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Posted
4 hours ago, Derka said:

mostly ussf incompetence, bob bradley being a dumb cunt, players like landon and bradley running from europe during their prime in favor of the comforts of home. i could go on, but that group never missed out on a WC, and made runs in 2002 and 2014 that made us proud. and they definitely cared.

So you weren’t proud when they won the group in 2010 coming off of making the finals of the 2009 Confederations Cup that saw them leading 2-0 at halftime?

And you call yourself a soccer fan?!?!

🤌 🤌 🤌

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Posted
15 hours ago, Ted Lange said:

Seems like a less than ideal landing spot.   He’s morphing into Freddy Adu II. 

Even with the way his career has gone he's twice the player Adu ever was. Hopefully he turns it around - he still has as much talent as anyone we've ever produced. He needs to get his body and mind right.

---

Sargent just keeps finding the back of the net.

 

 

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Posted

sargent is such a good goal scorer at the championship level that i’ve never understood why he’s been such a dud (comparatively) for the usmnt. 

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Posted
On 8/24/2025 at 7:35 PM, Derka said:

sargent is such a good goal scorer at the championship level that i’ve never understood why he’s been such a dud (comparatively) for the usmnt. 

i think he's one of those players who needs to feel comfortable in his surroundings before performing at optimal level. he needs more run.

Posted

Just because it is “competitive”, doesn’t mean that it is worth a shit. Single A baseball is “competitive”… maybe even more competitive than the majors…

PS- No league that doesn’t have relegation is truly “competitive”.

PPS- Max Arfsten sucks ass and is pure trash as a left back. He may be a decent wide midfielder, I don’t know. I only know his work as a shit stain  of a left back. 

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Posted

I can translate Pochese. What he's saying is "half my European-based players are entitled bitches that don't care about the national team and/or ride the pine for their club. On the other hand, Diego Luna wants to run through a motherfucking brick wall. Give me more of that energy."

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Posted
1 hour ago, tokamak said:

I can translate Pochese. What he's saying is "half my European-based players are entitled bitches that don't care about the national team and/or ride the pine for their club. On the other hand, Diego Luna wants to run through a motherfucking brick wall. Give me more of that energy."

I don't necessarily disagree with this approach, but players like Arfsten, McGlynn, and Blackmon don't belong anywhere near this roster. It just seems like a lost chance to try to develop some continuity. 

Posted

I will pissed but not surprised if Poch starts Arfsten and Freeman as his outside backs. 

He chose 3 right backs and 1 left back with Dest obviously able to play on the left. It should be Dest and Freeman but this coach preferred Byron White over Balogun. 

Posted

Arfsten is a fucking disaster. He looks like a toddler out there compared to the rest of our guys.
 

Also - I kind of like Berhalter a lot. His dad is a fucking buffoon but that kid can play. I'd like him on the 26 for '26.

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Posted (edited)
4 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Arfsten is a fucking disaster. He looks like a toddler out there compared to the rest of our guys.
 

Also - I kind of like Berhalter a lot. His dad is a fucking buffoon but that kid can play. I'd like him on the 26 for '26.

Blackmon sucks dick too in case anyone was wondering.

God our player pool along the back is bad. 

Antonee is our most important player and frankly it probably isn't close. The gulf between him and whatever spare we have to play in the back 4 instead is massive. 

Edited by ztejas
Posted (edited)

Ream and Blackmon ball watching. 

This is a fucking joke. May just watch college football instead. 

At the very least Adams should be playing out of position over one of these bums.

Edited by ztejas
Posted
1 minute ago, Wiler77 said:

I feel ok with Dest and Robinson out wide in the back. We have no CBs though.  Fucking hell

Our best CB is on the bench for some reason. 

Blackmon is legitimately one of the worst players I've ever seen suit up for us in a game like this. 

Posted

Here is a question - do you see a plan for what Poch is doing?

I mean I kind of see something. As we know - our #1's are pretty well set. I kind of get the sense that Poch is trying to find the next rung of guys. The results of that are mixed. The results in games - not so great.

Assuming this is Poch's play (and I am not saying 100% this is his strategy), what are your thoughts on it? And when should he focus on getting the #1's together and working on getting them playing as a team?

Posted
6 hours ago, kingkoopa6 said:

1s should be getting together every window. Play them or not in the friendlies. But Should still get some practice time in. 

That would require a Euro camp so that they aren’t flying 6 to 10 hours (each way) just to practice. 

I don’t care if the tournament is in the USA next year, they should do what they can to accommodate the best players. 

