2024 Summer of Soccer - Euro's, Copa America, Olympics, WCQing (1 Viewer)

[NewlyRetired]

Well this was inevitable given the sad state of our country. The racists are attacking Weah.........

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GRIBsTyXsAAQf4x?format=jpg&name=medium

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

If Gregg loses his job, that's fine. But I still feel compelled to point out that I don't see a particularly great realistic candidate to take over out there. Marsch seemed to finish as the runner-up last time, and he's with Canada now. We going to throw a Brinks truck at Patrick Vieria? Go with another MLS guy?

I'll leave aside whether the head coach is responsible for a player having a brain fart and getting red carded. It's becoming kind of a pattern so maybe it's on the coaches. What Gregg is not responsible for is that we have precisely two decent center backs in the pool and one of those is a million years old. I don't know the coach to fix that.

 

[General Malaise]

You guys honestly think it's the coach and not the players? Or the culture?

depends on the question I guess.

Do you think the US should be a top 5 team? if so then it is all on the players as no coach can turn this group of players into a top 5 team.

If you think the US is doing slightly worse than the quality of the players says we should be (based on where and how they play in Europe), then it is more on the coach.

Culture has little to do with it, IMO. Johnny, Musah, Dest, Balogun, Jedi, CCV, Lund, Musah, Tillman and others were developed outside the US in the best soccer cultures on the planet. Pulisic and McKennie both spent time overseas as young players and Pulisic went pro extremely young.

The pay to play model here is a problem but if we are sending out our best and brightest to train overseas and this is the result, now what?

It's not working. Nothing has worked. Not in our lifetimes, not in any lifetimes. I thought we were an improved squad....not after what I witnessed today. Same **** different players, different coaches.

That was an embarrassing performance today. I don't blame the coach, this is who we are this is who we have been.

 

[NewlyRetired]

The Athletic | Football

@TheAthleticFC

Lionel Messi was absent from Argentina’s evening training session ahead of their final group-stage game at Copa America.Multiple reports suggest that Messi will not play against Peru in order to rest for the quarterfinal on July 4.

 

[General Malaise]

You guys honestly think it's the coach and not the players? Or the culture?

Yes. I do. I think many other coaches would get more out of this team.

I think that's delusional.

 

[prefontaine]

You guys honestly think it's the coach and not the players? Or the culture?

Yes. I do. I think many other coaches would get more out of this team.

I think that's delusional.

why?

 

[Desert_Power]

You guys honestly think it's the coach and not the players? Or the culture?

depends on the question I guess.

Do you think the US should be a top 5 team? if so then it is all on the players.

If you think the US is doing slightly worse than the quality of the players says we should be (based on where and how they play in Europe), then it is more on the coach.

Culture has little to do with it, IMO. Johnny, Musah, Dest, Balogun, Jedi, CCV, Lund, Musah, Tillman and others were developed outside the US in the best soccer cultures on the planet. Pulisic and McKennie both spent time overseas as young players and Pulisic went pro extremely young.

I think the culture within/around the US Soccer Federation is definitely a large issue.

I was thinking about soccer culture in the US when speaking. But you are correct, the culture in an around the federation has never been great ever since they went into a "big business" mode.

Yeah, I wasn't sure what GM meant. I think the "culture" meaning interest in soccer within the US is stronger each year. As is the American talent wanting to play the game. Attracting good foreign born players who think the US is competitive is another strong sign too.

I'm just growing increasingly concerned about the USSF.

 

[NewlyRetired]

The pay to play model here is a problem but if we are sending out our best and brightest to train overseas and this is the result, now what?

There is no pay to play model when it comes to the national team.

The national team is made up of the top of the tippity top of the talent available to play for the US. These players are all in free to play academies from the time they are 12 years old.

The pay to play model only effects the players that were never going to be pros any way, much less be national team caliber level pros.

