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USMNT 2022

Napoleon

By Napoleon
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Firemans4Horn
Firemans4Horn

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

Hagbard Celine
Hagbard Celine

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

Ted Lange
Ted Lange

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TexArcher

TexArcher 37867

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1 minute ago, LurkingHorn said:

Not sure how much we learned tonight. Morocco was not a good team. 

True, and if we'd won 2-1 or 1-0 I'd say there's not much to make of it.

But beating a World Cup side 3-0 with Puli looking as good as he did is something to build on.

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Captain Ron

Captain Ron 12883

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4 minutes ago, TexArcher said:

True, and if we'd won 2-1 or 1-0 I'd say there's not much to make of it.

But beating a World Cup side 3-0 with Puli looking as good as he did is something to build on.

It was at home, but 3-0 is 3-0. It’s something. 
 

And frankly there is a lot that looked good tonight. 

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LurkingHorn

LurkingHorn 1066

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3 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Morocco is a quality side. That's a quality win although the xg was probably closer than 3 goals. 

I don’t follow AFC much so I have no idea where this Moroccan team is on the quality scale. For what it’s worth, they are ranked 24 compared to Iran at 21. I guess this was to try to get a similar quality opponent. 

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ztejas

ztejas 43464

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1 minute ago, LurkingHorn said:

I don’t follow AFC much so I have no idea where this Moroccan team is on the quality scale. For what it’s worth, they are ranked 24 compared to Iran at 21. I guess this was to try to get a similar quality opponent. 

The better teams in Africa are much better than the middle of the pack in CONCACAF. Possession today was 53/47 and they outshot us although we put a couple more on target. 

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Braff Zacklin

Braff Zacklin 13609

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1 hour ago, ztejas said:

Morocco is a quality side. That's a quality win although the xg was probably closer than 3 goals. 

Agreed. Would like Bottlecap or Jax or one of the other statmonkeys to serve up some advanced metrics. I'd say Morocco's XG was about 2.5-3.0 goals.

They had several quality chances. Fluffed a few ... the rest got Turnered. Dude is an amazing shotstopper. Ignoring his footwork, the only weakness I've seen from him is defending Olympic kicks from the right corner (Panama almost scored twice directly with them in a qualifier last fall and netted a goal off an assist from the same spot, I believe).

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Napoleon

Napoleon 8682

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31 minutes ago, Braff Zacklin said:

Agreed. Would like Bottlecap or Jax or one of the other statmonkeys to serve up some advanced metrics. I'd say Morocco's XG was about 2.5-3.0 goals.

They had several quality chances. Fluffed a few ... the rest got Turnered. Dude is an amazing shotstopper. Ignoring his footwork, the only weakness I've seen from him is defending Olympic kicks from the right corner (Panama almost scored twice directly with them in a qualifier last fall and netted a goal off an assist from the same spot, I believe).

24D503F3-16C8-4557-8499-ACD2928FE3C4.thumb.jpeg.0e99e4706596b97df5931a5ffb54ba32.jpeg

https://footystats.org/international/united-states-mens-national-team-vs-morocco-national-team-h2h-stats

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shnsajax

shnsajax 3591

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Agreed. Would like Bottlecap or Jax or one of the other statmonkeys to serve up some advanced metrics. I'd say Morocco's XG was about 2.5-3.0 goals.
They had several quality chances. Fluffed a few ... the rest got Turnered. Dude is an amazing shotstopper. Ignoring his footwork, the only weakness I've seen from him is defending Olympic kicks from the right corner (Panama almost scored twice directly with them in a qualifier last fall and netted a goal off an assist from the same spot, I believe).

Argentina would have buried a couple of these tonight just from defensive flubs alone. Turners positioning and reaction always seem to impress me, but we haven’t seen him against top countries.
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Braff Zacklin

Braff Zacklin 13609

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8 minutes ago, shnsajax said:

Argentina would have buried a couple of these tonight just from defensive flubs alone.

Speaking of Argentina, the usual suspects (Messi and Di Maria) put on quite a show today. So much class on nearly every touch. Enjoy them while you can.

Edited by Braff Zacklin
show, not shot
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shnsajax

shnsajax 3591

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2 hours ago, Braff Zacklin said:

Speaking of Argentina, the usual suspects (Messi and Di Maria) put on quite a show today. So much class on nearly every touch. Enjoy them while you can.

Dybala is one of the more under appreciated players of the last several years. 

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Napoleon

Napoleon 8682

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Always like Max Bretos' takes on the USMNT.

