Ok, so first lie is these aren't our best u23s. They are. And lost to all domestic Egypt (which apparently have played together for a year despite their last game in October. I have no idea, could be true, but sounds dubious). Since you both are the most optimistic guys, fine. I'm over this. All is well. I already said it doesn't matter much to me, but if you wanna post about and watch the games, this is nothing else but a negative. Our best u23s (except Pulisic and Dallas 18 year Olds!), lose and outplayed by a bunch of domestic Egyptians.
They look significantly better today. They've created the majority of the chances in this second half. The Dutch goalkeeper has made a couple fantastic saves.
In this second game, the coach started to play key players for the bulk of the game instead of making wholesale changes at the half.
I have said countless times I don't care much about it, but it wasn't a good performance. Are we now taking something from a better performance against Holland? Versus ignoring Egypt? Who is biased? Happy to see Twitter saying US is looking good though. Look forward to reading a recap.
They ran right around Antonee again in the few minutes I watched of the 2nd half but it looked like Miles Robinson came on as well - which one are u referring to? Edit: I"m referring to the Egypt game. Didn't see the HOlland match.
Yeah, tks , I just watched most of it I realize we are developing players and that's fine. Weah as the 9 and Sargent as the retired 2nd striker works best for me. Weah will rush the keeper into some propitious moments for us. Our youth teams have him playing so far from goal in those 442 outside mid positions and Sargent is best picking his spots off the ball.
I hear what you’re saying but it’s also pretty evident that this is not the finished product. I mean, I can remember when January Camps had Michael Bradley (in prime), Jozy Altidore (in prime), and Clint Dempsey (near prime), and never would I have said that was our best team. Plus this team was just thrown together for the first camp anyways... shit happens. It wasn’t a good performance but I’m not saying the first camp, with no training together, a coach who was just hired, and a mix of some random names of players who probably won’t even be playing soccer in 3 years is the final product. I expect high performance too. But it’s not justified to crucify the team based on this performance solely.
Heyzeus chris. Who is crucifying this team? I said it was disappointing most of our best U23s couldn't beat an Egyptian U23 squad. Not only that, but got outplayed. Who can argue this? It was a poor performance. Fact. Does it mean they stink? No. Does it mean the team stinks? No. Does it mean the players will never amount to anything? No. I simply said it's not great. I got shot down, with the excuses all over the place. Fine. If you don't want to pay attention or critique the team, then stop posting on it and just focus on their club careers. Certainly we can't now say they looked good against Holland and be happy about that. Either analyze/comment on the team and it's performances, or don't.
Dude, we’re talking soccer... no need for the vitriol. Of course, it’s disappointing. Am I disappointed? I’m disappointed anytime the US loses. I’m just adding to the fact that we can temper our disappointment due to a number of other factors.
You took vitriol from my post? Cruel and bitter criticism? You have a low standard. I get there are mitigating circumstances, it was just odd having to argue with people the last couple pages that it meant nothing (when you know if they won, it'd mean something), and that somehow we're missing our best u23s like Pulisic and a bunch of Dallas u19s, even though he will never play w them and they are u19s. I'll stop now, if people think I'm getting too heated!
I look forward to the days when the U-23 team is treated by the fans as a minor distraction as opposed to some major link in the chain of development of the program. I don't believe the program was set back because we didn't reach the Olympic games recently. The fact that we didn't qualify was a symptom of the fact that we don't have enough young players who can compete well enough. How to fix the problem of lack of quality players is the billion dollar question that every federation wants to solve.
looking at the names, hope and hype of that squad, we all better hope that the olympic program (as well as the U-20's) is very much a part of our development program.
Oh..................................you are exactly correct. Actually qualifying for the Olympics doesn't mean that much (although we all want to. Qualifying is better than not qualifying). The dearth of quality players in that 2016 Olympic qualifying team led to a real gap in the USMNT player pool. [We really only had two players that weren't released for the qualifying event. Yedlin and Brooks.] Klinsmann saw it coming and called that particular sliver of the player pool the "lost generation." A lot of Luis Gil's in that group that didn't develop. That had significant impact on our 2018 WC qualifying campaign that was to come. Not many guys in their early 20s to push the veterans of the USMNT. We DO NOT have that problem this cycle. The problem is that so much of our best U23 pool has already been promoted to the senior team. Pulisic, McKennie, Adams were just starting together with the senior team. Other U23s that have gotten senior USMNT callups over the last calendar year include Jonathan Lewis, Reggie Cannon, Auston Trusty, Mark McKenzie, Justen Glad, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Erik Palmer-Brown, Antonee Robinson, Matt Olosunde, Djordje Mihailovic, Luca de la Torre, Jonathan Amon, Keaton Parks, Jeremy Ebobisse, Tim Weah, and Josh Sargent. With a whole bunch more about to bust thru. For those not paying attention there's a huge youth movement going on in MLS. There's also a huge movement of youth moving to Europe that's on the verge of yielding more Pulisic/McKennie-like dividends (Alex Mendez to Freiburg, Chris Richards to Bayern, Taylor Booth to Bayern, Richie Ledesma to PSV, Uly Llanez to Wolfsburg, and on and on.). There's a lot to be excited about. One bad result for the U23s in their first game under their new coach isn't really going to bother me. The U20s, by the way, drew with France on the same weekend with goals from Konrad de la Fuente of Barcelona and Chris Cappis of Hobro (former FCD academy player).
Everyone at the U20 camp. Most age eligible players starting in MLS. Possibly some reserve guys in Europe that might be better than the USL players that were brought. Akale, Gaines, Young, De La Torre, Fossey who knows how guys like that stack up to guys like Maher, Farfan, Williamson, Pines, Perez. The Egypt game looked like a bunch of young adults that got off a plane, shook the coach's hand, and went on the field and tried to piece something together. The Holland game probably featured a starting lineup close to the best that could be selected without the obvious three USMNT players. Using the best players, after a few practices, it was really night and day between the performances. We were on the front foot against the Netherlands for most of the relevant part of the game. That last sentence has probably never been written about any USA Men's team at any level.