When Steven Gerrard (in a Galaxy shirt) faced Pirlo and NYCFC for the first time, literally the first thing Gerrard did was take Pirlo out with a crushing tackle the first time he trapped the ball, earning a foul in the process. We all remember Jermaine Jones demolishing Neymar. It's part of the dance, kids.
Classic MLS. I love those guys to death, but it’s pretty obvious that Clint was a cut above the others and had a different level of competitive mindset that came from other sports. Guys like Michael Jordan wanted to crush their opponents will by humiliating them on the court. Dempsey is much more like that than most US players. I refer to that as being a “dog”...having the dog in you. Dest has that dog in him and you could see it with the U20’s.
Yup. Having listened to the podcast, I can say the quote loses a lot of context when it’s written out. It was all banters.
Yes. Now they need to do it on the field. The days of getting punked by minnows like Yuiell did against Honduras need to end. Dominate the mental game.
I’m mystified why there is no talk about Dest in the Classico. He was subbed out at half time after being a pedestrian for the first 45 minutes.
Yep. I don’t see any real fault on that play. My main concern is Barca got nothing out of him in the right wing spot for the first half, sub him out and move Dembele to that spot and bang! That position comes alive. That is concerning.
Makes it make sense Something that’s been bothering me about Sergino Dest pic.twitter.com/bp4U7trVzx— watke (@watke_) August 19, 2021 Someone get this kid an “official” 90s Michael Jordan #23 Chicago Bulls jersey to replace this generic “Official 20” one… what is that, is it a brand?
My guess is it's a) definitely a brand b) more expensive than a game worn Jordan #23 jersey c) worn primarily for clout/status Reminds me of my favorite line from Deadwood when a woman is chastising titan of industry Hearst for being a jerk and he says with pity, "I'm having a conversation that you cannot hear". I feel like clout chasing peoples' clothing, especially impressionable young rich men's clout chasing clothing, is like that.
Sergino “only bangers” Dest No words. What an absolute banger. 💥#USAvCRC x @VW pic.twitter.com/7bY9S8jozb— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) October 13, 2021 Sergiño Dest is not interested in xG. pic.twitter.com/sJQ13MPYAA— Paul Carr (@PaulCarr) October 13, 2021
What was the xG on that play though? Amazing little step over and absolute laser. When he's on, he's very, very much on.
Dest' goal was....great, but what I liked most about his game was the completeness. (Of course the goal was, by far the most important and significant moment.) He didn't have to do much on defense, but tracked back. He dribbled about as much as usual but he was more efficient (one quick feint, a touch and he's past the man instead of 2 or 3 touches to get past), more one touch passes. He was decisive with the ball. His goal came on a quick touch to the left and a shot. Really nothing fancy....quality doesn't have to be fancy. It's like that top notch steak that you saved a week's pay for...you want to taste the quality of the ingredients. There will still be times when his flair will be necessary, and there is no substitute for it when it is needed but it was very encouraging to see him play simple. I know, he managed to throw in a rabona! I'll forgive him
Insane and insanely important goal and 2 assists in ~120 minutes this window. He’s still better defensively than Cannon, Yedlin and Moore BTW. If Dest was as awful defensively as those other two were against Panama there woulda been 3 pages of comments in this thread.
Dest is a player that can just change games in moments, out of nowhere. They may "cost" you at times. They may be hard to quantify. But every coach dreams of having players who can literally just create wins out of nothing. It makes the coach look good despite them having no say in it. Those players arent common, and if you can fill a team with those players, you are about impossible to defend.
Dest has been much better with decision making this window. It should be very simple: one on one, beat the man. More than one defender, find the open man. Of course, there's more than that, but if he just can learn where he has the advantage and where the hole is in the defense when they overcommit to stopping him, he will be an even bigger weapon than he is now.
Those teams are usually called “Brazil”. Dest is a Brazilian-style player. A legit, world class Brazilian-style star player. …and he plays for us.,
The main reason that Dest looked better this window is Yunus Musah. Musah understands what Dest is and knows how to be a support player to Dest when he needs to be. He knows where to be on the field, when to push up, and when to cover space when Dest joins the attack. Musah allows Dest to be Dest, and he still is able to play really well off of him. The combination of Dest and Musah on the right is going to win a lot of games for us over the next 10 years. The only question is who you add to those two. You can’t add a ball hog who puts their head down, you have to add a smart player who can play and combine quickly and who also knows how to use space. Arriola was excellent in that role. Weah is still putting it together. I would expect Pulisic or Reyna to occupy that space next time.
I think that the takeaway from this window is that Dest needs the right guys around him…you have to put the smart players with him. Another takeaway: Rabonas all day, baby.
There's no doubt this setup is better -- it's not just Musah but Weah/Arriola are better complements style-wise than the Konrad and Aaronson combo that all sort of congregated on him in El Salvador ... or even Gio Reyna, who likes to play exactly where Dest likes to play. But he's simply been smarter and worked harder this window as well. Strong decision making, a willingness to pass and he put in the work on defense in both games. Just great play by him and it is great to see.
Remember a month or two ago when many were crapping on Dest, questioning if he should be starting, if he was good enough, if he cared enough, etc. etc. Granted he was often having a tough time before stepping up huge this window, but I'll take ridiculous talent any time over try hards, as long as they're not a cancer, and none of our top guys are that.