Wow that stadium seems to have tons of empty seats


Curious to see xG, canada have created a ton of chances

[Edited on June 18, 2023 at 11:02 PM. Reason : e]

6/18/2023 10:42:56 PM

USA! USA!

6/18/2023 11:02:40 PM

Wonder what happens when Tyler Adams gets fit? Gio as CAM seems to really work well, so who do you drop? McKennie, Musah, Gio, or does Tyler lose his spot?

I mean its probably moot, the liklihood that one of our starters is not injured will be slim. Reyna and Pulisic seem to get muscle injuries a good bit

6/19/2023 9:04:29 AM

Glad to see the USA won but couldn’t watch thanks to it being on Paramount +. Did McKennie even do anything bad against Mexico to get his suspension??

6/24/2023 9:29:27 AM

^^ The MMA midfield likely needs to be dead and that is long overdue IMO. It allows us to compete defensively against teams like England, but just does not have enough playmaking and creativity. It's why we couldn't score in the WC and one of the reasons why we have consistently had a "9" problem. I think you play Adams as a single 6 and then play Gio and whichever Musah or McKennie have the best form. Although Gio and Musah/McKennie looked damn good in the nations league.

The fact that it took GGG not being the coach to even try Gio at CAM is the biggest knock against him. The defense for him not playing Gio was asking which winger (weah or puli) he should take out. It was always a false choice. Gio isn't a winger. And to suggest that the MMA midfield was unassailable was always ridiculous. They qualified for the WC on goal differential for chrissakes.

^McKennie ran into defend Balo after a cheap and dangerous hack (and yellow card) from Montes. He got into a scrap with basically the entire Mexican team and although I didn't see it, he held someone by the neck apparently? He definitely didn't deserve the same suspension as Montes IMO. The ref let the game get out of control and the Mexican team were definitely getting frustrated by how badly they were getting dominated. But retaliation will always get you.

Anyone watch the gold cup game last night? I don't know if it was the weak lineup, or the return of Berhalter ball, but we looked like complete cheeks against Jamaica. Wingers had no room again because our FBs were pushed all the way up again. We got to see more passing back and forth from our weak-footed CBs and only rare creativity in the middle from Zendejas and surprisingly from Jesus. Ferreira shouldn't be a 9. He is actually a decent withdrawn striker or CAM. Gregg's insistence on playing him as a 9 is both the reason why he has gotten so many opportunities on the USMNT, but also the reason why he has looked terrible for most of his time there.

6/25/2023 1:41:10 PM

BJ is coaching through gold cup. I think it was just weaker side.

6/25/2023 3:01:14 PM

BJ is "coaching" with gregg in attendance and communicating with him regularly (even before berhalter got hired). I don't think it's a coincidence the tactical changes--there was a pretty weak team against Mexico in April too.

6/25/2023 7:06:23 PM

I mean this was the obvious B or perhaps even C squad.

They are going to struggle to score, and lack of cohesion as a team is going to make them weak on set pieces as witnessed by Jamaica's goal.

6/26/2023 9:35:59 AM

I'm pretty down on Gregg but I'm not necessarily talking about scoring. His tactics even with our A team make us look constipated. There are no real chances. No flow. No advancement through the middle. And yeah, against Jamaica you could probably chalk some of that up to our C/D team (and especially weak midfield), but pushing our mediocre FBs up the field so much so we can rip bad crosses to noone again and again drives me crazy.

6/26/2023 3:12:40 PM

At first I was going to say I've never heard of most of these people (or this country) but who can forget a great American like Ðorde Mihailovic

6/28/2023 11:17:47 PM

So we only put 6 past what amounts to an adult rec team. Oh and Ferreira got a hat trick which I am sure is making GGG salivate.

CONCACAF better hope Jamaica doesn't have an offensive outburst in next game or they will lose their potential US-Mexico final at Sofi.

6/29/2023 7:44:53 AM

We have played some pretty bad teams in CONCACAF, but this was the worst that I can remember. On twitter they are calling Jesus the Pirate of the Caribbean after the on air announcer showed a graphic that Ferreira was the fastest USMNT player to 10 goals. Of course, 9 of them were against Grenada, St. Kitts, and Trinidad. LOL.

I hate that he gets so much grief, but I blame Gregg not Jesus. He just isn't on the level of our A team. Maybe a 3-4th option at CAM or ST at best. That he keeps getting callups, starts and minutes has lots of folks salty. FWIW, I think he was probably our best player against Jamaica, but the hat trick doesn't get me fired up.