And we are not sending our best and brightest to train overseas. The names I mentioned that were developed overseas are all dual nationals.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Yeah, I wasn't sure what GM meant. I think the "culture" meaning interest in soccer within the US is stronger each year. As is the American talent wanting to play the game. Attracting good foreign born players who think the US is competitive is another strong sign too.

absolutely yes, to all of this.

You would have to be blind (or not really follow the sport) to not realize how well the US players are doing in Europe. We have never had anything close to this quality before in terms of number of players playing at good teams in Europe. I think @Dinsy Ejotuz mentioned the other day that we subbed out our entire midfield and replaced them with two players from La Liga and one from Serie A. That is unheard of in the entire history of the USMNT.

But as we have continually pointed out in the US thread, that even with this abundance of talent available (in comparison to past generations), the results on the field really are not that different.

In fact the one item that has propped up this generations results is overtaking Mexico as the best team in the region but I think it is becoming clear that may be as much due to Mexico descending as it is the US ascending.

 

[General Malaise]

You guys honestly think it's the coach and not the players? Or the culture?

Yes. I do. I think many other coaches would get more out of this team.

I think that's delusional.

why?

Because it's never been a solution to our problem, sir. What coach do you think makes this team better?

 

[NewlyRetired]

Because it's never been a solution to out problem, sir. What coach do you think makes this team better?

how do you know that? Almost this entire generation of players has only played under GGG at the national team. How do you know for sure they would not respond better to another coach?

I follow the team closer than most humans alive and I would have no ability to know the answer one way or the other.

 

[scoobus]

I'd take any random poster in this thread over Berhalter at this point.

 

[mr. furley]

You guys honestly think it's the coach and not the players? Or the culture?

does the US even have a top... 100... player in the world?

 

[NewlyRetired]

Uruguay is now up +8 in GD over Panama.

Given that there is no real incentive to finish first in the group due to the awaiting match ups, there is a chance Uruguay makes some changes.

Note that Uruguay has no yellow cards right now so the need to sit some one for the quarter final for that reason is not needed.

 

[prefontaine]

You guys honestly think it's the coach and not the players? Or the culture?

Yes. I do. I think many other coaches would get more out of this team.

I think that's delusional.

why?

Because it's never been a solution to out problem, sir. What coach do you think makes this team better?

I'm not really sure the point you are trying to make.

Good coaches elevate players. Good coaches make teams better than the sum of their parts. This transcends all sports. And often - across all sports - removing a coach that isn't getting it done can and does result in quick improvement.

 

[prefontaine]

Uruguay is now up +8 in GD over Panama.

Speaking of coaches that elevate teams....

 

[NewlyRetired]

You guys honestly think it's the coach and not the players? Or the culture?

does the US even have a top... 100... player in the world?

Pulisic easily is. Might even be close to top 50. He was a better player than Leao this season on Milan and Leao is typically ranked in the top 30 in the world.

Jedi might not be top 100 in the world, but he would very likely have started for England this summer had he chosen to stay with England, and that is one of the top ranked teams in the world.

 

[NewlyRetired]

OK, now that the Uruguay game is over, I think anything less than a 2 goal win over Uruguay and the US will be out. There is a decent chance that we may need more than a 2 goal win given that Bolivia has nothing to play for and Panama is likely to be attacking the entire game knowing GD is needed.

 

[gianmarco]

So, it's kind of crazy to think about, but Weah's split second stupid decision to put his hands to the Panamanian's head could literally affect the entire US soccer program for the next few years. That one event.

If the US crashes out of the group stage, GGG gets fired, the US loses chances to get meaningful matches in the next 2 years, all of this could affect what happens in our home turf World Cup that is 2 short years away and potentially longer (i.e. players that may or may not decide to join the USMNT, poor showing, etc).

It's really kind of insane how big of an impact that one act could have on SO many.

 

[mr. furley]

You guys honestly think it's the coach and not the players? Or the culture?

does the US even have a top... 100... player in the world?

