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US Men's National Team (17 Viewers)

this is not a great looking stat for Flo but at least indicates he gets himself in a ton of spots to score

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James.

@afcjxmes

Jun 6
xG underperformance:

1. Folarin Balogun: -5.6 (-21%)
2. André Silva: -5.2 (-57%)
3. Kevin Lasagna: -5.0 (-83%)
4. Rodrygo: -4.7 (-34%)
5. Kai Havertz: -4.6 (-40%)
 
The Athletic is reporting that Newcastle won't bid on Pulisic and that Serie A is looking like the likely landing spot.

I hope he's got some good help on his agent team, not just his dad. This just strikes me as a very difficult situation for him and Chelsea. The club has probably accepted the fact they will take a massive discount on the sale price, and the player knows he's taking a paycut, but how deep will either go? And he's still not exactly cheap, even at massively discounted rates. Its hard to think of a situation where the competition is more his level in terms of minutes, but the finances work for a guy with his injury record and lack of production at club level over the past couple seasons. I'm starting to think it might not be terrible for him to look to MLS. He'd be a huge draw worthy of substantial investment and the level of competition might not be too terribly out of balance for him. It would be a huge hit to his ego though and would probably be seen as a failure.

So you're saying our best player's talent level is on par with MLS soccer? Might as well bring the rest of the Yanks home for USL minutes.
 
The Athletic is reporting that Newcastle won't bid on Pulisic and that Serie A is looking like the likely landing spot.

I'm starting to think it might not be terrible for him to look to MLS. He'd be a huge draw worthy of substantial investment and the level of competition might not be too terribly out of balance for him. It would be a huge hit to his ego though and would probably be seen as a failure.

If I was to bet, my guess is that he signs a 3 year deal in Italy, and then signs a huge deal (biggest ever for an American) just after WC 2026 and joins an MLS team. The timing might be near perfect for him (and for the league which is almost certainly going to be looking to sign players from many of the WC teams).

Then again he may be perennially hurt and we may never see him at his best again.

Who knows, but should be interesting to follow...
 
While the news is massive for MLS, we would be remiss not to acknowledge that Messi is very likely to have an positive impact on all of US Soccer, similar to Pele and Beckham before him.

It should be another boon for the future of the national program as more money will continue to flow into the sport in the country.
 
While the news is massive for MLS, we would be remiss not to acknowledge that Messi is very likely to have an positive impact on all of US Soccer, similar to Pele and Beckham before him.

It should be another boon for the future of the national program as more money will continue to flow into the sport in the country.


on the other hand..... :)

Brian Sciaretta
@BrianSciaretta

Benja Cremaschi asking his new teammate and new coach a question: "I've been called up to the U-20 teams for both Argentina and the USA. What should I do?"
They just look at him and he nods.. "got it."
 
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The Athletic is reporting that Newcastle won't bid on Pulisic and that Serie A is looking like the likely landing spot.

I hope he's got some good help on his agent team, not just his dad. This just strikes me as a very difficult situation for him and Chelsea. The club has probably accepted the fact they will take a massive discount on the sale price, and the player knows he's taking a paycut, but how deep will either go? And he's still not exactly cheap, even at massively discounted rates. Its hard to think of a situation where the competition is more his level in terms of minutes, but the finances work for a guy with his injury record and lack of production at club level over the past couple seasons. I'm starting to think it might not be terrible for him to look to MLS. He'd be a huge draw worthy of substantial investment and the level of competition might not be too terribly out of balance for him. It would be a huge hit to his ego though and would probably be seen as a failure.

So you're saying our best player's talent level is on par with MLS soccer? Might as well bring the rest of the Yanks home for USL minutes.

I think the point is that he‘s not going to walk into the lineup at a top half team in the premier league and it’s hard to come up with a team in the EPL bottom half that can pay $20m or whatever it takes plus high wages for a guy with his reliability. I don’t see a good option at a big club who can afford him in Italy, Spain or Germany. It’s hard to imagine him coming home to MLS but the financial incentive might be there. Would the Fire rather pay Shaqiri $7.5M or Pulisic? Would Pulisic take half that to stay in England at a bottom half club? These seem like difficult questions to me.
 
