For the folks clamoring for us to win the group, the only thing that matters is qualifying, and a very distant second is getting into Pot 2 (assuming that FIFA even uses the same system as last time, which...good luck with that one). In and of itself, winning the group is completely meaningless and I've yet to be convinced of a reason why anybody should care about it.
I mean, I would take being in the top 3 rather than not being in the top 3. But the performances in World Cup qualifying have been extremely disappointing and “underperformance” should be the key word to define this campaign. That said, maybe a little kick in the teeth was necessary for this group. But for where we are at right now, if we had a “good” WCQ, we should be on at least 31 points now. With the Canada/away match being the only fixture so far that I would have said a tie was an acceptable result (unfortunately, I had draws against Mexico/away and Costa Rica/away as acceptable results too). Thus, we should consider the matches against Jamaica/away, Canada/home, Canada/away, Panama/away, and El Salvador/away as big upsets that we should have won and that 4/11 matches were unacceptable results.
Do we really have 10 to 12 MLS players? Especially when you consider who is seeing the pitch. Zimm, Robinson, Acosta, Morris, Ferreira and Roldan. Those seem to be the outfield players we have used from the MLS. Who am I missing?
There were 13 on this roster. You're missing Zardes, Arriola, Yedlin (now), & Lletget (kind of). Next roster could have Long, E-Will, Jones, Paredes, etc. It's always going to be at least around 10, w/ most of them playing some role. That massively trumps the impact MLS has on CR & Panama.
CF: Pepi, Hoppe, form of Dike/Sargent/Pefok/Zardes Wing: Weah, Aaronson, Pulisic, Morris CAM: Gio, Ferreira B2B: McKennie, Musah, LDLT CDM: Adams, Acosta Utility: Busio, Sands LB: ARob, Vines RB: Dest, Scally, form of Yedlin/Cannon CB: MRob, Zimmerman, Brooks, Richards?, form of Long/McKenzie/EPB/Miazga GK: Turner, Steffen, form of S. Johnson/Horvath
Looks like Napoli is saying it was likely a dislocated shoulder, but they’re gonna do their own tests when he gets back. Unless it was a particularly bad one or they did some damage trying to get it back in I’d be surprised if it keeps him out for the next window. But I’m also no doctor.
Engine and motor is also useful at fullback. ARob has been inconsistent, some games very good, other games not so much--he's a valuable player (and I'd start him at LB vs Panama and CR) but not written in stone. Acosta is fine defensively at fullback, he isn't as good as ARob at getting into the attack in the run of play but his set pieces more than make up for that IMO.
You know what? Given the gravity of the situation, I also bring in a couple fringe guys that while they may not be getting minutes, if they have shown themselves to be difference makers in the past, bring them in. Therefore I’d also bring Hoppe and gio. At bare minimum, Hoppe. if Italy can make a desperation Mario Balotelli call we can make a desperation Hoppe call
For us to get first place Canada needs to be held to 4 points and we'd need to win all ours right? 1 point vs CR 3 vs Jamaica 0 vs Panama I guess that could happen but I doubt we'd get all 9 points
If you take the logic of the doomsayers and turn it in the other direction, each of those six results are, by themselves, plausible. Therefore, it's clearly gonna happen and we might as well count on first place!
We don't even need to win all our games. In fact, we can get 1st with only 5 points over the window. Don't hold your breath on that.
I think the negativity is valuable in terms of strategic planning. There's little point to plan for Costa Rica to get less than six points; we don't have to do anything then in regards to them. But there's a point where your primary plan is for like a 2% chance; that can make you make poor decisions. What I'm baffled a bit by is the idea that we are afraid of playing at Costa Rica even though that game inherently also allows us to limit them. It's a opportunity to, even with a tie, to limit their window to seven points, not nine.
I don't think Busio is fringe at this point. He'd have been in the group in this window if it hadn't been for a positive COVID test. Who would have been left out is a point of debate. I do think Berhalter will rotate in more forwards looking for a guy to grab the bull by the horns. He's done it all cycle. Back to Sargent and Pefok probably. Both are presumably ahead of Hoppe based on performance. I've never been a huge Hoppe fan. Other than one 3 game stretch for Schalke in which he scored 5 goals.................he's done surprisingly little in club soccer. Kind of a shooting star.
The Hoppe record at CF with the national team = 0 minutes. He deserves a look this summer, as do the others. So potential big win ideas to be explored. Reyna at AM. Scally. CFs. To rule them out would be malpractice IMO,
Indeed. One of his 2 career assists................... He deserves a look at CF if he earns it. Other guys like Sargent and Pefok are ahead in the queue based on performance. For me, anyway. Then again, I wouldn't have called up Zardes. So who the hell knows what Berhalter will do. Maybe we'll go back to Jozy Altidore!! Honestly, I have Gioacchini ahead of Hoppe at the moment. Being a breathing, US-eligible #9 doesn't earn one a callup. At least not in my book. I don't see Hoppe getting much playing time the rest of this year. Supposedly Mallorca tried to loan him out to the Spanish second division and they couldn't find any takers.
Forward will naturally be the most pivotal question mark, but as boss, Greg has to get that right. Has to.
I agree Sarge and Pefok are ahead of him, though performance for a crap team (as with Sarge) is a subjective thing. The reason I want all these guys to get looks (Dike included) is because Zardes just can't hang with our wings and mids. They think and play much faster than he does, and even if he could play at that speed, his touch won't let him. But he presses well ... (sigh)
That and we need at least one maybe two high risk high reward difference makers in the roster. Hoppe is certainly one of those. We need someone to rattle the cage. We are up against it, again. And it would be silly for someone to say “calm down” with our recent history. That’s a recipe for disaster. This is not a time for calm cool heads, this is a time for awareness, decisiveness and urgency. If someone else outside the bell curve brings that, I welcome them. This is a time for statistical outliers