US vs. Mexico 11/12/2021: the pre-pre-pre-match thread

It's ok to think Scally is not the best option right at the present time while acknowledging he is talented enough to start anytime. That's what depth is, and why we can have differing points of view.

For me... I'm not sure who I'd play vs Mexico, but I'd love Scally to get called in and get experience v Jamaica.

 

Scally has played 270 minutes at left-back. Just sayin'.

 

I heard he's been lifting weights. He's huge.

(He'll tell you more over soup at Mendy's.)

 

Indeed. Its OK to think that Sally is clearly USMNT worthy, while at the same time believing is not the right time to call him in.

There's not much chance I'd feel comfortable having him take the field against Mexico during a WCQer in his first involvement with the USMNT. Even as a sub.

 

Yeah, we need to focus on experience, just like 2017. Scally needs to stay in Germany to SETTLE IN.

 

Scally will be called because it’s unavoidable. Hoppe’s lack of PT will give Gregg an excuse not to call him, protecting time for Arriola and/or Zardes. (Hoppe is not injured.) If Lleget is called in (or plays) over DLT and Busio, that will be too bad. I don’t expect CP or Gio. They need to get healthy with their clubs first.

 

Well...........Gladbach did shut him down completely during the last window in order to avoid burnout.

I remember last season when both Reyna and Musah hit a wall around December. Anybody else? Folks should. Reyna said he was never more mentally and physically exhausted than during the Bundesliga winter break last season.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, is suggesting Scally isn't going to be called up. Berhalter's comments suggest he will be. The question is whether this is the right window.

 

i literally said i wasnt making any argument other than minutes can be used however you want to use them.

 

It is the right window.

You constantly are making these arguments, which ignore the competition (or lack thereof) that we have. If we were France, or England? Fine, slow walk him...

We aren't. We have pretty much nothing behind Dest/ARob. They will be starting against Mexico.

Scally can start and/or get sub minutes against Jamaica. We just watched our team of "top" backups get run off the field against an average Panama side. Time for some new blood. If a guy can start 10 straight games in the best league in the world, he's good enough to be a backup for the US. Sorry, but that's how our talent/depth is...

 

Yes but if he plays left-back and has a bad game people will be chastising Berhalter for not playing him in his club position but if you play him in his club position you have to leave out Dest, or play Dest at left- back where if Dest has a bad game, people will be chastising Berhalter for not playing him in his club position.

 

I thought I was just refuting the claim that Berhalter "rated" Miazga, not judging Berhalter. It is a very simple argument that prior to Berhalter taking over, Miazga was clearly one of the top two CBs and Berhalter had always seen him as somewhere between third and sixth.

Now since it appears you want to discuss my opinion of Berhalter, I think he has completely screwed up the CB position. Brooks hasn't played that well for him and has looked frustrated with teammates who can't execute playing out of the back (mostly Long and Turner). Miazga has to be frustrated with the role he has played. The guys he has selected have failed... Zimmerman at the 2019 GC and McKenzie in the NL.

There were no games he HAD to play. It was that Berhalter consistently went with players ahead of him that ended up not showing better... Long, Zimmerman, Ream. I dont have any of those three in the top 4 CB at this point. That was the story of 2019. A bunch of wasted minutes on players that weren't good enough and will be eventually discarded.

I argued when McKenzie was inserted into the starting line up out of the blue that he lacked experience. McKenzie's only caps had been in domestic camps against horrible competition. His "better club situation" was basically half season in Belgium vs Miazga's years in the Netherlands, France, Championship, and the full season in Belgium where he played roughly three time the minutes that McKenzie did. Then besides the general extra experience Miazga had he also has strong performances in the past against Mexico.. Then of course we saw McKenzie struggle quite a bit.

I am aware that people argue that Brooks and Miazga aren't a good fit but they have been fine the few times they have actually played together. I think it is a consideration but it doesn't trump everything else.

I have no idea how good Berhalter is tactically and don't know how to tell with his horrendous player selection. It isnt Monday morning quarterbacking if you call the guy out when he names rosters and lineups. The criticism doesn't change from game to game but it is same consistently for the last two and half years..

He has ignored certain players and ones that he has chosen and played repeatedly have failed miserably.. it isnt an isolated case but has happened at almost every position.. He first stuck with his 2019 January camp guys too long. Then he went and found new ones or brought back guys who already showed they weren't good enough. After not impressing before the GC, he forced Yeuill starting in September. Then we got Lletget, then Roldan again, and then Acosta. All of these guys were selected and immediately played excessively. Guys who are the bottom of his rosters and shouldn't be there are the ones he gives the most minutes.

 

Whooooaaaa, 270 minutes?! Watch out Roberto Carlos and Marcelo!!

 

Whatever chastising that happens will happen. Pick the best players and put them on the field. We don't need to waste another 2k minutes on a Lletget type as you all supported and defended.