The Athletic is reporting that Newcastle won't bid on Pulisic and that Serie A is looking like the likely landing spot.

I hope he's got some good help on his agent team, not just his dad. This just strikes me as a very difficult situation for him and Chelsea. The club has probably accepted the fact they will take a massive discount on the sale price, and the player knows he's taking a paycut, but how deep will either go? And he's still not exactly cheap, even at massively discounted rates. Its hard to think of a situation where the competition is more his level in terms of minutes, but the finances work for a guy with his injury record and lack of production at club level over the past couple seasons. I'm starting to think it might not be terrible for him to look to MLS. He'd be a huge draw worthy of substantial investment and the level of competition might not be too terribly out of balance for him. It would be a huge hit to his ego though and would probably be seen as a failure.

So you're saying our best player's talent level is on par with MLS soccer? Might as well bring the rest of the Yanks home for USL minutes.

I think the point is that he‘s not going to walk into the lineup at a top half team in the premier league and it’s hard to come up with a team in the EPL bottom half that can pay $20m or whatever it takes plus high wages for a guy with his reliability. I don’t see a good option at a big club who can afford him in Italy, Spain or Germany. It’s hard to imagine him coming home to MLS but the financial incentive might be there. Would the Fire rather pay Shaqiri $7.5M or Pulisic? Would Pulisic take half that to stay in England at a bottom half club? These seem like difficult questions to me.
Isn't he locked in for one more year at his current salary? His transfer cost my just have to be dropped closer to $10m.
 
The Athletic is reporting that Newcastle won't bid on Pulisic and that Serie A is looking like the likely landing spot.

I hope he's got some good help on his agent team, not just his dad. This just strikes me as a very difficult situation for him and Chelsea. The club has probably accepted the fact they will take a massive discount on the sale price, and the player knows he's taking a paycut, but how deep will either go? And he's still not exactly cheap, even at massively discounted rates. Its hard to think of a situation where the competition is more his level in terms of minutes, but the finances work for a guy with his injury record and lack of production at club level over the past couple seasons. I'm starting to think it might not be terrible for him to look to MLS. He'd be a huge draw worthy of substantial investment and the level of competition might not be too terribly out of balance for him. It would be a huge hit to his ego though and would probably be seen as a failure.

So you're saying our best player's talent level is on par with MLS soccer? Might as well bring the rest of the Yanks home for USL minutes.

I think the point is that he‘s not going to walk into the lineup at a top half team in the premier league and it’s hard to come up with a team in the EPL bottom half that can pay $20m or whatever it takes plus high wages for a guy with his reliability. I don’t see a good option at a big club who can afford him in Italy, Spain or Germany. It’s hard to imagine him coming home to MLS but the financial incentive might be there. Would the Fire rather pay Shaqiri $7.5M or Pulisic? Would Pulisic take half that to stay in England at a bottom half club? These seem like difficult questions to me.
Isn't he locked in for one more year at his current salary? His transfer cost my just have to be dropped closer to $10m.
I had been thinking Pulisic was gone for sure, but now that Mount seems to be gone and Havertz might be leaving as well, one starts to wonder as while CP isn't in direct competition with either of those two, they'd be pretty light in attackers. If you add in the aforementioned short list of suitors (for not a huge transfer fee), maybe keeping him around for another year starts to look somewhat attractive. I've personally been hoping a mid table PL side steps up, but that might not be what Pulisic wants or enough of a transfer fee for Chelsea.
 
The Athletic is reporting that Newcastle won't bid on Pulisic and that Serie A is looking like the likely landing spot.

