I have no idea what exactly you are trying to say? Tillman is certainly one of the most press-resistant CM in MLS, only Nagbe is close/better. Is he head and shoulders better, just head, from the ears up, from the crown up better? Hard to quantify but Tillman is better than most MLS CMs at that aspect of the game. Players have moved between leagues and done better/worse, often player to club fit is a more important element than league quality. It is pretty much established fact that playing in a higher quality league makes a player better and more players playing in a higher quality league makes a NT better. It should be intuitively obvious but several studies have been done which quantifies and confirms the obvious.
Exactly! Seems typical of you the times you reply to me. I'm replying to someone else about a subject and then you come in and take everything I said out of context because you don't read what I was replying to. You even brought up that playing in Europe is better for the NT when I never even mentioned anything in reference to that. You just wanted to get that out of your chest?
I think I can clear this up. HoustonHoyaFan capes up for anything related to German soccer. So when you seemed to criticize BL.2, he was going to respond.
These Euro clubs are looking mighty suspect. If those are the best in their leagues I wonder how the 2nd tier and below would do against non-European leagues. By the way they are overhyped here in the US (I'll admit, I overhype them too) you would think they would blow off the doors of everyone else.
Totally agree. I’ve been almost shocked by it. The only thing I wonder about is if the Euro teams that might actually win like Juve and Real Madrid are approaching this thing like Italy approached World Cups (when they used to make it heh heh heh), namely, use the group stage as quasi friendlies , as preparation for the knockout rounds. That makes sense for a national team, because they don’t spend very much time together. I don’t understand why Man City would try that approach. Maybe they’re just telling their guys they can play up to 4th gear but don’t put it into 5th yet. We shall see.
Another thing I have noticed that always gets downplayed by your typical USMNT stans/MLS haters is that the MLS homegrown players haven't looked out of place either. You would think that since MLS doesn't have good development and is way behind Europe all these homegrowns would look like amateurs. They don't. Best thing FIFA could do was expand this CWC. It gives us a better perspective of how the non-European leagues stack up vs the best European leagues. And MLS doesn't even have their best at the moment, more like mid table; Inter Miami 10th LAFC 13th Seattle Sounders 14th
One thing to consider is the heat here in the United States. I have said for years when Europeans talk about how slow the play is in MLS is. I have always said when it is cooler the play is much faster and more similar to play in Europe. Gareth Bale mentioned it when he played for LAFC. He said something like there is a huge difference is playing in Europe as opposed to the USA because of the heat you are forced to play slower. I noticed the European teams are struggling with it a bit.
There is extreme heat, freezing temperatures, smog, long distance travel, altitudes and several other things players in Leagues all over the Americas have to deal with. That is always overlooked.
I'd like to see more MLS teams playing pre- season friend I think Seattle started with 4 home-growns and two former Washington Huskies. It would have been 5 home-growns if Jordan Morris had been fit. Against Atletico freaking Madrid!
Llorente just called the heat "terrible" and "impossible" to play in after Atletico played PSG. It was 85 in Pasadena, which I'd consider to be very close to ideal playing conditions.
Out of curiosity what are temps like during the season? If MLS moves to a European schedule it may bring temps down some
The recorded high in Pasadena that day was 91. https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/usa/pasadena-ca/historic
The point that many here seem to not know is that many of the Euro squads have been off for almost a month while the MLS and Brazilian squads are in mid season fitness and form. Take Porto for example; They finished 3rd in Liga Portugal and their last match was May 17. They then played their first CWC match June 15. 2 Important matches to see if LAFC can advance. Chelsea needs to beat Flamengo at 2 EST and LAFC needs to beat ES Tunis at 6 EST. Interesting that after all the conspiracy theory talk of signing mercenaries for the CWC, who have we seen?
It always surprises me how the football community acts shocked that it's so hot in the US in the summer. YES. It is. Yes, it will be freaking hot in the US next summer for the World Cup. Games played outside could be blistering compared to what the Euro players are used to. And yes, games will be played in the afternoon to accommodate the European television market. World Cup 94 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas was an experience. World Cup '94 was American sweatbath Yes, we have more indoor venues than 94, but its still going to be blistering depending on venue. Boston is in the 90s next week. People don't think the games in Foxboro have the potential to be extremely hot next year??? And yes, MLS playes thru this. MLS plays outdoors in Dallas, Houston, LA, etc. You better be a frickin' athlete to play in MLS.
They did have 2 warm up matches in-between so they weren't down completely but it is hard peaking, then having downtime, then peaking again.
When MLS comes back from a 3 month off season and played/plays CCC we always heard that MLS should still do better against leagues that were already several weeks into their season. Any mention of "MLS is still in off season or coming from a long off season" was always countered with "stop with the excuses". So...stop with the excuses. These Euro teams aren't coming back from a 3 month off season. These Euro teams have the best players, outspend everyone else and develop better players because their system of development is so advanced. With all those advantages we are still hearing lame ass excuses.
The winner will almost certainly be from UEFA, but I do think that the old model where they basically played two games made it very easy for them to look overly dominant. It's been a surprisingly fun tournament so far, and not having just a single team from locations makes it much more interesting.
Chelsea loss to Flamengo not good for LAFC. LAFC makes two changes from their opening match starting XI; Giroud in for Ebo and Martinez for Ordaz so only 4 USMNT eligible in LAFC's starting XI!