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Posted (edited)
4 hours ago, LurkingHorn said:

Why on Earth is Gio being called in? Dude has played hardly at all and cannot stay healthy. Hard pass until he consistently plays for his club. 

 

Because Poch would be stupid not to look at the kid at least a little. If you watch him play you know the guy has tremendous upside. If the guy get's his head screwed on straight, he's got 3 or 4 more World Cup cycles in him.

Make no mistake, the guy needs to fix a lot of stuff, but this could be a chance to Poch to talk with him and hopefully light a fire under his ass. I know Poch can do it a the club/professional level, I just hope he can do it at the National team level too.

Edited by Captain Ron
  • Hook 'Em 1
Posted
4 hours ago, LurkingHorn said:

Why on Earth is Gio being called in? Dude has played hardly at all and cannot stay healthy. Hard pass until he consistently plays for his club. 

Well, when you're calling in the Steve Zawsdzki's of the world, you're pool is a tad empty.

Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, Captain Ron said:

Double check your work, we've got the Blue PJs and Whites for sale right now: $95 Replicas $170 Authentic

Your request for me to double check my work found authentic jerseys to be $1 more than what I originally found.  Kinda proving my point, no?

Edited by Mittens
Posted
On 11/7/2025 at 12:19 AM, Mittens said:

Your request for me to double check my work found authentic jerseys to be $1 more than what I originally found.  Kinda proving my point, no?

Not about price, but about what's available. I agree with you that these things are expensive. 

Posted

Not sure where to put this, but I guess it's slightly related to US soccer.

Y'all see what North Korea is doing w/ soccer?  The NK girls won the U17 WC by outscoring Japan, Morocco, Brazil, and The Netherlands 16-2 in the knockout rounds.

The boys are currently tied for 1st in their group after drawing Germany in the 2nd game.  

I know it's U17, but I wouldn't think there's any level of soccer where NK could/should be hanging in with Germany.

Posted
22 minutes ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

Not sure where to put this, but I guess it's slightly related to US soccer.

Y'all see what North Korea is doing w/ soccer?  The NK girls won the U17 WC by outscoring Japan, Morocco, Brazil, and The Netherlands 16-2 in the knockout rounds.

The boys are currently tied for 1st in their group after drawing Germany in the 2nd game.  

I know it's U17, but I wouldn't think there's any level of soccer where NK could/should be hanging in with Germany.

They are using that famous Korean makeup to make the older kids look younger and play at levels of the elite.

  • Haha 2
Posted


Bournemouth's Tyler Adams off USMNT squad for friendlies
 

AFC Bournemouth midfielder Tyler Adams was taken off the United States men's national team squad for upcoming friendlies against Paraguay and Uruguayafter crashing into teammate Adam Smith in the third minute of their 4-0 loss to Aston Villa.

U.S. Soccer confirmed his absence on Monday, along with that of Columbus Crew midfielder Sean Zawadzki...

[For full shitshow, click link.]

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/46917523/bournemouth-tyler-adams-usmnt-squad-friendlies

Posted
9 hours ago, Napoleon said:


Bournemouth's Tyler Adams off USMNT squad for friendlies
 

 

AFC Bournemouth midfielder Tyler Adams was taken off the United States men's national team squad for upcoming friendlies against Paraguay and Uruguayafter crashing into teammate Adam Smith in the third minute of their 4-0 loss to Aston Villa.

U.S. Soccer confirmed his absence on Monday, along with that of Columbus Crew midfielder Sean Zawadzki...

[For full shitshow, click link.]

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/46917523/bournemouth-tyler-adams-usmnt-squad-friendlies

That was a brutal collision so I don't have any qualms with him missing this window. But man...I feel like we are holding on by a thread to stay healthy. We cannot afford to be missing both Adams and Pulisic next summer and they're already breaking down. 

Posted
On 11/11/2025 at 5:21 AM, Napoleon said:


Bournemouth's Tyler Adams off USMNT squad for friendlies
 

 

AFC Bournemouth midfielder Tyler Adams was taken off the United States men's national team squad for upcoming friendlies against Paraguay and Uruguayafter crashing into teammate Adam Smith in the third minute of their 4-0 loss to Aston Villa.

U.S. Soccer confirmed his absence on Monday, along with that of Columbus Crew midfielder Sean Zawadzki...

[For full shitshow, click link.]

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/46917523/bournemouth-tyler-adams-usmnt-squad-friendlies

 

Sean Zawadzki, we hardly knew ya ...

