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US Men's National Team (4 Viewers)
- Thread starter Premier
- Start date
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
Early 1-0 lead for the US U23's against Japan
BassNBrew
Footballguy
These look like high school kids (not referring to their skills)Early 1-0 lead for the US U23's against Japan
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
I am ashamed to say I had the identical thought during the second half 
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watke
@watke_
Only real negative was our ball children were getting the ball to Ghana too fast on their throw ins. I understand, big lead, just a friendly, but it's about building habits and treating every rep like it's the world cup
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watke
@watke_
Only real negative was our ball children were getting the ball to Ghana too fast on their throw ins. I understand, big lead, just a friendly, but it's about building habits and treating every rep like it's the world cup
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
The 8 quarter finalists for Nations League are US, Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Panama, Honduras, and T&T. The US is likely to play one of the last 4 teams I listed in the QF's but need to wait until the October rankings are complete.
The US will play in a 2 game series in the QF's for the right to qualify for Copa America in 2024.
If they lose this series, they will still have one more chance to qualify but lets not even consider that. Qualifying for Copa America should be paramount next month.
Both games of the series will be played in late November.
I am not sure when the draw will happen.
The US will play in a 2 game series in the QF's for the right to qualify for Copa America in 2024.
If they lose this series, they will still have one more chance to qualify but lets not even consider that. Qualifying for Copa America should be paramount next month.
Both games of the series will be played in late November.
I am not sure when the draw will happen.
El Floppo
Footballguy
I thought it too.I am ashamed to say I had the identical thought during the second half
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watke
@watke_
Only real negative was our ball children were getting the ball to Ghana too fast on their throw ins. I understand, big lead, just a friendly, but it's about building habits and treating every rep like it's the world cup
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
US up 3-1 over Japan now. Paxten and Aidin Morris with the second and third goals. Here is the second
PIK95
Footballguy
Mine does. Freshman on JV and Club. At least the parents behave on the sidelines, unlike most of the other sports.
BassNBrew
Footballguy
Not a draw.
Quarter-finals[edit]
The first legs will be played on 16 and 17 November, and the second legs will be played on 20 and 21 November 2023.| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fourth ranked seeded team | QF1 | Best ranked group winner | 16–17 Nov | 20–21 Nov |
| Third ranked seeded team | QF2 | Worst ranked group winner | 16–17 Nov | 20–21 Nov |
| Second ranked seeded team | QF3 | Best ranked group runner-up | 16–17 Nov | 20–21 Nov |
| First ranked seeded team | QF4 | Worst ranked group runner-up | 16–17 Nov | 20–21 Nov |
I believe we play Honduras
Member AssociationTricodePositionPoints+/-1
MexicoMEX1,954-132
United StatesUSA1,917+133
CanadaCAN1,73804
PanamaPAN1,723+45
Costa RicaCRC1,676-106
JamaicaJAM1,530+87
HaitiHAI1,457-38
GuatemalaGUA1,449+289
HondurasHON1,407-1710
Trinidad & TobagoTRI1,334+6611
MartiniqueMTQ1,298+1012
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
The only thing I can think of besides the formulas being different is that there are 6 CONCACAF teams that are not FIFA members and it throws things off a bit.
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
Looks like it will be T&T for the matchup to get into Copa America
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Steven Goff
@SoccerInsider
Concacaf rankings for Oct, which affects Nations League seeding for teams receiving byes to quarterfinals, are now locked in:
1. MEX 2. USA 3. CAN 4. CRC
Qualifiers, in order of points: PAN, JAM, TRI, HON
So as discussed last night, we're expecting these two-leg matchups next month:
MEX v HON
USA v TRI
CAN v JAM
CRC v PAN
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Steven Goff
@SoccerInsider
Concacaf rankings for Oct, which affects Nations League seeding for teams receiving byes to quarterfinals, are now locked in:
1. MEX 2. USA 3. CAN 4. CRC
Qualifiers, in order of points: PAN, JAM, TRI, HON
So as discussed last night, we're expecting these two-leg matchups next month:
MEX v HON
USA v TRI
CAN v JAM
CRC v PAN
The Z Machine
Footballguy
Hmm, a must win (set of games) against T&T you say?
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
I don't know what to make of Dest......clearly has fantastic feet at times...he must be frustrating to coach because of the Jekyll and Hyde nature of his play
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
lets hope they don't have a flooded field again
I don't know what order the games are in but I assume we would travel there for the first leg...
