I don’t care if you are convinced. Berhalter got the setup wrong in the first half and corrected it at the half. Having better players on the field doesn’t make you a better or worse coach. That’s why I am reserving judgment until all of our players are available.
I think the number one thing Gregg can do is not to overthink it. He has this tendency to try and out fox the other coach which is really only needed when you are the underdog. With these 3 game windows he needs to just stick to what players know. You could see it in the 1st half against Honduras especially. Everyone talks about how slow we played and how unorganized we were which isn't surprising when you have basically never played those positions before. You don't instinctively know where your teammates are so you have to think which takes a split second longer than you have to make a decision.
I wasn't 100% sure where to post this so I decided to dump it into this thread but if there is a better spot I am all for it. Not surprisingly media in the soccer landscape continues to change much like all parts of life. As part of that we now have podcast like Scuffed Podcast which I think is really good. These are not traditional media people tied to SI or ESPN, etc but just fans putting in the work to produce content that is interesting, consistent and informative. They are not traveling to games as "journalist" or getting interviews with players, etc but there work is interesting and its a place to get consistent discussion around the Men's National Team without some of the baggage brought from media companies. Their latest podcast has Grant Wahl as a guest and is talking about his experience with the last qualifiers, etc etc. He is traveling to the games, trying to get interviews, etc. It reminded me that he actually even exist as a soccer journalist. He is joining Meadowlark Media (John Skipper and Dan Le Batard's new company) to write and do podcasts. He is also using substack which you can pay for more access to his work. I honestly thought he had fallen away and wasn't even really doing anything anymore. It also reminded me of how much of an opportunity he missed as the "leading voice" for soccer in the USA. My larger point to this is how little I seem to consume of the "mainstream" sports coverage outside of Straus and a few others. It seems to me some of these other outlets like scuffed are filling the void. Am I just showing my age or do others feel similar?
There are a lot of independent folks doing great work in the USA/MLS realm. I subscribe to the Athletic and enjoy their coverage of the league and national teams. I don't listen to many traditional podcasts regularly, but some of the Twitter Feeds for the USMNT are great, for both analysis and memes (@watke) The American Soccer Analysis website is fantastic. I think a few of their veteran folks have moved on to analytics jobs for MLS teams. I like the 11 Yanks youtube channel for detailed USMNT news and analysis. You're right in general though, there is a ton of great content being produced by fans. I'm not sure it's much different than it's always been. I suppose there is more professional journalism created about soccer now than ever, but not all of it is very good. Our local TV news and paper coverage for the Crew is a perfect example of facile and barely knowledgeable regurgitation of stats and events for the most part. You've got to come here or look to other sources to get details. And there is a large amount of things to choose from. .
Got an email a short while ago to order US v. Mexico tickets. Only ordered two because I am afraid I'm going to get stuck with the two extra I have for the Costa Rica match although the chances would have been much less. However, I wasn't willing to take that chance because I got stuck with extras at one of the 2 - 0 qualifiers v. Mexico at HCS a number of years ago because I wouldn't sell to Mexico fans.
I admire and respect you doing your part to help contribute to a home field advantage. I don’t think you’ll get “stuck” with those CR tix. The closer we get to the match, the more interest in the match will increase. In Wall St terms, “HOLD!”
Given that I trade options in the market, I get in and get out, usually within a week, but I get what you're saying.
The Ocho (Octa? Octo?) is back. Prepare yourself. Matchday 4 - Oct. 7 United States vs. Jamaica - 7:30 Honduras vs. Costa Rica - 8:05 Mexico vs. Canada - 9:40 El Salvador vs. Panama - 10:05 Matchday 5 - Oct. 10 Jamaica vs. Canada - 6:00 Panama vs. United States - 6:00 Costa Rica vs. El Salvador - 6:00 Mexico vs. Honduras - 7:00 Matchday 6 - Oct. 13 United States vs. Costa Rica - 7:00 Canada vs. Panama - 7:30 Honduras vs. Jamaica - 8:05 El Salvador vs. Mexico - 10:05 And here are the current standings: Mexico - 7P / 2 GD / 4 GF Canada - 5P / 3 GD / 5 GF United States - 5P / 3 GD / 5 GF Panama - 5P / 3 GD / 4 GF Costa Rica - 2P / -1 GD / 1 GF Honduras - 2P / -3 GD / 2 GF El Salvador - 2P / -3 GD / 0 GF Jamaica - 1P / -4 GD / 2 GF
Still "Holding"...Sorry for double post, but am concerned about getting stuck... OK, folks, I have had these seats moved to ADA because I will have just had knee surgery and will not be able to sit in the regular seats. I told US Soccer that I only needed to move two of the seats, but they said it would be easier to just move all four. I know that is not necessarily fair to anyone who really needs a pair of accessible seats, but that's what US Soccer did. He said they'll probably try to sell the old seats. With that said, I still have two extra tickets but they are now at the top of section 112, just one section south of the other seats, in cushioned chairs at a table rather than actual seats like we sit in normally. Would anyone have any interest in taking the other pair (Seats 9 & 10) off my hands, still at face value of $140 each, now that there will be more room?
Has anyone received notification of their results in the lottery for the match v. Mexico in Cincy? For the Costa Rica match, I first found out because of an email from the credit card on which the charges for tickets had been made, yet I have seen no such email this time nor any charges.
I tried just now to see if I could simply select a garage and select that date, but no go. Can't do it this far in advance. I wouldn't sweat it too much, though. There no Jackets game that day, and the Clippers will be finished... there's a concert at Express Live, but I can't imagine that's going to make it all that difficult to get parking day of.
Apparently US Soccer is having local artists in each host city create game posters. Austin decided to make theirs look like a technicolor flaccid penis.
YES!! Dear Scott, Congratulations! Your ticket application for this match has been selected for fulfillment. Tomorrow morning, Tuesday, Oct. 5 we will attempt to charge your payment card on file for the ticket quantity requested multiplied by the price of the seating level assigned, based on your preferences. If there are any issues processing your payment, we will reach back out to you via email and provide an invoice and time frame for you to complete payment. Tomorrow, Tuesday, Oct. 5 please check your account at www.ussoccer.com/mytix for your mobile tickets and the exact seat locations assigned. Your mobile tickets will be in your account at www.ussoccer.com/mytix and will not appear in your Ticketmaster account or in your account in the U.S. Soccer app unless you have linked your accounts. Additional information on mobile ticketing, including linking your accounts can be found here. No paper tickets, screenshots, or .pdf files will be issued in an effort to minimize ticketing fraud. Match details: U.S. Men's National Team vs. Mexico Presented by Allstate Nov. 12 | 9 PM ET| TQL Stadium | Cincinnati, OH If you have any questions regarding your tickets, please email tickets@ussoccer.org. Additional details on parking and other matchday items will be shared with you in the near future. We look forward to seeing you in Cincinnati on Nov. 12th. One Nation. One Team. U.S. Soccer
Think back to the summer and if you had to pick the best handful of players who we expected to see in the fall WCQ games. Over the course of the 1st window and what we have called in the 2nd window we have not even come close to using our best 11. Pulisic Reyna Brooks McKinnie Sargent (2nd window - not included) Musah Steffen Richards (1st window - not included) Weah
I now feel I almost have to sell off the tickets I won in the Mexico lottery so I don't have to swallow the loss I'm going to take on the tickets for the Costa Rica match. Does anyone want to talk to me on the side to get ADA-level tickets in cushioned chairs at a table versus crammed into seats with no leg room?