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​⚽ OFFICIAL GOLD CUP THREAD: United States Beats Mexico. Again. ⚽ (1 Viewer)

The Z Machine said:
All of the early fouls were a bit cynical.  It really took MEX out of their attacking rhythm and I think that was very intentional.  The small field helped that aspect as it didn't let the Mexican players have space to play without someone on top of them.  Plus the guys running their balls off also contributed to not giving up a goal. 

What was the xG for this match?
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xG something like 2.3 - 1.9

 
We had 8 games played this summer between Gold Cup and Nations League.

Throwing out the one minnow game, we scored exactly 1 goal between minute 8 and minute 82.

 
MiB ask a good question:

Men in Blazers@MenInBlazers

Pod taped. 60 minutes wondering if CONCACAF Nations League winners played CONCACAF Gold Cup winners, who would win. Drops this afternoon
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The answer should be obvious, but this Gold Cup team had so much fight in them ...

 
  • Thinking
Reactions: Ned
CletiusMaximus said:
The answer should be obvious, but this Gold Cup team had so much fight in them ...
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even though the answer is obvious the idea that it might not be a blow out is something pretty cool.

Lalas made a rare interesting point last night after he finished crying.  He mentioned that the B team getting the exact same results as the A team is going to keep the A team from having their ego inflated and having them stay on their toes to keep their positions in the team.  This is something we have never really had before since we never had depth at this level.

 
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Great game to watch and show to the younger generation with the difference in styles and approach to the game and changing tactics.  I've always told my boys to watch Mexico games just for the relentless pressure they apply. I've always admired that and hated playing teams like that.

Acosta was borderline great last night.  I say borderline because he disappeared at times and never really seemed too involved in the attack.  But he showed he's the kind of guy everyone wants on their team - did all the dirty work when it was needed.

Turner was tourney mvp in my eyes.  Not sure Steffan or whorebath make a few of those saves and it was crucial.  If we go down early 0-1 to Mexico last night, it felt like it would end 0-4.

Busio still not ready.  He will be but I don't think he is for this weekend.

Sands was good defensively but gave away too many times after winning the ball.  Can't have that in wcq.  Decent depth player though.

LB still an issue.  Someone is just going to have to suck it up and play it and immerse themselves in the nuances - just get the best 4 defenders out there.  GGG needs to realize we don't have a true one and just pick someone and say "you are now LB. Go what crap tons of video". 

Zardes is a good, active player.  He's not a killer that other teams have to focus on or even mark.  If we can find one of those, the starting 11 for wc would be set.  I was hoping for dike but agree that he was mostly a non factor. 

 
CletiusMaximus said:
I think he needs to get stronger, thicker, if he’s going to play center back. 
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It's getting pretty specific, but I think the center back in a back three is Sands' most natural position, followed by the 6.  But I think he's also certainly in the mix as a traditional CB along with McKenzie. 

I do think Robinson probably played himself into the starting slot with Brooks.  Robinson is a lot like Turner at GK.  You can talk yourself out of him if you're looking at secondary skillsets, but his primary skillset—one v. one defending—is incredibly strong and just happens to be the most important skill set for his position.    In any case, if the four CBs are Brooks, Robinson, McKenzie, and Sands, I"m pretty happy.

 
kind of interesting that the US won the Gold Cup with a bunch of kids who did not come up through the academies to MLS but were from college soccer (players like Turner, Dike, Williamson, Robinson, Zimmerman, Zardes, Roldan etc).

It still shows we don't have a wide enough net to catch every one when they are young.

 
Re: left back....I still don't hate dest there. The options at rb are stronger and he seemed to combine well with pulisic when both played on that side. 

 
NewlyRetired said:
kind of interesting that the US won the Gold Cup with a bunch of kids who did not come up through the academies to MLS but were from college soccer (players like Turner, Dike, Williamson, Robinson, Zimmerman, Zardes, Roldan etc).

It still shows we don't have a wide enough net to catch every one when they are young.
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Nope.  Europe is about 2x the population of the USA in the same area.  We would need 10-15 MLS leagues with an academy club for each team to have a wide enough net.  Every 20-120 ranked kid at the current clubs would need to be starting for an academy to find all these potential players and give them the training they need to excel.  Plenty of kids not quite good enough at age 14-15 get banished when a little more time and opportunity to hone their skills would yield great results.

 
The Z Machine said:
So, you think he's ready to get called into camp now?
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I know where the jibe is coming from...but come on, none of us- including you- saw him play in the bundesliga. Going by a handful of goals scored and a couple highlights alone is never going to convince me. But he more than passes the eye test now after watching a few games. Maybe he was that good all along...but no way for me to know.

 
I misread the Tata situation.  I thought for sure he was getting sacked today but outside of a zillion Mexican journalists calling for his head, I don't see anything official.

 
El Floppo said:
I know where the jibe is coming from...but come on, none of us- including you- saw him play in the bundesliga. Going by a handful of goals scored and a couple highlights alone is never going to convince me. But he more than passes the eye test now after watching a few games. Maybe he was that good all along...but no way for me to know.
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Any time a player scores a hat trick in a top 5 league, the US should probably call that player into camp.  That was my point.  Hoppe hadn't gotten a look by the USMNT until that time.  Glad he's made the most of his chances.

 
The Z Machine said:
Any time a player scores a hat trick in a top 5 league, the US should probably call that player into camp.  That was my point.  Hoppe hadn't gotten a look by the USMNT until that time.  Glad he's made the most of his chances.
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And I wonder how many other players GGG is missing because of his MLS bias.   He's giving Nips the captain's armband even though he regularly looks outclassed at this level and Hoppe, who is now getting looks from Arsenal, barely got an invite.

