USMNT SOCCER

[boomstick 1,315]

Looking at Canada's stats from last night. They played 9 of their 11 starters 90+ minutes. Buchanan left at the half with an ankle knock and they made one sub in the 86'. Interested to see how they handle their lineup against us. I'd imagine they will have some shakeups, and I expect us to do the same. I guess the positives there would be Pulisic and Brooks are two of our best players coming in fresh.

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

Flew to Nashville for the match and God that game sucked last night.  Just zero creativity.

Not really excited for the Jamaica match in Austin next month right now.

 

[AUBwins 10,046]

Yes I'm tired of us making things hard on ourselves.  Geez.  Glad no loss, but really needed the 3 there.  I know competition level increases with qualifying but really disappointing to see how stale we are after the efforts from the summer. 

[boomstick 1,315]

McKennie sent back to Italy (rumors that he broke COVID rules by leaving the team hotel in Nashville, also might’ve brought a female back to the hote). Dest back to Spain because of an ankle injury. Jackson Yueill called in. No Gio on Wednesday. Already without Weah. And Honduras started 9 new guys in their second match. So their first group who started at Canada should be well rested. 
 

This is shaping up to be a really, really tough test. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

9 hours ago, boomstick said:

McKennie sent back to Italy (rumors that he broke COVID rules by leaving the team hotel in Nashville, also might’ve brought a female back to the hote). 

I'm hearing *a teammate's sister*.

Regardless, all my optimism suddenly feels naive to the point of embarrassing.

[boomstick 1,315]

2 hours ago, McLoofus said:

I'm hearing *a teammate's sister*.

Regardless, all my optimism suddenly feels naive to the point of embarrassing.

I hadn't seen that. That would kinda make some of the talk about his teammates not liking him make a little more sense. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

4 minutes ago, boomstick said:

I hadn't seen that. That would kinda make some of the talk about his teammates not liking him make a little more sense. 

... and I had not heard that talk. 

Who knew Labor Day would come and go and it's USMNT  that has me spiraling. Smdh

[boomstick 1,315]

3 hours ago, McLoofus said:

... and I had not heard that talk. 

Who knew Labor Day would come and go and it's USMNT  that has me spiraling. Smdh

And then there's this!

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

So does anyone else think we lose tomorrow or is it just me?

[McLoofus 35,182]

6 minutes ago, Brad_ATX said:

So does anyone else think we lose tomorrow or is it just me?

I don't *not* think it. 

[boomstick 1,315]

24 minutes ago, Brad_ATX said:

So does anyone else think we lose tomorrow or is it just me?

I'm choosing to be naïve and think we will muster the guts and fight to pull out a win. If the "on paper" team shows up and performs to their "on paper" abilities, we should beat Honduras. I'd like to think that one of these three matches we'd get a good, complete performance across the board. 

[AuburnNTexas 7,124]

I hate to say it but the Gold cup B team that we played and won with played better then our supposed A team. Better chemistry, more creativity on offense great D and a will to win.

On paper the A team is better on the field the B Team that played in Gold cup played better.

Edited September 8, 2021 by AuburnNTexas

[boomstick 1,315]

12 hours ago, AuburnNTexas said:

I hate to say it but the Gold cup B team that we played and won with played better then our supposed A team. Better chemistry, more creativity on offense great D and a will to win.

On paper the A team is better on the field the B Team that played in Gold cup played better.

Eh, those teams seemed to have the same issues this squad has. Scoring more than one goal per match has been an ongoing issue. And like us, several other nations didn't bring their best rosters to the Gold Cup either. Mexico brought almost their best roster, but several of the more competitive nations were missing big pieces like we were. 

We had chances against Honduras in the Nations League Semi to score 3-4 goals. They are going to concede possession to us. We have to take advantage of that and put some goals away because we will have chances. But Honduras is going to get their chances in transition, and we have to be prepared for that defensively.

[AuburnNTexas 7,124]

3 hours ago, boomstick said:

Eh, those teams seemed to have the same issues this squad has. Scoring more than one goal per match has been an ongoing issue. And like us, several other nations didn't bring their best rosters to the Gold Cup either. Mexico brought almost their best roster, but several of the more competitive nations were missing big pieces like we were. 

We had chances against Honduras in the Nations League Semi to score 3-4 goals. They are going to concede possession to us. We have to take advantage of that and put some goals away because we will have chances. But Honduras is going to get their chances in transition, and we have to be prepared for that defensively.

I agree with you about the finishing but the gold cup team pressed more on the attack and has more good opportunities to score and I thought they played a more complete defensive game then the current team has so far.

[McLoofus 35,182]

No matter the result, these midweek 10:30p kicks suck donkey balls.

[AUDub 11,113]

Ricardo Pepi is my homeboy. 

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

What a difference in halves.  Unreal.  I'm excited again for the Jamiaca game now.

[AUDub 11,113]

5 minutes ago, Brad_ATX said:

What a difference in halves.  Unreal.  I'm excited again for the Jamiaca game now.

Biggest thing is we may have FINALLY found our 9 in Pepi, ending Sargent's reign of terror in the final third.

