USMNT 2023

[Braff Zacklin 13676]

Right there--great example of Ferreira's strengths and weaknesses.

If the ball is passed into the box, he can do something with it.

If the ball is served into the box, you better hope he's the one who served it.

[shadow_operative 15932]

dude what the fuck is this:

 

this might be the most embarrassing single play i've seen since wondo kicked that fg in the world cup. i don't know who this is on the left wing with the ball, but he should be banned from representing this country ever again. i'd be a livid if a 10 year old i was coaching played this way. unbelievable.

Edited July 3, 2023 by shadow_operative

[Braff Zacklin 13676]

The two worst players on the day for the US (Roldan and Zendejas) have been subbed out, so hopefully, the Nats can get another goal or two before the end.

 

 

EDIT: Aaaaaaaaaaand Cowell almost immediately proves me right.

Edited July 3, 2023 by Braff Zacklin

[ztejas 44267]

6 minutes ago, Bottlecap said:

theres no such thing as depth at the 9

nines don't really get subbed out apart from performance issues.

What? Pepi played in both Nations League matches. 9s get subbed out all the time. Or injured. 

[Bottlecap 1523]

yeah, no excuse for Zendejas' play last two games. I'm a fan but damn he's played himself out of Copa minutes and into Gold Cup minutes. He seems to be well liked with the first team tho, so that might make up the difference for him.

[RamjetFDO 10655]

Get in there Cade!

[ztejas 44267]

COWELL

IN SPACE

GOES LEFT

GOES RIGHT

GOOOOOOOOAL

[shadow_operative 15932]

atta baby cowell. nicely done. 

[Bottlecap 1523]

I love me some Cowell. What a streaky player. 

a lot of smart work there

[kingkoopa6 8723]

I like cade cowell

Edited July 3, 2023 by kingkoopa6

[RamjetFDO 10655]

Lot of patience for a 19 year old...

[Bottlecap 1523]

3 minutes ago, ztejas said:

What? Pepi played in both Nations League matches. 9s get subbed out all the time. Or injured. 

i guess i meant that most teams carry two strikers to big tournaments. neither of those slots should be JF. Hes a gold cup guy.

[RamjetFDO 10655]

Boop

[shadow_operative 15932]

 now that would have been a beauty. so close.

Edited July 3, 2023 by shadow_operative

[Bottlecap 1523]

fuck me! Cowell can have first team mins as a super sub

[Hagbard Celine 11278]

gressel is not a kid

he's 29 years old

he might be useful in '26 but he just got his first call-up for the january scrub camp

he's not going to europe at 30

vazquez is a big, tall striker who at 24 is in the shop window

now we're bringing him on, but we're doing so at the expense of mihailovic

it was clear from the 2nd half agaisnt jam that we have a B-version of the front 4 that destroyed mexico

we better fucking use it when it's nut cutting time in this tournament

[kingkoopa6 8723]

Rodan need to go ahead and give up that 10 

[ztejas 44267]

Reynolds has some serious quality in the opposite third.

[TexasMan 11464]

Cowell's feeling it

[Hagbard Celine 11278]

jam have SCORED AGAIN

4-0

we're down to +3

[Bottlecap 1523]

We're still +3

 

+2 my bad

Edited July 3, 2023 by Bottlecap

[Hagbard Celine 11278]

+2

[ztejas 44267]

+3

[RamjetFDO 10655]

Busio!

[Hagbard Celine 11278]

needed that

[A-Tex Devil 2500]

I like Busio.  He’s tiny but he’s been effective this tourney.  

Edited July 3, 2023 by A-Tex Devil

[Bottlecap 1523]

cant believe we lost to these scrubs in 2017

[RamjetFDO 10655]

Vazquez!

[Bottlecap 1523]

nice diagonal run!

[Braff Zacklin 13676]

Going forward in this tournament--and I know this won't happen--but I'd prefer to see Cowell on the left, Vazquez at the 9, and Ferreira out right with the green light to tuck in whenever he'd like.

Mihailovic underneath at the 10/8/whatever we're calling it with Sands and Busio supporting.

