PBP: 2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship: USA vs. Dominican Republic 3/21 7 ET

Why?

Is there really all that much difference between Honduras and Canada?

 

Araujo has been poor. Michel shouldn’t even be in the side at all.

 

Commentators curse baby

 

It's happening...

4-0

 

The lack of recognition by these two clowns what happens when groups have three evenly matched teams and a patsy is a bit shocking. This group is set up for a two win third place team

 

Nice 4-0

 

Agreed. The team has looked poor. But Araujo coughs up the ball a lot with plenty of space and options.

 

Can’t teach speed. And we have no winger depth at all so Michel gets his opportunity. Had his moments first game and set that last goal up so he’s showed his worth

 

three evenly matched teams with a a terrible fourth teams has the potential for three 6 point teams each going 1 and 1 against the other two and beating the third team.and a Top two come down to GD in their third game.

 

Depends on the CR-Mex score. If Mexico win by 1, then they're ahead on goals scored ....

oh,make that if they win by *2* we'll be on +5 each, but Mexico up on goals scored. That'll mean a draw has Mexico gets #1 spot or winner wins group.

If CR-Mexico draw, then we only need a draw

 

Final

4-0

Comb

3 points

They're moving on.

 

That fourth goal may matter

 

Tessman looks good

 

It may not have been pretty, but six points in two games is what matters. At least they're getting it done.

 

Tired legs but yeah he looks like a difference maker at this level. Didn’t he even showcase his precision long passing

 

Not so fast:

Say, CR 1 - Mex 0

Then

CR 4-0 over DR
Mexico 2-0 over U.S.

U.S. goes home. (I think)

 

...and here's where we disagree.

I don't think you have three evenly matched teams.

You have Mexico head of the class.

You have the US and the Ticos.

You have the DR bringing up the rear.

 

Yes if you didn’t see the Canada game Tajon Bucanan looks sensational he will rip this US team to shreds if we draw them for the crucial match

 

#kreisout

 

It is possible that El Savador's U23 team is not that good. I like Buchanan, though.

 

On the first assertion, I don't agree. Araujo's always going to have bad touches, maybe leaving bad taste in the mouths of some people. But he had zero bad TO's, w/ some slick interplay to play out. And he creates extra opportunities for your team with his savvy short crosses and overlaps. He also virtually shut down Azcona, their danger man.

As for the 2nd, I don't necessarily think he should even be on the roster. But now that he is, he probably should start at Mexico. If there's a game where he'll be a difference maker, it's there on the break. While he'll give an honest effort defensively. We're not getting that from Lewis.

 

I guess we’ll find out in a couple of hours

 

I don’t think we should be talking about whether a team is good or not considering it took us an hour to break down the Dominican Republic.

 

Was he the #2 with the blonde top? If so... I thought he stunk

 

So if Mexico wins or ties we’re automatically through. If CR wins then it gets a bit messy.

Best case is we beat Mexico (somehow), face Honduras who previously loses to Canada, Canada beats Mexico (somehow) to kick Mexico out of the Olympics. Canada and US advance!

 

Some thoughts:

• Is Hassani Dotson this team's best finisher? Looks like it. Those were great, hard hit placements. Really the surprise of this team.
• A slow start, most driven by timid play by the US that was exacerbated by poor touches and unwillingness to push. Then again, every game thread I always wonder if people have watched the sport ever -- people seem to expect 9-0 wins with a goal exactly every 10 minutes
• Johnny Soccer was pretty bad. He had a terrible touch, both receiving and passing, with the exception of his shot off the crossbar and once nice pass into the middle. But he squandered a bunch of chances with poor touches and an absurd amount of backpasses with no pressure. He highlights a pretty common scenario -- the player who can be a support player at a pretty high level but struggles when he has to be the person pushing the game. Still very young, but I think the skill lacking was pretty shocking.
• The offense was not good in the first half, but it was better than the outcome. Well, there were a ton of chances ... but the wingers were soooooo bad. Just misplayed ball and bad decision over and over. So when we did get into a dangerous place, they largely flubbed it.
• First take on halftime adjustments, though I think the DR just got tired/opened up: Part of the adjustments were pushing the fullbacks up higher. Araujo stayed home most of the first half, but pushed up much higher in the second half. We slid the wingers in tighter and and it created some gaps in the middle rather than asking the wingers to create from wide.
  
• Perea wasn't spectacular and his choices were frustrating at times, but he played the stay at home 6 well, defended largely well (he's great at the slow motion, body off tackle) and allowed the fullbacks to move up.
• Yueill was very good. Created a lot of good situations, scored the goal; I like him better forward, frankly.
• Mihailovic showed why the Fire played him at wing. He's not a speed demon but he's sneaky good at decision-making there and has great vision in traffic.
  
• Kessler was rock solid, and why he's not a great passer, there were no nerves, no screw-ups.
• Soto worked much harder this time out; I wonder if there was some feedback?

 

i thought araujo was probably our best young player. sam vines hypetrain otoh...