🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Thought I’d create a thread for all three of us soccer fans.
Can be a catch all thread...the EPL season started, US players abroad, World Cup run up, etc.

Watched some of Chelsea-Everton yesterday.

Chelsea has a slew of new players I don’t know much about yet. This one defender with a name I’ll never be able to pronounce is huge (heavier than most)! I assume he must have some speed as well to pair next to Thiago Silva. He’s getting slower by the game.

Pulisic came on as a late sub. Made a few runs.

Anyway, I hope others find this a good place to chat about whatever the new soccer season brings us. Enjoy!

Watched some of the opening weekend. Was surprised at how poor Liverpool looked.

I don't really follow any particular EPL team; mostly I root for or against managers, and I always appreciate a good underdog club.

I do have a soft spot for Wolverhampton. Back in the late '60s they represented Kansas City in a summer tournament sponsored by the old NASL. Each franchise had a (lower-division) English club play for them in a round-robin Cup competition. The KC Spurs had Wolves as their representatives, who went on the win the Cup.

Unfortunately the Spurs went out of business the following year despite being one of the top teams in the league. By their last season they'd been reduced to playing in a high school stadium. Still, I enjoyed them while they were around. I even got to be a ball boy for a couple of their games. And I saw Pele play a friendly match with his club Santos against KC on the Fourth Of July! (Still have the ticket stub somewhere...)

Ha, good story @nwhawkfan .

I was lucky enough to see Pele play in the NASL for the Cosmos in the early 80s? Not that i remember, but i'm sure it was exciting!

Agreed Liverpool looked off today. First half at least for sure. I didn't really look to see if they have bunch of new players that need time to adjust.

Chelsea sure needs time to get its new players comfortable. And i'm sure they have coming and going in the next few weeks.

Back to Liverpool/Fulham...was fun to see Antonee Robinson mark superhuman Mo Salah! what a challenge. Looked like he generally kept him in check the first half. made some bad marking decisions in the second though. maybe he was winded.

This aint generic

@wissox said in Generic soccer thread:

This aint generic

I’m a big soccer fan, but I am definitely growing slightly disillusioned with all the whining, diving and bullying the refs.

It’s worse than the NBA sometimes — watching every single player put up his hands in disbelief every time there’s a whistle. Who, me?

I wish they’d put an end to it. Talk back to the ref? Card.

Surround the ref, booted from the game.

I love soccer especially World Cup.

Couldnt focus on Chelsea much this weekend. Watched them get waxed by Arsenal last week. Arsenal looked legit and finishing top 4 is going to be very hard for Chelsea i think given the defensive turnover. The new guy Koulibaly is a Senegalese vet, so Mendys happy. I agree im concerned about our defensive speed. We’ll see.

Sterling is a pest though really excited by what he has shown

I'll be interested to see how the transfers (or non-transfers) for USMNT players pan out. I was hoping Pulisic would end up moving so he could be on the field more consistently. The moves by the goalies to get playing time...even at a lower level...hopefully will pay dividends in November

@focojayhawk yeah Sterling is top left and an upgrade to Pulisic for what Chelsea needs there. His time just took a big hit.

@focojayhawk said in Generic soccer thread:

I'll be interested to see how the transfers (or non-transfers) for USMNT players pan out. I was hoping Pulisic would end up moving so he could be on the field more consistently. The moves by the goalies to get playing time...even at a lower level...hopefully will pay dividends in November

Poor Pulisic. He just doesn't fit Tuchel's at times non sensical tactical formation. Not sure who does, really. Mostly seems like he doesn't like true offensive wingers. he's got a guy or two just running around up front. Weird, because you'd think "mr all i do is run around Timo Werner" would fit right into that mayhem, but he doesn't. why?

Well, what do i know. Chelsea was Top 3 last season. So, maybe he knows what he's doing. Just seems like a bunch of pissed off players on the team.

His wingers appear to be wingbacks mostly. I'd be frustrated if i played on that team (as Pulisic should be).

Yeah Werner is out. I'm so glad, he's been horrible.

@rockchalkjayhawk For sure. I coached a kid, just up from Honduras (probably undocumented) who could knock a coke can off the top of my head with a soccer ball from 40 yards away and not hurt me! He also was the biggest flopper we've ever had! Total language barrier between us, and we'd be yelling at him to get up and, well, it was just a funny scene! He made freshman all state and it was only after the season was over that we learned he was 19 years old!

@wissox do we have tape of this?

Wow! Anybody see DeBruyne’s amazing goal this morning? Wow. What skill.

As for the other side of Manchester...I got a chuckle watching Brentford play giant killer against Man United. 4-zip after the first half hour.

Truly awful defending, and that included DeGea, who's usually solid in goal. All this from a club with more than ten times the payroll of Brentford.

Ever since Alex Ferguson retired as manager they've been on a long decline, and with Liverpool up next there's no relief in sight. How the mighty have fallen.

@nwhawkfan said in Generic soccer thread:

As for the other side of Manchester...I got a chuckle watching Brentford play giant killer against Man United. 4-zip after the first half hour.

Truly awful defending, and that included DeGea, who's usually solid in goal. All this from a club with more than ten times the payroll of Brentford.

Ever since Alex Ferguson retired as manager they've been on a long decline, and with Liverpool up next there's no relief in sight. How the mighty have fallen.

Man U seems like a bit of a complicated mess at the moment.

Watched both games, actually almost all of the Premiere League games this weekend. It didnt disappoint! Jesus is going to be a monster for Arsenal this year. I think they could finish top 4 and bump Chelsea.

Did you see the end of the Chelsea Everton game? Tuchel and Conte got into it. Battle of the psycho weenies

Also its easy to say but i think Man City could easily run away with it. Amazing talent around De Bruyne. Ridiculous.

@approxinfinity Pretty sure that was Chelsea/Tottenham. My buddy is a Hot Spur fan and said that emotions were turned up that entire game. A goal in the 96th minute to secure a tie is always great drama.

@approxinfinity said in Generic soccer thread:

Watched both games, actually almost all of the Premiere League games this weekend. It didnt disappoint! Jesus is going to be a monster for Arsenal this year. I think they could finish top 4 and bump Chelsea.

Did you see the end of the Chelsea Everton game? Tuchel and Conte got into it. Battle of the psycho weenies

Crazy! That was one of those games where if you looked away for two seconds you missed something! Entertaining.

Tuchel was clearly the aggressor from what I saw. Acting like a little immature beotch on more than once occasion. But fun to watch!

I missed the main semi brawl during the water break? What happened?

@approxinfinity said in Generic soccer thread:

Also its easy to say but i think Man City could easily run away with it. Amazing talent around De Bruyne. Ridiculous.

Clearly head and shoulders above the rest of the EPL.

@benshawks08 oops yep. I misspoke. Evertons match was first of the day. Last 20 minutes had me yelling and waking up the fam for teams I normally dont follow. Great day for soccer. Scratched that itch!

@rockchalkjayhawk yeah it was Tuchel! He grabbed Contes hand then made him look him in the eye even though he walked by without looking. Self important nut case. That being said Tottenham stole one, and those fouls shouls have been called.

@rockchalkjayhawk afaict the earlier Tuchel just didnt like Conte running up to his bench when they scored seemingly in the run of play after Havertz got mauled on a no call. However it was like a minute later.

@approxinfinity missed that one. no doubt both coaches were acting a fool. yet highly entertaining!
There were some serious no calls in that game. I can see how the players and managers were on edge.

You guys will have to forgive me for not commenting much on club soccer. Followed La Liga for a stretch after a study abroad season in Zaragoza (since relegated to 2nd division) but fell off following once I got married and had kids. I'm all-in as a USMNT guy, but am only a novice otherwise. As the World Cup approaches, I promise to be more engaged here. I appreciate the space on here to talk shop.

@rockchalkjayhawk said in Generic soccer thread:

@approxinfinity missed that one. no doubt both coaches were acting a fool. yet highly entertaining!
There were some serious no calls in that game. I can see how the players and managers were on edge.

Only saw the start of that game; finally caught the highlights later. What a donnybrook ! Better than WWE, complete with hair pulling.

On the women's side, once again the USA U-20 team failed to make it out of the group stage in their World Cup after losing to favorite Japan last night. This doesn't bode well for continuing the dominance of the senior team, which is getting a bit long in the tooth.

Wow! meant to watch that, and i spaced @nwhawkfan . i watched a bit of their last game. did not look good.

Two pretty entertaining EPL games over the weekend.

The Leeds/Chelsea game featured three Americans (at one point). Pulisic, Adams and Aaronsen. I think Leeds may be my new go to team to watch. That means I can finally break out that Leeds cap I bought in England 20 years ago! They are all over the place, as you can imagine with the later two US guys. They shut out Chelsea!

And somehow Newcastle scored three on Man City for a tie.

I've got mixed feelings about Leeds. Jesse Marsch has a reputation as being a pretty abrasive manager. I guess winning will cover up a lot of that, and take away some of the anti-American prejudice there's been in the past among English fans.

Impressive showing by Newcastle. Eddie Howe did a great job bringing Bournemouth up from the ashes a few years ago. I always wondered what he could do once he was given proper resources. Regardless of how you feel about Saudi oil money in sports, there's no doubt that the new owners will spend what's necessary to get the job done.

@nwhawkfan said in Generic soccer thread:

Eddie Howe

I honestly didn't even realize Jesse Marsch was American! ha. dunno anything about him. he did look excitable on the sideline. So, i don't know his drama. I do know that Leeds played a pretty entertaining match. Their style of play brought some energy to the pitch. I haven't really watched Leeds lately, so i can only assume they play that way all the time.

@rockchalkjayhawk said in Generic soccer thread:

@nwhawkfan said in Generic soccer thread:

Eddie Howe

I honestly didn't even realize Jesse Marsch was American! ha. dunno anything about him. he did look excitable on the sideline. So, i don't know his drama. I do know that Leeds played a pretty entertaining match. Their style of play brought some energy to the pitch. I haven't really watched Leeds lately, so i can only assume they play that way all the time.

That uptempo style is a carryover from their previous manager, Marcelo Bielsa. He managed to get Leeds promoted back to the Premier League, but couldn't keep up the success. When they were close to relegation last season, he resigned in an "amicable" split Apparently he was still pretty popular among their fans. When Marsch took over he was smart enough to keep that attacking style.

Well, i'm guessing that the one game i saw Leeds play with all that speed and energy was an outlier...they looked like nothing of the sort today in a loss vs BHA. Still enjoyed watching the US guys.

I never thought I’d read about Jesus and the psycho weenies, but it just happened.

This just in…not sure this is great news, but at least he’s on a quality club still.

Pulisic to stay at Chelsea (The Athletic)

Christian Pulisic will continue with Chelsea in the upcoming season, according to The Athletic.
The London club has decided to keep the 23-year-old despite interest from Manchester United, Newcastle United, and some other clubs in Spain and Italy.

@rockchalkjayhawk newcastle sounded most intriguing to me

I just can't see how this is good news if he plays so sporadically. If he's "Captain America" and plays so infrequently then it's hard to believe that he'll be in top form in November we the USMNT needs him

@focojayhawk said in Generic soccer thread:

I just can't see how this is good news if he plays so sporadically. If he's "Captain America" and plays so infrequently then it's hard to believe that he'll be in top form in November we the USMNT needs him

yup. Tuchel needs to come to his senses and get his front line in order.

What a shame. Newcastle nearly pulled off a draw at Liverpool in a matchup of my two favorite managers, Eddie Howe and Jurgen Klopp. Just a few days after the Reds hung nine goals on Bournemouth.

IMO the ref gave Liverpool way too much stoppage time to let them get the last minute win.

Still, I was impressed by Newcastle's new striker Isak, with a goal in his first game. A nice 70-million dollar addition to the roster.

Hey, good news for Sergino Dest!

AC Milan agree loan deal for Sergino Dest (Di Marzio)
7 hours ago 16:00
Sergino Dest has been linked with a host of top European clubs this summer but has now found a new club, for this season at least.
Di Marzio has reported that a full agreement has been reached between Barcelona and AC Milan for the signing of the USMNT right-back. He will move on loan for the duration of this season and the Italian champions are likely to have the option to purchase him permanently at the conclusion of the loan

@rockchalkjayhawk As long as he gets playing time. Don't want him to end up like Pulisic at Chelsea.

Finally got around to watching Chelsea/West Ham.
Chelsea is kind of a mess. Every offensive player just seems lost, stifled, restricted, tied down, boxed in, not sure what to do or where to go on the pitch.
It's like they have a team of wingers but only the wingers who aren't playing whatever Tuchel defines as wing aren't allowed to venture to the wing. so weird.
Pulisic did nothing of note, nor did anybody else in the first 70 minutes.

Fofana was a nice get. New ownership willing to spend and not gonna put up with Tuchels mediocrity. “What have you done lately Tommy?”

Weston McKennie with a UCL goal today for Juventus!!! Very nice header.

Down goes Tuchel! Zero surprise.

@approxinfinity Can't lose to a club like Zagreb and expect to stick around very long.

Hope the new owners hire a coach who gives Pulisic more playing time.

@approxinfinity said in Generic soccer thread:

Down goes Tuchel! Zero surprise.

Wait, they fired Tuchel? Wow.

Can't figure out what's wrong with Liverpool. The same club that scored nine goals against Bournemouth has to settle for draws against bottom-feeders Everton and Fulham. Then they get clobbered by an inferior Napoli side in the Champions League. All this from a team that was expected to be in the mix for multiple trophies this season.