He has been covering soccer in the U.S. for over 2 decades and he is a pretty good judge of the situation.

 

His podcast is good for listening to while exercising. He's got access to good guests due to how long he's been around. They aren't up-and-coming players like Tactical Manager gets, they are former players or people who have been involved with the game as it has grown. 

-It's great when he gets Wynalda on. I would kill for Wynalda to be the USMNT manager.-

 

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Captain Ron

Captain Ron 12883

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6 hours ago, Ted Lange said:

Turner is the clear #1 at this point.  Also, LDLT played well at the 6, might Wally pip Acosta 

The bigger issue is that baring an injury he isn’t going to be the number 1 at his club and he won’t be getting a ton of time between the pipes come fall. 

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Napoleon

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1 hour ago, Captain Ron said:

The bigger issue is that baring an injury he isn’t going to be the number 1 at his club and he won’t be getting a ton of time between the pipes come fall. 

A keeper not playing is only an issue with Steffen, because he sucks. 

Steffen has fast twitch reflexes and was a decent size from like U-15 or U-17 levels. He has been in the US Soccer national team system for a decade+ AND he played for Berhalter at Columbus before going to Europe. But Steffen is shockingly not that good at being a top goalkeeper. 

Matt Turner missed most of the last 4 months before only recently playing again and his shit stopping was excellent and even his footwork improved. 

Ethan Horvath hadn’t played much last year (2020-21) and then came in the Nations League Final vs México and was an instant legend.

Steffen plays “League Cup” and/or FA Cup matches all season and he still kind of bites. 

It is obvious to everyone , even Gregg, that Steffen shouldn’t be the #1 and so when Turner is only getting reserve team matches and yet still gets the #1 jersey, no one will have to throw out the “Well, he kind of sucks because he’s not getting game.” bullshit excuse, because the keeper will be Turner and not Steffen. 

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Captain Ron

Captain Ron 12883

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First - Turner has only missed 2 1/2 months, not 4, due to injury.

Second - He's played just over a month since his return. So he's had some time to get back into form. It's not like last night was his first game out there. 

Finally - He didn't come back to be an instant shot stopper. He's given up 7 goals against an xG of 4.9 in 5 games. He had some rust.

 

Make no mistake, I am not at all advocating for Steffen, because I don't think he is the guy.

 

But I do worry bout Turner staying in form to be our number 1. Right now, I think at best he is going to see 7 games (6 Europa + 1 EFL) in the fall for Arsenal. I think he will likely play really well in those games because he's going to have an EPL level defense in front of him. But will it be enough to keep him in form as our #1?

But this is why Sean Johnson was being talked about last night, because he's going to be playing. So we will see...

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GlenFromTheMailRoom

GlenFromTheMailRoom 1612

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2 hours ago, Captain Ron said:

First - Turner has only missed 2 1/2 months, not 4, due to injury.

Second - He's played just over a month since his return. So he's had some time to get back into form. It's not like last night was his first game out there. 

Finally - He didn't come back to be an instant shot stopper. He's given up 7 goals against an xG of 4.9 in 5 games. He had some rust.

 

Make no mistake, I am not at all advocating for Steffen, because I don't think he is the guy.

 

But I do worry bout Turner staying in form to be our number 1. Right now, I think at best he is going to see 7 games (6 Europa + 1 EFL) in the fall for Arsenal. I think he will likely play really well in those games because he's going to have an EPL level defense in front of him. But will it be enough to keep him in form as our #1?

But this is why Sean Johnson was being talked about last night, because he's going to be playing. So we will see...

They're all just keeping Slonina's seat warm.

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Braff Zacklin

Braff Zacklin 13609

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We're not back to the level of debating whether Friedel or Keller should starts (and having a young Howard waiting in the wings), but it's encouraging to see so many options emerging. 

And not just at keeper, either. I don't understand half of Gergg's roster/lineup decisions, but credit must be given for the culture he's building and the recruiting (let's call it for what it is) he's accomplished.

If only we had some genuine, in-form No.9s!! It's going to happen, of course, but will it happen by November?

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Trey3216

Trey3216 15346

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On 6/2/2022 at 4:25 PM, shnsajax said:

Been hoping to hear this rumor start up again with Mane leaving Liverpool. Not sure if he would see more or less minutes, but this offense/pace and style of play would be so much better for him. 