6/29/2023 8:08:14 PM

had to tell someone to shut the fuck up last night after they went nuts over the first 3 goals

6/30/2023 12:32:26 AM

LOL at CONCACAF officials

6/30/2023 11:03:57 PM

Game in Charlotte tonight, wonder how the crowd will be?

7/2/2023 8:43:26 AM

Looks like Jamaica won’t make a run

7/2/2023 8:01:53 PM

Captain Jesus Sparrow looking really good again tonight. I still don't think the guy is A team, but he has stood out against the competition in a way not many of our C team guys are. Zendejas in particular has surprisingly looked like ass and I thought he had locked up the winger spot behind Weah.

Also, what the fuck is up with the field at Charlotte? I have only watched a few CLTFC games, but does the field always have weird dead spots and look like the ball doesn't move predictably on it?

7/2/2023 8:05:19 PM

those are probably the FieldTurf spots where Jaycee Horn and Christian McCaffrey and others have suffered injuries, because David Tepper wants to be able to hold a bunch of concerts and stuff rather than focusing on his players' health.

7/2/2023 10:21:27 PM

so will the US be bringing any of their A squad members in for the knockout rounds or will they roll with what they have.

Figure Pulisic is out since he is about to be transferred and will have to undergo a medical either in France or Italy.

7/3/2023 7:42:51 AM

I've heard the A squad is out since most of the guys are either trying to lock up new club deals or need the Euro preseason to establish themselves on their teams.

Sonora, Aiden Morris, Aaron Long and Jordan Morris are all hurt and likely out for the knockout rounds though. I would love to see some of our U20 guys get a look on the senior team.

7/3/2023 11:05:27 AM

Two in one game for miles, bleh

7/9/2023 10:06:59 PM

Brutal

2 shots on target, 2 goals

[Edited on July 9, 2023 at 10:39 PM. Reason : E]

[Edited on July 9, 2023 at 10:45 PM. Reason : Oppose of brutal?!?! ]

7/9/2023 10:38:46 PM

These players are acting like children

7/9/2023 10:57:06 PM

Never a doubt!

7/9/2023 11:05:16 PM

a very drunk game

guess it helped having one full time A Team player

7/10/2023 12:01:34 AM

A few thoughts

Their will be an open competition for the CB spot opposite Walker Zimmerman after Miles Robinson's horrendous performance. He still may be the best option but he has got to have more defensive awareness. 2 Completely unnecessary handballs in one game, he was bailed out on the first.

Ferreira was mostly anonymous until he got moved to midfield when Vasquez came one and then his tracking back was just not good, but he is a #9 and that is to be expected and that falls on BJ for throwing him in that situation

Laryea is an annoying gnat and he should have been booked at end of 1st half. He is eventually going to tangle with the wrong player and get roughed up

Some bad performances all around, GGG ball does not match up well with Canada's tactics and it shows. Gressel and Neal were especially poor. On the flip side I thought DeJuan Jones was really good and Cade Cowell really changed the dynamic in 2nd half.

7/10/2023 7:40:37 AM

Who the hell knows with Gregg, but Zimmerman and Robinson are at least 4/5 on the depth chart (when considering the A team) for anyone with eyeballs and not a wife-kicker.

CB depth going forward should be Ream/Richards/Cameron Carter-Vickers clear of the others by a good deal and then you have some mix of Zimmerman/M. Robinson/McKenzie and a bunch of young guys coming up like Austin Trusty, Jalen Neal, etc.

The Pirate of the Caribbean come up small again against decent comp (decent being relative when everyone brings their B/C roster). He didn't miss any sitters or have horrendous touch or anything, he just disappears. Although, I personally believe that is as much a symptom of Berhalter ball than anything else. But if the strategy is to push it up the sideline and swing in 43 crosses, then your target man shouldn't be a 5'8 130 pounder.

On a different note, I hate to say it because Zendejas has looked ok with the A team before, but his tournament thus far has been bad. In fact, I agree that Cowell coming on for him in the second half really opened things up for us.

That long ball by Jones to Vasquez was quality.

7/10/2023 10:33:22 AM

I mean despite mistakes and some poor performances, we completely outplayed them, so not a total tactical miss. Canada's keeper was the only thing keeping it 0-0 and Canada had basically no chances to speak of in regulation. Xg was something like 3-1.

7/10/2023 10:36:55 AM

^the performance last night wasn't all that dissimilar from our "dominating" loss to Canada away during WCQ. We lost 2-0 to counterattacks after nearly 70% possession and dozens of non-dangerous crosses to noone. Afterwards, Gregg called the performance dominant.

