Some take away from the game tonight. McKennie - He is the real deal in our midfield. All over the pitch making plays. Make ugly tackles no one want to take. He is our destroyer, our killer. He's the answer against our dirty CONCACAF opponents. Robinson - We might finally have our answer to the LB position. Hope his game continue to grow. Sargent - This kid will be monster as long as he can stick it out over there in Euro and battle day to day against some of the very best. Already very strong physically for an 18 year old. His soccer IQ and killer instinct of a striker is already there. Can't wait to see him develop further in the next few years.
I told someone who said the usmnt has been more successful with pulisic out wide then centrally that the opinion was like a flat earth person. literally every stat/fact says otherwise but still...the earth is flat.
Ooof, what an awful take. I haven't seen a US midfield with bite since JJ was knocking around Ecuadorians in the Copa. He would've been on a yellow with some of those early tackles, but I expect him to get smarter with age, and if he keeps the physicality, he will thrive. ...Or he's mentally weak and stupid, with 20 appearances for CL-bound Schalke. YMMV.
This season the Bundesliga has been lamentable. Their #2 team in the Champions (Leipzig) got punked home and away by Besiktas. Let's hope Schalke is a better #2 next Champions.
This has been a down year for the Bundesliga, I agree. Dortmund are pretty terrible, and they're going to the CL. RB Leipzig had a good first half, then limped to a terrible finish. A lot of "OK" teams, but no top quality outside of Bayern Munich. I'm just suggesting that it's a little insane to think that WM's "mental fragility" wouldn't have been exposed already by 20 appearances for a Schalke team that had much to play for. He may be young and reckless, but there's very little to suggest that he's "mentally fragile". He's spent part of his childhood overseas, he's adapted to Germany, and he's worked his way into a role-player at a large CL squad. None of that suggests, to me, that he's "mentally fragile". Certainly, if he was, his coach wouldn't have started him.
So after our midfield backed away from and/or lost most challenges during WCQing, leading to our midfield often being overrun, it's suddenly a problem that McKennie shows some work rate and bite? We could throw Arturo Vidal out there and we'd have fans complaining.
One thought: If in Qatar, the US sent out this exact super young team, it would be right around the average age for sides in the Cup. This, IMO, is what the US setup has missed at most times: We think putting our best players is what makes the difference. Talented youth matters as much if not more than experience in a summer slog of a tourney (or winter slog for 2022). By the time a player is 30 he is, rightly so in my opinion, focused on things such as keeping his career allive, family, the next step, etc. Their soccer focus is and should be 100 percent club. Youngsters can buy into the emotion of a Cup and be just fine. They can toss in a keeper and defender with more experience, if needed. But going forward, the US probably needs to get even younger for Qatar. This isn't a statement on my part about US players who are now 26 or older. I happen to think the US has a lot of talented players in that age group. But this current cycle was their Cup cycle. It sucks that they missed it, but that's football.
they are losing their two best midfielders in goretzka and meyer. they are keeping their 3rd best mid - Wes. He's good, but who will help him? We don't know yet.
Yeah, his performance tonite as a central 10 was triple A "zombie" as some have characterized it. And his performance "underneath" Wood and Jozy versus Trinidad? Gold plated crap. US Soccer thinks they should put the guy who leads in goals for the hex as far back as they can rationalize and put Wood up there near goal to get goals. Wood who has 1 goal this year iirc. Brilliant stuff. We're not going to Qatar.
I just don’t see Corona as an international level player. We need someone better than Rubin. Gooch is like the 4th string running back on a football team. He rarely gets a chance, but then when he does you get excited to see him and you cheer for him cuz he’s seems a decent fellow, then it turns out he’s really just not good enough. There was a lot of talented players for us today. Many of them weren’t ready for the stage they were on, though. Fast forward 2-3 years and we win that game 6 or 7-0. Sargent could’ve had 2 or 3, same for Weah. We’re going to get rolled by either Ireland or France, if not both.
