The Z Machine
Footballguy
That's also likely due to youth and inexperience. And Shaq Moore.
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***Official 2022 World Cup Thread*** (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter gianmarco
- Start date
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
MLS has already bought into the model. Weston, Adams, Pepi, Yedlin, Ream, Scally, Aaronson, Turner and many many others all took the MLS to Europe path. The league is making a ton of money off of these transfer now and that is only going to fuel more investment in development which raises all boats.
I am 100% sure there are coaches that would have done better and I am 100% sure there would have been coaches who would have face planted with the combination of the historic level injuries during qualifying and the historic youth of the team. It is no coincidence that we advanced with our healthiest team ever.
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
I think the frauds come out when they start mentioning Brooks.
They have no idea that the guys career is toast at this point. He has played an entire 3 minutes (which includes all of preseason) since last May. No one wanted to sign him and when one team finally said "lets see if there is anything here", he can't get a minute in a league no better than MLS.
B Maverick
Footballguy
Thanks. I thought they had and I do think it will benefit everyone in the long run.
Dinsy Ejotuz
Footballguy
Amen. Take it to the corner Haji!
CletiusMaximus
Footballguy
All that beautiful empty green grass in the corners he could go to and play with his ball for minutes and minutes ...
gianmarco
Footballguy
Ramsay Hunt Experience
Footballguy
To be fair, I'm not sure I understand Quieroz's strategy of just pinging long balls at a guy who eats up aerial balls like Milk Duds.
Dinsy Ejotuz
Footballguy
Great if true.
AAABatteries
Footballguy
He might have thought it was too soon - didn’t want to make Captain America subconscious
#GetWellSoonCaptainAmericasTestes
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
Absolutely. He was at an angle on his weak foot, no reason to shoot that. He should have taken to the corner and drawn a foul or got a corner.
Spartans Rule
Footballguy
Moore is actually a good argument against the idea that everybody's got to go to Europe, considering he spent the bulk of the last 7 years playing in Spain, a lot of it at lower levels. Judging by this World Cup it doesn't seem like Levante and Tenerife did wonders for his game.
Ramsay Hunt Experience
Footballguy
You have Saka, Ramsdale, and Ben White. We're good.
To say nothing of the fact that John Brooks has been disastrous in two straight qualifying campaigns for the USMNT. Even at his best, he put up a stinker about every four games for Wolfsburg. He's never been consistent. And his best skillset (passing) is kind of redundant now because Yunus Musah is a freakin' ball-progression wizard.
Brooks's US reputation lays entirely on a set piece as a substitute against Ghana and two very good games against middling South American teams at the Copa Centenario.
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
Haji is another guy who may have benefitted from an MLS development path.
Although in the end some players either have it or don’t no matter what their path.
FreeBaGeL
Footballguy
I disagree here.
What you've said was true for the US for the last 100 years. But this team is supposed to be different. And when given the freedom to be as much, they've lived up to it in this tournament everywhere other than the final touch.
Yeah, back when our best player logged some minutes at Fulham in club play and we were trying to go up against Champions League players it made sense to hunker down and hope we could get a lucky header on a set piece.
But now we HAVE the Champions League caliber players. That goal today was Juventus passing to Barca/AC Milan passing to Chelsea for the finisher. We have the quality to at least try and play these teams straight up, and to NOT have a game with Iran come down to hoping the ref doesn't get antsy with his whistle at the end. This team is too good to sit 11 guys in the box against Iran and hope that the ball bounces the right way for 20 minutes.
Our midfield dominated England's. I feel like I have to repeat that because I never thought I'd say it. Our midfield dominated England's. We came out a little scared early but took control of that game.
But most importantly, this is supposed to be our golden generation. We have HUGE expectations in 2026. If we're just going to play the same "play defense and hope we can win a set piece" we've been doing for generations, then what's the point? Yes, it's not 2026 yet but these are mostly the same guys that will be doing it then. Let's see what they've got. If these guys are really good enough to make a run in 2026 then they are good enough to play a game straight up with the Netherlands now. No point in having them play like US teams of old (which these guys actually kind of suck at). Maybe Netherlands will run us off the pitch, but at least then we'll know. We can go back to the old ways when our team sucks again.
Dinsy Ejotuz
Footballguy
I'm talking about how we've played in this tournament.
