I think with Sands you might need McKennie in there too to cover ground. Hopefully as soon as next year one of Leyva, Atencio, or others breakout in centermids but would they supplant Acosta? Hard to say. At this point Williamson might have been 3/4 9n the depth chart, but the timing of his ACL tear will make it almost impossible to make the WC roster if we qualify.
well he values empty possession too much. least he has.. maybe hes learning..... i value possession and attack wiithout losing the ball....maybe thats a better way of saying it. incisive possession. incisiveness is really what I value most....but if you arent incisive and you lose the ball a lot its the worst. empty ossession is better than nothing but it should never be the goal...hence why i am not a fan of how lletget has been playing this year
So far we're on course to qualify comfortably as the #2 team in the region and to go down fighting at the group stage in Qatar. Maybe even surviving it with some luck in the draw. Basically, the usual.
Not perfect, but I think this can be interesting: U17 Concacaf World Cup Qualifying: 2015 @ Honduras 1.Mexico 2. Honduras 3.USA 4.Costa Rica 5.Canada 6. Jamaica 2017 @ Panama 1.Mexico 2.USA (beat Mexico once, and was ahead in injury time before choking in final) 3. Honduras 4.Costa Rica 5. Panama 6. Cuba 2019 @ USA 1.Mexico 2. USA (hit post and cross bar multiple times before losing in ET) 3. Haiti 4. Canada 5. Honduras 6.Costa RIca 7. Panama 8. El Salvador U20 World Cup Qualifying 2015 @ Jamaica 1.Mexico 2.Panama 3.USA 4. Guatemala 5. Honduras 6. El Salvador 2017 @ Costa Rica 1.USA 2.Honduras 3. Mexico 4.Costa Rica 5.Panama 6. El Salvador 2019 @ U20 Concacaf World Cup Qualifying: 1. USA 2.Mexico 3. Panama 4. Honduras 5. Costa Rica 6. El Salvador When you dig through the youth results from 2015-2019, there's definitely a clear pecking order in the region and it's basically: Tier 1: Mexico USA Tier 2: Honduras Tier 3: Costa Rica Panama Tier 4: El Salvador It's kind of fascinating in reference to Canada and Jamaica, that they simply aren't doing anything. Hopefully with Canada (I'm half Canadian), they were set to do the business in '21, because they need better depth, but it is funny that basically the U20/U17 results of the last 3 cycles identically match the teams that made the Ocho. Even El Salvador finally getting back in after several cycles out is reflected in the fact that they've consistently made it out of the group stage in qualifying. Anyway, I imagine Costa Rica is struggling with going to youth because basically, they aren't producing as much quality as they were the previous decade. Those finishes, especially at the U20 level, but in general: 4th, 6th, not out of the group at the U17 level, and Did not make it out of the group, and 4th and 5th the past three U20 tournament's. That is bad, Costa Rica has been a locked in top 4 side in the region at the senior level for basically 20 years, but they're youth teams haven't finished higher than 4th at either the U17 or U20 level once in the '15-'19 era. Those are the guys that should be the youngsters breaking through now, so it's understandable why they stink. Honduras is mystifying to me. They were good at Nations League, basically shutting us out, and drew Mexico in a friendly afterwards (in that same window where we clowned Costa Rica), at the Gold Cup, Qatar beat them, but they beat Panama before getting clowned by Mexico (odd result), but now, now after a great opening draw at Canada against the run of play they've been flat out dog mess the rest of qualifying. They can't score goals, they're defense held up for a while, but is showing cracks now. The way we're playing in the attack, injuries and the inept choices from the coach are literally the only reasons I have any doubts whatsoever about qualifying, if not I'd consider it a lock and we should consider it a lock because as I mentioned before qualifying started: Costa Rica sucks. Panama isn't good. Honduras is much worse than I thought (technically I just think they're playing like garbage, and are capable of turning the ship around the rest of the way, but with only 3 points, it may just be too late, especially with roadies to the US and Mexico still coming). El Salvador is well coached, but just way, way, way too undermanned. It's really: Mexico, USA and Canada. Then a dog fight between Panama, Jamaica, and Honduras (if it can wake up). Costa Rica is cooked and for El Salvador, like Market Garden, qualifying is more than a bridge too far. I will say Canada still has 4 of 5 Central America road trips to make, and that could still bite them in the ---. The road draw with Mexico was awesome, the road draw with Jamaica was horrible. They need to steal at least 3 points in 1 of those games, or collect draws in all of them to truly feel secure.
