USMNT 2024

[shnsajax 3,591]

Look, I have never been a GGG fan, but he did some good things in building a young roster coming off 2018. I think he deserves credit for that. 2022 was an adequate result, but we all felt it could have been better. 
In no way, shape, or form did he do enough to get an extension. And then add to the fact he went out of his way and stated the Gio drama in the press, it was such a no-brainer to move on. It was so obvious this was going to happen. It's almost like we did this before with Arena, Bradley, and Klinsman. Nobody should get a 2nd cycle unless they achieve amazing results--and even then it usually doesn't work out. 
I'm going to Copa America and I'm going to cheer my ass off, but damn if it isn't always going to be in the back of my mind if it wouldn't be better for us to get run out of the tournament to get a real coach before 2026. 

We can still have 2 years of Klopp before he takes over Germany, and sub him with Pep for the 2027-2030 run. Would be a semi-retired life compared to the City schedule.

[Napoleon 8,700]

24 minutes ago, shnsajax said:

We can still have 2 years of Klopp before he takes over Germany, and sub him with Pep for the 2027-2030 run. Would be a semi-retired life compared to the City schedule.

1) It would take $8M to $10M per year to get either of those guys and…

2) We pay the new USWNT manager about $1.5M per year.

Even if US Soccer has the money, they can’t pay the Men’s manager 5.5 to nearly 7 times as much as the Women’s manager anymore. It sucks, because the earning potential for the two teams is drastically different, but that’s the way it is these days. 

[Captain Ron 12,918]

 

13 hours ago, Hagbard Celine said:

let's see if gerg fulfills his required post-game on camera soundbite and says anything that makes us not want to kill him

I think this was the real chicken shit thing the federation did - there wasn’t a post game press conference. Fuck, even Mack Brown has press conferences after our disaster losses. So we have a coach with even thinner skin than he did. 

[Hagbard Celine 10,923]

full aggy

[Napoleon 8,700]

3 hours ago, Captain Ron said:

 

I think this was the real chicken shit thing the federation did - there wasn’t a post game press conference. Fuck, even Mack Brown has press conferences after our disaster losses. So we have a coach with even thinner skin than he did. 

I kept comparing Gregg Berhalter and Mack Brown in my head last night. They aren’t exactly the same, but they were both horrible tacticians and would downplay a match that should have been built up.

Dislike both of them. 
 

PS- Both Timothy Weah & Matt Turner gave postgame interviews in English on the side of the field & Yunus Musah gave a longer one on the edge of the field in Spanish. I think Yunus was doing the Univision interview, but not positive because the female journalist in the video I saw sounded like her accent was from Spain. (She used “th” for the “ce”, but that could have been to help Yunus understand her more easily. 🤷‍♂️)

Didn’t see Berhalter say shit.

[Captain Ron 12,918]

 

Remind me who is in charge of making sure the team is prepared for the teams we face?

[Ted Lange 16,142]

 

 

[Captain Ron 12,918]

12 hours ago, Napoleon said:

1) It would take $8M to $10M per year to get either of those guys and…

2) We pay the new USWNT manager about $1.5M per year.

Even if US Soccer has the money, they can’t pay the Men’s manager 5.5 to nearly 7 times as much as the Women’s manager anymore. It sucks, because the earning potential for the two teams is drastically different, but that’s the way it is these days. 

We pay Berhalter around $2.3M right now, we might not command that kind of money, but we don't have any sort of pay link between these two jobs.

 

 

[Ted Lange 16,142]

Some coaching salary info.

