It means that CBs rarely take throw ins (the percentile stats are all grouped by position) and taking .88 throw ins per 90 is a lot for a CB but not a lot in the grand scheme of things.
Unless the Premier League is just a massive step up in level (and I'm not ruling that out), these numbers don't seem to reflect what Richards is capable of. If you look at his numbers in the Bundesliga around this time in 2022 (albeit based on 1307 minutes played instead of 1832), they're a lot better than that: https://web.archive.org/web/20220518105100/https://fbref.com/en/players/0a3d6d2b/Chris-Richards
Like team effects impact things but Richards’ opposite number, Guehi is: 60th percentile for passes into the final third 22nd percentile for passing completion rate 61st percentile for progressive passing distance 41st percentile for long pass completion rate 68th percentile for progressive passes 74th percentile for passes into the box 39th percentile for throw ins 60th percentile for attacking third touches
These are pretty grim. Is there a corresponding set of more "defensive" stats, like tackles and interceptions, where he breaks out of the bottom quartile?
Well here’s the thing. The stat people who are trying to measure the value of defensive actions don’t like to use per 90 to normalize these actions and come up with a rate to compare players against each other. They like to use a possession adjusted figure and those just aren’t widely available. So with Richards he is 93rd percentile in tackles won per 90, but he’s only 37th percentile in Tackle win % and he’s 8th percentile in challenges lost per 90. So he’s a guy who has to do a lot of defending but maybe isn’t that great at it or is so active that he goes into tackle that are low %. So much of defending is off the ball and not recorded in these stats. You really want to watch the tape to get a sense for how well a guy is doing.
Well actually they won Nations League while Poch finished fourth “Gentlemen, you’ll never win anything.”Those were the exact words Marcelo Bielsa said to the Mexican Federation. Despite getting an offer to double his salary and having a desire to coach Mexico, Bielsa walked away from the job because they couldn’t meet his demands.Money… pic.twitter.com/67Tp1Rdqmw— GOLZ TV (@golz_tv) May 19, 2025
The guy who had the entire 60 man preliminary roster early says Poch has never talked to Nathaniel Brown... not ideal He hasn’t talked to him— Edgar (@ConcacafEdgar) May 19, 2025 That’s false, I spoke to him like 3 weeks ago lolHe’s only talked to Germany u21 manager & the senior manager— Edgar (@ConcacafEdgar) May 19, 2025
Edgar isn’t really disagreeing with me, this is what I was talking about: The only one that reached out was Gregg and he was just seeing his options Then he got called to Germany u21 after After that, no contacts have been made Only from Germany— Edgar (@ConcacafEdgar) May 19, 2025
SoPoch and his staff think Koleosho is worth the time to reach out to but Nathaniel Brown (like our starting RB Dest who also hasn't had contact with Poch) isn't? Maybe Poch just hates fullbacks He’s open to the U.S. but he wants to hear what they offer & the Federation knows about him but they just haven’t cared to try. Ironically they tried with Koleosho again when Poch was hired— Edgar (@ConcacafEdgar) May 19, 2025
That’s something I wonder about. Poch reached out to Koleosho which led to him saying that line where he wanted players that wanted to play for the US. Downs is known too since he’s been on the provisional rosters. But we get no other line or indication other than Edgar that states any potential contact between the US and Brown since Poch’s appointment. We’ve seen them make contact when Berhalter was there, but there’s been nothing now. I just find it odd.
If he said he wanted to play out Germany's U21 string and then see I don't see a problem. When is the Euro U21 cycle finished? That would be the time to talk again and see if he now wants to make a switch.
Absolutely the right message, probably not the right messenger (even though it should be, he’s the manager). Let’s not forget that Pochettino was coaching YouTubers in a charity match and going on vacation instead of scouting players like Nathaniel Brown and Paxten Aaronson. https://t.co/tgx8GpdNPB— American Ultras Talk (@usmntaut) May 22, 2025 Live "ishowspeed" reaction
Message from our dear leader Our mission this summer couldn't be clearer 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/2mMb1tAuOL— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) May 22, 2025
Jesse Marsch update Tristan Blackmon is one year away from being able to become a Canadian resident 🇨🇦 He’s already had a conversation with national team head coach Jesse Marsch… will he make the switch? pic.twitter.com/KR69aP7Lrs— Soccerwise (@SoccerwiseHQ) May 22, 2025 Wow absolutely did not know Gabriele Biancheri was eligible for Canada 🇨🇦Had a great season with Manchester United’s youth team & is one to look out for in the future 👀 https://t.co/FerR7hqNJg pic.twitter.com/8rE1bLtgjN— dedo ⚽️ (@dlicps) May 21, 2025 If Marsch was coach of the USMNT, Nathaniel Brown and Anrie Chase would have bald eagle tattoos by now. The dude is RELENTLESS https://t.co/MJKkZBnSXg— Bradley (@1776Bradley) May 21, 2025 Jesse visited dual-England Daniel Jebbison (Bournemouth) and gifted him custom AJs and a plan to use him. That’s commitment.https://t.co/fIMp3VI0Vg— galen (@_itsgalen) May 22, 2025
Blackmon seems to be a waste of his time however given he won’t bit the five year residency requirement in time for the World Cup. He’s been playing for Vancouver since 2022, even if he moved there January 1, 2022 he won’t have five years of residency till January 2027.