That is the essence of Berhalter Ball™. Kick it around the horseshoe in the back again and again until we find a bit of space on the sideline and then attempt to swing in a cross to the middle. No creativity. No movement in the middle. No quick switches. Safe short passes only from our CBs. That is why we have a #9 problem. Of course if Balogun can't score when Gregg comes back, I think it's gonna be pretty damn hard for anyone to deny it's a system problem.

And generally because our FBs are pushed so far up the outside, we don't have any space for our few dynamic players (generally on the wing with Pulisic or Weah) to cook. In this case, we don't really have any dynamic players (maybe Djordje or Reynolds on the side).

If you watched us in March where GGG was not at all involved with the team, we played free and open soccer. It was beautiful. We are right back to the constipated wife-kicking brand of ball we saw last night since Gregg is involved. Did I mention he kicked the shit out of his wife?

7/10/2023 11:24:14 AM

Game you are referring to shots
Can USA
8(4) 13(3)

Last night
5(2) 21(8)

And the 2 wouldn't have happened if not for a silly handball. Core of tactics is to get your team chances and prevent chances for the other team, that worked last night. Soccer is a high variability sport though so better tactics lose all the time. And im separating roster from tactics, obviously you need the right personnel for your tactics but I feel like our lack of scoring was more down to the Canadian goalie then our lack of quality.

7/10/2023 12:26:27 PM

I just think if you are looking to whip crosses in against a team you should have some height in the middle. The Pirate of the Caribbean is 5'8 he isn't going to win aerial duels against the middle of that Canadian Defense.

This squad is just not really good, Jordan Morris has basically given up. Not sure why he sees minutes. Their were crosses that he didn't even attempt to jump for, if his injury isn't healed stop putting him in.

Still wondering who was supposed to take the last PK for the US last night, my guess is it was Roldan.

Busio has also been pretty good this tournament, but Gold Cup seems to be his ceiling with the USMNT

7/10/2023 3:57:19 PM

Jesus comes up big with a nice equalizer. This game has been painful to watch again though. I will say that what this C roster lacks in quality; they make up for in heart. Some exciting extra times.

7/12/2023 10:00:42 PM

Welp

7/12/2023 10:34:18 PM

I got nothing on tactics this time

7/12/2023 10:50:41 PM

A few thoughts

Hopefully this is the end of the USMNT careers for Cristian Roldan and Matt Miazga for different reasons.

Roldan is just not good anymore and I know he has had his moments in MLS but he just is not good.

Miazga his antics are tiresome, he is not some dominant CB, he was supposed to be the next big thing but couldn't hack it in Europe and is now playing back in MLS. Remember they blackballed John Brooks for less.

Panama was the better team especially in the first 45 they just couldn't finish chances. Berhalter ball was in full affect last night, play not to lose, instead of play to win. Thought Vazquez was terrible, Cowell let that miss affect him the rest of the match. Outside of the assist I really don't think the way the US tactics play to Jordan Morris' strengths and that he has worse injury problems than Pulisic, this may be the end for him.

San Diego sucks as a sports town, the crowd was dead most of the game, don't know if that was the stadium or just fan apathy.

James Sands, the Pirate and Busio are the only ones that should get called up to September camp with the first teamers. But I am sure Robinson and Long will get called in.

7/13/2023 7:24:46 AM

There are only five players in this roster who should even get a breath of a thought for future rosters outside of Turner.

Busio, Cowell and Sands... none of them particularly impressed here, but they did adequately and are all young and could improve with the right club situation.

Miles. I personally think he may as well be done considering he doesn't crack our top 4 CBs at the moment and we have promising young U20s who are either at his level or near it that will be of age by the next WC. I could see future B-level tournaments/friendlies where he could be a useful calming presence on a team of youngsters.

The Pirate. He is still young and could continue to improve. It's not nothing that he is able to dominate and look awesome against poor competition, but he is on the Miles level for me--an ok option for B-level tournaments, but not first team and AT LEAST 4th on the depth chart for our #9 position at the moment.

I know the USSF will never let this happen, but I just don't understand why we don't use an Olympic type roster for the Gold Cup-- 2 or 3 veterans to help the team look organized and competent and fill the rest of the roster out with promising young players (u23)who could potentially look to crack the A team at some point. If you are actually trying to develop the USMNT and not just provide a showcase for MLS players, then you simply don't have room to bring the Yedlins, Miazgas, Roldans and such for this team. It's a waste of an opportunity for senior team experience/minutes.

