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US Men's National Team (17 Viewers)

Ned said:
Even from the simple standpoint of how he brought down the long balls impressed me.  Much more natural/smooth than Morris.

We just need him to stop spending so much time on his friggin' hair.
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He’s been terrific for DCU since the middle of last season as well. He’s always had an amazing motor. Now that he’s making better decisions in the final third, he’s made the leap. 

 
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The Adams RB thing left Long exposed 1v1 with the player going at him (not back to goal) too many times for my liking. It's the first time out, so I'm sure there are kinks to work out, but that's the original concern we all had and one game exposed it.

I did like having Adams in the middle though.

 
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El Floppo said:
The Adams RB thing left Long exposed 1v1 with the player going at him (not back to goal) too many times for my liking. It's the first time out, so I'm sure there are kinks to work out, but that's the original concern we all had and one game exposed it.

I did like having Adams in the middle though.
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The “problem” is that Adams is by far (arguably) our best player and one of his best qualities is his ability to read our movement on offense and then move incisively to provide support, finish a play, or make a run to open space for others.  Berhalter’s system sort of expects that RB to stay more static in the middle (i.e. against Adams’s nature).  Can Adams do it, sure (because he’s a great player and that’s what great players do), but it’s putting a great square peg in a constricted round hole.

 
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And fwiw, it may be the opponent’s tactics or getting used to the system, but Higuan in Columbus tended to have a ton more time and space than CP did last night.  My sense is they weren’t forcing space (ie we seemed static and predictable) to be made between the MF and defensive line of Ecuador

 
Sammy3469 said:
And fwiw, it may be the opponent’s tactics or getting used to the system, but Higuan in Columbus tended to have a ton more time and space than CP did last night.  My sense is they weren’t forcing space (ie we seemed static and predictable) to be made between the MF and defensive line of Ecuador
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I don't recall seeing an MLS team play as deep and compact as ecu did. Higuain seems to get there ball in more space...CP only found that space wide when nips tucked in our further upfield. Otherwise it was CP with to our more guys around him.

 
El Floppo said:
I don't recall seeing an MLS team play as deep and compact as ecu did. .
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after god knows how many friendlies I have watched in my life, I have never seen a team bunker like that against a similar level opponent.  Even this morning I am shuked.  It was so crowded as there was almost no gaps between defense and midfield which is why the only plays that worked in first half was the long balls hit to Nips.

 
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El Floppo said:
I don't recall seeing an MLS team play as deep and compact as ecu did. Higuain seems to get there ball in more space...CP only found that space wide when nips tucked in our further upfield. Otherwise it was CP with to our more guys around him.
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Yep it was pretty surprising how they were like swarming bees around CP when he had the ball.

 
Ned said:
Watching the small one-touch play in and around the 18 reminded me of how good CP/Jozy hooked up at times.  I think any combination of CP + striker not named Zardoz will be a better attack.

What's with CP tripping all the time?  I've seen it a lot with Dort and now last night.  It's like he's a teenager learning how to play with his new found longer legs.
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Although Zardes did have that one really nifty pass in the box.  That was lovely :wub:

 
Ian Darke is clearly a good pro but his continual lack of knowledge of the US team is driving me nuts.

Two items stood out last night.

* Talking about how Morris will work as an inverted winger so that he can cut inside to his stronger left foot

* Talking about Jozy was just coming back from "a knock" and seemingly not knowing Jozy has been not playing for months after a surgery.

 
Tough first half for the U23's.  Very disjointed.  Haji can't hold the ball at all and Weah looks off.

Jones played fairly well but completely shanked a clearance that gifted Egypt their goal.  Parks is working hard.  Mihailovic can't create anything, Sabbi has shown very little.  CCV same as always, a rock that has poor vision for distribution.

I guess this is not too surprising for a team with a complete mash up of players who have never played together and a two day old coach.

 
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I assume the Adams thing was prearranged but it would not shock me if RBL saw Swag's injury and made a call to Berhalter last night.  Adams is key in their hopes to make the Champions League next season.

 
NewlyRetired said:
Tough first half for the U23's.  Very disjointed.  Haji can't hold the ball at all and Weah looks off.

Jones played fairly well but completely shanked a clearance that gifted Egypt their goal.  Parks is working hard.  Mihailovic can't create anything, Sabbu has shown very little.  CCV same as always, a rock that has poor vision for distribution.

I guess this is not too surprising for a team with a complete mash up of players who have never played together and a two day old coach.
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2nd half starting now- thanks for the updates. 

US is down 1-0.

 
gianmarco said:
Although Zardes did have that one really nifty pass in the box.  That was lovely :wub:
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watching zardoz grow playing with keane and LD... he has a lot of upside if he isn't zardozing it. also usually has good  movement... which seemed off last night trying to navigate the crowds. I did really like his workrate defensively at the point- and I liked how his teammates covered ground behind and around him to anticipate the 2nd/3rd pass. again- the spacing was great.