Jurgen Klopp isn't exactly on the hot seat like Tuchel was, but their play lately has got to be driving him nuts.

I read a story about Liverpool yesterday.
Basically called out some of the older guys for absolutely slacking on offense and defense.
Alexander Arnold was hammered for his lack of give a shit on defense, or getting back to play and defend after his runs up the wing.
I didn't watch the game, so i can't say.

Guessing that Liverpool and the rest of the EPL teams won't play at all this weekend after the passing of Queen Elizabeth.

Pulisic came on as a late sub today vs Palace.

Made a great cutting running inside from the left, dished off and watched his teammate score. Assist!

Chelsea’s new manager started them in a 3-5-1-1 formation, which had my head spinning. I don’t understand the responsibilities in that formation. If you have Chilwell as part of the 3, isn’t he a wingback who likes to get forward? What do the outside guys in the 5 do? Just be in his way, right?

Chilwell struggled a bit with defense. Enjoyed Silva hitting the ball “accidentally with his hand” to prevent a goal, then turning around immediately and assisting with a beautiful header in the box. Thats why hes Thiago Silva. Pulisic’s play assisted Conor Gallagher. It was a beautiful strike. One of the knocks against Tuchel was that he wasn’t using the academy talent. Gallagher is top of that list. All smiles in the post game interview. Good for him!

Interesting weekend in the Premier League. Really impressed by Eddie Howe's Newcastle side. Today they went into London and took down Tottenham (with help from a couple of goalie mistakes). The win moved them into the top four ahead of Chelsea and Man United, who played to a draw.

Meawhile, Jesse Marsch's hot seat as manager of Leeds just got hotter. They lost again, this time at home to Fulham.

And I still can't figure Liverpool out. A week after beating defending champs Manchester City, they lose to last-place Nottingham Forest. Even with two-thirds of the season to go, it's looking like the best chance they have for a trophy is the FA Cup, or maybe the Champions League.

I watched a few minutes of the Leeds game. Noticed that Adams wasn’t in the lineup to start.

Bummer they lost. Really rooting for them this season with their American contingent.

Actually maybe my new “go to” team to watch in this year.

Before the season my impression of Aaronsen was that he’s pretty much a spaz. Just runs around like a mad man and gets involved all over the field. But, didn’t think he had much skill.

After watching a few Leeds games so far, my impression is slightly changed. Still puts in massive effort with his mobility. But I’ve seen a few instances of skill and vision that are inspiring.

@rockchalkjayhawk https://www.espn.com/soccer/english-premier-league/story/4779936/will-marsch-follow-gerrard-out-of-job-as-fans-lose-patience/ ↗

@nwhawkfan said in Generic soccer thread:

@rockchalkjayhawk https://www.espn.com/soccer/english-premier-league/story/4779936/will-marsch-follow-gerrard-out-of-job-as-fans-lose-patience/ ↗

ouch. tough life being an EPL coach!
Interesting tidbit from the story...Leeds may be weaker this season than the ended last year. Lost some guys to transfer, and didn't spend to bring better guys in. Sucks.

It is a similar story at Leeds, where Marsch lost midfielder Kalvin Phillips (to Manchester City) and forward Raphinha (Barcelona) for fees totalling almost £100m, while club-record signing Daniel James also left on loan to Fulham. The Elland Road recruitment team replaced them with a variety of players with little or no Premier League experience, such as Brenden Aaronson, Luis Sinisterra, Tyler Adams and Rasmus Kristensen. Having avoided relegation only on the final day of last season, Leeds arguably went into this season with a weaker squad after allowing three key players to leave in the summer, so it is no surprise that Marsch's team would be struggling and now in the bottom three.

Pulisic amazingly got a start today in UCL!

@rockchalkjayhawk said in Generic soccer thread:

Pulisic amazingly got a start today in UCL!

He got an assist on the winning goal too !

Hope this means more playing time for him, though I'm not too optimistic based on past history. Graham Potter may still see him as one of "Tuchel's guys."

@nwhawkfan i dont think the “Tuchels guys” label is a concern with Potter, but I may be wrong. I think Tuchel lost the lockerroom. I’m more concerned that Raheem Sterling is a better left wing.

More injury problems for the USA squad with just over three weeks to go till the World Cup. Goalie Matt Turner was kept out of Arsenal's Europa League game today with groin "discomfort."

And Tyler Adams may not make the lineup again for Leeds this weekend, after missing last Sunday's game with Fulham. Bad timing all around.

At least Gio Reyna is on the comeback trial after his latest injury (knock on wood). He scored for Dortmund last weekend against Stuttgart.

https://www.bundesliga.com/en/bundesliga/news/gio-reyna-rocking-again-with-on-song-borussia-dortmund-usmnt-world-cup-21693/ ↗

Ugh. We need all our stars to be healthy, and quickly!

The semi positive is that i think we have at least three goalies who are semi interchangeable. Not too worried if Turner goes down. But hope he doesn't.

Adams would be a bummer to replace. Need him.

Reyna: who knows. As others have said in the Chiefs thread, he's a wildcard to me.

Holy shit turds. Chelsea got boat raced today by Brighton.

They looked like absolute slugs. Defense? Ha!

Pulisic, until i stopped watching mid second half, was no help whatsoever.

In fact he missed what should have been a semi easy goal early on. his defensive effort was lethargic, like the rest of em.

Silva continues to look like he's lost 10 steps of quickness. He made multiple mistakes today, then miraculously headed away his mistakes on the goal line.

Haven't seen much of Christian lately, but he's not helping himself with performances like today's.

I watched that Pulisic point-blank miss off the rebound. Ouch.

This is turning into a real mess for the USMNT. Other than Reyna (who's still on the comeback trail and only played as a sub this weekend), I don't know how many quality healthy bodies we'll even have for the World Cup. The ones we do have are proving to be mostly ineffective in league play...when they get minutes, that is.

McKennie's got a bad quad. De La Torre is out for a few weeks with a hamstring injury. Turner? Groin. Our other goalie, Steffen, is still recovering from a knee knock. Then there's Weah, Robinson and Musah.

This isn't a national team, it's a MASH unit.

Not sure how healthy he is, but at least Adams got minutes in that Leeds "upset" at Liverpool. (I almost hesitate to call it an upset, since the Reds seem to be making a habit out of losing to last-place teams this season.)

Wish it weren't so, but it's not looking good for the USA's "golden generation." At the very least, all this attrition is killing our depth as we get closer and closer to November 21st.

@nwhawkfan said in Generic soccer thread:

I watched that Pulisic point-blank miss off the rebound. Ouch.

This is turning into a real mess for the USMNT. Other than Reyna (who's still on the comeback trail and only played as a sub this weekend), I don't know how many quality healthy bodies we'll even have for the World Cup. The ones we do have are proving to be mostly ineffective in league play...when they get minutes, that is.

McKennie's got a bad quad. De La Torre is out for a few weeks with a hamstring injury. Turner? Groin. Our other goalie, Steffen, is still recovering from a knee knock. Then there's Weah, Robinson and Musah.

This isn't a national team, it's a MASH unit.

Not sure how healthy he is, but at least Adams got minutes in that Leeds "upset" at Liverpool. (I almost hesitate to call it an upset, since the Reds seem to be making a habit out of losing to last-place teams this season.)

Wish it weren't so, but it's not looking good for the USA's "golden generation." At the very least, all this attrition is killing our depth as we get closer and closer to November 21st.

Man, I’ve been reading about the health of our players, or lack of.

Just getting worse and worse for our World Cup hopes. Crap.

Well maybe England will look as poor without Reece James as Chelsea does :crossed_fingers_light_skin_tone:

@approxinfinity said in Generic soccer thread:

Well many England will look as poor without Reece James as Chelsea does :crossed_fingers_light_skin_tone:

Love Reece James’ game! Hard nosed, strong player with skill.

Paul Pogba was just ruled out of the WC for France. Can't come back from knee surgery in time. One of the veterans of the Belgium team, Lukaku, is also questionable after injuring his hamstring.

You've got to figure that the compressed schedules caused by moving the tournament to late fall are mostly to blame for the rash of injuries. Teams have to play twice a week (plus Champions & Europa League matches) just to fit all the games in. Even younger stars like Pogba are having trouble staying healthy. At least MLS-based players have a slight advantage in that area, since their regular season only had to be shifted by a few weeks.

@nwhawkfan said in Generic soccer thread:

Paul Pogba was just ruled out of the WC for France. Can't come back from knee surgery in time. One of the veterans of the Belgium team, Lukaku, is also questionable after injuring his hamstring.

You've got to figure that the compressed schedules caused by moving the tournament to late fall are mostly to blame for the rash of injuries. Teams have to play twice a week (plus Champions & Europa League matches) just to fit all the games in. Even younger stars like Pogba are having trouble staying healthy. At least MLS-based players have a slight advantage in that area, since their regular season only had to be shifted by a few weeks.

yup, the entire Qatar WC is a joke. $$$$$$$$ rules the world. bribery and $. a winter World Cup? just ridiculous.

While watching all the tributes to Pele over the weekend, it occurred to me that not many people know that he played a match in Kansas City back in 1968. On the 4th of July, no less.

His club team Santos was touring the US that summer to play against NASL teams, and among the stops they made was a friendly against the KC Spurs at Municipal Stadium. I was a ball boy for the Spurs that season and got a comp ticket to see him play. This was years before he would burst onto the radar of American sports fans as a member of the New York Cosmos.

I don't remember much about the game, other than (a) the small contingent of Brazilian fans made LOTS more noise than the thousands of Spurs fans in the stands; and (b) he was by FAR the best player on the field.

Too bad the Spurs went out of business a couple of years later. (Ironically, it happened just months after Pele got his third World Cup win for Brazil in Mexico.) If they'd survived into the mid-Seventies, I might have gotten another chance to witness greatness in person.

https://funwhileitlasted.net/2018/03/11/1968-1970-kansas-city-spurs/ ↗

@nwhawkfan said in Generic soccer thread:

While watching all the tributes to Pele over the weekend, it occurred to me that not many people know that he played a match in Kansas City back in 1968. On the 4th of July, no less.

His club team Santos was touring the US that summer to play against NASL teams, and among the stops they made was a friendly against the KC Spurs at Municipal Stadium. I was a ball boy for the Spurs that season and got a comp ticket to see him play. This was years before he would burst onto the radar of American sports fans as a member of the New York Cosmos.

I don't remember much about the game, other than (a) the small contingent of Brazilian fans made LOTS more noise than the thousands of Spurs fans in the stands; and (b) he was by FAR the best player on the field.

Too bad the Spurs went out of business a couple of years later. (Ironically, it happened just months after Pele got his third World Cup win for Brazil in Mexico.) If they'd survived into the mid-Seventies, I might have gotten another chance to witness greatness in person.

https://funwhileitlasted.net/2018/03/11/1968-1970-kansas-city-spurs/ ↗

That would have been great, being a ball boy when Pele was playing. amazing.

I was fortunate to see him play with the Cosmos in NYC way back when, or actually i think the team was playing at the Meadowlands by then. I was just a kid, but still a memory.

Leeds! So awesome that McKennie is joining the club.

Hoping the three amigos can keep them in the EPL. Aaronsen and Adams have to be excited.

Im not so high on McKennie as i am on adams and aaronsen but agree its great that theres a team amassing high profile Americans we can root for several times a week

For sure. I was on a Chelsea binge for awhile, but since Pulisic is hurt, and rarely plays, i need a new team to watch. Step right up, Leeds!

I like McKennie. he's a great player in the middle. Defends, moves forward. box to box.

@rockchalkjayhawk im still watching Chelsea :) they just signed Enzo. Mgmt spending serious cabbage now.

Jesse Marsch gets the axe!

Very odd timing. Give him a chance with the upgraded roster! Don’t you normally part ways with the manager before bringing in new players? Weird.

Anyway, sounds like he’s now clear to make a run for USMNT coach.

Man, i'm rooting so hard for Leeds to succeed, but they just can't win a match.

They gave up one of the shittiest goals i've seen today against lowly Everton to lose. It was like the goalie was taking a nap with the ball near the box. Zip, right by him.

Would suck to see Adams and McKennie (and aaronsen) have to find new teams after demotion.

@rockchalkjayhawk Thierry Henry for USMNT coach maybe?

Interesting. Big name for sure, with maybe not a full resume as far as coaching experience.

I’m open to all, except maybe Jesse Marsch. I think his style makes it hard for players to buy in to the system.

I don’t personally think that some of the BIG names from Europe are good fits either. They are used to a talent pool and skill level that the US probably can’t equal.

@rockchalkjayhawk said in Generic soccer thread:

Interesting. Big name for sure, with maybe not a full resume as far as coaching experience.

I’m open to all, except maybe Jesse Marsch. I think his style makes it hard for players to buy in to the system.

I don’t personally think that some of the BIG names from Europe are good fits either. They are used to a talent pool and skill level that the US probably can’t equal.

Yeah, all good points. The revolution may be led by someone who is not televised.

@approxinfinity said in Generic soccer thread:

@rockchalkjayhawk said in Generic soccer thread:

Interesting. Big name for sure, with maybe not a full resume as far as coaching experience.

I’m open to all, except maybe Jesse Marsch. I think his style makes it hard for players to buy in to the system.

I don’t personally think that some of the BIG names from Europe are good fits either. They are used to a talent pool and skill level that the US probably can’t equal.

Yeah, all good points. The revolution may be led by someone who is not televised.

totally!