Euros

1. Gareth Southgate ENGLAND €5.800.000
2. Julian Nagelsmann GERMANY €4.800.000
3. Roberto Martínez PORTUGAL €4.000.000
4. Didier Deschamps FRANCE €3.800.000
5. Louis van Gaal NETHERLANDS €3.000.000
6. Luciano Spaletti ITALY €3.000.000
7. Vicenzo Montella TURKEY €1.800.000
8. Murat Yakin SWITZERLAND €1.600.000
9. Ralf Rangnick AUSTRIA €1.500.000
10. Domenico Tedesco BELGIUM €1.500.000
11. Zlatko Dalić CROATIA €1.500.000
12. Dragan Stojković SERBIA €1.400.000
13. Luis de la Fuente SPAIN €1.250.000
14. Serhiy Rebrov UKRAINE €1.250.000
15. Kasper Hjulmand DENMARK €1.150.000
16. Sylvinho ALBANIA €750.000
17. Michal Probierz POLAND €560.000
18. Steve Clark SCOTLAND €550.000
19. Francesco Calzona SLOVAKIA €540.000
20. Marco Rossi HUNGARY €300.000
21. Matjaž Kek SLOVENIA €300.000
22. Ivan Hašek CZECH €250.000
23. Edward Iordănescu ROMANIA €240.000

Bundesliga

[Captain Ron 12,918]

 
 

[Ted Lange 16,142]

Anyone know what sort of buyout GGG has?

[Mittens 8,306]

I wonder how much a hit man costs?

[PittsburghTiger 6,196]

I did find it funny that the ESPN.com story made a point of writing that the team did wear its rainbow numbers for last night’s game.

[Derka 6,357]

 

[Captain Ron 12,918]

1 hour ago, definitely not derka said:

 

I had been assured of how shitty Marsch was as a coach. 

[WBT 20,668]

11 hours ago, Captain Ron said:

 

So we have a coach with even thinner skin than he did. 

[Blotto 23,574]

8 hours ago, Napoleon said:

I kept comparing Gregg Berhalter and Mack Brown in my head last night. They aren’t exactly the same, but they were both horrible tacticians and would downplay a match that should have been built up.

Dislike both of them. 
 

PS- Both Timothy Weah & Matt Turner gave postgame interviews in English on the side of the field & Yunus Musah gave a longer one on the edge of the field in Spanish. I think Yunus was doing the Univision interview, but not positive because the female journalist in the video I saw sounded like her accent was from Spain. (She used “th” for the “ce”, but that could have been to help Yunus understand her more easily. 🤷‍♂️)

Didn’t see Berhalter say shit.

Mack has dingleberrys that accomplished more in their brief life than berhalter

[The Dog 44,139]

[Blotto 23,574]

7 hours ago, Ted Lange said:

 

 

One of greatest triggers of self doubt in my life is when I find out I'm on the same side of an argument as Cowherd. It prompts an immediate review. 

[Hagbard Celine 10,923]

cindy parlow cone's last tweet was 7 september 2022, more than 21 months ago

the united states has defeated brazil exactly once, in the 98 orocopa, on a preki wonderstrike and a keller preternatural performance that has to be seen to be believed

alltime we are 1-0-18 against brazil, and the only other time we came close was the 09 confedcup final in south africa when we could not make a 2-0 halftime lead hold up with dempsey and donovan in their prime

 

[Bottlecap 1,523]

Also 0:1 July 4 1994 with BRA playing with 10 most of the match and smacking the bar a couple times

[Napoleon 8,700]

41 minutes ago, Hagbard Celine said:

cindy parlow cone's last tweet was 7 september 2022, more than 21 months ago

the united states has defeated brazil exactly once, in the 98 orocopa, on a preki wonderstrike and a keller preternatural performance that has to be seen to be believed

alltime we are 1-0-18 against brazil, and the only other time we came close was the 09 confedcup final in south africa when we could not make a 2-0 halftime lead hold up with dempsey and donovan in their prime

Winning friendlies is nice, but it isn’t the most important thing, especially right before a tournament. 

The purpose of a friendly is to test yourself and try various things. 

1) We got our asses kicked. 

2) We played like shit.

3) We didn’t make any adjustments.

We had an opportunity to learn things from this friendly and what we learned was:

-Our team is mid to less than mid.