Pulisic easily is. Might even be close to top 50. He was a better player than Leao this season on Milan and Leao is typically ranked in the top 30 in the world.

Jedi might not be top 100 in the world, but he would very likely have started for England this summer had he chosen to stay with England, and that is one of the top ranked teams in the world.

in terms i can understand, and maybe you don't follow basketball so someone else might want to weigh in too, what is the world stage equivalent of USA soccer in basketball?

are they... Canada? Italy?

 

[General Malaise]

You guys honestly think it's the coach and not the players? Or the culture?

Yes. I do. I think many other coaches would get more out of this team.

I think that's delusional.

why?

Because it's never been a solution to out problem, sir. What coach do you think makes this team better?

I'm not really sure the point you are trying to make.

Good coaches elevate players. Good coaches make teams better than the sum of their parts. This transcends all sports. And often - across all sports - removing a coach that isn't getting it done can and does result in quick improvement.

Well if it is as simple as that then the US should hire a good coach to elevate this team. Not sure why they didn't come to that conclusion earlier.

 

[QuizGuy66]

I have an off the wall question.
We’ve seen players of note go on to become coaches/managers, and even team front office officials. Have any players that would be recognized become game officials after their playing career?

I thought I read recently that there were a few former players working on their ref certs. But then again it could have been in the NFL or the NBA...

It doesn't feel like any do though.

This happens in the NHL. I remember when the Avalanche played their first home game ever in Colorado they showed the last time the ref had been in Denver for an NHL game and he was a player being kicked out the game for brawling.

-QG

 

[QuizGuy66]

And yeah I am irked as all hell for GGG making me have to do scenarios when the scenario shoulda just been two sentences. Stand by.

-QG

 

[NewlyRetired]

You guys honestly think it's the coach and not the players? Or the culture?

does the US even have a top... 100... player in the world?

Pulisic easily is. Might even be close to top 50. He was a better player than Leao this season on Milan and Leao is typically ranked in the top 30 in the world.

Jedi might not be top 100 in the world, but he would very likely have started for England this summer had he chosen to stay with England, and that is one of the top ranked teams in the world.

in terms i can understand, and maybe you don't follow basketball so someone else might want to weigh in too, what is the world stage equivalent of USA soccer in basketball?

are they... Canada? Italy?

I follow basketball second only to soccer.

You can't make this comparison because while basketball is doing well world wide, they are simply no where near the depth of quality that there is in soccer all over the world in terms of numbers of countries that are good.

Look at these two tournaments this summer and you can see teams ranked in the 40's and 50's beating teams ranked SIGNIFICANTLY higher.

If you want to go purely by rankings, the US in soccer is currently ranked 11th. The 11th ranked team in FIBA is Slovenia.

 

[scoobus]

You guys honestly think it's the coach and not the players? Or the culture?

does the US even have a top... 100... player in the world?

Pulisic easily is. Might even be close to top 50. He was a better player than Leao this season on Milan and Leao is typically ranked in the top 30 in the world.

Jedi might not be top 100 in the world, but he would very likely have started for England this summer had he chosen to stay with England, and that is one of the top ranked teams in the world.

in terms i can understand, and maybe you don't follow basketball so someone else might want to weigh in too, what is the world stage equivalent of USA soccer in basketball?

are they... Canada? Italy?

I follow basketball second only to soccer.

You can't make this comparison because while basketball is doing well world wide, they are simply no where near the depth of quality that there is in soccer all over the world in terms of numbers of countries that are good.

Look at these two tournaments this summer and you can see teams ranked in the 40's and 50's beating teams ranked SIGNIFICANTLY higher.

If you want to go purely by rankings, the US in soccer is currently ranked 11th. The 11th ranked team in FIBA is Slovenia.

Pulisic is Luka Doncic!

 

[NewlyRetired]

So, it's kind of crazy to think about, but Weah's split second stupid decision to put his hands to the Panamanian's head could literally affect the entire US soccer program for the next few years. That one event.

