Yunus Musah update. He started but was subbed in the 57th minute for Ilaix Moriba today v Villarreal. I watched just Musah today, both on and off the ball. I treated the game as a scouting exercise basically. For some background info, there’s been chatter about both Milan teams, Arsenal (where Musah played in the academy before joining Valencia), and others being interested in him. Valencia put a fee on him of €40 million. I don’t think he’s worth that much (I’ll explain why) and honestly it would be best for him to stay at VCF the rest of this season, and probably next as well honestly. Summer 2024 would be the time I’d look at for him to move. Unless, Los Che’s management decides to cash in early (and based on their finances, it wouldn’t surprise me). As far as today goes, it wasn’t Musah’s best game. In fact, he was a complete non-factor. Other than a flick around the 20th minute that led to a chance for Samuel Lino, he did nothing. His off the ball movement wasn’t great and his work rate defensively wasn’t good. Believe me when I say this: Musah’s comparable player is Darlington Nagbe. I’m not saying Musah’s ceiling is Nagbe’s level, I’m saying his play style is exactly the same as Nagbe. Good at driving the ball forward in the middle third, but he does nothing in the defensive third and he’s extremely limited in the attacking third. Musah is good at dribbling forward with the ball at pace, but once he enters the attacking third he lacks many traits. His vision is nonexistent. His passing isn’t precise enough to split defenders. His anticipation and reactions aren’t good enough to see runs or passing lanes opening up before they happen. He’s a reactive player, always playing in the past. You need to see a passing lane before it opens. If you wait to pass until the lane opens, it will close by the time the pass is made. If you don’t pass before the run is made, the player will be offside. He needs to become a proactive player that plays in the future. And even if he could compensate that part of his game by being a great passer, he’s not. His main move it to dribble centrally to the top of the box and then just play the ball either back or wide. When the ball is played wide it’s usually not of much use, as now the defense that just collapsed around Musah is now clogging the penalty area, so crossing isn’t ideal. Defensively, I was impressed with Musah at the World Cup. He worked harder than I’d ever seen. I wondered if he was giving 110% because it was the World Cup. Well, that question was answered today. Musah was very lazy defensively. Capoue for Villarreal had a handful of chances running from midfield today, Musah never tracked him. He was just marking space all game. The one time he did decide to make a challenge, it was poor and he got a yellow card. He was subbed very soon after that. This was a rivalry game with Villarreal today, a local derby. There was no excuse not to be motivated. And even if he didn’t care about that, he has scouts from around Europe watching him, and he plays for a club that will sell, even at a sub-par price. This game hurt his value. Musah is still young. He can still develop. I’m super pumped to have a US international at Valencia. He’s the main man in midfield for this team, legitimately. But I’m beginning to wonder very seriously about what Musah’s ceiling is. I can confidently say that Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie are, right now, better players than Musah, it’s not even close. And if we ignore Adams and just look at a more similar player, like McKennie, I think Weston will end up being the better player. McKennie is more physical, better defensively, very good in the air both offensively and defensively, and he is a better pure passer. Musah is better at driving play forward in midfield with his dribbling… and that’s about it. I don’t like the idea of Musah going to Italy, I don’t feel that suits his style at all. England would be better, but Musah struggles to play 90 minutes still, so I worry about him physically. I think Spain or maybe Germany would be best for him. I worry he’ll make a big money move to a bad situation and stunt his development. I hope that doesn’t happen.
We know the contract ran out. What we don't know is who the coach will be at the next game. I think this is a case where silence speaks volumes. If USSF wanted to get things done, it seems they had some time to do it or at least put out a statement.
In roster news, Balogun, the tied third top scorer in Ligue Un with 17 goals turned down an England youth callup due to an apparent injury and has been confirmed in Orlando near where the US is training. He has the ability to play for either (and a couple other countries) without filing a switch. There's a lot of smoke.
Thus is a point that he completely ignores; The law firm was not hired to adjudicate, evaluate, exonerate or punish anyone. They weren't asked to be judge and jury. They were hired to investigate the situation with Berhalter and the Reynas and present the USSF board and management with the facts. This is what they did. It is ALL they did. The complainer here keeps claiming that the law firm "cleared" Berhalter when in fact it did no such thing. They simply pointed out the exact, factual time frame in which the incident in question took place. NOWHERE in their report does it say " so Berhalter should be excused from any further consequences". Not.their job So this endless whining about the law firm is simply childish prattle. Unless and until he can.point to anything that they factually misreported, then he simply has no complaint at all. Period.
I’m gonna assume this is meant sarcastically. No one with an ounce of sense would look at us beating Grenada as meaningful in any way, shape, or form. But for those who are starting to think Anthony Hudson might not be a bad candidate, I will direct your attention to two things: 1) Anthony Hudson is the worst coach in MLS history. Literally. 2) Hudson brought in 24 new players during his 43 game stint with Colorado. After being crap for a while, he said this: “We are fighting down at the bottom with a bottom group of players and we have to find a way to pick up a result.” These ‘bottom players’ are players he brought in. He has a history of blaming everyone but himself when things go wrong. He was fired after going on this rant (much longer) which is Antonio Contesque (without, ya know, any titles like Conte). He sucks. Here is a much more in depth look at his time with the Rapids: https://www.burgundywave.com/platfo...anthony-hudson-evaporated-the-colorado-rapids
Interesting how Turner, who has 3 games under his belt in 2023, is getting both starts. I would have thought Steffen would get one of the games.
That tifo was interesting. It had a giant "American Outlaws" logo and their club slogan at the bottom. It was almost like it was about them, which wouldn't be surprising, considering the amount of people who think putting scarves in the air during the anthem should be a thing. The part about screaming "night" (Gave proof through the NIGHT) was a head-scratcher. I've heard people yelling "RED!" because their team wears red. I've heard of people yelling their team name in lieu of the last word. Screaming "night" is definitely a new one.
So now we have the guy from the monster truck rally helping to announce Matt Turner's kid's gender reveal. "IT'S A GIRRRRRRRRLLLLL!!!!"
Clarkson hockey does it,but they're the Golden Knights,so it makes sense.It does not make sense in this context.
Orlando is the armpit of the Southeast. Horrible weather, terrible food sold by nothing but chain restaurants that treat everybody like shit cause they know you won't be back. The only city in Florida that doesn't have a freaking beach, which is the while point of living in Florida. Populated by mouth breathing imbeciles with an average IQ of 50 who have a theme park mentality but no idea what culture even is. Orlando is hell.
I will very much disagree about the food. Yes, Darden restaurants are everywhere and they suck, but if you look a little (and not really all that much), there is some excellent food. Vietnamese seems to be a big sub-cuisine there. Fantastic Turkish restaurant in Winter Park, also.
And there's surely some old Russian woman serving pirozhki and pelmeni on picnic tables set up in her back yard, but overall, Olive Garden is Haute Cuisine down there.