The Official US Soccer thread

[cardpa]

I'm not happy Berhalter is back. I don't have a lot of faith in his ability to select and then play the best players for the team.

 

[Yuma]

That's what I mean by the Women's team is managed better. Berhalter is the best we can come up with? I'd almost want to go with Jason Sudeikas pretending to be Ted Lasso at this point. At least the press conferences would be entertaining.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

I'm not happy Berhalter is back. I don't have a lot of faith in his ability to select and then play the best players for the team.

I'm not happy either, but he did get a raw deal from Gio Reyna. That was bushleague stuff and they were probably trying to do right by him.

 

[cardpa]

Either way we are stuck with Berhalter through 2026 WC unless the team really tanks and performs poorly between now and 2026.

 

[Stout]

2014 we nearly beat Belgium after Tim Howard's heroics if Wondolowski taps the ball in from 2 feet as well.

Very true. Fricking Wondo! I would argue we weren't very good and only Timmy Howard's insane heroics kept us in that game, but hard to argue it was a bad World Cup for us. We've just...we hit another wall and can find no way around it to progress. Wake me up when we're actually a good enough team to be taken seriously at a WC level.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Very true. Fricking Wondo! I would argue we weren't very good and only Timmy Howard's insane heroics kept us in that game, but hard to argue it was a bad World Cup for us. We've just...we hit another wall and can find no way around it to progress. Wake me up when we're actually a good enough team to be taken seriously at a WC level.

With the right coach, I could have easily seen this team win their group and get a knockout win as well.

 

[Stout]

With the right coach, I could have easily seen this team win their group and get a knockout win as well.

I agree. Sadly, we got Berhalter back. As the coach is part of the team...yeah.

 

[Lorenzo]

2002 is the high point for me. arguably the most talented as well because most of those players were spending a lot of time in Europe getting results for both club and country. They were dominating Mexico in that era in spite of Mexico dominating in possession. But I don’t look at that team and think that it was Bruce arena that got them there. It was the quality of the players. This USA team is arguably more talented overall which makes it more frustrating that they don’t go after the best manager available. It’s also frustrating because typically managers do not improve when they manage multiple World Cup cycles.

 

[Lorenzo]

Sorry, I'm done excuse making for the USMNT, which is broken from top to bottom. A nearly broken Mexico win and get a huge bounce while we can't even make the final of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, which should always be a given. I'm about at as low a point in how much I care about this team as I have ever been. We're being shown that there will be no progress because the administration is crap. Why should we care.

I don’t care about the gold cup. And the reason being is what difference would it make if we won the gold cup when most of these players aren’t going to be on the next USA WC roster. But I do care that they brought berhalter back. That bothers me a lot more. Watching Mexico scrape out a win over panama also did not bother me. Good for them. They will get blown out against the next real team with quality that they play against.

The next tournament that really means anything is copa America. That is when they will select their top players (and maybe Jordan morris) and will face real competition that will have to beat at the WC. I hope Berhalter gets fired if the USA suck at copa America like they did against the Netherlands. If they do well then I will take it as a good sign for their WC prep since they don’t have to qualify.

 

[Lorenzo]

2014 we nearly beat Belgium after Tim Howard's heroics if Wondolowski taps the ball in from 2 feet as well.

I still can’t understand how he missed that goal nor can I understand how the USA would have won that game if he scored. What is also crazy is that Clint Dempsey almost equalized the game at the end of extra time on a ted lasso free kick.

 

[Lorenzo]

IDK, there's been lower points where we couldn't even qualify to get into tournaments. They are better, I have to concede. I do see where the women's team seems to be better managed and coached than the men's team. There's a gap there, but I think it's a learning opportunity for the men's team to see what the women's team is doing and learn from it.

The women’s team are a powerhouse looking down at most of their competition both in talent and management. They have fought for equal rights, player safety, and have held the torch for women athletes all around the world. They have not settled for the status quo. They have tried to get better always. And when they fail they come back stronger.