-Our manager continues to show that he is in over his head. 

[Captain Ron 12,918]

I decided to go back and watch the 2022 World Cup Final this weekend for some reason. And I realized something watching two teams at the highest of levels and Argentina celebrating their win:

We have an extremely slim chance to win the World Cup in 2026.

Those two teams were STACKED. Top quality goalkeeping. Teams who's starting 11 are loaded. And each team featured a player in the discussion for best player in the game today, one of whom can be talked about as the greatest of all time.

The US isn't close to either of those teams. We have flashes at times and we have a starting 11 that in places can fight for a spot here and there. But we aren't either of these teams. And to win, we need to be tactically perfect. And to be that - Gregg can't be our coach. It's really not that hard.

And there isn't much to really talk about in this regard. You look at Argentina and France and they were tactically setup for what they wanted to do, depending on the personel. Gregg hasn't every put forth a plan that makes me think he undersands anything of the game.

[Napoleon 8,700]

Love the pregame views contrasting against the postgame stuff. 

[Rudiger 1,169]

6 hours ago, Captain Ron said:

We have an extremely slim chance* to win the World Cup in 2026.

*In a Hegelian epistemology kind of way.

[Macklemore 2,875]

 

[dieucla98 2,942]

So either....

• the guys didn't believe the job you assigned them was correct and overrode you,
• you did a poor job in explaining and coaching their jobs,
• the players were given the wrong job for their skill set and failed,
• the players actually did their job well it's just they were the wrong jobs for the game, or...
• the players are just bad at jobs.

Seeing as there were 11 guys playing top flight futbol and 1 guy with 0 skins worth a shit, I'm going to assume it's anything but the last one. Get fucked, GGG.

[Chips O'Toole 1,327]

Ok, so now I have something to root for in the Copa.  3 losses and a -9 or worse goal differential.  That would get him fired, I assume?  I didn't think we could possibly be that bad, but I see a glimmer of hope.

[dieucla98 2,942]

7 minutes ago, Chips O'Toole said:

Ok, so now I have something to root for in the Copa.  3 losses and a -9 or worse goal differential.  That would get him fired, I assume?  I didn't think we could possibly be that bad, but I see a glimmer of hope.

I don't have much confidence anymore... We essentially fired him once already and went back to him like a scorned puppy. We had as easy of a chance to get a new coach as we could hope for and completely shit the bed. 

[Captain Ron 12,918]

1 hour ago, dieucla98 said:

So either....

• the guys didn't believe the job you assigned them was correct and overrode you,
• you did a poor job in explaining and coaching their jobs,
• the players were given the wrong job for their skill set and failed,
• the players actually did their job well it's just they were the wrong jobs for the game, or...
• the players are just bad at jobs.

Seeing as there were 11 guys playing top flight futbol and 1 guy with 0 skins worth a shit, I'm going to assume it's anything but the last one. Get fucked, GGG.

 

If you watch the Tactical Manager clip he kind of nails this with points 1 and 2.

[kingkoopa6 8,377]

8 hours ago, Napoleon said:

Love the pregame views contrasting against the postgame stuff. 

 

[Hagbard Celine 10,923]

1 hour ago, Captain Ron said:

 

If you watch the Tactical Manager clip he kind of nails this with points 1 and 2.

found it  you posted it yesterday

Edited June 10 by Hagbard Celine

[dieucla98 2,942]

1 hour ago, Captain Ron said:

 

If you watch the Tactical Manager clip he kind of nails this with points 1 and 2.

Thanks for pointing me to it, dude is spot on.

[Macklemore 2,875]

This is kind of embarrassing to put out there after getting skullfucked by Colombia.

 

[Derka 6,357]

 

[Napoleon 8,700]

9 hours ago, Rudiger said:

*In a Hegelian epistemology kind of way.

[Looks up “Hegelian epistemology”… stops reading and starts watching “Scott Sterling” video.]

4 hours ago, kingkoopa6 said:

 

Bewbs!!

