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US Men's National Team (14 Viewers)

El Floppo said:
unless he's completely unfit, I'd sit anybody but Swag. has been the best US player for a while... and the only threat on set pieces.
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The bolded is my concern. I mean, he's hardly played, right? And he doesn't seem to have the reputation of a workout warrior who will keep himself in top shape when he's not getting game time. Presumably GGG will be able to properly make this determination though and won't run him out there out of game shape.
 
Moe. said:
Do we keep posting in this thread once the tourney starts or move everything to the World Cup thread?
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Match-day thread. Or here. Or WC thread. We probably do need to pick one.

Personally, I rarely post during games. Bitten me in the *** too many times during Spurs games.
 
I can't tell if the relaxed camp is a good thing or a bad thing. They are doing so much PR so far. Yesterday they spent a long time playing with the stadium workers (which was very cool) and today they are hosting embassy and military members at practice.

GGG did get a chance to tell a cool story though about how a similar invitation of the military many years ago saw a very young Weston McKennie in the audience with his dad.
 
CletiusMaximus said:
NewlyRetired said:
There is a meme here some where...

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The dreaded USMNT Esquire - World Cup edition is out.
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Why do they do these things. LOL.

Weah looks pretty good in all the outfits they gave him.

That robe for Gio is disgustingly awful. Adams outfits missed the mark with the exception of the dark coat over the white shirt with Weah sporting a similar look. That's classy. The purple shirt with the newspaper pants is the worst outfit of the bunch though.

Aaronson looks like every boarding school bully who's gonna "call my dad on you" in that awful suit he's wearing.

For me, it's the purple shirt with the newspaper pants from Adams that takes the worst look though. What's the deal with the fuzzy pants thing though?
 
Dinsy Ejotuz said:
-------Pulisic Ferreira Reyna
------Weston Adams Musah
Antonee Ream Zimmerman Dest
------------------Turner
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If we roll this lineup out vs Wales it'll be unreal after everything the team has gone through for the last couple years.

ETA: FWIW, I always thought it sounded more likely than not Weston would be ready.
 
Dinsy Ejotuz said:
El Floppo said:
ok.... give me the TV and schedule details for the 1st game.
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All three US games are at 2pm.

World Cup is FOX and FS1. So you'd think all three US games would be on the FOX mothership.

I might listen to the Spanish language broadcast if it means I don't have to hear Lalas. Or the Swahili language broadcast.
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so tomorrow, or some other random day at 2 on one of the fox networks. thanks.
 
Bale has played only 28 minutes since the end of September but told the press he is fully fit and ready to play 3 90 minutes games if called upon.

He is clearly their match winner when on form. He had every goal for Wales in the UEFA playoffs and can win the US game by himself.

Hopefully his words are more bravado and he only has 60 minutes in him.
 
I was surprised at home many marquee games are on FS1

edit: just realized why all the weekend games are on FS1 - CFB and NFL. Surely one of these matches will set viewership records for the channel.
 
NewlyRetired said:
Dinsy Ejotuz said:
If the US beats Wales, that Black Friday matchup vs England on an over the air network might break men's viewership records in the US.
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Here is the top 10 in US tv viewership. https://www.giltedgesoccer.com/most-watched-soccer-games-in-history/

Fox believes top 5 is possible for Black Friday but I think like you that a win against Wales will add a few million more viewers.
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The 40% difference from top to bottom is astounding. I've got to believe those numbers fall with it being winter in the US and most of the US soccer population on winter break.

Here's football and it's 4% between 1 to 5.
 
NewlyRetired said:
Fox believes top 5 is possible for Black Friday but I think like you that a win against Wales will add a few million more viewers.
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After seeing the Ghana, Portugal, Belgium #s from 8 years ago I'm taking the over for any of our games not on a workday. I just think soccer has grown a lot in the in-between years. 30MM+ for USA v England.
 
NewlyRetired said:
Another brick laid in adding to our soccer culture

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Just drove by the stadium a couple days ago. It's gorgeous. Seeing pictures on social media from friends that have gone in to tour and it's amazing.

I didn't get season tickets (only things available were standing room only or the VIP seats which were stupid expensive), but I got on the list where I'll have pre-sale access to individual game tickets before it's open to the public. Granted, it's a few thousand on that list (it's $50 for the year), but I figured I'd try it for the first year in case it would otherwise be impossible to get tickets.
 
Dinsy Ejotuz said:
Unreal that we get to Qatar closer to full health than we've been in years, especially given all the injuries in the last 18 months.

(Contractually obligated :crying: for Miles Robinson.)