 

You "refuted" the claim by strongly insinuating that Berhalter is an idiot for not using Miazga more often. No need to be coy about it by acting as if I brought up Berhalter DESPITE your post and not because of it. My initial post stands. Berhalter used the beginning of the cycle to blood new guys, as he should. And this year, he chose the younger guy who had just been playing in the same league (Jupiler) whom many thought had the higher upside, over Miazga. I am all for calling in Miazga over McKenzie, due to form. Hell, I thought McKenzie was horrid to the nth degree against Mexico, when people kept arguing with me, saying he only really had 1 blip. But that is different than the monday morning quarterbacking now that tries to cast the callups of McKenzie at the time as some slight to Miazga. They were not. Miazga just happens to be playing better now than I have ever seen. This is not something to rip Berhalter on.

 

He got crucified for playing Dest at left- back. If you go back a few months people were crying out for Dest to be played at left- back. Maybe not the same people.

 

Olympic referee Ivan Barton of El Salvador will be the center referee for the US-Mexico game in Cincinnati. In my opinion, he's the best non-MLS/non-Liga MX referee in CONCACAF. He might be the best referee in CONCACAF, full stop. He's one of only two or three referees eligible for this match that I trust to handle it, so to see his name on the assignment is good to see. Will he be perfect? Of course not. But I have a lot of confidence that he's going to do a good job and not make the officiating a talking point like it was against Jamaica.

 

He got crucified for choosing lletget and Acosta as his key backups. He got crucified for playing Jackson yeuill 1k minutes.

He got praise for starting pepi.

Nobody giving egg grief here (myself included) had any interest in seeing dest at LB.

What's your point? Not to call in and play our 3rd best outside back because the manager might get some grief on an online message board? For picking a Bundesliga starter instead of George Bello or Sam vines? I don't get it.

 

Not sure i know how to refute a coaches opinion on a player without discussing the coach.

It isnt Monday morning quarterbacking. I have been complaining about Miazga being slighted since the first camp he was available for under Berhalter. I am a fan of McKenzie, but thought it was a bit early for him to be used heavily.

I am surprised there are still people defending Berhalter's player selection. It is also a very BS argument to say "Berhalter used the beginning of the cycle to blood new guys, as he should." There is never just one priority and this case all the blooding he did was useless because those players aren't in the pool anymore. Is the third year of cycle the time to blooding new players too? Of course he wouldn't have needed to if he hadn't blooded the wrong players in the previous years. With all his blooding of the wrong players, he hasnt gotten our top players enough minutes together, the look like a mess, and no clear depth chart for many positions almost halfway through qualifying.

McKenzie is just another questionable decision in a long list of questionable decisions that didn't play out well. It is a horrible pattern and even if you didn't see the first five times it happened, it is pretty easy to see at this point.

 

Does the ticker start anew each season? No, it doesn't. But my post had nothing to do with Scally anyway.

McKenzie has well over 6000 first team minutes (not including NT games nor USL-C). He's got 1600 minutes with the Genk first team since joining them in January. He's been a professional soccer player for several years.

I was only trying to reply to this idea that folks keep pushing that McKenzie isn't EVEN getting playing time for Genk. It's simply untrue, but it keeps popping up.

 

Ok, but @adam tash said that McKenzie is struggling to get any minutes at Genk, and that's not true at all. Which is what I posted about. No manipulation is needed for the argument. He's playing regularly, and also isn't a lock starter.

 

Who are those guys, two of the other fullbacks eligible to be called up by Gregg?

 

The point is that some people second guess berhalter/the coach no matter what they do, so it’s difficult to put stock in those people’s opinions. You bringing up Lletget is a good example. People point to his minutes while ignoring context (like few euro players on the gold cup roster), or the fact that they were acting like he was an idiot for calling in Lletget over green. Green has had basically one good year in the 2.Bundesliga and can’t get minutes for an awful Bundesliga team this year.

if someone held the opinion that green was better, that’s fine, but acting like someone is crazy to pick Lletget over him is a drastic overreaction.

and I think it actually is time for Lletget to take more of a back seat. I think de la Torre has earned the chance to get those minutes first. I might or might not be right, but at least my default position isn’t to second guess Berhalter, or to rewrite history to fit into a narrative (as someone did by saying that it was ridiculous to call in/start McKenzie over Miazga during the past 5-6 months.

 

played full 90 just twice in his team's last 9 games.

3dnp, 1 1 minute appearance and 1 10 minute appearance

averaging just 30 mins per game over that span....

to me thats struggling to get minutes...is playing at least.....but after checking the stats...I stick by my original (admittedly slightly lazy) assertion

overall, there arent many national teamers who get called up averaging 30 mins a game.

 

I think the Genk coach has lost it. He's bringing in players to play a couple of games then dropping them from the matchday squad completely. He himself has described their situation as "a crisis". They need to finish in the top four to be in the Championship playoffs and positions 5 to 8 to be in the Europa League playoffs and they're currently 10th.

It's not a great place to be a defender at the moment.

 

No manager will be second guessed for bringing in their best players, of which scally currently is one.

Managers will be second guessed for bringing in their not best players, of which Lletget currently is one. Just because many of us identified that already, and you didn't, doesn't make the criticism wrong.

But to the point, I'm not understanding why egg shouldn't call scally. Because he should be afraid of BigSoccer criticism? Loony tunes.