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USMNT 2022


Napoleon

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Let's get another one.

Even before the equalizer, I was pleased with what we've seen. Awful conditions, full-on CONCACAF shithousery, yet there were dashes of brilliance and creativity, plus an uncalled obvious hand ball in the box. All that was missing was the customary lack of finishing.

Given the situation, a point is acceptable, but getting the full three after all this shit would be wunderbar.

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That was entertaining. Frustrating, but very, very entertaining.
Love the fire that McKennie brought in the second half. Adams was taking no shit, too.
Musah was man of the match, but holy shit, he is definitely not one you can count on to put the ball in the net.

He’s still in his teens, give him time and also the next PK we get as a team. Dude deserves it.
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1 minute ago, shnsajax said:

He’s still in his teens, give him time and also the next PK we get as a team. Dude deserves it.

For real. I love the dude, but as I mentioned the other day, I think he's a natural 6 and will push Adams out by 2026. He's definitely the future. Cross your fingers that we get him for three full cycles.

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For real. I love the dude, but as I mentioned the other day, I think he's a natural 6 and will push Adams out by 2026. He's definitely the future. Cross your fingers that we get him for three full cycles.

I think he can be an 8 or a 10 depending on Gio in a 4-3-2-1. He’s got one more year at Valencia before he gets a bigger move at 20. He’s probably the most interesting US player to watch over the next two years based on development and transfer.
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4 minutes ago, Ted Lange said:

I don’t think Musah a 6 in GGG system but I could see him growing into it.  He has exponentially better now than he was to start WCQ.  Also, how about that DIME LDLT dropped on Morris’ gigantic head?

In fairness, Morris only has an average sized moose head, you just think that it’s gigantic because antlers tend to distract from the actual size of most moose heads. 

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21 minutes ago, Ted Lange said:

I don’t think Musah a 6 in GGG system but I could see him growing into it.  He has exponentially better now than he was to start WCQ.  Also, how about that DIME LDLT dropped on Morris’ gigantic head?

It's criminal that it's taken this long for LDLT to start getting regular run with the USMNT.

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29 minutes ago, UDontKnow said:

It's criminal that it's taken this long for LDLT to start getting regular run with the USMNT.

He was invited to the Nations League / Gold Cup gathering last year and he told Berhalter that he felt that it was more important for him to stay with his club for the summer and nail down an unquestioned starting role. 

Perhaps you should have a talk with Luca about not turning down invites.

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1 minute ago, Napoleon said:

He was invited to the Nations League / Gold Cup gathering last year and he told Berhalter that he felt that it was more important for him to stay with his club for the summer and nail down an unquestioned starting role. 

Perhaps you should have a talk with Luca about not turning down invites.

I recall that being reported, however, I don't completely believe it as I think there is more to that story. I have my doubts if Berhalter would have played LDLT last summer had he accepted the invitation (kinda like how Musah got no time in the Nations League).

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7 hours ago, Ted Lange said:

Morris is only serviceable on the right.  Which is why he sucked so bad last match.  Same with Nipple.  Gregg has to pick one. 

I think the conditions helped Morris here.  He’s just not explosive post injury. No one was explosive on that field last night. For all of Nipples faults, dude definitely has a higher motor than Morris and is more dangerous on the ball. Morris is a big body attached to a decent soccer IQ at this point. 

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I want to add that McKinnie is the heart of this team. Pulisic is our figurehead, and I’m not dismissing his heart or fire for the team, but you could see the energy change once WM got on the field. Musah fed off that and went into boss mode. You could almost see him go “oh, this is how we get to play?” Finishing aside, the ceiling for Musah is so high. I’m totally cool with him being more of an American Xavi and just bossing the middle and playing guys into scoring chances 95% of the time. 
 

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I fucking loved that game.  Mainly because I LOVED playing games like that in my youth.  3/4 inch metal studs on washers on the heels and half inch studs in the front.  Knowing you are going to get completely soaked and it will truly be survival of the fittest.

The thing I hated about "mudders" is when there it is pouring and there are puddles the ball will often catch in the water making passing consistency extremely difficult.  Honestly El Salvador played better early than the US.  They were using longer balls hoping for the inconsistency of the pitch to help create opportunities. The same puddle that can stop a pass, can also cause a powerfully driven long ball to skip off that same puddle and past you. We were lucky early honestly that the early opportunities they created did not result in an early goal, IMHO.

Ref let the game get a bit out of control as he allowed the constant slight fouls by El Salvador slide (pun intended) and predictably the fouls increased in intensity.  I can see how the Arriola red card was given (see my 3/4 studs above) but given some of the non-yellow for prior fouls I would have expected a yellow with a harsh warning that next foul and you are gone.  But it's fair to argue that his cleats were up, and that alone was enough for the red.  The clear prevention by foul of scoring opportunity, when we finally used a bit more long ball, was a clear red for El Salvador.  The game did remind me so much of my youth with the incessant whining, and protests of every call, while you are constantly fouling the opposition. 

I was totally with Alexi Lalas, that the US should not whine about field conditions, weather or fucking anything related to the playing conditions.  I think his words were, "suck it up buttercup" and "oh... your uniforms got dirty."  Playing in shit weather is all part of soccer.  Learning to play on shitty pitches is just part of the process.  You need to revel in the shitty conditions. If you don't want to make 12 foot long sliding tackles to keep your uniform clean, or keep mud out of your face, pick another fucking sport!

Overall nice comeback effort, and a tip of the hat to the El Salvador keeper, he was amazing, and nearly, nearly gave his team victory.  

 

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I will say this about Jordan with his goal last night - great on him making the most of an appearance he doesn't necessarily deserve. He might be on the fringes of the Qatar roster, but he has to still earn that spot.

Despite the stupid red last night, and a CONCACAF special one at that, Nipple is ahead of him in my depth chart. ALSO on the fringe, but ahead. And frankly at best you can only take one of those guys because you don't want to waste roster spots.

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Slonina is a cycle away. It will be Turner unless something crazy happens. 

Yeah my worry go Gaga is that while it’s nice that Real Madrid is interested in Slonina, he’s gotta start for Castilla or else he’ll languish on the Madrid bench.

I’d like him to go to a la liga lower table team so he can really work his game and learn to play from the back at a high pace.
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24 minutes ago, Captain Ron said:

 

TA has this energy too. Pulisic is also intense but he's a smaller guy that plays a more finesse position so it doesn't always translate to the pitch. Kind of like Argentina with Messi. Obviously he's their best player but in 2014 Mascherano was just as much the engine of that team and did a lot of the dirty work. It takes a village. 

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