USMNT 2021

[shnsajax 3589]

These are fun, and never would have predicted what they said about Gio.

[Captain Ron 12789]

3 hours ago, shnsajax said:

These are fun, and never would have predicted what they said about Gio.
 

That’s great. Seriously some avatar material here. 
 

 

What did he say? I’m guessing it starts with P and rhymes with uto. Or starts with C and rhymes with trombone. 

Edited July 21, 2021 by Captain Ron

[ztejas 43244]

On 7/17/2021 at 12:10 PM, UDontKnow said:

The name is new to me, but maybe someone to track more closely moving forward.

 

Midfielder for Bayern Munich II

 

More on Taylor Booth.

 

Tyler Adams in the starting XI for RB Leipzig. He must be back to full fitness.

 

A friendly reminder about our Yanks in Italia.

 

Joe Scally is an 18 year old RB for Borussia Mönchengladbach that has spent most of his time thus far on the II squad. But he looks to be making a case to end up in the first team.

 

Owen Otasowie might be healed up as he took to the pitch for Wolves as a second-half substitute.

 

Gianluca Busio deal is supposed to be permanent and also appears to be immediate. No waiting for the MLS season to end. That's fantastic!

 

He's the undisputed leader of the USMNT. So of course I'm going to post a tweet about him.

 

Some of y'all need to stop hating on the resident MNT ginger!

 

Look who made it in to Venice!

 

Alex Mighten is a 19 year old, dual-international (who has only represented England thus far) winger who was born in Hartford, Connecticut. Ethan Horvath's will be Mighten's teammate on the Tricky Trees (Nottingham Forest) this season.

 

Good to see CCV.

 

Very young kid out of the DC United Academy with good family soccer lines.

 

Chris Richards is part of the future at CB for the USMNT. Hope he continues to do well in Deutschland (be it Hoffenheim or Bayern).

 

Man... it's getting hard to keep track of these guys. 

What's the story with CCV? I hadn't heard that name in awhile. Any reason he hasn't gotten much run with the NT? 

[ztejas 43244]

8 hours ago, shnsajax said:

These are fun, and never would have predicted what they said about Gio.
 

That doesn't surprise me about Reyna honestly. He's hot shit and apparently knows it. 

Dike's legs are fucking ridiculous. My God.

[UDontKnow 10439]

8 hours ago, shnsajax said:

These are fun, and never would have predicted what they said about Gio.
 

That was some serious impromptu beatboxing by Reggie Cannon. I wonder if he could do Larvell Jones from Police Academy.

[UDontKnow 10439]

18 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Man... it's getting hard to keep track of these guys. 

What's the story with CCV? I hadn't heard that name in awhile. Any reason he hasn't gotten much run with the NT? 

I think everyone is wondering about that. He's still 23 and it's too early to give up on him considering the MNT CB depth. How he doesn't get a call up over Tim Ream is mind bottling. Maybe it's because Tottenham keeps loaning him out? Doubtful. It's really anyone's guess.

[shnsajax 3589]

27 minutes ago, ztejas said:

That doesn't surprise me about Reyna honestly. He's hot shit and apparently knows it. 

Dike's legs are fucking ridiculous. My God.

It does me a little, only because I have at times questioned his mentality watching him in games. I mean he is only 18, but his body language at times was always very down when he missed a shot or pass to the point where I would question it.

[UDontKnow 10439]

13 minutes ago, shnsajax said:

It does me a little, only because I have at times questioned his mentality watching him in games. I mean he is only 18, but his body language at times was always very down when he missed a shot or pass to the point where I would question it.

That's where coaching comes in. Like you said, he is 18 and many forget that he likely has an internal struggle of not living in his father's shadow or being even better than his father. It's up to the coaching staff to help get his head right and it's damn near impossible to do that during the match. But coaches can tell a more senior player to keep an eye on him during the game and talk him up if necessary and of course they themselves can work with Gio in downtime. 

[Napoleon 8596]

CCV's problem is that he sucks with the ball, yet he's only 6' so he's not clearing high crosses out of the middle. As the USMNT goes to a possession game and playing out of the back, you can't have a CD who can't dribble & pass at a competent level. He's like a football player who is good on kick coverage, but kind of sucks at linebacker. His ceiling is below the floor that Berhalter is looking for.
 

