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US Men's National Team (27 Viewers)

So with the Gio news, he appears to be in lock step with the path Pulisic took as he was also promoted at 17 to the full team after just a few months in the system right at the winter break.
some one made an interesting observation on the two.

While they both took roughly the same amount of time at roughly the same age to get promoted to the first team, Dortmund is handling them differently.

With Pulisic, they had to encourage him to be more of a dribble first player, with Gio, they are trying to reign back his need to dribble so much (something @Ramsay Hunt Experience has noticed in his game)

 
Earnie and McBride had a conference call today.  Here are some notes

https://twitter.com/YanksAreComing/status/1216753565198376960?s=20
I feel like Stewart, McBride and Berhalter is a trainwreck waiting to happen.  

Stewart is probably fine -- I know he's had success in a front-office role before, but given their time together as players I'm worried that he'll hold them accountable. 

I'm super dubious about McBride (loved him as a player but don't see anything in him that screams management).

I'm even more super-dubious about Berhalter's vision for the team.  We should strive to be Germany -- physicality, blood and guts with the technical stuff layered over the top -- not Barca.

Hate the direction we're going.

 
I feel like Stewart, McBride and Berhalter is a trainwreck waiting to happen.  

Stewart is probably fine -- I know he's had success in a front-office role before, but given their time together as players I'm worried that he'll hold them accountable. 

I'm super dubious about McBride (loved him as a player but don't see anything in him that screams management).

I'm even more super-dubious about Berhalter's vision for the team.  We should strive to be Germany -- physicality, blood and guts with the technical stuff layered over the top -- not Barca.

Hate the direction we're going.
The only glimmer of hope I had from the conference call was McBride admitting he did not fully understand, at times, the paths GGG has taken, and saying that GGG's process was very complicated.   To say that publicly in his first appearance makes me feel that he has likely much stronger opinions in private.

McBride will make all coaching decisions now so he is effectively GGG's boss and they need to be in some form of lock step.

One other very minor encouraging item was when McBride was a broadcaster he recently gave his ideal lineup for the US and it looked almost identical to what we all want to see (4-2-3-1 with Adams and Swag as the 2).  This was before Dest committed.   

Hopefully if GGG has any more silly ideas like putting Adams at RB, McBride can talk him out of it.

But there is nothing in that past few years to take as positive so your train crash awaiting approach might be the most sensible.

 
I continue to think this could be a very exciting spring for some of our kids.

==================================

Gio: Officially promoted to first team.  Should at least see the bench every so often

Owen: Already making the bench fairly consistently for Wolves, but hopefully the debut comes soon

Indiana: Made Villa's bench for the first time in a league game this weekend.  However, with Villa going to be fighting to stay up, there will be little time for experimentation, at least until they are assured of dropping.

Richie: Getting a lot of time with the first team in the winter break.  Hopefully he gets brought in the spring.  There are rumors that PSV is looking to move at least one of its midfielders this winter so that may open up some room.

Uly: He has arguably been playing better than any of the above names for Wolfsburg U19 team.   The good news here is that Wollfsbug is in no man's land in the dead middle of the table.  No fear of relegation and while still some what near a place for Europa, that should not limit the team from trying out a young player.

 
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So I think we can safely remove the fluke tag from Pulisic now.

With Pulisic, Swag, Sargent and now Gio, all 4 entered Germany and plowed through the youth teams and were promoted with in a year to the full team, well ahead of German kids in the teams system for years.

And then you add in Adams who went over already a pro but still young and walked straight into one of the top teams and made it better almost immediately.

I dare say "fluke" is way in the rear view mirror and hopefully "trend" is on the horizon. :)

 
Slightly more upbeat than the comments about Soto :)

=========

“Gio is somebody who is already very very far along - he is also sharp mentally & is able to show his class under pressure. I’m very excited to see his further development as a professional at Dortmund” - BVB’s Talent Manager, Oddo Addo on Gio Reyna’s performances

 
NewlyRetired said:
I continue to think this could be a very exciting spring for some of our kids.