I saw that Adams has to go under the knife with a hamstring injury. Poor Leeds. The three Americans may be looking for new jobs soon enough. Ugh.

Well, Leeds, my recent favorite EPL team to watch, is looking at the bottom three with two games to go.

That sucks! I'd assume that all the American players would have to find new teams if they are demoted? Aaronson, McKennie and Adams.

If that's the case, assuming Pulisic is also moved in the offseason, there will be pretty much one EPL team with a few US guys -- Fulham with Ream and Jedi.

Love me some EPL, but it's much more enjoyable to watch with some hometown guys.

🐦 View Tweet

This is a fairly big deal.

@BShark said in Generic soccer thread:

🐦 View Tweet

This is a fairly big deal.

Yessssssssss!
We’ve been waiting on this for awhile.

Ahhh, stupid Leeds United. So disappointing.

They actually held a 1-0 lead in the first half. Needing a win to not be relegated, you’d think they’d put some effort into defending that lead, right? No. It’s Leeds.

So, looks like I’ll need a new EPL team to root for next season. I’m assuming Pulisic will be gone from Chelsea. Fulham here I come?

@rockchalkjayhawk New Castle has been fun this year. Also, I think Burnley will be fun to watch (they are getting promoted) with Kompany at the helm.

I want to see if Pochettino can make it work with the pieces he has at Chelsea

I just read the history of Burnley. Quite a 140 year long road https://www.burnleyfootballclub.com/more/more-club/burnley-fc-club-history ↗

@approxinfinity said in Generic soccer thread:

@rockchalkjayhawk New Castle has been fun this year. Also, I think Burnley will be fun to watch (they are getting promoted) with Kompany at the helm.

I want to see if Pochettino can make it work with the pieces he has at Chelsea

Ha. We should be able to co-manage Chelsea and make it work with all that talent!

Well it’s official. Leicester, Leeds and Southampton are relegated.

It will be interesting to see where all the US players end up this summer.

Pulisic rumors are all over the place. I’d love it if he could remain in the EPL. Much easier to watch and follow his career. Same with McKennie and Adams. Both are quality players. Aaronsen I don’t think much of.

Summer drama!

Everton escaped relegation. Congrats to the Evertonians! Would have been heartbreaking

Everton seems to escape with regularity! They should do a little offseason upgrading to avoid next year's regulation zone.

I watched a few games of the U20 US team. They just got knocked out yesterday by Uruguay. I'm always surprised at how aggressive the U20 and under games can be. dudes wiping each other out all over the place, recklessly lots of times. And the refs let a lot of it go! ha. must be youthful exuberance!

Looks like the goalkeeper is a Chelsea signee. A few other entertaining guys to watch.

@rockchalkjayhawk yeah Gaga has already played with the senior team. Hes solid. Couple others too have played up. Watched the game too. The own goal was tough, hope the kid bounces back.

Too early to pick up a custom Balogun 9 jersey?

I coach soccer at my junior high. 2 teams simultaneously actually as we have a boys and girls team. So from early March to the end of May is a marathon of activity from managing 35-40 inner city kids academic and behavioral lives to ensuring refs show up, busses are scheduled, uni's are distributed, and yes, even the coach is responsible for measuring and lining the field! It's quite fun but exhausting, and sometimes involves sitting at school well after all the kids have gone home waiting for Leslie's mom to show up! 7 wins, 4 losses, and 1 tie combined, plus 2-0 in coed games to accommodate one school that could only field a coed team. So really 9-4-1 final record, not too bad.

Girls are totally raw but one scored 29 goals for me over the last two seasons! Needless to say she had some ability, but had never been coached so it was fun. Boys were more experienced but generally streetball type players that we see in basketball. Flashy moves, but team concepts lacking quite a bit. If I was the cheerleading sponsor or the boys or girls basketball coaches I would have made more but only had to coach one team, which is a discussion for the next contract negotiation. Equal pay for equal work!! But all that aside, I love doing it, love yelling at kids to spread out, attack from the outer edges, drop the ball backwards, defense push up, let that kid be offsides, don't go cover them!

This is the non-glamorous side of soccer.

@wissox beautiful. My soccer knowledge has grown up with the older 2 as theyve progressed. Maybe i will take a swing at junior high coach at some point too! My eldest was goalie for his and they went undefeated. Was story book. But 9-4-1 is def legit!

@approxinfinity Bit of a long story here but here goes. I was hired in 2000 to teach at a rural Wisconsin school. They asked me if I could coach soccer as they were starting a new program. So I started my career as a varsity assistant coach. The head coach was someone who knew little more than I did.

A man named Mel stepped in and offered to help. He was a soccer dad who went full bore into learning. His rep was so immense that he actually interviewed at UNC as an assistant coach for their women's team! I learned so much from that man and it's allowed me to stay in soccer for over 20 years now. TBH, I haven't gone full bore into it like him, so I'm in no way an expert, but competent enough!

Wow. Reading that the San Francisco 49ers are purchasing Leeds United outright. crazy!

@wissox i dont pretend to be an expert in soccer tactics but learning a new sport from scratch, a sport that has an amazing history, and world wide support, i think rejuvenated my interest in profession sports where its entirely possible i would have just tuned out altogether otherwise. American professional sports just aren’t nearly as enjoyable.

Anyway, i can understand how a self taught soccer dad had a wealth of knowledge. Its easy to love soccer.

Good summation of Pulisic's options this summer:
https://www.goal.com/en-us/lists/pulisic-usmnt-chelsea-milan-man-napoli-juventus-bayern-psg-transfer/blt4a2639481f2dd678 ↗

Liking what i am seeing against mexico in first half. We are absolutely dominating possession, we need to be a little more creative in the final 3rd. Long balls on the ground up the middle is too tight a window. Should be 1-0 on Pulisics 1v1 move. He is torching Sanchez.

And boom goes the Dynamite. Pulisic 1 Mexico 0

Sounds like Berhalter will be returning as manager and will be announced tomorrow officially.

@Texas-Hawk-10 yeah. I’m not thrilled. This group is talented and hungry and Berhalter doesnt give the appearance of being either.

Man, I should know better than to watch USA v Mexico before bed. Now I’m all riled up!

So much to say. Maybe I’ll comment tomorrow when I’m awake.

First impression: interesting lineup. Mostly the Weston and Musah combo. I was worried about that at first.

@rockchalkjayhawk yeah! Interested to hear your thoughts. I loved almost everything about that ass kicking!

Man, i'm still riled up after last night's game! Fun one to watch.

There seem to be two topics to discuss: the actual tactics and players, then the typical uncalled for stuff.

Back to the Weston/Musah pairing in front of the defenders. When i saw that i was like, to hell with defense, we're going all out attack mode! I was a bit worried about who would actually stop any attacks in the mid. Well, obviously it worked out since we basically shut Mexico down. Very surprising. McKennie was a bit sloppy with his distribution (a trend?), but he contributes in other ways. Musah was great.

Captain America!! Weren't Dempsey and Donovan former Captain America's? ha.

Pulisic was the most surprising to me. I haven't see that kind of burst of speed out of him in a LONG time. Was Mexico slow, or is he healthier? Quite an effort from him. Very happy to see that. Worried for sec about that sliding goal he scored...memories of the world cup injury.

The new guy was basically invisible to me. Didn't really touch the ball much. Not happy to see that. We need to maybe reconsider our strategy -- feed the new and very capable center forward!

Loved the way we pressed and held the ball. Great effort all around.

Reyna. Well, he got clocked in the face. Thought he was dead for a sec. I'm still waiting for his breakout. But, i'm looking at him with a stern eye. So, maybe he was better than i thought. We played well when he was in, so i guess that speaks for itself. No complaints, but maybe didn't see what i wanted to see.

Anyway, very exciting game. The sloppy brutality at the end is another thing...

We own Mexico. Also Concacaf sucks.

Ha, we'll still struggle with away games in hostile territory. that never changes.

Such fun to watch the USMNT thrash Mexico. Completely outclassed in every way...I'm not sure that I remember a game like that with Mexico before. I'm not a follower of Mexico's team so they could be down or whatever...doesn't matter. Loved it.

I loved the attacking style. Putting Reyna in the middle and pressing forward was such a pleasant gift to watch. Their second goal was a thing of beauty. Jedi to Turner to Dest to McKennie to Weah to Pulisic...gorgeous.

The red cards were unfortunate. McKennie's was pretty questionable to me. He's standing up for his guy who just got totally cheap shotted...gets surrounded by Mexican players right by their bench...to get a straight red there was ridiculous in my mind. Dest just simply can't get caught up in the normal "we-fell-behind-let's-just-play-cheap" Mexican tactic. I think they'll plug in Scally and Luca De La Torre for those guys and only have a slight step back, but it would've been fun to watch them play with the same squad against Canada. Before the altercation, I think it might've been Dest's best game for the USMNT.

Last night's game actually presents a good 'problem' for them going forward. I wonder if they played the way they did last night because Tyler Adams wasn't available. He's clearly going to be on the field (and should be) when healthy, but when he's playing that means one of Musah/McKennie/Reyna/Weah isn't and they tend towards a more defensive posture. Makes me wonder if there might be situations where a more attacking style might work better against different teams which could lead to a consideration of playing a squad like last night with Adams off the bench once they get ahead? Sadly...with the re-appointment of Berhalter (who vastly prefers the defensive style) we may never know. If only for one night it was fun to watch...and at Mexico's expense made it all the sweeter.

Sure was fun to watch @focojayhawk

You make some excellent points.

Berhalter, yet another soccer subject to discuss! Almost forgot.

I don't like this rehire, but maybe nobody else decent wanted it? I don't think Jesse's press press press would work for the US.

No major complaints about GGG, but his relationship with a potential star player (reyna) has to be an issue. Can't have that. coach has to go.

No way they are seeing eye to eye ever again.

Maybe our performance against Mexico will change his mind about the lineup? doubtful, huh.

Thought Dest had his most complete game Ive seen. Really great on ball, off ball, dispossessing and passing. Pulisic was a worthy captain. McKinnie seems to pass without scanning too often but second goal was beautifully facilitated. Good to see Miles Robinson back. Chris Richards was solid. Really loved the backline. Didnt want to see Zimmerman. Thought Gio Balogun musah and Weah were solid. Really like Gio in the midfield. Logical to me. Gives us the creativity of De la torre with more size and power. Think Pepi off the bench is good. Aaronsen off bench is good. Let them be energy guys.

The ref was a weenus. Lost control when he didnt call second yellow on Alvarez after his hit job on Reyna. -“oh, we can do that?” Loved Pepi icing it with third goal. I was not beyond lobbing profanities at Mexico from the comfort of my couch. Something about fornicators ingesting feces.

The one good shot Mexico had, Turner passed it up the middle to Musah lazily checking back. Reminded me of similar non challance that cost us a goal against Netherlands from the midfield (I think Musah).

Ref was a total weenus. Absolutely lost control. i was trying my hardest not to get all worked up again and rant about the ref and red cards!

The game seemed even a little more over the top than the usual Mexico/USA games. Actually, a lot of the first half was pretty polite. I was wondering if things had changed. Then Jorge Sanchez (no. 19) played pure instigator. d**k

The smash job on Reyna was shockingly not a card.

Dest needs to control himself. that was entirely unnecessary. I guess his frustration just grew. dunno. And he played great! Why did he need to push dude in the neck a few times??? no clue. wasn't even our ball, right? frustration.

McKennie is an idiot basically. he didn't really deserve a red (i still don't know what he did), but he didn't help himself any by being who he is. he's a yellow waiting to happen any game. He must need that firey emotion to get going.

As for the famous Mexico PUTA chant. whatever. Do i like it? absolutely not. But i'd just laugh as a player. They are trying to get under your skin. It should not bother any player. who cares. let em sing. Fans may be pissed, sure. But a player should not lose focus over being called a name. Fifa cannot control fans from chanting whatever foul words they want. not going to stop. It's societal. Stop the game, call the game, not gonna work. IMO it's lame as hell to stop a game when people in the stands say bad words. is there a solution? I don't see one. You can't kick everybody out. How do you blame a team when their fans sing? not fair to the team, either. That being said, i wouldn't be pissed if they made Mexico pay for it! ha.

@approxinfinity said in Generic soccer thread:

The one good shot Mexico had, Turner passed it up the middle to Musah lazily checking back. Reminded me of similar non challance that cost us a goal against Netherlands from the midfield (I think Musah).

Turner freaks out at least once a game with his passing. usually at the start.

@rockchalkjayhawk agree 100% you control the game not the fans. Ref failed

Balogun is the truth.

@BShark yes, yes he is.

Love the front line plus Reyna in the midfield. Really dangerous. Weah has been very very good too

It will be hard to stomach if they dont look like this when Berhalter returns. BJ Callahan for mayor!

Another shocker of a pairing in front of the defense today. Musah with Aaronsen? Wow! Didn’t see that coming. Why not. He runs around with boundless energy.

Balogooooal! I could get used to that.

I have enjoyed the 4-2-3-1 mix the last two games. Maybe that’s where Gio needs to be, in the middle of the three. Beautiful assist today.

Somebody’s gonna be pissed among Musah, Adams, Weston and Gio when are all healthy. I guess that’s a good problem to have?

This video is hilariously spot on. Impressions of great players. Check it! I LOLd.

https://fb.watch/lkeWKcNR64/ ↗

Usmnt rolled out an absolute stinker of a lineup tonight. Is attempting to win every game too much to ask? Felt like a Berhalter especial.

@rockchalkjayhawk enjoyed the vid thx!

