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USMNT 2022


Napoleon

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43 minutes ago, dieucla98 said:

And we're wearing the rainbow crest.

I'd love for Qatar to raise a stink about it and continue to show their asses to the world and underscore just how stupid this Qatar WC idea is.

Why would they bother when they can let boneheads here in the US do it for them?

 

https://www.newsweek.com/usmnt-change-shield-rainbow-colors-lgbtq-world-cup-1759982

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On 11/4/2022 at 7:56 AM, alincoln said:

Exactly.  He has been repeatedly beaten on set pieces and his form was already declining before Miles Robinson went down.  Zimmerman has only been locked in as a starter since Robinson went down and Richards couldn't get healthy.  At the end of WCQ, the question was whether Richards could get enough PT to hopefully supplant Zimmerman. In an ideal world, our starting CBs would be Robinson and Richards with Ream and Zimmerman as capable backups.  I think Zimmerman would have been fine as the complimentary CB but he is now being asked to act as lead dog in a World Cup with a looming disaster next to him.  

All that said, Long (and the system that Greggg believes his selection supports) is THE issue.  All of Greggg's flaws are somehow perfectly exemplified by his selection of this one player.  Overreliance on MLS players, continuing to play a high line without fast CBs, selecting favorites, and an inability to adjust to opponents and changing circumstances. 

The option to start a capable and experienced EPL CB next to his EPL LB teammate is an unbelievably fortunate opportunity after your starting LCB goes down.  The ability to protect your new CB pairing with a double pivot including an in-form EPL 6 in Adams (who so obviously plays better in a double pivot) and a fit-for-purpose Musah is an obvious solution to our defensive dilemma.  Just ditch the high line, protect the CBs and play a LCB who has unparalleled chemistry with the LB.  OR start two out of form and slow CBs and rigidly adhere to a defensive system (high line) and formation (single 6) that doesn't cater to the strengths of your players.  When Aaron Long runs out there against Wales, Greggg's legacy as the worst coach in the history of US soccer will be written. 

i love your idea of going defensive to protect the core

bruce thought he could reduplicate the magic of '02 on euro soil and left agoos naked in the shower with jan koller and our 06 campaign was over in minute 36

33-year-old bale is still bale, and we need to insure he is locked down before we start going forward

the bbc has ignored bale's 3-3 in the mls final but that goal should have gregg on guard

it will be quite easy for gergg to surpass 06 bruce and 98 sampson

all he has to do is ignore bale

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17 hours ago, Hagbard Celine said:

i love your idea of going defensive to protect the core

bruce thought he could reduplicate the magic of '02 on euro soil and left agoos naked in the shower with jan koller and our 06 campaign was over in minute 36

33-year-old bale is still bale, and we need to insure he is locked down before we start going forward

the bbc has ignored bale's 3-3 in the mls final but that goal should have gregg on guard

it will be quite easy for gergg to surpass 06 bruce and 98 sampson

all he has to do is ignore bale


Like with the Czechs, it would be must better to be facing Wales in Game 3 rather than in Game 1.

I think that 6'8' Jan Koller was already out of the tournament by the time the Czechs played their 3rd game, but he looked like a world beater against us in Game 1.

UPDATE: Koller only played in the first game of the tournament. He suffered a leg injury later in the game and didn't play their 2nd or 3rd game. (They lost both of those.)


It would be much better to play Bale in the 3rd of 3 games. Play England in the 1st game, then play Iran in the 2nd game while Bale kills himself playing the full 90' against England, and then play a less-than-100% and emotionally drained Bale in Game 3.

 

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On 11/16/2022 at 10:13 AM, dieucla98 said:

And we're wearing the rainbow crest.

I'd love for Qatar to raise a stink about it and continue to show their asses to the world and underscore just how stupid this Qatar WC idea is.

With the US forces in country, don't think they will say that much. Fuck em if they do. 

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Whoever wins our group does have a straightforward path to the quarters where France likely awaits.  

England has been very fortunate in its draw over the past couple WCs and their 2020 Euro draw was also relatively tame.  

In 2018, their path to the quarters consisted of beating Tunisia and Panama during the group stage and then beating Colombia on PKs in the Round of 16. 

In 2022, they have to top a group consisting of Iran, USA and Wales and then likely face Ecuador or Senegal in the Round of 16.

