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US Men's National Team (11 Viewers)

Sammy3469 said:
I don't think so, and then I went to whoscored and Robinson ended up with the same ranking as Zinchenko (both 6.84) with the other three lower.  So maybe it isn't so crazy after all.  None of those guys are really anything more than squad level players at City.  

It may also have something to do with the HG rule (I'm guessing Robinson qualifies) while none of those other 4 do.  It would essentially give them more flexibility in using the 17 foreign slots.  They essentially replace a squad level LB with a squad level HG LB.  They play enough matches that you'd have to assume he'd get enough run.
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That's where I ended up too -- maybe he develops and ends up a starter but there are probably minutes available either way.  As long as they don't splash another 100MM for a LB anyhow.

Was surprised to see how young Ake, Zinchenko and Mendy are though.  All 27 or younger to start the season.

 
NewlyRetired said:
This graphic really hits home.  This is the youngest team at the Euros.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E2zyWHLXEAQqqJp?format=jpg&name=4096x4096

A similar looking table for the US would skew much more to the left of even the youngest team at the Euro's
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I'd love to see Grealish channel his inner Gazza from the middle of the midfield at this tournament.  England will probably give him five minutes a game, but IMO he's the type of player that team has needed ever since I started watching them play.  I'd start him over Mount.

 
NewlyRetired said:
Latest Behind the Crest focusing on Honduras game

https://twitter.com/USMNT/status/1401599773182885889?s=20
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Was coming to post.  Not as much in this one as some of the others, but love seeing anything we wouldn't normally.

The angles on Sargent's clearance show just how incredible it was.  Unbelievable play by him.

Speaking of Sargent, if you rewatch the highlights watch Sargent on Reyna's mazey miss and then another one later in the game.  He's WFO on the back post for an easy tap in both times and the ball never comes.

Did like Berhalter asking everyone who played in, and won, a final to raise their hands.  Nice idea given how many there are.

No idea what to expect tonight.  Neither a naive performance where every mistake gets punished or a massive showing with golazos from Reyna, CP, Weston, etc would surprise me.  Tons of variance built into this group right now IMO.

 
Dinsy Ejotuz said:
No idea what to expect tonight.  Neither a naive performance where every mistake gets punished or a massive showing with golazos from Reyna, CP, Weston, etc would surprise me.  Tons of variance built into this group right now IMO.
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It is a really hard game to predict.  Not only for the variables you mentioned but the classic Concacaf oddity where Mexico is literally man for man better than Honduras and yet the game may actually be easier to play since Mexico won't specifically Concacaf it up unless they get a two goal lead.

 
Watching those highlights, what I didn't see was the US punishing HON for losing possession.  I didn't see many opportunities to take advantage of HON out of their defensive shape.   Maybe that's good tactics and play by HON, but that's one of the ways that great teams can break on opponent open.

 
The Z Machine said:
Watching those highlights, what I didn't see was the US punishing HON for losing possession.  I didn't see many opportunities to take advantage of HON out of their defensive shape.   Maybe that's good tactics and play by HON, but that's one of the ways that great teams can break on opponent open.
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one interesting side effect of being on the front foot more often than not is that we seem to lost the idea of how and when to counter attack.

Counter attacking was a staple of all those Dos a zero game against Mexico where we simply sat back and absorbed and countered for goals.

I wonder if tonight will look a lot different in terms of maybe closer to 50-50 possession..

 
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Sorry for the stupid question, but does the game tonight have any impact on qualifying for the World Cup?  If not, when are the first games I should be paying attention to that do matter?

Would be brutal if we somehow fail to qualify again for the next one, especially with this young roster.

TIA

 
Combined table from the last five Hexes (2002-2018):

G Pts GD PPG GDPG
USA 50 93 30 1.86 0.60
Mexico 50 90 33 1.80 0.66
Costa Rica 50 89 23 1.78 0.46
Honduras 40 58 1 1.45 0.03
Guatemala 10 11 -2 1.10 -0.20
TNT 40 30 -42 0.75 -1.05
Panama 20 15 -18 0.75 -0.90
Jamaica 20 13 -15 0.65 -0.75
El Salvador 10 6 -12 0.60 -1.20


Only nine teams have taken part in the Hex in the last five cycles.