Reggie Canon was on a soccer podcast with Charlie Davies & some chick and he said that if he weren't a soccer player, he'd be a video game developer. He went to UCLA for 3 months (the fall quarter which runs from mid-late September to a week before Christmas) and he was studying something like computer engineering or graphic animation or something video game related.

It got a little weird when Charlie Davies asked if how excited he'd be to play in Jerry World in the quarterfinals, because he'd be going back home to play in front of friends & family and his hometown crowd... Charlie didn't know of the abuse and threats that Reggie received after taking a knee before his first game back after the COVID stoppage. He and his wife were elated to get the hell out of Dallas/North Texas and head to Europe, because the "fans" got ugly really fast. (He also lived in Denver before the Dallas area, so the Broncos are his NFL team.)

He definitely does not come across as a jock and I could see him continuing to take courses throughout his career and have a college degree long before he retires.

Gio Reyna is next level in the mind games on the field. He seems nothing like his dad. (1) I think that he gets his gamesmanship from either his Argentine grandfather (Claudio's dad) or his paternal grandmother's family (she's Portuguese-American), because his extracurricular flair is much more in line with South America's Southern Cone and/or Portugal than blue collar New Jersey youth soccer league shit.

(2) There was reportedly some video of the USMNT watching the Champions League Final after having just gotten together to prepare for the Switzerland match before the Nations League and when Pulisic blows his difficult one-on-one lunge and doesn't score, supposedly Gio had a big grin and was chuckling at Christian's failure. I think that it was "The Best Soccer Show" podcast where I heard this.

They commented on Gio taking pleasure in the failure of others in a slightly demented way. Also, when Gio dove into that other player to draw the PK, you could see that he sees things differently than the traditional US player. At first, the podcast guys thought that Gio wasn't even really hit with something from the stands in the Mexico game, but was milking it for all it was worth. Later, they saw that something did hit him, but they still weren't sure if it fazed him at all or if it was just a huge act of shit-housery that was on another level than any other Americans on the USMNT.

Gio may be only 18, but he is light years ahead of any American player ever when it comes to the dark arts of gamesmanship. (3) That Honduras match clip from the Dike/Cannon video has Gio OUTSIDE of the box, even above the circle at the top of the box and when the Honduran goes down, you see Gio start to sprint, then they cut to him 12 to 15 yards later leaning over guy and talking major shit in Spanish. I think that he said more than "puto", but knocked out some complete sentences about that guy, his position in life, and where he will never go in life. Then he acts like he didn't do anything as tempers flare.

[shnsajax 3589]

9 hours ago, UDontKnow said:

That's where coaching comes in. Like you said, he is 18 and many forget that he likely has an internal struggle of not living in his father's shadow or being even better than his father. It's up to the coaching staff to help get his head right and it's damn near impossible to do that during the match. But coaches can tell a more senior player to keep an eye on him during the game and talk him up if necessary and of course they themselves can work with Gio in downtime. 

I love the connection he and Haaland have together, and hope they somehow can land on the same next team as well when that time comes from Dortmund.

[UDontKnow 10439]

Which club is it?!

 

[Napoleon 8596]

47 minutes ago, UDontKnow said:

Which club is it?!

 

I like this move. 

The Best Soccer Show guys were wondering from the start why wingers weren’t selected for this team. Mueller was a guy that at least one of them wanted to see more of and since the rules for reinforcements was eliminated for Gold Cup and then brought back with some tweaks, Mueller has once again come up.

OPINION: I think that Landon Donovan did major damage to US soccer players by twice going over to Germany and being a bitch.

I don’t know who got fucked over because of it, but it wasn’t until Pulisic & McKennie showed out to be studs with Reyna next on the doorstep that the floodgates have opened.

Now, with several Americans showing that they are solid players willing to work their asses off at the same time that clubs are looking for bargains due to the financial hit from COVID… and more and more Americans are buying European clubs… teams are looking to sign Americans from the MLS.