@approxinfinity said in Generic soccer thread:

Usmnt rolled out an absolute stinker of a lineup tonight. Is attempting to win every game too much to ask? Felt like a Berhalter especial.

Oh man. That was u-g-l-y.

What a turd of a lineup. Some were calling it the “B” team, but I’d argue really not even the “D” team.

The first 65 minutes were slow, plodding, highly uneventful and youthfully inexperienced.

Expected with that starting 11 I suppose. Jamaica is a solid team.

If you’re going that way, I woulda started Cowell over Morris at the very least. He can be exciting.

I guess the result was fair, although 2-2 was more realistic with all misses by both sides.

The announcers were dogging Miazga, who I read was dogging GGG about his lack of playing time last year.

Sonora was bad.

@rockchalkjayhawk i enjoy J Morris because he always gives 100%. Not a Yedlin fan. Sonora was awful and took all the corners. Vasquez and Cowell could be part of the equation and should have started.

flat toothless shots at goal from the wing, stone footed first touches. Rough.

Yea, some rough performances.

To me, J Morris and B Aaronsen are the same guy. 99% effort, 1% skill. That’s not a bad thing sometimes, effort is helpful. but most times they offer little else.

I’m on the fence about Dest. He was so hyped early on as a highly skilled dude. It shows up now and again.

@rockchalkjayhawk he might have been the best player against Mexico. I was impressed.

I must be half asleep after a late night. Why I brought up Dest I’ll never know! Zzzz

Yedlin! I’m with you on him. He’s a spare part at this point. Unpackage when all other options have been depleted.

We whooped some St Kitts and Nevis butt tonight.

Well played. We dominated possession. Looked sharp.

Jesus F. had a hat trick. This was by far the sharpest I’ve seen him near the goal. Impressively quick reaction time. Ball left his feet lickity split. Nice.

Mihailovic with a beautiful finish. Reynolds with an absolute smash finish.

Busio had some nice assists.

I have to say Cade Cowell was a massive disappointment. Tentative, indecisive, didn’t seem like he could beat anybody one on one. I had high expectations for him, especially in this game. Bummer.

Sonora…once again sh*t the bed.

Oh, and I’m shocked that Gaga didn’t start in goal. Is he cap tied yet?

@rockchalkjayhawk Mihailovic Ferreira Vasquez Busio and Reynolds were good.

Zendejas, Sonora, and Cowell struggled.

Everyone else :man_shrugging:

I think Mihailovic earned consideration for future opportunities

Just read this about Cade Cowell. Kinda what I was thinking last night.

LOSER: Cade Cowell

It's not that Cowell had a bad game, because he didn't. He was decent enough and dangerous enough. Still, you were left wanting more from the 19-year-old attacker, who just couldn't quite take this one over in the way he did so often at the Under-20 World Cup.

Handed a chance to start, Cowell never really threatened the opponents with his pace and dribbling ability. Part of that was because of the style of game, of course, with the defense bunkered in, but even when he had moments, he just couldn't quite create magic like he did earlier this summer.

At this point, Cowell may just be a better supersub for the USMNT, with his physical attributes having a better chance to impact games later on. That's not to say he'll be in that role permanently, because his ceiling is so high, but at the moment, his game is just missing the little things that help break down a bunkered defense.

Those little things could come eventually, and the U20 World Cup showed us that Cowell is, in fact, a player for the big moments. He'll have bigger ones than a Wednesday night game against St. Kitts and Nevis, and the hope will be that he can take those moments and make a slightly bigger impact than he did in this one.

Beautiful first goal by US tonight. jones, our wingback gave the ball up to Roldan then made a run to box, received the ball and hit Ferreira at the 6 who popped it up and hit it quickly back post. Nice and fluid!

@approxinfinity Just tuning in and checked on other matches. Seems like this is not a serious event for us.

Mexico-Qatar is pretty compelling right now.

Was hoping for the tie, dislike Mexico and dont like that Qatar bought way in to Concacaf. Was hoping for tie. Still looks bad for Mexico. Now with win Qatar advances

@BShark well we get to see the kids and non starters. Cowell had a few electric moments. Vasquez and Ferreira also. Enjoyed.

Delayed response to the US game last night…

BAM! One shining moment and now Cade Cowell is oozing with confidence! You see his demeanor change after that breakaway goal? Awesome. He had no fear after that. Hope it sticks.

Alejandro Zendejas does not deserve another chance. I realize we use the Gold Cup to grow our younger players, but cmon. Dude was just awful the entire tournament.

Loved the way we dominated possession, and kept the counters to a minimum (mostly).

That field in Charlotte was an embarrassment. The ball didn’t do anything close to normal on that pitch. You could see the players struggle with how to pass, trap, expect the bounce, etc. terrible. Grass over artificial turf? Insane. Horrible decision.

Top of the group! Happy that we found our scoring touch. Jesus! Another hat trick! That first goal was another master touch.

When's the US play next? I've got nothing but time to kill in this recovery!

US plays July 9.

Awaiting opponent.

It's summer transfer time. A few updates as i see em:

1: Pulisic has agreed to terms with AC Milan. Now the teams have to agree on a transfer fee.

2: Sergino Dest. Barcelona says they want to get rid of him by the end of the week. no teams seem interested at the moment. What happened to him? Thought he was a wunderkid?

3: Folarin Balogun. Arsenal looks like they want to put him on the market. He's currently on loan in France. Arsenal is looking for suitors for about $50M. He's been linked with AC Milan, Juventus, Marseille and RB Leipzig.

4: Yunus Musah: Inter and AC Milan seem to be in a battle for the Valencia player. that's a good thing! He's also linked with Fulham.

5: Brenden Aaronson. After relegated with Leeds, he could join Union Berlin on loan. His brother Paxten plays in Germany as well.

6: Weston McKennie: Rumors of him joining AC Milan with Pulisic and Musah. Juventus doesn't want him any more.

7: Timothy Weah: Signed with Juventus.

8: Tyler Adams: Also relegated from Leeds. Looking for a new home. Linked with Aston Villa and Brighton & Hove Albion.

Antonee Robinson is reportedly set to snub interest from the likes of Manchester City and AC Milan by signing a new contract at Fulham.

Pulisic to Milan. It’s official!

I’m a bit bummed. Loved being able to watch him and our other US players easily in the EPL.

@rockchalkjayhawk im excited. They have a star at left wing already, but i hear the manager is high on the idea of Pulisic at 10. Hope to see that instead of just right wing

Looking forward to making John Herdman sweat tomorrow.

@approxinfinity said in Generic soccer thread:

@rockchalkjayhawk im excited. They have a star at left wing already, but i hear the manager is high on the idea of Pulisic at 10. Hope to see that instead of just right wing

Yea, read that somewhere as well. Do you think we have enough evidence that he can play the 10? Pulisic must be excited about it if he chose Milan.

Aaronson to Union Berlin.

@rockchalkjayhawk i think so. He distributes very well, carries well with both feet, has about equal number of goals and assists, though many more goals on left and assists on right. He loves taking central routes on the left with wingback overlap wide. I think hes ready!

Awesome. would love to see that work out for him. needs some PT!

This has been a hell of a game. I went into this tournament wishing we would roll out a more competitive line up. Win or lose this game, i am now won over, and impressed with the depth we have. Probably 8 or 9 guys have done really great things this tournament, lots of improvement across the board.

Clutch win!

That was fun to watch. Never seen a ref wiped out in the first minute of a match before! Nil nil until the 88th minute, then 4 goals in the last 45 minutes. Amazing. I hate PKs to solve a match. It's so artificial. NHL model of removing skaters from the ice before they go to PK's might help. Even though it would have bit us last night, golden goal would eliminate the need for going to PK's on some occasions.

@wissox as a parent of a goalie, i live for PKs.

Whew. Man. A great day to watch US soccer yesterday.

The women were dominant vs Wales. We can see the tactics other teams will use against them: pack it in. They will need to finish better for sure in that defensive quagmire. Early on I didn’t realize the girls were playing in my neck of the woods. I shoulda gone! I’ve seen them play out here in Cali before. Fun to watch live. The San Jose stadium is awesome for soccer.

Approx, the men’s game was kind of UGLY! Yikes. Aggressive. I don’t mind that actually. Fouls everywhere. Lucky we didn’t see any reds (both sides). I saw a few guys step up in this tourney for sure. I saw a few guys take a big step back, too. Like you, glad to see some guys make a future for themselves with the national team.

The game opened up a bit more in the second half. My boy Cowell was aggressive again when he subbed in. It’s definitively good to see younger guys get minutes in big games.

It’s great to develop depth, and that’s what it looks like this group of guys was here for. I was mostly impressed with the defensive units we rolled out. Last night they all had some suspect moments with their feet (passing), but generally they all showed out. That being said, Jalen Neal had an amazing assist last night.

My knee jerk reaction to who could and couldn’t ever make a US World Cup roster:

— All the defenders have a future.

— Maybe two of the midfielders. Mihailovic and Sands. Neither looks like a star though. Busio needs a lot of work IMO, plus about 50 pounds of more muscle. Sonora goes straight to DVD.

— Forwards? Jesus and Cowell. No real opinion formed about Gressel. Vazquez has nice size. Showed some skill. Zendejas straight to the high school coaching ranks.

A fun day yesterday. Off to the World Cup for the ladies!

The boys lost tonight. Drat. PKs.

As predicted before he took it, Roldan crapped the bed. Oh well.

Even game. Both sides had chances. The Panama goal was a catastrophic failure by the left side of the US defense.

The US had a decent second half though.

Love that Turner saves at least one PK per shootout.

@rockchalkjayhawk i predicted that Ferreira would take the first and miss. I was surprised that Gressell and Miazga were first 5. Miazga buried it top corner.

Thought it was a fun showing. We were outplayed first half, seemed out of sorts. We connected well first 5 minutes and then seemed on the back heel. Punting instead of keeping possession.

Kids will learn.

Enjoyed the run.

Loved that Morris got to be a hero with the header assist for the equalizer.

Also once Cade Cowell learns to pass in traffic (if?) he could really be a dynamic scoring threat.

Yup, I was thinking the same thing about Cade. The ball stays on his foot too long. Shoot or pass. Exciting to see him dribble thru a crowd for sure though. Just young. Hopefully as he plays with more mature players around him, they’ll let him know (loudly, probably).

Ouch for McKennie!

McKennie has been excluded from Juve's squad for the trip to the US, along with club captain Bonucci. the players who have not been selected to travel with the squad have been told to find a new club, as they will not be considered for selection in 2023-24.

Along with being excluded from the squad, it has been reported that Weston McKennie and Bonucci have been told that they are to have no contact with manager Massimiliano Allegri and to train with the youth team. McKennie spent the second half of last season on loan at Leeds, as the club were relegated to the Championship. Bonucci has made 502 appearances for the Serie A giants.

This Panama Mexico match is awesome! Watching the spanish telecast which is way better even if I can't understand the announcers!

Who won? Didn’t watch. Did the US have a consolation game?

@rockchalkjayhawk mexico won. Panama had their chances. Was pulling for them.

Women's world cup soon. USA looking to 3peat

@BShark said in Generic soccer thread:

Women's world cup soon. USA looking to 3peat

Yup, coming up. Women play Friday? Can’t wait. This World Cup I’m guessing will be a wake up call for the US women. Motivation will be required. The competition will be much better than previous years. A three peat is no guarantee.

Ok, decided to stay up late to catch the first game of the women’s world cup! Zzz. Just realized it’s WINTER in Australia/New Zealand. Brilliant decision. Fire the idiot (s) who made that decision.

A dominating 3-0 win over Vietnam tonight.

That’s the good part. Never tested. Never a concern.

The bad part…everything else. Wow was that some ugly play in the final third. Could hardly be worse. Passing, shooting, intelligent decisions all severely lacking (except of course Morgan’s brilliant flick assist).

Hoping they got the nerves out of the way. Vietnam parked the bus, but we shoulda scored many more.

Goal differential could come into play.

Having a hard time adjusting from USMNT, tbh. Need to watch a real chess match to get engaged I guess

Yea, and it doesn’t help that this roster is not as famous as with previous years.

Also didn’t help with that weird ass lineup last night. I get it, rest some players.

I likely won’t watch any game other than the US.

Massive clunker of a first half tonight vs Netherlands.

Absolutely, and shockingly, outclassed in every way. Wow! Very surprising.

Their 3-5-2 ish system just perplexed us. Vlatko deserves a first half F for failure to adjust in any way.

Crystal Dunn was comically bad. By far the worst I’ve ever seen her play. Her passing was awful. Really awful. Plus she effed up tremendously on the first goal.

The second half was way better! Way better. The commentators believe it was because the Dutch lost a key defender at the half. They also switched to a 4-4-2, oddly. Why change what was working well?

That allowed the US some success in the midfield, and in pressing. They possessed the ball and had some good chances. A lot of it because my girl Rose came in the game!! Love her play.

Vlatko, however, deserves another F for his failure to sub in more than Rose. The front line was clearly done cookin, and Dunn continued to suck.

I know the Netherlands is good. A tie felt fair.

But now, with the Netherlands left with Vietnam, goal differential could mean a second place finish for the US. We didn’t score many vs Vietnam.

Assuming of course that we beat Portugal!

@rockchalkjayhawk enjoyed Dunns defense and range in the second half. Havent watched this team much. Didn’t think she was awful second half.

Yea, from the git go I was steamed at Dunn. Maybe she didn’t play as bad in the second half, but my ire was up!

