I think that Balogun is coming, but that is my personal opinion. You don’t announce to the world that you prefer places where you are appreciated, travel to that place where you are shown boatloads of appreciation, and do all the things, and then hang with the team and then go back to the place where you don’t feel appreciated. He has been with our program as a youth and I think he has decided to stay. As for Cardoso and Zendejas…I’d start looking at them with the other starting players beginning on the 27th, but that’s just me. They both bring things to the table that we are lacking and they do so with aplomb. Zendejas may be a legit star player with our group. He fits in really well as a player and as a person.
Of course in any given day France can get beat by Tunisia. But overall, we're looking very, very good --by comparison, that is. My concern now is that we may be peaking early. Let's hope the curve goes up, or at least holds.
If you plan a vacation to the Caribbean islands this is the time, because what is coming is not going to be good.
I think a lot of this is also the Nations League being so new. The first Nations League was seeded by having most of the teams play just four games against more-or-less random opposition, so goal difference, single fluke results, and pure luck of the draw played a huge role in the initial tiering. And then Grenada got promoted by winning what was easily the weakest group in Nations League B -- you could count the full-time pros in that group's four teams on your fingers.
They've also changed Nations League for the next one -- we're getting a bye to the knockouts now, so won't face a Grenada unless they beat a better team.
Isn't the point of the next Nations League to qualify the Top 6 for the Copa America? Since we're hosting the event, why are we even participating?
Imo, if you are JUST grading Reyna on his game performance, fine is the most you can give him. He was "fine" in that he fit in. Didn't do much positive and didn't hurt the team but keep in mind our opponent. If we downgrade results (goals etc) based upon the opponent for others, we certainly should for Gio as well. I think often Reyna has been graded slightly higher for his performances because we all know he can be really special, while others get criticized for a similar performance. If Zardes, or Bradley, Jozy or any number of players would have been criticized for that performance. All that being said, I consider his play vs Granada to be relatively unimportant. It wasn't enough to earn a start vs El Salvador and he shouldn't start that game imo but I don't care if he is playing his best in march 2023 as long as he is playing his best in 2026. 2023 is for fixing damaged relationships and regaining trust.
I forgot about in my initial comments and am surprised no one else brought it up about Reyna. He got fouled twice inside the box with his legs cut out and no call was made. VAR might have really changed how we feel about how he played.
Scally was more involved but especially the second half Reynolds was very dangerous with multiple crosses and passes into and across the box. Also have to bring up that FCD has killed Granada. Ferriera and Arriola in the first game and now Pepi, McKinney and Zendejas in this one. Five former FCD players or academy players scoring goals and some multiple goals. Of course it's not France or Brazil .....
Speaking of…multiple times the pbp guy mistook McKennie for McKenzie (to my ears), and also mistook Aaronson for DLT (I think those were the two). Bottom line: I don’t think these were just slips of the tongue - I think the pbp guy really did mistake some of the players. Sure, CONCACAF Nations League is not THE primo world tournament, but it’s *still* a FIFA tournament, so get commentators who can rise to the occasion!
With as far as the home fans were from the field, the PBP guys may have been up there old-school style in an open air booth with binoculars.
The big European NTs have to go to their own islands, all the South Americans must climb to the heights of La Paz and Quito, the Western Asians have to play in 100+F temperatures, the East Asians have to suffer in the humidity of the Cochinchine, the CAF countries have to travel through war zones, and the islands of the Pacific teams travel huge distances to get hammered by the Kiwis in the end. Don't whine.
Why would we want him to demand the ball in a packed middle when we’re scoring a lot of goals without it?
I don't know. These star players we have now on the USMNT are cash-cow corporations. They're risking injury against these minnows on horrible fields with players of low quality. I harken back to that awful tackle made on Zendejas late in the game. Honestly that could have been a bad injury. He was really lucky. There were other moments like that in the game. I kept wincing every time I knew a tackle was going to come in on Pulisic. So for players like Pulisic and McKennie to not only play in the game, but look like they're taking it seriously & having fun..........................says a lot about the state of the group. They like being out there and playing together. Its a good sign at the start of the cycle. Honestly, we don't play many games on the road against CONCACAF minnows like that anymore anyway. Just get in and out of there without injuries, and I'm happy. I will say this: Don't compare that Grenada venue to those of small nations in Europe. Watch a game from Andorra's national stadium. Nice field. It may not be the biggest stadium, but its well maintained. Professional. That's true across the board. Can't compare it. We get it. A nation like Grenada is INTENTIONALLY making the surface look and play like that. They're trying to level the playing field. It worked against El Salvador............... Here's the national Ta'Qali stadium in Malta:
I can't speak for others but I never gave a damn about that game. Some of us just think that minnow routs don't mean much.
The problem is that fans try and equate results against a minnow as meaning or not meaning much. But there is a LOT you can glean from a match regardless of the outcome or opponent. There are things that can be seen and evaluated that are valuable regardless of who you are playing. 1. Are players active and playing with energy? 2. Are players making correct decisions? When to go for a 50-50 ball and when to stay back to avoid a bad position? 3. Are players recognizing that a shot is there to be made and are they making the opening and taking that shot? 4. Are players coming back to support the defense as expected? There are lots of information you can gather from a match like Grenada. Stop focusing on the outcomes and more on the decision making. A good decision is a good decision regardless of who is in front of you.
Indeed. Particularly when its cap-tying. But after Friday there was a discussion about whether de la Torre should be in the "A" team over Musah based on his performance against Grenada. What? You can't make those types of determinations. But we liked the fight and spirit of the group. Those millionaires DID NOT go out there and behave like the opponent and the venue were "beneath them." That bodes well for the rest of the cycle. When a Euro power like England has a match against Malta, half of the squad finds a way to pull out with an injury. Then they're found on the beach in Spain. But there we had Pulisic, McKennie, and others fighting against semi-pros in the Caribbean. I was impressed by that. Cuz it would be soooooooooooo easy for Pulisic to say "i'm gonna sit this window out."
This is where some US Nat fans are unFKNbearable. The veneer, the pettiness, not letting go like some small minded vendetta seeker. Pathetic and telling. The US also didi things these sam fans cried about forever. Spacing was generally good, technical skills across the board better, an the US did what better teams always did to us. Wore us down, choked the field, and made the opponent play in a smaller and smaller area. Small things, but real things. Even for a match like this the US actually improved in how they handled a team and situation like this. There are many inferential variances of a 1-0 win or lose in this game. Astute posters know and accept this. There are also variances in how you handle a minnow. It was goo in that regard. But I really just want to whine and complain and lash out anonymously and repetitively. How embarrassing. Now comes the courage of a smart retort while hiding behind the keyboard.