Mookie
Footballguy
And we hired a set piece coach, who presumably said in his first meeting with the team, "Rule #1 is to hit the ball over or past the first defender". That's U-8 level coaching right there!
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
it has been that way too, all through out qualifying. We had one brief spell where we looked competent last spring in the nations league games but since then, I think there was only 1 game in all of qualifying where we scored on a set piece (which used to be a staple for the US team).
At the very least we have been good against set pieces so far. There was nothing Turner could do on the PK, which is the only goal we gave up over three games against top 20 teams in the world.
TLEF316
Footballguy
This. And this is partially why qualifying was so damn frustrating. Despite having a HUGE talent advantage in 10/14 games (the 4 against Canada and Mexico being the outliers obviously), Greg constantly set us up to try and grind out the bare minimum results. I get it.....crappy fields....crappy weather....crappy officiating...and we had a LOT of injuries. Anything can happen in CONCACAF. But it just seems like we never went into a game with the attitude that we're much more talented and would go out and prove it.
Our talent pool is past the point of being happy about a draw at Honduras or El Salvador. And we should be beyond the point of having to hold on by the skin of our teeth against Iran. Iran are a well organized team with SOME talent, but I didn't see anyone out there with game-changing quality. And we played scared against them instead of going for the jugular. Greg called off the dogs WAY too early (and made at least 2 HORRENDOUS subs with Shaq and Haji) and it almost burned us
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
I thought this game was an interesting litmus test for the sport.
If you had a stake in this game as a fan, it was literally heart stopping excitement. If you were a complete neutral and not a fan of soccer, the game may have seemed a little dull.
If you had a stake in this game as a fan, it was literally heart stopping excitement. If you were a complete neutral and not a fan of soccer, the game may have seemed a little dull.
Desert_Power
Footballguy
Can't believe we didn't go for the corner in the 99th minute.
Capella
Footballguy
That was insane. I was yelling at the TV.
culdeus
Footballguy
What means this
I know non-positive comments are often not well received so I say this with hesitation, but for me, as a total noob, but someone that could be brought into the fold, the words above are a big deal.
It's surprising, and a bit sad honestly, to put this much effort into soccer and we're at a point where we're thrilled to tie a country with 3 million people. Or to have to eke out a win against Iran. Is that American delusion or stupidity? Maybe. But my honest opinion is it seems frustrating we're still at the point of being happy with a draw at Honduras.
DA RAIDERS
Footballguy
dribble into the corner and let the defender kick you until he fouls you or kicks it out of bounds. it's a time wasting trick
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
At the end of a game, a common tactic to help kill the clock when winning is to dribble to the other teams corner flag and try and draw a foul or corner kick. Haji instead took the weak shot instead of taking it to the corner which allowed them one last attack up the field. He should have killed the game off by taking to the corner.
The Gator
Footballguy
I started looking around for things to break.
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
I know non-positive comments are often not well received so I say this with hesitation, but for me, as a total noob, but someone that could be brought into the fold, the words above are a big deal.
It's surprising, and a bit sad honestly, to put this much effort into soccer and we're at a point where we're thrilled to tie a country with 3 million people. Or to have to eke out a win against Iran. Is that American delusion or stupidity? Maybe. But my honest opinion is it seems frustrating we're still at the point of being happy with a draw at Honduras.
Population and soccer skill have very little to do with each other.
China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Bangledesh are all massive countries and all are poor at soccer.
=====
Iran was a top 20 team with effectively a home field advantage. This was a solid win for a very young US team.
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AAABatteries
Footballguy
That was a glaring “we are young and it shows” moment.
But damn - I still have a huge smile on my face. One of the youngest sides in Qatar and we just made the round of 16. We get to measure ourselves against a top 10 in the world side that we appear to match up well with. Forget GGG, forget our #9 issues, forget Shaq Moore - let’s ****ing go!
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
Brunell4MVP
Footballguy
DA RAIDERS
Footballguy
population size is an excuse. other counties have been solely focused on soccer for...ever. the US has sorta been focused on it since 84. a more serious focus for 20ish years. for many of these countries, to wear the uniform and go to the world cup is the highest possible sporting achievement. it means everything to them. and they play like it.
I know non-positive comments are often not well received so I say this with hesitation, but for me, as a total noob, but someone that could be brought into the fold, the words above are a big deal.