And I’m never steamed at Dunn! Really odd game for her.

I thought Demelo did some good things.

I decided to stay up late for the US game. Zzz.

Another ugly, ugly effort so far in the first half.

Just smiled as Alexi Llalas said the same thing I’ve been saying…”Crystal Dunn doesn’t look like she’s played soccer before!”

So funny, but so sad.

This team is just a giant dud in the first half. No life, no skill, no energy. They better pick it up next half. A tie is fine, but I’d hate a tight game then Portugal puts one in late. The US would be sent packing!

Portugal is just stuffing the midfield, clogging passing, dribbling lanes for the US. Vlatko once again has no answer.

Let’s go!

@#$&*!

My god, as feared Portugal nearly finished it in the 90th minute. Saved by the woodwork!

Whew. Escape! Time for bed.

(Rapinoe is barely playable these days)

This team is playing scared.

@AsadZ said in Generic soccer thread:

This team is playing scared.

Could be. Also could be that they just aren’t as talented as they once were? I dunno. Something needs to change, huh.

Recorded the match and glad I saw the final while perusing the web while watching. Deleted the game before I read about the near winner for Portugal in stoppage time. Portugal played with way more passion and energy than the US I thought.

They should appreciate being there, advancing out of group, and the rest of the way is house money. Don’t expect to win it all.

Looking that way @approxinfinity .
Fingers crossed they can pull it together and beat Sweden (?).

Happy for Jamaica. Big win over Brazil!

Ha. Absolutely incredible…I’m sure a few of you will sympathize with this sad (and anger filled) story!

With all my soccer posts, I’m sure it’s easy to see my passion for watching the US men and women play — not at Jayhawk basketball level, but close.

Decided to DVR the US womens game, as it wouldn’t end til 4 am or so in my neck of the woods. Couldn’t stay up that late.

Woke up, got the breakfast going, turned it on…then the wife walks in the room and proudly says, OH, THEY LOST!!!!

Incredible.

Thanks, sweetheart, I’ve only patiently watched every single build up game for years, and all World Cup games so far to get to this point! She don’t get it. Grrrr!!

Well when you can't score goals for like 3 matches in a row, you shouldn't expect to be moving on into the quarterfinals. Funniest moment to me. In the PKs announcer "Rapinoe knows pressure" just before Megan chokes.

When Rose LaValle got screwed by the official in the last match and given an undeserved yellow, the tide was turned slightly against the US. Not positive that's a difference maker. But it couldn't have hurt.

TBH, not hurt too much, the rest of the world is catching up to the US it seems. The only thing I question is how world #3 Sweden plays #1 in the round of 16.

@wissox said in Generic soccer thread:

Well when you can't score goals for like 3 matches in a row, you shouldn't expect to be moving on into the quarterfinals. Funniest moment to me. In the PKs announcer "Rapinoe knows pressure" just before Megan chokes.

When Rose LaValle got screwed by the official in the last match and given an undeserved yellow, the tide was turned slightly against the US. Not positive that's a difference maker. But it couldn't have hurt.

TBH, not hurt too much, the rest of the world is catching up to the US it seems. The only thing I question is how world #3 Sweden plays #1 in the round of 16.

World #3 played world #1 in the round of 16 because world #1 couldn't win its group. This is also why the game was in the middle of the night. Fifa built the knockout stage TV schedule around the US winning its group which would've had their R16 game in prime time in Saturday night instead. It also hurt Norway as well because they got a time slot that basically did the thing to them and had them playing over night Norway time.

Well, just finished watching.

What a great game the US played. Starkly different than previous games.

Epic choke in the PKs. Three shots entirely missed the net? Can't score unless it's on target.

Rapinoe. ugh. Loved her early on in her career, but i lose interest quickly in anybody in any sport who inserts politics and BS into my escape and joy of sports. Good riddance.

A disappointing world cup experience all around.

@rockchalkjayhawk lets go Jamaica!

Luckily my wife likes soccer as much as me. Telling you the score… well them’s fightin words

@approxinfinity said in Generic soccer thread:

@rockchalkjayhawk lets go Jamaica!

Luckily my wife likes soccer as much as me. Telling you the score… well them’s fightin words

100%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@rockchalkjayhawk Maybe she saved you some agony in the long run. Drawn out tension ending with a win always feels worth it. Losing not so much!

@Texas-Hawk-10 Thanks for the explanation.

@rockchalkjayhawk I have no issue with her taking center stage on demanding equal pay for women. Actually, I admire her for taking the lead.

It will help thousands of young American women for generations.

oh my!

Catching up on the post World Cup win news for Spain...

Seems like the Spanish coach and federation are up to some toxic shenanigans during the ceremony!!!

-- Coach grabs a player's boob (and lingers)! Photos exist.

-- Federation official smacks a massive kiss right on the lips of a player as he picks her up.

Wow! Things appear different in Europe.

At initial criticism he double down by saying something like people criticizing him are stupid.

A day later he formally apologized. LoL.

@AsadZ said in Generic soccer thread:

At initial criticism he double down by saying something like people criticizing him are stupid.

A day later he formally apologized. LoL.

Insane! Maybe us simple minded Americans don’t understand the Spanish culture. Ha. Can’t believe they get away with that.

He finally got suspended by FIFA, pressure was insurmountable.

Got curious last night and watched TCU welcome #1 ranked BYU ladies soccer into the Big 12. Huge crowd in Provo and TCU had a 3-2 lead until ten minutes late when BYU tied it. TCU then proceeded to stall every chance they had to to preserve the tie. They frequently played balls to corner flag on their own side of the pitch and then controlled it there til finally it'd be kicked out and BYU would have a throw from the corner. Really strange to see a team just want to get a tie, even if it was against #1.

BTW it was the first action of any sort for one of the new teams against a Big 12 team.

Watching Man City vs Nottingham Forrest, with Matt Turner of the US in goal.

Not going well for him nor the D. 18 minutes in and City has scored twice, beautifully.

@rockchalkjayhawk yeah that Kyle Walker run passing back to one touch from Foden was clinical.

That was awesome. Beautiful passing today.

Just done watching US vs Germany. It was a very competitive game, sometimes. We lost, but certainly had some opportunities to score.

I was literally just about to cuss out Pulisic, wondering the last year he beat somebody off the dribble. And then BAM! He did just that. Excellent effort.

I dunno what the deal is with TV broadcasts these days. They never, ever show the starting lineups. Why???

@rockchalkjayhawk i think Pulisic creates off the dribble well and has dusted many a CONCACAF defender. We can agree to disagree there. I was irritated Pulisic took a dive as well.

He remains my favorite player on USMNT atm. Love his composure. Adams is 2nd and 3rd is possibly Reyna if he can get out of Berhalters mental prison. Felt his play at midfield was a revelation before he got hurt and i dont understand why Berhalter didnt play him there with Adams out.

Our CBs just werent good enough. Old man Ream is too slow and Chris Richards too green.

Ooh, that got me thinking @approxinfinity , who’s my favorite player. Hmmm.

I like Pulisic, too. Just seems like with all his injuries he’s lost some speed and burst. He’s in the running, if not my fav.

I really like Jedi. Musah is growing on me as well. Adams too, when he’s fit.

Jedi’s the winner!

Holy crap. Sergino Dest just lost his mind on the pitch against Trinidad. Omg.

Pissed over a ball he tried to keep in bounds (looked out), he punted the ball 100 yards. Straight yellow. Then just starts mouthing off in epic proportion to the ref. His teammates were grabbing him, telling him to shut up. Multiple times. He would not. Unbelievable , but red carded for being a douche.

Tim Ream was just berating him on the field. Dest just pushing him away. Shocking behavior for a pro.

And seconds later TriTob scored.

@rockchalkjayhawk yeah. Dest has seemed to be melting down mentally since the Mexico game where he got pitched. I think maybe the reality that his professional trajectory is on the downhill is sinking in and he isnt taking it well?

Also, it doesnt surprise me that it happened under Berhalter. He can posture for the media, but he appears to not have enough locker room influence to manage personalities. Bring back Callaghan!

I'm with you @approxinfinity on GGG. He needed to go. My guess is that he won't make it to the next World Cup.

After the Dest meltdown, I happened upon an older video interview with Dest. It really sounded like his mental health was not stable. Not crazy, but not handling the pressure of being a player well.

@rockchalkjayhawk watching ac milan va dortmund for some pulisic on reyna violence

ooh, was about to turn that on. Is Puli playing? thought he was hurt?

Yep! Had a nice shot on goal

Man city bringing in doku and alvarez down 2-0 to leicester city. "We are too cool for you, guy" gloves coming off now

Man City second half was brilliant.

I had to get some sheet done today, so only watched the first half of Milan. Did Reyna get any second half of run?

Need to catch up on the champions league!

I didnt really watch the second half @rockchalkjayhawk . He was invisible in the first, for sure.

Matt Turner and his sloppy feet…

https://www.goal.com/en-us/lists/matt-turner-usmnt-goalkeeper-premier-league/blt8218437bf9df36c1 ↗

As if I wasn’t tortured enough with sports today…

I decided to watch the US vs Jamaica nations league game after the KU game. First half at least.

Scaly, who I think is a giant POS, craps the bed 32 seconds into the game and decides not to cover his man near the net. Goal.

Multiple shots on goal in the box are comically missed in the first half. I can’t take any more poor play today! I’m going to bed!

Whew, the US tied it up with seconds to go in extra time. Wow.

Then Haji Wright took over, scored two nice goals in the two 15 min. OT periods.

US was mostly dominant all game, but as usual sloppy in front of the net.

Maybe I was KU cranky last night, but they looked better the more I watched.

The Brooks Jr. High Warriors are now 1-0 on the girls side and 0-1 on the boys side. The girls listened to their coach and won and the boys didn't listen and lost! The coach is the same person....me!

I always enjoy rocking Mexico’s world.

@wissox I was told the boys got out coached 🤣🤣

@kjayhawks Haha, yes, I actually told the fullback it would be a good strategy to raise his hands up at a ball whilst in the penalty area because we needed to test our goalie in a PK situation.

Wow! If you haven’t, watch the first 14 minutes of Man City vs Real.

Wow!

First day of head coaching my 5 year old in soccer. It was everything i hoped it would be. Have another guy coaching with me whose son is also in travel soccer with my older boy. 2 solid coaches for 7 kids is a great ratio!

OMG, the color announcer for the Dortmund-PSG game is freaking awesome!

So funny. I can’t even keep track of his one liners!

After an amazing goal: 1.21 gigawatts!

About the awesomeness of the game: This game is hotter than the hinges on hell’s gate!

@rockchalkjayhawk I watched the shortened version on youtube. That was great!

@wissox said in Generic soccer thread:

@rockchalkjayhawk I watched the shortened version on youtube. That was great!

Cracked me up. and great game!

I was very impressed with the new USWNT coach. She did a pregame chat the other day. Great intelligence, composure, demeanor and personality. She only has a few games or so to get her system in place before the Olympics. I’m hoping her first game was telling of future success.

If you’d like to be less disgusted and way less angry, do not under any circumstance watch the US vs Colombia soccer game.

Demoralizing. Colombia looked dangerous, and the US looked incompetent.

I’m all for firing GGG after this result (5-1).

@rockchalkjayhawk i didnt watch yet, and it’s not a matter of if but when for me, regarding firing GGG. Shouldn’t have ever been brought back.

Watched up til 4-1 , had to pause. Our backline is awful and always has been under GGG. Theres no other way to put it. When your backline is puting balls to no one back into play in the danger zone om the first 2 Columbia goals, and your coach is explaining it away as just a couple mistakes, he is missing the point. These are extremely bad decisions, worse than fumbles at the 1 yard line. Entirely self inflicted.

Man, not even sure I want to revisit yesterday by writing something!

But agreed, so many self inflicted wounds. Like they’d never played the game before. Dribble into the corner alone, get trapped, turn it over, rinse, repeat. The back line was comically bad. I was just praising Jedi and seconds later he did that slide turnover goal thing.

Colombia had a great game plan, and GGG could not adjust. Playing a high back line with the slow footed Ream left everybody on an island trying to recover. We were just overwhelmed.

Did Weston actually play? Didn’t even see him touch the ball, or defend. I dunno how we could continually make so many bad passes straight to our opponent.

Grrrrr! Fire GGG! (and I continue to be anti Reyna)

Goal.com in defense of GGG.

https://www.goal.com/en-us/lists/lay-off-gregg-berhalter-usmnt-s-loss-colombia-wasn-t-his-fault/bltd28051ffc46b9a99 ↗

@rockchalkjayhawk did they take it down?

@approxinfinity said in Generic soccer thread:

@rockchalkjayhawk did they take it down?

I'm still seeing an article when I click it.

Huh! Weird, i turned off my vpn which places me in Canada and the article shows up. Thx

Yea, Goal website is very aggressive if you have any ad blockers, etc. i also think it sorts content by country you’re in as well.

Either way it says the result was not GGG’s fault! Ha.

@rockchalkjayhawk said in Generic soccer thread:

Either way it says the result was not GGG’s fault! Ha.

!alt text ↗

Split feelings about this US brazil matchup .

Because i want berhalter fired early in the cycle

Backline embarassed on first goal.

Alright! 1-1 at the half, backline woke up. Nice job by Turner shutting down Rodrygo in a 1:1

Assistant VAR ref from Mexico tried to get a legal tackle by US promoted from a yellow to red and they took away the yellow after reviewing lolol

Ha, that reversal was comical @approxinfinity !