The USA men have superior competition all around the world. So they can play above their potential, get the greatest manager, and still lose. Yet no one will fault them because other nations are better than we are. To some degree that’s a crutch that the USA have been using for too long. And fans accept it. Like hey we aren’t there yet but maybe one day. that is no excuse for settling for the status quo by bringing berhalter back. That is case in point for why we need to get the best manager possible. USA management needs to be more ruthless and have higher expectations. It seems like the good ol’ boy club runs the front office.

 

[Lorenzo]

I'm not happy either, but he did get a raw deal from Gio Reyna. That was bushleague stuff and they were probably trying to do right by him.

Yes and IMO it shows the culture of entitlement that still exists in US men’s soccer. I also blame gio’s parents for letting their personal relationship history with Greg berhalter get the best of them. As if they expect Greg to play their kid because they are friends and have dirt on one another. Very childish imo. But Greg throwing gio under the bus is more upsetting to me because he should be above that.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Yes and IMO it shows the culture of entitlement that still exists in US men’s soccer. I also blame gio’s parents for letting their personal relationship history with Greg berhalter get the best of them. As if they expect Greg to play their kid because they are friends and have dirt on one another. Very childish imo. But Greg throwing gio under the bus is more upsetting to me because he should be above that.

Disagree. Getting personal and bringing your family into it is way worse than calling the person out that does it.

 

[Stout]

Disagree. Getting personal and bringing your family into it is way worse than calling the person out that does it.

Yet the coach is part of the setup--an integral and key part--and handled it poorly. Then we bring him back? Absolutely unacceptable.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Yet the coach is part of the setup--an integral and key part--and handled it poorly. Then we bring him back? Absolutely unacceptable.

Don't shoot the messenger. I think Berhalter is trash and we should have hired a coach with European experience.

 

[Dr. Jones]

Don't shoot the messenger. I think Berhalter is trash and we should have hired a coach with European experience.

If we truly wanted to "level up" as a nation we should have. GB is a mid-level coach.

Unfortunately I don't think we have the stones for it like we did a decade ago.

 

[cardpa]

If we truly wanted to "level up" as a nation we should have. GB is a mid-level coach.

Unfortunately I don't think we have the stones for it like we did a decade ago.

Yep, I think the Jurgen Klinsmann experiment and the Landon Donovan incident put the kibosh on bringing in foreign coaches. I think his selecting of five so-called "Jurgen Americans", players with American serviceman fathers and German mothers who had all been born and professionally trained in Germany, to the 23-men squad in the 2014 FIFA World Cup and cutting Donovan just didn't sit well with the some.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Yep, I think the Jurgen Klinsmann experiment and the Landon Donovan incident put the kibosh on bringing in foreign coaches. I think his selecting of five so-called "Jurgen Americans", players with American serviceman fathers and German mothers who had all been born and professionally trained in Germany, to the 23-men squad in the 2014 FIFA World Cup and cutting Donovan just didn't sit well with the some.

It was 100% the right thing to do. It's no coincidence that more players have gone to Europe since. Before we had a random one or two people in Europe, and now half of our team plays there.

It is downright unpatriotic to believe that 'American serviceman fathers and German mothers' makes the players somehow un-American. It's good enough for our Constitution after all.

 

[Yuma]

Yep, I think the Jurgen Klinsmann experiment and the Landon Donovan incident put the kibosh on bringing in foreign coaches. I think his selecting of five so-called "Jurgen Americans", players with American serviceman fathers and German mothers who had all been born and professionally trained in Germany, to the 23-men squad in the 2014 FIFA World Cup and cutting Donovan just didn't sit well with the some.

It's affinity bias. I watch Man U. We have a Dutch coach now. Guess what? More Dutch players on our squad now. LOL. It's human nature. What if we brought in a Hispanic coach and he picked 5 hispanics on the squad? LOL. Maybe he's just picking from a pool not taken advantage of before. At the end of the day, we all want the coach to put the best guys on the pitch. If he doesn't, he should be replaced. But like in my example, if he gets to the WC and get deep into play over there, then he should be extended, too. I think we just haven't found our coach K yet for soccer. Part of that isn't having someone like a Colangelo higher up that is respected in building an organization. They need to find that first. Bring in someone with a history of building successful clubs. Even if it's just an MLS GM or President. The soccer club sounds like it's too much politics, and pettiness.

