Especially it means that post qualifying we have the June window during which there will be 4 Nations League games and then two in September and then we have the World Cup. Doesn’t leave a ton of time for playing any friendlies with teams outside CONCACAF.
I hope the June window we treat as a full prep camp…tough because we’ll also want to give some guys rest.
I mean I imagine June will be a big roster/camp as it’ll be one of our last chances to get the team together before the World Cup. And we’ll ideally play friendlies against top teams either right before or right after the Nations League game. But obviously we should be judicious with the minutes for the top guys.
Mix Diskerud has a place in history as the answer to the Jeopardy question "Only #10 Player in a World Cup Who Was Not Injured But Didn't Play A Single Minute."
Watching Pefok in the Young Boys game from Saturday in a replay on Swiss TV. Young Boys are playing a 442 with Elia, the DR Congo player, as the other forward. Elia is a very mobile forward, more like a winger. Pefok is the target guy. Pefok seems to be doing a fairly good job at pressing high, something he has been criticized for with the national team. He also is well positioned and does pretty well in defending corners. That alone should put him ahead of Zardes. We might have 1 more point if he had been called up instead last time. Edit: He made a nice run to beat his defender in the 37th minute, got hold of the cross, but one-timed it wide. A Young Boys player got a second yellow a few minutes before the half, which is probably why Pefok was subbed by a MF at the half.
Wasn't it you that suggested this idea for a while? One of the regular posters was a proponent of Dest playing as a right winger. But that was when we were much happier with our right back depth. I'm still happy to keep Dest at fullback and use a player like Weah in the more advanced position. I can certainly envision a scenario in which the USMNT staff tries Dest up there, though. I don't know if anybody mentioned it in this thread, but Cannon was back starting for Boavista yesterday. Hard to know what goes on at that club. Even their own social media is nonexistent. Boavista's own twitter account had the starting XI and the final score. That was it. But anyway, good to see Reggie back in the lineup. ⚽ 𝟭𝟭 𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 #RAFCBFC#BoavistaFC #OrgulhoAxadrezado pic.twitter.com/pI0Enr92w0— Boavista FC (@boavistaoficial) October 17, 2021
This won't be a popular opinion on here, but this World Cup Finals is going to be very different due to the corrupt bid/award leading to the need to move it to the middle of the club season in Europe. Very little about is going to be the same, including.tje build-up, which as has been noted will last about one week. It would be a big mistake for any national team setup to try and cram more team or game time into that June "window." Playing friendlies against Euro or South American teams isn't really going to benefit much with a squad of players who will be looking to rest, and none of the teams are going to want the extra travel. Club soccer drives the financial engines of the world game and international soccer has to live accordingly. Our having an emerging talent pool isn't going to persuade those forces from requiring the brunt of the calendar, and shortening the players' only sustained break of the year for team-building won't be a good solution.
Absolutely, I'd been a proponent of Dest on the wing. But the lack end-product led me to advocate he should stay at rb. Of course, playing the attack for Barca may help to improve the end product.
Also we thought we might need Dest at LB. With Robinson's continued improvement with the group, that possibility is in decline. Well have to see if Sergino continues playing in the RW role for Barca. We're not exactly deep in those attacking positions. Particularly with the injuries problems that Pulisic and Reyna have.
I mean it’s a tricky balance as you want to build the team for the World Cup, but you also want to give the European players time off after their club season. You also have the CONCACAF U20 championships running concurrently that someone like Pepi is also eligible. And at the same time it’s one of the last opportunities to take a look at bringing new faces in. You could for instance schedule a European friendly in advance (along the lines of the Switzerland game) and then cut lose some of the established guys afterwards. You could also schedule a friendly afterwards but with the idea that it’s only for more fringe players. I think the idea is you schedule the games but it’s not the case that you need the same roster for every game. I think by then we’ll know our draw as well so we could for instance try and schedule similar sorts of teams to those we are drawn into a group with.
Not sure if that is responding to me, but There are 8 more qualifying matches plus a window in June and some others next Fall (presumably). Is that not enough?
There's a September window where we have two Nations League games scheduled but the October window is canceled. Presumably we'll have some sort of closed door friendly during that week leading up to the World Cup itself (as we've done in previous World Cups). Honestly the two main issues are 1) the camp leading up the World Cup is way shorter than it typically would be and 2) Nations League games very limit us from playing friendlies against teams not from CONCACAF.
In case folks are fans of adding even more congestion to our CB debate: 🇺🇸 Matt Miazga starts for Alavés in a La Liga match against Real Betis.🕐 1:00 pm ET💻 ESPN+ ($) https://t.co/XWF4nlbm3o— Yanks Abroad (@usmnt_abroad) October 18, 2021
I think we have a clear winner for worst move in the summer transfer window. Otasowie needs to flip the script. 🇺🇸 Otasowie omitted from Brugge's UCL roster vs Man City.not a big surprise considering how things've been going for him but still disappointing https://t.co/uRuqoAEVXR— 🇺🇸 ⚽ east (@eastdeflection) October 18, 2021
In case people can't get enough of former FCD academy players. Cappis' winning goal for Brondby yesterday. Right between the wickets. At some point he's going to be given a chance to compete for that backup #6 role. Of course he might not make a USMNT midfield of only FCD academy products (McKennie, Tessmann, Acosta, Pomykal, and friends). Maybe he sneaks in due to Emerson Hyndman's injury and by passing Brandon Servania. Maybe. https://t.co/AES1RaITnc— 🇺🇸 ⚽ east (@eastdeflection) October 18, 2021
Indeed. There were rumors about attitude issues with Otasowie at Wolves. I never know whether to believes such things, particularly when they come from fans, etc. But there does appear to be something going on with Owen, though.
Miazga should have been called in October. He's been in good form in a weak team. I guess Berhalter considers playing in a 3-man back line a minus.
I'm guessing they wanted to push Dest out of the nest in the post-Messi era and see what offense he could produce when pushed high and liberated from defending. i.o.w., I think he'll settle at rwb, over all, average position, eventually with Barca and still give us what we saw against Valencia
i remember someone insisting otasowie should be in the nt because he was definitely going to be starting for wolves this year (based on being with the first team in the preseason). that turned out to be...premature
Bus with the secondary assist to give Venice the lead. He's made some nice tackles and passes. Dude is balling.
Miazga and Alaves lose on an 88th minutes goal. Miazga was not at fault. His play has been much improved over his Anderlecht performances.