I hope he's got some good help on his agent team, not just his dad. This just strikes me as a very difficult situation for him and Chelsea. The club has probably accepted the fact they will take a massive discount on the sale price, and the player knows he's taking a paycut, but how deep will either go? And he's still not exactly cheap, even at massively discounted rates. Its hard to think of a situation where the competition is more his level in terms of minutes, but the finances work for a guy with his injury record and lack of production at club level over the past couple seasons. I'm starting to think it might not be terrible for him to look to MLS. He'd be a huge draw worthy of substantial investment and the level of competition might not be too terribly out of balance for him. It would be a huge hit to his ego though and would probably be seen as a failure.

So you're saying our best player's talent level is on par with MLS soccer? Might as well bring the rest of the Yanks home for USL minutes.

I think the point is that he‘s not going to walk into the lineup at a top half team in the premier league and it’s hard to come up with a team in the EPL bottom half that can pay $20m or whatever it takes plus high wages for a guy with his reliability. I don’t see a good option at a big club who can afford him in Italy, Spain or Germany. It’s hard to imagine him coming home to MLS but the financial incentive might be there. Would the Fire rather pay Shaqiri $7.5M or Pulisic? Would Pulisic take half that to stay in England at a bottom half club? These seem like difficult questions to me.
Isn't he locked in for one more year at his current salary? His transfer cost my just have to be dropped closer to $10m.
I had been thinking Pulisic was gone for sure, but now that Mount seems to be gone and Havertz might be leaving as well, one starts to wonder as while CP isn't in direct competition with either of those two, they'd be pretty light in attackers. If you add in the aforementioned short list of suitors (for not a huge transfer fee), maybe keeping him around for another year starts to look somewhat attractive. I've personally been hoping a mid table PL side steps up, but that might not be what Pulisic wants or enough of a transfer fee for Chelsea.
I don't think his skills have diminished from this time... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-ayOZTvAJg
 
I don't think his skills have diminished from this time... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-ayOZTvAJg

Man in the 2nd leg of that tie he had several chances to win it in ET and couldn't quite finish. They weren't easy chances but doable. I wonder how different they would feel about him there if he'd converted on one of them.

Actually I was thinking of their matchup last year, looks like the video was from 2 yrs ago.
 
The Athletic is reporting that Newcastle won't bid on Pulisic and that Serie A is looking like the likely landing spot.

I hope he's got some good help on his agent team, not just his dad. This just strikes me as a very difficult situation for him and Chelsea. The club has probably accepted the fact they will take a massive discount on the sale price, and the player knows he's taking a paycut, but how deep will either go? And he's still not exactly cheap, even at massively discounted rates. Its hard to think of a situation where the competition is more his level in terms of minutes, but the finances work for a guy with his injury record and lack of production at club level over the past couple seasons. I'm starting to think it might not be terrible for him to look to MLS. He'd be a huge draw worthy of substantial investment and the level of competition might not be too terribly out of balance for him. It would be a huge hit to his ego though and would probably be seen as a failure.

So you're saying our best player's talent level is on par with MLS soccer? Might as well bring the rest of the Yanks home for USL minutes.

I think the point is that he‘s not going to walk into the lineup at a top half team in the premier league and it’s hard to come up with a team in the EPL bottom half that can pay $20m or whatever it takes plus high wages for a guy with his reliability. I don’t see a good option at a big club who can afford him in Italy, Spain or Germany. It’s hard to imagine him coming home to MLS but the financial incentive might be there. Would the Fire rather pay Shaqiri $7.5M or Pulisic? Would Pulisic take half that to stay in England at a bottom half club? These seem like difficult questions to me.
Isn't he locked in for one more year at his current salary? His transfer cost my just have to be dropped closer to $10m.
I had been thinking Pulisic was gone for sure, but now that Mount seems to be gone and Havertz might be leaving as well, one starts to wonder as while CP isn't in direct competition with either of those two, they'd be pretty light in attackers. If you add in the aforementioned short list of suitors (for not a huge transfer fee), maybe keeping him around for another year starts to look somewhat attractive. I've personally been hoping a mid table PL side steps up, but that might not be what Pulisic wants or enough of a transfer fee for Chelsea.