It will be our first visit to T&T since the fateful night, assuming the matchups are correct once Concacaf announces them.
The Z Machine
Footballguy
Knowing CONCACAF, they'll schedule it so that return leg is in Port of Spain.
Ramsay Hunt Experience
Footballguy
Also, not sure Lenny Maloney can help at the 6, but he’s absolutely the friend who will help you move out of your apartment.
gianmarco
Footballguy
Of note, Mexico got a draw against Germany yesterday, 2-2.
I was just looking at their recent schedule and, since the World Cup they've actually been on a good run of form. 13 total matches (7 friendlies and 6 Gold Cup). Only 1 loss out of 13 (1-0 to Qatar in the Gold Cup). 5 draws and 7 wins (5 in the Gold Cup).
Better than I expected to see.
Poke_4_Life
Footballguy
I was going to 'like' this, but I don't want to celebrate an injury. Hope CP takes advantage of this opportunity.
El Floppo
Footballguy
Chucky was subbing in for CP... So I don't know that it will affect his time other than giving CP a little longer leash if he has some bad form.
encaitar
Footballguy
I actually see this as a bit of a problem. I don't want Pulisic playing every game given his injury history. I doubt Milan does either. Pulisic had firmly established himself above Chukwueze and I didn't see that changing anytime soon.
Dr_Zaius
Footballguy
Also, I was hopeful that he might get some run at LW or the 10 for at least a game or two. With Chukwueze out you'd think that locks him in at RW for all of his minutes.
gianmarco
Footballguy
Interestingly enough, Weah prefers the left side. I wonder how it would work with him on the left and Pulisic on the right.
FreeBaGeL
Footballguy
So how are we feeling about the team after this set of games?
Obviously our goals are higher than ever before now, and we want to be in a place where we regularly go toe to toe with teams like Germany (who themselves haven't been going toe to toe with the best teams in Europe). I think we clearly failed on that front this weekend. That game could have easily been 5-1 or 7-1, and while the first half was better than the 2nd, several of those wide open opportunities they didn't finish were in the first half as well. Is Adams THIS important to the team where we essentially can't play like we did against England without him?
Then we flip it around the next game and look amazing against Ghana. Obviously this isn't peak Ghana, but they're still a WC quality team and we just went up 3-0 against them in the 1st half, something we haven't done against a non-Concacaf team since the 90's.
So where does that leave us? Are Reyna/Dest just dominant when we're on the front foot, but need to be on the bench when we're not? If so, do we have enough offense and creativity against the good teams? It seems like the hope here is that we're not just a turtle and counter team against the top teams anymore, but if we're taking guys like Reyna and Dest off it seems like that's what we'd be going for.
Also lots of talk about Puli/Dest/Reyna/etc this weekend, but is it just me or was Turner freaking amazing? He had one near gaff with the ball at his feet, but his distribution other than that was actually really good, which is typically a weakness. And is it just me, or was his shot stopping just absurd? He obviously had that one great save against Ghana, but how many times was he essentially 1v1 against Germany against a guy with a wide open shot and he came up with the save? Probably 4 or 5 times.
Obviously our goals are higher than ever before now, and we want to be in a place where we regularly go toe to toe with teams like Germany (who themselves haven't been going toe to toe with the best teams in Europe). I think we clearly failed on that front this weekend. That game could have easily been 5-1 or 7-1, and while the first half was better than the 2nd, several of those wide open opportunities they didn't finish were in the first half as well. Is Adams THIS important to the team where we essentially can't play like we did against England without him?
Then we flip it around the next game and look amazing against Ghana. Obviously this isn't peak Ghana, but they're still a WC quality team and we just went up 3-0 against them in the 1st half, something we haven't done against a non-Concacaf team since the 90's.
So where does that leave us? Are Reyna/Dest just dominant when we're on the front foot, but need to be on the bench when we're not? If so, do we have enough offense and creativity against the good teams? It seems like the hope here is that we're not just a turtle and counter team against the top teams anymore, but if we're taking guys like Reyna and Dest off it seems like that's what we'd be going for.
Also lots of talk about Puli/Dest/Reyna/etc this weekend, but is it just me or was Turner freaking amazing? He had one near gaff with the ball at his feet, but his distribution other than that was actually really good, which is typically a weakness. And is it just me, or was his shot stopping just absurd? He obviously had that one great save against Ghana, but how many times was he essentially 1v1 against Germany against a guy with a wide open shot and he came up with the save? Probably 4 or 5 times.