[kingkoopa6 8723]

That’s my 10. Cade monster cowell

[Bottlecap 1523]

BV looks the part. get this man to europe

[Braff Zacklin 13676]

This was a huge win today. Well done, Nats!

Can't believe we got away with winning the group with this depleted roster and some of these poor lineups.

[Bottlecap 1523]

2 minutes ago, Braff Zacklin said:

Going forward in this tournament--and I know this won't happen--but I'd prefer to see Cowell on the left, Vazquez at the 9, and Ferreira out right with the green light to tuck in whenever he'd like.

Mihailovic underneath at the 10/8/whatever we're calling it with Sands and Busio supporting.

this would be so badass, but way to progressive for this dinosaur federation

Edited July 3, 2023 by Bottlecap

[Bottlecap 1523]

Didn't realize that theres group B action next! More footbaw!

[Braff Zacklin 13676]

Lalas can be a boor (and a bore) but I like how emotional he gets when the USMNT plays well. He definitely bleeds Red, White and Blue, baby.

[Hagbard Celine 11278]

3 minutes ago, Braff Zacklin said:

Going forward in this tournament--and I know this won't happen--but I'd prefer to see Cowell on the left, Vazquez at the 9, and Ferreira out right with the green light to tuck in whenever he'd like.

Mihailovic underneath at the 10/8/whatever we're calling it with Sands and Busio supporting.

/broken record:

who is wide right can be argued; i don't think it's ferreira, but whatever

cowell left, vazquez on top and mihailovic driving is Plan-B version of the front 4 that destroyed mexico

[DanTheHorn 5092]

First time I have seen Cowell, some good some bad but overall looks promising.

[Hagbard Celine 11278]

i watched every minute of the u-20 mundial and cowell was dangerous as fuck and a shock surprise after previously having done nothing in mls per the intertrons

14 minutes ago, Bottlecap said:

Didn't realize that theres group B action next! More footbaw!

tri are already qualified of course so forecast for bitchassedness is mixed

[ztejas 44267]

11 minutes ago, DanTheHorn said:

First time I have seen Cowell, some good some bad but overall looks promising.

He wasn't good in the first two games but he's young. The ability is there. 

[Braff Zacklin 13676]

Just now, Hagbard Celine said:

i watched every minute of the u-20 mundial and cowell was dangerous as fuck and a shock surprise after previously having done nothing in mls per the intertrons

Great size and speed. Serviceable (?) technical ability. Every time I watch him play, I ask myself, "Why isn't he a striker?"

But I think when he was first breaking in to MLS, and being left-footed, wing was what was available so that's where he's played. This is probably apocryphal.

Cowell's versatility might turn out to be a huge bonus if Folarin and Pepi continue to blossom because it means Cowell could swap on diagonals with the actual 9 and function as a secondary target.

It would cause headaches for opposing backlines ... assuming the USMNT had a manager that recognized strengths and weaknesses and exploited them.

[Hagbard Celine 11278]

9 minutes ago, Braff Zacklin said:

 assuming the USMNT had a manager that recognized strengths and weaknesses and exploited them.

this

the player pool needs to mature with the top 56 players clearly belonging in a world cup, but with different attributes.....

the wide left attacking position is perfect to illustrate this premise

the traditional 11-shirt in a modern 42 is now clearly owned by pulisic despite wearing the wrong number

we need to see cowell with reyna and balogun to see if he can be CP-prime, and see what his defensive capabilities are, against a top opponent

CP can be a defensive liability - and a manager that understood man-management, tactics, you know, corch stuff, that manager might deploy a cowell over a CP in a game where he has a sakha or mahrez coming at us on the right

 

[The Dog 44862]

 

[Hagbard Celine 11278]

8 minutes ago, The Dog said:

 

and that's fair

we just have ... people ... in this forum arguing that capability equates to A-squad hierarchy equitability

[Ted Lange 16433]

Cowell is much better now that he shaved off that porn ‘stache 

[pacman 7510]

5 hours ago, ztejas said:

Reynolds has some serious quality in the opposite third.

former youth forward who used to score a lot of goals in Academy..