It's surprising, and a bit sad honestly, to put this much effort into soccer and we're at a point where we're thrilled to tie a country with 3 million people. Or to have to eke out a win against Iran. Is that American delusion or stupidity? Maybe. But my honest opinion is it seems frustrating we're still at the point of being happy with a draw at Honduras.
i was in a little bar in buenos aires in 98 ,for eng/arg. arg HATES England. the entire country shut down for the game. arg won. the glorious jubilation was unreal. nothing in the US rivals that passion. nothing.
The Z Machine
Footballguy
Agreed. When a whole nation has a seething hatred for another country due to some long standing (or even recent) events like the Germans rolling through Belgium twice... the feelings are palpable. The joy at getting one over a rival like that is immense.
The Gator
Footballguy
I know non-positive comments are often not well received so I say this with hesitation, but for me, as a total noob, but someone that could be brought into the fold, the words above are a big deal.
It's surprising, and a bit sad honestly, to put this much effort into soccer and we're at a point where we're thrilled to tie a country with 3 million people. Or to have to eke out a win against Iran. Is that American delusion or stupidity? Maybe. But my honest opinion is it seems frustrating we're still at the point of being happy with a draw at Honduras.
We just started the youngest 11 in the WC while fielding the second youngest squad at the WC. We outplayed England, who were just in the Euro Final and one of the top favorites here. Our captain is 23 years old and the attacking young talent is amazing. The passing and moves that were attempted today were great to see. Of course many didn't come off, but they have the instinct to try them. That has not been the norm in the past.
The future is as bright as it's ever been imo
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
I know non-positive comments are often not well received so I say this with hesitation, but for me, as a total noob, but someone that could be brought into the fold, the words above are a big deal.
It's surprising, and a bit sad honestly, to put this much effort into soccer and we're at a point where we're thrilled to tie a country with 3 million people. Or to have to eke out a win against Iran. Is that American delusion or stupidity? Maybe. But my honest opinion is it seems frustrating we're still at the point of being happy with a draw at Honduras.
We just started the youngest 11 in the WC while fielding the second youngest squad at the WC. We outplayed England, who were just in the Euro Final and one of the top favorites here. Our captain is 23 years old and the attacking young talent is amazing. The passing and moves that were attempted today were great to see. Of course many didn't come off, but they have the instinct to try them. That has not been the norm in the past.
The future is as bright as it's ever been imo
Also worth noting that non/new fans don't quite look at it like we do. While we all want the team to do well, I think we all know this a dress rehearsal for 2026 given the age of the team.
Any experience we pick up here is only going to feed into the next cycle (which hopefully US Soccer does not botch since we need to find as many competitive games as possible with out qualifying being in the picture).
Capella
Footballguy
I know non-positive comments are often not well received so I say this with hesitation, but for me, as a total noob, but someone that could be brought into the fold, the words above are a big deal.
It's surprising, and a bit sad honestly, to put this much effort into soccer and we're at a point where we're thrilled to tie a country with 3 million people. Or to have to eke out a win against Iran. Is that American delusion or stupidity? Maybe. But my honest opinion is it seems frustrating we're still at the point of being happy with a draw at Honduras.
We just started the youngest 11 in the WC while fielding the second youngest squad at the WC. We outplayed England, who were just in the Euro Final and one of the top favorites here. Our captain is 23 years old and the attacking young talent is amazing. The passing and moves that were attempted today were great to see. Of course many didn't come off, but they have the instinct to try them. That has not been the norm in the past.
The future is as bright as it's ever been imo
Yup. The amount of talent now compared to 2014 is absolutely unbelievable. Hard to believe it’s even the same national team.
gianmarco
Footballguy
First of all, for the match today, it was a HUGE pressure situation for a very young team. They got the goal for the win and then were focused on defense. Still a huge win. And we didn't "eke" out the win despite winning 1-0. We created a ton of chances in the first half and were literally inches away from being up 2-0 at the half, which also completely changed the complexion of the game.
I know non-positive comments are often not well received so I say this with hesitation, but for me, as a total noob, but someone that could be brought into the fold, the words above are a big deal.
It's surprising, and a bit sad honestly, to put this much effort into soccer and we're at a point where we're thrilled to tie a country with 3 million people. Or to have to eke out a win against Iran. Is that American delusion or stupidity? Maybe. But my honest opinion is it seems frustrating we're still at the point of being happy with a draw at Honduras.