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2 hours ago, alincoln said:

Whoever wins our group does have a straightforward path to the quarters where France likely awaits.  

England has been very fortunate in its draw over the past couple WCs and their 2020 Euro draw was also relatively tame.  

In 2018, their path to the quarters consisted of beating Tunisia and Panama during the group stage and then beating Colombia on PKs in the Round of 16. 

In 2022, they have to top a group consisting of Iran, USA and Wales and then likely face Ecuador or Senegal in the Round of 16.

Wales and the US in their group isn't particularly fortunate for them. But I suppose they could have ran into better sides on paper. 

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2 hours ago, ztejas said:

Wales and the US in their group isn't particularly fortunate for them. But I suppose they could have ran into better sides on paper. 

USA is arguably THE weakest Pot 2 side and and Iran is one of the weakest Pot 3 sides.  England also loves Wales as its UEFA opposition.  The Round of 16 matchup against Group A is also very fortunate as opposed to a matchup with a Spain and Germany level group.  Not debatable.

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28 minutes ago, alincoln said:

USA is arguably THE weakest Pot 2 side and and Iran is one of the weakest Pot 3 sides.  England also loves Wales as its UEFA opposition.  The Round of 16 matchup against Group A is also very fortunate as opposed to a matchup with a Spain and Germany level group.  Not debatable.

I'm just talking about the group stage. For starters, there are 3 groups with just one UEFA team, so England could have avoided another UEFA side completely. Getting the US instead of one of the pot 2 UEFA teams is (probably) a nice draw but getting Wales - who is almost assuredly the best pot 4 team and absolutely hates England - probably more than evens that out. Also consider that four of the US' starters play in the prem and are familiar with a lot of England's squad. I wouldn't be surprised if we start Ream against them which would make it 5. 

Agree that Iran is a weak pot 3 team but we'll see how they play. 

The way the ro16 sets up for whoever advances is obviously nice. 

34 minutes ago, The Dog said:

pussies

 

Oh yeah there's also this. 

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9 hours ago, dieucla98 said:

Then maybe Alexis and I are equally stupid.

Even if you have no understanding of Spanish or Romance languages, you would be able to learn more from Marcelo Balboa on the Univision post game shows (even with the dancing women in the background) than you would from that dumbass.

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3 hours ago, Juicy said:

This just made me so stoked again after all Gregg's bullshit. Go out and do it in spite of him.

After Landon’s goal, that was Dempsey weaving through the defense, right?

I don’t remember that goal at all, don’t know how many of the US matches I watched in 2014. I was giving some tours and arranging my schedule around that and the Argentine matches, but that weaving action looked downright un-American in its creativity and calm execution. 

Don’t recall Jermaine Jones’ goal either. 🤷‍♂️
 

 

36 minutes ago, Kringelbert Fishtybuns said:

Fuck man. (A)That’s still a long way from Qatar.

Vacation has started.  (B) First drink poured.

We are going to wreck fucking shop.


(B) can occur because of (A).

To paraphrase Joe Pesci’s “Leo Getz” character from LETHAL WEAPON 2…

”They fuck you at the Persian Gulf, okay! They fuck you at the Persian Gulf!”

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36 minutes ago, Napoleon said:

I don’t remember that goal at all, don’t know how many of the US matches I watched in 2014. I was giving some tours and arranging my schedule around that and the Argentine matches, but that weaving action looked downright un-American in its creativity and calm execution. 

Well he's the best 9 we've ever had, so...

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43 minutes ago, Captain Ron said:

ESPN can't be real ...

https://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-world-cup/story/4803524/top-u

image.thumb.png.4c188841d4976d895ed31e535dbf9c11.png

Their pick for the US was the most obvious ...

  Reveal hidden contents

image.thumb.png.3bea1f90a1355673888d20f7864f1087.png

 

WTF?!?!!? Have they not heard of Reyna?!?!?

 

That write up read like click-bait trolling to USMNT fans that will get non soccer fans excited. 

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Some good news, at least:

https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-states-usa/story/4806649/usa-weston-mckenniesergino-dest-fit-for-world-cup-opener-vs-wales

Quote

AL-RAYYAN, Qatar -- United States men's national team duo Weston McKennie and Sergiño Dest pronounced themselves ready to go for Monday's World Cup opener against Wales.