  • Haha 2
Posted
On 11/11/2025 at 8:12 AM, LurkingHorn said:

We cannot afford to be missing both Adams and Pulisic next summer and they're already breaking down. 

Let's tone the drama down a little bit. CP missed like 3 games. 

Posted
4 hours ago, ztejas said:

Let's tone the drama down a little bit. CP missed like 3 games. 

CP has already missed time for AC Milan twice this season and we're not even to December yet. I think it's okay to be concerned about it. 

Posted
7 hours ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

U17 won their group and are set to play (I think) Morocco on Friday.  In the grand scheme of things, not "must see" TV; however, watch for this Cullen kid.  He reminds me of Pulisic at that age.

Cavan Sullivan is the youngest one on the team and by far the best player in the US-Czech game I watched.  His brother plays for the Philadelphia Union and was on the US gold cup team, his younger brother is much better  

Mathias Albert looked pretty good and scored the goal to win. He plays for Dortmund and has a future there. 

Two to keep an eye on for the future along with gk Kochen and cb Banks who were too good for the u20 team. 
So that makes 4 to watch.  We just don’t have quality depth like traditional national teams so fingers crossed for these four.

 

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Posted (edited)
10 hours ago, Ted Lange said:

How did Dest perform in the WB role?

He was great. Hell, he took a shot that was akin to the goals he scored against Jamaica or Costa Rica (deflected for a corner). He looked good.

I couldn't put my finger on it, but I thought he was outplayed by Arfsten (I saw Arfsten a lot more than I did Dest), but Tactical Manager pretty much nailed it in his 7 things we learned (Lesson 6 at 10:00) - for reasons that can't be explained, Scally was coming up the field and occupying the space which Dest could have gone into, usually ending his runs much shorter than expected, so the tactics handcuffed Dest, when he should have been allowed to run free.

Still I think Dest is a great fit as a WB, because it's all the offensive play we expect of him without the defensive responsibilities. Win WIn.

Edited by Captain Ron
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Posted
Spoiler

Pochettino vs. Bielsa: The extra intrigue to USA vs. Uruguay

by Mike Woitalla

“He’s like my father, my football father.”
— Mauricio Pochettino on Marcelo Bielsa (2020).

Mauricio Pochettino & Marcelo Bielsa
Mauricio Pochettino & Marcelo Bielsa

So revered is Marcelo Bielsa that coaches from around the world make pilgrimages to be in his presence. They include Pep Guardiola, who’s said, "He is the best coach in the world."

In Mauricio Pochettino’s case, Bielsa came to him — before either of them were famous.

It’s become a well-known story: How Biesla, while Newell’s Old Boys reserve team coach, and the club’s youth director Jorge Griffa, recruited the 13-year-old with a 1 a.m. visit to his house because Mauricio hadn’t shown up to the regional tryout.

Bielsa became Newell’s Old Boys first-team head coach shortly after Pochettino made his debut at age 17. In 1991-92, they won the Argentine title twice and finished Copa Libertadores runner-up. Bielsa then coached Pochettino at Espanyol.

When Bielsa became Argentine national team coach, he employed Pochettino 20 times on the Albiceleste's backline, including at the 1999 Copa America and 2002 World Cup.
Uruguay's Nahitan Nández (left) and Gio Reyna during Uruguay's 1-0 win over the USA's at 2024 Copa América. The USA's group-stage exit on home soil led to Mauricio Pochettino replacing Gregg Berhalter at the USMNT helm. (Photo: Conmebol)
Uruguay's Nahitan Nández (left) and Gio Reyna during Uruguay's 1-0 win over the USA's at 2024 Copa América. The USA's group-stage exit on home soil led to Mauricio Pochettino replacing Gregg Berhalter at the USMNT helm. (Photo: Conmebol)

On Tuesday, when Pochettino coaches the USA against Uruguay in Tampa, he’ll be facing Bielsa, who became La Celeste’s boss in May 2023 and is headed to his third World Cup.

“He was certainly an inspiration when I decided to become a coach,” said Pochettino in the book "Brave New World: Inside Pochettino's Spurs" by Guillem Balague.

“It is no coincidence that so many of us who played under him at Newell’s from 1990 to 1993 became coaches and are still working in football,” Pochettino said in the 2017 book, naming Gerardo "Tata" Martino (back for a second stint as Atlanta United head coach), Hugo Scoponi, Fernando Gamboa, Eduardo Berizzo, Julio Zamora, Dario Franco and Alfredo Berti.