And if teams aren’t willing to move you, then fuck’em! Don’t sign that contract extension, move on a free, make a higher wage, and leave your MLS squad with dick. 🍆🤜

[UDontKnow 10439]

It's Hibernian Football Club in the Scottish Premier League. They finished 7th out of 12th last season and are not a club named Celtic or Rangers. Is that good (serious question)?

 

[shnsajax 3589]

14 minutes ago, UDontKnow said:

It's Hibernian Football Club in the Scottish Premier League. They finished 7th out of 12th last season and are not a club named Celtic or Rangers. Is that good (serious question)?

 

Thats not a league I want to send any too. Even if its with Rangers or Celtic. 

[Napoleon 8596]

39 minutes ago, UDontKnow said:

It's Hibernian Football Club in the Scottish Premier League. They finished 7th 3rd out of 12th last season and are not a club named Celtic or Rangers. Is that good (serious question)?

 

 

Yeah, on the positive, they finished 3rd in the league last year.

On the negative, they were 14 points out of 2nd place and 3rd place in the Scottish league doesn't get you European Football.

 

[UDontKnow 10439]

2 minutes ago, Napoleon said:

 

Yeah, on the positive, they finished 3rd in the league last year.

On the negative, they were 14 points out of 2nd place and 3rd place in the Scottish league doesn't get you European Football.

 

That was my error. 7th place was 2019-2020 season. Thanks for keeping me honest.

This move by Mueller puzzles me greatly. One has to believe there were other potentially better options on the table, but then again, maybe not.

[Napoleon 8596]

2 hours ago, UDontKnow said:

That was my error. 7th place was 2019-2020 season. Thanks for keeping me honest.

This move by Mueller puzzles me greatly. One has to believe there were other potentially better options on the table, but then again, maybe not.

My guess is that:

1) He will be making more money.

2) Hibernationia has agreed to sell him if suitors come calling. 
 

Win-Win

Wll be playing in Europe and Edinburgh is a cool town. 

[UDontKnow 10439]

Another name. RB Kyle Duncan.

 

[shnsajax 3589]

Oh shit!

[A-Tex Devil 2444]

Got a text from AFC that there would be an a USMNT announcement tonight   This is great.

First afternoon game in Austin is that prior weekend so taking kids.   Looks like I’m going to two games that week   

 

 

 

Edited July 23, 2021 by A-Tex Devil

[Zepol87 9163]

The weighted draw should be nuts for Austin.
 

Edited July 23, 2021 by Zepol87

[UDontKnow 10439]

Some of our nationals are in form.

 

 

[shnsajax 3589]

Some of our nationals are in form.
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[shnsajax 3589]

[Ted Lange 15991]

Future USMNT #9

 

[Zepol87 9163]

He's a baller

[Ted Lange 15991]

 

[Firemans4Horn 17793]

Cap him now Gerg. 
 

 

[Ted Lange 15991]

 

[Jive Turkey 12562]

Gergg has this. He’s gonna give Zardes more opportunities.  
 

Fucking hell. Call Pepi up. 

[Ted Lange 15991]

I believe we get a 30 man roster for WCQ, with a 23 man match day roster.  0 reason Pepi shouldn’t be in the 30. 

[Napoleon 8596]

4 hours ago, Ted Lange said:

Future USMNT #9

 

 

Pepi will play for México.

 

 

3 hours ago, Firemans4Horn said:

Cap him now Gerg. 

I’m sure that he has tried.

 

44 minutes ago, Jive Turkey said:

Gergg has this. He’s gonna give Zardes more opportunities.  
 

Fucking hell. Call Pepi up. 

Fairly certain he already has.

 

22 minutes ago, Ted Lange said:

I believe we get a 30 man roster for WCQ, with a 23 man match day roster.  0 reason Pepi shouldn’t be in the 30. 

 

ONE reason is that he doesn’t accept the call up.

My guess is that Pepi won’t announce for México until he’s playing in Europe. Reggie Canon got threats just for taking a knee, Pepi isn’t going to accept a call up until he is in Europe and then he’ll declare for México.

I have no inside information, I just feel it in my bones. He’s gone in January and then México swoops in and offers him a roster spot for Qatar next November.

Edited July 25, 2021 by Napoleon

[Ted Lange 15991]

He hasn’t been called up.  He isn’t playing for Mexico. 

