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USMNT 2022

Napoleon

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Captain Ron

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1 hour ago, Juicy said:

I am sure this has been discussed but I didn't see it on the past few pages, but how in the world is Pefok not the starter up top for USA. Pepi looked great in his debut but has not looked like that since. Pefok seems to be lighting it up. 

I get the idea of keeping someone in there to get comfortable and grow into the position but for me right now it would be Pefok. 

office-space-fuckin-a.gif

 

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Firemans4Horn
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MVP tonight and in life. Respect my man. Beat New Zealand. 

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the end times are here i have lived to see la tri carded for simulation in the box at azteca against the us

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Napoleon

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3 hours ago, Juicy said:

I am sure this has been discussed but I didn't see it on the past few pages, but how in the world is Pefok not the starter up top for USA. Pepi looked great in his debut but has not looked like that since. Pefok seems to be lighting it up. 

I get the idea of keeping someone in there to get comfortable and grow into the position but for me right now it would be Pefok. 

The team plays a high press on defense. That’s not Pefok’s game. 

It would be like starting a slow-footed drop back QB in a triple option offense. He’s not a good fit. 

However, just like needing a pocket passer when trailing late, Pefok is the striker equivalent when you need to start sending in long passes through the air to see if you can connect when trailing late. 

THAT is why he isn’t starting.

 

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Napoleon

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“Groups of Death” don’t exist. 

All groups see two teams advance and two teams go home. 

All teams that go home after the group stage were in the “Group of Death”.

If we were fully healthy, I would start:

Aaronson-Ferreira-Arriola

McKennie-Musah

Adams

Robinson-Robinson-Zimmerman-Dest

Ethan Horvath


After we run old Mexican legs ragged, we bring in our hit squad.

If we are tied late, bring in Pulisic & Weah.

Sub Reyna for McKennie or Musah.

If we are behind, sub Pefok or Pepi, depending on form in practice.

If we are ahead, sub Pepi. And sub Acosta for Musah.

Sub Cannon for Dest.

——————————

Panama:

Pulisic-Pepi or Ferreira-Weah

Reyna-McKennie

Adams

Robinson-Robinson-Zimmerman-Dest

Ethan Horvath
 

——————————-

Costa Rica: (depends on points)

Run out 2nd & 3rd string

Arriola-Pefok-Morris

LDLT-Musah

Adams

Robinson-Long-Zimmerman-Yedlin

Matt Turner

 

Sub Pepi for Pefok.

Sub Aaronson for Arriola. Weah for Morris.

Sub Busio for LDLT.

Bello for Robinson.

 

RESULT: 9 points and a +6 goal differential.

Columbian Putas before catching the plane out of Costa Rica.

😎

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Napoleon

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27 minutes ago, texashorne said:

I will be in Mexico City tomorrow and just had a business dinner fall through.. does anyone have any idea how I can get tickets in CDMX? 

 

American Outlaws will be at Pinche Gringo tonight along with ESPN’s Fútbol Americas crew. 

If you are in D.F. Now, I would try to make it there tonight and see what you can figure out. 
 

https://bienpincherico.mx/

It’s an American run BBQ joint in the city. 
 

https://www.theamericanoutlaws.com/events/usmnt-vs-mexico5

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Zepol87

Zepol87 9195

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1 hour ago, texashorne said:

I will be in Mexico City tomorrow and just had a business dinner fall through.. does anyone have any idea how I can get tickets in CDMX? 

 

Last game I got mine at ticketmaster inside a mall in Mexico City. I think it was in Reorma but I don't really remember. It didn't matter where my section was all US fans were told to go to the away section. The sammers have organized buses again from the Hilton(I think) in reforma. Have fun I wish I was going back 

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Zepol87

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56 minutes ago, Napoleon said:

American Outlaws will be at Pinche Gringo tonight along with ESPN’s Fútbol Americas crew. 