There’s a bunch of armchair QBs on here that won’t even understand this post. We see all of these opinions posted like they are facts instead of presented as possibilities. But here’s a scenario you didn’t cover. Let’s say we played this lineup in Panama and they played like shit (Remember Musah & Weah played like shit in Panama and much better at home). Then we give up that early CR goal and we are chasing that game with tired legs. We could be looking at even a 3 point window.
I looked it up. Costa Rica's been absolutely terrible in youth tournament qualifying for 3 straight cycles. Not sure if they were ever good at it. K, just looked. It's there in the youth tournaments. Costa Rica's finishes at the U20 WC Qualifying level read this way: 2007: Tied with Mexico for 2nd place (finish 3rd on GD and tied Mexico in their match) 2009: Won the qualifying tournament (1st place). 2011: Finished in 2nd in the qualifying tournament. 2013: Knocked out in Quarterfinals (against Cuba) 2015: Did not make the tournament (finished 5th of 7 for Central American Regional Qualifying for the final tournament) 2017: 4th Place Finish 2019: 5th Place Finish This run of results across 12 years actually perfectly captures what's happened. I imagine, though can't prove (since I'm lazy) that the bulk of that generational team that made the WC Quarterfinals in 2014, and helped knock the US out of a WC entirely in 2017, and just missed on matchday 10 qualifying for WC '10 (or the playoff anyway) were made up of the guys that took them to 3 consecutive top 3 finishes in regional WC qualifying in 2007, 2009, and 2011 (with two Final appearances, and 1 title). Now look at the roof cave in starting the following U20 WC in 2013 (this would be players that are typically 27 and younger), you've got a terrible QF loss in '13, an epic fail in '15, a solid performance in '17, and another subpar performance in '19, all of these performances across the board much worse than their '07-'11 performances. Costa Rica's basically seen it's prospect mill dry up, and it finally started showing 2018-Present, with crappy performances at both Gold Cups, and now in qualifying. The one positive sign they have is that their performances in the '15 and '19 U20 World Cups, and the '19 U17 WC were all okay, not as good as Honduras, but as good or better than Panama, so at least they can point to those kids and say, they're basically top 4-5 kids in the region. Which underlines the point above yours which is, yeah, even if the prospect faucet has kind of run dry, it's started to push out better players more recently, than circa the middle of the prior decade, so even if all they are is basically 4th to 5h place in concacaf regional talent, it was even worse earlier last decade, so start incorporating the good ones, keep some old glue guys and begin the process of integrating them for the next cycle because if they don't handle their business, maybe we only get 2 or 3 WC tickets since we have 3 cohosts, and then Panama and Honduras or Jamaica grab them, and you really feel dumber than ---- for not getting the kids in quicker (I imagine they'll start turning to the kids anyway by February because the oldsters are playing them out of qualification anyway).