Pretty much what you'd expect:  the USA, Mexico and CR are bunched together at the top of the table. 

You could argue USA v Mexico 1-2 in either order since the US missed a WC, but Mexico dodged the same bullet through luck in 2014. 

If you want to argue that the full Mexican NT is no better than the full USNT, here's your evidence.  50 games is a lot.  Mexico has been deeper, with stronger B squads and better youth teams, so has been a better soccer nation overall over the last 20 years, but the US has matched Mexico at the top of the pyramid.

CR is a clear #3 (with a lower GD) and Honduras is a clear #4.

T&T would be my #5 given that they made the hex in 4 cycles.

Guatemala, Panama, Jamaica and El Salvador are the next tier as a group. 

Even with T&T out, I wouldn't be surprised if all of the Ochos are from the list above + Canada.

 
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scoobus said:
Sorry for the stupid question, but does the game tonight have any impact on qualifying for the World Cup?  If not, when are the first games I should be paying attention to that do matter?

Would be brutal if we somehow fail to qualify again for the next one, especially with this young roster.

TIA
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This game has no effect on World Cup qualifying.

The first (of 14) World Cup Qualifying games for the US will start in September.   It will be an 8 team group with top 3 advancing to the WC.  

 
scoobus said:
Sorry for the stupid question, but does the game tonight have any impact on qualifying for the World Cup?  If not, when are the first games I should be paying attention to that do matter?

Would be brutal if we somehow fail to qualify again for the next one, especially with this young roster.

TIA
Click to expand...
Tonight matters because it's Mexico and we have close to our best team playing together for the ~3rd time, but the competition itself is kind of junk.

The Gold Cup, starting in July, is the championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean -- so it's a real competition.  But the US is bringing a B squad to it, so it's less likely we'll win that and it'll be mostly about figuring out who can help during WCQ.

The 14 WCQ matches start in September and will be how we get to Qatar.  Those will feature the best possible teams we can field and every game is important.

 
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Dinsy Ejotuz said:
The Gold Cup, starting in July, is the championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean -- so it's a real competition.  But the US is bringing a B squad to it, so it's less likely we'll win that and it'll be mostly about figuring out who can help during WCQ.
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I have a feeling at least 3 of the 4 Nation League semi final teams are going to use a B squad for the Gold Cup.

I think two solid dark horses to win the Gold Cup are Jamaica (if they can finally assemble their A team which has been a nightmare the last two years due to covid) and surprisingly, Qatar, who is likely to send their A squad.

Qatar has smartly tried to enter every competition that will let them in.  They went 6-1-0 (W-T-L) in the first round of Asian Qualifying this year.

I hope the US does something similar in the 2026 run to get "real" games as best as they can during that cycle.

 
This is a bad time for my keg of session ipa to kick.  I have a fridge of double IPAs and a couple hours before kick off 

 
Dinsy Ejotuz said:
Combined table from the last five Hexes (2002-2018):

G Pts GD PPG GDPG
USA 50 93 30 1.86 0.60
Mexico 50 90 33 1.80 0.66
Costa Rica 50 89 23 1.78 0.46
Honduras 40 58 1 1.45 0.03
Guatemala 10 11 -2 1.10 -0.20
TNT 40 30 -42 0.75 -1.05
Panama 20 15 -18 0.75 -0.90
Jamaica 20 13 -15 0.65 -0.75
El Salvador 10 6 -12 0.60 -1.20
Click to expand...

surprised we are ahead of Mexico in  PPG

 
I don’t hate it. Would have preferred the striker-less lineup posted earlier but this will work. It’s always gonna be tough to get all of our best attacking players out there together 

 
McBokonon said:
Lineup
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I'll at least take it with Yueill on the bench. What I don't get is if you have 3 in the back with Ream/Brooks/McKenzie and then you've got Yedlin and Dest on the wings, which I think is a good idea even though Ream makes me nervous, then wtf is Acosta doing out there? It's overkill, IMO. Put Musah or Aaronson. They both have a high enough work rate defensively that there shouldn't be any defensive deficiencies going with the other 5. 

