USMNT - ‘23 and beyond (2 Viewers)

[Beast]

Nice win over Bolivia to open Copa America, but probably should have had 3 or 4

 

[44slayer]

Nice win over Bolivia to open Copa America, but probably should have had 3 or 4

Or 5. xG was 2.40. Thought it would be higher, but -.40 still isnt good considering competition.

I'm glad that I'm back to the long standing tradition of complaining that we lack killer instinct in front of goal. Those chances have to find the back of the net if we are going to compete with the elite or semi elites.

Some days, you just cant get them through. I believe Pepi had 3 chances he could have sent home and all 3 were pretty decent saves. Usually he would finish 1-2 of those. The offsides prevented another Flo goal as well.

 

[efil4stnias]

Or 5. xG was 2.40. Thought it would be higher, but -.40 still isnt good considering competition.

I'm glad that I'm back to the long standing tradition of complaining that we lack killer instinct in front of goal. Those chances have to find the back of the net if we are going to compete with the elite or semi elites.

Some days, you just cant get them through. I believe Pepi had 3 chances he could have sent home and all 3 were pretty decent saves. Usually he would finish 1-2 of those. The offsides prevented another Flo goal as well.

he just needs to get "sighted" ( think of firing weapon ) in front of goal. All 3 shots were directly at the GK. Not one to either side. Thats simply a lack of playing and getting the feel for finishing.

I think once he nets one, he will have a better feel and finish better.

Example was Folarin goal- he picked out right post without looking up and it was placement vs power - thats the awareness Pepi needs to dial up. I suspect it will come. But in meantime, Folarin opening his tab is a good thing. Id like to see Wright get going too.

 

[Beast]

Or 5. xG was 2.40. Thought it would be higher, but -.40 still isnt good considering competition.

I'm glad that I'm back to the long standing tradition of complaining that we lack killer instinct in front of goal. Those chances have to find the back of the net if we are going to compete with the elite or semi elites.

Some days, you just cant get them through. I believe Pepi had 3 chances he could have sent home and all 3 were pretty decent saves. Usually he would finish 1-2 of those. The offsides prevented another Flo goal as well.

On one of Pepi’s, I think he had the right idea but was a tad late. Basically dink it into the far corner but being late, it went wide.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

he just needs to get "sighted" ( think of firing weapon ) in front of goal. All 3 shots were directly at the GK. Not one to either side. Thats simply a lack of playing and getting the feel for finishing.

I think once he nets one, he will have a better feel and finish better.

I think Pepi is our best poacher - he was just uhn-luhky last night

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Interesting

 

[efil4stnias]

Interesting

writing on the wall?

I would have had him in the short list of replacements.

The more I read ( just read a piece from 6 years ago, penned post- TnT loss about the whole Klinsmann/Gulati/Arena/US Soccer debacle ) the more I return to issues with culture and the prior "reputational fight" between MLS and the European big 3 leagues.
I think part the "culture" aspect stems from the long standing feeling of US Sports in general that if we decide to play a particular sport, that it is just preordained, we will dominate. That somehow the US athlete will find a way to rise to the top echelon internationally. Couple that with MLS attempting to "fast track" itself to a preeminent competitive professional footballing league ( internationally ), there had been an element inside US Soccer that saw itself as the main protectors and advancers of that league. To the detriment of competing internationally - especially player development.

One item was the friction between US Soccer ( read Garber ) and Klinsmann- the latter, basically challenging USMNT players to play in Europe, get out their comfort zone and play for clubs that will challenge them. Whereas MLS wanted those players to remain domestic to "further" MLS reputation. But for Klinsmann, he felt that having players dominate MLS wouldnt translate into players getting better rounded for international competition. This created a pretty large chasm within the entire structure of US Soccer/MLS. ( Klinsmann wanted supreme powers to dictate the future of US Soccer on down to youth leagues- something US Soccer was simply not going to give up )

I think that whole episode has now lead us to this point- where US Soccer is OVERLY protective - circle the wagons type - for ANY coaching hire that MIGHT want to come in and not only coach, but look to a systemic change of US Soccer and how its run, its youth programs/leagues and ultimately continue to pit MLS vs Euro teams, that is detrimental to MLS and its ability to grow ( read- money ) into a real powerhouse league.

I just feel like MLS and the powers that be figured within 20 years, they would rival leagues like La Liga/Bundesliga/EPL - tried to fast track it to prominence and it doesnt work that way. Especially in a country where soccer/MLS is the 5th pro league and not a "US SPORT" like NFL/NBA or MLB.