==================================

Gio: Officially promoted to first team.  Should at least see the bench every so often

Owen: Already making the bench fairly consistently for Wolves, but hopefully the debut comes soon

Indiana: Made Villa's bench for the first time in a league game this weekend.  However, with Villa going to be fighting to stay up, there will be little time for experimentation, at least until they are assured of dropping.

Richie: Getting a lot of time with the first team in the winter break.  Hopefully he gets brought in the spring.  There are rumors that PSV is looking to move at least one of its midfielders this winter so that may open up some room.

Uly: He has arguably been playing better than any of the above names for Wolfsburg U19 team.   The good news here is that Wollfsbug is in no man's land in the dead middle of the table.  No fear of relegation and while still some what near a place for Europa, that should not limit the team from trying out a young player.
Fingers crossed that Weah heals up and gets some action soon. He started and came off the bench in the first games of the season before gimping out. At the ripe old age of 19 and with 1st team experience for 3 teams, maybe in the CP group in your other post.

 
NewlyRetired said:
some one made an interesting observation on the two.

While they both took roughly the same amount of time at roughly the same age to get promoted to the first team, Dortmund is handling them differently.

With Pulisic, they had to encourage him to be more of a dribble first player, with Gio, they are trying to reign back his need to dribble so much (something @Ramsay Hunt Experience has noticed in his game)
Stevie Wonder could have identified that potential red flag. One reason why I bet that Gio shows we’ll with the senior team, because he’s much less likely to try to hero ball in that context. 

 
Gonzalo Segares has been hired as the new U15 coach.  Segares was a long time Chicago Fire player and Costa Rican international.  This gives us a latino in charge of a young team now to get some needed diversity.

 
Dinsy Ejotuz said:
I feel like Stewart, McBride and Berhalter is a trainwreck waiting to happen.  

Stewart is probably fine -- I know he's had success in a front-office role before, but given their time together as players I'm worried that he'll hold them accountable. 

I'm super dubious about McBride (loved him as a player but don't see anything in him that screams management).

I'm even more super-dubious about Berhalter's vision for the team.  We should strive to be Germany -- physicality, blood and guts with the technical stuff layered over the top -- not Barca.

Hate the direction we're going.
But just imagine if we had a lot of technically impressive players and time to coordinate and train together to develop the shape and spacing and relationships needed to play this system...just imagine! We'd be amazing.

Spot on about McBride too. There are guys out there with experience as players and front office...why not them? Hoping were wrong.

 
Whoops

==================

[Ian Paul Joy] NEWS  breaking in Germany right now that current Hertha Berlin head coach & former US National team boss Jürgen Klinnsmann does NOT hold an up to date & proper coaching license to be able to coach in the Bundesliga.  Hertha play Bayern Munich on Sunday

 
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Reactions: Ned
I am happy the Bundesliga break is over.  Back to work for Steffen, Adams, McKennie, Morales, Sargent and lets hope Gio makes a bench soon.

Games start back up on Friday.

 
Looks like Tyler Boyd is getting a life line out of Turkey.  He is moving to Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship, on loan with option to buy in the summer.

 
Looks like Tyler Boyd is getting a life line out of Turkey.  He is moving to Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship, on loan with option to buy in the summer.
From minimal viewing, my takeaway of him is good skills, good attacking aggression, terrible defending. Championship seems like a good place to correct or improve the defending...hope this works out.

 
From minimal viewing, my takeaway of him is good skills, good attacking aggression, terrible defending. Championship seems like a good place to correct or improve the defending...hope this works out.
Me too.  Sciaretta is saying the deal is not done though so the article I originally read may have jumped the gun.

One good thing though is that Boyd plays a position that may be our strongest future wise. So if he face plants, it should not kill us.

Pulisic is our top player, Morris is our most improved, Uly and Gio are two of our best teen prospects, and Weah could still emerge as well in the coming year.

 
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Future USMNT

Swedish champions Djugarden could be looking to sign Luca de la Torre from Fulham. The 21 year old’s contract is expiring in June, so it would be smart for Fulham to get a fee instead of letting him go for free. Definitely needs consistent playing time.