I still don’t understand how they continue to let players swarm the ref. Thought they made a rule.

Otherwise what a game! But I’m with you about GGG. The game plan, for once, was pretty good. Quite the opposite of last game. I guess that puts him back in good standing. The Copa result may be make or break.

We actually should have won. More than a couple close ones missed.

The good: just about everything! An oddly patient approach out of the back made me nervous as hell, but mostly worked. Wow, that blistering shot from Musah early on!!! Wow. Nearly broke the crossbar. Puli’s free kick goal must have been drawn up. Worked brilliantly. Gio actually worked hard today. He was consistently helping Scally handle Vini. Seemed to be there when needed. (I can’t believe I just wrote that). The blob 10-man defense was very effective in cutting down space to create.

The so-so: I crap my pants every time Matt Turner decides to handle the ball and distribute with his feet. He makes at least one bad decision per game doing that. Looks clumsy. I was hoping to see a backup get a chance today. But OK. He played well. It’s really too bad that Aaronsen has zero offensive skill. He had a wide open field and dribbled right into a Brazilian defender. Shook my head.

Nice game! See what a little effort can do?

🐦 View Tweet

"USMNT follows up a 5-1 loss to Colombia with an impressive draw against Brazil. Gregg Berhalter is a Kirk Ferentz-level savant at doing just enough to save his job, but not enough to get poached."

@BShark said in Generic soccer thread:

🐦 View Tweet

"USMNT follows up a 5-1 loss to Colombia with an impressive draw against Brazil. Gregg Berhalter is a Kirk Ferentz-level savant at doing just enough to save his job, but not enough to get poached."

Nicely put!

I always love looking at the different player ratings after the games. This one has me absolutely baffled. ESPN. Did they watch the same game? I even reluctantly admit Scally was better than a 3!

https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/40337897/pulisic-rates-6-10-brazil-draw-gets-usmnt-back-track ↗

Espn is hopeless.

11 - Matt Turner's 11 saves vs. Brazil are the most by a #USMNT goalkeeper since Tim Howard made 15 saves vs. Belgium in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Stopper.

Did you say he goes to 11? 🎸

Euro 24 started yesterday. Nice opening win for the boys but it's Scotland so you can't take too much from it.

I’m catching up on some Euro games this morning! 2-0 Deutschland already.

I didn’t realize until tonight that Copa America started! Argentina vs Canada was entertaining. Oddly competitive.

But it was Rough, very rough. The ref tonight was not calling clear fouls and cards. Weird. I was surprised guys escaped without broken bones. Messi, who I thought retired from playing for his country, missed a few.

Can’t wait for USA on Sunday!

@rockchalkjayhawk Ecuador lost a guy early to a red card, but scored and held the lead til 2 late goals allowed Venezuela to win. This Mexico-Jamaica match is a thriller too.

@wissox said in Generic soccer thread:

@rockchalkjayhawk Ecuador lost a guy early to a red card, but scored and held the lead til 2 late goals allowed Venezuela to win. This Mexico-Jamaica match is a thriller too.

The Equador-Venezuela game is a prime example of what i absolutely HATE about soccer, even though i love soccer. That game was dive after dive after dive then roll on the ground like your head was cut off. Some were legit very hard fouls though. Then surround the ref. They need to do better to remove that from the game. The yellow cards were in the ref's pocket mostly. For those of you who haven't watched (ha), don't!

The Mexico game was a good one. enjoyed that. I even kinda like their peacock unis.

Watching Germany Switzerland

Team USA performance was...okay I guess? Really should have won by more. Was very unimpressed with Richards. Pulisic was awesome.

USA USA! Whew. always nice to get the first one out of the way. If only the squad would play with that kind of energy all the time (see Colombia). Keep it up, lads!

I was pretty happy with the effort today. Pulisic was inspired. Adams is back! IMO the team is way different without him in there. Very happy he's on the field. hope he can stay healthy. And another game without much complaint about Gio.

Yea, @BShark there for sure was stuff to complain about today though. Hard to do so after a win, but i guess it's normal to critique play. that's why they have player ratings! Hmm, i may have to start my own player rating review after the games just for fun.

We should have scored at least 5 today. There was some very sloppy play and finishing all over the place, that's for sure.

Goalie Turner: 7 -- Made some saves, but nothing brilliant was needed today. No major flaws with his feet and distribution today either.

Defense: 6. As a whole, they played well, but weren't tested.

Scally: 7 -- effort was there. nothing stands out otherwise.

Richards: 5 -- Yikes on the passing and decision making. Starting to wonder about him in a starting role.

Ream: 6 -- Also some scary passing at first. More than a few give aways today. Connected on some long balls.

Jedi: 10!!!!!! -- OK, maybe not 10, but he was all over the place for 90 minutes. Love that guy.

Reyna: 6 -- Played well, but got lazy a few times with passing and defense. He seems a bit slow and a step behind on making decisions what to do with the ball. Overconfident?

Adams: 7 -- A welcome sight in the middle. A little rusty.

McKennie: 4 -- I used to love Weston. Now I don't think he fits into a 4-3-3 formation at all. What position should he play? In front of the defense IMO. He barely puts effort in. I have not seen him play well for the national team in awhile. His role needs refining and rethinking. But i always loved his toughness and tenacity previously.

Pulisic: 10!!! -- Ha, i know. but that was the most motivated and active i've seen him in like forever. Great goal.

Balogun: 7 -- His goal was very. nice. Otherwise doesn't seem to be playing to his potential.

Weah: 8 -- I really like his effort as well. Didn't score, but was up and down the field.

SUBS

Pepi: "A" for effort, but F for finishing. cmon, man!

Musah: 9 -- I really think he should be starting most games. Effort, ability, intensity, powerful, skilled. Doesn't mind knocking over other players.

GGG: As @approxinfinity would say, why is he still coaching! His main flaw today was roster construction. Adams and McKennie don't match up well in a 4-3-3. Both are mainly defensive minded, and defensively skilled. Not much offensive talent, playmaking ability between em. That limits our ability to push forward and make plays to get the front line involved.

@rockchalkjayhawk agreed on Richards... He's had some headscratching moments so far this cycle. I like Balogun a lot more than Pepi, and I think he does a lot of nice things off ball. Pepi just isn't the answer. I'm glad Balogun is the starter, and hope that continues.

Musah I've had issues with in the past. I feel like he is at times slow to react, leading to embarassing defensive breakdowns. I like things he brings offensively.

I do think Adams' injury has a silver lining in that the whole MMA foregone conclusion was absurd, and working Reyna in there is a good thing, and we have enough injuries, and some players are inconsistent in the midfield, where employomg a rotation of 4 or 5 midfielders makes sense.

I don't rate Jedi as highly as you, because he often has an awful first touch. He works hard.

Pulisic is still The King. Well done!

@approxinfinity i agree that a MAR midfield makes more sense than having MMA. At least Reyna thinks “offensively”.

Both Musah and McKennie can bring some toughness to the midfield. Adams is tough, but lacks size. I’m fine probably with either slotting in. But I’m losing some faith in the lackadaisical McKennie. He better start stepping up.

Jedi was a @$#*%!! machine today! ⚽️ Nary a bad touch :)

I recommend watching the US-Panama game only if you’re already pissed off and wanna be more pissed off.

Disaster in every way. I was pretty pleased coming off the Bolivia game. Now I’m back to thinking that half the time they just don’t give a sh*t and put zero effort in.

The defense was dazed and confused. They just watched as unmarked guys ran freely in space. Grrr.

I could go on and on. Now we pretty much have to beat Uruguay to advance.

@rockchalkjayhawk Weah screwed the team big time with a stupid decision that got him red carded. This group doesn't have the composure or discipline to be consistently good. And now, they're in a terrible spot where they probably have to beat Uruguay to advance and even that might not be good enough since Panama is capable of putting a big number on Bolivia.

GGGs subs were atrocious. I want us to lose to uruguay and get the GGG show over with.

CCV is bad. Should have seen Mussah. Couldnt believe subbing Balogun for Pepi. Come on dude.

And several of Pulisics set pieces were flat.

We arent correcting correctable problems.

I am very high on BJ callaghan. He is always right there. This group can do great things with him at the helm.

@approxinfinity I was shocked that dumbass GGG brought in Cardoso over Musah. Musah was exactly what we needed at the moment. Toughness, defensive presence with some offensive ability to go forward. I semi understand bringing in Pepi. His one great quality is the effort he puts in up and down the field on defense, which again is what we needed for long stretches. But taking out Flo was odd. He was in the groove. maybe tired. I would have considered taking off Puli. he offers nada on D).

That game just pissed me off. Weah is a freaking idiot of epic proportion. within 17 minutes he was pissed enough to kill? wtf!!

I really thought he'd switch two a 4-4-1 ish thing with Pepi instead of bunkering down totally. That just confused our already confused defense even more. I'm really down on Richards at this point. CCV was extremely lucky not to be sent off. Another brilliant decision by a US player.

On a positive note, the Flo goal was very nice. As was Weston's effort that was called back. Both lefty shots?

I really would prefer to advance, but tough call. GGG is a dolt that needs to go.

We need to fail before they send off GGG because the US soccer problem goes deeper than GGG.

Colombia looks like the best team not named
argentina in the west atm

I want Jurgen Klinsmann to become the director of US Soccer. He doesn't need to coach because he's not great at that, but his vision for building US Soccer is desperately needed and would work long term.

I like that idea.

Colombia hammering CRC.

Colombia is pretty strong. how's the game? violent yet? i'm growing weary of the aggressive play. maybe i'm getting old!

Oh i meant hammering like pretty.

James is such a great passer and surrounded by oodles of talent this year

Brazil is showing good form against Paraguay. Colombia vs Brazil could be good final group game.

Catching up on Brazil now. Entertaining game.

I thought that straight red to the Paraguay guy was uncalled for. Seemed like a 50-50 leg tussle.

WOW! What a goal in England Slovakia!!

Mexico's fans sloshing beer all over the place and then getting the PK call reversed in the 97th minute... you just hate to see it, Colin Robinson!

Intense game btwn France and Belgium

Cheap ass goal sends France thru! But they are the better team and likely deserving.

And wow! Didn’t realize Arrowhead is ground zero for the massive US game tonight. Great. We need some Arrowhead magic for sure.

Think we’ll win? I haven’t looked, but maybe we get lucky and Uruguay benches its top guys.

We can win this game. Need to start and finish energized. Go USA!

I want a win or a loss, no tie. No excuse not to send GGG packing.

Maybe we would win if they suspended GGG and not the Uruguay coach…

oh that's right, the Uru coach suspended because the team didn't make it out on time for halftime? crazy.

Musah and Gio in the lineup. I'm gonna fire up the bbq, then fire up the game!

For you BBQ eggheads, i'm experimenting with grilled pesto chicken tonight. No clue if that will be instantly combustable or what! Hoping for some robust flavors.

US would be eliminated if current results hold with Panama and Bolivia.

Angel Hernandez has come out of retirement and is trying out soccer as his next gig in officiating. He is reffing tonights copa match between US and Uruguay.

Alright. Time to shitcan Greggg!

Both US and Mexico out in the group stage. Say whatever about Uruguay's goal, the US never should've been in this position because they shouldn't have lost to Panama. That Panama loss is up there with the loss to Trinidad and Tobago in 2018 WCQ. Berhalter isn't the man for the job and needs to fired after this embarrassment of a performance.

Well that didn't go well. I'm all for it. Down with GGG. I hope by the time i wake up tomorrow he'll be out the door. I wonder if he'll actually resign.

Per the game...generally it was a nice effort vs a quality team. We had a few chances, but shit the bed in the box with a lack of composure, and skill.

Can GGG take Chris Richards with him to Malta or whatever country he'll coach next? He lacks skill from what i've seen lately.

Speaking of skill, our midfield needs a revamp. I honestly like Adams and Weston, but they don't contribute much on offense in a 4-3-3.

I'd like a new coach to explore a different formation if we stick with those two defensive-minded guys in the mid. They have skill in other areas. Play em on top of each other some how.

We couldn't score, but otherwise a well played game. Kinda.

Geez, now for the production values on TV! Wow. Soooooo bad. I was about to think i was going crazy watching ants march on the field from a mile away, but then the broadcasters actually complained about it too. So weird. It got better as the game progressed. Who makes these decisions? I had the same complaint the other day with a Copa match. I wonder if these big stadiums in the US don't have prime camera spots for soccer.

Sucks.

Turkey just got done beating Austria in a downpour in Leipzig in the game of the Euro's so far. Turkey's goalie made the save of the year in the closing seconds off an Austrian header.

Brazil fans packed the stadium for tonights game… Go Colombia!

Maybe some of those yellow shirted fans were Colombian as well. nm. Good game.

Hey, that Brazil game was one if the best so far.

I'm laughing at the internet right now.

All the ridiculous stories listing absolutely unrealistic coaching candidates to take over for GGG include Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp. c'mon, man!

Spain and Germany has been painful to watch. 30 minutes in and already 3 yellows, an injury sub, and bunch of fouls. This game just has zero flow and rhythm to it because they can't go more than a minute or two without a foul being committed.

Going to be an interesting week for USMNT

@approxinfinity said in Generic soccer thread:

Going to be an interesting week for USMNT

You think this week is Berhalter week? Or something else going on?

@rockchalkjayhawk I think Berhalter gets the ax this week, yes.

We will see Jesse Marsch and Canada competing in a semifnal against Argentina Tuesday and I expect Berhalter will get the sack thereafter.

