Ot - usmnt

[wc1934]

Won the Gold Cup with their B team. Beat their long time nemesis, Mexico.
Keeper - Matt Turner had an outstanding tourney!
Berhalter maybe onto something.

[BobC]

Mexico didn't play at that well & were incredibly poor in the final third. So much talent there & they truly lack at times.
Having said that, USMNT played gritty & had some real energy closing men down. Acosta was man of the match. Incredible performance.

This win will definitely send a message throughout CONCACAF that the USMNT is back & going to present a serious challenge.

[echappist]

Which is all too bad, as i swore off watching the World Cup in Qatar (along with ice hockey at the 2022 Olympics).

I’d love to see the current crop give a few traditional powers some bloody noses (or perhaps that’s too bold of a prediction). There’s a good central spine to the team, and hell, the left back plays for Barça and could have started for De Oranje.

That said, i’m looking forward to watching the qualifiers. Perhaps there’s a historic victory at the Azteca along the way?

Eta: i heard that Robinson had quite a few decent dribbles into the midfield (ability expected of a good CB playing in a top European league). Perhaps he can jostle with Chris Richards for the second CB spot?

[charliedid]

Which sport are you people talking about?

[echappist]

Association football /fútbol/ fußball/ calcio

[72gmc]

Originally Posted by BobC

Mexico didn't play at that well & were incredibly poor in the final third. So much talent there & they truly lack at times.

My very, very distant armchair perspective is that Mexico has been a good coach away from being a good team for years now.

[Velocipede]

And amazingly the USWNT lost to Canada and are out of the Gold this year.

[Beldar77]

Acosta, Turner and Robinson are mentioned in this thread and I agree they showed they are good options for World Cup qualifying.

I think Hoppe did well too and given our lack of scoring up front should get some consideration. Gioacchini too as an impact sub has some flair that Sargent hasn't shown yet.

Given the way qualifiers work - 3 games in one week on a few occasions depth is going to be key. In September the US has two away matches around 1 home match in 7 days.

[echappist]

Originally Posted by Velocipede

And amazingly the USWNT lost to Canada and are out of the Gold this year.

George Patton, Abe Lincoln, Muhammad Ali, Jackie Onassis, Mickie Mouse, Maggie Gyllenhaal; can you hear me, Maggie, your girls took ......

[echappist]

Originally Posted by 72gmc

My very, very distant armchair perspective is that Mexico has been a good coach away from being a good team for years now.

I'll be the first one to eat figurative crow and admit that I wished USASoccer didn't go the nepotism route and hired Tata Martinez instead.

Well, well, after some miserable outings (2019 Gold Cup, anyone), Berlhalter has shown that he has more than just nepotism going for him (though he also did get lucky that El Tri didn't punish Tim Ream for more goals back in June).

Originally Posted by Beldar77

Acosta, Turner and Robinson are mentioned in this thread and I agree they showed they are good options for World Cup qualifying.

I think Hoppe did well too and given our lack of scoring up front should get some consideration. Gioacchini too as an impact sub has some flair that Sargent hasn't shown yet.

Given the way qualifiers work - 3 games in one week on a few occasions depth is going to be key. In September the US has two away matches around 1 home match in 7 days.

Your last sentence makes a salient point. That's on the order of the English "Festival Period" in terms of fixture congestion. Rotation will be key. As if a round robin of six teams isn't enough, grubby Concacaf decided to extract more by piling on the games.

I hope (no pun intended) Hoppe will come good. You are right, there isn't a true out-and-out striker, though both Weah and Hoppe have the ability to at least lead the line.

[FlashUNC]

US also won the Gold Cup in 2017 right before World Cup qualifying for 2018. And we all know how that went.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

US also won the Gold Cup in 2017 right before World Cup qualifying for 2018. And we all know how that went.

I would argue that this is a different time. The group of up and coming youth is quite talented, in a way that the prior batch lacked. Pulisic, Reyna, Musa, Brooks, Weah, McKinney, Adams -- just to name a few.