-------Pulisic Ferreira Reyna
------Weston Adams Musah
Antonee Ream Zimmerman Dest
------------------Turner

Just like we ****ing drew it up boys and girls! LET'S GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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to further understand the implications of this perspective line up:

Reyna, McKennie, Pulisic, Musah, and Adams have never been on the field together, not even once for a minute.

And then when you throw in the fact Ream was a non factor in qualifying, this possible lineup is even more unexpected.
 
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USMNT Only

@usmntonly

USMNT and Valencia midfielder Yunus Musah is reportedly drawing interest from a number of top Serie A clubs including AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus. Inter Milan has already reached out regarding a January transfer, but Valencia prefer to hold out for a potential summer move

www.relevo.com

Yunus Musah, pretendido en Italia y blindado en Valencia | Relevo

La Juventus monitoriza al neoyorkino, por quien Milán e Inter ya han preguntado. Su cláusula es de 100 millones.
www.relevo.com www.relevo.com
 
gianmarco said:
NewlyRetired said:
Another brick laid in adding to our soccer culture

Click to expand...
Just drove by the stadium a couple days ago. It's gorgeous. Seeing pictures on social media from friends that have gone in to tour and it's amazing.

I didn't get season tickets (only things available were standing room only or the VIP seats which were stupid expensive), but I got on the list where I'll have pre-sale access to individual game tickets before it's open to the public. Granted, it's a few thousand on that list (it's $50 for the year), but I figured I'd try it for the first year in case it would otherwise be impossible to get tickets.
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Picture
 
NewlyRetired said:
USMNT Only
@usmntonly

USMNT and Valencia midfielder Yunus Musah is reportedly drawing interest from a number of top Serie A clubs including AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus. Inter Milan has already reached out regarding a January transfer, but Valencia prefer to hold out for a potential summer move

www.relevo.com

Yunus Musah, pretendido en Italia y blindado en Valencia | Relevo

La Juventus monitoriza al neoyorkino, por quien Milán e Inter ya han preguntado. Su cláusula es de 100 millones.
www.relevo.com www.relevo.com
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Valencia turned down £25M last summer from Nott. Forest. If he has a good WC, they'll be looking for $50M IMO. If he has a great WC? Who knows.
 
NewlyRetired said:
USMNT Only
@usmntonly

USMNT and Valencia midfielder Yunus Musah is reportedly drawing interest from a number of top Serie A clubs including AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus. Inter Milan has already reached out regarding a January transfer, but Valencia prefer to hold out for a potential summer move

www.relevo.com

Yunus Musah, pretendido en Italia y blindado en Valencia | Relevo

La Juventus monitoriza al neoyorkino, por quien Milán e Inter ya han preguntado. Su cláusula es de 100 millones.
www.relevo.com www.relevo.com
Click to expand...
Musah's valuation is going to be on the extreme high side outside of footballing skills due to his HG status in England and his Italian citizenship. This makes him an extremely valuable commodity in two of the big five leagues. Playing for the US is another ancillary benefit as, while he's still under the radar to many Americans, this World Cup should propel his commercial value.

All these factors may make his true market value about 50% (or more) higher than a comparable French guy as an example. It's a good time to be Yunus Musah.
 
prefontaine said:
NewlyRetired said:
USMNT Only
@usmntonly

USMNT and Valencia midfielder Yunus Musah is reportedly drawing interest from a number of top Serie A clubs including AC Milan, Inter Milan and Juventus. Inter Milan has already reached out regarding a January transfer, but Valencia prefer to hold out for a potential summer move

www.relevo.com

Yunus Musah, pretendido en Italia y blindado en Valencia | Relevo

La Juventus monitoriza al neoyorkino, por quien Milán e Inter ya han preguntado. Su cláusula es de 100 millones.
www.relevo.com www.relevo.com
Click to expand...
Musah's valuation is going to be on the extreme high side outside of footballing skills due to his HG status in England and his Italian citizenship. This makes him an extremely valuable commodity in two of the big five leagues. Playing for the US is another ancillary benefit as, while he's still under the radar to many Americans, this World Cup should propel his commercial value.

All these factors may make his true market value about 50% (or more) higher than a comparable French guy as an example. It's a good time to be Yunus Musah.
Click to expand...
Really smart financial move for him to switch to the US from ENG. He's getting a whole 4 year cycle to be in the spotlight in the international game. Plus if 2026 pumps up MLS like 1994 did, then he'll be at a great point to cash in on a phat MLS contract.
 
We all know the first match is crucial in our group due to the layout of the schedule but historically the first match is crucial for every team.

===========

Paul Carr
@PaulCarr


The requisite how-important-is-your-opening-World-Cup-match facts.

In the six World Cups under the current format...

