Jump to content

USMNT 2019


Napoleon

Recommended Posts

2 minutes ago, TexasMan said:

If yall listen to Pardon My Take podcast, Tim Howard was interviewed and said this same thing. Other places around the world play soccer as a way out to make money. The US uses soccer for parents who have enough money to put their kids in a league. 

I do feel like this is changing.  We are seeing more, younger American players going abroad to develop.  Our national team just really sucks dick at hiring decent coaches.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, GlenFromTheMailRoom said:

No, your line of thought is why we don’t win shit.  I’ve been bitching about Bradley this entire time.  Stop purposely being ignorant.

You can throw dogshit against a wall and call it the Mona Lisa.  

We have a fantastic track record of really poor coaching hires.  Bitch about the right things.  

It pretty much comes down to this. You can bitch about Jozy, Bradley, Zardes, etc. They are just symptoms. It's the guy running the show that is the problem.

Edited by Captain Ron
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Captain Ron said:

It pretty much comes down to this. You can bitch about Jozy, Bradley, Zardes, etc. They are just symptoms. It's the guy running the show that is the problem.

Does our HC determine development and strategy or is there a GM type calling the shots?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Goodman said:

Does our HC determine development and strategy or is there a GM type calling the shots?

Development is on the players.  They’re called up to train for the national team for matches based on the coaches choices.  See our dogshit teams he picked for our warmup friendlies.  

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Captain Ron said:

It pretty much comes down to this. You can bitch about Jozy, Bradley, Zardes, etc. They are just symptoms. It's the guy running the show that is the problem.

You can take it a step above the coach. The US Soccer federation is a complete shitshow.  And our coach’s brother is part of that fiasco. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/25/sports/us-soccer-berhalter.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Goodman said:

Does our HC determine development and strategy or is there a GM type calling the shots?

Transcendent men self-identify by the age of 19 or 20 at the latest.

Transcendent talent is typically discovered at around the age of 9 or 10, and must be cultivated and nourished for the next 4 to 5 years, sign a pro contract at 16, and begin producing by the age of 18.  That means starting for a first-division side.

That's the blueprint in the rest of the world.

The cabal has been told these truths for the past 25 years, but they don't care, because it upsets single entity, opens their books, requires integration with the international soccer economy, and therefore makes them responsible.

And that's bad for business.

So, long story short, the Federation National Teams have no ability whatsoever to "develop" anyone.

9 years ago the day after the Ghana loss Juergen spoke about the lack of first touch.  We still don't have it.  And we won't, until we invert the pyramid.

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Yeah, that was unreal.  Failed to call a red card in a 0-0 match.  Gosh, I wonder if things would have been different?

U.S. player should not have put his neck around the Mexican player's hand.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

while I was watching the game and thinking about how bradley sucks, it just always seemed like he was going backwards and if going forwards he seemed to fuck up. So aat some point in the second half I decided I would count how many times he passed it forward and we didn't lose possession. My count did not get to 1. I swear he did not make a pass forward that we didn't lose possession on in the last 20 minutes of the game.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Upgrayedd said:

I blame the sports bras

As someone who doesn't watch a lot of soccer, are guy sports bras common like on that Mexican guy?  

Are they common all over in men's sports and I didn't even know it?  Fuck, I gotta get competitive and go buy some undergarments.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, blacklab said:

while I was watching the game and thinking about how bradley sucks, it just always seemed like he was going backwards and if going forwards he seemed to fuck up. So aat some point in the second half I decided I would count how many times he passed it forward and we didn't lose possession. My count did not get to 1. I swear he did not make a pass forward that we didn't lose possession on in the last 20 minutes of the game.

Towards the 90th minute Bradley got the ball in space right above the box and made a nice conservative pass back to a defender. Instead of, you know, trying to set someone up or put pressure on Mexico or do anything but waste crucial time. 

Absent the rest of the entire game, you could just watch that one play and come to the conclusion that he has no business on the pitch for us anymore. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

As someone who doesn't watch a lot of soccer, are guy sports bras common like on that Mexican guy?  
Are they common all over in men's sports and I didn't even know it?  Fuck, I gotta get competitive and go buy some undergarments.


Yes they’re heart rate monitors and location trackers and they are very common and our guys wear them too.


