The Official US Soccer thread

[cardpa]

There is more talent on this squad now than in the history of US soccer. It's ridiculous that we aren't blowing teams away considering the level of opponents. El Salvador and Honduras should never have hung around as long as they did. I personally don't mind being somewhat possession minded however holding possession in the back and mid field and hardly ever trying to sustain an attack in the attacking third of the field is mind boggling. A lack of dangerous runs in the final third was another thing I noticed. They would play a ball into a central forward and then just stand there instead of making a run to possibly receive the ball back. No shots from outside the penalty area either. You need to take a few of them simply to keep the goalie honest and to let the defense know they have to defend higher which creates space behind them especially if you can force the goalie to make a save because the shot was on net.

Several times last night the US had opportunities to attack along the goal line and there isn't anything any more dangerous to a defending team than having the attacking team have the ball that deep. First offside becomes a non issue and second the ball is behind the defense and now they have to defend toward their goal not away from it. Even a poor pass can be accidentally directed into the net by the defense because they are now facing their own net. Yet last night it was there several times and the US player decided to push the ball back upfield instead of carrying it along the goal line. The other thing about this situation is now the ball is being passed to teammates who are facing the goal, simple one touch shooting, about as easy as it can get.

 

[Lorenzo]

I don't know about the weather..yeah it's something to gripe about...but come on get over it. I don't want to hear the groans from the concacaf countries to the south. the other concacaf teams play in brutal heat and humidity and if you don't think that's hard try going for a 1 mile jog in 90 degree heat with no humidity. Mexico play at altitude and poor air quality. and what about the fans? they throw things at players. Bolivia also play at ridiculous altitude and they are able to knock down giants in their region at home. we need to use our home advantage against those clubs and stop playing friendly environments like New York when we lost a qualifier to Costa Rica that cost us a World Cup appearance.

 

[Lorenzo]

I'm with you. Look at Canada. They were a joke team, and now they're the best in CONCACAF. We're nowhere near where we need to be, especially considering we have a LOT more talent than we used to have.

Canada have some good players. I didn't see that game, but the last game I saw in the states vs Canada I thought the USA out played them but did not take their chances. I heard they played that game on turf? If we are complaining about Minnesota cold weather, why are we not complaining about a turf pitch? is this not just another example of teams using their advantages? I don't understand the freak out factor over this USA team. I think they will be fine as long as they qualify. they need a result against Panama at home and they basically are in. and if they upset Mexico at the Azteca I will be over the moon.

 

[Lorenzo]

Well, I flipped out over the lineup. I was wrong. I usually can't stand Accosta, but he was nails on the free kicks. Good win.

Acosta is probably the only MLS based player that I think of that truly deserves to crack the squad. I don't know that he is better than Tyler Adams as a holder, but he can probably push Adams to keep his USA roster spot as a starter. and I saw the highlights and Acosta did provide a lot of quality service in that game. hopefully he can build on that. Acosta came in with a lot of hype in Dallas and I just wish he had gone to Europe where he would have been pushed a lot harder.

 

[Zeno]

I don't know about the weather..yeah it's something to gripe about...but come on get over it. I don't want to hear the groans from the concacaf countries to the south. the other concacaf teams play in brutal heat and humidity and if you don't think that's hard try going for a 1 mile jog in 90 degree heat with no humidity. Mexico play at altitude and poor air quality. and what about the fans? they throw things at players. Bolivia also play at ridiculous altitude and they are able to knock down giants in their region at home. we need to use our home advantage against those clubs and stop playing friendly environments like New York when we lost a qualifier to Costa Rica that cost us a World Cup appearance.

How exactly is playing in dangerously cold conditions a homefield advantage? How many of our players regularly play in those type of conditions? That environment is just as likely to effect our players as the opponents. Most of our team plays in Europe, and as cold as it may get in England, France or Germany on occasion it isn't Minnesota cold.

I am happy we won but if they wanted to play in MN they should have played at the Vikings dome in downtown Minneapolis.

 

[cardfaninfl]

I don't understand the freak out factor over this USA team. I think they will be fine as long as they qualify.

I remember hearing this a lot, 4 years ago.

 

[ASUCHRIS]

I don't understand the freak out factor over this USA team.

Falling all over themselves in qualification in a league full of minnows?

I think they will be fine as long as they qualify.

What does fine mean? Do you see progress? Is qualifying through CONCACAF and flaming out in the group round a success?

 

[cardpa]

How exactly is playing in dangerously cold conditions a homefield advantage? How many of our players regularly play in those type of conditions? That environment is just as likely to effect our players as the opponents. Most of our team plays in Europe, and as cold as it may get in England, France or Germany on occasion it isn't Minnesota cold.

I am happy we won but if they wanted to play in MN they should have played at the Vikings dome in downtown Minneapolis.

I agree,when they were interviewing Pulisic, he said what I really want is to get back into the locker room because it's freezing out here so they cut the interview short.

 

[Lorenzo]

Falling all over themselves in qualification in a league full of minnows?


What does fine mean? Do you see progress? Is qualifying through CONCACAF and flaming out in the group round a success?

edit: I am going too far with my comments considering I missed the last 3 games. this is my perspective given that I did not see those games.