If you are in D.F. Now, I would try to make it there tonight and see what you can figure out. 
 

https://bienpincherico.mx/

It’s an American run BBQ joint in the city. 
 

https://www.theamericanoutlaws.com/events/usmnt-vs-mexico5

Went to the last time. It was fun but packed. If you are with a group get a case of beer at the bar, we were able to bring it to our table vs waiting in the long ass lines. Didn't eat the food though

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Napoleon

Napoleon 8700

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24 minutes ago, Jive Turkey said:

so no replacement has been brought in for Aaronson?  i haven't seen reports of any.

Healthy wingers with national team exposure…

1) Sargent (hasn’t played as a winger for us and might suck ass on assignments)

2) Konrad (de la Fuente) who isn’t playing because he has reportedly been less-than-mature (see “McKennie, Nashville 2021” if you are interested in how much that appeals to Gregg & Co.)

3) Dest (hasn’t played wing for the USMNT but would be great if healthy)

4) Hoppe - not really a winger and hasn’t play more than about 90 minutes all season.

5) Giocchini - don’t know what he is, but he’s not playing.

6) Jonathan Lewis - that experiment was a bust in the Gold Cup.

7) Caden Clark - is in Argentina with a U-20 squad.

8. Cade Cowell - may be on standby, but won’t need to come in unless called in last minute, because he’s in the U.S.

9) Cristian Roldan - already with the squad. Gregg trusts that Cristian will follow instructions and run his lungs out, so likely Gregg’s preferred replacement. 

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Napoleon

Napoleon 8700

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Jake in London getting his EURO coaching badge(s) with his preview of the match vs México.


Charlie Davies and what’s-his-name (Heath Pierce)…

[not loading… for some reason]
https://youtu.be/TDMwZGnxr24
 

Filippo “Tactical Manager” Silva with his preview.

 

Cajun Sam Stokes with his preview of the game.


Pete of 11 Yanks who analyzes a lot, is working on his USA coaching badge(s), but is a bit of a whipping to listen to.

 

Pretty impressive the time and effort that these non former players put into coverage of the national team. 

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ztejas

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13 hours ago, Napoleon said:

“Groups of Death” don’t exist. 

All groups see two teams advance and two teams go home. 

All teams that go home after the group stage were in the “Group of Death”.

If we were fully healthy, I would start:

Aaronson-Ferreira-Arriola

McKennie-Musah

Adams

Robinson-Robinson-Zimmerman-Dest

Ethan Horvath


After we run old Mexican legs ragged, we bring in our hit squad.

If we are tied late, bring in Pulisic & Weah.

Sub Reyna for McKennie or Musah.

If we are behind, sub Pefok or Pepi, depending on form in practice.

If we are ahead, sub Pepi. And sub Acosta for Musah.

Sub Cannon for Dest.

——————————

Panama:

Pulisic-Pepi or Ferreira-Weah

Reyna-McKennie

Adams

Robinson-Robinson-Zimmerman-Dest

Ethan Horvath
 

——————————-

Costa Rica: (depends on points)

Run out 2nd & 3rd string

Arriola-Pefok-Morris

LDLT-Musah

Adams

Robinson-Long-Zimmerman-Yedlin

Matt Turner

 

Sub Pepi for Pefok.

Sub Aaronson for Arriola. Weah for Morris.

Sub Busio for LDLT.

Bello for Robinson.

 

RESULT: 9 points and a +6 goal differential.

Columbian Putas before catching the plane out of Costa Rica.

😎

You have 10 players listed for the Panama game. And you've elected to start Nipple in 2 games while leaving one of the best wingers in the world right now - who also happens to be an established El Tri killer - on the bench (actually you left open the possibility of benching him in all 3 matches). I also think you have way too much faith in Horvath. 

Let's play our best XI against Mexico and see where it goes. Nipple is going to burn you if you trust him too much - he's a passable but very limited player. 

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Napoleon

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Max Bretos, who used to have a soccer show with Herculez Gomez, has a ~weekly 15 minute YouTube soccer wrap as well as a podcast that is usually about 45 minutes and is predominately an interview. 

