I've just finally got to watching that back... I paused it at the moment it comes off WM's foot. It's really really close. Closer than I realized at the time. Then I saw the offside system graphic and it looks like half his body is offside. Maybe I guess, but it looked closer on the video. Granted the camera angle wasn't optimal. Anyway, are you saying that the EPL would've used the defender's arm and hand for the offside line? That seems a little odd because they would definitely not use arm or hand for the attacker, since you can't score with that. If the answer is yes, then I'll have learned something new today, about a league I thought I followed damn closely.
In my opinion, he's a better, more level-headed, more focused leader, in fact, both with his words and with his on-field mentality.
As someone who has attended five World Cups and has followed the USMNT for 30+ years, the naivete of some of the posters on here who think that we should win easily is astounding. Yes, we have talented players. Guess what, so does the other team! They earned their place here just like we did. And our players, talented as they may be, are also comparatively young and inexperienced. A lot of posters seem to forget that. And getting out of the group is NEVER stress-free or easy. In 2002, we were the width of a post away from being eliminated by Portugal after we got dominated by Poland. In 2010, we were on the verge of elimination until Donovan's miracle in the 91st minute. Even in 2014, when we got four points from our first two matches, we could have been eliminated on goal differential on MD3. This group was ALWAYS going to come down to the last few minutes of the game against Iran, and it was ALWAYS going to be stressful.
Did you call him laddie and say Och! a lot? Because that's what I do to my wife when I drink scotch. Well, except I call her lassie. And when she objects I accuse her of being a thrawn, ill-feckit gaberlunzie. And then of course I sleep on the couch.
If our #9 doesn't hurt the team we are in a good shape. That definitely was the case with Sargent, and Wright just emphasized that Sargent had a good game by our strikers standard.
It's not that black-and-white, and I think a lot of people, including on this board, saw that it was much more nuanced than that.
out and out HEART. that's what got us through. that's the main takeaway for me. so proud of how this team has performed, regardless of what happens on Saturday. But... there might be more...
Well, Iran had two clear cut chances to score by inviting that pressure. So they did alright not counter attacking. A team of higher quality is going to bury one of those and we probably invite 2-3 big chances. GB has course corrected before and found success. Let’s hope enough noise will penetrate for him to have a epiphany or someone taps him on the shoulder.
Pretty serious. He may be out for awhile. But if there was no torsion or rupture, he might be ok. Some ibuprofen for a few days and some ice ( well, maybe not...). And do avoid extracurricular activities.....
Let me throw out a different line of thinking... The team was tired. Wes was done. Musah was tiring. Aaronson is great, but he's not the possession player Pulisic is and was showing it. Jedi had gotten super sloppy -- he blew 3-4 great counter chances in the second half with the worst touches and passes I've seen. Furthermore, this team isn't good at scoring. I know it's gospel for people who blame everything on Berhalter that he's holding them back, but I don't know how anyone can watch this first half and think "that's on the coach." Watching Pulisic miss Sargent on the break, Sargent miss a wide open Pulisic on the break -- both easy goals. Watching Haji Wright flub a shot. Watching us fail to convert for the whole group stage on anything... we're not a good team in the final third. And I don't mean against a bunker. I mean even when we have numbers on a break. Someone else posted up if we put Reyna in, we'd clearly have scored. Really? He's good, but the dude's not Messi. We have played conservative at points in this group. But given that we're not a very good offensive team, I struggle with the calculus that if we just abandoned a defense that has given up zero non-penalty goals through 260 minutes, we would DEFINITELY score. especially when it is clear that a huge portion of our team is really, really tired. And our offensive focal point was out of the game. And our starting striker soon would be. It's the World Cup and people are not giving any of these teams enough respect. Any of these teams can win. Costa Rica has a freaking win. You get cocky at your own peril. This sub LOVES John Herdman because he goes for it -- well, guess what, they did well against Belgium, but gave up a goal. So he kept his go for it against Croatia ... even after going 1-0 up, he kept it up ... and got destroyed. 0 points. Going home. But man, no nervy moments! It's conservative. It might bite us in the ass. But so can being hyper aggressive. And we're through the group. Did it need to be that nervy? No. But the best chance for that actually came with all the wasted chances before about 60'. Not at 85'. (Well, except Haji apparently not able to shoot.) I get it. I was stressed to DEATH. But let's not act like this a) wasn't a viable strategy b) probably the preferred strategy of nearly every coach at the WC and c) makes a lot of sense considering where the team on the field was at that point.