Establish the session load for each player
Identify outliers in the group
Identify players under significant training stress
Compare sessions to recent history
Produce high quality reports
Periodise training using a range of variables
Monitor individual training demands
Monitor rehabilitation and reconditioning programs
Compare players, sessions, drills and games

They are performance trackers. They track a player's vital statistics (heart rate, etc) as well as their movement. Their average speed, their distance covered, etc. As for the "bra-like" design, it would appear to just be the result of needing a small and unencumbered design that allows for minimal interruption, maximum body contact, and full range of motion.

So, for example, without devices like these, we wouldn’t know Luka Modric ran an astounding 39.1 miles this past World Cup. More importantly, the staff and sports physiologists can better address and manage the group with which they work and ultimately get the most out of them.

Soccer players aren’t the only ones using these sports-performance monitors; they can be found on players in the NBA, NFL and other top leagues. One can see why. Knowledge is power, after all, and these things tucked into the "male soccer bra" certainly give a lot of information that could help give teams an edge.



Even Messi wears one.

dbb691d2454c4158fc654e551f273829.jpg

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Hagbard Celine said:

Transcendent men self-identify by the age of 19 or 20 at the latest.

Transcendent talent is typically discovered at around the age of 9 or 10, and must be cultivated and nourished for the next 4 to 5 years, sign a pro contract at 16, and begin producing by the age of 18.  That means starting for a first-division side.

That's the blueprint in the rest of the world.

The cabal has been told these truths for the past 25 years, but they don't care, because it upsets single entity, opens their books, requires integration with the international soccer economy, and therefore makes them responsible.

And that's bad for business.

So, long story short, the Federation National Teams have no ability whatsoever to "develop" anyone.

9 years ago the day after the Ghana loss Juergen spoke about the lack of first touch.  We still don't have it.  And we won't, until we invert the pyramid.

B.I.N.G.O!

I've mentioned in the Bundesliga thread the progress of my German cousin's son, my godson. He signed his contract at 16, with Borussia Mönchengladbach, and spent last year as captain of the U17. He's 17 now and advanced to the U19 for the upcoming season.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

US Soccer is in the midst of a lost generation. A few articles have been written about how the generation born between 1990 and 1994, which should be the backbone of the program, have yielded very few good players for the USMNT. The outfield players on the US Gold Cup roster within that generation: Tyler Boyd, Paul Arriola, Jordan Morris, Gyasi Zardes, Will Trapp, Aaron Long, Daniel Lovitz, Walker Zimmerman and Nick Lima. The only players with more than 20 USMNT caps in that group are Zardes and Morris, MLS lifers who either never had a sniff in Europe or chose to go the big fish in a small pond route.

The USMNT had two choices to combat this lost generation problem: roll the dice and take your lumps with a young roster or keep trying to put a Band Aid on a bullet wound. They chose the latter. So coming out of the Gold Cup what do we know about the USMNT roster going forward?

Pulisic is the best talent the US has ever produced. McKennie is probably going to be a stud. We knew all of that. We literally learned nothing else. I know you guys like to shit on the Gold Cup for good reason, but any functional soccer federation would’ve used it as a measuring stick to see what progress was made since failing to qualify for the World Cup, but the US Soccer federation isn’t functional. 

We’ve talked ad nauseum about how they dragged their feet hiring a coach and that continues to fuck the USMNT. Not only that, but Tata Martino, who wanted the USMNT job, absolutely kicked his ass last night. The first half was back and forth, Martino made adjustments and Mexico’s B team kicked the shit out of what is pretty much the best the US has to offer right now. I know Tyler Adams was missing, but Tyler Adams doesn’t close the gap between the US and Mexico who didn’t have Lozano, Vela, Herrera, Layun, Corona and others.

People have always wondered if and when the US could and would compete with the biggest soccer nations consistently on the world stage but consider this: After a shit performance at the 2000 Euros the German soccer federation in fear of embarrassing itself again, particularly with a World Cup on home soil coming up, completely rebuilt its system placing an emphasis on youth development. 

The inability for the US to compete on the international stage isn’t entirely about resources. It’s about wherewithal and ingenuity. US Soccer has none of that. It is going to remain a rudderless ship.

Edited by ATLLonghorn
  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, GlenFromTheMailRoom said:

I do feel like this is changing.  We are seeing more, younger American players going abroad to develop.  Our national team just really sucks dick at hiring decent coaches.