Newell's success was attributed to Bielsa's innovative approach with a formation that has been described as a 3-3-1-3 or 3–3–3–1. The point being it was fluid, furious and thrilling.
From a 1992 issue of El Grafico, with Pochettino on the cover and diagramming of Bielsa's system that led to his fame as a tactical innovator.
From a 1992 issue of El Grafico, with Pochettino on the cover and diagramming of Bielsa's system that led to his fame as a tactical innovator.

“He was given the nickname ‘Loco,” Pochettino said, “although I never liked it. I know it’s a tribute to his different way of thinking, but I consider a move away from common patterns as being exceptional rather than crazy. These days, who has the intellectual ability to see things in a different light?”

In qualifying play for the 2002 World Cup, Bielsa’s Argentina scored 42 goals in 18 games, compared to Brazil’s 31 goals. La Albiceleste may have failed at the World Cup, but that extraordinary run cemented Bielsa's legend.

And in 2004 he guided Argentina to its first Olympic gold medal and a runner-up Copa América finish — losing to Brazil on PKs after a 2-2 tie. He coached Chile to the round of 16 at the 2010 World Cup.

A 2015 article in The Guardian referred to Bielsa as a “fabled manager and cult hero.”

Bielsa's name comes up the most frequent answer in Soccer America coach interviews on the question about coaching role models. The USA's 2022 World Cup assistant coach and 2023 interim head coach Anthony Hudson, now Thailand's head coach, learned Spanish so he could understand Bielsa's press conferences and later visited Bielsa at his homes in Argentina and Spain. Brian Kleiban flew to Peru for the 2004 Copa America and snuck into Argentina’s training sessions to observe Biesla.

Guardiola traveled to Argentina in 2006 to meet Bielsa and they became friends.

Bielsa led Leeds United to Premier League promotion after it spent 13 years in the second tier but has a modest collection of championships.

“He makes players much, much better. I’ve never met a former player of Marcelo Bielsa who spoke no good about him,” Guardiola said. “How many titles won is less important than how he influenced football and how he influenced players.”

In the book, Pochettino described a tough-love talk with Bielsa at Espanyol that made him cry, but "Everything he said was right."

“Bielsa made us understand the game and his passion was contagious,” Pochettino said. “That’s not to say that our footballing philosophies are the same, though."

One example:

"I’m not as obsessed with the opposition as Bielsa was — he even asked his assistants to dress up in disguise to sneak in and watch opponents train behind closed doors."

Many coaches point to Bielsa's influence on their coaching careers. Such as Atletico Madrid's Diego Simeone and Jorge Sampaoli, who guided Chile to its impressive play at the 2014 World Cup and the 2015 Copa América title victory. 

But Pochettino may be the most famous Bielsista because of his early history with Bielsa and the spotlight that hit him while coaching Tottenham in the English Premier League.

"He has built his own career as a head coach,” said Bielsa of Pochettino. “He has built his own style. It's his property. What his team does is more linked to his ideas than the ideas of other teams.

"That's why I disagree with the position of teacher. I'm not his teacher because Pochettino's style is an original one; he designed and drew it up himself."

 

  • Hook 'Em 2
Posted
1 hour ago, Hagbard Celine said:
  Hide contents

Pochettino vs. Bielsa: The extra intrigue to USA vs. Uruguay

by Mike Woitalla

“He’s like my father, my football father.”
— Mauricio Pochettino on Marcelo Bielsa (2020).

Mauricio Pochettino & Marcelo Bielsa
Mauricio Pochettino & Marcelo Bielsa

So revered is Marcelo Bielsa that coaches from around the world make pilgrimages to be in his presence. They include Pep Guardiola, who’s said, "He is the best coach in the world."

In Mauricio Pochettino’s case, Bielsa came to him — before either of them were famous.

It’s become a well-known story: How Biesla, while Newell’s Old Boys reserve team coach, and the club’s youth director Jorge Griffa, recruited the 13-year-old with a 1 a.m. visit to his house because Mauricio hadn’t shown up to the regional tryout.

Bielsa became Newell’s Old Boys first-team head coach shortly after Pochettino made his debut at age 17. In 1991-92, they won the Argentine title twice and finished Copa Libertadores runner-up. Bielsa then coached Pochettino at Espanyol.