It’s hard to see a path forward for him at Chelsea despite most of us thinking he’s been at least as good as any other winger on the roster. One big question is how much money he’s willing to leave on the table in the short term (one year at something like €8m) to find a long term solution for his career. Even if he takes a 50% cut, that would probably put him at or near the top of the payroll at many mid table EPL clubs and just about all but the very biggest clubs in Italy, Spain and Germany. I’m probably overthinking this though. Really hope he finds a good landing spot.
 
Tom Bogert

@tombogert

Benfica have officially acquired US youth int'l center back Josh Wynder from Louisville City for a USL-record fee. Wynder, who turned 18 in May, was wanted by a host of clubs in MLS and Europe. Benfica win the race. He made 45 first team appearances with Louisville.
 
Tom Bogert
@tombogert

Benfica have officially acquired US youth int'l center back Josh Wynder from Louisville City for a USL-record fee. Wynder, who turned 18 in May, was wanted by a host of clubs in MLS and Europe. Benfica win the race. He made 45 first team appearances with Louisville.
more info


Fabrizio Romano

@FabrizioRomano

Benfica have signed American CB Josh Wynder from Louisville City. #Benfica More: fee is $1.2 million transfer with add ons and sell-on clause, the first million-dollar transfer for the USL Championship.
 

It’s hard to see a path forward for him at Chelsea despite most of us thinking he’s been at least as good as any other winger on the roster.
This is the item I am clutching on to (perhaps too tightly) in my belief that his skills did not just disappear.

The amount of insane talent that failed to produce for Chelsea this season was extraordinary, it is extremely unlikely that all the players were suddenly found out to be frauds after years of producing. There were clearly other variables in play that caused the offensive melt down at Chelsea this year.

I still think Pulisic will be a good player for a top half of the table team in any of the big 5 leagues, if he can just stay healthy. I do not think Pulisic's body will lend him to a long career in the top leagues which is why I think he comes back to MLS after WC2026 and cashes in.
 
Hopefully Pulisic has been saving up and doesn’t have to make a decision based on who can pay him the most. I have always thought he made a lot in endorsements but I’ve never actually looked at it.
 
Hopefully Pulisic has been saving up and doesn’t have to make a decision based on who can pay him the most. I have always thought he made a lot in endorsements but I’ve never actually looked at it.

He doesn't appear to be a crazy spender so he and what ever kids he may have in the future should be all set for life based on what he has already made. But players his age rarely if ever think in those terms so I am sure he wants to find some sort of balance between high pay and being able to get playing time at a high level.
 
this is not a great looking stat for Flo but at least indicates he gets himself in a ton of spots to score
Two things... -5.6 when you're scoring 21 is only ~25% off the expected pace.

Also, there might well be an age-adjustment for xG -- with players peaking at like 26-28 or something like that. So it's possibly not as big a deal that he's under as it would be for a vet.
 
I was just reading that the Netherlands will pass France as the 5th highest ranked Euro league at the start of the 2023/2024 season. I don't know how true that is but looking at the current coefficients, it does seem possible that the two countries flip spots.
 
Two things... -5.6 when you're scoring 21 is only ~25% off the expected pace.

Also, there might well be an age-adjustment for xG -- with players peaking at like 26-28 or something like that. So it's possibly not as big a deal that he's under as it would be for a vet.
I had assumed the %'s were all listed in the post I copied in the ( )'s but your number looks different so now I don't know what the numbers in the ( )'s mean...
 
Uruguay beat Israel today to advance to the U20 World Cup final.

Hard not to think we may have missed our best chance to win a big trophy at the youth level.
There will be other chances. The youth system is getting better and better. The wave of talent has not crested.
I agree. My post was more meant to say "best chance to date". I was not implying it was our last chance forever.
 
Some rumors floating in twitter space that Pulisic is hurt. No word on how serious or if he will miss the Mexico game or if it was just a light knock in training.
 
