We undoubtedly saw him on a CL caliber squad already, in addition to seeing him play in the champions league, literally. Leicester also have a strong chance to be back in the CL, it seems the power in the premier league is shifting
Of course, he posted something on his instagram or twitter feed of him dunking a year or two ago. Implies a vertical leap of about 40".
That explains his ability to challenge guys 4-5 inches taller for headers. CP is about 5'8, so if he can actually dunk on a "NBA height" rim that's about 10 feet high, that's extremely impressive and freakish leaping ability... Just to compare, only a few guys in NBA history that are under 6'feet tall, had the ability to dunk a ball...So doing it at 5'8 put CP in a special group.
I'm 5'10" and used to be able to dunk, and I wasn't the only person on my HIGH SCHOOL team under 6' who could dunk. It's worlds harder to make the NBA or a high level college team sub 6 feet than it is to build up your vertical to dunk. CP is a big basketball fan. There is no way he's putting video of himself dunking on a 9 foot hoop. Though I confess that I recently dunked on a 9 foot hoop to freak out my son and his friends a few times before they figured out it was low...
Call me a traitor, but I had no interest in seeing CP fly back to the States and then to some tiny island to play in meaningless games for an idiot coach, so I'm stoked they found some reason for his to get left off the roster. I only wish they could've done the same for McKennie, Dest and Sargent. Heal up CP, have a nice mini break!
They should be able to beat Canada without Pulisic provided they actually "show up" for the game and have a decent game plan. Neither seemed to be the case with the prior Canada match.
Are we sure about that? I guess we are going to find out... because if Canada beats us again then they are the #2 team in CONCACAF and we are a joke. Way too much talent... even w/o CP to be losing to Canada 2-0. I literally have no faith in the team anymore because GB continues to have them play a terribly uninspiring brand of football. I have a bad feeling about this Orlando game.
Part of having a "decent game plan" is coaching up that "decent game plan". I agree our current coaching does not inspire confidence given recent results.
I'm sorry but that's a strawman argument. There are a few people that excused SG doing that, (as there are people that excuse people from their own countries or clubs excuse their own players), but the vast bulk don't over here. I think the only real difference is that most latin supporters excuse diving whereas most English fans don't.
To be fair, most of his teammates are away on international duty so I doubt he'll gain much additional understanding with them by sticking around. However, I'm glad USMNT and Chelsea prioritized his long-term health this season over shoter-term impact in the Canada game. It could be a mess without him, though.
I think you pointed out some valid differences in his play pre and post benching - I think it is a stretch to credit the not playing for helping him play better. Yes after the super cup he was not as effective, but the better way out of that is to play yourself out. Be with your teammates, learn how they act and what they do in real game situations, it's like jazz not american football. Time on the bench never helped me and I bet you if you surveyed a 1000 players maybe 1 of those thousand would say "yeah, not playing totally helped me play better". All the benching did was reduce the amount of real in-game time he had with his teammates and delay where he is now. Unless you think it made him mad and play harder, which I don't buy, since that has never been his problem.
It is a nice read. TY. He has exceeded my early expectations.... and now I have to admit that my expectations have gone thru the roof. Based on his current form, burgeoning confidence and quality of teammates I am now expecting him to net an assist or goal roughly every 90 minutes played.... That is hard to do over the course of a season. I am eager to see how he plays against Man City... Intl Break right now just straight up sux... I wish that game were set for this weekend. Hard to get geeked for a GB led, Pulisic-less USMNT squad.
I would agree with this premise most of the time but I do think there are times when taking a step back can help a player in the long-run and I think this might have been the case for CP. He was on very little rest and had to deal with a move to a new team, league and city/country. Things were probably moving a mile-a-minute when he was thrust into the fire. I see this kind of thing all the time in baseball... where a hitter just isn't comfortable initially after a trade to a new team and needs a breather to get his brain right. Getting benched allowed him to take time to get used to the new system and his teammates w/o a ton of in-game scrutiny. The difference in his body language and the way he attacked opposing Ds after returning was glaring. Success breeds success and then the hat-trick put it over the top. Now he knows he belongs and he looks fearless on the pitch because of it.
Just imagine if we leave all those guys out and destroy Canada without them, playing better than with them. Next roster would have 23 MLSers. And Egg would be here forever.
They should be able to beat Canada 4-0 without Pulisic .... but with Berhalter demotivating the team, 1-0 will be wishful thinking.