 
From minimal viewing, my takeaway of him is good skills, good attacking aggression, terrible defending. Championship seems like a good place to correct or improve the defending...hope this works out.
My number one Boyd complaint is that he’s a ball-stopping black hole. It stands out even more with Pulisic because Christian also has the tendency to have his first thought on receiving the ball be to challenge a defender 1 v 1. Boyd is worse. You can only have so much of that before the rest of the offense just starts to look like guys standing around. 

 
My number one Boyd complaint is that he’s a ball-stopping black hole. It stands out even more with Pulisic because Christian also has the tendency to have his first thought on receiving the ball be to challenge a defender 1 v 1. Boyd is worse. You can only have so much of that before the rest of the offense just starts to look like guys standing around. 
Good and accurate point.

 
But just imagine if we had a lot of technically impressive players and time to coordinate and train together to develop the shape and spacing and relationships needed to play this system...just imagine! We'd be amazing.

Spot on about McBride too. There are guys out there with experience as players and front office...why not them? Hoping were wrong.
I’m not sure there really is a club equivalent for a national team GM. They’re different responsibilities. For instance, I have no idea what executive club experience Bierhoff had before taking the executive role for Germany. But he’s been a huge success. Whatever the title, a huge part of McBride’s responsibilities is likely to be outreach into the senior and youth player pool. He’s been a club ambassador for Fulham. I think he probably has the right skill set. 

 
I’m not sure there really is a club equivalent for a national team GM. They’re different responsibilities. For instance, I have no idea what executive club experience Bierhoff had before taking the executive role for Germany. But he’s been a huge success. Whatever the title, a huge part of McBride’s responsibilities is likely to be outreach into the senior and youth player pool. He’s been a club ambassador for Fulham. I think he probably has the right skill set. 
he has a bar named after him at craven cottage... that's good enough, as far as I'm concerned.

 
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This is pretty amazing.  The Union sent their U12 team to Brazil.  If no one told you, from watching the video it looks like the team in blue is from Brazil instead of from the US.

https://twitter.com/MattDoyle76/status/1217504393932701696?s=20
Any idea what level the brazilian kids were?

Reminds me of every trip (3) overseas I took with a team as a kid. Our first game would be against a "top local team" so we shouldn't feel bad when we lost. All three times, the first game looked like that clip...with more than a little less skill on our end.

The Philly boys looked great regardless. Brazil GK...not so much.

 
no idea what level it was.  Those look a lot like Flamengo's shirts but I don't know if that is just a coincidence or not.
Trying to find out about the level, but coming up empty. 
 

#83 at the beginning is a 2009 (U12 is 2008 birth year). 
 

 
Really looking forward to seeing Gio make his debut. I've got a really good feeling about that one. I don't think it's going to take him very long to establish himself as a mainstay with the national team.

 
Really looking forward to seeing Gio make his debut. I've got a really good feeling about that one. I don't think it's going to take him very long to establish himself as a mainstay with the national team.
If he follows the Pulisic path, then he'll be featuring by this summer.  :fingerscrossed:

 
Bedoy'a not wrong (and if you read close enough, it was kind of what Pulisic was saying, just in slightly harsher words)

https://twitter.com/JeffreyCarlisle/status/1217661827791802368?s=20
It seems we're back to trying to figure out the "American" style of play. As a recent convert without any experience and only a slightly above average level of knowledge of the game, I give you the following thoughts about the "American Style" of soccer. You tl;dr folks can stop here; to the rest who dare to read on, thanks for indulging me.

Thought 1: Despite the increasing volume and level of talent available to us now, we're always going to be behind the rest of the world, simply because we're getting a relatively late start, and soccer will probably never reach the level of social consciousness that it has in so many other countries despite not  having the wealth of resources we have. Look at Argentina. How can a country with such a history of corruption and chaos produce arguably 2 of the greatest players of all time? Yes, Messi also moved to Spain while still a teenager, but Maradona didn't leave his homeland until he was 21, a.k.a., at least mostly fully formed as a player. I know this is an old thought, but it also seems we're making more of this gulf than we need to; we're still a nation of amazing resources and opportunity, and if an American achieves success/notoriety on the world stage, the country pays attention and more folks get on board.  I'm sure the next Simone Biles is already on someone's radar, and even the next next Simone Biles is out there as well. The women's national team has proven this idea as well, though to a lesser extent because in respect to the women's game, we got in around or even before most other countries, so we've been more leader than follower on that stage.

