Pre-match: Nations League: Grenada & El Salvador - 3/24 + 3/27

Why are we in Orlando when we could be training in St Paul?

 

is your dumbness impervious to ultraviolet light?

 

Uh-oh

 

The latest on Balogun:

. He did meet up with some of the players and the coaches today behind closed doors.

. He trained but not with the USMNT 🇺🇸, same location though.
He had his own training session.

. It’s unclear if he is now staying at the same resort as the NT.

— Tactical Manager (@ManagerTactical) March 23, 2023

 

i need hard confirmation in the form of a chipotle sighting with the big three.

 

I mean he was reportedly at a private dinner with some of the players last night.

 

They'll let him pick the next USMNT manager if he picks us.

 

Interim #USMNT manager Anthony Hudson holds a news conference from Grenada at a quarter past the hour.

I suspect there will be quite a bit of interest.

— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) March 23, 2023

 

Can‘t wait to see Anthony Hudson get skewered here.

 

The full remarks from Anthony Hudson and Christian Pulisic on Folarin Balogun being in Orlando by what is surely just coincidence, nothing more...#USMNT pic.twitter.com/kbkCG7dsJF

— Jonathan Tannenwald (@thegoalkeeper) March 24, 2023

 

We now have about as many English-Americans as we used to have German-Americans, mostly around the same age. And even though he isn't English-American, Weah was supposedly Musah's first buddy on the team. Musah and Balogun were supposedly buddies while in the Arsenal academy together. There's a bit of a ready-made friend network for him. He and Matt Turner have supposedly already talked a bit about the US team together.

 

I was saying that I still felt in my heart that he was flirting with us. However, training (alone) at the same facility? Having a private dinner with a bunch of the players? That doesn't sound like "flirting," that sounds like "joining" without having done the switch paperwork.

I'm not 100% certain about his current registration status, and if the FIFA one-time switch is necessary. I don't know if his England youth caps have been provisionally cap-tying or not. Evidently his previous US youth caps weren't.

 

He’d definitely have to switch and it feels like it’s very much on the table. Just need to get him to pull the trigger.

 

i saw a quote from turner a couple of days ago that he specifically hasnt spoken to balogun about that nats

 

FWIW: Confirmed with U.S. Soccer that Folarin Balogun would have to file a one-time switch to play for the USMNT

— Seth Vertelney (@svertelney) March 24, 2023

I think this trip is a win/win for Flo: either he picks the US and is meeting / geling with his future teammates, or this convinces Southgate to call him up to the senior team next window.

 

Exactly. My first reaction to all of this has been that this is a final ultimatum to Southgate: call me up next time or I'm gone. But this really like he's doing quite a lot more than demonstrating to Southgate. The bit about going out to dinner with a bunch of the team one night and then showing up at practice the next day... (training on his own, but... at practice). That's not the same thing as talking to the US, going to Florida, visiting Disneyworld and taking in a game and posting it on Instagram. This is quite a bit different.

 

And... quitting the England U21 camp to go on what is very obviously a USMNT recruiting trip. That's a particularly melodramatic turn.

Either he's serious about joining us, or he's a first-rate diva. (Or maybe both.)

 

I think the pushing England is a nice side effect for him, but I don't think England will respond well to this. Southgate isn't going to be bullied.

I think he's very serious about the US. In college recruiting, you try to get a commitment before the recruit leaves campus. Let's see what happens here.

 

He comes across arrogant.

On record for believing he should be starting for England now. He’s behind Nketiah and Toney easily, both score goals in the premiership, he does it for Reims in an average league. That’s without Kane being in front of him as well as Rashford.

It would suck but I’m not fussed on losing him. The hassle it’s worth the squeeze. We produce too many good strikers to care about this average one.

 

Funny enough, this article popped up when I googled "Ivan Toney".

 

Don't you want a striker who believes in himself? League 1 isn't average but it is behind the EPL. And yes, there are a good number of guys ahead of him. It's going to be a tough decision for him.

 

Great! I am greatly relieved that our friends, the Brits,will not be offended when his request to join.the USMNT is accepted. It goes without saying that an "average" England striker is WAY above average to what is available to the US. Your confirmation of his average-ness delights me!

 

Yeah personally I hope he makes his decision sooner rather than later. A commitment now would be ideal.

I'm not one who gets bothered in the least by dual nats playing for us no matter what their background is. As long as they show up and play hard for the crest they are like any other player in my mind. If he drags this on forever though, and jerks us around trying to gain leverage for an England call up, and then ends up committing to the US a year or two from now, I don't know man, it would be kinda bitter sweet then and I would have some mixed feelings. For the record, my guess is that is not is what is going on though and he will be in a US shirt fairly quickly without a lot of drama. We will see.

 

Every team has a success range that’s defined by talent. In order for a national team to maximizes its success within that window, the players have to be all in. It’s hard to be all in for the US sometimes because conditions in the region are challenging and if you’re traveling from Europe, it’s tiring. So players need to be very sure they want to represent the US (or at least can be honest whenever that desire dips for a spell).

Because any single legitimate player has more impact on where within the success window a team lands than on the range of the window (IMO),I think Flo’s commitment and desire are even more important than his skill.

So great if he wants to play for the US, but if he doesn’t, that’s ok too because it means his heart wasn’t really in it and he wouldn’t have contributed significantly anyway.

 

No kidding. But that post is very much the attitude of English fans and media on this subject.

A 21 year old, who is one of the leading scorers in Ligue 1? What has he ever done to warrant a place with England??!! Who does he think he is???! We have Ivan Toney!!

This is how England loses their depth and then at the same time whines about their lack of depth. Southgate was literally lameting his lack of depth the other day. Hello? Anybody home?
Gareth Southgate laments lack of England squad depth (telegraph.co.uk)