FIFA is dominated by UEFA. FIFA rankings are skewed towards UEFA teams and playing and beating UEFA teams.... pretty sure if you look into you will see that this whole regional national league idea started in UEFA...and since they are doing it, the other regions basically have to as well..... If UEFA's open dates are all in their own league of nations...cuts out a lot of the prime friendly opponents for the US. Would be nice to see CONMBEOL and CONCACAF merge....then we'd finally stop seeing these minor league tactics that get the USMNT through our region exposed for what they are - second-rate. So no..UEFA didn't force CONCACAF to have a nations league but they didn't leave much of an alternative as soon as they decided to have one in UEFA - (which suits their interests vis a vis the other regions)..... Its like "playing hard to get" in dating...scarcity increases value. (and makes it harder for other regions to knock them off their perch)
After watching the game against Nigeria, I keep thinking that Weah needs to develop a chip shot when he's one on one with a keeper. I can't count how many times he gets through and then lasers the ball into the keeper when the chip is wide open. Here are some examples but I know I've seen it a bunch: https://streamable.com/9uke0 https://streamable.com/zdbof
Be funny if all countries do a reciprocal rule where club teams can only play in your country if their national team has played there is the last year? Two, four years? Why allow their club teams to make cash grabs all over N. America and Asia when their national teams snub those regions? Combining the Americas is an alternative but until the money justifies one of those new fangled super fast planes then the flight times are daunting. At least the jet lag wouldn't be as much of an issue.
Absolutely agree. The deft touch that chips the keeper close in is the tool that the best strikers seem to utilize at exactly the right time. Timo just keeps trying to pound that round peg into a square hole and wondering why he's not able to craft himself into the PSG set-up.
Man, Timo is a maddening player. Have watch all 3 u-20 games so far and he's played every minute. He reminds me of a player on Football Manager who has very high flair but very low first touch; his ideas are very creative and intuitive but he can rarely pull off his flicks. It also seems like he'd rather do a clever one touch flick because he doesn't trust himself or have the ability to trap and turn and carry the ball at speed while being defended against. He stunk it up for the whole game and then popped up with a moment of quality to score the only goal in our 1-0 win against Qatar. If he could improve his finishing and technique/dribbling, he'll be a good player. Until then he'll struggle certainly to make it at PSG and struggle even at lower tiers, as a lot of guys can do what he does as well. Personality-wise though, I love the guy. He's always working, so positive, picks up teammates
He's got a good knack of being in the right place at the right time, making smart runs. But agree. He's going to need to be more consistent when does have the ball.
I think the jury is still out on how good he can ultimately be. My concerns for him eventually reaching the highest levels are: 1.) His first touch is relatively poor and he lacks the close ball control to beat defenders off the dribble or look comfortable in tight spaces. Finishing is decent enough, but nowhere near elite. Limits the types of games you can use him in and his effectiveness in general. 2.) He's relatively fast, but his speed isn't elite and certainly not fast enough to compensate for his current limitations. 3.) Outside of the nice goal and assist, he hasn't looked very impactful at all at the u20 World Cup. And a top prospect with his aspirations really should. Might turn out that he's a good, not great player. I agree with those that think that making good runs is currently his strength. If he does realize his high ceiling, it will be because he improved on the issues in point number one above.
O/T a Norwegian scored 9 goals against Honduras. Remember that for when your grandkids are playing Trivial Pursuit with you.
I can't say I agree at all. He has had a hand full of god awful first touches every game, either because he's trying to push the ball around a player or it's a genuinely poor touch. He makes excellent runs for 90 minutes, can at times combine really well and seems to relish the big moments...still have high hopes for the guy
I think this is his style, not so much his touch. If you look at how he receives the ball, he instantly pushes it in front of him so he can run with it or make his trademark loop around a defender. But, I think he is starting to become predictable with this. If you look at his breakaway attempt that was saved vs Qatar, it was Pulisic-level touch to bring the ball down with ease and in-stride.
He's a bit of an enigma on the ball. Long term viewing will tell you he has a certain magic about his touch and confidence. He can't truly be depended on to retain possession in tight spaces, or to continue an attack at speed seamlessly the way the true maestros can, but he also uses his technique to conjure beautifully things out of nowhere in the final third on a regular basis against all types of competition. He's going to make a mark in Europe stretching defending lines, and ruthlessly finishing poaching situations.
He never drives at players from the wings like Konrad and Llanez does. This to me shows how he isn't a winger. He always cuts inside passes to striker looking for a one two then shoots of lays off to winger and gets in position to poach.If he doesn't do that he back passes after a long touch.
His future is at the 9. But he needs to be able to work off the ball and get played in behind. That's why it didn't work against Ukraine, because they bunkered and his hold up play isn't good and doesn't play to his strengths. He can play on the wing but he's better at playing combos and quick passes than how Tab wants his wingers to play wide and beat their man. He's not getting a lot of chances to combine, and his goals and danger moments have been, no surprise, on good runs being rewarded by Mendez and quick combos. tl;dr he's not a really good fit in this particular team, and I think he plays up/down to the quality of his teammates.
Yea at least Panama advanced as a 3rd place team. On Weah, not sure how he can compete for a spot at PSG when he can’t dominate in a U20 WC. Guy needs a loan somewhere else, but his performance isn’t going to warrant any interest in Ligue 1 unless he can blow the lid off against France on Tuesday.
I rarely subscribe to single matches or YNT small samples being huge contributors to club future but this is a huge opportunity for Timmy. All eyes in Ligue 1 will be on this and he will be matched up with many of the top players he is being compared to. A strong performance would go a long way for him.
Uh? All four CONMEBOL teams made it past group. No other confederation managed 100% of their teams going through.
I read his post as “it’s crazy that lowly CONCACAF gets the same number of slots as a very good CONMEBOL,” but maybe I’m wrong.
IDC....panama and honduras would never qualify out of conmebol....besides CONMEBOL got 60% in Brazil. Honestly CONMEBOL should have some more spots in the WC...even 6 is not enough. It's the best region in the world and almost all of their countries would consistently make it out most groups. That the copa america champs Chile was not at the last world cup is a joke, imo. Would be cool if CONMEBOL and CONCACAF merged...the USMNT would be forced to evolve and couldn't get by on "well, at least we do well in our region"
Such a merger would suck because of all the CONCACAF minnows in the mix. Now, USA, Mexico and Costa Rica leaving for CONMEBOL (which, of course, cannot happen ) - that would be interesting.