Alert: Beware! Here Be Not-Minnows! - US v Mexico | CONCACAF Nations League Final - 6/6/21 9:00 PM

If Steffen doesn't start I'm rooting for El Tri

 

Habrá muchos tiros. Mas tequila por favor.

 

Usually private messages are where the tough guys are nicer and work things out. Not our boy, @chr1st.

 

Steffen plays with the one of the best teams in the world and trains with one of the best goalkeepers in the world.

“Form” is not really the same with goalkeepers as field players. Zack is in form, I promise.

 

The combination of the kickoff times and 90 minutes of Berhalter ball makes anyone who stays up for the whole match a MOTM or Realest Fan candidate.

 

From ESPN,

"Mexico's roster averages at 28 years, 89 days and 40 caps, with the U.S. squad has an average age of 23 years, 336 days and 18 caps."

Lots of young talent, but we are a cycle away from competing with Mexico A team versus A team.

 

I tend to agree--right now. A lot will depend on how this team gels. Young teams can sometimes best more experienced teams. But it's unlikely to happen today. By the end of 2022 (World Cup time), it might.

 

Losers mentality!!!!

 

I was listening to some podcasts yesterday and they brought up a point I hadn’t thought but makes a lot of sense - when some of these “future star” players were coming up through the national team, they also had a huge veteran presence to take some of the load off and allow them to just play. These young guys don’t really have that. Sure they have all the club success but when they play with the national team - it’s all on them and there’s not a lot of vets to help keep the team in line.

Brooks is the only player in the pool with WC experience. Acosta, Lletget, and Pulisic are the only others with WCQ experience.

When Dest balls out at Barca, he has a world class set of players around him to help out. Same with Reyna, McKennie, Pulisic, etc.

There is no doubt the talent is there but it’s going to take time to reach their full potential - especially in a crapshoot like CONCACAF.

 

I said lose by 1. Even with Mexico down Jimenez, Vela, and others.

I see a lot of promise but little production from our group so far. Especially in USMNT jerseys. Steffen, Dest, Pulisic, & Reyna have not even approached Keller/Friedel/Howard, Dolo/Frankie, & LD/Clint. And I don't see a McBride, Jones, Ramos, Claudio Reyna, or prime Bradley either.

Yes, they play for bigger clubs. But have not seen it for the Nats yet. Early days, however.

 

Big games for Curacao (Room) & Etienne (Haiti) on 6/8. Curacao host Guatemala & Haiti Nicaragua. Winners advance to play in ties for spots in the Octagonal. Losers go home.

Draws should also work has Haiti has a better GD than Nicaragua. Curacao & Guatemala are tied but Curacao lead on goals scored. T&T were eliminated last night.

FWIW, Curacao are in the Gold Cup. As is Costa Rica. Haiti & T&T could still qualify.

 

Part of the US problem is that all our players are supporting players for their clubs, no one is “the man” or at least one of the top two or three undroppable players. There is no player for the nats used to taking on all the pressure. The closest players we have to that are Brooks and Long for Wolfsburg and RBNY respectively.

 

Every Euro US player would be the man on every MLS team, not sure this has weight.

 

Who the fcuk cares about that? What relevance does that have to reality?

The fact is, day in and day out, game in and game out, our players are role players and supporting players, all Robins and no Batmans.

Are you saying Pulisic would be better off playing for Philly? McKennie for Dallas? Reyna for NYCFC?

Sargent would’ve been better off playing for SKC instead of Werder Bremen, I’ll give you that. But did that ultimately work out for Jordan Morris staying in Seattle? He’s a very good MLS player, never consistently did it for the US though.

Dempsey was the man, or close to it for Fulham, and you could see how he’d take control of games for the US. He called for the ball, he wasn’t scared of the pressure or responsibility. He lived in, day after day, for years. No US starter has the responsibility of making things happen for their team, sans Brooks and Long.

 

You just went off on some wild tangent that I didn't even make a case for. I didn't imply anything about being better off in MLS. You have one example of a US player that yourself you say was is only close to it in Dempsey. Most all US players have always been role players in Europe. Being the man on a MLS team doesn't mean sh!t, just like you said.

 

So, what’s the point of this?

Good players can be the man on any team if they drop down enough levels. I mean, yeah. If being the man on an MLS team is all we will ever have, then the US will never do shit.

The point I’m trying to make is that we have a team full of Pippens and no Jordans. When the team is struggling, we have no one that is used to being the man everyone looks to to break a team down. We have no players, at any level in any league, that do that. This, IMO, is a big reason why things seems to stall in the final third. Everyone just stands around waiting for someone else to take over.

Brooks is the only guy we have in this squad that is even looked at as a leader(s) for his domestic team. The only other players that might fit that bill are Yuell (SJ) and Acosta (Colorado).