@approxinfinity Are we generally considered to be inferior to Canada in soccer? I don't follow super closely, especially considering I coach soccer. Did Canada make it there because of a favorable draw? I know we were considered favorites to move through the pool play but choked big time against inferior teams.

@wissox we are supposed to own north america at this point. Canada is playing with house money atm. I think we were ranked 11th in the world before this tourney (which was unrealistically high) and I think Canada was in the 30s? prior

There we go. https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/40480333/usa-coach-gregg-berhalter-fired-copa-america ↗

Sadly…
https://www.nashvillesc.com/news/nashville-soccer-club-appoints-usmnt-assistant-coach-bj-callaghan-head-coach ↗

But I would like to pursue Pochettino, Chelsea did him dirty and he was building something.

He gone. More time to BBQ poolside with Claudio Reyna?

From The NY Times: Klopp says thanks but no thanks.

Jurgen Klopp has rebuffed an approach from the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) to take over as the men’s national team head coach following the dismissal of Gregg Berhalter.

Initial contact was made with Klopp regarding the possibility of leading the USMNT but he reiterated that he would like a break from football, according to sources privy to the matter. Despite that, interest remains, sources add, from US Soccer in making the 57-year-old their next head coach.

I keep reading stories that put a strike against any coach without international experience. I don’t get it. Why does that matter? Coaching is coaching, right? What am I missing?

@rockchalkjayhawk said in Generic soccer thread:

I keep reading stories that put a strike against any coach without international experience. I don’t get it. Why does that matter? Coaching is coaching, right? What am I missing?

International soccer is very different from club soccer in the way you manage teams. And with basically no real prep tournaments for the 2026 World Cup (Gold Cup is a very weak tournament), finding someone who can pull something out his ass the way Jesse Marsch did with Canada this Copa America tournament is going to determine how successful the US will be in the World Cup. The US has the talent to reach the quarterfinals of the World Cup, but consistently underachieves to their talent. If the US wants to take the next step, they need to pay what it takes to bring in a world class manager. If not, we'll keep sweating out the group stages and bowing out in the first knockout stage games.

Congrats to Germany… on doing a wonderful job hosting the Euros. Fields were pristine, refs were pretty good (except when they screwed Germany… at least they didnt screw a guest! ;) the matches had loads of drama and storylines, the theme song was well selected, and the closing ceremonies were beautiful.

Fun watch.

Go Spain!

Yup, amazing fields. Proper widths, too!

The one thing I didn’t quite get at the German stadiums … all the hand drawn signs hanging off the first row. I remember one stadium had signs of all the EPL teams crudely made? No biggie, but it sloppified the clean everything else.

Must be a big party in Spain yesterday with Alcarez winning Wimbledon and football team winning Euros.

That image of Messi bawling after limping off the pitch was striking.

The coaching rumors are starting to heat up!

The latest big name: Mauricio Pochettino

Also these guys: LAFC’s Steve Cherundolo and Columbus Crew’s Wilfried Nancy. Jurgen Klopp, Herve Renard, and Patrick Vieira.

Im all in on pochettino

Me too i think.
I'm all OUT on Vieira.

Yeah vieira seems like a horrible choice.

🐦 View Tweet

Meant to post this earlier…more bad luck for Tyler Adams. Out for an extended time after back surgery. Sucks all around. He may not be the long term answer at central mid. Hope he recovers and can play.

🐦 View Tweet

Ha, Olympic women's soccer news!

Two Canadian coaches sent home and the head coach suspended for drone spying on the New Zealand team!

Idiots.

and the US team got trounced today. I didn't realize there were so many recognizable names on the roster. Surprisingly the middle backs were Zimmerman and Robinson. Well, mostly surprised about Zimmerman. Let the young guys play!

@rockchalkjayhawk dont you know, we only have 4 centerbacks in the United States? Ridiculous.

We played ok.

If this was an interview for Thierry Henry as usmnt coach, he passed!

If i had to choose a French coach, i suppose i'd rather have Vieira. i dunno. pass on both?

I hear they are secretly cloning Walker Zimmerman. The new version should be ready soon!

@rockchalkjayhawk I read that, can't believe they thought they could get by with that!

Nice dominant win yesterday for the US men in need of a win. Was hoping for the shutout for the point differential, but oh well.

The fun part about watching this team is learning more about guys I don’t know much about: Tolkin and McGlynn in particular. Wow does McGlynn have an amazing left foot shot! Tolkin is pretty exciting. Made lots of things happen.

On the flip side, I have a few complaints! I haven’t seen much of Tessman — but not a fan. IMO he just sucked. Nearly every time he passed the ball it was a turnover. Bad decision making. Stupid fouls with a yellow. He was bad, and seemed lethargic or nonchalant.

Paredes. Hmmm. Whining, flopping, weak play.

Fun game though.

I didn’t get to watch the game against Guinea. Sounds like we played well and advanced. Nice!

It also sounds like Paredes had a helluva game. Hope that continues for sure!

And I must be the worst talent evaluator ever. One great soccer resource claims Tanner Tessman has been the best player on the pitch the last few games. Go figure.

Good gravy. I’m only 38 minutes into the US-Morocco match, but I don’t even think the US has touched the ball yet!

Morocco’s on the front foot! Turn it around, boys!

@rockchalkjayhawk Turn the match off and don't finish it.

Damn. Morocco looked the best team in the world today! wow.
Sucks we lost, but they are fun to watch. creative, quick, pressing. nicely done.

Saw this today. sounds like there's some debate, but possible.

https://sbisoccer.com/2024/08/reports-pellegrino-matarazzo-offered-usmnt-head-coaching-job ↗

The next U.S. men’s national team head coach could reportedly come from the German Bundesliga.

Pellegrino Matarazzo has reportedly been offered the position by U.S. Soccer, multiple reports confirmed Saturday. German outlet Kicker reported that Matarazzo is still undecided while Bild stated that he has already informed his current club Hoffenheim that he wants to leave for the position.

The news comes recently after Hoffenheim parted ways with sporting director Alexander Rosen.

The 46-year-old is currently on his third managerial position at club level with Hoffenheim. Matarazzo joined the Bundesliga club in February, taking over for the fired Andre Breitenreiter.

He has won 20 of his 52 matches in charge of Hoffenheim.

Prior to his move there Matarazzo managed Stuttgart from December 2019 to October 2022. He helped the club fight off relegation in Spring of 22′.

The New Jersey-born Matarazzo played collegiately at Columbia University before embarking to Germany in 2000.

Matarazzo would take over for Gregg Berhalter, who was relieved of his duties in July after the USMNT’s group stage exit from the Copa America.

If you're a geek like me...he likes a 3-5-2 formation. It can be defensive minded, with counter attacking as critical.

Relies heavily on wingbacks. Not a bad fit for the USA i'd say. We have Jedi and Dest who can fit that role. Maybe even Musah if they figure out his spot.

https://jobsinfootball.com/blog/tactics/3-5-2-formation/ ↗

@rockchalkjayhawk we only have 2 centerbacks in the entire country, so you might be right.
Not sold on Dest at this point. I was high on him and then he seemed to mentally self destruct under the pressure.

@approxinfinity said in Generic soccer thread:

@rockchalkjayhawk we only have 2 centerbacks in the entire country, so you might be right.
Not sold on Dest at this point. I was high on him and then he seemed to mentally self destruct under the pressure.

So true about the CBs!!!!

I'm with you on Dest. He was hyped up, but maybe needs a few more hours in the oven. he's only 23, shockingly. Still time for his mental abilities to catch up to the physical.

Nature rarely allows this without drugs (ahem Lebron James), but i noticed in my early 30s while playing rec league soccer that my soccer brain and physical combo was at about its peak.

You just see the field way easier as you mature. Too bad the body doesn't keep up!

What a goal against Japan to get US Soccer WT advance

Trinity had a beaut of a goal. She was the most aggressive of the forwards. I’m really disappointed they can’t find a way to get my girl Rose and also Horan involved more. IMO, the only way Horan really plays well is if she’s angry. Sounds crazy, but Somebody needs to slap her upside the head before every game to get her pissed!

Nice win by US over Germany to advance to the gold medal game.

Victory! nice. Two good teams battling. Germany had a great game plan being physical with the US. That's where we need Horan to use her size and strength. I wish she'd assert herself more. Trinity was great. She's really been aggressive so far. And i've been pleasantly surprised by Coffey's play in the midfield. The US had lots of opportunity to put one in the back of the net. As the pundits would say, not very clinical today. But a win! :)

Looks like the new coach is hired

@BShark said in Generic soccer thread:

Looks like the new coach is hired

Oh yea? Busy day, haven’t looked. Who?

Holy smokes! We got our man!

I’m seeing Poch? Wow!

I like it!

The Argentine boss employs a high pressing tactical style, employing a 4-2-3-1 formation which utilizes an intense counter-press that looks to win the ball back in dangerous areas, often at the sacrifice of the team's defensive structure. However, Pochettino is known for his flexibility, and has a strong familiarity with the 4-3-3 that the U.S. often found itself in under Gregg Berhalter.

@rockchalkjayhawk said in Generic soccer thread:

@BShark said in Generic soccer thread:

Looks like the new coach is hired

Oh yea? Busy day, haven’t looked. Who?

At the time I posted, I wasn't 100% sure then it started to come out from more reliable reporters.

@BShark said in Generic soccer thread:

@rockchalkjayhawk said in Generic soccer thread:

@BShark said in Generic soccer thread:

Looks like the new coach is hired

Oh yea? Busy day, haven’t looked. Who?

At the time I posted, I wasn't 100% sure then it started to come out from more reliable reporters.

Still seems a "sources say" kinda deal.

KU women won their first game of the season under new HC, both goals were scored by freshmen.

@AsadZ Does KU not have a mens team because of title 9?

@wissox said in Generic soccer thread:

@AsadZ Does KU not have a mens team because of title 9?

Basically. KU would have to add more women's sports as well to support having a men's soccer program to stay compliant with Title IX.

@Texas-Hawk-10 From the perspective of the rest of the world, KU already has a men's "football" team. 🤷‍♂️

Actually, they would not have to add an actual team in other women's sports if they can show they offered the opportunity to women to play in other sports but could not draw enough participants to make it viable despite legitimate recruiting efforts.

Almost every school complies with the equal numbers test (which looks distorted due to college football teams having so many men), but there are two other ways schools can comply. One is the one I just referred to (it has been awhile, so my description is a rough summary), but I forget the third "safe harbor." No one wants to go to the trouble of using tests 2 or 3.

@mayjay said in Generic soccer thread:

@Texas-Hawk-10 From the perspective of the rest of the world, KU already has a men's "football" team. 🤷‍♂️

Actually, they would not have to add an actual team in other women's sports if they can show they offered the opportunity to women to play in other sports but could not draw enough participants to make it viable despite legitimate recruiting efforts.

Almost every school complies with the equal numbers test (which looks distorted due to college football teams having so many men), but there are two other ways schools can comply. One is the one I just referred to (it has been awhile, so my description is a rough summary), but I forget the third "safe harbor." No one wants to go to the trouble of using tests 2 or 3.

Your first part wouldn't fly in a federal investigation because there's several women's sports that KU could add that would absolutely have enough interest to become sustainable. Gymnastics would be the most likely program to add to balance adding a men's soccer team.

@Texas-Hawk-10 My point was that so many people blame Title 9 for not having additional men's sports, or when cuts are made to men's programs. Athletic departments pour gas on that fire by posturing as if they are required to even up the numbers rather than meeting the standards by adding programs for women.

As you say, KU could add new programs for women if they wanted to add men's soccer. I was referring to the hypothetical situation IF no women wanted to join those programs. Trying to do it in good faith but not succeeding is a valid Title 9 defense to numerical disparities. As I said, no one uses that defense and just lops men's programs on Title 9.

To be honest, your comment indicates the likely reason: schools are cutting men's, and not adding women's, programs because in all likelihood the sports would be successful participation-wise, and ADs don't want the expense of carrying more non-revenue sports. The definition, really, of a zero-sum situation due to limited budgets. (I do hope Breaking, despite its apparent popularity, doesn't become an NCAA sport, but the revenue possibilities might be intriguing. Recruiting trip reports might be fun: "No, we didn't visit any dancers' homes. We spent the entire trip in clubs.")

Ok, so Pulisic and Milan are on the TV this morning. Turned it on.

But, I’ll be turning it off lickety split! There is a constant police siren on in the background. I can’t take it! Is that normal for Italian football? Ear pollution so early in the a.m. for me. Grrr.

@rockchalkjayhawk did you watch the match against Canada?

@approxinfinity said in Generic soccer thread:

@rockchalkjayhawk did you watch the match against Canada?

Sadly I did. U?

I was watching pregame, and the pundits made some points I agreed with entirely. Motivation and effort. Entirely lacking at times in recent games, and as this game progressed. That used to be our calling card.

Take the first 20 minutes of the game as an example: FOUR guys were left wide open in the box on different plays. Where’s the personal motivation to stop the opposing team? I don’t get it.

Not a good effort. I know we had some different players out there, but still.

I hope this is the result of not having a coach!

The mighty New Zealand!

I hear they are nearly as good as Bucknell!

Oh how the mighty have fallen. This may be as down as I’ve ever been about the US soccer team. I am usually pretty excited to watch the games, but that enthusiasm is waning with the crap product on the field.

Jokes (or not) aside, the US squad at least played with some effort, but maybe lacked some other elements.

I guess there was no VAR, but maybe things would have been different with a 2-1 win if so. Maybe even 2-0. Our first goal was called off for a foul, but replay showed he got the ball. And the NZ goal seemed to go off dude’s arm?

