I like that Beerholder is getting clowned for his moronic Pulisic take. Forcing the ball to Pulisic when we a) have other options and b) everybody knows we will try that is part of why beer ball never really took off. Just be quiet.
Gregg Berhalter says the U.S. isn't setting up Christian Pulisic well enough for success 😬"I don't think there was enough intention to get Christian the ball in those (wide) positions."@RobStoneONFOX | #USMNT pic.twitter.com/ujh2dOqYPR— FanDuel (@FanDuel) July 2, 2026
So two different things. If you had one thing the US could do better, would it be to get the ball to Pulisic in dangerous positions more often?
He’s an idiot. how did we ever lose to the Netherlands. Christian is going to be marked tightly from here on out. To completely ignore him would be playing into the oppositions hands. To try and go through him in great numbers will only lead to quick turnovers (more dudes defending) and the opposition breaking off to counter quickly, Netherlands 2022. Christians moment of brilliance will come when the opposition forgets he’s on the pitch. His performances are only going to get better.
What was the question? If It was "what's the one thing we could do better?" and the answer was "create more chances for Christian" that seems like a better answer than "nothing". I wouldn't be surprised if Poch has Pepi pulling the defense out of position to create a hole for Pulisic to run into.
The question was who has been the US's MVP so far. Bruce thought it was Balogun. Bob agreed with Balogun, but also thought McKennie and Tillman deserved a shout, and felt all 3 have been combining very well. Bob then noted Pulisic has missed time with injury and he had to drop deeper yesterday to get most of his touches (which I took to mean that Bob wouldn't have Pulisic as one of his top picks because he hasn't been as impactful yet). Gregg then said those are all good picks, but he would say Chris Richards has been rock solid. Then he circled back to Christian to address Bob Bradley's point about him (which is where the clip in that tweet starts).
In that context what he said makes sense and may be exactly what Poch is planning in Balogun's absence.
They were a much better team than us. I think it's hilarious how much the hate here is for a quote that is "I'd probably try to get my best player the ball a little more." And it's even funnier in the context of 2022, where, you know, the scoring options were decidedly weaker.
God, what an idiot! How stupid. I hope people on the internet with no knowledge totally clowned on him for such an outrageous comment!
I don't think we played as poorly as the score, but we didn't lose because Berhalter focused too much of the offense through Pulisic. It's a bizarrely bad criticism that makes no real sense if you actually think about, but if you still have Berhalter rage ... checks calendar ... four years later, you don't actually think about it at all.
What Beerholder said wasn't bad at all, and I think there were moments in the game where we should've gotten him the ball but didn't. Usually Ream - to me he sometimes waits a bit too long to make the pass, and then doesn't. It's not a big issue and Beerholder wasn't suggesting it is IMO.
Two quick things: 1. Kudos to the studio crew (Donovan, wasn't it?) for immediately calling out Tony Popovic for the dumbest sequence of managerial moves I've seen someone make at any level above U-19 rec. Subbing the keeper backfired -- they took out a guy who was on fire and replaced him with a guy who was ice-cold and only offered some gamesmanship that should've drawn yellow. He put in two center backs to take kicks, and it was obvious as Herrington was walking up to the spot that he was going to miss. 2. I am so bloody sick of that Alex Morgan ad calling out the "international media" (hi, Alex!) for blowing her celebration out of proportion. No one in the US media will ever hold her accountable, so let's review ... A. The team celebrated every goal against Thailand as if they'd just won the World Cup. Thailand, a country with no resources for women's soccer. Years later, there was a film that heralded their 13-0 win as a "statement" for women's soccer. What sort of statement was it other than to prove there are a lot of countries that don't take women's soccer seriously? Why would Alex Morgan and company *celebrate* that? B. When she did the tea-sipping celebration, the first thought was that she was taunting England, because England and tea are like the USA and cheeseburgers. Gen Z numbskulls on social media were insisting, "No, you dumb Boomers -- it's Kermit the Frog, and if you weren't a dumb Boomer, you'd know that." Then we find out it's NOT Kermit the Frog ... it's a shoutout to Sophie Turner's podcast saying "and that's the tea," as in "that's the fact, Jack" or "ha ha you stupid critics you're wrong because I scored a goal against England so there ha ha ha ha." C. The women complained that no one ever holds men accountable for their over-the-top celebrations, because they figure a lot of people who follow women's sports have never seen listened to a sports talk show in their lives. Unadulterated bs and ego. And that's the tea. Or a caffeine-free diet soda.
Putting aside any re-litigation of the merits there, the ad has this very off-putting snarky and combative tone that I imagine will be completely baffling and incomprehensible to the vast majority of people watching. It wasn't until like the 10th time I saw it air that I even remembered what she's alluding to there.
I am currently watching the second match of the day with one of my neighbors who is not really a soccer fan but he does understand the game, mostly. At approx. the 15th min, he suddenly yelled at the screen, "Call the GD game." He is still upset by all the inane side comments and this match is not near as bad as others. BTW: He also rarely uses profanity. The commentators need to learn that this is not baseball where there is a lot of dead time to fill. ,
John Strong has always had this issue. He constantly wants to update you on whatever the storyline is. If Messi was about to break a record with his next goal ... oh my god, we'd hear the same damn comment for the next 90 minutes until he broke it, and then we'd heard about how he broke it.
And he is not the worst we have to endure to watch the WC. The problem has started again as Messi has scored and the next 5 mins have all been spent discussing the goal. I REALLY wish my hearing of the lightning Spanish used by Spanish commentators was better but I mish one word out of three when they get excited. I wonder if we could get a triple dose of Valium into their booth's water just to keep them calm? I figure if they were calm then I might be able to keep up.
You know, I hear the "they won't stop talking" comment a lot, but Strong and Holden have had long silences in this game (until it went ABSOLUTELY HAYWIRE PLEASE TELL ME YOU'RE WATCHING THIS), and also ... I mean, we all watch EPL, don't we? "Ne'er a foul for me. I know 'e kicked the keepeh right in the rib cage, but that not enough. Reminds me of Ars'nal in ought-6 ..."