That’s what it looked like. First thing I thought was he just got kicked in the nuts and like any man, he’s feeling it all the way in his stomach.
Though I do believe that we were also a healthy Pulisic away from a relatively easier, more fun second half. I don't disagree with your main point, but we were good enough this time that we could've made it a bit less stressful if a few more things went our way.
Man the build-up to Pulisic's goal was world-class: McKinnie great touch to get it over the defense to Dest whose header was even better. Yes Iran played more aggressively in the second half: but all 3 guys were subbed out and you could see the lack of quality. This is a very top-heavy team and one reason folks will not let go of Reyna getting so little time: yes he's not been fit and he's extremely young but he's a guy who could do any of the 3 parts to that goal
FYI, Tom Cairney is actually Fulham's captain (though Ream gets the armband when Cairney isn't starting).
No. I assume it was a joke by the poster. The only thing the EPL does differently is when they draw lines they use a somewhat thicker line, and if the lines overlap they consider the players even and no OS. That would not have been enough for our goal to have counted.
No. Iran actually left him open because he was constantly losing the ball at his feet. It turned into a mistake when he had all day to pick out Dest. Wes has lead feet - Hudson called them anvils. But you can use those anvils for long passes and today Wes was Pirlo on his hockey assist.
If Pulisic is in the hospital, it's probably to repair a hernia, and that would mean that he's done for the tournament. I like our chances a lot less without Pulisic, although those here who clamor for Gio will likely get their wish in that case, even if only as a sub behind Aaronson. By the way, it should be noted that I have no official word on that, that I'm merely tentatively taking Twitter on its word that Pulisic is in the hospital.
I’m pretty consistent in saying I think the World Cup is a blast and celebration of soccer - win, lose or draw. If criticizing is important to you now, ok - but much of the criticism is either foolishly certain about unknowable things or looking for reasons to dislike the coach. Our coach is flawed - just like our players - I enjoy cheering for all of them. Folks saying Berhalter can’t coach his way out of a paper bag aren’t being critical - they are being haters.
Indeed. A reminder....................Iran was the highest ranked Asian team at the event. Not Japan. Not South Korea. Not Qatar. Not Sauti Arabia. In the run-up to this event, they beat Uruguay, All week people were acting like Iran was an "easy win." Based on what? Nobody knows. We totally ran them off the field in the first half. Then held on with heart as Iran threw the kitchen sink at us in the 2nd half. Just a reminder that we have a VERY young group. We just went undefeated without conceding a goal from the run of play in this group. A group that by FIFA rankings was the tightest in the competition. #5 England #16 USA #19 Wales #20 Iran
I will say that putting Zimmerman in to play basically centerfield and clear anything crossed remotely his way is what Klinsmann SHOULD have done when he subbed Omar in against Portugal. I think that was the right move. I think Wright has shown nothing in his time that justifies any further time. Put Weah centrally and play Aaronson/Pulisic and Reyna on either wing. Musah looked gassed; we have to rotate a little bit otherwise the same pattern will play out on Saturday. Aaronson played some excellent balls into space for forwards to run onto. Unfortunately our forwards are bad. Ream and Adams were immense, Dest was excellent and Turner was cool and calm. I’m viewing Saturday as a free hit; hopefully we get the team that worked England and would have won with an average striker as opposed to the team that faded late and hung on against an inferior opponent.
I did NOT like anything about our turtle shape/personnel, except Zim winning the headers as he was put in there specifically to do. That was smart, and that worked according to plan. Everything else about that invited disaster. We're not good at sitting back and holding leads. We're a sound defensive team on the whole (3 games and only a PK conceded), but we defend by pressing and possessing. This group of players under this coach has never been particularly good at the bunker.