 

[Captain Ron 12,918]

[ztejas 43,537]

Not only is our manager a dipshit, we have an embarassing talent-level across our back 4. 

I don't understand how we have so many borderline world-class midfielders and forwards and then we're running out guys like Scally and Chris Richards in our best XI. 

And, I mean, bless Tim Ream's heart but he's fucking 36. And wasn't a plus athlete when he was 26.

Edited June 11 by ztejas

[Captain Ron 12,918]

[Hagbard Celine 10,923]

if the asshole is interested in saving his job, he goes 42, parks the bus for half an hour ,and then goes route 1 with reyna as the 9 and pulisic as the actual 10 behind him

that's it, the 2 of them get to go forward, everyone else has to stay home until a throw or corner

 

[Hagbard Celine 10,923]

Soccer America Confidential    
 

Spoiler

Gregg Berhalter’s quest to solve lineup puzzle begins with Colombia clash
by Brian SciarettaJune 7, 2024

The United States men’s national team’s friendly against Colombia on Saturday serves as one of two important games ahead of the Copa America. It will also offer us the first glimpses of how Coach Gregg Berhalter is preparing for the tournament.

There are big questions for the national team throughout most areas of the field. In
fact, there are only a limited number of starting spots that appear set. We know Christian Pulisic is a starter, most likely at left wing. We know Antonee Robinson is a starting left back.

We know Matt Turner, despite a disappointing season at Nottingham Forest, is the No. 1 goalkeeper. We also know Weston McKennie as a starting central midfielder.

After that, there are a lot of questions. Some players like Tim Weah and Chris Richards have a high probability of starting. But in Weah’s case, there are positional questions because he can play right back. Also, with the big season Haji Wright had on the wing for Coventry and the limited minutes Weah had at Juventus, Weah might be facing competition for his starting position for the first time in years.
Haji Wright. Photo: Concacaf.com. Credit: Concacaf.com

With these types of issues in mind, here are some of the positional questions Berhalter is likely searching for answers in the two coming friendlies against Colombia and then Brazil.

Center Forward

The No. 9 position for the USMNT has been up for grabs for a long time. Some players have fallen out of the team in recent years (Jesus Ferreira, Jordan Pefok and Daryl Dike being prime examples) while others like Folarin Balogun have made their way into the team.

One of the big takeaways during Berhalter’s press conference following the roster
announcement is that he saw Wright as a winger. This was a departure from previous
statements when he said he saw Wright as a No. 9. While Wright had played well in Turkey as a No. 9, he was even better this past season on the wing with Coventry, scoring 19 goals across all competitions.

That leaves us with Balogun, Josh Sargent and Ricardo Pepi as the three center
forwards on the roster.

If we are looking at the strength of each player’s season, Sargent was the best. He scored 16 goals and added two assists in just 1,864 minutes in the English Championship. The problem, however, is his ankle. He missed four months due to an ankle injury which required surgery. Even after he returned, the ankle still bothered him to the point where it forced him to withdraw from the USMNT Nations League roster in March and be subbed out of the promotional playoff games.

So far, Berhalter has revealed Sargent won’t be ready to play against Colombia.

Then you have Balogun. He is coming off a difficult season for Monaco where his Ligue 1 production fell to seven goals (down from 21 the previous season with Stade de Reims). He was brought in as a replacement for Breel Embolo, who tore his ACL in August. By the end of the season, Embolo returned and began starting over Balogun.

There are two important things to watch with Balogun. First, his confidence. It would not be surprising to see him in a tough position mentally after the past season. Second, is he on the same page as his teammates? This has been missing ever since he joined the USMNT. To be fair, it is also missing with him and his Monaco teammates. Will he show signs of finally developing chemistry with this team?

Finally, there is Pepi. When he was on the field for PSV Eindhoven this past season, he did well. The problem, however, is that he was not on the field a lot. He played just 458 Eredivisie minutes and 183 Champions League minutes. He scored nine goals between both competitions, but mostly sat behind Luuk De Jong and played mostly with games out of reach.

