Nations League A, Camp 2, Canada/Cuba, Nov. 15/19

He did seem kind of surprised that he was subbed out. He looked like he was moving around gingerly at times but then would show a burst of speed that made it seem like he could play thru it. I thought he played pretty darn well against LAFC... it looked like they relied on him to help defend more than he normally does and he really did assist in keeping the attack from starting on the right wing.

 

Yeah, even if Adams returns and gets on the field for Red Bull, no way he needs to be called in for this. I've been anxiously awaiting his impact on this team for a long time now, but long-term injuries are nothing to mess around with and quite often they are followed up with some smaller injury as the player gets back into the groove. Adding on a trip to the US and additional work over the international break would be pretty foolish. These games are less than 3 weeks away and he's not even made the bench for his club yet. He should be out of the conversation for now. Weah too. I've been a big fan of getting both of these guy into the team as soon as possible. At this time, it is simply not possible without at the very least endangering their recoveries. Brooks may be back in the fold, but we're even on a tight timeline for him to my way of thinking. As much as I've been annoyed by Berhalter's forced system of play, it is certainly true that he has had t deal with a significant injury crisis affecting some key players since he came aboard. And we're not out of the woods yet.

 

Altidore remains injured and out of the 18 tonight for Toronto FC. Since his injury is more of a short-term issue, however, I would be more willing to call him back for the November matches if he gets back to the field in the next week.

 

Dumb of Gregg to start Morris in both matches, given Seattle's schedule. He could've just saved him for Canada match.

 

rather alarming article apologies if this has been posted / mentioned.

Berhalter might just be the puppet in the bigger picture.

https://www.highpresssoccer.com/hig...y-and-continuity-and-gregg-berhalters-system/

 

We are ********ed as a nation. If we weren’t already.

 

Yeah, so instead of looking to successful teams, we're modeling the US after the Crew and the Union. That makes sense.

 

Because we are the weakest fanbase in the world.

 

I spent YEARS, trying to show you guys whats going on. Its the same small group of people who are obsessed with power and control over everything USA soccer and at the same time trying to make sure they get as much as $$$$$$ as possible.

JAY BERHALTER and DON GARBER OUT.

 

The beauty of being The King of one's Little Hill is that if that hill is the only hill in town, then you rule over all......and, as a famous philosophe d'cinema once magisterially opined: "It's Good To Be King!"

 

So, do we have the deep structure of Chicago House pinned down now?

Ernie is Malenkov. Jay "Brother Berhalter" is Beria. General Egg "Brother of Brother Berhalter" is General Molotov.
In this scenario, Bradley was The Tsar and JK was Trotsky.

Of course, our Chicago House is, and has long been, The Kremlin.

 

So, playing badly against Canada is on par with losing a few mid-season games in MLS with a mid-table payroll. Got it! See, no reason to panic. The Union lost some games and fans got upset, but they won all those Championships in the end. Oh...

Also, comparing playing Canada in Toronto to playing Costa Rica in Costa Rica is just trying to gaslight the entire USA fanbase. What is left of it.

I can't imagine a worse GM hire. I loved Stewart as a player, but he has picked the absolute worst system for our player pool, a coach that obviously can't implement it, and sees no problems with losing.

 

Gave up on the USMNT before the Canada nightmare and won't be giving them a minute of my time until those clowns running it into the ground are gone. Thank god for the EPL and BL1. There is good soccer to be had.

 

After playing poorly against Guatemala in the last WCQ cycle, the USMNT faced Guatemala in Columbus. It was an absolute must win game. The team came out flying and crushed Guatemala 4-0.

After losing the first two games of the Hex, the USMNT faced a must win game in San Jose versus Honduras. They came out flying and crushed Honduras 6-0.

With WCQ'ing in the balance after terrible performances in the September window, the USMNT faced Panama in Orlando. They came out flying and crushed Panama 4-0 (although Omar tried to give that one away early).

It doesn't sound like Earnie cares at all about this Canada game. But if the CNL means anything, or just pride, then I would expect the kind of performance above in Orlanda on Nov. 15th. Anything less would simply be an indication that Earnie is going to have Gregg die with "the System" until we don't qualify for 2022.

