Pre-match: USA vs Mexico -- Gold Cup Final Sun 7/7

Nope.

Seriously...do you even play or have played, in order to see massive differences?? I’ll say it again, we’ll see in a couple days... and if we win, feel free to rub egg all over my face...

 

Love this argument. It's where knuckleheads claim they're mensa. I played every varsity sport in HS and was very good in some. I understand sports and have now coached HS for 12 years. You're bias is clear, but you feel the need to defend it by attacking those with a different view. I would assume an 'F' team is their 5th or 6th squad?

Nonsense was right. But keep fighting.

 

And I swear people are so damn literal. I have no idea what their F squad is...I made it up to simply show the difference between the countries performance.

Played a very high level of soccer, live in Texas and played with against many high level Hispanic players...not biased, simply informed.

 

Mexico lines up in a 4-4-2, with Jimenez and Pizzaro in attack.
USA can counter that with a 4-1-2-1-2

..............Arriola.....................Boyd
............................Altidore

.............McKennie.................Pulisic.........

............................Bradley

Lima.........Miazga................Ream........Long

...................................Steffen

 

They were fine. I always figure that nobody pays these prices to fight.

 

Me too, the first half was ok. I was impressed with Stu. The rest,not so much.

 

Not condoning this behavior, but I did the same thing with a single ticket and snuck into the supporter's section back in 2013......

Only US loss I've attended in 15 games. Maybe not as humid as the Argentina game the summer before, but so much direct sunlight...

 

As you detailed in your post, Mexico currently have Layun, Herrera, Lozano, Vela & Hernandez out of the GC roster. You forgot to include Jesus 'Tecatito" Corona. He's considered a 1st teamer with Mexico. Also, Diego Lainez would have been an upgrade over anyone at the wings for Mexico right now. A guy like Antuna shouldn't have been in the GC roster. He was a last minute addition due to injuries.

Even if you count Vela out (who is effectively retired from NT play), I count 6 Mexican players that are out of the roster are first team players.

Now, in replacement of those 6 players, other than the Raul Jimenez inclusion for Hernandez, it is a clear downgrade all across the board. Players like Luis "Chaka" Rodriguez, Uriel Antuna, Luis Montes, etc shouldn't be sniffing anywhere near the NT. And yet they play big minutes for Mexico.

 

Is kickoff at 9 PM on Sunday or is that pregame?

 

Your #3 couldn’t be more wrong. USA was up 2-0. Cherundolo got hurt and then Mexico exposed our defense. Mexico was better. Nothing to do with Bradley Sr losing the team. I don’t remember any players giving up on Bradley Sr.

 

Agree. We’re missing quite a few starters. Brooks, Adams, Yedlin are three that I think of right off the bat. Also think Timothy Weah is going to huge influence on this team.

Mexico is missing a time. You can argue that this is like their B- team at best.


There still is a ton of excitement for the game regardless.

 

I wonder if it's about $$$$? Otherwise they could play the match in Vermont.

 

I have Mexico as favorites due to Tata. If Berhalter wants to shut BS up this is his chance.

 

Looks like an 8PM central time kickoff from what I'm seeing.

 

No they couldn’t. This is the federation’s tournament and other countries have to approve it too. They play in the largest stadiums in the country (hello soldier field) to maximize total profits for the games in the US. It’s not rocket science nor does the US have dictatorial control over every location.

 

The poster I was responding too was complaining about the disparity between Mex and US fans. Vt or Montana would work!

 

I don't know why people are so obsessed with "A team", "B team" etc. Mexico is missing players but so are we. Mexico is missing Chicharito, Lozano, Herrera and Tecatito. We are missing Adams, Holmes, Yedlin and Brooks. As to them being starters it is up to the coaches. But one thing that always gets overlooked when trying to figure out denominations for what team it is, is that we both have new coaches and we don't know who they will end up choosing. Players are playing good one day, the other they lost form. Another player out of the blue enters the NT picture while another one leaves it. Also age has to come into play, or at least it should for both Tata and Belhalter or maybe it won't and they will stick with old players such as Omar Gonzalez and Bradley till 2022. So we really can't tell what an "A team" and "B team" look like when you already have almost all your best pool players on the team minus two or three missing.

 

Our success is going to be mostly down to controlling the midfield. It's up to McKennie,
Pulisic, Bradley, and maybe another to do that. The big question for me is whether Berhalter will trot out the preferred 4-3-3 again or go to a more defensive 4-4-2 or 4-5-1 or one of their variants. I predict that he will not keep the 4-3-3.

 

So... FWIW, it's a complete shitshow tonight outside of where the team is staying. Mexico is probably in the same area, but all the players are going to be hearing sirens all night the way things are going.

This stupid city....

 

Probably 4-5-1 that goes to 4-3-3 when opportunity is there.

 

♫
Somebody is going to Emergency
Somebody is going to jail

Ps...The wolf is always at your door!

 

I think Altidore, Pulisic, McKennie, Boyd, Long, Steffen are all my top picks for a roster. And there's a few other guys who aren't far off.

Half of my Best XI? We're somewhere between an A and a B team. I said A- because, unlike Mexico, we do have Puli and McKennie.

 

If an A team is first XI, and a B team is the second XI, then B- would be mostly second XI and some third string guys, no? Perhaps this is just semantics, but there's a decent chunk of Mexican first stringers out there.

Same reason I called our team an A- team. We have some Best XI and some backups. I called it an A- instead of a B+ because we do have Pulisic and McKennie and I think Mexico is missing their very best players.

 

Interesting take here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZgBkF9UUoQ

 

USA is going to win