McKennie had been nursing a quad injury over the past few weeks, but with club side Juventus and the U.S. working together to monitor the midfielder's progress, he has been steadily building up his fitness.

"The week has gone good," McKennie said. "Obviously in my personal position or how I'm doing or how I am in terms of recovery, I came in good, I came in at a pace that was controlled.

"Juventus and the national team, they were both working together to make sure that I'm 100 percent fit here. So I came in, did a couple days of just maintaining and keep it under control. We played the friendly the other day, and I felt good. I felt ready to go, and that's where I'm at."

Similarly, Dest was suffering from muscle fatigue, and had even once trained indoors apart from his U.S. teammates since arriving in Qatar.

"I'm feeling good," he said. "Of course, after the last game, I had a little bit of fatigue. Right now, it's going well. I'm ready to play."

 

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adams named capitan

https://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-world-cup/story/4807229/world-cup-2022-tyler-adams-named-united-states-captain

DOHA, Qatar -- Tyler Adams has been named the United States' captain for the World Cup ahead of their opener against Wales on Monday.

Adams, who has captained the U.S. nine times in 32 career caps, wore the armband in seven of his 12 appearances in World Cup qualifying.

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"It's a huge honor for me, obviously, to be named captain of this team," Adams said. "A very young team, but a lot of credit to my teammates because anyone throughout our leadership council can wear that arm band and represent us with pride and represent us in the right way."

Throughout coach Gregg Berhalter's tenure, the responsibility has rotated between multiple players on the team's leadership council, with Christian Pulisic, Walker Zimmerman and Weston McKennie all having held the role since World Cup qualifying began.

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"There was something where the last three and a half years, we've been working with a leadership council and we're very open and we ask them, 'Hey, what do you guys wanna do for the World Cup?' And they thought it'd be better to have a captain named for the World Cup," Berhalter said.

"We're proud to announce Tyler is the captain for the World Cup. We think he has great leadership capabilities, he leads by his actions and his words."

Ahead of the tournament, the team was addressed by President Joe Biden in a short call in which he wished the team luck.

"I know you're the underdog, but tell you what man, you got some of the best players in the world on your team and you're representing this country and I know you're going to play your hearts out. So, let's go shock them all," Biden told the team.

"And keep trusting in one another, play as hard as you can for you and your families, your teammates, and the whole country is rooting for you."

Adams, 23, will be the U.S.'s youngest captain at a World Cup since Harry Keough (22 years, seven months, 17 days) in 1950 and and Berhalter's side will be the second-youngest team at the tournament behind Ghana.

"Tyler's a guy that's just matured beyond his years and you notice it from the minute you start talking to him," Berhalter said. "I can go on and on about the strengths of Tyler, but I think the other thing about him is his humility and he's a guy that the teammates know exactly what they're gonna get from him.

Tyler Adams will captain United States at the World Cup. Brad Smith/ISI Photos/Getty Images

"They know that he's gonna go out on the field and compete. They know that he's gonna be thinking about the game. They know that he's gonna be into the details of the game. He's not just a competitor, he's also a strategist and I think that helps the group because he calms people down and he's a guy that people get behind."

The Leeds United midfielder previously played for the U.S. at the U17 World Cup in 2017 before making his full national team debut against Portugal later that year.

A day after midfielder Weston McKennie and right back Sergino Dest said they were healthy and ready to play, Berhalter wasn't ready to proclaim either 90-minutes fit.

"They've made great progress," Berhalter said. "We see them as being able to take part in the game. For how long? We have to see.

"That's part of having five substitutes. They can either come into the game or start them and take them out of the game when we feel that they're getting close to that threshold, but both of them are definitely in position to help this team tomorrow."

Brenden Aaronson, Adams' teammate at Leeds, is the primary candidate to play in central midfield should McKennie be limited, while it's less clear who would replace Dest at right-back with DeAndre Yedlin, Joe Scally and Shaq Moore all options.

FIFA announced Sunday that the U.S.-Wales match will be refereed by Qatari officials, led by Abdulrahman Al Jassim.

Al Jassim refereed three matches at the Gold Cup in 2019, including the Americans' 1-0 victory against Panama. He also refereed the U.S.' 6-0 win against New Zealand at the 2017 U-20 World Cup in the Round of 16, in which Adams, Josh Sargent and Luca de la Torre all featured.

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