Holy shit Balogun is available for Belgium according to The Athletic!! FIFA suspended the red card for 'reasons.' LOL. Let the Trump conspiracy theories begin.
Trump watched the France/Paraguay game and said this bullshit that no one got even a yellow. Called up FIFA officials and told them either change your rules or you can forget having your perfectly lovely tournament in our country. Art of the deal
So, when? Just tell him we are not interested in renewing his contract, so he doesn't get to say he wants to leave.
He was hired to win one game, and failed miserably. Let the search begin (also, I'm anti-two cycles).
The ussf needs to find a long term coach that can help rebuild the program from bottom up or top down. Poch did ok for one cycle, but if plan a didn't work there were no other plans.
I disagree. The Dest sub and bringing Reyna into the game while pushing Mckinnie wide was plan B. It was pretty effective and was working till.... well we all know. I thought it was a smart tactical move. If you followed on the internet people were calling for Dest to be subbed but replaced with Weah or another wide player. He changed the game with that adjustment and it worked....sorta
I can agree with that. Poch probably had to go with plan C because he most likely didn't think both dest and pulisic would play the worst games of their careers at the same time.
Agreed on all points. During the postgame show it was mentioned (without any specifics) that Poch had been offered a contract extension a few days ago. I guess we can hope one of the European clubs is offering more money.
I do feel confident that the systems being put in place by USSF and JT Batson are the right ones. Just there are other forces pushing back (cough* the clubs that make money off of your kid and not coaching them). Regarding the athlete point, we are seeing more and more athletes come in. Just they often do later in age, and therefore their development is lacking. The kids need to pick soccer, get coached, and stick with it from about age 9 on.
I hate the athlete argument not because I don't want athletes. Sure sign them up too. Belgium did not out "athlete" us. In fact, I can't think of a single knout out loss that I felt we just got run over by a superior athletic team. Our problem, from my viewpoint is a cultural one inside the soccer/USSF community.
We all know they us youth sport market would quickly weed out and eliminate players like messi. He doesn't fit the normal Athletic mold for the US. Youth soccer has the same problem all the other sports do. There is a money scam to make parents believe travelling to play some other random team is better than localized clubs with little to no travel. Development is not the priority, maximizing fomo is
you know who would have shown up and busted his ass last night while the rest of our midfield was trash? Aiden Morris.
Aidan's ball watching in the march window is why he didnt make the roster. Dont think he would have made a difference.
who's arguing he'd have 'made a difference'? the argument is that he'd have busted his ass. Re: Poch, is there any reason to think he wants to stay in this gig for another cycle?
Well, one reason might be that he makes $6 million a year, plus add ons (one of which was surely getting out of the group stage) , making him one of the 3 most highly paid national team coaches in the world.
He was let down by an ancient CB that got outplayed in Ream, a fragile, also aging star that was hobbled the entire tournament in Pulisic, and a mind-numbing error by a shitty GK. My only beef is Dest starting. With players like Berhalter, Morris, Geo, and Pepi, I think the future is brighter with Poch as coach than someone like Arena or another USSF retread. We need to identify a goalkeeper in the mold of what has always been our strong point. Freeze and Turner ain't it, neither is Schulte unless he gets his head out of his ass quickly.
The options aren't just Poch vs re-tread. If we are willing to pay Poch, then the talent pool to hire from should be huge. And let's be honest, the four players you mentioned are basically developed. They won't get much better, if at all. Also, complaining about a fragile star in Pulisic and saying Gio should be a pillar going forward is laughable. What has he done since 2022 to show he's worth all the attention?
Also, saying the future is brighter with Poch for the players he listed -- one of them wasn't even on the roster, and he benched the other three. And as for the complaint about being let down by Tim Ream... well, who picked him as the starter?
One last thing on the goalkeeping: I agree that neither Freese nor Turner look like the option moving forward. We probably need to do better. You know, unless one of them steps up in dramatic fashion in the next four years. But acting like Freese was a disaster now that it's all over is revisionist history. Freese played well in the two group games he started AND the Bosnia game. As well as making a huge save last night in the first minute that kept us in it longer than we should have been in it. I don't see how he can be blamed for the first two goals. But when he has the world-class screw-up, everyone retroactively acts like he was terrible for the whole tournament and wondering why he was playing.
Unfortunately that was likely a career-defining brain fart on the biggest stage Freese will ever perform on. And while I appreciate the "we needs to find a..." school.of thought, USSF cant just drop by Keepers R Us and grab someone else. I dont think the proces missed someone. For whatever reason the cupboard is bare. Then again, not playing shitty defense would help a bit too..
The defense on this team is kind feels like less than the sum of its parts. Freeman - Young but athletic enough and big enough to be a good defender. I think that was clear Richards - He is good and competed at a high level all season. Ream - Weakest link. Looked 38 going on 58 when it comes to foot speed. Robinson - Seems to have taken a step back. Was really good with Fulham 2 years ago. Not the best defender and a pretty good attacker from that spot. Those 4 get shielded by Tyler Adams who people seem to love for his defensive work rate and pass breaking up ability. Those 5 together should have the makings of a solid defense. Ream and Robinson maybe being two you really question.
My point was those four I mentioned should be done playing for the national team and need to be replaced. I would trust Poch with that more than anyone else we have had in the position.
This certainly won't happen but USSF needs to resist the natural urge to go full private equity and suck every possible dollar out of the World Cup buzz once the tournament is over. In fact, they should go the exact opposite way. Realizing tons of fans got priced out, a bunch of new fans where created and focus on the longer term picture. Put the next 2 years of games in medium size venues, explore the possibility of free tickets for U12 kids, keep ticket price low to entice people to engage. A philanthropist or a corporation would surly underwrite a bunch of free tickets for kids. Plenty of partnership opportunities to ensure they actually show up to the games. Build new fans through affordable access and crazy fun environments. Get back to a point where the demand for tickets made it feel special and created a real memory.