Some rumors floating in twitter space that Pulisic is hurt. No word on how serious or if he will miss the Mexico game or if it was just a light knock in training.
if he is hurt, then they could start Zendejas in a like for like (swapping Weah over to the left), or start LDLT in the midfield and move Reyna back to the wing.
 
I have seen almost every CB combination suggested for the Mexico game.

My hope would be Miles and Richards. I think it might be Zimm and Miles but I really have no idea.
 
not US related but close enough to be interesting. It must be nice to have a federation that moves with some sense of urgency.

========

Steven Goff
@SoccerInsider


Canada Soccer announces former Inter Miami coach Phil Neville will join John Herdman’s men’s national team staff, effective immediately.
 
not US related but close enough to be interesting. It must be nice to have a federation that moves with some sense of urgency.

========

Steven Goff
@SoccerInsider


Canada Soccer announces former Inter Miami coach Phil Neville will join John Herdman’s men’s national team staff, effective immediately.
😆 The BBC comments I mentioned about Messi mostly liked his arrival being stipulated on Neville's departure.
 
I pulled the result of every USMNT game from Caligiuri's 1989 goal forward last night, along with the ELO rating for the USMNT after each match. I looked at ELO because it accounts for quality of Ws/Ls and also home and away. So it's much better than just win/loss or something like that.

And...

After starting with an ELO rating of about 1580, we climbed as high as 1890 through the end of the Arena years, in 2005 (just prior to the 2006 WC). Not in a straight line, but a consistent climb over those 15 years.

Since then, the Bradley era peaked at 1889, the Klinsmann era peaked at 1875 and the Berhalter era peaked at 1863. During that entire 18 year period the ranking bounced as low as 1700 a few times, but never meaningfully dropped below it.

IOW, the program has flatlined for 18 years now. The results at each era's best and worst have been virtually identical.
 
I pulled the result of every USMNT game from Caligiuri's 1989 goal forward last night, along with the ELO rating for the USMNT after each match. I looked at ELO because it accounts for quality of Ws/Ls and also home and away. So it's much better than just win/loss or something like that.

And...

After starting with an ELO rating of about 1580, we climbed as high as 1890 through the end of the Arena years, in 2005 (just prior to the 2006 WC). Not in a straight line, but a consistent climb over those 15 years.

Since then, the Bradley era peaked at 1889, the Klinsmann era peaked at 1875 and the Berhalter era peaked at 1863. During that entire 18 year period the ranking bounced as low as 1700 a few times, but never meaningfully dropped below it.

IOW, the program has flatlined for 18 years now. The results at each era's best and worst have been virtually identical.

This investigation seems to prove what our eyes have been telling us. That while our depth is better than ever, and that our players are getting chances at much bigger clubs, that the top line quality on the field in international games really has not changed much over the decades.

Whether that was due to previous generations over performing and or current ones under performing I can't say.

What is clear is that who the coach is is not making any difference.
 
In terms of overall tenure, Berhalter's reign was almost entirely above 1800 ELO. Once the team recovered from wet and bumpy, he kept it above 1800 for his entire time as coach. IMO that speaks to the depth of the squad now -- where you can bring in a "B" team and still win games.

Arena more or less did the same though. Taking us above 1800 in 1999 and keeping us there for all but about 4-5 months thru 2005 -- only dipping below again after the 2006 World Cup.

From July 2009 through June 2021 we were below 1800 for all but four years.
 
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Tyler Adams has told Leeds United he wants to leave the club this summer, sources have told Football Insider.

The USA central midfielder, 24, is attracting interest from Premier League teams as well as Bundesliga clubs and does not want to drop down to the Championship.

Aston Villa have registered their interest in a potential deal, while Man United are also keeping tabs on his situation.

Leeds are facing an exodus of top stars following their relegation and will need to cash in on many of their big names to cut costs.