Yeah. Berhalter's never going to publicly walk through his thought process. But here's a possible and rational line of thought. We went into WCQ window 1 wanting 9 and got 5. The team, regardless of cause, is clearly not operating at top efficiency We do not have our two best offensive players We are second in the table, ties are running rampant, and there don't seem to be a ton of clear contenders We simply cannot afford to lose home games. It's been portrayed as arrogant that we rolled out a B team, but I think it is likely the opposite. The fanbase is mad because they think we could get 9 points. I think Berhalter looked at how we are playing, looked at no CP, no GR, looked at the youth and how erratically we're likely to play on the road and basically decided to protect the home as much as he could and hope he got a result in Panama. That's how we selected rosters, and how we chose to play our subs. And if Zardes doesn't knock that in, we get a crappy point in Panama and move on. But we got our six at home, and we put our best foot forward there. I don't think we underestimated Panama. I think there's a far better chance we realized that we aren't clicking at the level that home games are givens and roads wins are worth stretching for. A tie at Panama would have us sitting very pretty. The three point swing hurts. Of course, all it takes is Panama losing a game they shouldn't to really drop them back, and Panama's no juggernaut. Who knows? We never will, because Berhalter can't admit the above if true. But it's a definitely viable strategy if all you care about is qualification.
I just felt that last night we saw the fluid moving team we could be, instead of the grind it team we were in Panama. The final third was lacking, but our interchange, movement, picking up on runs, was at times first class, in fact, often. It was the first time where we really felt in control (after the opening goal, of course).
I think we will get more horizontality in the game when Scalley joins the group at left back. You saw also how Dest cut across the 18 yd line to put that Robben type shot on target for the goal. We didnt' see that much at Barca because that was Messi's turf- no trespassing, Dest !! Scalley might not have that shot exactly but his square pass into the centre from the touch line to open angles is solid, among other things. The guy I'm most worried about is Adams because I just don't see where he understands the importance of horizontality. Naglesman put him out on the touch line as a rwb but he never seemed to take the lesson from it and Marsch made some half hearted attempts at continuing with it but it just doesnt seem to stick. If you took McKennie off the team, who would you replace him with? I'm thinking Pulisic or Reyna or Sands.
Also one specific thing: Why was that an own goal? Is there a standard for this or is it just the scorer's call? I'm reminded of the goal we got v England in the 2010 WC, seemed similar: Dempsey took a shot (a weaker one than Weah's), goalie spilled it, and it rolled into the goal. That was credited to Clint. Why wasn't this one credited to Weah? I think OGs should be only those that are volitional, like Agoos in WC02 or Escobar in WC94--those were defensive players who kicked a ball directly into their own goal. A shot that deflects off a defensive player unintentionally strikes me as more a product of the intent of the offensive player taking the shot, and hence a goal to them not an OG. Hence I think the LD goal in WC02 should have been credited to him not as an OG to Costa. (Also, reading back over this holy crap do we have a lot of WC OGs: Escobar 94; Agoos 02; Costa 02; Zaccardo 06; [sort of] Green 10.) Even leaving the last one out that's four OGs in 1994-06 which seems like a lot.
or it could be (this is what im hoping) ggg realizes that hes basically wedded himself to inferior mlsers and wanted a divorce....so he needed a justification to jettison the mls players....so he devised a gameplan to make them all exposed as not that good. now he can move forward with almost all euro player rosters like he should
Valencia doesnt play Musah there because he is wasteful, as you just saw vs. CR. That would not go over with the team
No serious discussion is possible until the majority of the fan base comes down from Cloud 9 and realize that, while we have a pool with a very high ceiling (for us, and high for international standards), they're still in the Padawan phase. Some are turning good, like Weah and Arob. May they continue that way, even if I didn't believe in them not long ago. Some are getting stuck, like McKennie and McKenzie. Hopefully they find their mojo. Some are maturing as team players, like Dest and Adams. Those are the ones to get their "final form" sooner. And some are not where I expected them to be. Like Green and Moore (and to a degree, Reyna and Pulisic). Because this is a team sport. I rather have a decent guy who plays as part of a team than an amazing technical dude who wants to do everything himself.
I'm doing a second viewing and I don't understand something. At 15' Aaronson takes a free kick, a high looper to the far post, and Musah is the far post guy and he just watches the ball bounce on the pitch and go over the end line, Why didn't he play that ball? I must be missing something but I'm not sure what it is.
