El Floppo
Footballguy
Acosta, Sands..... Somebody else. Still hoping for a Durkin sighting in future camps. Maybe Keaton.
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⚽ OFFICIAL GOLD CUP THREAD: United States Beats Mexico. Again. ⚽ (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter ChiefD
- Start date
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
IMO, to date Busio missed his chance for this cycle. Yueill is clearly not at this level.
We can't slot Sands in until he actually plays at the 6 fully but GGG seems to like him and he has to know that the other 6's are not working. We may get a better answer on Sands in the next game or two if we can advance.
I will say that there is no player on the roster who has upgraded his standing more than Sands. He came from basically being a back up CB on a B level team to people wondering if he can make the full teams 23.
BassNBrew
Footballguy
Any converts to the Zardes camp after today? Looks like his foot work has improved and he’s all over the field. His positioning on that first goal gave the goalie no option to think about the back side. Would love to see him paired Giovanni and Pulisic. I think would would also be able to successfully press
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
El Floppo
Footballguy
Exactly. And booted doen the middle more often than not, into 1 v 2, lost and immediate pressure back on the non-existent US MF
El Floppo
Footballguy
He did nothing to change my mind or show me anything new in his game. Hard worker, very good defensively, decent runs offensively, crapshoot with the ball at his feet, but he has a good idea what to do with it if his feet (or butt or face) let him.
BassNBrew
Footballguy
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
I thought he was only slightly less useless than Dike today and that was because he was much more active than Dike. But they can't be on the field together any more IMO. We talked about this in the US thread a couple of days ago that using them together was going to cause problems since neither compliment the other.
Zardes did very little on the ball. No key passes, he did not beat a man on the dribble all day and did little to help keep possession when it was desperately needed. Hoppe was a breath of fresh air when he came because he at least had the ability to try and dribble out of pressure.
I agree he would look much better with Pulisic and Gio but so would most players surrounded by that level of talent.
El Floppo
Footballguy
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
Yes of course there will be but that roster is not going to be one where you are going to see experiments like Durkin being called in.
The WCQiers will be the best of who is healthy at that time, and Yueill..............kill me please
El Floppo
Footballguy
He was visibly bad what i saw in the second half. Poor spacing, poor dexision making, no defense and no offense. Im sold off him in light of last two games.
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
I feel like he (along with Lletget) were the two reasons we got run over in the midfield. Busio could not make a tackle all day to stop the ball which he has to at the 6 and the Lletget is the furthest thing from a ball hawk.
I have come to the conclusion that LLetget is a nice solid player when we are on the front foot but provides very little when we are struggling.
One of the reasons I am so in love with the Adams-Weston-Musah triangle is that they all can play on both sides of the ball with out losing anything offensively or defensively.
El Floppo
Footballguy
First games early Sep, right? I dont see him for that...but if he does enough for club at the beginning of the season, maybe the next group of games.
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
here are the windows for qualifying:
Sept 2-8
Oct 7-13
Nov 12-16
Jan 27 - Feb 2
Mar 24-30
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
Most of the US media is choosing Robinson as MOTM, FWIW
Buchanan was clearly the best player on the field. The kid has chops.
Buchanan was clearly the best player on the field. The kid has chops.
Moe.
Footballguy
Might have to think of it a different way. If Adams is out for whatever reason maybe you change Weston’s role a little bit. It’s not ideal, but I think that’s a better alternative than leaving everything else alone and thinking one of those guys can replace Adams
El Floppo
Footballguy
Thanks.
I was following Durkin, but only in the box scores to see that was getting good PT, but little other info. Im holding onto his youth game tbh, where he looked the part.
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
3-0-0
8 goals for
1 goal against
and I feel less than satisfied. Am I expecting way too much out of this squad?
8 goals for
1 goal against
and I feel less than satisfied. Am I expecting way too much out of this squad?
gianmarco
Footballguy
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
I think Weston can do it although it is going to be a big change for him. As I posted in the US thread, his new coach at Juventus is considering moving him way up the field just under Ronaldo.
My guess is that the new coach saw a ton of film on Juventus last year and saw how many good things happened when Weston went up the middle and deep (that is what she said) and wants to see if it is something sustainable.
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BassNBrew
Footballguy
We must have watched different games. I will be interested in seeing the passing stats
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
I probably would feel better if we dominated Haiti but we looked sluggish in that game.
I know it is unrealistic with these level of players but I want the first 25 minutes today to be how we look. That was lovely to watch.
El Floppo
Footballguy
6 goals vs minnow means zip. we all know that.
a goal against two better sides in the region means more, as well as none against. but neither of those games looked convincing on either side of the ball and for me, the US looked like the team on the back foot against both. that's why I'm less than satisfied at this point- just haven't seen much come together against even midling competition.
compare to Mex- what I've seen, they've been absolutely dominant.. with holes and not perfect and not putting the ball away as mkuch as they should... but dominant none the less.
gianmarco
Footballguy
Agreed completely. So frustrating that as good as we looked then, we looked even worse for the rest.