For his podcast that came out today (Wednesday night), he talks to Sebastian Salazar, who is usually a turbo douche, but is pretty good in this one.

A0B51D4B-625C-448F-A249-78C3B1BB02D1.thumb.jpeg.f172f27df15ba711cfe77cde32918e3d.jpeg

99CE2C1C-C7A5-42EA-98FA-1C9EC53CDEE0.thumb.jpeg.9c0004ba8a830798e9cec24d7b4a0b02.jpeg

https://shows.acast.com/2321/episodes/the-soccer-og-episode-61-w-sebastian-salazar-

And then his YouTube thing is just his talking about this México matchup and there is some overlap.

In some of his previous YouTube videos, I wouldn’t be completely shocked if he had a little history of finding energy to channel from mere powder…👀

He left ESPN a few years and is now the voice of LAFC.

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ztejas

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1 hour ago, pacman said:

https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-states-usa/story/4624036/usmnt-coach-berhalter-weve-discussed-playing-b-team-vs-mexico-but-were-aiming-to-win

 

the guy has a loser mentality..

I mean... not really. We've never won a game at Azteca in WCQ. Everything here sounds reasonable to me.

Quote

MEXICO CITY -- While United States coach Gregg Berhalter wasn't willing to divulge any details about the starting XI he'll use in Thursday's World Cup qualifier against Mexico, he downplayed the idea Wednesday that team is willing to play for a draw at the Estadio Azteca.

"We want to win all three games [in this window]," he said. "We're going to put a team on the field in Mexico that is going to try and win the game."

Berhalter didn't dismiss the idea that the team could field a "B" squad, with the goal of staying fresh for Sunday's pivotal game against fourth-place Panama in Orlando. He acknowledged he took the idea to his staff and they debated its merits.

"I think it was an important exercise to do for us," he said. "We came out with our answer, and you'll see tomorrow. Certainly, there's no harm in looking at both sides of this thing."

The United States has never won a competitive match at the Azteca and is 0-3-3 all time in the venue in World Cup qualifying.

"Our record here is horrendous. The odds are against us getting something out of the game," Berhalter said. "We know that. We realize that. That's just how it is and we're focused on going in and being difficult to play against."

 

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alincoln

alincoln 2385

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I have no idea what we are going to run out there tonight.  This is arguably our last chance to win a meaningful WCQ in Azteca due to WC expansion so I would love to see us go for it. Knowing ggg I expect him to half ass it and he won't play a weak team or play his best team and instead will play some ineffectual mixture that doesn't achieve rest for Panama or a result in Azteca.  We need to go full B or full A.

I would go with the following:

GK: Steffen or Horvath (I have no idea whether Steffen is 75% or 100%)

RB: Yedlin

CBs: Robinson and Zimmerman (many are expecting Long to replace Robinson)

LB: Robinson

6: Adams (Obviously a big risk, but I want to go for it in Azteca.  No McKennie or Adams is an L imo)

8s: Musah; DLT (bring in Gio if the game is in the balance in 2H)

LW: Pulisic

9: Ferreira (I don't love this pick but he should have some confidence and I agree that Pefok is a more interesting option off the bench in this fixture.)

RW: Weah

I expect that ggg will go with the same back-4 but will start Long in place of Robinson.  I'm expecting a MF of Acosta, Musah and DLT and a front 3 of Morris, Pepi and Weah.

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Napoleon

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4 hours ago, dieucla98 said:

CP10 has been in great form of late, now is not the time to bench him. Quite frankly, we're the USMNT, there really isn't any time we should be benching CP10 short of injury.

If I see Nipple starting vs Mexico with CP10 on the bench, I quit.

 

1 hour ago, LurkingHorn said:

Nipple is for sure starting tonight, right? Have we all come to that conclusion?

 

15 minutes ago, Knoxtnhorn said:

Well I think he scorec an MLS goal last week, so he'll probably start the next 15 matches.

BTW, yo izquierdo.

I don't know if Arriola will score, but he is playing very well for FC Dallas.