Adams is one of those who can be expected to fetch a big fee after making a big impression for United since joining from RB Leipzig last summer for a fee worth up to £20million including add-ons.

His absence over the last two months of the campaign with a hamstring injury coincided with a wretched Leeds run that eventually saw them finish in the bottom three.

Adams is one of the few United players capable of securing a £35million-plus fee, cash which will be needed if they don’t have the Premier League broadcasting cash next season.

The midfielder’s current contract at Elland Road runs until 2027 following his arrival last summer.

He made 24 Premier League starts among 26 appearances for Leeds in the just-completed season, amounting to 2293 minutes of action.

His tackles and interception stats were among the best in the Premier League in the first half of the campaign.
 

=======================
MANCHESTER United coach Benni McCarthy has accidentally 'let slip' manager Erik ten Hag's interest in highly-rated American midfielder Taylor Booth - dubbed a 'cut-price Frenkie de Jong' - last summer.

The Red Devils spent the first few months of Ten Hag's Old Trafford tenure chasing Barcelona's Dutch maestro before ultimately admitting defeat and signing Casemiro in from Real Madrid.

The Brazilian's capture proved a masterstroke as United recovered from a nightmare start to finish third in the Premier League and reach two domestic cup finals, lifting the Carabao Cup at Wembley in February thanks to a man-of-the-match display from Casemiro.

But Ten Hag could reignite interest in Utrecht midfielder Booth, 22, who possesses many of the attributes that made De Jong so desirable to the Dutchman a year ago.

McCarthy, who was a surprise addition to United's coaching staff at the start of last season, has been detailing how his appointment came about in a radio interview and 'let slip' that it happened after a conversation Ten Hag had with his agent - who also looks after Booth.

"Erik ten Hag came in and he spoke to my agent Rob Moore about one of the players that was playing in Holland and he asked Rob about an American player that Rob also managed," McCarthy told 947 Joburg yesterday.

"They were just speaking about that and once the conversation had ended, he said to him, 'By the way, how's Benni? How is Benni doing? Is he still working in South Africa?'"

Booth, currently preparing for the US national team's CONCACAF Nations League semi-final against Mexico, is a right-footed midfielder who prioritises ball progression and is capable of lining up in the centre or out wide.

That makes him a viable alternative to Fred or Scott McTominay, who both face uncertain futures at Old Trafford, or an option to compete with Antony and Jadon Sancho for a slot on the right-hand side of United's attack.

Chelsea's Mason Mount remains Ten Hag's priority midfield target as he looks to bolster the Red Devils' pressing game, but Booth is someone he has clearly done his homework on.

And the former Real Salt Lake youth player is following the same path as Ten Hag to the top after leaving Bayern Munich's reserve team to join Utrecht last summer.

Ajax, which was Ten Hag's next stop, and PSV Eindhoven are also rumoured to be keen on Booth while Napoli have also been credited with an interest.
 
The most entertaining part of this is that it is the big Euro based players who are speaking out for GGG which is making the Eurosnob USMNT twitter guys implode with confusion :lmao:
 
The most entertaining part of this is that it is the big Euro based players who are speaking out for GGG which is making the Eurosnob USMNT twitter guys implode with confusion :lmao:
By the way I have changed my stance on the fan base for this cycle.

If we are intent on having the worst, non violent, fan base in the world I figure I might as well get some entertainment out of it. :)
 
It's a very crowded field, but the absolute biggest moron of the whole toxic USMNT Twitter bunch has to be "Gregg Beerholder." He makes Tactical Manager seems benign by comparison.
 
Let’s just do it and move on, sheesh. This is insane
I still don't discount that Gregg even telling the Gio story was a huge mistake, even if it seems clear that he was assured it was off-the-record. But if the best we can expect after this delay is Jesse Marsch or Patrick Viera, I tend to agree. Building a culture is not a small thing, and it's without question that he did a great job of that. I don't think the other candidates are bad or would be a disaster, but I don't see them as significant upgrades.
 

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