Thought 2: Because the U.S.A. is a 'melting pot' of different nationalities, it stands to reason that kids who come from countries with longer/deeper soccer roots and history will bring that 'style' with them, because that's what they got from their parents growing up and/or the immigrant community they live/associate with, so the focus for building a "American" style should be one that incorporates  or at least finds a common ground among a variety of styles.

Thought 3: If nothing else, the #1 characteristic of the "American" style should be speed. Speed of foot and speed of mind.  Speed of foot is mostly what God gave you, but can be improved via training, which we already know how to do.  Speed of mind comes from playing, as well as knowing what you're going to do before you have to do it.  To me,  Zlatan is a great example of this, because even though he's at an age where he's lost a step, he also can still bend the game to his will, because he knows what he can do, when he needs to do it, and where he has to be to do it. Even though our absolute fastest kids by and large play American football, there's still plenty of available speed out there, and as the tide turns towards those kids finding success (Pulisic and Adams are our current frontrunners, and Yedlin's speed takes a back seat to no one), more will follow.  America is all about speed, hot nasty bad-### speed. Eleanor Roosevelt may not have really said that, but when it comes to sports, speed covers over a lot of other weaknesses.

Thought 3a: I've beaten this drum before, but it bears repeating here: the most "American" soccer player in the world right now is not American; it is Zlatan. Son of a poor immigrant, on the fringes of society, yet took what he had and made the most of it. To me, he's the type of player that Americans should strive to become.  Forget all the self-aggrandizing for a moment and look at what he's done as a player, as well as what he has done to develop himself.  The biggest augment to his game, to me, is that he also took up martial arts, which no doubt helped him master his body and mind even more than just soccer. I can't say that everyone will get the same benefit, but I believe there's something to be said for finding more/other ways to develop one's game outside of just working on skills alone.

Thought 4: As far as what 'characteristics' I want to see from the USMNT, they are all intangible: hustle, grit, hard work.  That's why Swag and Miazga are two of my favorite current players. Swag does the dirty work, Miazga plays with pride. I'm also a big fan of Adams, as he has that motor that doesn't quit and he's always working when he's on the field. What I don't like is when Pulisic gets hacked down and his first move is to look around for a ref and beg for a call. I'm sure there are other players who are ready and excited to bleed for the team, so maybe it's time to use that as the measuring stick, instead of whether or not they're playing in the Swedish 5th-tier league. I also believe that this type of sentiment exists heavily in MLS, if only for the chance to prove themselves on the world stage. Zimmerman is a guy I get that vibe from, and again, I'm sure he's not the only one. Bottom line, even though we have more talent than this, I'd gladly watch a team full of guys who don't quit and play their asses off while losing 8-0, than a more talented, less excited team underperform in a 2-0 loss or squeak by a lesser team 1-0, which is where I think we are now on the world stage.

Thought 5: I'm weak on tactics/strategy, but based on my premises above (most noticeably speed being the only tangible trait), I think an approach that would best suit what will always be a constantly diverse set of players may be 'opportunistic', in that they may have to focus on defense first but also have a quick strike mentality when the opportunity to counter presents itself.  OTOH, if we ever get to the point where we either have the advantage or no disadvantage speed-wise across the board, we could employ a more aggressive approach, forcing and dictating an up-tempo game. We could take the '40 minutes of hell' approach that won Arkansas a college basketball championship and apply it to soccer. It was this kind of approach that George Patton employed in WWII and it worked out great, as just the mention of his name made the Germans adjust their tactics to deal with him.  What could be more 'American' than that?