Nitpicking, but a win would have inspired more confidence in this team. On to Poch!

I cannot believe and SMH how US allowed NZ to equalize so late, that was very poor D

New chapter starts….. NOW!

I didnt really watch the New Zealand game. The previous game, I wasnt that down on our play to be honest. I saw us play much directly/vertically than ever under Berhalter and I think we will need some of that to unlock the potential we have. It never felt like we were out of the game. It would have felt over with Bethalter with 20 to go as he salted away our chances.

I remain extremely optimistic. Trust in Poch and give him time. I think we will see many different players get looks as he sorts out what he has.

@approxinfinity said in Generic soccer thread:

I didnt really watch the New Zealand game. The previous game, I wasnt that down on our play to be honest. I saw us play much directly/vertically than ever under Berhalter and I think we will need some of that to unlock the potential we have. It never felt like we were out of the game. It would have felt over with Bethalter with 20 to go as he salted away our chances.

I remain extremely optimistic. Trust in Poch and give him time. I think we will see many different players get looks as he sorts out what he has.

I'm gonna have to rewatch the Canada game one of these nights. I was semi sorta maybe kinda napping during most of it TBH. zzz.

Canada is not a bad team. I think our record is 3-5-2 in 2024 so far? That is the most uninspiring part!

Bring on Poch! I hope he can instill some sort of plan or confidence ASAP. Next games are in October i think.

Can he find two center backs by then? Maybe he's been doing some behind-the-scenes international recruiting we don't know about...ha.

Anybody catch the two recent USA friendlies?

I watched some of both, but not too carefully. Jeez, am I losing interest in this mediocre roster? Unlike me. Ha.

Be patient. We werent fully staffed. Mexico meant nothing. I didnt watch it yet tbh. But watched Panama (?). We played very competently offensively i thought.

Trust the process.

Yea, patience required with a new coach.

I forgot we played Panama, so actually watched it (or some of it) after the Mexico match. That was unpleasant. Never ever want to be outclassed by Mexico!

I am not sure I uncovered any new tactics yet with Poch. I’ll need to skim thru the games again.

Seemed like the usual 4-3-3?

Anyway, odd for me to not be too excited to watch the US side. That says something I guess !

@rockchalkjayhawk said in Generic soccer thread:

Anybody catch the two recent USA friendlies?

I watched some of both, but not too carefully. Jeez, am I losing interest in this mediocre roster? Unlike me. Ha.

Very little should be taken from these friendlies. The Nations League matches against Jamaica will be better for seeing the new direction of US Soccer.

How about KU Women Soccer.

They beat West Virginia in Big 12 semis yesterday, big upset.

They have won 6 games in a row.

KU Women just upset 2 seed and 17th ranked Texas Tech 2-1 in the semifinals of the B12 Tournament. They will play TCU on Saturday for the B12 championship.

@Texas-Hawk-10 said in Generic soccer thread:

KU Women just upset 2 seed and 17th ranked Texas Tech 2-1 in the semifinals of the B12 Tournament. They will play TCU on Saturday for the B12 championship.

Ya that's what we love to hear, - they have been on a roll lately - -Good Luck Ladies

@Texas-Hawk-10 I am liking what new coach has done this year

USA faces Jamaica tonight in the return leg of Nations league play.

The first game was pretty dull. The pitch was godawful. Oh, and Pepi got the start up top.

Wow wow wow.
That was the best first half I may have ever seen the US play! Awesome. So refined in their passing. Exciting.

They had a very odd formation. They started in the 4-2-3-1, but it ended up a blob all in the middle of the field. Even Jedi was playing inside! So weird.

I need to watch first half. Wasnt at the house. Excited! Will report back.

The women have been playing in the She Believes tourney this week. They brought an inexperienced, youthful side mostly. There were many faces I didn’t recognize. One player looked good I thought: Stentnor?? Not sure of the spelling.

She was great on the ball. Creative. That’s a much needed skill. Attack, attack, attack. Loved it.

As much as I so far bad mouth Maccario, she had a beautiful assist. They had her at striker, too. She looked less ball hoggy there.

They lost to Japan in the last game. Japan looked super duper sharp. I assume their 11 was full of regulars.

Forgot to post this the other day!

USA played Panama in the Nations league, and lost in the waning seconds.

Some odd people in odd positions to start the game. Mostly surprised to see Weston McKennie as the center mid #10 in a 4-2-3-1.

I always liked him and Tyler Adams teaming up in the defensive end, but they were on separate lines.

Anway, uneventful mostly. US had some good chances. Pulisic was messy.

The good ole US of A played Turkey today in a men's friendly.

This was supposed to be a lead up to the Gold Cup. The roster is super sketchy!

There were a few guys starting that even an ardent supporter like me hadn't heard of.

We had some chances, but blew others few for sure. Turkey was feisty!

I'm starting to enjoy Diego Luna's game and energy. I hope his future is bright on the roster.

@rockchalkjayhawk im happy the young guys are playing but it was tough to watch. I bailed at half.

I like Luna as well!

I haven't been able to keep up, thanks for the updates

I have faith that Pochettino is building something but our building out of the backfield was mentally sluggish. First goal was a pass with the outside of the right foot as he ranged left by Johnny Cardoza that bounced off the pressing player for a goal. The simple play was to pass back to keep or wingback and at least carry that with his left so he can shield with his body.

Hope its a learning moment.

Our back 4 wasnt good enough when it was veteran retreads every game under Berhalter so i like working with the youth. I am a little concerned that Miles Robinson isnt good enough.

@approxinfinity said in Generic soccer thread:

I have faith that Pochettino is building something but our building out of the backfield was mentally sluggish. First goal was a pass with the outside of the right foot as he ranged left by Johnny Cardoza that bounced off the pressing player for a goal. The simple play was to pass back to keep or wingback and at least carry that with his left so he can shield with his body.

Hope its a learning moment.

Our back 4 wasnt good enough when it was veteran retreads every game under Berhalter so i like working with the youth. I am a little concerned that Miles Robinson isnt good enough.

Yea, that “own goal” was beyond reasonable explanation. A Mental breakdown. How he could come to that decision with the ball right in front of the goal I dunno.

I really haven’t decided on Miles Robinson yet. He’s supposed to be good, but I’m not sure we’ve seen that yet. He does not stand out.

The sad part is that Poch was supposed to breath some new life into the squad. Have we seen that happen? even with our star players? I’m not sure he has set us up with his style of play yet. Clock’s ticking. One year til the World Cup.

Pretty exciting Nation's league final today. Neighbors Spain v Portugal.

Lots of back forth, old guys with 40-year-old Ronaldo, young guys with 17-year-old Yamal, yellow cards, hard fouls, blistering goals, PKs and the works.

Well worth the watch.

Well, if you like fast and furious goals, be sure to catch the US vs Switzerland.

A complete and total bitch slapping of a first half!

The junior high aged US squad was comically inept.

At some point it would be nice if we could actually try to win a game.

Poch is 5-5. That’s no bueno.

Anybody calling for his head yet? WTF is he doing?

@rockchalkjayhawk he’s being the exact opposite of Berhalter :) instead of grinding out games with retreads he is throwing the kids in the fire and letting them take a beating.

I agree people are grumbly. Hope he and the federation are prepared for a firestorm. Nice to see Berhalter’s kid still got his nepotistic chance in the sun. In a nation of 350 million people, what are the chances his son is good enough on merit alone. I know the answer. Its fine, hes just as good as thousands of other kids who wont get that shot. Why not him?

Yea, I think Poch is discovering that the talent pool drops off considerably for the US once the first 18 or so players aren’t on the roster.

This ain’t European football.

You can play em, but they have to perform and put some effort in. The defense was just standing around watching guys run by em.

Not looking forward to the Gold Cup.

effort and passion is lacking throughout the entire American pay to play system. We shelter these kids from real competition, and we approach competition as a showcase for individual talent. That team was probably exponentially harder than teams many of them have faced on the pitch and it shouldnt be that way.

Unfortunately, there are reasons why the best coaches and most talented players are seldom the ones that are our champions.

Jack McGlynn looking like he may be something special.

Also Diego Luna continues to show a different level of toughness

@approxinfinity said in Generic soccer thread:

Jack McGlynn looking like he may be something special.

Hs growing on me. His first few appearances he seemed limited. He has a nice cross for sure.

@rockchalkjayhawk said in Generic soccer thread:

@approxinfinity said in Generic soccer thread:

Jack McGlynn looking like he may be something special.

Hs growing on me. His first few appearances he seemed limited. He has a nice cross for sure.

I’m gonna guess Luna makes the WC roster as the energizer bunny sub.

Oops, sleepy time posting…

I’m gonna guess Luna makes the WC roster as the energy sub…

Wow, Diego Luna is on some kind of run right now.

@BShark said in Generic soccer thread:

Wow, Diego Luna is on some kind of run right now.

Jesus, what a game!

Poch getting it done without the regular attacking options.

Luna is a tough kid. He Mcglynn and de la Torre will all be there for WC.

Cade Cowell continues to struggle for club at Guadelajara. Looks like he will be on the outside looking in.

Nice to see Tyler Adams looking healthy and sharp.

Our CBs arent getting any younger or more talented. Im scared of a Ream, Zimmerman, Richards, Robinson rotation.

@approxinfinity I've been catching the last few Gold Cup matches. I'd say this is a B/C type of squad for the US, but they have done well considering. This isn't a high stakes even so it's good to see what we have in some of these guys.

@BShark yep but these are our A list CBs. Biggest weakness imo

Well damn, lost to El Tri in the Gold Cup final today.
Other than the very beautiful set piece goal we scored, it wasn’t exactly pretty today.
Mostly dominated by a superior Mexican side. That was expected with the experience on each roster I suppose.

The more I watched some of the young guys over the last few weeks, the more I learned some of their strengths and weaknesses.

Luna: he’s feisty. He’s got some good skills. He seems a bit sloppy with the ball at times. I like him though. A good substitute.

Agyemang: I’ve seen enough of him. Forever. I see no skills at all. He seems slow as well.

Freese (gk): he seems acceptable. He had a few shaky moments, but grew in confidence as the Cup progressed. Made some nice saves.

Outside backs Freeman and Arfsten: Arfsten had a few nice shots on goal. He made some sweet moves on the wing while attacking. I expect a bit more athleticism out of Freeman given his pop’s pedigree. Neither was a defensive standout.

Our defense seemed vulnerable In general.

Credit to Richards for that brilliant free kick header for a goal. Nice.

Not a new guy, but … Tyler Adams: did he even play this tournament? Yes sadly is the answer. Invisible man until his nasty yellow card.

Berhalter: I was skeptical at first, but he truly has great crossing and free kick skills.

Completely agree on Agyemang. AWFUL.

I think the opposite about Freemans “pedigree”. “This kid who is lost on defense only made the team because of nepotism”

@BShark i think awful is harsh for Agyemang. Hustle is there, hes just too large. I find myself wishing his bones were shorter so his feet could contact the ball where it needs to be contacted.

@approxinfinity said in Generic soccer thread:

@BShark i think awful is harsh for Agyemang. Hustle is there, hes just too large. I find myself wishing his bones were shorter so his feet could contact the ball where it needs to be contacted.

Yea, he seems awkward for sure. Maybe has more straight line speed with those legs than the quickness needed in tight space.

I’ll have to read more about him. Saw something briefly about Poch being forced to play him for silly off field reasons.

Btw freeman played 90 minutes and had 1 tackle.

Have to go back and watch but i think the set piece that resulted in goal for mexico was a bs call against Luna.

Luna, Richards and Freese are the biggest winners in this tournament i think, and maybe Arfsten. Richards would be WC no matter what, but vying for starter role. The other guys proved they belong.

That sounds about right, @approxinfinity

Finally got to watch the US vs South Korea.

Another ugly performance unfortunately. People are now calling for Poch to get the axe!

Poch seems busy experimenting with players. But at some point you need to look good and win games.

@rockchalkjayhawk I watched a little of Japan friendly and they looked decent.

@wissox said in Generic soccer thread:

@rockchalkjayhawk I watched a little of Japan friendly and they looked decent.

Yea much better vs Japan.

Didn’t realize the men’s side played yesterday. Just started watching.

Immediately confused with wtf Poch is thinking seeing the lineup and formation. 5-4-1

With Westin McKennie seemingly playing close to the front line outside as a skilled playmaker. Wtf?

Will Poch ever take this team seriously???

Within the first 5 minutes all I’ve seen is Flo making 50 yard north / south runs with the ball to nowhere.

Oh, and we’re down 1-0 after disorganization in the back left literally a 1 on 1 for zero reason.

I sure hope this pays off at some point, Poch. I’m losing faith.

@rockchalkjayhawk by the end of the game it felt like a more well rounded effort. We def started out disorganized

I appreciated the little pocket runs in the box. It felt like in the final 3rd we did some interesting things that had a little more thoughtful coordination to them

Finished watching. Yea, a mostly very weird game/formation/lineup. Like zero players started who could impact the game in any creative way. Poch to blame for that. I can’t figure out what he’s doing with these guys.

We were truly disorganized with players seemingly not having a clue how to play in those positions and space.

When will the experimentation end?

Look at Weah. A fast, skilled wide player who barely had any freedom. Just odd.

The defense was lost, left with lots of 1 on 1s. Two yellow cards because of it.

Oh well. The energy spiked a bit with the subs.

I truly liked Flo’s energy today.