Berhalter almost boned this badly. Thankfully the alarm bells were ringing at the half and he made the necessary changes.

Adams has GOT to be in the middle to direct traffic. Putting him at RB was stupid.

Antonee has proven that he needs to be our LB going forward. 

Shame Puli got hurt when he was finally starting to look like Puli again. Hope it's minor.

What on God's green earth happened to Brooks? He was a mess tonight. 

Edited September 9, 2021 by AUDub

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

10 hours ago, AUDub said:

Biggest thing is we may have FINALLY found our 9 in Pepi, ending Sargent's reign of terror in the final third.

Berhalter almost boned this badly. Thankfully the alarm bells were ringing at the half and he made the necessary changes.

Adams has GOT to be in the middle to direct traffic. Putting him at RB was stupid.

Antonee has proven that he needs to be our LB going forward. 

Shame Puli got hurt when he was finally starting to look like Puli again. Hope it's minor.

What on God's green earth happened to Brooks? He was a mess tonight. 

Lots of ball watching in tht first half last night.  GGG really screwed up the starting XI last night, but credit where its due on the halftime adjustments.  Just hope he learns from that moving forward.

Hopefully Reyna, McKennie, Pulisic, and Dest are all back next month, plus call up Hoppe.  Put them out there with Pepi and Adams and the team is vastly different.

[boomstick 1,315]

GOALKEEPERS (3): Sean Johnson (New York City FC; 9/0), Zack Steffen (Manchester City/ENG; 23/0), Matt Turner (New England Revolution; 10/0)

DEFENDERS (10): George Bello (Atlanta United; 4/0), John Brooks (Wolfsburg/GER; 45/3), Sergiño Dest (Barcelona/ESP; 13/1), Mark McKenzie (Genk/BEL; 7/0), Shaq Moore (Tenerife/ESP; 11/1), Tim Ream (Fulham/ENG; 46/1), Chris Richards (Hoffenheim/GER; 3/0), Antonee Robinson (Fulham/ENG; 15/1), Miles Robinson (Atlanta United; 12/2), DeAndre Yedlin (Galatasaray/TUR; 67/0)

MIDFIELDERS (8): Kellyn Acosta (Colorado Rapids; 40/2), Tyler Adams (RB Leipzig/GER; 17/1), Gianluca Busio (Venezia/ITA; 6/0), Luca de la Torre (Heracles/NED: 3/0), Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy; 32/8), Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA; 25/7), Yunus Musah (Valencia/ESP; 6/0), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders; 28/0)

FORWARDS (6): Brenden Aaronson (Red Bull Salzburg/AUT; 10/5), Paul Arriola (D.C. United; 8/0), Matthew Hoppe (Mallorca/ESP; 5/1), Ricardo Pepi (FC Dallas; 1/1), Tim Weah (Lille/FRA; 13/1), Gyasi Zardes (Columbus Crew; 62/14)

 

[McLoofus 35,182]

Happy to see McKennie back in the fold. 

No Reyna or Puli. Interesting. Well, except to anyone who's actually paying attention and who probably has a perfectly logical explanation for it such as not getting released by their clubs or something.

By the way, shout out to Shaq Moore for finding his way to Tenerife. Bucket list travel destination for me, even though it's probably no big deal at all to Spanish folks or even other Europeans who travel there. 

[boomstick 1,315]

34 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

Happy to see McKennie back in the fold. 

No Reyna or Puli. Interesting. Well, except to anyone who's actually paying attention and who probably has a perfectly logical explanation for it such as not getting released by their clubs or something.

By the way, shout out to Shaq Moore for finding his way to Tenerife. Bucket list travel destination for me, even though it's probably no big deal at all to Spanish folks or even other Europeans who travel there. 

Puli and Reyna still haven't played a minute since picking up injuries in the last window. It's been rumored that there's a chance they could be available and play for the final match in this three-game set if needed. But I imagine both clubs would prefer that those guys not play and be ready for their club after the break, especially Chelsea.

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

23 hours ago, boomstick said:

Puli and Reyna still haven't played a minute since picking up injuries in the last window. It's been rumored that there's a chance they could be available and play for the final match in this three-game set if needed. But I imagine both clubs would prefer that those guys not play and be ready for their club after the break, especially Chelsea.

Man, I'm so bummed I don't get to see Reyna in either WC qualifier I attended or will attend (went to Canada match and going to Jamaica game next week).

[McLoofus 35,182]

18 hours ago, Brad_ATX said:

Man, I'm so bummed I don't get to see Reyna in either WC qualifier I attended or will attend (went to Canada match and going to Jamaica game next week).

That is just bizarre luck.

Bright side- that's a lot of soccer watchin'. Glad you're taking advantage of those opportunities!

[Brad_ATX 13,654]

3 hours ago, McLoofus said:

That is just bizarre luck.

Bright side- that's a lot of soccer watchin'. Glad you're taking advantage of those opportunities!

This just scratches the surface.  Been USWNT, USMNT, and Austin FC, I'll probably end the year attending roughly 20+ matches.

Edited October 1, 2021 by Brad_ATX