Posted

there was a way to compensate for no competitive preparation......

the owners of the ponzi-scheme exhibition (i.e., mls) could have said fuck it, given our political vector, fifa will not consider the us as host until the year 2100, so let's try to win next year, and push a billion dollars to the middle of the table, buy up every us player in europe for 1 year on loan, and create two (2) TEAM USA sides that play in mls as 100% road teams

during the year prior to the '94 tournament 80% of what would become the us roster were actually employed by the federation which gave bora the opportunity to instill his full-sam bunker 442 system and practice it on a daily basis

the nasl created a Team America in 1983 but it finished 10-20 in last place and never had the opportunity to fulfill it's purpose, i.e. create a competitive nats side to compete for '86 qualification

the precedent was there, but at the end of the day, the entire soccer establi$hment in the us is only interested in profiting from their exhibition attended and supported by customers with no understanding of the international soccer economy

+++

The U.S. men’s national team has fallen to 48th in the world in the Elo ratings—its lowest position of the 21st century. The Elo system, adapted from chess, is widely regarded as a more accurate measure of a team’s strength (see how it’s calculated here) than Fifa’s official ranking, which currently places the USMNT 15th. See Fifa’s rankings here.

Mauricio Pochettino took charge with the USMNT ranked 37th in Elo. After 17 matches, his side has not beaten a team ranked above them, slipping to 45th after a 4-0 defeat to Switzerland in June. Saturday’s 2-0 loss to South Korea dropped them to their new modern-era low.

Historically, the USMNT climbed to 15th in Elo after beating Portugal at the 2002 World Cup and reached 12th following a 2005 qualifier win over Mexico. Their peak came after defeating Spain in the 2009 Confederations Cup, when they rose to 11th, briefly jumping to 9th later that summer.

Posted
Spoiler

Mauricio Pochettino says he is "positive" and believes in his plan and the process for his USMNT. But if anyone had doubts about Poch's credentials, he insisted ahead of tonight's USMNT match against Japan in Columbus, “We are not amateurs. We are professional people."

"People sometimes create debate and talk with no sense. This national team and this country is qualified [as host] already for the World Cup, so the important thing is to apply common sense. If people want to talk about bulls**t, they can talk about bullsh**t, but we feel the responsibility to provide [opportunities for] the whole group of players that we think can be important for this country in the World Cup.”

-- USMNT head coach Mauricio Pochettino, using a question at Monday's USA-Japan pregame press conference about Chris Richards’ omission from the starting lineup against South Korea as an opportunity to lash out at the growing chorus of critics of his player selections.

Tristan Blackmon’s debut in central defense against South Korea panned out poorly, and Chris Richards is set to start as usual with Tim Ream against Japan.

At the Gold Cup — sandwiched between Richards helping Crystal Palace beat Man City for the FA Cup and Liverpool to lift the Community Shield — the Alabama product was arguably the USA’s top performer. He added two goals to stellar defensive play.

“Of course, you want to win as many games as possible leading up to the World Cup,” Richards said two days after the USA suffered its sixth loss of 2025. “It just takes one win and another win, and another win, to gain momentum. We have some time to right our wrongs.”

But are the poor results, one reporter asked, putting the USMNT at risk of losing the fan base? And do the players care?

“Of course, we care,” Richards said.  “We play for y’all. I mean, we’re American. We play for Americans … We represent Americans. We definitely care about the fan base. We go out there and give 100%.

“I hope we’re not at risk of losing the fan base. I think it’d be devastating. We want to give y’all something to be proud of, something to cheer for. And hopefully, by World Cup time, y’all can cheer us on for however many games it takes to get to the final.”

 

 

Posted
Spoiler

DOUBLING DOWN AND THEN SOME: Pochettino continues to defend USMNT’s performance in Korea loss, takes on his critics

After the U.S. men's national team lost to the Korea Republic on Saturday, 2-0, head coach Mauricio Pochettino said his side outplayed the visiting side.

Mauricio Pochettino and his team has been under criticism in wake of the 2-0 loss to Korea.

By Michael Lewis

FrontRowSoccer.com Editor

After the U.S. men’s national team lost to the Korea Republic on Saturday, 2-0, head coach Mauricio Pochettino said his side outplayed the visiting side.

“Overall, I think we were better than Korea, but in the end if you are not clinical … it’s difficult,” he said. “We created more chances. We controlled the game.”

On Monday, he doubled down on his assessment before going after the team’s critics – fans the media.

“Because I think we performed, despite the result, in a very good way,” Pochettino said during a press conference. “The players tried to do; they did what we wanted. I think I am positive because the players trust in the process, because they know that we have a plan, know here inside that we have a plan, and we stick with the plan.”

He added: “Of course, I’m the first guy that is interested [in winning] because … we are very competitive. But in the same time also is the process and the plan that we have, we stick with that still.

“If we play the same game again, [and] we should learn in the way that we need to learn, we’ll be closer to [winning]. That’s why I’m happy and looking forward to tomorrow.”

Pochettino obviously was not happy with the criticism thrown at the team after the defeat at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, N.J. on Saturday.

He started his criticism of the team’s critics while answering a question about the fitness of center back Chris Richards, prior to Tuesday night’s friendly against Japan at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio.

“People sometimes create debate and talk with no sense,” Pochettino said. “This national team and this country has qualified already for the World Cup, so the important thing is to apply common sense. If people want to talk about bullshit, they can talk about bullshit, but we feel the responsibility to provide the whole group of players … We need to give the priority for how he feels. Because if not, if we take a risk in a friendly game, we maybe create a big problem.