Thought 6: Any good coach will take the talent available, figure out that group's strengths and weakness and put together a strategy that works for that group.  This group now probably more closely resembles Croatia's last WC squad, whose strength was in the midfield.  When Portugal won Euro 2016, I thought their setup would work well with the kind of talent the US has, even if we don't have a Ronaldo. Either way, I think marrying oneself to a set 'style' of play limits what you can do, especially if the talent doesn't fit that style; rather, be dynamic and innovative, like SGT Alvin York, who won the Medal of Honor in WWI via a most unlikely route.  My point is: if you want to create an 'American' style, then be 'American' in how you go about it and don't just do what everyone else does.  Who knows, maybe we'll get another leap forward not seen since the Netherlands gave us Total Football.

 
Dortmund announced that Gio is to be with the squad against Augsberg this weekend.  I assume that means he will be dressing for the game but I am unsure.

 
BY Brian Sciaretta


===================
"Yes, the team is doing well this season,” Siebatcheu told ASN from France. “But I am looking forward to pushing to play more minutes in the second half of the season and to find my best level again."

The international front is also very interesting for Siebatcheu. He was born in Washington, DC but left with his family for France when he was very young. His success with Châteauroux earned him a call-up with France’s U-21 team for a pair of friendlies in the summer of 2017 where he scored against Albania and played against Cameroon, a country which he also holds citizenship.

But in 2018, he reveals that he was approached by the U.S. federation about the possibility of playing for the U.S. national team which was coached by Dave Sarachan at the time. But with this coming at a time when he just sealed his expensive transfer to Rennes, he felt it was best to concentrate on his club career.

But now with him having settled with the club and at a more mature stage of his career, the feels the situation is different.

"I was proud to be in consideration for the U.S. team and that they wanted me to come,” Siebatcheu said. “At the time I was a very young professional and I wanted to stay with my club to secure my place in the starting eleven. That was my priority at that time. I was called up by France's U-21 team before but I was living in France. It was nice to play for them but at this moment in time, if the U.S. called me up again, I would be proud and it would likely be different.... maybe it would be a good time now. "

“It's always nice to see that people are following you and that the national team liked your profile,” he added. “It's a big team

 
People have been trying to define an American style of play for decades now.  I am convinced in my old age that it is likely to be impossible given the different variables we have in this country (dual nats, melting pot, MLS developed vs Europe developed, latino/yank difference in style).

Sadly what that means is that it will take either a coach of extraordinary vision or good old fashioned luck, to find 23 players that will fit together harmoniously.

 
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"no pressure though Gio :) "

=================

Taylor Twellman

@TaylorTwellman

Many people in the know in Germany (scouts, TD, managers) have said at this point Reyna is more talented than Pulisic and has the potential to be a real impact player quickly with the 1st team. For #USMNT fans, they are DIFFERENT players and are suited for different roles

 
"no pressure though Gio :) "

=================

Taylor Twellman

@TaylorTwellman

Many people in the know in Germany (scouts, TD, managers) have said at this point Reyna is more talented than Pulisic and has the potential to be a real impact player quickly with the 1st team. For #USMNT fans, they are DIFFERENT players and are suited for different roles
I feel like Gio has a lot of similar skills as CP, but has the size/strength to go with that probably appeals to the Germans

 
@Charlie Steiner... Thanks for that, loved reading it. Deserves more time than I have to respond.

1... I've talked a lot about soccer culture. Growing up eating breathing reading watching living the sport. We're getting better, but we're still a long ways away imo. We have lots of good athletes playing,  but that immersed mentality will help raise players with an innate understanding of the sport rather than a learned one, and elevate the game individually and collectively.

2... It's a melting pot, but previously built on hard work and team effort. Imo, the individual players available at a given time should begin to inform any tactics or style outside of working hard and organized collectively. US teams historically succeeded not because of talent, but because of organization, fitness and workrate. As the collective talent level has raised, I feel like we've lost all of that and lost our way. 

An aside is the pay to play problem focusing on too many players in the comfortable bourgeois realm and not in the hungry, need to find a way out of my situation realm.