 
gianmarco said:
I'll at least take it with Yueill on the bench. What I don't get is if you have 3 in the back with Ream/Brooks/McKenzie and then you've got Yedlin and Dest on the wings, which I think is a good idea even though Ream makes me nervous, then wtf is Acosta doing out there? It's overkill, IMO. Put Musah or Aaronson. They both have a high enough work rate defensively that there shouldn't be any defensive deficiencies going with the other 5. 
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They need somebody there to help control the passing lanes and at the very least act as a decoy for distribution. Doesnt bother me. After watching Brooks fet skinned a few times rhe last couple games, Ream isnt the guy I'd think of for cover. My concern is that Dest is going to have stay back...or maybe that's what Acosta is for. Probably is 

 
gianmarco said:
Hopefully it's going to be 5 in the back early on with Dest and Yedlin staying home until we see how things develop. 
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I hope not. At least for Dest...im better with Yedlin staying and picking his moments to get forward. But i want Dest pushed higher up the field to combine with CP.

 
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Reactions: Ned
El Floppo said:
They need somebody there to help control the passing lanes and at the very least act as a decoy for distribution. Doesnt bother me. After watching Brooks fet skinned a few times rhe last couple games, Ream isnt the guy I'd think of for cover. My concern is that Dest is going to have stay back...or maybe that's what Acosta is for. Probably is 
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Right, but since it's not really a true 6 role given the formation (I don't think, at least), then Musah can do the same but is better going forward. 

If Dest/Yedlin don't push up in order to help cover, then our offense is going to be limited to McKennie/Pulisic/Gio/Sargent. I just don't think that's enough. Maybe I'm seeing this all wrong, though.

 
Dinsy Ejotuz said:
Combined table from the last five Hexes (2002-2018):

G Pts GD PPG GDPG
USA 50 93 30 1.86 0.60
Mexico 50 90 33 1.80 0.66
Costa Rica 50 89 23 1.78 0.46
Honduras 40 58 1 1.45 0.03
Guatemala 10 11 -2 1.10 -0.20
TNT 40 30 -42 0.75 -1.05
Panama 20 15 -18 0.75 -0.90
Jamaica 20 13 -15 0.65 -0.75
El Salvador 10 6 -12 0.60 -1.20
Click to expand...

We really did finish 5th, in a 3-horse race.

:kicksrock:

Spursy.

 
gianmarco said:
Right, but since it's not really a true 6 role given the formation (I don't think, at least), then Musah can do the same but is better going forward. 

If Dest/Yedlin don't push up in order to help cover, then our offense is going to be limited to McKennie/Pulisic/Gio/Sargent. I just don't think that's enough. Maybe I'm seeing this all wrong, though.
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I dont think Musah is a 6. Dont know that his skillset involved clogfing the lanes. But Acosta does.

 
I’m sure it was posted but T&T crashed out of qualifying. Screw ‘em. It’s a shame one of Canada and Suriname wasn’t in that group. 

 
We have to watch Ream closely.  If we see him out wide on defense, then this is going to convert to a 4-4-2 on defense and then to a some sort of 3-4-2-1

Ives is also postulating that this was going to be GGG's preferred setup until Long got hurt.  Long's speed in place of Ream would certainly make this look a lot better to me.

 
A couple of hopes...

Dest can stay pushed higher up.

Swag isnt fried

Sarge finds a way to get more involved on the ball in the attacking third (and not in his own half)

The US can impose themselves and dictate play, the way they dod for 30 minutes vs the Swiss.

 
I feel like we are asking Gio to be more of an engine tonight.  He has played this role for Dortmund though in the past so he should have some experience with it.

 
Ned said:
Mexico is going right at Ream when Dest is caught too far forward. 
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that is my guess.  I am interested to see where Chucky lines up.  Altuna is usually on the right and he is no where as dangerous as Chucky.  If Chucky on right things could get ugly.  Ream better hope every ounce of experience he has helps him tonight.

 
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