[Ted Lange 15991]

 

[Napoleon 8596]

18 minutes ago, Ted Lange said:

He hasn’t been called up.  He isn’t playing for Mexico. 

 

...At the international level, Pepi is a dual-national who in the past accepted invitations to Mexican camps. He was a fixture with the U.S. U-17 team, a commitment that was a difficult decision considering his family’s support of El Tri.  The striker played a key role in helping the squad reach the 2019 U-17 World Cup and featured in two matches at the competition. Despite being curiously left out of the doomed Tokyo Olympics qualifying campaign, Gregg Berhalter named him to the 59-player provisional roster for the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup. Inclusion in the final group would provide the opportunity to perform on the biggest stage of his career, a chance to advertise his abilities against a more advanced level of opponent...

https://www.starsandstripesfc.com/mls-usmnt/2021/7/1/22557883/ricardo-pepi-fc-dallas-usmnt-usa-transfer-juventus-bayern-munich-italy-germany

 

He took the call up that wasn't permanent and that would help his career in the States. He's been sent on trial to Bayern at least once, maybe twice.

He has participated in Mexican camps and he's only played at the youth level for the US, allowing for him to remain eligible for Mexico....

...interesting strategy for someone who is definitely going to play for the USMNT.

Who does the US have ahead of him? 
-Sargent (21)
-Dike (21)
-Hoppe (20)

Who does Mexico have in front of him?
-Funes Mori (30)*

*Funes More became a naturalized citizen in 2021 in order to be called in by Mexico's national team coach (Tata Martino, Argentina) because Mexico didn't have anyone else to play the #9.

Per Wiki: Early in 2019, [Funes Mori] inquired FIFA about the possibility to play for the Mexico national team, but was deemed ineligible. In 2020, following a change of rules regarding naturalized players by FIFA, Funes Mori was deemed eligible to play for the Mexico national team and restated his interest.

For two years Mexico has been in such dire need of a striker that they were trying to get an ineligible Argentine to join the national team. Finally, in 2021, they were able to get the 30 year-old on the team.

The red carpet is already rolled out for Pepi. He's just waiting until he's out of Frisco to make the move.

Edited July 25, 2021 by Napoleon

[Ted Lange 15991]

Listened to a podcast with a L Tri fan.   They don’t want non “real” Mexicans.   Maybe they will change their mind with Pepi, but his point was their fans will only root for players who grew up in Mexico.  I don’t follow the Mexican team close enough to know if that pans out with their roster, but he was pretty adamant about it. 

[Napoleon 8596]

10 minutes ago, Ted Lange said:

Listened to a podcast with a L Tri fan.   They don’t want non “real” Mexicans.   Maybe they will change their mind with Pepi, but his point was their fans will only root for players who grew up in Mexico.  I don’t follow the Mexican team close enough to know if that pans out with their roster, but he was pretty adamant about it. 

El Paso is Old Mexico.

 

Posted May 14th, 2019

Should the United States advance past Canada, it will open the possibility it will face Mexico in the CONCACAF U-17 final – should Mexico advance past Haiti in its semifinal on Tuesday.

For Pepi, that would be a special opportunity as he has personal ties to Mexico as parents immigrated to Texas from Mexico and like many Mexican- Americans, he grew up cheering for El Tri. That allegiance, however, turned when he became more involved with U.S. teams. He has actually also played for Mexican youth national teams but felt it was the U.S. team that trusted him with more significant opportunities. 

“It wasn't a very easy decision,” Pepi said of playing for either the United States or Mexico. “Both national teams wanted me but the U.S. took a step and called me up with older national teams and gave me this chance with the U-17’s. With Mexico, they started giving it to me when they saw I was playing with the U-17’s for the USA… It would mean a lot to me and my family. When I was younger, my friends and I all cheered for Mexico. But when I got called up to the U.S. team, they said to go with one I choose and they'll support it. Now they're all cheering for the United States.”