 

Yep. As pointed out before the youth system is designed to make money and win not develop talent.

Jozy and Bradley should never be on another roster. Turn the page.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

38 minutes ago, mdmost said:

One of the greatest talents the country has ever produced and we're going to waste his prime years with massive ineptitude. 

I hope his prime years will be very fruitful, just not on the international stage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mexico is a perennial round of 16 World Cup team but no better.  Until we start dominating Mexico we have a close to zero chance of making the quarters save a great draw and some upsets in front of us.

its criminal every P5 university in the US can't field a men's college team.  I think this might keep more american folks interested in soccer longer term.

Yes I realize that you want to identify kids at 10 years old but most "very good athletes" start moving to something else at that age.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

soccer : rest of world

basketball : USA

soccer in the US is for suburban white kids who's parents have money and time to do the select circuit.  our development league mostly relies on the college soccer programs.  that's great for women's sports because the rest of the world has no equal, but for men's sports besides swimming, that's fucking horrible.

most of our players have shitty ball skills.  most are just mediocre at best at soccer.  we can't pass out of our fucking end because the players suck.  they can't keep possession when pressed or dribble through traffic to find open lanes for passing.  nothing to do with coaching.  except for pulisic, we lost simply because mexico has better players at every position.

and bradley is soooooooooo fuckingggggggggggggggg slowwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.  that is a coaching decision issue.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, ATLLonghorn said:

 

US Soccer is in the midst of a lost generation. A few articles have been written about how the generation born between 1990 and 1994, which should be the backbone of the program, have yielded very few good players for the USMNT. The outfield players on the US Gold Cup roster within that generation: Tyler Boyd, Paul Arriola, Jordan Morris, Gyasi Zardes, Will Trapp, Aaron Long, Daniel Lovitz, Walker Zimmerman and Nick Lima. The only players with more than 20 USMNT caps in that group are Zardes and Morris, MLS lifers who either never had a sniff in Europe or chose to go the big fish in a small pond route.

The USMNT had two choices to combat this lost generation problem: roll the dice and take your lumps with a young roster or keep trying to put a Band Aid on a bullet wound. They chose the latter. So coming out of the Gold Cup what do we know about the USMNT roster going forward?

Pulisic is the best talent the US has ever produced. McKennie is probably going to be a stud. We knew all of that. We literally learned nothing else. I know you guys like to shit on the Gold Cup for good reason, but any functional soccer federation would’ve used it as a measuring stick to see what progress was made since failing to qualify for the World Cup, but the US Soccer federation isn’t functional. 

We’ve talked ad nauseum about how they dragged their feet hiring a coach and that continues to fuck the USMNT. Not only that, but Tata Martino, who wanted the USMNT job, absolutely kicked his ass last night. The first half was back and forth, Martino made adjustments and Mexico’s B team kicked the shit out of what is pretty much the best the US has to offer right now. I know Tyler Adams was missing, but Tyler Adams doesn’t close the gap between the US and Mexico who didn’t have Lozano, Vela, Herrera, Layun, Corona and others.

People have always wondered if and when the US could and would compete with the biggest soccer nations consistently on the world stage but consider this: After a shit performance at the 2000 Euros the German soccer federation in fear of embarrassing itself again, particularly with a World Cup on home soil coming up, completely rebuilt its system placing an emphasis on youth development. 

The inability for the US to compete on the international stage isn’t entirely about resources. It’s about wherewithal and ingenuity. US Soccer has none of that. It is going to remain a rudderless ship.

I'm usually one to agree, but I think this is a little much. I agree there are still some questions, but we learned quite a bit this tournament. I think we learned Reggie Cannon is adequate to decent RB. I think Aaron Long has shown well and will be a part of the team going forward. I think Steffan is pretty solidly our guy now despite not being a great distributor out of the back.

I disagree about Adams not closing the gap. This team needed a bull dog in the middle of the field against Mexico and it was bitterly disappointing Adams got hurt. McKinnie and Adams as a pair are capable of cleaning up a lot of mistakes. The team can play much more aggressively knowing they don't have a defensive liability in front of the backline like Bradley. 

I REALLY hope the emergence of Cannon will add to the RB competition and Berhalter will do away with this stupid notion of playing Adams there. 

