The 2021 Gold Cup

[Captain Ron 12,876]

2 hours ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

Who knew removing Lletgat and his "drill it straight into the first defender" set pieces would be a net plus?

 

Well except Gergg.

[TxTower 652]

That was a pathetic effort by a mexico c team.

Maybe the pathetic Mexico fans should’ve thrown their drinks at the pathetic Mexico c Team ?


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[UDontKnow 10,445]

Deep Dive with Yank Report. It's worth it if you enjoy the chess match aspect of soccer.

 

[Braff Zacklin 13,573]

Friends,

A three-week working road trip is over and I am glad to be home. But that Cheshire Cat grin I'm sporting isn't cuz I rolled up to the house at 3 this afternoon ... it's cuz this Little Team that Shouldn't somehow did.

What a great time to be a USMNT fan, huh?

Wasn't able to post during the knockout stages, but did manage to watch each and every Un a Cero from a hotel room. I truly believe that if the USMNT had scored early in any of those matches, it probably would've lost. Our kids needed to leave it late, and they were fortunate that opponents were willing to oblige, but they also worked their asses off and played better than the sum of their individual parts.

I'll be eating humble pie for at least another couple of weeks thanks to Gergg (still gonna call him that, btw, cuz it's funny, but it will now be spoken affectionately ... at least until the next debacle of defeat).

His callups and lineups befuddle and yet ... they work. Who can argue with the results? Our C+ group just stole the Copa Oro versus a solid B+ (downrated from A- due to Chucky's injury) El Tri side. Although concerns and questions persist, I'll move them to the backburner with the optimistic assumption that there actually is a method to Gergg's madness.

May I be the bazillionth to compare Hoppe to Dempsey? Deuce had more skill, and Matthew possesses more speed and a vastly superior workrate, but they are virtually identical when it comes to chutzpah. They live to fuck with defenders and they are always ready to go for goal. As others have noted, Hoppe probably isn't technical enough to crack the starting A-team, but he's absolutely in the mix for minutes because he creates too much chaos to be left out. I am genuinely giddy at the thought of getting to watch him develop for a decade.

Super proud of Zardes. He's god awful at times and I hope to not see too much of him during qualifying, but, gee, he works his ass off and does anything that's asked of him. Salute, Demolition Man!

If Acosta can bottle the effort and ability he demonstrated in the knockout stages, he can suit up for any WCQ he wants. He can also take all the free kicks he wants. Maybe he'll even get that Euro transfer he's coveted?

Miles Robinson, Shaq Moore, Sam Vines, Gianluca Busio, Nicholas Gioacchini, Eryk Williamson and, shit, even George Bello and James Sands all impressed (at least at some point) during the tournament. And a few of them probably earned themselves a few million extra dollars, too.

That segues to my closing (finally!) thought: when summer started, there was little clue about all these new faces. But after seeing them compete--and excel--in two major (hush) tournaments, there's a much better understanding of their abilities and potential. They're even motivating casuals such as myself to watch more club soccer.

Best of all, they achieved this despite fielding two largely disparate rosters and playing styles. That Gold Cup crew did more than merely bunker and counter. There was some of that, of course, but overall, it was a much more positive look than I can recall seeing from a group of mostly third-, fourth- and fifth-teamers.

Anyway, tldr; synopsis: holy shit, what a summer, and what a future.

It was a small joy to get home and catch up on this thread. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and humor. Now let's get ready for WCQ!

[Braff Zacklin 13,573]

On 8/1/2021 at 6:45 PM, Napoleon said:

Zardes for Dike is a good call. Don't know if Dike is hurt (I think that he is) or just in his head (which also may be the case), but Zardes has offered much more in his limited time the last two games than Dike has offered in his extended time the last two games. The striker sub will be Giocchini, because he's been dangerous when played up front.

Bello for Vines is because Bello is short and fast. The guy he is playing is short and fast. Vines would get raped all night against Mexico's lineup. This isn't Qatar. It doesn't matter if Vines played well against Qatar, this is a different lineup.

Busio has been bitched off the ball most of this tournament. He's not physically (or psychologically) ready for international play. Especially not against Mexico. Williamson is more physically ready and showed more going forward.

Reggie Cannon is better than Shaq Moore. Also, until Shaq Moore learns how to cross the ball in the air, we don't need to see him in the lineup.

Hopefully we see positive things from Lletget, because he hasn't played a positive game for a bit, but it may have been because he had different responsibilities with Busio.

Go team

Just wanted to say I thought this was an excellent post and would rep twice if possible.

[Trey3216 15,346]

2 hours ago, Braff Zacklin said:

Friends,

A three-week working road trip is over and I am glad to be home. But that Cheshire Cat grin I'm sporting isn't cuz I rolled up to the house at 3 this afternoon ... it's cuz this Little Team that Shouldn't somehow did.

What a great time to be a USMNT fan, huh?

Wasn't able to post during the knockout stages, but did manage to watch each and every Un a Cero from a hotel room. I truly believe that if the USMNT had scored early in any of those matches, it probably would've lost. Our kids needed to leave it late, and they were fortunate that opponents were willing to oblige, but they also worked their asses off and played better than the sum of their individual parts.

I'll be eating humble pie for at least another couple of weeks thanks to Gergg (still gonna call him that, btw, cuz it's funny, but it will now be spoken affectionately ... at least until the next debacle of defeat).

His callups and lineups befuddle and yet ... they work. Who can argue with the results? Our C+ group just stole the Copa Oro versus a solid B+ (downrated from A- due to Chucky's injury) El Tri side. Although concerns and questions persist, I'll move them to the backburner with the optimistic assumption that there actually is a method to Gergg's madness.

May I be the bazillionth to compare Hoppe to Dempsey? Deuce had more skill, and Matthew possesses more speed and a vastly superior workrate, but they are virtually identical when it comes to chutzpah. They live to fuck with defenders and they are always ready to go for goal. As others have noted, Hoppe probably isn't technical enough to crack the starting A-team, but he's absolutely in the mix for minutes because he creates too much chaos to be left out. I am genuinely giddy at the thought of getting to watch him develop for a decade.

Super proud of Zardes. He's god awful at times and I hope to not see too much of him during qualifying, but, gee, he works his ass off and does anything that's asked of him. Salute, Demolition Man!

If Acosta can bottle the effort and ability he demonstrated in the knockout stages, he can suit up for any WCQ he wants. He can also take all the free kicks he wants. Maybe he'll even get that Euro transfer he's coveted?

Miles Robinson, Shaq Moore, Sam Vines, Gianluca Busio, Nicholas Gioacchini, Eryk Williamson and, shit, even George Bello and James Sands all impressed (at least at some point) during the tournament. And a few of them probably earned themselves a few million extra dollars, too.

That segues to my closing (finally!) thought: when summer started, there was little clue about all these new faces. But after seeing them compete--and excel--in two major (hush) tournaments, there's a much better understanding of their abilities and potential. They're even motivating casuals such as myself to watch more club soccer.

Best of all, they achieved this despite fielding two largely disparate rosters and playing styles. That Gold Cup crew did more than merely bunker and counter. There was some of that, of course, but overall, it was a much more positive look than I can recall seeing from a group of mostly third-, fourth- and fifth-teamers.

Anyway, tldr; synopsis: holy shit, what a summer, and what a future.

It was a small joy to get home and catch up on this thread. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and humor. Now let's get ready for WCQ!

I’ve always had a soft spot for Zardes because his effort is world class.   It doesn’t always make up for his bad first touches or his awkward flailing on occasion, but damn, the dude works his ass off to the best of his ability.   I’ll always applaud him for that.