“I think the same people that debate about why he’s not playing [also debate] why he’s playing. The important thing is that we have a plan, we know what we are doing, we have experience. The important thing is to provide the players [with] the possibility to arrive at the World Cup in the best condition.

“If we only work with a few players, but the moment after they arrive some guy arrives with an injury and cannot play at the World Cup, it’s not the moment to make tests or give the opportunity to get experience. That is why you cannot be surprised if tomorrow I do some changes.

“Sometimes people want to talk only to analyze the result and want to be negative, and I think it’s a little bit shameful. We need to be positive, because we need to be all together, because the country deserves to be on one side to arrive at the World Cup in the best condition to be a team competitive to make proud our fans. That is the most important thing.”

Pochettino was far from finished.

After taking a question about how he and his staff will make decisions on culling the roster prior to next year’s World Cup, the U.S. head coach leveled his criticism at critics again.

“We are not amateurs, we are professional people who are looking at all types of situations,” Pochettino insisted. “You need to bring some players with the possibility to give game time. You ask me ‘why?’ Because if [Malik] Tillman is injured … who is going to replace him? That is why now is the moment.

“Of course, I want to win, I want to win against South Korea, and I want to win tomorrow against Japan. But at the same time, we need to provide time to players who maybe have no experience. And maybe we can struggle and make mistakes and compromise the result. Of course I want to win, but also we need to think in the process and give the possibility to players to perform in a difficult situation, because Tillman needs to know there’s another guy behind him pushing.

“We are in a place now in USA that I think we need help. We need help because we don’t have official games. You saw in the Gold Cup how competitive the team is when we are together 40 days working together. That is why we were happy, that was the plan, that is the plan, and we delivered the plan. We played with players, maybe you didn’t think one day could perform in the national team, but we are here because something needs to change. That is why less than one year ago they come and offered me in charge of the national team, because we are different.”

“We are here because we want to share with you, we want to learn from you, we don’t want to teach anyone, only that we have our plan, and that is the process. Of course I want to win all the games, but if we cannot win, we need to be positive in knowing that we are doing things very important for arriving to the World Cup in the best condition.”

The Americans reached the Gold Cup final, losing to Mexico.

If you thought Pochettino was finished, guess again.

In response to a question about the team’s progress since he took over last year, the U.S. coach talked about the squad’s disappointment performance in the Concacaf Nations League semifinals and third-place match in March.

“You remember March, no? I think we all remember March. And I think you were all in agreement with me with the roster, with everything. But I think that was a wakeup call because we needed to start a different process and different approach,” he said.

“That is why all that happened helped to realize that the most important thing is the national team, the federation, and this one is more important than any single name,” said Pochettino, who pointed and grabbed the U.S. Soccer crest on his shirt.

“We are all important, but that is the most important thing, and we need to work all for this,” he continued. “I think why we are progressing is because that is the mentality shown in the players.

“The players that we call all want to come and make the effort. We are intentional enough to call the players not to take the risks – like we were talking about, Malik Tillman – we talked to him and said ‘you need to understand.’ Malik is disappointed that he is not coming, and that is a signal that we are doing something good. That is, for me, the most important thing. The players that are not playing need to push to play, they need to keep pushing so they can have the possibility to come again. That competition will be very healthy for the organization. That is the plan.”

Tillman was one of the more impressive U.S. players during the Gold Cup.

 

Posted
13 hours ago, Napoleon said:

That would require a Euro camp so that they aren’t flying 6 to 10 hours (each way) just to practice. 

I don’t care if the tournament is in the USA next year, they should do what they can to accommodate the best players. 

A euro camp sounds awesome. 
 

let the mls keep the pain of international travel 

Posted
1 minute ago, kingkoopa6 said:

If?

bruh. Japan cracking our ass if we fielding another heavy mls squad 

read the stuff i posted

poch said he is going to try out mls players because these are not full internationals because we are already qualified

in other words he is using logical rationale that makes sense in the rest of the world but does not understand how it plays here

Posted
2 minutes ago, kingkoopa6 said:

A euro camp sounds awesome. 
 

let the mls keep the pain of international travel 

we've done euro camps several times this century as part of international windows and a pair of friendlies on euro soil

no mls players traveled as far as i can recall

Posted

It's too late to fire him. If I really squint, I can see what he's trying to do. He wants a set of players to push the "established" starters. It makes sense to try to establish a bottom-up approach, but if we keep losing games by multiple goals, I really think he risks losing the locker room. What he's finding out is there is a massive gap between the starting XI and everyone else and he's just grasping at straws trying to find anyone outside of Luna to push the starters. 

The other issue is we are just out of time. You have to start building continuity at this point--especially in the backline. Dest, Richards, and Robinson need to be playing every match together and they need to find who is going to play the other CB spot. Running out Blackmon for his first cap was just a complete waste of time. Cannot have shit like that anymore. 

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