I also REALLY hope Pomykal gets some chances to take over the wing occupied by Morris and Boyd. Dude is a complete package. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With any type of finishing, the US goes to break up 2 or 3 to 0. After that, Mexico is forced to play a panic game. Instead, we saw the difference between soccer experiences.

Berhalter put out a great starting 11. They moved the ball fluidly through their game plan. Chances were created. A befuddled Mexican midfield and back line just sort of stood around while players raced in on them. The chances they created were halfhearted lobs that the taller Americans easily deflected.

At halftime, Tata reorganized his troops. He had them get tighter and play vertically down the middle. What happened then was all too familiar. The Americans accepted those terms and did not know how to cohesively deviate from their original thought. Tactically, Altidore or Arriola could have drifted more inside and let Pulisic head outside. With the additional ball handlers wider, Mexico would have been forced to at least honor that spacing and detract from the tight center. Instead, they stayed with the original plan. Mexico spent most of the 2nd half compacting the US near their penalty area. Eventually, one went in.

Without changing players, the Mexicans knew how to alter their game. Their original plan was beaten, so they changed it. They can do this because experience helps them feel the flow of the game. Unlike American Football where we stop and explain the next move, soccer is played a lot like chess. You're both attacking and defending at the same time. There's too many options and not enough time to think through them all, so the best players learn to read the dynamic. At the club level, familiarity with your teammates helps promote this feeling within the group - which is why national teams are weird.

You don't get enough time practicing with your national teammates to artificially create that cohesiveness. You have to learn that. Players can only learn by playing big games for big teams. The US is getting there, but right now doesn't have enough players with enough big game experience to sense the game. As a result, you get players running diagonal for diagonal passes and vertical for horizontal passes. By themselves, both options were understandable, but together, they equal turnover. With 8 or so passes needed for a legitimate scoring effort, the odds greatly favor turnovers over scoring chances.

The US found a lot of workable pieces in this tournament. The result against Mexico was disappointing, but useful. Michael Bradley is getting too old for the job, but unfortunately he's not holding up the line of stellar defensive midfielders right now. He's the QB of the team. Some mistakes are his sins. Some are those of others.

Now about left back....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, crash_davis said:

soccer in the US is for suburban white kids who's parents have money and time to do the select circuit.  our development league mostly relies on the college soccer programs.  that's great for women's sports because the rest of the world has no equal, but for men's sports besides swimming, that's fucking horrible.

most of our players have shitty ball skills.  most are just mediocre at best at soccer.  we can't pass out of our fucking end because the players suck.  they can't keep possession when pressed or dribble through traffic to find open lanes for passing.  nothing to do with coaching.  except for pulisic, we lost simply because mexico has better players at every position.

 

 

 

I disagree with "it has nothing to do with coaching" unless you are talking about only the national team coach. 

Youth leagues and programs want banners and medals to advertise to parents so they continue to pay the high fees. It isn't about development it's about winning because that's the American way. The result is teams/players that can't pass for shit but have a few kids that are quicker than everybody else who runs circles around the opposition and wins. Then when they get older and crack an international team or play better competition those same players are invisible because they can't find open space or have teammates with no first touch who can't string a couple of passes together. It's just crazy that they can't see the forest through the trees. 

We aren't talking about 20 years ago the fact that those at the top can't figure it the fuck out and they need to concentrate on ball skills, spacing, etc over scoring goals is just fucking criminal. 

The US has plenty of talent and resources to compete at the world level they just continue to make the same fucking mistakes over and over again. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, PittsburghTiger said:

B.I.N.G.O!

I've mentioned in the Bundesliga thread the progress of my German cousin's son, my godson. He signed his contract at 16, with Borussia Mönchengladbach, and spent last year as captain of the U17. He's 17 now and advanced to the U19 for the upcoming season.

I’ll humbebrag this up.  

I was all classic traveling team everything as a 9/10 year old.  I have family in the UK.  My cousins were ball boys for ManU in their glory days.  We traveled over there a few times.  My family there insisted I stay there after I was offered a spot on one of those developmental teams.  My parents laughed and I wasn’t all that interested.  I quit soccer a couple years later while still being pretty good.  I ended up a division one athlete but still think about how crazy it was they were that into developing players.  We stand zero chance against that.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...