The problem is not the Canadian citizenship but FIFA rules that require him to have lived in the country for five years, unless he’s got a Canadian parent or grandparent. Goes back to when Qatar was paying people with no connection the country to acquire citizenship and play for them around 2004 or so. FIFA wanted to ensure people had an actual connection to the country they were playing for.
If players win games, the US is in trouble because Poch is not putting in the work to improve the pool. If dedication and effort win games, the US is in trouble because Poch does not walk the talk necessary to reverse the malaise. If cohesion wins games, the US is in trouble because Poch is accepting calling up C teams for the few games left. If tactics win games, then we’ll see, but that hasn’t been the case yet. Sure feels like this guy is just taking a vacation ‘til he gets the club job he wants while Canada runs right past him.
I don't think this roster shows he's "on vacation" at all. What does this roster show me? That he was unhappy with the last camp, and is calling up a whole different group to this camp. Almost all of the new players in this camp were ones we'd been talking about on these threads. Other than Zawadski, I suspect all of them had champions on this board. Downs, Freeman, Sullivan, Berhalter, etc. I haven't watched San Diego a single time this season, but its fine that Poch wants to take a look at de la Torre. Luca does have a different profile than a bunch of our midfielders. A guy that can pass in tight spaces like we encountered against Panama. I remember that Uzbekistan friendly as exhibit A. He was good at breaking down the bunker in that game. In order to call up this group of players, SOMEBODY on the staff is doing some scouting. Zawadski has been good this season. Totally outside the box callup. SOMEBODY was watching. This roster really is sending a message that I like. Country club atmosphere is over. Same guys getting called up over and over again with poor results.................? That's over. Don't perform? Somebody else will get a chance. Will the new guys be better than the batch we've had over the last couple of years? Maybe not, but we're not "standing pat." Changes are being made. And I expect other things to go down. Poch has talked about keepers other than Turner having a real chance, for instance. I know people don't like the Ream callup. To me that's like Tuchel continuing to call up Jordan Henderson. That's a leadership callup. And by the way? Ream was fine against Panama. His passing game was actually great in that game. The problem in that game was that we couldn't create chances to save our lives. There was the moment at the end that he was involved in, but there are a group of guys we can blame for that.
Yeah, it's hard to square "Poch doesn't bother scouting" and "Poch doesn't know the pool" with calling up Zawadski and Berhalter or leaving a seemingly-obvious pick like Sargent out.
I don't know what to make of the Zawadski callup. I don't know anything about the player. I certainly hope at least someone on the staff is watching games and evaluating players, but that is sort of a minimum level of attention to the wheel. The piece of this that probably divides us is whether the "no country club" message was the cause of the roster or the reaction. I am not sure that the best way to send a message in camp of "ok, let's get serious now" is after you have been asked to let several players skip out and have found yourself agreeing to it. In particular, why wouldn't Gio be on the friendly roster? Is he injured again? Does he need rest? Is his unavailability for the GC due to CWC the reason? Seems like the fact that he can't be on the GC (which was not a certainty until Poch left him off the prelim) would be even more reason to have him experience the "no country club" leaf Poch is turning over and see him get some run with Adams. It's not impossible to explain what Poch does without ending up at he's on vacation (metaphorically), but it sure seems easier to explain it that way sometimes.
So now we're impressed with Poch's coaching, specifically his scouting and knowledge of the player pool, because he called up Sean Zawadski who I would guess not a single soccer fan in a country of 330 million was expecting to make the roster? Anyone who disputes this please take the Sean Zawadski challenge here.
If tactics win games... remember that Poch said after the Panama loss that OF COURSE they knew exactly how Panama would play against them and fully prepared for it ... and THAT was what he as the brilliant tactical mind 6 million dollar big time coach went with