The questions for Pepi, are what kind of form is he in? He can score, but after playing so little all season, can he be dependable on a regular basis?

Those are the three options. All of them have upsides, but all of them have big question marks. It’s also unclear what is the pecking order between these three. These friendlies should sort that out.

Wings

The wing positions are also a little unsettled. Yes, Pulisic will start in any important game where he is healthy. Typically, Weah has been on the opposite wing, usually on the right side.
Malik Tillman Photo: Jeremy Olson/ISI Photos Credit: Jeremy Olson/ISI Photos

But Weah hasn’t been a winger at all this season for Juventus and he played in just 1,381 minutes across all competitions in Italy. On the other hand, there is more competition on this side of the field.

First, Wright had a great season at Coventry on the wing. Second, Malik Tillman played both as a central attacking midfielder and as a winger for PSV. If Gio Reyna is playing in the No. 10 spot, could Tillman play wide? Could Gio Reyna play wide? There is also Brenden Aaronson, who had a tough season for Union Berlin but had a strong final two months.

Right back

The injury to Sergino Dest put the spotlight on the U.S. team’s depth at right back. When the roster was announced, Berhalter even said that right back was one of the areas he “needed to figure out” at this camp. These two friendlies will give us an indication what he’s been leaning toward for the Copa America.

Joe Scally didn’t have a great season for Borussia Monchengladbach, although his last three games were solid. When Dest was suspended for the Nations League semifinal against Jamaica in March, Scally started but was pulled at halftime after losing his man on Jamaica’s opening goal. If Berhalter had comfort with Scally to be the starting right back, it wouldn’t be a position of uncertainty.

There is a chance Scally gets a shot to prove himself against Colombia, but if he doesn’t play well, it creates a bit of a headache. Shaq Moore was also called up, but he was essentially called up as the fourth or fifth choice given that DeAndre Yedlin was also hurt, and Bryan Reynolds has been focused on the Olympics.

Berhalter also said that central midfielders Yunus Musah or McKennie could be
options. The same with Weah, who played as a wingback for Juventus. Also, central
defenders such as Chris Richards also played the position. The problem there is that taking a USMNT starter and moving him to right back changes two positions in the starting lineup.

The likelihood is that Berhalter is really hoping Scally works out in these two games. The plan after him requires him to dip into uncertainty and make significant shifts just to fill one position.

Central defense pairings

The central defense pairing is certainly something to watch in the coming friendlies. The fact that Berhalter called in five central defenders is unusual and could mean a few different things.
Chris Richards with Crystal Palace. Photo: © Imago via ZUMA Press/ISI Photos

First, he is uncertain about his pairings and his pecking order and is hoping this camp can help sort it out. It could also mean he’s looking at central defenders as cover for right back.

Finally, it could mean that he is looking to potentially play with a three-man backline with three center backs. Richards, Mark McKenzie and Miles Robinson all play in a three-man backline with their clubs. That would also provide defensive cover to allow the outside backs to play in a wingback role.

But assuming it is a traditional four-man backline, the top central defense pairing is likely to include Richards, who ended his season playing very well for Crystal Palace. Tim Ream might be aging out. If that is the case, that would see Richards paired with either Robinson, Cameron Carter-Vickers, or McKenzie. Based on how things were in Nations League, it will probably be either Carter-Vickers or Robinson. Berhalter has always found Robinson’s speed and athleticism useful. But this camp will help to define the top pairing and the pecking order.

Central Midfield

Central midfield is the area that faces the most uncertainty in the entire player pool. Assuming Berhalter uses his typical 4-3-3 formation, the middle three only has McKennie as essentially a lock starter.
Weston McKennie with Juventus FC. Photo: © Nderim Kaceli/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/ISI Photos.

The remaining options all have serious questions.