El Floppo
Footballguy
I only watched the second half. he did bupkis.
and he hasn't shown me a whole lot in the other games, tbh. but I still rate him for the reasons posted above and would be ok- albeit not thrilled- with him playing for the A team.
El Floppo
Footballguy
I'm actually glad to hear the US had those 25 minutes... that's 25 mins more than I've seen from them so far.
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
Assuming you are saying B is the second best 23 and C is the 3rd best 23, I don't feel there are 46ish players better than this group so I can't label them a C team.
Yes this team would have been better if only for a few changes and little better luck on injuries, but I can't find 23 players to replace them.
Long, Clark, Cowell, LDLT and Morris all would have added some quality to a team lacking in it.
El Floppo
Footballguy
completely agree. and this was always about figuring out whether those second best 23 are really the second best 23... probably 10+ guys that could either way.
gianmarco
Footballguy
That's the disappointing part to me. Plus, we have a few A teamers in Turner, Dike, Lletget, Acosta, Zimmerman, Cannon and potentially Busio/Sands/Zardes.
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
I feel like we haven't answer enough questions though.
*We were looking for a back up #6 outside of Acosta. All we can point to is Sands who hasn't actually played the position yet.
*We were looking for some one to grab the horns at striker. Zardes and Dike but have shown a little but their glaring deficiencies are showing just as bright.
*We were looking for for a back up lb. Bello did not grab his chance. Vines was actually half decent today defensively up much of the game against Buchanan
*We were looking to make sure Turner would not melt at the international level. So far so good outside out of couple of ify moments with his feet in the first game.
El Floppo
Footballguy
agree about all of that- although still not sold on Turner given the distribution issues I've seen.
I was talking about an overlap bewteen the 2nd and 3rd groups of 23.
gianmarco
Footballguy
We were also looking for some insight into GGG, and while the lineup today was promising, his continued insistence on certain formations, his inclusion of JY, and his in game substitutions (both personnel and timing) leave a lot to be desired.
Also, perhaps we aren't giving enough weight to the loss of Zimmerman in this game. He went out in the 15th minute and 10 minutes later things were clearly falling apart. He's been a solid performer every game and his loss probably affected a lot more than we've discussed.
Ned
Footballguy
Yea it was awesome and I take it as a positive. They took it straight to Canada and made them look pretty bad in the first 15.
I think losing Zimmerman is being dismissed too easily because it happened so early. Once he went out, Canada pressed which forced the fullbacks to stay at home more than before. Going from attacking with eight (
) to constantly defending with five and Busio/Lletget being forced into uncomfortable positions flipped the game on its head. Candada just struggled and lost to the US B- team. I’ll take it.
The Z Machine
Footballguy
That's exactly what I was thinking. You move Weston back to the 6 and bring in someone that can play the 8 or change the midfield formation to fit CP, Gio, Aaronson or Weah.
gianmarco
Footballguy
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
Check the USMNT thread for the news Twellman just dropped a little while ago about Busio. Big numbers!
gianmarco
Footballguy
Yeah, I saw them.
Posted this in the wrong thread
Busio tweet
Some general points I see a lot making about him
-- He is best suited as a #6. He doesn't do well as an 8 or 10 because he can't win as many duels. His defense is better when he's deep
-- As a #6, his strengths of passing and tempo work better
-- He's only 19. Still time to develop a lot, especially physically
-- Going to Serie A is going to help those deficiencies
-- Pairing him with Acosta and Lletget is not good for his skillset
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
does anyone know why Martinique has a national team and is in Concacaf but not in FIFA?
Dinsy Ejotuz
Footballguy
I think it's because it's part of France.
There's another team or two like this IIRC.
El Floppo
Footballguy
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
Great crowd at this game.
ELS fans are incredible. They are louder so far than the Mexican fans in a game in Texas.
if the US "away" ELS game is in DC, the atmosphere is going to be nuts as they are going make up 99% of he crowd.
ELS fans are incredible. They are louder so far than the Mexican fans in a game in Texas.
if the US "away" ELS game is in DC, the atmosphere is going to be nuts as they are going make up 99% of he crowd.
ChiefD
Footballguy
I agree with all of this.
Busio is only 19. He will be fine. I’ve watched him more than most guys here since he broke in with Sporting. I personally believe the last two games he is being asked to do some things that is not his normal game.
And that’s part of the growing process for a 19 year old kid. But I thought his passing today was quick and decisive.
But when it came to defense, he was tentative. I’m guessing he (and the other midfield) was being asked to just hold their position and shape. That’s what it looked like to me.
They had a lead the entire game. There was not a time this whole game where I thought Canada was going to win this game.
As I’ve mentioned for the last two years regarding Busio - he needs to go overseas. And I am sad and glad that is happening.
Today’s game was a perfectly good boring USA win against an up and coming rival. I’m pretty happy about that.
NewlyRetired
Footballguy
ELS lost the keys to the bus. They came to play.
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