Weston McKennie is NOT reckless. Every dirty play he makes is intentional. Those baby cheeks and his polite rapport with the refs allows him to get away with several yellow-worthy fouls before he finally gets shown a yellow. This isn't a tournament, so yellow card accumulation doesn't exist. McKennie is the best player on the team. Pulisic has a much higher transfer market value and Sargent has the potential to be a solid #9 for a decade+, but if you could only choose one player from tonight's squad to start a team (and you can't sell him for the fee to supplement your lineup), Weston McKennie is who you want to build your team around. He is both the field general AND the enforcer. He is your #6 who occasionally makes a run forward, but he's your #6. Parks is a #8/#10 combo who accidentally grew 6 inches too many. He is not a #6. McKennie could easily be the captain for a decade. (He won't be, but he could be.)
What happened to Acostga "patrolling" the midfield for the decade? I predict McKennie will be with us when Qatar rolls around but the hype is way overdone. I have him in my starting 11 but he's not really a 6. that's not surprising considering the experience required to play the position. I'd play him where we played Pulisic tonite for the Ireland fixture. I think he'd do a lot better than Pulisic.
I know there will. But we still have no idea who our left back, wide midfielders, attacking midfielder, and center forward are. Experimenting at that many positions usually leads to a bunker. Tbh, I’m okay with losing both of the next 2 (or more) matches if it means we find a good core and start exposing them to good opponents. I just think the fan base is going to lose its collective shit the second we lose one match to a decent team and everyone is going to go all Chicken Little and constantly talk about why we’re not going to the World Cup. So I’m hoping if we can just accept the possibility now, maybe we can look at the big picture. Pretty naive of me, I know.
FC Dallas developmental teams have had: Acosta (22) Hyndman (22) McKennie (19) ...and maybe Parks (20) for a bit, but maybe not. Acosta is the oldest and the worst of the first 3, though Hyndman is very much a #10/#8, and Acosta is a #6 that pushes forward all the time. SIDE NOTE: Acosta is probably the best dead ball striker, but he is the worst during the run of play.
I think they've made clear Pulisic will give up his spot on the team for Weah who just wants it more. Sargent is a good hold up cf. we don't really want Wood who hasn't done anything for club or country and needs to get back on track with his career. Jozy is injured. That leaves Sargent. We need a real 8 in there to get thru midfield so Delgado/Parks in that spot. McKennie was ok at the 6 against Bolivia but not particularly mature imo. I'd say Trapp moves into that spot and McKennie can play with the ball further up the pitch at the 10 spot. Robinson seemed technically sound in an English Championship kind of way and earned a step up in class to play agasint Ireland. I'm ok with Yedlin at rb and if not we have Licaj. so, ------------------------Sargent------Weah -----------------------------McKennie -----------------adams-------------------Delgado/Parks --------------------------------Trapp ---robinson------miazga--------CCV/EPB------yedin/licaj The question is who gets subbed in which is more interesting. I just hope we don't get weighed down with a ball and chain: Nagbe and Acosta. I'd rather see ---------------------Dom-----Nova ------------------------Carleton ----------Roldan/Lletget----Delgado/Parks ----vfana--------parker-------CCV/EPB-------Yedlin/Licaj But what do I know?
Sidenote: Mexico didn't impress in 0-0 draws with Wales tonite, the latter playing without Bale who would have ripped Osorio a few new ones had he appeared. Mexico isn't going anywhere in this cup. They seem stale to me.
I've never said he was mentally fragile. I think there is some moderate risk that he could cost us a red card in an important game at some point in the future. Otherwise, Wes is going to be an important part of this cycle. However, and for the good moments in attack he has, he's going to need someone with more creativity to complement him.
If they want to do well in the Champions they need to buy CMs. Let's be honest: McKennie is not (yet?) one of the best CMs in the Bundesliga, and to do well in the Champions you need one of the best CMs in your league.