Feels like over the past few months, the gap between our best players and our backups has widened, to the point where I think an ideal 22/23 man roster is now less obvious than it was.
Roughly speaking (and depends a bit on formations), here's my thinking...
Striker - Balogun definitely starts, Pepi tentatively backs him up (Sargent could challenge Pepi once healthy)
Wing - Pulisic and Weah definitely start. To me, Aaronson has played himself out of a firm role as one of the backups, although he's still in contention. Actually seems like we're pretty thin here right now. Definitely want us to give Taylor Booth a real shot once he's healthy. Last November, he was the Eredivisie player of the month...and then followed that up with a January game that was described as 'career defining' at the time. Not really sure who else is in contention for the backup spots.
10 - Gio starts. Tillman backs him up.
8 - Musah and McKennie. Based on what I've seen of Musah lately (including AC Milan games), I'd lean towards starting him, but really depends on who else is in the lineup.
6 - Adams starts when healthy (although I'm good with Musah and McKennie when we expect to dominate possession, with Adams on the bench available to protect leads). No idea who his backup is. Johnny didn't really do anything wrong yesterday, but I thought the game was a missed opportunity for him and he just looks a bit shaky to me. Maloney didn't play for long enough to make an impression one way or the other. What is Kellyn Acosta up to these days?
LB - Jedi starts. Right now I have Lund penciled in. His technical skills seem weak, but it also seems as though he's really smart about compensating for that. Wouldn't mind moving Scally over here as the back-up, except it's not like we have a great backup at RB either.
RB - Dest starts. Scally backs him up. Maybe try swapping those roles if we expect to be unable to control possession?
CB - Richards clearly starts. Ream starts, but maybe has a short leash, since it appears that age may finally be catching up to him. CCV and Miles are the backups.
G - Turner starts. I guess Horvath is the backup right now, but I view that spot as wide open.
Roughly speaking (and depends a bit on formations), here's my thinking...
Striker - Balogun definitely starts, Pepi tentatively backs him up (Sargent could challenge Pepi once healthy)
Wing - Pulisic and Weah definitely start. To me, Aaronson has played himself out of a firm role as one of the backups, although he's still in contention. Actually seems like we're pretty thin here right now. Definitely want us to give Taylor Booth a real shot once he's healthy. Last November, he was the Eredivisie player of the month...and then followed that up with a January game that was described as 'career defining' at the time. Not really sure who else is in contention for the backup spots.
10 - Gio starts. Tillman backs him up.
8 - Musah and McKennie. Based on what I've seen of Musah lately (including AC Milan games), I'd lean towards starting him, but really depends on who else is in the lineup.
6 - Adams starts when healthy (although I'm good with Musah and McKennie when we expect to dominate possession, with Adams on the bench available to protect leads). No idea who his backup is. Johnny didn't really do anything wrong yesterday, but I thought the game was a missed opportunity for him and he just looks a bit shaky to me. Maloney didn't play for long enough to make an impression one way or the other. What is Kellyn Acosta up to these days?
LB - Jedi starts. Right now I have Lund penciled in. His technical skills seem weak, but it also seems as though he's really smart about compensating for that. Wouldn't mind moving Scally over here as the back-up, except it's not like we have a great backup at RB either.
RB - Dest starts. Scally backs him up. Maybe try swapping those roles if we expect to be unable to control possession?
CB - Richards clearly starts. Ream starts, but maybe has a short leash, since it appears that age may finally be catching up to him. CCV and Miles are the backups.
G - Turner starts. I guess Horvath is the backup right now, but I view that spot as wide open.
We missed a couple of first half opportunities as well. Shortly before his goal, Pulisic basically had the goalie one on one and was stopped
Balogun missed a relatively easy opportunity off of a cross
Dr_Zaius
Footballguy
That's an interesting thought. Pulisic has been getting some great chances off of Leao getting to the endline and putting in the cutback pass. Obviously Weah's no Leao, but maybe something similar could work?
Dr_Zaius
Footballguy
Speaking of Weah, it seemed like Dest was in front of him for an awful lot of the 2nd half versus Ghana. Wasn't he playing RB for his club last year? I'm wondering if a partial solution to Dest's defensive lapses is to have Weah share some of the right side defensive responsibilities.
gianmarco
Footballguy
Charlie Steiner
Footballguy
Finally! Someone else gets it!
