>>154793812 USA looks terrible going into this one. We are gonna need a lot of ref help and favourable draws just to get to the Ro16, which I think is this team's ceiling.
>>154812040 >Poch leaving Busio off I'm a Busiobro but he's too weak and useless defensively to be effective vs Turkiye, Paraguay or Australia. I for one am glad the fat manlet Luna wasn't selected.
>>154797026 Our golden generation barely beat Algeria 1-0. We need 2002 South Korea level rigging to stand a chance. I have a feeling the cartels will ensure that gets provided to Mexico atleast.
>>154818818 Should be Musa in there instead of that homo faggot fraud Roldan but pooch decided to ice him out the squad for not showing up to mickey mouse gold cup duties
>>154820026 Musah fucking sucks now, but back in the day I did enjoy our antifootball terrorist midfield of Musah, McKennie and Adams. If Johnny wasn't hurt we could have duplicates it.
>>154820388 Orangeman bribery is literally our only hope at this point. Also if we finish 3rd in the group, USA has a good chance to play Iran in the first knockout round.
>>154820746 I dont disagree about him being shit now but the alternatives are worse and a 4 man midfield squad should not leave him out. He got 90 minutes for Atalanta's last league game didnt look bad at all
>>154793848 Imagine being this much of a faggot. Even if it's undeserved, have the tiniest bit of confidence in your team before the first match is played.
>tessmann supposedly injured >johnny cardoso injured >richards bad ankle sprain, supposedly will be ready for the world cup but wont start in the group stage at current rate >musah ghosted >banks declined us Holy fuck this is a travesty of last minute injuries and decisions. Only four center midfielders and just one proper defensive midfielder is retarded decision making wtf is Poch thinking?
>>154822103 Also we usually had a generational solid keeper who bailed our shitty defense out, like Howard, Keller and Friedel. Now we have Shat Turner and Freese.
This team needed Diego Luna's energy. I hate this "just field your most talented roster" bs, we have less talent regardless, we need the passion players who can feed off the home crowd.
>>154826047 >This team needed Diego Luna's energy. Stop falling for media PR lies. He provides nothing else and he's too slow to press effectively vs good teams. It only works when he's playing against fishermen from Grenada or part time Guatemalan farmers.
>>154826047 luna is dogshit and has done fuck all since orange slices caprisun gold cup was over and he wasnt even the best player that tournament either
>>154839388 exactly and remember the gassing up of gaysus failreira back in the 2022 cycle, now that retard is an irrelevant shitter doing nothing in mls exactly as we predicted. Luna is the same shit
>>154811467 Crazy that Poch and the staff are going to count on Adams not pulling a back muscle for the entire tournament. And McKennie in a central midfield role is a bit stupid since he plays mostly as a box to box at Juventus and it's what he's good at, not tracking back to cover defensively all game.
>>154840786 McKennie is good as a defensive midfielder. We need his engine along with Adams to not get completely overrun by Turkiye. If either get injured, we're fucked. Johnny is the only decent alternative to those two and he's injured already. Poch can't ever sub McKennie or Adams off, otherwise the team will die. >>154840732 I think Poch only brought him in and gassed him up at press conferences to light a fire under the other players asses. >"If you don't get your shit together, I'll call up this little faggot with neck tattoos to the World cup instead of you- so get your shit together."
>>154831457 We run a back 3 so if we're playing a strong team it'll be Richards Mckenzie and Freeman (or Scally) with Robinson and Weah as wingers. I think Poch trusts Weah more than Dest since Weah has played RB all season for Marseille and is a better defender. Adams and McKennie seems likely to be the main starters in the center which is fine. Then up top it'll be Pulisic Balogun and Tillman with Reyna subbing on. Very likely to see Berhalter and Arfsten sub on the 2nd half which I'm feeling nauseous about, they can't defend whatsoever. My only hope for the tournament is that Poch gives up on Arfsten and goes with a lockdown defender Trusty as the second LB and we run up the score against Australia Paraguay and Turkey so that we dont need to chase the scoreline with nepo Berhalter Roldan and Arfsten in the 2nd half. We'll have plenty of rest between games this time around so hopefully the starters don't suffer any major injuries.
>>154846601 We aren't going to be capable of running up the score vs Turkiye. That game is going to be a bloodbath for us. Technical teams always traditionally decimate us in competitive games that aren't friendlies.