I do think that they should be more dominant than they are in this region. I do feel like I've seen progress with this team, but for me a lot of it is because of their emerging youth. I do think making the WC will be a massive success for this team and no I don't think flaming out in the group will be a success.

 

[Lorenzo]

I remember hearing this a lot, 4 years ago.

four years ago they lost at home to Mexico and Costa Rica, their team was in shambles with a fired coach that lost control of his players and US Soccer brought in another coach that had no business being there. they were playing old players who were past their prime who for me weren't really earning their caps. I don't see that happening here. but as you say people will freak out like we did four years ago if they fail to qualify and rightfully so because we all remember that feeling. I think they will rise to the occasion, but we will see.

 

[cardfaninfl]

but as you say people will freak out like we did four years ago if they fail to qualify

Never said that. Worry more about your words, m'kay?

 

[Lorenzo]

Never said that. Worry more about your words, m'kay?

my fault... I didn't mean to twist your words like that.

 

[Lorenzo]

How exactly is playing in dangerously cold conditions a homefield advantage? How many of our players regularly play in those type of conditions? That environment is just as likely to effect our players as the opponents. Most of our team plays in Europe, and as cold as it may get in England, France or Germany on occasion it isn't Minnesota cold.

I am happy we won but if they wanted to play in MN they should have played at the Vikings dome in downtown Minneapolis.

I do think it is advantage for them more than their opponent. maybe I'm looking at it too much from the lens of what other concacaf teams do when they host games in hot humid weather at stadiums that are tough to play in. US Soccer got a lot of critique for scheduling that game against Costa Rica in New Jersey four years ago where a lot of supporters were able to attend the game..maybe they are overcompensating for that this time. the safety of their players should be their top concern.

 

[MigratingOsprey]

Know you opponent and understand your location

Don't weather your skill down when playing an easy team that you have well covered and really isn't a draw

Honduras isn't Costa Rica or Mexico

Instead of continuing to develop your style, gaining that on field interplay, etc - you just survive the weather

Also as mentioned, MN winter isn't exactly a weather condition that our players are experienced with

 

[Ronin]

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[cardpa]

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Well that sucks. Probably the most productive player in the last round of three is now out. Hopefully he's fully healed and ready to go come November.

 

[Stout]

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[Zeno]

I think I read it is a 3 month injury, he will be good to go well before the pre-tournament Friendlies I would think (assuming we qualify).

It hurts as he is one of our best, most in form players right now.

 

[cardpa]

hopefully they put Busio back on the roster, I thought he looked pretty good when he played. I assume Acosta will slide into a midfield spot with McKennie out. Pulisic needs to step up his game and stop trying to be a one man show.

 

[Ronin]

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[cardpa]

Complete recovery time for his injury is supposed to be 12 weeks at most. He sustained in on February 22nd. so by late May he should be able to start training again. The problem with that type of injury is he isn't going to be able to do any conditioning for most of his recovery period which means he is going to be out of shape and not in game fit condition probably until Mid July. I'm figuring 6-8 weeks to get back to game shape (70-90 minutes of game time).

 

[Stout]

US v Mexico at 10:00 freaking PM is freaking ludicrous. Honestly, how do these clowns come up with this?

 

[cardpa]

US v Mexico at 10:00 freaking PM is freaking ludicrous. Honestly, how do these clowns come up with this?

From what I understand it's only on Paramount so you need a subscription to see the game. Fortunately for me we have that. This is also true for the Costa Rica game, Paramount only. Panama is on FS1.

 

[Stout]

From what I understand it's only on Paramount so you need a subscription to see the game. Fortunately for me we have that. This is also true for the Costa Rica game, Paramount only. Panama is on FS1.

Are you freaking kidding me? Freaking US freaking soccer freaking federation. Almost, ALMOST makes me hope they fail to make the WC. This is freaking ridiculous. I cannot freaking believe it. Just...Jesus Freaking Christ!

 

[cardpa]

Are you freaking kidding me? Freaking US freaking soccer freaking federation. Almost, ALMOST makes me hope they fail to make the WC. This is freaking ridiculous. I cannot freaking believe it. Just...Jesus Freaking Christ!

Here's what I found, apparently if you have CBS sports network you can view it there too.

FIFA World Cup Qualifying – CONCACAF​

Thursday, March 24​

08:00 pm EDT
Jamaica vs. El Salvador
Paramount+
09:00 pm EDT
Mexico vs. United States
CBS Sports Network, fubo TV, Paramount+, TUDN, DirecTV Stream, Univision
09:05 pm EDT
Panama vs. Honduras
Paramount+
10:05 pm EDT
Costa Rica vs. Canada
Paramount+

Sunday, March 27​

04:05 pm EDT
Canada vs. Jamaica
Paramount+
05:05 pm EDT
El Salvador vs. Costa Rica
Paramount+
07:00 pm EDT
United States vs. Panama
FS1, UniMás, TUDN, fubo TV, Sling Blue, DirecTV Stream
07:05 pm EDT
Honduras vs. Mexico
Paramount+

Wednesday, March 30​

08:05 pm EDT
Costa Rica vs. United States
Paramount+, Universo, fubo TV, DirecTV Stream, Peacock Premium
09:05 pm EDT
Mexico vs. El Salvador
Paramount+
09:05 pm EDT
Panama vs. Canada
Paramount+
09:05 pm EDT
Jamaica vs. Honduras
Paramount+