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NewlyRetired

NewlyRetired 16,474

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Chelsea has been playing really well and have not lost a game since September.  I am not expecting an even 100% healthy Pulisic to just walk back into the team.  I think he is going to have to do what he did last year and impress as a sub before he will become even a semi regular starter.

 

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not a soccer fan here, how does this work?  Argentina gets ball for the first 45 minutes then the US gets it in the 2nd half?

encaitar

encaitar 1,877

Posted
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4 minutes ago, NewlyRetired said:

Chelsea has been playing really well and have not lost a game since September.  I am not expecting an even 100% healthy Pulisic to just walk back into the team.  I think he is going to have to do what he did last year and impress as a sub before he will become even a semi regular starter.

 

Timo Werner missed a sitter today and also missed a shot 95% of forwards would've put away that would've won it(luckily for him Rennes' defense got caught ball watching and Giroud did what Giroud does and headed home the rebound).  He's clearly tired and needs a break in the worst way.  Pulisic will get his opportunity with not just sub appearances, but starts.  I suspect he'll come off the bench this weekend and start next week against Sevilla.  If Chelsea continues to stay in all the comps left, then they'll have plenty of game time for all of Werner/Tammy/Pulisic for a healthy rotation.

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NewlyRetired

NewlyRetired 16,474

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Just now, Ted Lange as your Bartender said:

Congrats Andy.  I didn’t want to admit it to myself but this game gave me “Eagles-Tampa last game at the Vet” vibes all week long.

Too much premature celebrating and playing an opponent who we had beaten too many times in a row at home.  It had all the makings of a disaster.

The long layoff did not help either Philly or Toronto it seems.

Gil is one of the most underrated designated players in the league.   

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Desert_Power

Desert_Power 515

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6 hours ago, NewlyRetired said:

Dest and and Konrad combining up the field leading to a Dest blast just high.

My heart ......

I completely forgot to watch the game today, but Dest received extremely positive reviews on the Barcelona boards i follow. Will try and watch in the next few days.

With Sergi Roberto out for 2 months, the job is his.

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CletiusMaximus

CletiusMaximus 8,899

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5 hours ago, NewlyRetired said:

Surprisingly today was not the first time two American's appeared for the same team in the same game in Champions League.

Howard and Spector did this as well.

I would think Dempsey / Friedel must have played a CL game for Spurs.  

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El Floppo

El Floppo 27,928

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1 hour ago, Desert_Power said:

I completely forgot to watch the game today, but Dest received extremely positive reviews on the Barcelona boards i follow. Will try and watch in the next few days.

With Sergi Roberto out for 2 months, the job is his.

I just got to watch, speeding through to focus on Dest. He is at another level....looks right at home playing with Barca.

So comfortable on the ball, and reads the game well on both sides of things. Watched him working back a few times as the ball came down the opposite wing..head on a swivel, reading his back line and identifying the dangers around him, adjusting his runs to move in or out depending on his team mates or attackers around him. And then busting forward frequently...and with the ball at his feet- forget it. Entirely CP-esque with a lethal change of direction and pace to blow by people. Saw this for the US too..but he seems to be enjoying the elastico.

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Sammy3469

Sammy3469 10,246

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8 hours ago, El Floppo said:

I just got to watch, speeding through to focus on Dest. He is at another level....looks right at home playing with Barca.

So comfortable on the ball, and reads the game well on both sides of things. Watched him working back a few times as the ball came down the opposite wing..head on a swivel, reading his back line and identifying the dangers around him, adjusting his runs to move in or out depending on his team mates or attackers around him. And then busting forward frequently...and with the ball at his feet- forget it. Entirely CP-esque with a lethal change of direction and pace to blow by people. Saw this for the US too..but he seems to be enjoying the elastico.

I still can't get over what he did on that goal.  I hope every touch was intentional because the combo of those with the speed of thought was scary good.  

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NewlyRetired

NewlyRetired 16,474

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USMNT Only

@usmntonly

Frank Lampard has confirmed that Christian Pulisic is fit & available for the match vs. Spurs on Sunday

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

And now we start baby steps.   Lets hope for ~15 minutes as a sub with no pain or discomfort after the game and go from there.