7/13/2023 10:13:33 AM

^I agree and USSF will be upset when we struggle to qualify for the Olympics next summer, because we have not developed the youth pipeline.

I also can't believe I forgot about Turner, obviously he is the #1 now, but he needs to go out on loan or I am afraid he will regress like Zac Steffen did. I know thats not likely to happen but he is not going to overtake Ramsdale, and he just isn't going to get much match time.

One silver lining is at least this group won't get embarassed by Mexico.

This was a poor tournament overall for the US. They basically only performed against teams that are on the level of the people that play in city parks on Sundays.

Nations League qualifying starts in September we have to make Semifinals to guarantee that we get to play in next Copa America.

7/13/2023 12:33:29 PM

Quote :

"WEAH GOAL OFF MCKENNIE ASSIST 🇺 � 🇸 � ️ 🇺 � 🇸 � Incredible preseason moment, as USMNT teammates Weston McKennie and Tim Weah combine to put one past Thibaut Courtois and Real Madrid. Bonus points to Wes for the lovely pullback assist. Juvent-USA in full effect."

https://twitter.com/MenInBlazers/status/1686892487841923073

8/2/2023 10:31:08 PM

Chelsea have finally soldier one of our most promising young players. This just in, Chelsea are signing one of our most promising young players.

(looks like Adams to Chelsea?)

8/10/2023 9:00:44 AM

.... Or not

8/11/2023 10:38:08 AM

Pulisic having a day
https://twitter.com/rogbennett/status/1693703945498026052

8/21/2023 5:15:48 PM

Thank god Adams dodged that train wreck. If he ever saw the field with caiceido and lavia there, he would be the American scapegoat for their campaign to the mid-table. He is a much better fit at Bournemouth where he will actually play, with a good coach and some goals

8/23/2023 8:57:56 AM

Quote :

"Last year was a bad year for American soccer players in Europe but a good year for the USMNT. I wrote about why the 2023-24 season is already looking better for most of the USMNT's stars:"

https://www.espn.com/soccer/insider/story/_/id/38347571/how-new-european-clubs-usmnt-stars-shape-future-world-cup

9/9/2023 9:35:30 AM

DOMINATING 1-0 win vs powerhouse Uzbekistan

[Edited on September 9, 2023 at 7:27 PM. Reason : Lol i posted too early I'm leaving it ]

[Edited on September 9, 2023 at 7:31 PM. Reason : Lol again, the positive jinx]

9/9/2023 7:26:04 PM

Watching this wife-kicker's brand of soccer is gonna have me stop watching US soccer. How can you take players who looked so fluid and dominant in the Nation's League and reduce them to this trash brand of fullbacks hurling terrible crosses to noone all day?

9/10/2023 11:12:38 AM

Better or worse than the score?

10/14/2023 9:52:39 PM

1st half: better. we were taking it to them and moving the ball through the midfield. We played a 4-2-3-1 with Gio at the 10 centrally. the FBs picked their runs rather than just hung out up field.

2nd half: much worse. Gio came out and we reverted to the standard 4-3-3 that GGG loves and started getting torched in the midfield. Turner actually had some amazing saves that kept us in it. Dest was AWFUL defending.

10/15/2023 1:14:07 PM

Dest is a poor man's Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Live by the GGG die by the GGG

10/17/2023 8:51:09 AM

https://www.espn.com/soccer/insider/story/_/id/38674902/gio-reyna-key-usmnt-prospect-borussia-dortmund

Literally published today briefly discussing scoring on rebounds

10/17/2023 9:28:58 PM

I realize the sample size is small so it's not really a good idea to read into his stats. The eye test proves it for me still. When he is healthy, he is nearly always the most dynamic player on dortmund (even when he was playing next to bellingham) and definitely the most dynamic player on the USMNT (even when GGG had him playing out of position as a winger or striker).

My guess for why he has fallen out of favor with coaches (like now at dortmund and with GGG) is 2-fold. He is injured often--something the article touched on. And he has a little bit of a "lazy" style. I'm not comparing him to Messi, but Messi is similar when off the ball. There is lots of walking, waiting, analyzing and then boom he is making an explosive play. For a traditional American manager who likes to see high work rate dudes like Tyler Adams or Brendan Aaronson run around like maniacs at all times, this is a bit of a slap in the face. And I think it's exactly why GGG hasn't rated him--until now when he has been effectively forced to play him given his performances while he wasn't manager.

10/18/2023 3:57:43 PM