2026 WC USA (et al): Worldwide Opponents Watch [all R's]

inject this into my veins

I’m crying read the actual bit in the bottom right pic.twitter.com/Cxh9u3pU7F

— Zealand (@theoldzealand) October 15, 2024

 

By all accounts we reached out to Tuchel too though no reports in terms of how he responded.

Tuchel wears people out but maybe it works better internationally with him not being around guys day to day. What I don’t think is unlike Biesla he doesn’t have a reputation of completely wearing guys out physically.

He’s also undoubtedly a better coach than Southgate though and super familiar with the player pool having coached in England.

 

Costa Rica win 3-0 and advance in 1st place. Suriname win 5-1 and advance in 2nd place.

Canada defeated Panama 2-1 in a friendly today.

Nations League implications for the US remain to be seen.

 

I'm fairly certain this will give us Jamaica next month. I don't think a win tonight against Mexico helps us jump Canada in the Concacaf National Team rankings which seeds the USA 3rd. Likely other pairings are then Mexico-Honduras, Canada-Suriname and Costa Rica-Panama. If we do jump Canada, we would just flip opponents with them.

 

I think if we beat Mexico -- who is rated #1 in CCAF -- AWAY, we very possibly jump Canada who only beat an inferior ranked team at home (and one we did as well).

We saw when they jumped us that the CONCACAF rankings are much more volatile than the FIFA rankings or regular ELO, so I think there's a decent chance.

You get a lot of points for beating a better team on the road. But I think we have to win.

 

It does look like Jamaica as our opponent. It looks like.............................

Costa Rica versus Panama
US versus Jamaica
Mexico versus Honduras
Canada versus Suriname

And there's the benefit of Canada jumping over us in the CONCACAF rankings.

Jamaica is always tough, but always seem to be in disarray.

I'd rather face them than Costa Rica. The Ticos seem like they're turning a bit of a corner. They've only lost two games this year. To Argentina and Colombia. That matchup with Panama will be very interesting.

 

I am a bit surprised at the backlash given while the EPL is the best league and England has lots of good players, they don’t really produce good coaches.

You only really had two English options in Howe and Potter. And while I like Howe (though he’s a step below the top EPL coaches like Pep or Arteta) I don’t think it would have been easy to get him away from Newcastle. I like Potter too and I think there’s a lot of good to say in his track record in terms of succeeding with teams who don’t have as much talent as their opponents, but it’s not shocking someone would prefer Tuchel to him. And Tuchel isn’t exactly a stranger to England either.

 

That backlash is because he's German...

 

This you? https://t.co/OheTvfGArg pic.twitter.com/4lzA7q0IYn

— No Context Brits (@NoContextBrits) October 16, 2024

 

Maybe but would there be the same backlash if it were Klopp?

It feels like the main alternative was Potter and more generally it’s clear Tuchel genuinely really wanted the job which I think counts for something.

 

You're definitely right that it's some of one and some of the other.

I'm sure a huge percentage of people would be upset no matter what the nationality... anything other than English (or perhaps British at the bare minimum?) would be seen as not good enough.

Klopp is an interesting one... would he receive same response as Tuchel? I mean, probably not. He's spent the last 8 years endearing himself to a lot of people in the country... but those people, correct me if I'm wrong, are the kinds who TEND to be somewhat against both the FA & England. That whole we're not English we're scouse, I do wonder what that might look like.

Would Klopp be as welcomed as Pep? I highly doubt it. Both equally foreign. I suppose some would point to the trophies as the difference there, but there's undoubtedly a thing with a LOT of English fans when it comes to zee Germans in particular.

The bigger issue for me is just like, who is the best actual manager available? I just heard Carragher & Neville's responses and I can't believe they'd keep their line of "the manager must be an Englishman"... they've just seen an English appointment not do well enough for 8 years, if now isn't the time to jump in on a top manager to get the most out of this generation of incredible talent, when is the time? This shit is results-oriented, is it not? Don't they WANT to win something?

Who do you think the average English fan would want more as their manager -- Potter or Tuchel? Or maybe we should make it harder and say Lampard & Tuchel? At a certain point, it's pretty obvious to me... just get the best guy! Tuchel is maybe the most-accomplished manager in the international game as of right now, isn't he?