PLUSES:
-He's fast
-He's relentless
-He makes great runs to get the ball as well as to pull defenders out of areas
-He has developed a very strong LEFT FOOT*

*The LEFT FOOT prowess is something that I had never noticed before the MLS season. I don't know if he had it before, but he's shown that he's got it, which means that he continues to work to improve his game. (Not all players do.) His LEFT FOOT means:
-He can switch during the game from the right wing to the left wing.
-He can shoot curlers cutting in from the right side.
-He can cross impressive curing balls in the air much better than I've noticed from Christian Pulisic or Antonee Robineson.

MINUSES:
-He's a small bleached-blond kid from SoCal with a stupid last name.
-He has frequently hit loads of shitty shots in past matches.
-He used to look like a chicken with his head cut off on meth when playing for the national team.
-He went to England for a semester on trial and came back without making a mark... so the hate for him was validated.


I don't know if Arriola will start, but I feel like he is one of 3 guaranteed wings to play tonight: Pulisic, Weah, Arriola

I don't know if Reyna is going to be playing wing or the McKennie #8, but I do believe that Reyna will get minutes tonight. Just not included in the wings that will definitely play because he may not play wing. Gio's got the size, technical ability, and feistiness to play in McKennie's role, so I would expect him to play inside vs on the wing.

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ztejas

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7 hours ago, Braff Zacklin said:

Super busy week and will be even busier today so haven't had a chance to keep up with news. Probably won't get back to the hotel until just before this match starts but, fuck, stealing a point in Azteca would be one helluva way to end the day.

Bitch we stealing 3. 

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Napoleon

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6 minutes ago, Speedtrucker said:

As long as we aren’t doing that B-team crap I’m hyped.

I want to that 2-0 line to test that no “Putin” chant rule.

We are missing three starters and one top sub + one depth sub.:

STARTERS:
McKennie
Dest
Richards

SUBS:
Aaronson
*Turner (GK)

This already wasn't going to be out "A Team".

Depending on how much Arriola, Morris, Bello, Acosta, & LDLT play will dictate whether this is an "A-/B+ Team" or a "B Team".

We did beat Mexico's A- Team in the Gold Cup with our B-/C+/C Team, so we can do it with whatever Gregg puts out as long as there aren't major gaffs.

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Captain Ron

Captain Ron 12931

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I mentioned this in the general WC qualification thread when someone asked if Canada beating Costa Rica would help the US. TL;DR - yes.

However, I did expand a little more on this. 

  Country           GP     Pts    GD      Max
1 Canada            11     25    +14      34
2 United States     11     21     +9      30
3 Mexico            11     21     +6      30
4 Panama            11     17     +1      26
5 Costa Rica        11     16     +1      25

Times Eastern
Panama v Honduras 9 PM
Mexico v US 10 PM
Costa Rica v Canada 10 PM

El Salvador v Costa Rica 5 PM
US v Panama 7 PM

Panama v Canada 9 PM
US v Costa Rica 9 PM

Just a little more on the help.

Along with the US or Mexico faltering, both Costa Rica or Panama need near perfect windows. If they drop points in their opening game of the window, it makes the margin for error pretty much 0 the rest of the way for them. It would also make a point against Mexico huge.

 

 

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Napoleon

Napoleon 8700

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I anticipate Costa Rica dropping at least 2 points tonight. Canada wants a 9 point window, but since they haven't lost yet, I would think that they are favored to get at least a point.

El Salvador will likely get a point at home vs Costa Rica as well. They have played well and are a tough out, have a great coach, but may not have their first choice guys in this window. (No Alex Roldan even listed on the bench tonight, much less not starting.)

Let's see Costa Rica lose to Canada and then the USA beats Panama and smiles for everyone.

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LurkingHorn

LurkingHorn 1071

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4 minutes ago, alincoln said:

Looks like standard Aztecs absorb pressure and counter with the two 6s

We certainly have the speed in CP and Weah to make them pay. Hopefully we can keep a clean sheet the first half. The longer they go without scoring, the more they are going to feel the pressure. 

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