If the US crashes out of the group stage, GGG gets fired, the US loses chances to get meaningful matches in the next 2 years, all of this could affect what happens in our home turf World Cup that is 2 short years away and potentially longer (i.e. players that may or may not decide to join the USMNT, poor showing, etc).

It's really kind of insane how big of an impact that one act could have on SO many.

it is scary when you lay it out like that but I guess there is always a domino that has to fall first.

The one thing we don't know (and it one of the great things about following any sport) is that it is impossible to know how any of this will turn out in WC2026.

 

[Major]

You guys honestly think it's the coach and not the players? Or the culture?

does the US even have a top... 100... player in the world?

Pulisic easily is. Might even be close to top 50. He was a better player than Leao this season on Milan and Leao is typically ranked in the top 30 in the world.

Jedi might not be top 100 in the world, but he would very likely have started for England this summer had he chosen to stay with England, and that is one of the top ranked teams in the world.

in terms i can understand, and maybe you don't follow basketball so someone else might want to weigh in too, what is the world stage equivalent of USA soccer in basketball?

are they... Canada? Italy?

I follow basketball second only to soccer.

You can't make this comparison because while basketball is doing well world wide, they are simply no where near the depth of quality that there is in soccer all over the world in terms of numbers of countries that are good.

Look at these two tournaments this summer and you can see teams ranked in the 40's and 50's beating teams ranked SIGNIFICANTLY higher.

If you want to go purely by rankings, the US in soccer is currently ranked 11th. The 11th ranked team in FIBA is Slovenia.

Agree that it's a tough comparison. One thing for sure is a country this size should be much better considering how much focus has been put on developing US Soccer the past 30-40 years

 

[prefontaine]

You guys honestly think it's the coach and not the players? Or the culture?

Yes. I do. I think many other coaches would get more out of this team.

I think that's delusional.

why?

Because it's never been a solution to out problem, sir. What coach do you think makes this team better?

I'm not really sure the point you are trying to make.

Good coaches elevate players. Good coaches make teams better than the sum of their parts. This transcends all sports. And often - across all sports - removing a coach that isn't getting it done can and does result in quick improvement.

Well if it is as simple as that then the US should hire a good coach to elevate this team. Not sure why they didn't come to that conclusion earlier.

Exactly! Our National Team shouldn't have to settle for a guy whose resume was having a 74-49-70 record with a +5 GD over 5 years of MLS. But here we are.

 

[NewlyRetired]

So taking a step back............

Lets play this scenario out..............

US beats Uruguay but does not get out of the group.

Does US soccer instantly fire GGG (like would happen any where else in the world), or do they say "6 points and the Weah red card is enough such that GGG can continue"?

A loss to Uruguay and I think/hope there would be almost zero discussion but if the US do get 6 points in the group, and given the Weah red card it would not shock me that they hesitate even if the fan base would not............

 

[El Floppo]

You guys honestly think it's the coach and not the players? Or the culture?

depends on the question I guess.

Do you think the US should be a top 5 team? if so then it is all on the players as no coach can turn this group of players into a top 5 team.

If you think the US is doing slightly worse than the quality of the players says we should be (based on where and how they play in Europe), then it is more on the coach.

Culture has little to do with it, IMO. Johnny, Musah, Dest, Balogun, Jedi, CCV, Lund, Musah, Tillman and others were developed outside the US in the best soccer cultures on the planet. Pulisic and McKennie both spent time overseas as young players and Pulisic went pro extremely young.

The pay to play model here is a problem but if we are sending out our best and brightest to train overseas and this is the result, now what?

It's not working. Nothing has worked. Not in our lifetimes, not in any lifetimes. I thought we were an improved squad....not after what I witnessed today. Same **** different players, different coaches.

That was an embarrassing performance today. I don't blame the coach, this is who we are this is who we have been.

MLS academies are basically 10 years old. They're not a lifetime or historical existent.