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NewlyRetired

NewlyRetired 16,474

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1 minute ago, NewlyRetired said:

Richards starts for Bayern today in Champions League in what looks like an almost first choice line up

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EnsMlZJXUAIPK6C?format=jpg&name=large

Yikes, one of the media guys says they expect he will be playing LB.  That's a tough ask of the kid. 

I wonder if he will be the LCB in a 3-5-2 type line up...

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NewlyRetired

NewlyRetired 16,474

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19 minutes ago, NewlyRetired said:

Yikes, one of the media guys says they expect he will be playing LB.  That's a tough ask of the kid. 

I wonder if he will be the LCB in a 3-5-2 type line up...

espn shows him in the lb of a 4 man back, in Alphonso Davies normal spot (he is out until Jan.).

Richards hung in there to provide some width on the right in his previous start but this is likely a more difficult task for him on the left.

Have to take the minutes where they come though.

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El Floppo

El Floppo 27,928

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21 minutes ago, NewlyRetired said:

Yikes, one of the media guys says they expect he will be playing LB.  That's a tough ask of the kid. 

I wonder if he will be the LCB in a 3-5-2 type line up...

Is Davies hurt? I remember you saying he had lost his spot a bit ago...just haven't been following.

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NewlyRetired

NewlyRetired 16,474

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12 minutes ago, Sammy3469 said:

Looks like Juventus is going to pay 6-7 million for 19 year old RB Brian Reynolds (Twellman confirms he's heard the same thing).  I can't help but think Pirlo's time in MLS is paying dividends.  

https://3rddegree.net/juventus-coming-in-strong-for-bryan-reynolds

Wow.....

For people unaware, Reyonlds is the kid that took over for Cannon. 

If $6-7m is the new going rate for young US players (this is around what Aaronson went for too), this is going to bode well for MLS teams continuing to invest in the youth.

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NewlyRetired

NewlyRetired 16,474

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tough half for Richards, I feel bad for him. 

He does not have the skill set or pace or left foot needed to play this position.   He is struggling with almost every left footed pass or cross he has to make.  He also does not really have the dribbling skill needed to take any one on.

It is what I kind of expected but still hard to watch knowing he needs to impress no matter where he is positioned.

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NewlyRetired

NewlyRetired 16,474

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On 11/20/2020 at 4:07 PM, NewlyRetired said:

Buy early and often please :)

===========

Tom Bogert @tombogert

Boavista targeting MLS talent won't stop with Cannon/Elis. I spoke with sporting director Admar Lopes about their interest in MLS and more: "There are currently several players with high potential in MLS who may be of our interest in the near future."

Boavista has scouts in the US and Lopes has been here often. "I will not reveal who (our MLS targets) are, but there are some that could fit in our project. I also know that there are several important clubs in Europe extremely interested in MLS players."

I guess we now know who one of the teams he was referring to in the last sentence.

This is all so cool to experience. It is so interesting to follow something set in motion almost ten years ago and watch it starting to bear real fruit now.....

Edited by NewlyRetired
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El Floppo

El Floppo 27,928

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45 minutes ago, NewlyRetired said:
55 minutes ago, Sammy3469 said:

Looks like Juventus is going to pay 6-7 million for 19 year old RB Brian Reynolds (Twellman confirms he's heard the same thing).  I can't help but think Pirlo's time in MLS is paying dividends.  

https://3rddegree.net/juventus-coming-in-strong-for-bryan-reynolds

Wow.....

For people unaware, Reyonlds is the kid that took over for Cannon. 

First I've heard of this kid.

I assume he's good...any details?

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Sammy3469

Sammy3469 10,246

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7 minutes ago, NewlyRetired said:

This should catch you up

https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/fc-dallas/2020/11/14/after-waiting-patiently-for-his-moment-fc-dallas-bryan-reynolds-has-shined-as-a-starter-2/

I think the biggest news in that article is Reynolds is close enough to Davies to call him 'Phonsie 

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NewlyRetired

NewlyRetired 16,474

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The Reynolds rumor has generated some interesting discussions online

* Golden Generation vs Tip of Iceberg

I don't think we are in a Golden Generation (at least I hope not).  Donovan, DMB, Gooch, Convey, and Beckerman all being on the same U17 team is the closest we have had to a golden generation.  That was a clear blip in the Matrix that has not happened since.