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/liverpool-christian-pulisic-transfer-chelsea-27131968

giphy.gif?cid=5e214886u0cah5wjcj0unh95sc

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Napoleon

Napoleon 8682

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I don’t understand why Sean Johnson, who wasn’t even going to be called in before Zack Steffen passed on an invite (or was he?) gets the nod ahead of Ethan Horvath.

Perhaps it’s because he knows what Ethan can do when called upon in an important match and he needs to see if Sean Johnson can handle the spotlight against a quality opponent in case Steffen continues to flake. Perhaps this is Johnson’s earning the 3rd Keeper Spot vs gifting the 3rd spot to Gaga Slonina for the experience if Zack has back issues of form issues or whatever his latest issue is.

I bet that the team isn’t as dangerously quick with McKennie in the lineup as they were with Aaronson. I think that we are currently a better squad with Brenden starting in that 8/10 role over Weston, and I think that Berhalter sees that too, but he also has to consider team chemistry and explosive playmaking off the bench. 

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ztejas

ztejas 43464

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5 hours ago, Napoleon said:

I bet that the team isn’t as dangerously quick with McKennie in the lineup as they were with Aaronson. I think that we are currently a better squad with Brenden starting in that 8/10 role over Weston, and I think that Berhalter sees that too, but he also has to consider team chemistry and explosive playmaking off the bench. 

Then bench Musah. McKennie was our best player before he got hurt. 

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Napoleon

Napoleon 8682

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5 hours ago, ztejas said:

Then bench Musah. McKennie was our best player before he got hurt. 

I agree, but it seems like when face teams that don’t “sit in a low block“ (a.k.a. “Park The Bus”), McKennie isn’t as quick as Musah & Aaronson.

We will see more today, but just because McKennie was our best player against CONCACAF’s finest (and less-than-finest), doesn’t carry over to England, Iran, and Ukraine/Wales.

The team looked like so much better against Morocco than they did against anyone except Panama in Orlando.

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ztejas

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7 hours ago, Napoleon said:

The team looked like so much better against Morocco than they did against anyone except Panama in Orlando.

We looked pretty good but not amazing. Two of our goals were individual brilliance and one was a pen. We got outshot and possession was almost even. Turner had a great game. I didn't think the back 4 inspired much confidence.

I agree with what you're saying about Aaronson being more of a slasher and potentially making us harder to defend - but McKennie is overall a better player that brings more to the table. I don't think Morocco gets 22 shots off (or whatever the number was) with McKennie out there for 90 mins. He can also be pretty wicked with the ball at times and as quick as Aaronson is McKennie isn't some plodding veteran. We outshot Mexico 18-8 and won 2-0 in November with McKennie going 90 and Pulisic only played ~25 mins. That was a much bigger win than a 3-0 friendly.

With where we are as a team we're going to have good players on the bench up front and in the middle assuming most everyone is healthy. How do you fit Reyna in now? It isn't a bad problem to have, we just aren't used to having guys as electric as we do not getting the start. 

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Captain Ron

Captain Ron 12883

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19 hours ago, Napoleon said:

I don’t understand why Sean Johnson, who wasn’t even going to be called in before Zack Steffen passed on an invite (or was he?) gets the nod ahead of Ethan Horvath.

Perhaps it’s because he knows what Ethan can do when called upon in an important match and he needs to see if Sean Johnson can handle the spotlight against a quality opponent in case Steffen continues to flake. Perhaps this is Johnson’s earning the 3rd Keeper Spot vs gifting the 3rd spot to Gaga Slonina for the experience if Zack has back issues of form issues or whatever his latest issue is.

I bet that the team isn’t as dangerously quick with McKennie in the lineup as they were with Aaronson. I think that we are currently a better squad with Brenden starting in that 8/10 role over Weston, and I think that Berhalter sees that too, but he also has to consider team chemistry and explosive playmaking off the bench. 

Maybe it's because Johnson is just the better guy? Dude hasn't allowed a goal in league play since April. He's been the regular starter for his team this year and last year too. He is "the hot hand" as Taylor mentioned in the last game. I get he's in the MLS, but we will know a lot more today.

And look, let's be fair/honest Horvath had 1 good appearance, let's not act like the guy showed himself to be the second coming. Hell, I would argue he made 1 big save and got lucky with a shit PK taken by Mexico. Horvath isn't the #1 for Nottingham Forest and wasn't for Club Brugge either. He doesn't regularly play. He got chances at the end of the season for NF, but really hasn't been the guy we hoped he would be there. I'm not even sure he makes the flight to Qatar (unless he buys tickets).

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