Those are and will be training our kids to be pros... Not the suburban pay to play system we grew up with that's still prevalent do so many kids.

Other countries have had these for over 100 years. We have basically one generation of kids just coming through.

 

[The Gator]

Some one mentioned this and it made me completely rethink my stance.

While on the surface, the Dest red was clearly "dumber", when you factor in the game/tournament states at the time of the red, I think Weah's is far far dumber.

Dest took the red with, I think, a 4 goal lead.
Weah took the red at 0-0, knowing that the US's hardest game was to come and Panama's easiest game was to come.

Since this is on topic, could you please link the Dest red for those of us (me) out of the loop?

however, by your context here, Weah's has to be worse. That was devastating

The Dest red card, on the surface, was one of the worst red cards in history....

Watch his teammates here:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

Because he blew a kiss at the ref for a second yellow?

 

[prefontaine]

So taking a step back............

Lets play this scenario out..............

US beats Uruguay but does not get out of the group.

Does US soccer instantly fire GGG (like would happen any where else in the world), or do they say "6 points and the Weah red card is enough such that GGG can continue"?

A loss to Uruguay and I think/hope there would be almost zero discussion but if the US do get 6 points in the group, and given the Weah red card it would not shock me that they hesitate even if the fan base would not............

50-50 imo

He hasn't even been in the job a year. I think the inertia to doing nothing is strong and if they have a good excuse, they'll take it.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Agree that it's a tough comparison. One thing for sure is for a country this size and how much focus has been put on developing US Soccer the past 30-40 years, they should be much better.

Your timeline is off IMO.

The focus on real development did not start in earnest until roughly 2010, which is when a majority of MLS teams started to add in the academy structure.

40 years ago (1984) there was no outdoor pro soccer in the US
30 years ago (1994), MLS was not even in existence yet, much less having any real development structure which would take another 15+ years to get started. The total number of real pro teams in the US was 0 at this time.

 

[QuizGuy66]

-QG

 

[NewlyRetired]

So taking a step back............

Lets play this scenario out..............

US beats Uruguay but does not get out of the group.

Does US soccer instantly fire GGG (like would happen any where else in the world), or do they say "6 points and the Weah red card is enough such that GGG can continue"?

A loss to Uruguay and I think/hope there would be almost zero discussion but if the US do get 6 points in the group, and given the Weah red card it would not shock me that they hesitate even if the fan base would not............

50-50 imo

He hasn't even been in the job a year. I think the inertia to doing nothing is strong and if they have a good excuse, they'll take it.

I agree on the 50-50.

I don't agree on the only been on the job a year. I think if and when a decision will be made, they will take a look at all his time coaching the US (5 years now).

 

[Capella]

the US crashes out of the group stage, GGG gets fired, the US loses chances to get meaningful matches in the next 2 years,

Are you just referring to the knockout stages of this tourney?

 

[Major]

Agree that it's a tough comparison. One thing for sure is for a country this size and how much focus has been put on developing US Soccer the past 30-40 years, they should be much better.

Your timeline is off IMO.

The focus on real development did not start in earnest until roughly 2010, which is when a majority of MLS teams started to add in the academy structure.

40 years ago (1984) there was no outdoor pro soccer in the US
30 years ago, MLS was not even in existence yet, much less having any real development which would take another 15+ years to get started. The total number of real pro teams in the US was 0 at this time.

I'm speaking more to our performance in the 1994 World Cup and how we were supposedly an up and coming soccer nation. Doesn't seem like much has changed in terms of results.

 

[Capella]

You guys honestly think it's the coach and not the players? Or the culture?

does the US even have a top... 100... player in the world?

Pulisic easily is. Might even be close to top 50. He was a better player than Leao this season on Milan and Leao is typically ranked in the top 30 in the world.

Jedi might not be top 100 in the world, but he would very likely have started for England this summer had he chosen to stay with England, and that is one of the top ranked teams in the world.

in terms i can understand, and maybe you don't follow basketball so someone else might want to weigh in too, what is the world stage equivalent of USA soccer in basketball?

are they... Canada? Italy?