 
NewlyRetired said:
@Ned I was reading Marco Fabian is going to be suspended for the Union.  Do you think Aaronson may get another start?
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With how thin they are, I can't see why he wouldn't start or get significant playing time this weekend.  I think we'll get to see some minutes for Fontana also.

 
El Floppo said:
NewlyRetired said:
Tyler Adams has left camp to rejoin RBL.

Swag needs more evaluation on injury.
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damn. 

so much for seeing the terrific trio together again...
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I was initially disappointed, but think about it..... Damn man - what a crazy rise for him.  He's gone from MLS starter to that important to a top 5 Bundesliga team...

 
Ned said:
I was initially disappointed, but think about it..... Damn man - what a crazy rise for him.  He's gone from MLS starter to that important to a top 5 Bundesliga team...
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and he did it instantly which is the biggest shock with the change of countries, cultures, languages, up step in competition etc.   

He says having Jesse Marsch on site really helped the transition.

 
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If Adams maintains this level and Pulisic struggles for time at Chelsea, I think more and more fans are going to come to grips that Adams is our best player come next fall.

To be honest, Adams has been sooooo good in Germany, I am not sure he can maintain it, but damn it would be nice if he does.

 
U23's lose 2-0 to Egypt.  They did not look good for the parts I watched (about 60 minutes sporadically).  The second team looked better than the first (it looks like almost the entire team subbed at half time).

 
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NewlyRetired said:
U23's lose 2-0 to Egypt.  They did not look good for the parts I watched (about 60 minutes sporadically).  The second team looked better than the first (it looks like almost the entire team subbed at half time).
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I was listening in- which was hard to do as there wasn't an announcer. 

checked in as the US had a freekick that went far post and back across for a wide-open goal that the US #19 completely flubbed with his head. could've been a foul previously on the play- without announcers, couldn't tell.

 
El Floppo said:
I was listening in- which was hard to do as there wasn't an announcer. 

checked in as the US had a freekick that went far post and back across for a wide-open goal that the US #19 completely flubbed with his head. could've been a foul previously on the play- without announcers, couldn't tell.
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I think you are referring to the Sargent play for the foul.  It looked like a pk to me as he was clearly fouled well inside box.

 
I know he’s above it (and I know Durkin is more than capable at this level), but part of me just wants to see Adams play DM in U20 World Cup just to see if we could win something.  

Same with the Olympics and the entire trinity. 

 
given the injuries, Adams leaving and Berhalter saying he intended to make a bunch of changes for Tuesday to continue the evaluation process, here is my best guess at Tuesday starters

...................................Horvath

Lima.........Miazga.............Brooks...........Long*

..............................Bradley**

....................Pulisic...........Roldan

Yedlin................Ramirez...................Nips

*this is obviously a stretch but with no other lb worth playing, he has enough speed to cover the wing so it may be worth to see what he can do

**this assumes Trapp is hurt

 
USMNT Only‏ @usmntonly

Weston McKennie didn't suffer any broken bones in injury vs. Ecuador but "has bruised the bone and damaged a ligament."

 
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Ned said:
Mexico beat Chile 3-1 yesterday. Anyone get to watch it?
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just saw some clips and read about it.

* all 4 goals in second half, in just 17 minutes

* Chile had more shots and possession.  Teams had same amount of corners

* Chile played in a 4-1-3-2 

If Chile employs a similar game style against US, it should be a night a day type change from what Ecuador did and allow for a much more interesting evaluation.

 
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Dinsy Ejotuz said:
Broken bones were never the worry IMO.  Did he completely tear any soft stuff is the question.
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Schalke just said he is going to remain in the states to see a specialist.  This does not sound good.

Schalke is sinking fast and McKennie fills six million holes in their lineup.   

If worst comes to worst, they drop down to Bundesliga 2 and Swag likely stays with them since he does not carry a big salary.   If this is a long term injury (season ender type), that likely puts the kibosh on any transfer this summer.

 
NewlyRetired said:
Schalke just said he is going to remain in the states to see a specialist.  This does not sound good.

Schalke is sinking fast and McKennie fills six million holes in their lineup.   

If worst comes to worst, they drop down to Bundesliga 2 and Swag likely stays with them since he does not carry a big salary.   If this is a long term injury (season ender type), that likely puts the kibosh on any transfer this summer.
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Truth:  I thought he might be really hurt the second he rolled over.  There was a blank look on his face and my first thought was that it seemed like shock from pain.  Then they showed the replay and I figured he was done for the year.  Roll your ankle like that just running and you might be out 4-6 weeks.  Do it from 30+" in the air and you probably shred some stuff.

 
Dinsy Ejotuz said:
Truth:  I thought he might be really hurt the second he rolled over.  There was a blank look on his face and my first thought was that it seemed like shock from pain.  Then they showed the replay and I figured he was done for the year.  Roll your ankle like that just running and you might be out 4-6 weeks.  Do it from 30+" in the air and you probably shred some stuff.
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I guess we need to wait this out but in keeping with the theme of this thread, we probably need to consider that he might miss the Gold Cup at which point we will see how tied to Adams at RB Berhalter is because Adams would do well at the number 8 role in place of Weston IMO.

 
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