But then again I wasn't raised with decades of that old English thing, that has people saying they'd prefer Eddie Howe to Tuchel, which on it's face and assessing them as managers is a moronic opinion.

 

I think it's pure panic, that they'd lose the best candidate to Man United.

Potter is a terrible appointment for this level. England supporters should feel fortunate that their organization -- despite decades of evidence to the contrary! -- are finally willing to take a shot at a proper coach again. This is the caliber of manager that should ALWAYS be in charge of England. It's ********ing England.

 

But is there a better candidate out there than Tuchel? Putting aside the risk he may take the Man U job. Like I don’t think hiring Xavi is a better option (just to give an example). Nor would be Frank Lampard or David Moyes.

As for Potter I know Chelsea went poorly (which I don’t fully blame on him given what a mess it was), but there’s a lot good about his career up to that point.

This is someone who took a team from the fourth tier of Swedish football and took them all the way to the first division and playing in European competition (and even beating Arsenal).

And then at Brighton he took one of the most underfunded teams in the EPL right when they had first come up and kept them up despite the lack of resources, and played proactive possession oriented soccer. He’s very much someone with a track record of doing more with less.

Howe notably has a similar background coming up through the lower divisions of English soccer and has done well at Newcastle as well.

Ironically decent chance Potter ends up as Man U coach now if there’s a change unless they can poach a sitting coach.

 

No, that's what I'm saying. Locking him up instead of waiting for the United situation to develop. I said it in the other thread, but United sitting with their thumbs up their asses letting Poch go to US & Tuchel go to England while they stick with Ten Fraud is an embarrassment. And long may it continue, honestly.

For me there's no reason to think he can or will deliver on the highest level, and I think the reaction of some Chelsea players to him post-Tuchel is very telling. It was a mess, yes, but if he's a top level manager he just hasn't demonstrated it yet. He'll do fine at the Europa League level, maybe even great there. But England and the likes of United should be steering well clear IMO.

The difference between surprising everyone and doing more with much less to a certain degree vs the pressure of having top talent and still being able to eek out an extra bit of performance to deliver results and perhaps titles is huge. Same applies to Howe. And we're talking specifically about someone that is somewhat upset to get Tuchel, and not those two. They are fine managers for a certain level.

Please do that, United. Flush even more money down the drain aligning with the vision of yet another new, unconvincing-at-the-top-level manager, and then realize you have to sack him in 18 months because on the pitch they remain mediocre. Here for it.

 

I think it’s hard to separate from the situation from Chelsea where Tuchel, Potter, and Pochettino have all gotten fired after a short time period and you’ve other interim managers in addition. The club Potter walked into was not a place that was set up for success for anyone.

I think there’s something about coaching a big club that’s a different but when I’m evaluating coaches generally I’m always looking at the guys who got results despite a lack of resources. Something that’s true of both Howe and Potter.

And I’d rank Howe a step above. Not only did he take a Bournemouth team facing relegation when he came in from the fourth tier of soccer in England and took them all the way to the EPL (and keeping them up for three years once he there), but his Newcastle tenure has also been impressive.

Newcastle has spent money but not crazy amounts because of PSR limitations and he came in and took a club that was 19th in the league and looked to be facing certain relegation and took them all the way to 11th. And they finished fourth in year two. He’s a really good coach and I think would do well as England coach. But not really easy for England to hire him given he’s currently coaching Newcastle.

 

I think the specific context I'm talking about is people wanting them OVER Tuchel. They are both clearly capable managers, at a minimum and for a certain level... but the likes of England and United should be going for the best candidate available.

 

I remember when the British tabloids insisted England had to hire an English manager and the only three from the Premier League had finished in the lowest three spots on the table (15-16-17) above the relegation line in the previous season, so from those they hired Sam Allardyce, and then he lasted exactly one game (I believe a loss?) before he was fired because of some sting where he was caught on video accepting bribes... good times.

