prefontaine

Not saying Musah couldn't do better there but wtf was the whole Valencia defense doing. Coutinho was all by himself at the 6 for like 3-4 seconds before the ball even made way to him.

he's naturally a right-sided player

He looks fantastic! This next age group is going to have to be really frigging good to get chances. Pulisic, Gio, Weah, Brenden, and Konrad are all of the age that they will be improving significantly before 2026. Guys like Paxten, Cade Cowell, Caden Clark appear to be great talents. But they may have to come absolutely blasting through like the Kool-Aid man to even get call-ups. Just the wrong positions.

Put another way, try to put together a starting lineup for the US without using anyone under 25

While I think some of this is fair, I think you may be overemphasizing it. We have a black hole from 25-30 or so -- guys in their prime -- with little to no players in that range being of significant caliber. There is not a single field player in this range that should be a starter right now other than at center back (either Brooks or Zimmerman with Miles). If the whole pool is available, I'm not sure another is even in the discussion. I will give him full credit for not calling up the old codgers like Costa Rica though. But I think some of the youth movement is just impossible to avoid.

You're probably right. I do hope whoever plucks Paredes does so with the intent of LB. I think that's his future.

I think Paredes is going to be a star but not sure how he's a replacement for Aaronson given they are playing BA as more of a 10 or false 9.

Honestly 25 or so is when most CBs make a big move. Now seems like exactly the time. The lack of rumors make little sense and transfermarket rates him at $4.4m. I can only think Atlanta is demanding a really high asking price

I think TLEF hit the high points but I'd just say that there should be some nuance between it's a tough thing to manage and what we are seeing.

A good part of why we don't have one now is a lot of minutes have been absorbed by Yuell and Acosta. Some of the other 8s in the pool probably should get a shot there. Even though he looked bad, I was super happy Berhalter gave Busio a run at the 6 in the Gold Cup. I think that kid at DC may emerge for the 26 cycle. I think he's like 17 or 18 now.

Mark me down for Adams and Antonee. We have no back up for either.

Quick take - we look much better when we play our starters

He has. Worlds better than in Gold Cup which is almost the entirety I've seen him. Played really well.

really wanted to like but needed to wait til after they took the kick

Not all of us were watching in the 60s