There is something severely off with his process that requires correction.

 
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The US team is remarkably harmonious in a sport where teammates often hate each other.

However, if there is one pair that I think may have a chance to kill each other, it may be Hoppe and Gio.   Gio looks like he is a difficult teammate and Hoppe looks like he would happily flip off Gio when Gio pouts for not getting a pass correctly.

 
NewlyRetired said:
even though the answer is obvious the idea that it might not be a blow out is something pretty cool.

Lalas made a rare interesting point last night after he finished crying.  He mentioned that the B team getting the exact same results as the A team is going to keep the A team from having their ego inflated and having them stay on their toes to keep their positions in the team.  This is something we have never really had before since we never had depth at this level.
Click to expand...
That was a great point. The depth we have at RB alone is really impressive. Those guys will push each other for the next decade. 

 
Ned said:
I know @NewlyRetired already mentioned it,  but I thought Bello defended way better than I was expecting. He deserves to be in the running at LB based on last night alone.
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Disagree.  While he played *ok* vs Tecatito it did feel like it was inevitable he'd get beat for a goal. 

In a 4 man back line, I think Dest still plays LB to try and build a partnership with whomever is on the left in the front 3.

 
Ned said:
I know @NewlyRetired already mentioned it,  but I thought Bello defended way better than I was expecting. He deserves to be in the running at LB based on last night alone.
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for a 19 year old versus the dangerous Mexican final 3rd, I don't know how much more we could have asked from him.  Seems he could have a bright future.

 
NewlyRetired said:
The US team is remarkably harmonious in a sport where teammates often hate each other.

However, if there is one pair that I think may have a chance to kill each other, it may be Hoppe and Gio.   Gio looks like he is a difficult teammate and Hoppe looks like he would happily flip off Gio when Gio pouts for not getting a pass correctly.
Click to expand...
Gio will have to mature out of his prima donna attitude in order to reach his potential for the Nats.  That is unless he's the second coming of CR7 and it doesn't matter... but I don't see that happening.

 
The Z Machine said:
Disagree.  While he played *ok* vs Tecatito it did feel like it was inevitable he'd get beat for a goal. 

In a 4 man back line, I think Dest still plays LB to try and build a partnership with whomever is on the left in the front 3.
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Agreed. I thought he was really shaky at the start. 

I don't know if he settled in better or if the others provided more help/coverage, but he wasn't as noticeable as the game went on which is probably a good thing. 

 
The Z Machine said:
Gio will have to mature out of his prima donna attitude in order to reach his potential for the Nats.  That is unless he's the second coming of CR7 and it doesn't matter... but I don't see that happening.
Click to expand...


Gio can get a little pissy pants at Dortmund but it is not too bad.  At times for the US he ranges from diva to looking like a decent team mate.   I even saw him clap in Nations League for a pass he could not reach. 

It is probably a combination of being told he is the second coming since he was 9, and maybe just a lack of maturity (he is really young).   He can't go full diva until he becomes the clear best player on the team and as long as Pulisic is healthy, that probably won't be happening any time soon.

 
NewlyRetired said:
The US team is remarkably harmonious in a sport where teammates often hate each other.

However, if there is one pair that I think may have a chance to kill each other, it may be Hoppe and Gio.   Gio looks like he is a difficult teammate and Hoppe looks like he would happily flip off Gio when Gio pouts for not getting a pass correctly.
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Honeymoon's over I guess

 
Watched a big chunk of the game again and... athleticism matters.  Robinson, Acosta, Hoppe, Zardes.  Those guys are horses and ran ALL night.  Acosta took over the game partly because Mexico faded after being leaned on for 60 minutes.

Adding any mix of our best ~6-8 skilled players up front is going to be a problem for a lot of teams.

ETA:  I haven't seen xG on individual shots, but the cross Pinedo put over the bar from 3 yards out with the outside of his shin is the big one the US got away with.  The others were mostly covered, but that was unstoppable if he gets it on goal.

 
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Charlie Steiner said:
It's not so much that the Olympics are such a big deal but rather that where MEX had 2 teams strong enough to qualify AND make deep runs in international competition, we only had one. We're not there quite yet, but we will be the next time and moving forward, since it's been mainly our academies that are starting to produce world-challenging talent now, and hopefully world-beating talent soon.
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Another L for "L Tri".  

 
gianmarco said:
Still don't understand how that wasn't called or reviewed.
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I think the thing that annoys me most is that Herrera ended up with the Player of the Tournament trophy.  His team lost the game, and he should have been off.  

 
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Dinsy Ejotuz said:
Yep.  Still a red.
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I was at a concert, so I taped the game and watched late Sunday night.  When I got to that point it took every ounce of restraint to not check this thread to see people freaking out.  :lmao:   I mean, the dude is standing upright and you kicked him in the head.  Crazy.  In hindsight I'm glad he didn't get sent off because it denies Mex an excuse for losing, but it's still ridiculous.

 
Steven Goff

@SoccerInsider

Univision/TUDN coverage of Gold Cup final USA v MEX averaged 5.7 million viewers, network’s most-watched soccer telecast since 2016 Copa America final. Peaked during the 10:30 p.m. ET quarter-hour with 6.21 million.

 
NewlyRetired said:
Steven Goff

@SoccerInsider

Univision/TUDN coverage of Gold Cup final USA v MEX averaged 5.7 million viewers, network’s most-watched soccer telecast since 2016 Copa America final. Peaked during the 10:30 p.m. ET quarter-hour with 6.21 million.
Click to expand...


Good number but I'm not sure why this wasn't 30 million.

 
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