Having a German football manager is "a dark day for England", according to the Daily Mail. In other news, here's the Mail's founder, Lord Rothermere (great-grandfather of the current owner) with a German friend. pic.twitter.com/btM2iyXBep

— Marc Morris (@Longshanks1307) October 16, 2024

 

The Bielsa stuff is so weird. I cannot decide if this is Tata 2.0 old man disease where eventually guys get so set in their ways, they won't budge, won't grow and evolve as generations of players as people change and create new and different buttons for pushing, or if the players are entitled idiots. Have they forgotten they got bounced in the group stage of WC '22? That Bielsa had them a whisker away from 1st place in CONMEBOL WC Qualifying heading into the Summer break, that they were playing better than Brazil and Argentina in the Copa America? Is that just, not good enough to them? Or do they believe that's "them" and the problems are all him? Are they right? Is he right? In this situation I'm simply not sure. I know Uruguay were good and largely unlucky at the WC, but they still failed to advance, and they looked much more challenging under Bielsa in '23-'24, than at WC '22, so, maybe go with that?

 

What's their problem with Sven btw? I mean, Sven sucked at Mexico, but with England he took them to the quarterfinals and gave a fabulous Brazil a much better fight than the vast majority of their opponents gave them in WC '02.

I agree, they have this collective soccer ego that's just ridiculous. The evidence with Southgate is that he was probably good with mentality: his teams were quite resilient with their backs against the wall (pulled a lot of games out of their backsides, particularly the Slovakia win which probably mathmatically at the time they equalized probably paid England to win +10000), but at the same time I don't think anyone on the planet believed England played to the best of their abilities under Southgate in terms of performance. The teams were consistently incompetent in the attack, totally incapable of turning like 3x the attacking talent of 1988-2018 England combined into goal dangerous chances. It was the most wasteful regime imaginable in terms of turning their talent into goal scoring and high xG goal scoring chances I've ever seen.

And this guy pines for that? Seriously? Pine for the results? Sure, but the performances? There's a reason they have no trophies despite making deep runs in four consecutive tournaments and it's quite simple: If you are as offensively wasteful of talent as Southgate's England consistently was, eventually you will run into a team as good as you or more efficient or both and they will beat you, which is what Croatia, Italy, France and Spain all did, and it was a gift for soccer that they all did so.

These guys are just delusional like in all things English soccer, delusional, parochial, incestuous idiots.

 

Of the coaches available I think Howe would be the best pick for United to replace Ten Hag (ahead of Tuchel). There’s not an obvious alternative out there. The problem of course is Newcastle would want a massive payoff.

 

One of the greatest players in CONCACAF history is now managing his national team. It’ll be very interesting to see how Trinidad & Tobago look under Dwight Yorke. https://t.co/pgveHjsUvK

— American Ultras Talk (@ameriultrastalk) November 2, 2024

 

I never understand why a team would do this even with a massive payoff. If Newcastle thinks they have a coach that can bring them back to their glory years and will keep hem there for a long time how much is that worth? Much. much more than any team would offer. I guess if the coach is really pushing it but then you set them down and go over the situations - he's doing great where he is and will for years versus going to a team that has been in turmoil basically since Ferguson left.

 

I agree but also wonder what that would have done to Pulisic. I would be very interested in his unvarnished opinion which as a pro he won't give until he retires.

 

Newcastle also has a new sporting director who isn’t the one who hired Howe and there are reports of some tension there.

It’s also I think just a different culture in terms of these things. See Man U poaching Newcastle’s sporting director. Once Man U was interested it was just a matter of negotiating the payoff.

For Howe Man U is Man U. They’re one of the most prestigious clubs on the planet and one of fhe richest and best resourced as well. And these coaches all have the sort of ego where they think despite whatever has happened before they’ll be the ones to turn around.

Man U was very locked in on Ruben Amorim though and negotiations were fairly simple since he had a release clause. He’s also just not a coach I have strong feelings on one way or another given how little I watch the Portuguese league (basically not all).

 

significant update from FIFA today: teams in the Club World Cup are *not* required to release players for international duty.

yes, there are USMNT implicationshttps://t.co/ffr9lKDayJ

— Seth Vertelney (@svertelney) November 5, 2024

Dortmund and Juventus are both in Club World Cup notably (plus Miami and Seattle).