There aren’t that many good international hoops teams but to answer your question we are definitely the Clippers.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Some one mentioned this and it made me completely rethink my stance.

While on the surface, the Dest red was clearly "dumber", when you factor in the game/tournament states at the time of the red, I think Weah's is far far dumber.

Dest took the red with, I think, a 4 goal lead.
Weah took the red at 0-0, knowing that the US's hardest game was to come and Panama's easiest game was to come.

Since this is on topic, could you please link the Dest red for those of us (me) out of the loop?

however, by your context here, Weah's has to be worse. That was devastating

The Dest red card, on the surface, was one of the worst red cards in history....

Watch his teammates here:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

Because he blew a kiss at the ref for a second yellow?

I mean it is so good on so many levels.

And god knows what he was saying to the ref as well. I mean friggan Gio was trying to be the level headed team mate for gods sake

I have never seen Ream so mad...

 

[El Floppo]

Agree that it's a tough comparison. One thing for sure is for a country this size and how much focus has been put on developing US Soccer the past 30-40 years, they should be much better.

Your timeline is off IMO.

The focus on real development did not start in earnest until roughly 2010, which is when a majority of MLS teams started to add in the academy structure.

40 years ago (1984) there was no outdoor pro soccer in the US
30 years ago, MLS was not even in existence yet, much less having any real development which would take another 15+ years to get started. The total number of real pro teams in the US was 0 at this time.

Exactly. I graduated in 91. There wasn't a pro league for me to play in even if I'd been good enough. And Guys playing in MLS weren't even really making a living until recently.

The interst and money that's coming into the league and sport the last 10 years is massive and growing continuously. That, coupled with the academy growth will create the change weve all been waiting for.

But becoming Brazil, Arg or Germany... Even with all of the good changes, who knows if we'll ever get there. And if so, probably not in my lifetime.

 

[prefontaine]

So taking a step back............

Lets play this scenario out..............

US beats Uruguay but does not get out of the group.

Does US soccer instantly fire GGG (like would happen any where else in the world), or do they say "6 points and the Weah red card is enough such that GGG can continue"?

A loss to Uruguay and I think/hope there would be almost zero discussion but if the US do get 6 points in the group, and given the Weah red card it would not shock me that they hesitate even if the fan base would not............

50-50 imo

He hasn't even been in the job a year. I think the inertia to doing nothing is strong and if they have a good excuse, they'll take it.

I agree on the 50-50.

I don't agree on the only been on the job a year. I think if and when a decision will be made, they will take a look at all his time coaching the US (5 years now).

They should and that will be the talking points.

But Crocker firing him is a bad look given he made the decision to hire him so recently. I think whether he ever admits it, there is going to be a psychological barrier here. If he was already coach when Crocker started, he'd be much faster to pull the trigger.

 

[NewlyRetired]

I'm speaking more to our performance in the 1994 World Cup and how we were supposedly an up and coming soccer nation.

you originally mentioned development, which is what I was referring to. Long term development is significantly different than performance in a short form tournament.

That US team finished 3rd in its group and lost in the first knock out round game (to Brazil).

They put up an amazing performance considering the vast majority of the team was not even real pros at the time. But to reiterate, none of that had to do with developing players. That was lightning in a bottle that happens from time to time in short form tournaments like the World Cup or NCAA basketball. But it is rarely a leading indicator.

 

[NewlyRetired]

But becoming Brazil, Arg or Germany... Even with all of the good changes, who knows if we'll ever get there. And if so, probably not in my lifetime.

I am older than most so it absolutely won't happen in my lifetime.

What many seem to forget is that while we are improving, every other nation is not just sitting idle doing nothing. Many many counties are improving their infrastructure and development both at the top and in the mid tier.

What this is going to cause is a HUGE log jam of where teams ranked from 15 to 45 are going to be interchangeable almost every cycle.

