If this keeps up, and we bomb out of the Gold Cup, there might be a chance Poch is gone by that point, if the USSF had the balls to make that move.
I wonder how much you have to pay to NOT see the US during World Cup? I’d rather see two punching bags from Botswana than this team, at this point.
I dont think tonight was an issue of hustle or grit. These are dudes that make up roster spots 30-45 for the most part trying as best they can to make an impression. They were out of their element and set up to play some Nancy like ball vs a much much better team. They tried but we're out classed. Johnny and Turner are concerning with big moves on the horizon. Johnny is a huge player for betis setting cucho and that 18 year old up in the attacking third. He must have the yips about his atletico move.
The only part I enjoyed was seeing the current and former Gladbach players playing for Switzerland....
I listened to Scuffed for the first time in a long time today. I had ti give up after like 15 minutes. Dear lord, someone get these dudes a cup of coffee before the podcast. They were doing this weird ASMR whisper talking thing, with long needless pauses. If that's the best USMNT podcast we got, the pod situation is just as bad as the team then. Sheesh.
Are you sure you didn't accidentally tune in to NPR? Whisper talking is their thing. Helpful hint: If they mentioned something about Schweddy Balls, you were in the wrong place.
https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/soccer/fifa-world-cup-us-mens-national-team-one-year-out-rcna208835 It's nothing we don't already know, but there's lots of questions regarding the USMNT. Seeing as the major news outlets are picking up on it, the pressure can be good.
Funny, 3G got results from these players... they respected him. Can you stop it with attacking everything that doesn't fit your perfectly created box? There are still scrappy players out there. But we are missing some players, Poch left some players out of it, and is trying a few new players for some reason. He is destined to fail at this rate. Right before a home world cup. I love the schadenfreude I'm seeing from fans pining for 3G.
This USMNT has so many starting caliber players missing for a variety of reasons, some of the reasons are understandable, some not: Pulisic: saving himself for the World Cup.....BS Adams, Balogun, Robinson, Dest, Pepi, Schulte : injured McKennie, Weah, Reyna: Playing in Club World Cup Musah: "personal reasons" Scally, Sargent: Not called up?????? Even so, there is no excuse for the lackluster performance against Switzerland from our "B" team(maybe "C"?). The lack of chemistry, passion, and effort was very noticeable. I am not hopeful about this Gold Cup, or the future of the USMNT.
Initially, pulisic was reported to have a hip flexor injury, and since January, he was not practicing that much for AC Milan. He was receiving frequent injections. It kinda sounded like Camacho's injury, but then yesterday he said he just needed a break so whatever. I dont think Landon is the best person to criticize him since he did the same. Musah just had child and made pilgrimage to the Hajj. And is officially signing with Napoli. Sargent and Scally were not called up for footballing reasons, which makes no sense. Along with them Aidan, Busio, Tessman, CCV, Trusty, Yow, Wiley, and Reynolds were all left off in favor of guys like Harriel who isnt even a starter right now. I understand not calling in aidan who played 18+ months straight, but the other guys? Is poch watching tape. I dont think there was a lack of effort from that team tuesday. They were just so out classed and out of their depth.
Yeah, my problem isn't with the players necessarily, it's with Poch. People can bitch and moan all they want about GB, but the team looked much better under him than Poch. Ignore these last two games, the Nations League shit was total ass. Every game under Poch has been ass. Simply put, I think he's the one not putting in any effort. The tactics, the squads, the comments, his communication with the players, it's all been horrendous. I'm serious, if the Gold Cup is a disaster, then they should fire him. Eat the money, get Uncle Arthur to write another check. A disastrous World Cup showing for the US is not an option next year, and so far Poch has done a single thing to prove he's the guy to lead this team.
I get the feeling that the players and the coach already want the World Cup over. Poch was in London not long ago ... pushing for his next gig. https://www.skysports.com/football/...o-club-one-day-and-still-talks-to-daniel-levy This article details how costly it would be for him to break the existing deal. Likely the same for U.S. soccer. https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/c70eddpe5xko Kind of distasteful his narrative is "well I do want to manage Tottenham but my current contract" ... but par for the course so far with this "buildup."
He wouldn't quit the Chelsea contract either, even though he was already fired and had the US gig lined up. Only way he's leaving is when the contract is done or he's fired. Just pay the guy off and tell him to kick rocks if the Gold Cup is a disaster. The revenue lost from having a terrible showing in 2026 is far greater than the loose change Arthur Blank will pull from his couch to pay off Poch. Not to mention the other things that would be lost: interest in the sport, better athletes choosing soccer over more traditional American sports, public goodwill, willing investment from sponsors, a better future TV deal, and on and on.
They played him in an advanced role like Farsi does for us, but with no ball pressure, and no one covering back (CB, CM). And he did get burned badly in the endline once.
Caught in an interview that Pulisic asked to play the two friendlies, but skip the Gold Cup. Poch wanted the same group for both and that is what we have.
Poch opened his big fat mouth again, basically told Pulisic to sit down and shut up. This is going well...
I’m with him on this one specific point. We can all debate whether or not Pulisic should be skipping the Gold Cup. Clearly, Pulisic himself thinks not killing himself physically now will mean he’ll have more in the tank next summer. But if the point is to rest, and he’s skipping the actual competition, why the hell would you bring him into camp for the two matches that mean nothing?
Because there is very limited time between now and next summer. The coach should be taking every single minute he can get to talk to the players, strategize, see what works for them, etc. Poch said though (basically) that he's the boss and he doesn't care what the players think and that's that. Apparently he thinks everything is going well enough that he can tell his best player that he doesn't need him. That seems very arrogant to me, especially considering how shit he's been so far. If Poch was doing great, fair enough. He's been terrible though, and he just wants to keep doing what he's been doing. Can't say that fills me with confidence.
I see your line of thought, but if Pulisic isn't going to play in the Gold Cup, Poch should be spending that energy on players who are. The Gold Cup is the preparation. The last chance at meaningful competition before next summer. Yes, I'd prefer that Pulisic be in it, because that would be good for him. But it's also the last chance to see fringe players that might have a shot at cracking the roster in 2026 in meaningful competition. Seeing Pulisic out there doesn't really answer a lot of questions, because we know what his role is going to be. Seeing the other guys will tell us a lot more. So if CP isn't going to actually participate in the meat of the competition, I've got no problem with letting the guys who are going to compete get some minutes with each other before the tournament starts so they have a little bit of familiarity.
(Crossposting from another thread): Well, I know of a job here in the US that hopefully will be opening up in just a couple of weeks….