At some point, US Soccer will have to divest itself from MLS- they simply cannot be intertwined with executives that are MLS success driven. We cannot compete internationally when decisions on coaching, players etc come from folks who are internally designed to protect the domestic product.
US Soccer will have to stand alone in regards to international play and focus its efforts on developing players and allowing them the opportunity - be it domestic or internationally - to make their own decision on where to play.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

writing on the wall?

I would have had him in the short list of replacements.

The more I read ( just read a piece from 6 years ago, penned post- TnT loss about the whole Klinsmann/Gulati/Arena/US Soccer debacle ) the more I return to issues with culture and the prior "reputational fight" between MLS and the European big 3 leagues.
I think part the "culture" aspect stems from the long standing feeling of US Sports in general that if we decide to play a particular sport, that it is just preordained, we will dominate. That somehow the US athlete will find a way to rise to the top echelon internationally. Couple that with MLS attempting to "fast track" itself to a preeminent competitive professional footballing league ( internationally ), there had been an element inside US Soccer that saw itself as the main protectors and advancers of that league. To the detriment of competing internationally - especially player development.

One item was the friction between US Soccer ( read Garber ) and Klinsmann- the latter, basically challenging USMNT players to play in Europe, get out their comfort zone and play for clubs that will challenge them. Whereas MLS wanted those players to remain domestic to "further" MLS reputation. But for Klinsmann, he felt that having players dominate MLS wouldnt translate into players getting better rounded for international competition. This created a pretty large chasm within the entire structure of US Soccer/MLS. ( Klinsmann wanted supreme powers to dictate the future of US Soccer on down to youth leagues- something US Soccer was simply not going to give up )

I think that whole episode has now lead us to this point- where US Soccer is OVERLY protective - circle the wagons type - for ANY coaching hire that MIGHT want to come in and not only coach, but look to a systemic change of US Soccer and how its run, its youth programs/leagues and ultimately continue to pit MLS vs Euro teams, that is detrimental to MLS and its ability to grow ( read- money ) into a real powerhouse league.

I just feel like MLS and the powers that be figured within 20 years, they would rival leagues like La Liga/Bundesliga/EPL - tried to fast track it to prominence and it doesnt work that way. Especially in a country where soccer/MLS is the 5th pro league and not a "US SPORT" like NFL/NBA or MLB.


At some point, US Soccer will have to divest itself from MLS- they simply cannot be intertwined with executives that are MLS success driven. We cannot compete internationally when decisions on coaching, players etc come from folks who are internally designed to protect the domestic product.
US Soccer will have to stand alone in regards to international play and focus its efforts on developing players and allowing them the opportunity - be it domestic or internationally - to make their own decision on where to play.

Hopefully Liga MX is enough of a cautionary tale that yoking national players to domestic clubs does not create competitive teams

MLS’s main problem is owner oriented vs player oriented
They are fine with parity as long as they get to handicap themselves to hard spending controls
That’s fine in other US sports where the league is either dominant or singular, but trying to compete against EPL, et al while handcuffing yourself financially produces predictable results

 

[St. Widge]

Hopefully Liga MX is enough of a cautionary tale that yoking national players to domestic clubs does not create competitive teams

MLS’s main problem is owner oriented vs player oriented
They are fine with parity as long as they get to handicap themselves to hard spending controls
That’s fine in other US sports where the league is either dominant or singular, but trying to compete against EPL, et al while handcuffing yourself financially produces predictable results

Yeah. MLS is just an inferior product that is seen by the rest of the world as a place for older European players to go to retire. I've tried to watch it but even to my amateur eyes it's clearly inferior to any of the European or even South American leagues. It seems to be played on the level of NCAA Soccer which isn't good.

And a lot of that is the fact that it's a capped league that can't compete for talent with the teams in the big leagues like La Liga, EPL, and even Ligue 1. The problem is that I don't see U.S. owners giving up that cap or doing something like relegation since U.S. owners expect to make money from owning sports teams.

As a result, USA Soccer really needs to divorce itself from MLS because it's really being used as a way to showcase MLS players instead of developing players for the USMNT by having them player wherever they need to play to develop properly.

 

[efil4stnias]

Yeah. MLS is just an inferior product that is seen by the rest of the world as a place for older European players to go to retire. I've tried to watch it but even to my amateur eyes it's clearly inferior to any of the European or even South American leagues. It seems to be played on the level of NCAA Soccer which isn't good.

And a lot of that is the fact that it's a capped league that can't compete for talent with the teams in the big leagues like La Liga, EPL, and even Ligue 1. The problem is that I don't see U.S. owners giving up that cap or doing something like relegation since U.S. owners expect to make money from owning sports teams.