Reyna, of course, had a good Nations League but the Copa America will be another step and he is coming off his third straight season playing well less than 1,000 minutes. For sure, he has talent but there is a limit to how consistent and how dependable he can be without a stable club situation.

No doubt, Reyna should be heavily motivated to play well in the Copa America and
possibly in the Olympics after that to raise his value and look for a better club situation in the fall.

Malik Tillman had a great season with PSV en route to the Eredivisie title, but he is yet to see his club form translate over to the national team.

Johnny Cardoso is like Tillman in that he has yet to see club form translate to the U.S. team, although he hasn’t struggled quite as much as Tillman for the U.S. national team. Cardoso has been great for Real Betis since arriving in January. But is he ready to take on a big role at the Copa America?
Tyler Adams scores a goal from long distance during the CONCACAF Nations League final against Mexico. Photo: Shaun Clark/ISI Photos North America

Tyler Adams was the captain of the U.S. team in Qatar, but he was injured for nearly all of this season for Bournemouth. He had a great goal against Mexico in March, but was injured in his first game back in England. We know what Adams can do, but we don’t know exactly where he is at.

Luca de la Torre is seemingly in a relegation battle every season and this year was no different. The tough part for de la Torre is that as Celta Vigo played well down the stretch to finish safe, de la Torre was either out injured or on the bench. As with a lot of players, it’s a question of confidence and form.

Musah finished his first season for AC Milan playing mostly in central midfield, but also a little on the wings and at right back. He was a World Cup starter in 2022 but when Reyna was playing well in March, Musah was a substitute. It’s always about production with him. Can he create, assist, and score?

Musah’s so smooth on the ball but his production in Milan was lacking. If Reyna,
Tillman or Cardoso have strong camps or even if Adams is healthy, Musah could suddenly find minutes harder to come by.

Facing Colombia on Saturday and Brazil on Wednesday game will give Berhalter a chance to test players, combinations and formations.

From the look at all the players, he has a lot on his plate.

 

[ztejas 43,537]

3 hours ago, Captain Ron said:

That mfer ain't saving us.

[Ted Lange 16,142]

 

 

 

 

[Captain Ron 12,918]

15 hours ago, ztejas said:

That mfer ain't saving us.

It’s less about the improvement or not. It’s that for some reason, Berhalter lets something get in the way of selecting our best players. Something about not executing a system or something. I’m shocked he even fields a team given that every time I watch his coached team play, there are 11 players that look like they can’t execute his system. 

[Napoleon 8,700]

11 hours ago, Ted Lange said:

 

 

 

 

McKennie will not be playing for Aston Villa in 2025/26. He will either be out on loan, or sold to an MLS team, where he will triple to quadruple his salary and his endorsements will explode.

Going to Aston Villa for the money has me thinking that he’s given up on the competitive side of soccer and is grabbing the biggest paycheck he can get before coming home. 

Also, I would not expect him to go to FC Dallas. Playing in Frisco has too much of a “small market vibe” for him. I would expect that he try to get to one of the coasts. Maybe he moves to San Diego to help launch that team. 

[Napoleon 8,700]

Anyone pulling for Brazil tonight?

[Blotto 23,574]

1 hour ago, Napoleon said:

Anyone pulling for Brazil tonight?

Should be a fantastic match. We're pre-gaming with root canals and colonoscopies. 

[Napoleon 8,700]

8 minutes ago, Blotto said:

Should be a fantastic match. We're pre-gaming with root canals and colonoscopies. 

I would not mind Berhalter displaying his idiocy again. 

He’s been the national team manager for 5 years and he’s still a shit-for-brains. 

Also:

5:00pm: Pregame on TNT

6:00pm: Anthems & Kickoff

Early start, maybe due to the NBA Finals.

[Ted Lange 16,142]

Is 7PM local an early start?

[Captain Ron 12,918]

24 minutes ago, Ted Lange said:

Is 7PM local an early start?

When you live in this god forsaken time zone it is.