[ztejas 44267]

11 hours ago, Hagbard Celine said:

we need to see cowell with reyna and balogun to see if he can be CP-prime, and see what his defensive capabilities are, against a top opponent

CP can be a defensive liability - and a manager that understood man-management, tactics, you know, corch stuff, that manager might deploy a cowell over a CP in a game where he has a sakha or mahrez coming at us on the right

 

I would be fucking amazed if Cowell is ever a better player than healthy and in-form CP. Regardless of situation. He has about a third of the technical ability as it stands (and markedly less pace with the ball) and will almost assuredly never close that gap. 

I think he can be a really nice player for us but we're a ways away from him being on the 2 deep let alone starting for our A team.

[horn4life 3838]

Always funny to me how many "coachable moments" these matches have.  My constant preaching to my mids and wings was to be on the backside of the cross. It simply provides easy opportunities simply by anticipating the easily anticipatable, a ball that skitters though the middle.   And the fact that every defender, especially the keeper is making a 180 degree turn, makes a simple pass to the net often more than enough for a goal.  Also the simple preferred technique of striking a cross in front of the goal with the trailing foot rather than the leading foot.  You simply have a LOT less chance of whiffing in front of the goal with the trailing foot, regardless of dominant foot. It was an error i had to correct for myself as a player.  I can't remember who had the whiff in front of the goal, but nearly any firm contact from the trailing foot results in a shot on the frame. (maybe Roldan?)

The one thing I do like specifically about Ferriera is his sense of urgency in that he strikes the ball the first chance he gets.  That one extra touch is the bane of opportunity, crack it the first chance you get inside the box, period.  As usually the shot is gone with that extra adjustment touch.  This is why players should devote a considerable amount of time to striking half volleys and volleys with their bodies over the ball to keep it low enough to stay on frame.  it's the difference between a dangerous shot, and the controlling touch that removes the shot opportunity most of the time.

The biggest flash to me in the game was when Crowell came in.  It could have been the result of fresh legs, or his less than stellar prior minutes, but he came on and did what a sub up top is supposed to do, make an impact.  His successful one on ones early, created some opportunity and he also took the shot at the first opportunity.  Fun to see the youngsters getting some quality playing time.  Jalen Neal generally played well on defense, but he was outsmarted by allowing the offensive player to turn his body because of his greater physicality and move him from between him and the goal.  The foul was the right thing to do, but experience and physical maturity will only make this kid better over time. 

I give the game a grade of B+,  mainly because I felt the intensity wane at times.  Especially at the start of the second half, where if you are up by three and you match the early intensity you can usually break the morale of the team that's down simply by dashing their early hopes by matching their frenetic desperate early second half intensity trying to get back into the game.

Edited July 3, 2023 by horn4life

[The Dog 44862]

 

[Napoleon 8852]

25 minutes ago, The Dog said:

 

1) Hasn’t there been a little chatter about Dest going to Union Berlin as well?

2) Cowell’s speed, power, and directness work much better as a second half sub against adults than being a starter at this stage in his career.

He is so much better than he was 12 to 18 months ago that it gives me hope that he is not a finished product with regards to his ball control skills. 

He will never have the dribbling ability of an in-form Pulisic, but Pulisic will never be able to hold people off the ball like a 175 lb Cade Cowell. 

3) I mentioned it in late 2021 to early 2022, but I shall repeat it. The way that Ferreira (and Pepi) tend to play with a hunched back allows them to be able to get a shot off much faster than most other players. Ferreira’s first two goals were excellent examples of his being ready to pounce on the ball with a shot faster than the defense could anticipate it. 

4) Lastly, speaking of the FC D(allas)ynamic Duo, I would love to see Jesús make a move to PSV in the January window. 

I don’t know if Xavi Simons is going to stick with PSV for one more season, but if he does, Jesús going to PSV on a loan with the option to buy would give him an excellent opportunity to tryout for the #8/#10 role that Xavi plays and his chemistry with Pepi has always been excellent. (Exactly why I bitched about Gregg never playing them together throughout almost all of qualifying.) Perhaps I should write a letter to Earnie Stewart.