Does anyone actually think we're making it out of our group? I feel like fans that have been following this team over the years can see a group stage crash out coming from a mile away
>>154858885 For calhonglu I googled and copypasta'd because I didn't know how to spell it. That said, creative guys like him and Guler historically always murder us.
>>154859484 I think if Adams and McKennie play every single minute we have a chance to draw vs Australia and 1-0 vs Paraguay. Even if we get 3rd, I'm pretty sure this tournament let's you go to the next round. If Mckennie or Adams get injured early in the first game, we will lose all 3. Pulisic has been shit for club and country since the start of the year. Pepi is in good recent for so maybe he will be able to get some minutes and do well.
The fact is our defense and keeper are really bad so I don't see how we will be able to lock any teams down and our attack is too weak to outscore anyone. I fear this world cup is going to be very ugly and embarrassing.
Mexico I see capable of going far, especially if the cartels hook them up with some classic match rigging.
>>154859712 Yeah. This is probably off base but I feel like vibes are really important for the world cup and Mexico's vibes are way better than the US's right now.
I'm obviously never going to root against us but there will be a small part of me that is OK with a group stage exit because I feel like the way USSF has prepared the US for the world cup *on home soil* has been terrible. Ultimately it will fall at the feet of the players and Poch but this whole thing just seems so half-baked and half-assed.
So now that the whole reason for splashing the cash and get poch is a month away how do you feel about his tenure so far and the whole appeal to europe thing usmnt and its fans do? And do you think he'll do well this world cup?
>>154868829 >how do you feel about his tenure so far Very mediocre objectively speaking. Winning Nations League and Gold Craps are bare minimum for us and he couldnt do that and the world cup prep has been atrocious since he loves tinkering way too much, ruining the team's momentum.
>>154868829 I would give Poch's tenure a 2/10. He's only here for a paycheck and it sucks that the US crashing out at groups wont effect how future employers feel about him even though it should
>>154873415 My hope is that he has a clearer tactical and functional plan for how we're going to actually play and he used the friendlies and gold cup to experiment with different tactics and give fringe players chances to see who can be relied on and who can't. My dream is that this results in the permanent benching of Matt Freese and also setting the team up hyper defensively and making us play like Euro 04 Greece becausethat'sthe onlychanceour team has to get out of the first knockout round. There are plenty of examples of teams playing like shit in lead ups to tournaments only to figure it out and put it all together in the actual tournament. I hope that is what Poch has been cooking.
People here hate on Dest, but Poch hasn't had him available for nearly a year. Dest is one of our few creative attacking players who can be trusted on the ball, the attack looks much better when he's on the field.
No one seems to be talking about Aidan Morris being left out. Obv he's not a world beater, but he's been grinding in the Championship and he's another good option in center midfield. Surely he's better than Seb Berhalter??
I'm going to root for USA until we're eliminated, and then follow whatever team beats us, and then follow whatever team beats them until the Cup's over.
All I need is them to win the game I'm actually going to attend (USA vs. Australia) and I'll be satisfied. It's just a game, and it's all happening here in the best country in the world.
>>154892734 Berhalter Jr and Roldan are on the roster for non-soccer reasons, and they added another defender because Richards has a minor injury. Took up the Tessmann/Morris spot
>>154892734 Because he's looked like shit every time he played for the national team. I would say he looked worse than Cardoso but because he had MLelSoy pedigree, no one really wants to shit on him while Cardoso gets hyper criticized for being a dual nat. Although I do agree he would still be a better fit for the USMNT in the world cup over Berhalter Jr nepobabby shitters
>>154898982 Our youth development system is pay to play. The coaches also don't know how to teach technique, and prioritize winning over youth development even at U8 level because they can't attract rich parents to send their kid to the club if the club are perennial bottom of the table lovers. The entire system needs reform and it starts at the top with US soccer. Landon Donovan is campaigning currently to bring the required reform but I personally don't think it's ever going to happen, mainly due to loss of revenue. In Europe and South America academy training is generally free. In the US it's like $5-$10k a year and if you don't take part in the pay to play leagues, US soccer will never select you no matter how good you are.
>>154907976 >Poch unironically unlocked the team with the back 3 and crushed Japan, Uruguay, Paraguay, Australia with half MLS scrubs. >He didn't want us to get figured out so went back to 442 for the last 2 games. I hope he's this smart. Everyone says Poch is a no-nothing shitter but he was able to take garbage can Tottenham pretty far.