3... Speed is great. But speed of foot is behind speed of mind imo, which goes back to the culture point. Zlat is a golden God. But regardless of athletic ability (and zlat has mountains of that) all the best players understand and feel the game at another, faster level, even if they're not the fastest or most athletic guy. Imo zidane is top five all time, but nobody would ever call him fast, running-wise.

4... See #2. I've been expecting more tiki taka with the amount of Mexican and C American immigrants we have, and I've always liked playing a short-short-long type of game if players and situation allows (quick tiki and then direct). But the US needs to be organized and willing to kill themselves to maintain that, whichever direction the tactics and style go.

5-6...control the center of the park defensively and attack with numbers. 

 
CHICAGO (Jan. 16, 2020) – Following a collaborative decision between the U.S. Soccer and FC Dallas medical staffs, USMNT midfielder Paxton Pomykal has departed the team’s January Camp to return to his club and continue rehabilitation from offseason groin surgery.

 
El Floppo said:
@Charlie Steiner... Thanks for that, loved reading it. Deserves more time than I have to respond.

1... I've talked a lot about soccer culture. Growing up eating breathing reading watching living the sport. We're getting better, but we're still a long ways away imo. We have lots of good athletes playing,  but that immersed mentality will help raise players with an innate understanding of the sport rather than a learned one, and elevate the game individually and collectively. While I don't think soccer will ever take hold as thoroughly as it has in so many other places, the U.S. is still big enough for a soccer sub-culture to develop and thrive, if one hasn't already.

2... It's a melting pot, but previously built on hard work and team effort. Imo, the individual players available at a given time should begin to inform any tactics or style outside of working hard and organized collectively. US teams historically succeeded not because of talent, but because of organization, fitness and workrate. As the collective talent level has raised, I feel like we've lost all of that and lost our way. 100% agree, and based on guys like Lalas and Twellman's rants in public, I'd say they agree. Not sure why that is, but that is the kind of player I and probably a lot of other new/casual fans would root for.

An aside is the pay to play problem focusing on too many players in the comfortable bourgeois realm and not in the hungry, need to find a way out of my situation realm. I didn't address this, but this is probably the most important hurdle to overcome, though based on my experiences in youth sports, it will be a double-edged sword.

3... Speed is great. But speed of foot is behind speed of mind imo, which goes back to the culture point. Zlat is a golden God. But regardless of athletic ability (and zlat has mountains of that) all the best players understand and feel the game at another, faster level, even if they're not the fastest or most athletic guy. Imo zidane is top five all time, but nobody would ever call him fast, running-wise. Great point, and I would also agree that speed of thought is more important than speed of foot.  I'd like to see less retreating from charging defenders and more taking them on with teammates who are in sync with them.

4... See #2. I've been expecting more tiki taka with the amount of Mexican and C American immigrants we have, and I've always liked playing a short-short-long type of game if players and situation allows (quick tiki and then direct). But the US needs to be organized and willing to kill themselves to maintain that, whichever direction the tactics and style go. Agreed, and would add that bringing in/training coaches from immigrant families is a must also. Make them feel valued.

5-6...control the center of the park defensively and attack with numbers. Agreed.
Thanks for the reply. I chimed in with italics.

 
One of the big ironies, to me, is that as we continue to obsess over what an "American" style of play entails, fewer and fewer teams seem to really have a nationalized style of play.  Spain isn't particularly Tiki Taka anymore.  Hell, Barcelona isn't either.  Italy is no more likely to be a defensive rock than any similarly ranked European team.   I don't know what Argentina's national style of play is anymore, particularly since nobody plays an enganche anymore.  Good teams still dominate possession against lesser teams, but I'm not sure that Brazil really plays a samba style or anything.  

I think we need to know how to teach the full range of footballing skills and produce the full range of professional quality footballers.  And that includes "piano players' and "piano movers."  It considers technical ability and athleticism.  It presumes that latin players can play a countering style and suburban kids can play a possession style.  

 
In the excitement of following the Gio news, I have lost track of Adams.  We know he played (and played well) in the last game before the winter break but I never heard anything after that in terms of whether he felt good or not.

Seeing him in the starting lineup this weekend would be great to see obviously.

 

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