pOsSesSiOn sOcCeR. Jesus that was ugly, good thing we have a few players that are used to winning ugly, and that no one's knee exploded on that preschool level pitch.
Looking forward to the posts that say that this is proof that Berhalter’s system is working and that Berhalter’s doesn’t have an MLS bias. Announcers said that we only have March camp really until the start of the Hex and that Bradley is a core player. I threw up in my mouth hearing those two statements.
I died laughing when Holden said Morris should have kept the ball longer. May his media tenure be as short as his football career. Man, that guy is dumb.
Is like pre-season NFL: only doing poorly could mean anything, looking OK/good doesn't. No injuries. Ball kids had a good time running around. On to Olympic qualifying I suppose....
They won easily. The pitch sucked. Yes it was Cuba but holy crap for many of you this game was a lose lose for us. No matter how it went we'd suck. I really think some of y'all should find some other thing to waste your time on.
What I didn't understand about this game is why they had to play it where they did. I understand that Cuba's national stadium wasn't available, but I can't believe that the second-best stadium in Cuba is worse than this one.
We don’t know for sure, but I would bet they could do worse than what we saw. Also there may be FIFA restrictions around certain aspects of the stadium, area, security, etc that excludes other stadiums in Cuba.
Championship clubs has more money than some some top league clubs in Europe. He will join someone like Preston, move after a season to Villa or Fulham, get promoted to the premier, then do his thing in the EPL and while the club drops he moves to a 5-10th pace type club.
Jaysis, y'all. Let's begin with this: We won. Handily. That's good. I mean, I assume--my benchmark as a fan of this team is that I want them to win, and if possible I'd like them to win by a lot. Both of those things happened. that is good. And for those trotting out the "Cuba sucks" counterpoint, consider (1) we beat Cuba 2-0 and 1-0 the last two times we played them outside the US, and the scores may have flattered us both times; (2) the general sense on the pre-game board was that we'd win modestly at best, maybe 2-0, and we exceeded that (reasonable) expectation; and (3) we have on many occasions looked terrible against equally poor opposition in the Caribbean (e.g., Antigua), while here we did not sink to the level of the competition. Second, by winning they advance in the CNL. That's not remotely like qualifying for the WC or even winning the Gold Cup, but it was the task ahead of us, and we executed it. Topping a group with Canada and Cuba is no cause for great celebration, but again, it is good (not great, just good). And especially considering that a month back we were *six points* behind Canada and not looking very much like coming back from that deficit, then it's all the better. Plus it gets us a shot to play a competitive team like Honduras in summer, and that's good practice for the hex. It may even get us a shot for a rematch against Mexico, and that would be cool. None of this is to defend Gagg or suggest that his systemic approach is anything to be excited about. Nor do I think these last couple results show great promise for the program or our chances in the hex; I remain edgy about both. But for Christ's sake, if you can't derive a modicum of joy from a workmanlike win by four goals in a meaningful game outside the US, then why support the team at all? People are free to do whatever they want of course, but the point of rooting for a team is that occasionally they may win, and that when they do, that makes you at least a little happy. So enjoy it, just a little, just for now--there will be plenty of time to sh!t on Gagg and bemoan the state of the program in the time to come.
We won 4-0. Sargent scored twice. Morris scored twice. Cannon (& Lovitz) can now presumably get work permits. Morales looked pretty good. The last goal was nice. No one got hurt on the crappy pitch. I do not think anyone is suspended. Pretty good night. Sargent playing over Zardes clearly indicates an MLS bias.
Neither of these guys belong on the squad IMO. Roldan may be a less than stellar substitution option... but Lovitz is terrible. This should be his last minutes with the USMNT. Hard to take away too many positives based on the opponent... but at least they won handily. Even though he always looks tired... Morris continues to shine. Dude belongs. Jackson looked good again too and that is big for this team as who knows when we will see Adams.