He's probably too old now, but I liked what he brought to the team during the last WC qualifying cycle: work rate, solid coverage in midfield, nice touch on set pieces, and sublime ****housing skills. I think he belongs on the US's all CONCACAF squad. Maybe GGG should revisit having Acosta on the roster as a band-aid until another 6 emerges.
Ramsay Hunt Experience
Footballguy
For better or worse, the US was better against Germany when playing a 10 as well. Going back to the dual 8s just made things worse. It was too open against Germany in the first half, but having Gio between the lines at least forced Germany to deal with a lot of problems. I think part of Copa America is figuring out just how good a team we can choose to play proactively against. Because even when he isn't at his absolute best, Gio causes some big problems for defenses just by occupying spaces that make them uncomfortable.
I think the other thing the Ghana game showed us is that it's not so much that "crossing" is bad (and I"m guilty of saying this myself). It's that aimless crossing with only one receiver in the box is bad. They made a concerted effort to have at least two runners in the box against Ghana, and it made a huge difference.
I think the other thing the Ghana game showed us is that it's not so much that "crossing" is bad (and I"m guilty of saying this myself). It's that aimless crossing with only one receiver in the box is bad. They made a concerted effort to have at least two runners in the box against Ghana, and it made a huge difference.
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
oh this is VERY interesting. The top seeds were allowed to choose whether to play at home first or away first in the Nations League quarter finals. The US chose to play at home first.
Here is the full schedule:
Here is the full schedule:
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
US home leg will be in Austin.
Dinsy Ejotuz
Footballguy
I thought he looked like the bully in a 1950s teen romp.
Charlie Steiner
Footballguy
What were you looking at, butt-head?
Dinsy Ejotuz
Footballguy
Awesome to have such an easy road to a major tournament!
Dinsy Ejotuz
Footballguy
Settle down.
Dinsy Ejotuz
Footballguy
Was this already posted? It's a Sergino Dest highlight video that :checks notes: Sergino Dest put together.
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
he really is one of a kind. I can just see him doing this on the flight back to the Netherlands...and giggling to himself
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gianmarco
Footballguy
He really was excellent in that game. One of the best, if not the best, in terms of sauciness.
prefontaine
Footballguy
There are 3 guys I'd really like to see be given some time:
Kevin Paredes - he's had a few callups now but is only up to 2 caps. This seems a bit like Scally to me where a guy obviously needs chances but for some reason he never gets them. It's just weird to see Aaronson get a run out game after game but we've called Paredes in and gotten him 27 minutes total after two camps. We were up 4-0 and subbed out a wing. Is that not time to try someone new?
Luca Koleosho - I don't know what really happened here with the drama of his recruitment. Hopefully we do get him to switch because he's 19 and starting for Burnley and looking like he's going to be elite
Bernard Kamunga - remember the name.
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
I feel like a missed a story about this drama. Can you give a TL-DR?
prefontaine
Footballguy
Koleosho grew up in the US before moving to Spain to play for Espanol. Through parents he's eligible for Canada, Italy, and Nigeria. He had played in the USYNT setup and was part of the last U20 World Cup group. He was interviewed about his international options about a year and a half ago and it was pretty obvious he just wants to play for the US.
Then he got attention from Canada and was called up to their Senior team last summer and September. There was speculation they would put him on the World Cup squad. Then this spring instead of playing with our U20s and preparing for the U20 World Cup, he accepted a call to an Italy U19 camp and played in a cap tying event. Now he's supposedly making a one-time switch to the USA.
I think he's done a lot of this just to promote himself. Will he? Won't he? But if he'd have just sat tight he probably starts for our U20 side in that World Cup and probably would have had an option to play Gold Cup.
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
oh, ok ty. I did not miss anything.
These days I don't consider this drama, it is just the life of a dual nat trying to find a solution.
Poke_4_Life
Footballguy
Re: Koleosho, GGG has a habit of asking players to try out other NTs if they want. Seems like he tried Can and Italy and now wants to commit to US. Say what you want about GGG, he's good at getting these dual (tri, quad) nats.
The Z Machine
Footballguy
Interesting theory. I hadn't heard that. Like a rumspringa for elite soccer talent.