However, I am not ready yet to declare tip of ice berg either.   I feel like we are clearly headed in the right direction and while producing Pulisic level players is still going to be extremely rare, I do think we have the pump primed to produce Weston/Adams level players at a rate we never have in the past.  I think it will be consistent enough to not look like the blip that happened back in the 90's with the class I mentioned above.

 

* What is Juve thinking with the rumored buy?

This one is tricky.  In a covid financial environment, that investment level should indicate a squad level player (vs a pure speculative pick up that would go out on loan).  However, outside of Ronaldo himself, no position seems more secure than Cuadrado at RB for Juventus.  So I am unsure where minutes would come from outside of cup type games. 

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NewlyRetired

NewlyRetired 16,474

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We started with 10 American's on Champions League rosters.

Of those 10, 8 have already played and a good chance that a 9th (Steffen) will get in a game or two now that Man City are through.

The 10 players are on 9 different teams.  5 of the 9 teams have already advanced to the knock out stage.  I expect this number will be 6 soon, once Dortmund qualifies.   Ajax and RBL (and even Club Bruuge but they are a long shot at best) are still alive which gives an outside chance of a large majority of the teams Yanks are on moving to the knock out stage.

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Sammy3469

Sammy3469 10,246

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4 hours ago, NewlyRetired said:

The Reynolds rumor has generated some interesting discussions online

* Golden Generation vs Tip of Iceberg

I don't think we are in a Golden Generation (at least I hope not).  Donovan, DMB, Gooch, Convey, and Beckerman all being on the same U17 team is the closest we have had to a golden generation.  That was a clear blip in the Matrix that has not happened since.

However, I am not ready yet to declare tip of ice berg either.   I feel like we are clearly headed in the right direction and while producing Pulisic level players is still going to be extremely rare, I do think we have the pump primed to produce Weston/Adams level players at a rate we never have in the past.  I think it will be consistent enough to not look like the blip that happened back in the 90's with the class I mentioned above.

 

* What is Juve thinking with the rumored buy?

This one is tricky.  In a covid financial environment, that investment level should indicate a squad level player (vs a pure speculative pick up that would go out on loan).  However, outside of Ronaldo himself, no position seems more secure than Cuadrado at RB for Juventus.  So I am unsure where minutes would come from outside of cup type games. 

I mean a 32 year old right back on a one year contract doesn’t seem so secure long term.  I harped on it with Dest, but there simply aren’t a lot of young quality outside backs that are athletic enough to play that position with the way the top 10 club teams in the world tactically attack these days.  The ability to freely overlap and provide width is vital to those tactics working.  I know in one of your posts above asked about Dest being more advanced, but he already functionally is as a 4-3-3 is the defensive setup that quickly becomes a 3-4-3 (or something like that) in attack.  

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NewlyRetired

NewlyRetired 16,474

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9 minutes ago, Sammy3469 said:

.  I know in one of your posts above asked about Dest being more advanced, but he already functionally is as a 4-3-3 is the defensive setup that quickly becomes a 3-4-3 (or something like that) in attack.  

I was thinking even more forward than how he is deployed now. 

And this is only if another player really emerges at RB, but watching how Dest functions in and around the box makes me think he could be really lethal if he was advanced already to start the play.

Just day dreaming though as I don't think it is realistic to expect another RB to emerge to the level Dest looks like he is playing at and possibly can even improve on.

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NewlyRetired

NewlyRetired 16,474

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OneGoal

@OneGoalUS

Gladbach’s sporting director Max Eberl on Joe Scally (17) “Our expectations in him are high. Our plan is that he’ll be part of the first team. We are very excited- he has strong defensive abilities but also speed, stamina and guts.” [Kicker] Scally joins Gladbach in January.

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

If memory serves NYC sold him last winter to Gladbach but I think they needed to wait until he was 18 to let him go since he does not hold a Euro passport (like Pulisic and Gio did).  He turns 18 at the end of December.

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NewlyRetired

NewlyRetired 16,474

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After Yunus, the biggest name on the dual nats board is Folarin Balogun.  He is in the Arsenal system and got a late sub appearance today in Europa League and scored on his first touch

https://twitter.com/noob_fcb/status/1332045570257670146?s=20

 

Normally I would have said he is an extreme long shot to choose the US, but with the progress made on Yunus, who knows.....

Edited by NewlyRetired
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