Pre-match: USA vs Qatar Gold Cup Knockout Semifinal (7/29)

Looks like Gregg has determined his top choice lineup for this set of players. LFG!

 

Eryk Williamson has a sofascore of 7.10 so far for the gold cup...same as shaq moore fwiw.

Acosta - 6.8
arriola 6.5
dike 7.13

 

do you think the offense under gb is good?

they had 1 shot on goal vs Canada....Im not making it up. its facts.

1 shot on goal and he made no adjustments.

 

Huh. How do you know that?

There's a lot more to coaching and gameplan than the lineup.

 

zero shots on goal for the last 89 minutes of the game.

 

But they've won every competitive game.

 

But you have no idea any of the discussions or choices.

And we played much better versus Jamaica.

 

You'll be either too happy or too pissed off to work tonight.

 

i couldnt watcht that game cuz it was 4am in the morning euro time.i did watch the highlghts.

idk....an 87th minute goal to barely win...and some easy chances jamaica shouldve scored.....

not sure I agree that the us played better.

I dont think the players ggg has setttled on as his starters are actually the best group available from this poorly constructed roster...especially in midfield.

 

So I got this one right.

Therefore....

 

I'm liking this prediction even more.

 

...and maybe too drunk!

 

It's pretty obvious that Zardes + Roldan > Dike + Arriola

And that's who we are going to see in the second half.

 

Well that sucked.

Williamson for Lleget
Zardes or Pefok for Dike
Bello for Vines
Halftime IV for Acosta

 

Dike just doesn’t have it in this tournament. It’s disappointing after what he did in the Championship. I was sure he was going to boss some center backs around. His touch isn’t good, and he hasn’t really been that aggressive.

Honestly, I’d rather see Hoppe get some reps at the 9 with the A team. He could provide the best combo.

 

williamson and bello gotta be better too

vines is a traffic cone that cannot dribble or move the ball forward AT ALL

 

hes injured...its obvious.

 

“The System” is apparently pumping crosses into the box every chance you get. So we are a mid-90s bottom of the table Premier League team.

 

Qatar moves into and passes into space in a more sophisticated manner then the US. It's a systems issue.

 

That was unnecessarily risky pass by Acosta across top of box

 

Just got home from the game. Reactions.

1. First half play was so bad it killed attempts by the crowd to get going. The shaky passing and giveaways killed more than one cheer as it got going.

2. Sands seems way to shaky and tentative to rely on at CB. Second game in a row, but worse this time. Robinsons seems solid, and perhaps the contrast makes Sands look worse.

3. Ditto Moore and Vines, to a lesser extent. Moore looked dynamic and Vines seemed uncertain dealing with counter attacks. Hello war,Ed up but never came in.

4. Dike must have had 1/10 the touches of Hoppe, and his touches seemed heavy. I thought he should have given way at the half to Zardes or Pefok. He just seems not good. Hoppe tried stuff, showed for the ball, and was his usual wild and woolly self. I like that.

5. In the stadium it felt like a lot changed, momentum wise, after the missed PK. But perhaps the subs that came on after that had a lot to do with it.

6. Qatar and the center ref gave it all a very CONCACAF feel, even if not technically against a CONCACAF team. 9 minutes of added time? When all the stoppages were Qatar players flopping and staying down?

7. Kudos to the subs for making stuff happen, and for Zardes for finishing his chance. He was much, much better than Dike out there.