My goal before I die would be to feel like the team was a legit top 10 team, and not just ranked high because we win a ton of games against Concacaf teams.

 

[El Floppo]

As a soccer nerd who grew up playing at as high a level as I could find here and who's only sports team is the UsMNT, my continuous goal is to see them get better in how they impose themselves in games and are able to have some flair and skill while doing so.

I look at a lot of the lineup and see that happening. Unfortunately, there's really been no difference in results (outside of vs Mexico). I'm not always a results driven guy, but dammit- without WCQ and these players hitting their peak ages, this Copa was more about results than ever for me. Show you can win ugly and do the things the lesser talented (depth wise) US teams did to get their wins through grit and determination along with a modicum of skill.

 

[Major]

I'm speaking more to our performance in the 1994 World Cup and how we were supposedly an up and coming soccer nation.

you originally mentioned development, which is what I was referring to. Development is significantly different than performance in a short form tournament.

That US team finished 3rd in its group and lost in the first knock out round game (to Brazil).

They put up an amazing performance considering the vast majority of the team was not even real pros at the time. But to reiterate, none of that had to do with developing players. That was lightning in a bottle that happens from time to time in short form tournaments like the World Cup or NCAA basketball. But it is rarely a leading indicator.

I guess but I measure success largely based on results. It seemed like we were making progress back then. 2002 felt good and and I thought we were on the verge of a breakthrough but nope. 20 years later, same ol bs.

 

[The Gator]

You guys honestly think it's the coach and not the players? Or the culture?

does the US even have a top... 100... player in the world?

Pulisic easily is. Might even be close to top 50. He was a better player than Leao this season on Milan and Leao is typically ranked in the top 30 in the world.

Jedi might not be top 100 in the world, but he would very likely have started for England this summer had he chosen to stay with England, and that is one of the top ranked teams in the world.

in terms i can understand

Ohhh boy.

 

[El Floppo]

But becoming Brazil, Arg or Germany... Even with all of the good changes, who knows if we'll ever get there. And if so, probably not in my lifetime.

I am older than most so it absolutely won't happen in my lifetime.

What many seem to forget is that while we are improving, every other nation is not just sitting idle doing nothing. Many many counties are improving their infrastructure and development both at the top and in the mid tier.

What this is going to cause is a HUGE log jam of where teams ranked from 15 to 45 are going to be interchangeable almost every cycle.

My goal before I die would be to feel like the team was a legit top 10 team, and not just ranked high because we win a ton of games against Concacaf teams.

Agree. And I think what I payed out puts us there. Up to some lucky similarly timed genetics to get a genuine golden generation together... Or superstar level guy like Mbappe or god forbid Messi.

But we're solidly and deservedly in that 10-45 cluster, and capable of beating any team out there on a given day IMHO... If the stars align.

 

[NewlyRetired]

I look at a lot of the lineup and see that happening. Unfortunately, there's really been no difference in results (outside of vs Mexico). I'm not always a results driven guy, but dammit- without WCQ and these players hitting their peak ages, this Copa was more about results than ever for me. Show you can win ugly and do the things the lesser talented (depth wise) US teams did to get their wins through grit and determination along with a modicum of skill.

We do seem to be in that very uneasy middle position of being too good to bunker and not really being good enough to dominate posession.

Old US teams did not give a **** about how they played in terms of beauty. This is what allowed donkeys like Lalas, Hejduk and others prosper with very little skill. They played as tight a low block as possible and countered, and let the Donovan's and Dempsey's do what they could.

Now we play out of the back like we are Spain, and I get a heart attack every time someone other than Ream tries to break a line.

 

[El Floppo]

I've been bashing Richards, because... Damn.

But he's defended well at least. CCV otoh... Basta cosi. No mas.

 

[Major]

Up to some lucky similarly timed genetics to get a genuine golden generation together... Or superstar level guy like Mbappe or god forbid Messi.

Freddy Adu!!!!!!!