When Bielsa became Argentine national team coach, he employed Pochettino 20 times on the Albiceleste's backline, including at the 1999 Copa America and 2002 World Cup.
Uruguay's Nahitan Nández (left) and Gio Reyna during Uruguay's 1-0 win over the USA's at 2024 Copa América. The USA's group-stage exit on home soil led to Mauricio Pochettino replacing Gregg Berhalter at the USMNT helm. (Photo: Conmebol)
Uruguay's Nahitan Nández (left) and Gio Reyna during Uruguay's 1-0 win over the USA's at 2024 Copa América. The USA's group-stage exit on home soil led to Mauricio Pochettino replacing Gregg Berhalter at the USMNT helm. (Photo: Conmebol)

On Tuesday, when Pochettino coaches the USA against Uruguay in Tampa, he’ll be facing Bielsa, who became La Celeste’s boss in May 2023 and is headed to his third World Cup.

“He was certainly an inspiration when I decided to become a coach,” said Pochettino in the book "Brave New World: Inside Pochettino's Spurs" by Guillem Balague.

“It is no coincidence that so many of us who played under him at Newell’s from 1990 to 1993 became coaches and are still working in football,” Pochettino said in the 2017 book, naming Gerardo "Tata" Martino (back for a second stint as Atlanta United head coach), Hugo Scoponi, Fernando Gamboa, Eduardo Berizzo, Julio Zamora, Dario Franco and Alfredo Berti.

Newell's success was attributed to Bielsa's innovative approach with a formation that has been described as a 3-3-1-3 or 3–3–3–1. The point being it was fluid, furious and thrilling.
From a 1992 issue of El Grafico, with Pochettino on the cover and diagramming of Bielsa's system that led to his fame as a tactical innovator.
From a 1992 issue of El Grafico, with Pochettino on the cover and diagramming of Bielsa's system that led to his fame as a tactical innovator.

“He was given the nickname ‘Loco,” Pochettino said, “although I never liked it. I know it’s a tribute to his different way of thinking, but I consider a move away from common patterns as being exceptional rather than crazy. These days, who has the intellectual ability to see things in a different light?”

In qualifying play for the 2002 World Cup, Bielsa’s Argentina scored 42 goals in 18 games, compared to Brazil’s 31 goals. La Albiceleste may have failed at the World Cup, but that extraordinary run cemented Bielsa's legend.

And in 2004 he guided Argentina to its first Olympic gold medal and a runner-up Copa América finish — losing to Brazil on PKs after a 2-2 tie. He coached Chile to the round of 16 at the 2010 World Cup.

A 2015 article in The Guardian referred to Bielsa as a “fabled manager and cult hero.”

Bielsa's name comes up the most frequent answer in Soccer America coach interviews on the question about coaching role models. The USA's 2022 World Cup assistant coach and 2023 interim head coach Anthony Hudson, now Thailand's head coach, learned Spanish so he could understand Bielsa's press conferences and later visited Bielsa at his homes in Argentina and Spain. Brian Kleiban flew to Peru for the 2004 Copa America and snuck into Argentina’s training sessions to observe Biesla.

Guardiola traveled to Argentina in 2006 to meet Bielsa and they became friends.

Bielsa led Leeds United to Premier League promotion after it spent 13 years in the second tier but has a modest collection of championships.

“He makes players much, much better. I’ve never met a former player of Marcelo Bielsa who spoke no good about him,” Guardiola said. “How many titles won is less important than how he influenced football and how he influenced players.”

In the book, Pochettino described a tough-love talk with Bielsa at Espanyol that made him cry, but "Everything he said was right."

“Bielsa made us understand the game and his passion was contagious,” Pochettino said. “That’s not to say that our footballing philosophies are the same, though."

One example:

"I’m not as obsessed with the opposition as Bielsa was — he even asked his assistants to dress up in disguise to sneak in and watch opponents train behind closed doors."

Many coaches point to Bielsa's influence on their coaching careers. Such as Atletico Madrid's Diego Simeone and Jorge Sampaoli, who guided Chile to its impressive play at the 2014 World Cup and the 2015 Copa América title victory. 

But Pochettino may be the most famous Bielsista because of his early history with Bielsa and the spotlight that hit him while coaching Tottenham in the English Premier League.

"He has built his own career as a head coach,” said Bielsa of Pochettino. “He has built his own style. It's his property. What his team does is more linked to his ideas than the ideas of other teams.

"That's why I disagree with the position of teacher. I'm not his teacher because Pochettino's style is an original one; he designed and drew it up himself."

 


We* are the best managers in the world.

🌎 🇦🇷

*

Spoiler

I’m in “we” since 2013.

😎

 

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