They are in the middle of the season for their teams--who actually pay them. Right now, points there are more important than a friendly. That's an unusual feature due to this cycle taking place during the winter break. But ... I am concerned as well.
The only current saving grace is that both England and Wales are playing poorly (both relegated from their Nation's League groups...England having not scored in 5 games) but yeah that Japan game was dismal. Both Pulisic and Pepi starting tomorrow fwiw
It’s all going to be about match ups for the knockout round . Who would we play if we win the group ? I forget what group we would be matched up with. if we fail in group stage GB should be fired , the injuries are concerning
We’re in Group B. Group B winner plays Group A runner-ip and Group A winner plays Group B runner-up. Group B contains (in order of current FIFA ranking, for whatever that’s worth): Netherlands (8), Senegal (18), Ecuador (44), and hosts Qatar (48). Netherlands will win their group. If we finish second in ours, they will knock us out. In the unlikely event that we win ours, I think we could beat any of those three other teams. But I don’t think we’ll win our group.
A team's WC tune-up matches are supposed to inspire hope in their fans and fear in their opponents. I feel like we are doing the opposite right now.
The numbers on the front of the shirts seem really tacky. True, it's a thing, but it just seems...weird here. The game? Unremarkable.
Meh. I've watched about as much of our tune-up matches this cycle as I did last cycle. I've seen enough matches (every single f#cking US Open Cup game) where GGG couldn't give a rat's ass regarding the outcome to know that these matches are just him playing Legos and what-ifs.
I think a lot of us would have considered Berhalter a bad hire for the Nats based on his performance here but with that being said, he’s still a better coach than Caleb Porter.
I didn’t listen to the gm at work like I did the Japan gm something told me it wouldn’t be worth it let’s just hope we come out strong at the WC
I'm probably the biggest Gregg fan, because I thought he did a great job with the budget available here. But I knew going into these games that he would try to produce chemistry with guys he would hope work (Long and Pepi) instead of trying to perfect the system as available. The players not wanting to try (probably Gregg and them are equally at fault there) doesn't help assist those players that Gregg is trying to get going. It would be unreasonable for Long to start or even make the roster at this point. A bad centerback partnership is doom for any Gregg team, and Long has been dreadful though not aided by a disinterested midfield. McKenzie and Zimmerman will be the starters with maybe Richards in a game. Pefok will make the team as an emergency striker, but Jesus or Brendan will start at the 9 in the group stage. I like Haji, but doubt he makes it. Still excited if this midfield is up for it, but I'll need to not be on twitter to keep my hopes up. It will be a weird and wild world cup.
I hope to God we play with more urgency and spirit than we saw today and against Japan. No one of Saudi Arabia’s players plays outside of the kingdom (which seems weird) and we can only get a draw? That’s why (among other reasons) I don’t think we’ll win our group. Not with England in it. I don’t have much confidence in our squad. One of my hopes is that, as Hamburglar pointed out upthread, England and Wales aren’t playing well. Maybe we can steal a point off England and draw vs Wales or Iran while defeating the other of those two. We’ll see.
Here’s a scary thought. If we go three-and-out at the WC, I don’t see Ggggg keeping his job. If the Crew don’t make the playoffs, we’re certainly hoping CB9000 loses his job. Certainly Earnie Stewart is aware enough not to hire Caleb Porter for the USMNT job, right? Right? [emoji33]
This game was as bad, if not worse than the Japan game. Learning that KSA was short about 5 key players from their qualifying campaign firmed up that opinion. You could see we had some advantages in individual players but as a team we just couldn't do anything. Reyna off after 30 minutes for what has since been reported as muscle tightness and precautionary reasons. Not good. We obviously miss Musah much more than even I, a big Musah supporter, realized. I thought we'd get a bit more from McKennie in Yunus's absence, but that didn't happen. Pulisic continues to be a whiny bitch and I dislike him more and more each time I see him play. Only positive to take form these last 2 games is that Turner is sharp and I think has to be the #1 for the WC.
Yeah, I feel like sentiment is changing on Pulisic. Here’s a thought I’ve had for a bit now. When he was at his best in Dortmund, he played on the right. I’d prefer Pulisic go back to the right and Aaronson play on the left. Also, quite shockling, his numbers are almost identical at Chelsea as they were in Dortmund. Dortmund 7,495 mins (127 apps) / 19 Goals / 26 Assists Chelsea 7,184 mins (123 apps) / 25 Goals / 19 Assists On one hand, he’s consistent. On the other, he hasn’t improved in 3+ years. That’s concerning.
Doyle and others are big proponents of moving him to the right. Two things about moving him to the right: 1) The Weah, McKennie, and Dest trio over there has been good; and 2) have we ever seen pulisic cross the ball consistently. Pulisic may be best off the bench, as that is where he has landed with many coaches. He seems to not fit any system.
Co-signed. In fact, I am on record on these boards saying I'd rather have Berhalter continue to manage the Crew rather than Porter. Porter already had his chance with the U-23's and failed spectacularly, and embarrassingly despite his reputation as a molder of youth at a Akron. At least Berhalter will get to dance and disappoint us all in November. Porter failed a generation of US players with his nonsense.