As a result, USA Soccer really needs to divorce itself from MLS because it's really being used as a way to showcase MLS players instead of developing players for the USMNT by having them player wherever they need to play to develop properly.

And thats where US Soccer comes in.

Continue to "develop" interest - just enough to drive profits and keep the $$$ flowing- everything else is secondary.

the product has gotten better, incrementally, from previous years, but its still quite a way from the Big 3. Couple that with teams having to play on turf vs natural grass, in 70,000 stadiums that arent designed for soccer matches and you have a receipe for what we see today.

Soccer isnt that hard- objective is to protect your goal and seek to score on opponents goal. Thats it. Just like basketball ( basket ) . Similar to football ( endzones )

Its how you go about defending and scoring, incorporating 11 players to achieve this goal, and everything else within the pitch, that makes the game exciting. Just like with most sports, a really good "attack" ( offense ) is part of being a good defense- if your opponent is constantly defending, then they cant score.
Our current USMNT values possession ( the idea of holding on to the ball longer than opponent thereby limiting his possession and limiting his opportunities to score ) For as long as i remember, US Soccers "identity" was wrapped up in furious defending and countering when it could in hopes of a goal. But a DRAW vs superior talent was the ultimate goal. That hasnt really changed under Berhalter. Just how we go about has, slightly ( just increase possession )

The problem there is when your opponents skill and ability is superior, it only takes one opportunity to convert into a goal and now your whole strategy is completely undone. ( See Uruguay )

 

[Saintslfc13]

Interesting

I know it's a MLS club so no access to the top options, and from the looks of it a very young one, but man I would be thoroughly uninspired if a team I cared for brought in anyone associated with this USMNT coaching staff. How depressing.

Full disclaimer I know absolutely nothing about B.J. Callahan.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

I know it's a MLS club so no access to the top options, and from the looks of it a very young one, but man I would be thoroughly uninspired if a team I cared for brought in anyone associated with this USMNT coaching staff. How depressing.

Full disclaimer I know absolutely nothing about B.J. Callahan.

USMNT looked their best when BJ was interim coach

 

[Saintslfc13]

USMNT looked their best when BJ was interim coach

That's fair enough, I just really think the whole US set up needs to be torn down and rebuilt at this point and maybe it's not fair to every coach involved but I wouldn't want anything to do with any of them.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

That's fair enough, I just really think the whole US set up needs to be torn down and rebuilt at this point and maybe it's not fair to every coach involved but I wouldn't want anything to do with any of them.

Think of him as like a Ronald Curry under Carmichael- maybe everyone loves BJ bc he’s not greggg or maybe he was the answer sitting there all along

Anyway the main reason I posted was wondering if it was a signal that we have changes underway and BJ leaving is first sign of overhaul

 

[St. Widge]

And thats where US Soccer comes in.

Continue to "develop" interest - just enough to drive profits and keep the $$$ flowing- everything else is secondary.

the product has gotten better, incrementally, from previous years, but its still quite a way from the Big 3. Couple that with teams having to play on turf vs natural grass, in 70,000 stadiums that arent designed for soccer matches and you have a receipe for what we see today.

Soccer isnt that hard- objective is to protect your goal and seek to score on opponents goal. Thats it. Just like basketball ( basket ) . Similar to football ( endzones )

Its how you go about defending and scoring, incorporating 11 players to achieve this goal, and everything else within the pitch, that makes the game exciting. Just like with most sports, a really good "attack" ( offense ) is part of being a good defense- if your opponent is constantly defending, then they cant score.
Our current USMNT values possession ( the idea of holding on to the ball longer than opponent thereby limiting his possession and limiting his opportunities to score ) For as long as i remember, US Soccers "identity" was wrapped up in furious defending and countering when it could in hopes of a goal. But a DRAW vs superior talent was the ultimate goal. That hasnt really changed under Berhalter. Just how we go about has, slightly ( just increase possession )

The problem there is when your opponents skill and ability is superior, it only takes one opportunity to convert into a goal and now your whole strategy is completely undone. ( See Uruguay )

Nothing wrong with possession, but impotent possession is a problem. The U.S. problem is the possession is not far enough up the pitch and they don't seem willing to take chances with passes or make runs outside of guys like Balogun who was brought up in Arsenal's academy. I think going from being a park the bus team to a possession team is a necessary step to become a better team, but I don't see any progress under Burkhalter. I'd like to see Jessie Marsch brought in or call Klopp and see if he wants to coach a national team. I'd even give Wenger a call. He will get rid of all that defensive solidity right away.