However, in our last match against England, one of the top 5 countries in the world right now with an insane amount of talent, we didn't just "eke" out a draw. We played with them and outplayed them for much of the match. We shut down a world class midfield of theirs.
Per rankings, our group was the toughest group out of all 8 World Cup groups and we came out with 5 points and allowed 1 goal in 3 matches. And that goal was a penalty kick (and a stupid foul at that that wasn't even necessary with 10 minutes left).
Considering our youth, this is already a massive achievement. Ask Italy who has now missed the last 2 World Cups. Or Germany, who sits in last place in their group. Or Argentina, who were facing elimination after their 1st match if they didn't win this last one (and still have work to do). Or Belgium, another top tier country currently sitting in 3rd in their group. And there's plenty more...
This is hopefully the tip of the iceberg, but USA soccer has made huge strides in a very short amount of time (last 5-10 years) that's going to pay dividends moving forward. We are seeing glimpses of that now. We are competing against countries that have had soccer systems/development in place for decades and we are just starting to match that. Where they had kids at the age of 16 or 17 developing with top clubs, we historically had none until they went off to college or beyond. We are now following the same blueprint. In another 5-10 years, we may be in the same conversation as countries like England, France, Brazil, Germany, Argentina, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Belgium....
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Dinsy Ejotuz
Footballguy
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
the best jokes have a ring of truth to them.
I bet many of the GGG haters would have preferred the US fail than to see the team succeed so that they could play the "nah nah nah I told you so" game.
Sand
Footballguy
Iran was ranked 20th in the world - they were no pushover. Seriously, this was a good win. The US was in the group of death in this WC and we made it out. It's quite likely we'll be the only CONCACAF team to make it out. I'm proud of those guys. I recall Italy, a number of times (when they were WC favorites), just barely getting out of group play and then charging on. The knockout rounds are a very different beast and we'll see what happens when we turn the youngest group out there loose to have to win again.
I know non-positive comments are often not well received so I say this with hesitation, but for me, as a total noob, but someone that could be brought into the fold, the words above are a big deal.
It's surprising, and a bit sad honestly, to put this much effort into soccer and we're at a point where we're thrilled to tie a country with 3 million people. Or to have to eke out a win against Iran. Is that American delusion or stupidity? Maybe. But my honest opinion is it seems frustrating we're still at the point of being happy with a draw at Honduras.
BTW, we're not happy tying Honduras, or Wales for that matter. We're happy tying England. And we outplayed England, a team worth 1 Billion more than the US squad.
P.S. The Dutch are a great draw. They're good, but not France, Brazil, or Spain good. We have a great shot.
Sand
Footballguy
Croatia was in the finals last time. Population 4 million. (And they were that good)population size is an excuse. other counties have been solely focused on soccer for...ever. the US has sorta been focused on it since 84. a more serious focus for 20ish years. for many of these countries, to wear the uniform and go to the world cup is the highest possible sporting achievement. it means everything to them. and they play like it.
I know non-positive comments are often not well received so I say this with hesitation, but for me, as a total noob, but someone that could be brought into the fold, the words above are a big deal.
It's surprising, and a bit sad honestly, to put this much effort into soccer and we're at a point where we're thrilled to tie a country with 3 million people. Or to have to eke out a win against Iran. Is that American delusion or stupidity? Maybe. But my honest opinion is it seems frustrating we're still at the point of being happy with a draw at Honduras.
i was in a little bar in buenos aires in 98 ,for eng/arg. arg HATES England. the entire country shut down for the game. arg won. the glorious jubilation was unreal. nothing in the US rivals that passion. nothing.
massraider
Footballguy
There will only be one winner of the World Cup, but many countries will have a good World Cup.
If you can only enjoy the sport if your team is a title contender every year, soccer might not be for you.
If you can only enjoy the sport if your team is a title contender every year, soccer might not be for you.
Sand
Footballguy
If that was the case the stadium in Detroit would have been empty for the last few decades.
Desert_Power
Footballguy
Start hiding lamps.
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
Have you guys seen the various twitter videos of the people in Tehran celebrating the US victory? I fear that may not end well :(
Steve Tasker
Footballguy
Finally turned my phone on after 7.5 hours of avoiding spoilers. Not too bad today, fellas.