84% of opening match winners advanced
59% advanced after a draw
11% of opening-match losers advanced
 
I may be wrong but I think while there is one situation where you can't advance with 6 points (3 teams on 6, one on 0, one team goes home on tie breakers), I don't know of any situation where you can not advance with 5 points.
 
Andy's Keys to Advancement
============

1) Don't give away easy goals when playing out of the back. Make the opponents earn the goals. And I am not just talking about Turner either. That goes for the defenders as well as Adams and Musah's dangerous dribbing in the defensive 3rd.

2) We need the best form of Pulisic to play. He is 24 right now, with his health issues and playing style he may not get a ton more chances on the world stage. He has played in the biggest club games in the world so nothing in the group stage should effect him. I would prefer a more aggressive Pulisic, even if it means losing the ball on the dribble, than a passive one trying to integrate with his team.

3) Score more set pieces than the US gives up. I think this is going to function almost as a giveaway/takeaway stat in the NFL.

4) Every WC one promising young international makes the jump to really good international. Musah and Reyna seem the most likely to do this. One of them would be great.

I think if we hit 3 or more of these, we advance.


What are your keys to advancing?
 
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One of the tactics I will be watching closely against Wales is how GGG decides to deploy Jedi.

Typically with Jedi's set of skills, we don't want him building out of the back but we want him collecting and advancing the ball around midfield where he can drive into open space.

To achieve this, GGG has deployed Jedi fairly high when building out of the back, with the knowledge that Jedi's speed and engine can get back in time if need be.

But against Wales, Daniel James presents an issue. While far from a world class player, he does possess one specific world class skill and that is his speed (both on and off the ball). He is typically deployed on the right side of attack which may limit how high Jedi can cheat out while building.

Ream further complicates this since if Jedi gets caught up field, it is our slowest player Ream who will be faced with having to handle Jones. And this is another reason why I want 2 DM's. If both Musah and Adams are playing level DM's, Adams will have the ability to help cover for Jedi and help Ream. If Adams is alone in the middle, there will be too much ground to make for consistent support on that side.
 
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AAABatteries said:
TLEF316 said:

The English look a little put off by the weather as well.
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I wonder if it's possible that this could really be a factor in our favor? Probably not that much as most of our key players play in Europe anyway but I think weather is a huge factor in some athletic events where the teams or participants train/play in different environments.
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it will likely be as hot or hotter in some of the US/Mexico cities in the summer of 2026 than it will be in Qatar this WC.
 
NewlyRetired said:
Andy's Keys to Advancement
============

1) Don't give away easy goals from playing out of the back. Make the opponents earn the goals. And I am not just talking about Turner either. That goes for the defenders as well as Adams and Musah's dangerous dribbing in the defensive 3rd.

2) We need the best form of Pulisic to play. He is 24 right now, with his health issues and playing style he may not get a ton more chances on the world stage. He has played in the biggest club games in the world so nothing in the group stage should effect him. I would prefer a more aggressive Pulisic, even if it means losing the ball on the dribble, than a passive one trying to integrate with his team.

3) Score more set pieces than the US gives up. I think this is going to function almost as a giveaway/takeaway stat in the NFL.

4) Every WC one promising young international makes the jump to really good international. Musah and Reyna seem the most likely to do this. One of them would be great.

I think if we hit 3 or more of these, we advance.


What are you keys to advancing?
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#1 - totally agree with this. I think we are the 2nd most talented team in the group - don't give Wales and Iran anything cheap. Make them earn it.

#2 - I'm in the minority on this but I don't think this has to be true. CP is our best player but it's possible with the talent we have that he doesn't have to be the best player on the day for us to win. Looking at it from a perspective of grades for the game. I could see us winning with CP getting a 5/6. Gio, Weston, Aaronson and some others could by the 7/8/9 on the day and we win. Also, CP will draw attention - I do think he needs to be aggressive to draw defenders and that will hopefully just open things up for others.

#3 - mostly agree as that is kind of a given, IMO - like winning the turnover battle in football. But I think just holding teams to a draw in the group would be sufficient

#4 - agree here - we need one of these guys to shine especially since I expect CP to get a lot of attention

I'll add.....

#1. Don't play Long a lot of minutes - this is somewhat tongue in cheek, but I think the main point is, don't play our weak links a lot of minutes
#2. No injuries to key players where we have no depth (kind of goes with #1 as injuries will force us to play guys we don't necessarily want to)
#3. We are really young - don't get caught up in the moment - play within yourself and be patient
#4. I want us to play aggressive from the start - kind of sounds the opposite of #3 but especially against Wales and Iran I want us to try and dictate the match as much as possible.
 
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