 

[gmabel830]

The betting line for US Women to win vs Vietnam tonight is -75000. LOL

 

[cardpa]

Watched the Canada/Nigeria game last night. Canada did not look that good in finishing. They had several chances to find the back of the net and failed. Sinclair had a PK blocked on a weak strike from the spot. Nigeria looked dangerous at times and had a couple chance to pull off the upset. The draw was good for Nigeria and probably a disappointment for Canada. Group B is wide open now. All Wales has to do is draw in their next two matches and they are through.

 

[MigratingOsprey]

The women's team is a complete mess

They have shown moments of individual skill, but not much in linking that skill up to anything productive

From little things like passing to the wrong body side of a run to being really slow in picking the pass or then telegraphing it/taking such an obvious option and then slowly making the pass..... Just a mess

Defense looks panicky and disorganized - Hertz has been pretty terrible, both in marking, reading the attack and then distribution - frequently just punting away clearances or missing outlets by large margins

If the attack can't be super direct, there isn't much there

Weird dynamic that despite how terrible they look, they aren't getting run off .... But they are playing at a paper thin margin to get draws against solid teams

Have no idea how they plan to beat good teams

 

[cardpa]

The women's team is a complete mess

They have shown moments of individual skill, but not much in linking that skill up to anything productive

From little things like passing to the wrong body side of a run to being really slow in picking the pass or then telegraphing it/taking such an obvious option and then slowly making the pass..... Just a mess

Defense looks panicky and disorganized - Hertz has been pretty terrible, both in marking, reading the attack and then distribution - frequently just punting away clearances or missing outlets by large margins

If the attack can't be super direct, there isn't much there

Weird dynamic that despite how terrible they look, they aren't getting run off .... But they are playing at a paper thin margin to get draws against solid teams

Have no idea how they plan to beat good teams

Ertz is playing out of position. She is normally the defensive mid and the dumb arse coach has her playing as a center back. I watched half of the Portugal game and there was no build up through the mid, just direct balls up the flanks. Morgan has been stinking the entire pitch up and should be benched. When one of your right outside backs (Dunn) has more touches than anyone else for the game it means your mid is failing big time. Fox looks clueless and Smith apparently has gone AWOL as she has done nothing since the Vietnam game.

Andonovski must think he only has a couple players on the bench with the way he is using it. Why O'Hara isn't being utilized is beyond my comprehension. Now, they lose Lavelle for the next game due to card accumulation and they in all probability will play Sweden. By all rights they should have been boarding a plane home today, not moving out of their group. Lady luck smiled upon them last night as that shot banged off the right post for Portugal. A few inches to the left and that ball is in the net and it would have been game over.

Dunn, Morgan and Rapinoe dancing and smiling post match and Smith taking selfies with the fans was too much for Carli Lloyd.

Lloyd quote: “There’s a difference in being respectful to the fans and saying hello to your family,” Lloyd said on the FOX postgame show. “But to be dancing? To be smiling? The player of the match was that post.” "(They're) lucky to not be going home right now."

I fully expect a 3/4-0 game in Sweden's favor come Sunday. If things go really bad it could end up being a five to seven goal performance by Sweden.

 

[MigratingOsprey]

Morgan has been active and has worked to good positions, but doesn't do anything with it.

I see her highlighted as a good because of some dangerous moments, but they are either offside or she takes the ball to the goal line eliminating both pass or shoot options.

She has had a couple good moments getting the ball before the box and facilitating...... But not many

It honestly looks like these players and coaches don't know each other's names - let alone how to fit together in a game plan

 

[Yuma]

Time for the veterans to just ignore the coaches and play the way they know how to win.