I described and what your lying eyes refused to see. CP in the middle and Paul Arriola on the wing. This first unedited opta snip has the first half of just CP for the USA and the two T&T CB's. Due to the way Opta does the layouts you have to use some imagination and flip the graphs over but there is definite overlap (so much for Pulisic not being within 25 yards of a CB). You will also note that he has almost as many actions on the left as he does from the right which is pretty much what you would expect from an attacking mid in the of the field. One other thing, I should mention that Opta doesn't show is a heat map which would show where a player spends his time (as opposed to the action he was involved with). If you saw that, you would see Pulisic's runs which don't show up (see the video below). I apologize but my attempts to imbed the pictures did not work. https://photos.app.goo.gl/e5C4G3ANubD5Hten1 The 2nd snip is Paul Arriola for the entire game (which for him was just the first half). https://photos.app.goo.gl/bXyngZkqUsCj5aPJ3 The third snip is Pulisic for the 2nd half where he played the wing along with the left most of the two T&T CB's. Again the overlap is pretty telling. https://photos.app.goo.gl/1nMiOpRgitjek6Fz2 I also found the lowlights of the game on YouTube. In the first portion you can see Pulisic in the AMid position to start and Arriola on the wing, just like the line-ups stated (I guess they are right occasionally). Action then immediately jumps to the 7th minute where you see Arriola and Yedlin attacking on the right flank. Where is Pulisc, he's coming in from the center and behind the defenders who are poorly marking Altidore and Woods. By the time Altiodore gets the shot off, Pulisic is in front of the keeper. Later, at about the 1:15 mark you will see play from the 36 minute where T&T is starting the attack that leads to their 2nd goal. You will see Arriola, Bradley and Nagbe in a 3 man line in front of the back 4. Pulisc is right in the middle of the field on the right side of the center circle with Wood even further upfield and more to the right. Later you will see that Pulisic comes into the middle on every US attack worth making the highlight reel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=77&v=h2jjxHOLU0U Oh and Bang!
Probably a good wake-up call for FRA. They seem to sleepwalk through their early WC matches. I'm proud of the US effort from our young guys. Wish the G's defended like that.
I'm not impressed with our guys I'm just gonna set the bar high damn it no more coddling from me, I agree France are as arrogant as always which I thought would have changed after Portugal beat their baggets in euro 2016. As far as the G's or really any club in the league that type of defending is gonna take dollars and I'm talking millions not thousands, until then all we can do is wish.
Good game and a surprising result. I was encouraged by the spirit of the team and the fact they settled after a nervy opening 15. Lots of decent play minus Bobby Wood.
re: US vs France, I thought it was a good performance and a good result for an inexperienced US team with only a handful of reps together against one of the most talented NTs and WC favorites on home turf. Probably the most talented team we've faced since Germany 2014
I think so too! I still can't get into Bobby Wood. Just messes up too much for me. I'm remembering when he took an ill-advised shot with a wide open Weah on his right. I think Wood has the stench of JK on him for me (not his fault, I know)
We all better start savings accounts now and start squirreling money away if we want to be able to afford tickets....
I'll be 35 when the world cup roles around stateside. Hopefully by then I'll be able to afford those tickets. Being able to see Czech or USA in Texas would be amazing. Even going to see my wife's home country of Scotland playing would be great.
Both of my kids will be out of college by then, or if they aren’t I am sure as hell not paying for it anymore, and I’ll be four years away from early retirement, so maybe just maybe I’ll have a couple spare nickels by then to take in some games.
I guess so! I can't believe I still use this site. I used to post on the USA men threads a lot, but now it's literally just here.