“It would mean a lot to me, to be honest,” Pepi added on a potential meeting with Mexico in the final. “It would give me a little bit more motivation to go play against them. Obviously, I am with the United States right now so I will give everything for the U.S. We're playing against Mexico and I am Mexican too but everything is for the U.S.. Mexico was there for me but they didn't give me the opportunities the U.S. did. They didn't trust me enough to move me up a level and the U.S. did. It is just me showing them what I am capable of.”

http://americansoccernow.com/articles/with-qualification-secure-pepi-sees-bright-future-for-the-u-s-u-17-team

 

^ That was over TWO YEARS AGO... when he kind of committed to the US Soccer program.

...and yet...

 

Posted July 3, 2021

https://www.socceramerica.com

That's from THIS MONTH. Posted the day before the 4th of July.

Translation: "He's just not that into US."

FINALLY: Pepi just scored a hat-trick in the MLS at the age of 18. Earlier this year, Matthew Hoppe scored a hat-trick in the FUCKING BUNDESLIGA at the age of 19.

.
.
.
.
Ya fue! Ya fue!

 

[ztejas 43244]

It don't make a fuck. They are about to get lapped in embarassing fashion. Pulisic would be the greatest talent in their nation's history - let alone someone like Reyna who in a couple of years will display talent that their fuckass organization will barely comprehend. 

Mexico had its chance. All of the years that the US didn't care about soccer or produce international prospects was their chance and they blew it because they fucking suck. The United States is slowly turning into a fuckdragon in the world of international soccer and there is nothing that pussy ass forget-me-nots like Mexico can do to stop it. 

We are coming and we are coming hard. For decades we have developed the greatest athletes in the world in every competition - soccer is just another tick on the totem pole. 

It's happening. Shit ass coaches like Gerg might impede its progress but it's happening. Not saying we are going to take the WC home every 4 years but we are going to be a problem just like Spain and Germany and Brazil.

I don't think people in other countries understand how obsessed the US is when it comes to sports. They're about to find out.

[Firemans4Horn 17793]

8 hours ago, Napoleon said:

Who does the US have ahead of him? 
-Sargent (21)
-Dike (21)
-Hoppe (20)

Who does Mexico have in front of him?
-Funes Mori (30)*

neither group is impressive

[Napoleon 8596]

16 minutes ago, Firemans4Horn said:

neither group is impressive

Correct.

But one group has a single 30 year-old player who failed in a lesser league in Europe over 5 years ago and has been playing against midgets in Mexico ever since.

The other group has three players who are about a decade younger and who all scored multiple goals at higher levels that the 30 year-old failed out of within the past 6 months. 
 

The path to the 23 man roster for 2022 and beyond is a 6 lane highway vs a washed out dirt road with broken glass on it. 

I would take the 6 lane highway, especially if you always wanted to take that highway from your earliest memories. 

[Ted Lange 15991]

 

[Napoleon 8596]

I haven’t turned on the game yet, but tell me that there is no way that this is how Berhalter has set up these players. 

[Ted Lange 15991]

LOL

[Ted Lange 15991]

 

[Trey3216 15325]

I'm so fucking exhausted today.  Didn't get back to Waco until almost 2 this morning from the game last night.  Uggh.  

[Napoleon 8596]

2 hours ago, Ted Lange said:

 

Soon Pepi news will need to be posted in the Transfers thread or World Cup 2022 thread.

[Napoleon 8596]

2 hours ago, Ted Lange said:

 

Just looked up Bologna on the Google…

It’s nearly 2 1/2 hours to Florence if you drive, but if you take the high speed train, it is just under 40 minutes. 

He could bring his parents for now and they could live in Florence (he’s only 18) and then he could take the train to work each day. 

[Ted Lange 15991]

I’ve made that trip, I thought it was closer to an hour.  Bologna is a great town. 

[dogbreath 431]

On 7/25/2021 at 9:54 AM, Firemans4Horn said:

neither group is impressive

Who does the US have ahead of him? 
-Sargent (21)
-Dike (21)
-Hoppe (20)

Who does Mexico have in front of him?
-Funes Mori (30)*

 

 

My feeling is that Pepi is confident enough that he will overtake any of the above.  I prefer that he follows his U17 instinct. 

[ztejas 43244]

2 hours ago, Napoleon said:

He could bring his parents for now and they could live in Florence (he’s only 18) and then he could take the train to work each day. 

Eh. Sounds like a bunch of bologna.