One term I never use is 'ceiling'. It's way to easy an out, totally unpredictablem and nobody ever reaches their(your?) ceiling. Put it this way, cloud 9 and ceiling are the same thing.
If Adams was hurt and all of Wes, Reyna, Musah are all available perhaps it's best to give Wes a go at DM? It's not a perfect fit, but the talent gap between those three and Acosta or a fairly unproven MLS guy seems pretty vast.
I hate it more than you do. It's absurd. The post is part of the playing pitch. If I want to play off the post, onto the keeper's back and into the goal on a bank shot, I should get the goal. I've never heard anybody give a rational explanation for it but, yeah, it is a "standard" because I've heard it discussed on prem games.
The rule is generally that if a ball hits the post or crossbar and bounces in off the keeper, then it's counted as an own goal because the shot was off target and not going into the goal. But it isn't like this in every league. In one of Dempsey's two high-scoring seasons at Fulham, I remember that he lost one of his goals because of this. He hit a rocket from long range that hammered into the crossbar and then went in off the keeper's back. In the Premier League, that is ruled as an own goal. In Germany, the rule is different, because one of Julian Green's goals in the 2. Bundesliga last year was counted for him even though it was an identical sequence.
Look, I get it's cool to go against the grain, and when someone is ripping on a player, to immediately find something for said player (especially, in this case, if it supports Berhalter). That said - In his last 13 competitive matches, he has 1 assist. The 2 before that I think he has another goal and an assist, but it's against Guyana and Trinidad. At what point does just working hard as an attacking player cease to not be an asset? Sargent had some of the highest defensive stats in the entire Bundesliga his last season at Werder, and nobody cares. He has no goals or assists in his last 4 competitive matches (minus the 7 min cameo against Canada), and he's written off. So what's the difference? Is it winger vs. striker? Why are expectations for Arriola different? He has almost zero production, but his hard work means he should be a top option for the NT? Even giving you the "he only leads the entire NT in minutes played because of INJURIES" excuse, when on earth does production matter for a winger?
I think I disagree a bit with your "no clear first choice CB pair." Having a clear first choice can be not its cracked up to be. For example, a team can have two really good CBs but then they have zero depth worth a crap. CB is not a position I am worried about right now. Sure they need some more time together but I don't have much an issue with Brooks, Zimm, MRob, and Richards. And a "clear best center back pairing" also depends a lot on the opponent. If you are playing a high press team that has forwards who are very good in the air then that may dictate you want to play Brooks and Zimm. If its a team that will sit back and bunker you need to be able to push up the outside backs as much as you can to support wide attacks. In that case you would likely want faster center backs such as MRob and Richards. Now if you are saying that we don't have two center backs that are physical, technical, good in the air, and fast so be it. But but who does!!
Qatar is 13 months away. Do you not think this team will be playing more consistently and at a higher level than they have been so far in qualifying?
its tricky though cause its still a 3 day turnaround. you cant just assume guys like musah and aaronson who play all out can go for both. the 5 subs go a long way toward mitigating that, but i think we are seeing 2 match window and thinking "first 11 both matches!" and its not quite that simple.
Who would you replace those guys with today? Who has not been pulled in that you think deserves a shot to take their place? Serious question!
I've always thought Pulisic should field general for us when this cycle began, and it could work now with Pepi as a classic 9. We have lots of options then at the outside attacking position -- I don't get why people rag on Aaaronson. He's fine out there. With that 4-2-3-1 shape we'd have a double pivot which would get us more midfield control and better response to counterattacks (which is what weaker CONCACAF teams are going to do and which CR was successful at) and McKennie could be one of the pivots and not have so much responsibility on his shoulders. I don't think he should be replaced at all, actually. He's having a "youth trough" in performance--and behavior-- but he has a boatload of talent. I don't think Berhalter would go for it -- he likes the guys in their club positions. Maybe if the group were more tactically sophisticated he could run it.