There is a good chance Ream is still in the picture for Copa. I'd like to see a young guy also get minutes. But there's no need to rush Ream off, if he's still playing well.
It wouldn't surprise me if Bayern buys back Richards and/or others eventually. Especially Richards, who they didn't want to let go of in the first place.
Thiago Silva was 38 in Qatar, and Pepe was 39. I don't know if there were other old CBs, but these guys aren't playing for scrub teams either (it feels like sometimes bad teams bring older players just because there's not much to choose from in their pool). I wouldn't rush Ream out the door as long as he's playing this well, and we only have one other guy (Richards) playing in a top 4 league. I probably wouldn't call Ream in March, since that's a good chance to test new options in games that matter but aren't super challenging, but I'd call Ream for the NL semis and final, assuming we make it.
Tillman goal MALIK TILLMAN 🇺🇲(2002) OPENS THE SCORING!!! #USMNTpic.twitter.com/Z7vLgWkZQM— Football Report (@FootballReprt) February 4, 2023 Reyna goal Stop me if you’ve heard it before but GIO GOAL OFF THE BENCH 🔥🔥🔥— USMNTrev (@Eyesandvibes) February 4, 2023 Pefok goal GOOOOOAAALLL JORDAN PEFOK— USMNT Otaku 🇺🇸 (@USMNTOtaku) February 4, 2023 Not NT-relevant but Boyd also keeps scoring #FCKKSV 2:1 (71.) | SO WICHTIG! Nach der vergebenen Chance macht @TBoyd91 jetzt diese wichtige Bude zum 2:1 auf dem #Betze! pic.twitter.com/bTxyV32Qof— 1. FC Kaiserslautern (@Rote_Teufel) February 4, 2023 Pulisic says he will be back soon
Make a kid beat Ream outright. When he does, we know he’s ready. Allow Ream to be the golden standard til then. Disclaimer, I don’t think that’s a possibility til after the Copa. Ream is too good right now cannon on the bench for Boa Vista Venezia picked up a huge win against a direct relegation rival today. Still in bottom three. But they just dragged 4-5 other teams into the relegation moire
Reyna GIO REYNA OFF THE BENCH AGAIN 😱 pic.twitter.com/YXQRa785M4— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) February 4, 2023 Pefok Pefok scores a massive goal for Union Berlin! #USMNT pic.twitter.com/Dc0QrdJ9pT— USMNT (@USMNTNERD) February 4, 2023
Table was not kind to Leeds today. Furthermore it looks like the coach sackings at wolves and Everton were exactly what both clubs needed. Wolves convincingly beat Liverpool 3-0 and Everton beat table toppers arsenal dyches first game in charge. Leeds absolutely must drag Nottingham forest back into it tomorrow because with that Everton win they’re even in points only above in goal diff
Can't find the Tillman match, but he scored too. Man I want to see some more visionary creators at the 8/10 for USMNT. I think Tillman will eventually be that, and Reyna is now. With people like Scally on the roster it is not necessary to be defensively weak at RB and to have to steer all the attacks wide. At the very least it would be nice to see some rotation at that 8/10 spot. In any case, Tillman is big time. Would also love to Paredes and Zendejas get into a wing rotation, or Zendejas get some time at the 8. Depth is there to be used, especially in tournaments. And since tournaments are what a national team is all about, other matches should include preparing the depth to step in.
Everton still has a crap roster. They have a long way to go, and they will struggle to score goals. Wonder if Klopp's seat is getting warm? There are some similarities to his tenure at Dortmund with his tenure at Liverpool.
Richards unable to stop Rashford for a second game Poor marking from Richards here. He just floats away from Rashford giving him room for this clinical finish. https://t.co/fk6OGsLxUU— USMNT Tracker (@usmnt_tracker) February 4, 2023
I don’t think Liverpool will ever fire Klopp. But he may decide that he’s ready to move on. It’ll also sort of depend on what Liverpool plan to do this summer as they need to fortify in the midfield.
Trusty goal... one-ups Pefok in the late winner category 90+4 - TRUSTYYYY AT THE DEATTHHH!!! [3-4] #SWABIR https://t.co/XAKlCq1FCv— Birmingham City FC (@BCFC) February 4, 2023 Trusty winner #bcfc pic.twitter.com/dj6yzAisLB— Harry (@HarryBlues97) February 4, 2023 Steffen and Horvath doing well Clean sheets for both Ethan Horvath or Zack Steffen. 🧤🇺🇸 Luton Town and Middlesbrough are both currently tied for 3rd in the Championship table. 👀 pic.twitter.com/ln2RgILuQm— USMNT Otaku 🇺🇸 (@USMNTOtaku) February 4, 2023 Fossey also #DualNat Marlon Fossey has been a consistent starting RB/RWB for Standard Liege. Averaging a FotMob rating of 7.3 for the last 5 games in Belgium’s top league. 7.9 Rating today 👊 #USMNT 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/PZ6WWl2eBZ— 🇺🇸 USMNTvsHaters (@USMNTvsHaters) February 4, 2023
I think it’s unlikely Ream will still be around by 2026, but because his game isn’t really based on his athleticism it’s possible he’ll be able to last until then. For now though it’s more about the Copa America for Ream than the World Cup.
I would t bet against ream at least bring CB 3 or CB 4 as a depth locker room guy so long as he stays at least close to where he is
Scottish debut for Matthew Hoppe today. Appears he came on for an injured RW in the 18th minute. He had one shot in what appears to be a ho-hum day for him in a 1-0 win in front of 7,000 fans. The John Brooks Experience has not gone well so far at Hoffenheim. 0 for 3, and have given up a nice tidy 12 goals over those 3 matches.
If we'd advanced to the quarterfinals, I wonder if there'd have been some talking about him being on a tournament Best XI. I mean, Reyna made it in 2002 and I don't think he had a better tournament than Ream? Anyway, hopefully this puts to rest that a player has "reached his ceiling" at 26.
I feel like this is the right level for Hoppe. He can absolutely score in the SPFL, but I think he's more go to show the ability to be more consistent minute to minute in his play.
I think if we had made it to the quarterfinals both he and Adams would have been in contention for it.
To play the way he wants to play, he needs a younger squad. The grind of the EPL eventually catches up to the players. He's had largely the same core squad for the past 5-6 seasons. His last season at Dortmund was similar, where they hung on one season too long with their core group and didn't freshen up the team with younger players.
They definitely need to freshen up the squad and Liverpool doesn’t have the financial might of some of the other big 6 teams (especially if they don’t make the the Champions League). There’s been a ton of Bellingham chatter for instance, but if they don’t finish top 4 are they going to be able to afford him and is he still going to want to come. They are looking for outside investment so maybe that changes. It’s not all bad as Liverpool’s underlying xG numbers are 4th in the league. Which is also similar to his last season at Dortmund where the underlying numbers were much better than where they finished in the table. But I think he’s untouchable because despite the disappointing season, he’s been excellent at Liverpool overall and is one of the top 2 coaches in the world. It’s not like there is someone out there Liverpool could bring in who would be an upgrade. But he’s also someone who at some point will decide he wants a break and will walk away of his own accord.
Unless they have a buyback clause I think it’s much more likely he’ll eventually get bought by someone higher up the table in the EPL if he continues to play well.