[JedB]

Originally Posted by BobC

I would argue that this is a different time. The group of up and coming youth is quite talented, in a way that the prior batch lacked. Pulisic, Reyna, Musa, Brooks, Weah, McKinney, Adams -- just to name a few.

100% agree with this. Almost all the European talent was out, and some in the player pool are at the Olympics.

On a local note, glad to see Williamson make the starting 11, as he's a Portland Timber.

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by BobC

I would argue that this is a different time. The group of up and coming youth is quite talented, in a way that the prior batch lacked. Pulisic, Reyna, Musa, Brooks, Weah, McKinney, Adams -- just to name a few.

Pulisic and Brooks were on that team IIRC.

Yes, different cast of characters, but that last bunch was the most talented American team we'd ever seen. And still lost on a glorified cow pasture a game they should have won with their eyes closed.

I have very little faith US Soccer has learned any lessons. It ain't like they had any choice but to play the kids after that debacle.

And winning the Gold Cup in Vegas is very different than heading down to Azteca with 3 points on the line.

[echappist]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

Pulisic and Brooks were on that team IIRC.

Yes, different cast of characters, but that last bunch was the most talented American team we'd ever seen. And still lost on a glorified cow pasture a game they should have won with their eyes closed.

I have very little faith US Soccer has learned any lessons. It ain't like they had any choice but to play the kids after that debacle.

And winning the Gold Cup in Vegas is very different than heading down to Azteca with 3 points on the line.

There may be superficial similarities (in that the U.S. won the Gold Cup during a year when they were trying to qualify), but the similarities end there.

The most talented ever seen? Really? Perhaps true at the time, but how many were at the time (as opposed to had been during some part of their careers) starter/impact subs on Champions League caliber teams?

Brooks played for Hertha Berlin (perennial underachiever) and Wolfsburg (who did jack all and was almost relegated after De Bruyne left, until this past year, that is); Pulisic was the only player with bona fides. Jones had played on Schalke's CL squads but was 3-4 years past his prime. Dempsey was an MLSer (can't remember if he has ever played in the Champions League, though he did drag Fulham into the Europa League final some eight years earlier). A lot of past-it players playing with a bunch of MLSers and players on midtable (if not lower teams). Howard was past his prime.

Now evaluate the following.

-----------------------Steffen--------------------
Dest/Cannon---Brooks-----Richards---Robinson/Dest
----------McKennie-------Adams------
----------Pulisic--------Reyna--------Weah
---------------------Hoppe/Siebatcheu-------------

In terms of current players playing at a Champions League caliber.

Dest plays for this club that mes que un club.
Brooks (a mainstay of Wolfsburg) qualified for the CL.
Richards has played in the CL; he is loaned out to a midtable Bundesliga team.
McKennie starts for Vecchia Signora.
Adams plays for for Rasenball; even scored a goal against Atletico and helping his team to the 2019-2020 UCL semifinal.
Pulisic, well if you don't know, then we shouldn't be talking about soccer.
Reyna plays for BvB.
Weah helped his team dethrone PSG and become French champions. That means UCL for the upcoming season.

So that's eight out of the first-choice eleven who have had or will have significant UCL experience.

Steffen actually played in a few UCL matches, but those were meaningless.

Which leaves us with Cannon, Robinson, and Siebatcheu. Cannon plays on a midtable Portuguese side; Robinson was headed to AC Milan until he failed a physical and was one of the few bright spots on Fulham. Hoppe was one of the few bright spots on Schalke, and Siebatcheu plays for the Swiss champion (likely to have at least EL minutes).

And don't forget Musa (Valencia) and Aaronsen (Austrian champion, will see at least EL minutes, if not UCL minutes ). Horvath has also played in UCL group stages.

You could basically fill that entire first 11 with players who are seeing significant minutes in the top-5 European Leagues. And the best part is that most of the players are under the age of 25 and will improve.

And lastly, let's not forget, the MNT team yesterday was at best a B-squad. The El Tri squad included three starters with UCL experiences and one sub with UCL experience. El Tri played at a venue that was at least neutral, if not favoring Mexico. And they still couldn't capitalize.