 

General Egg supporters are suspiciously quiet, especially the new ones.

Aside from the crushing sadness of Cuova, this is probably the worst time to be a US fan, especially as it has been over a year of dreck and deperessing play.

 

one thing to note is the hex is based on June FIFA ranks. i thus don't think LoN final four results actually matter. they will be after the fact. what will count will be these last 2 group games plus 2020 friendlies through may?

i note reflexive talk of playing in europe. the rumors are instead camp cupcake in qatar in january. in any event, depending how some quant tells you the last 2 group games have left you on the ranking algorithm, you might need a rankings boost and it might be very unwise -- particularly if november goes bad -- to schedule a buzzsaw. if we are struggling for rank you would want wins. you would go as cynical as possible while maintaining some strength of schedule.

i also think some of this discussion seems drenched in US soccer arrogant happy talk. a team that looks this bad, if the coach gets fired, we should be back to square 1 with a new coach and talent eval in 2020, playing teams suitable to that process, not scheduling the best in europe to flatter ourselves. right now we cannot beat canada. maybe save the triumphalist trips for when we have our sh*t together.

 

I think General Egg's supporters are not necessarily lying low. Perhaps they are just husbanding their energy to erupt with explosive joy when we down mighty Cuba and stymy dangerous Canada in mid November. Or, perhaps, they are busy contending with Earnie Stewart's supporters as to who will own this crap whenever whatever vaguely passes for accountability seeps into the center of Chicago House.
I like the way you capture this era, "The Years of Depressing Dreck". We should market shirts with this emblazoned on the back, on Amazon or e-bay.

 

This should not be news to anyone who's actually thought about this.

We have a Dutch sporting director who pushed his prior club to play possession ball. We hired a coach who played similarly, but was very pragmatic and adjusted significantly (though never to the point of ditching it). That coach does significantly less adjustments now.

This wasn't hard to put together long before the article. Of course, reading this board, it apparently was.

 

It's too bad they can't select the right players, nor make the ones they select play well in that "system".

Ah well, at least we might qualify in 2026.

 

not sure who else of the USSF fans got the emailed video, but he's still talking up the "change" stuff. and i don't think he means personnel (other than i expect dest to be brought back, performance or not). so we seem no more aware than before.

past history on canada home (1-0, 0-0) and cuba away (2-0) would put us right about at the required tiebreaker results to advance. but that assumes we are as good as before and they are as bad as before. both perhaps naive. as with the last pairing and in keeping with my wish not to jinx us, i will phrase it as, we face a tough road.

 

i am sure one reason people are quiet is it's a broken record. wrong coach, wrong selections, poor results, and not just once, over and over. then next time same coach most of the same players. how many times can you say, why trapp? at a point it's like USSF call me when you decide to do what's obvious to everyone else. and the feeling he will repeat himself again next time dulls even the natural "next year, Cubs" reflex fans want to have for the next game.

 

have you watched the video USSF sent out to members and does that sound like someone doubling down or waking up?

 

i forget if i put it on this thread or the other but if we had a brain we would be calling in out of season players for a multiweek camp, maintain fitness, kick the tires on experiments

 

he believes wholeheartedly in club form. he is a midtable club coach with midtable club mentality.

 

i would reframe it as, he was working his way into the team under sarachan, scoring goals. berhalter leaves him off the team til june, puts him out there in a game that seemed set up to fail, sits him out for gold cup, bench for mexico, and then it's like whamo, one friendly start and right into the LoN lineup. granted, we have had special players like pulisic slide right in and be fine. but this feels like a coach who is not a genius at setting up young players to succeed. dumping him to U23 and then Mexico bench and then all of a sudden guess what you're starting? meh.

in particular, he's an emerging young player, and one who lacks speed and relies more on skill. he needs to be played the ball "just so," and to have chemistry with those around him. sarachan's consistent calls up provided that. being dropped in a lineup on a whim doesn't.

i find the "but under sarachan" counter-arguments amusing because without fail they are made to sweep under the rug some argument against berhalter when the implication of the argument, and the fact on tape, is the player being discussed usually without fail looked better under the last (interim) coach. i don't see how the fact that sarachan relied on someone who looked better for him, sells bethalter as the right choice.