>>154935841 National team games? Fat chance unless they do a last minute sale. Im in LA so would like to watch the Paraguay game but tickets are ridiculously overpriced
>>154936770 Poch said multiple times during the press conference today that just because Ream is the captain doesn't mean he's starting, and that even when he's off the field and someone else is wearing the armband, Ream is still captain.
>>154930493 God damn. He is so old and slowww. All he can do is play decent outlets and long balls and has ok size for set pieces. I guess USA doesn't really have any better than Richards, who I though was hurt.
>>154935896 They will not help us, they want us to embarrass ourselves as part of a humiliation ritual. Mexico however has a good shot to go pretty far depending how many bribes and threats the cartels are willing to put out.
>>154955449 It's because the only thing our players do well is play in transition. They're unironically elite at all. We will do well until we come up against a real team that can easily break and punish us with technical skill like Germany, Netherlands, France, Argentina, etc
The only big team that doesn't scare me is England and that's only because they have this weird mental thing with us and they never play well against us in the World Cup, and we act like that game is our Super Bowl.
Some Americans on here would rather beat England than make the Semifinals or final just for the epic shitposting.
>>154961390 Compared to 2022 this team is soo much better.
I mean there's a legitimate debate to be had about Balogun or Pepi because both are on fire right now and both played great today. In 2022 we had fucking Jesus starting haha.
>>154960831 Prime Keller could carry this team to the quarterfinals and beyond. Unfortunately we are stuck with the weakest generation of keepers the US has seen in the modern era.
idk wtf this kyle martini fag is smoking because berhalter jr was fucking horrendous in the first half which should disqualify him from any fucking praise. Dear god I hope poch is sensible enough to never play roldan and berhalter jr against serious teams in the world cup
>>154961979 They are "see out the game" type subs only. The benefit (more with Roldan) is coverage of multiple positions, which is nice to have with the bottom of the roster guys.
>>154964476 >>154964441 Same Guti was a fun guy with the Fire last year and I'm sad we lost him That playoff clinching goal against Miami was such a moment
We need Poch to go back to 442 vs Germany and play all the backups so our confidence isn't broken. He did this vs Portugal and Belgium, hope he does it again vs Germany.
This 3atb is really working for us we've now beaten Japan, Uruguay, Paraguay, Australia, Senegal pretty easily with it and haven't lost yet in it.
They've also never really had a home crowd like yesterday and will have a serious advantage in places like Seattle.
I honestly think we will surprise a lot of people. I think we make it to the quarterfinals and lose to a much better team
>>154965183 Julian is an autist and will easily expose our 3atb and give the blueprint for other teams to beat us. I really hope poch is smart enough to not use it vs Germany.
>>154965605 It's still exactly as I describe. Landon is campaigning to reform the system but there's too much money in it for US soccer to change things. Academy system also won't really work as long as our top league is MLS franchises instead of a national relegation system like every other country has.
>>154965082 Robinson fucked up and then Brady fucked up hesitating to come out. It was a double fuckup. It is the kind of blunder that happens to us atleast once a game. We're like Nigeria, we can play a perfect game but no matter what we have a lapse in concentration at some point and do something incredibly retarded to gift the other team free goals.
>>154965471 Happy that Brian gets to see a World Cup insane accomplishment He was never going to feature for the US his position is the most stacked both now and in the future
>>154965150 He and Reyna are actually good offensive midfielders, I can't believe they're American. We've never had creative midfielders like this in previous generations.
>>154966423 He’s more of a attacking midfielder no? Hes not better than Pulisic Aaronson Malik Reyna Down the road we have Mathis Albert and Cavan coming He’s better than Roldan and Berhalter for sure but they got lucky too with Cardoso and Tessman injured plus Busio will probably get more play time down the road
>>154967857 Only the MLS academies have any incentive to develop talent for the future. All other academies are pay to play travel teams that prioritize winning over player development
>>154969231 Yes. This will ensure the MLS teams have quality rosters to ensure they don't get relegated and lose money. It also gives USL teams incentives to get better, and provides more opportunities for young American academy produced talent to have pro careers. It also financially incentives academies to prioritize get better at youth development to strengthen their teams+ make the club more money with transfers
>>154969395 Australia will give us a much tougher game imo. They're like us and always overperform in the World Cup. They are gritty and will play to the whistle.
Turkey is a nation of psycho chokers who are over emotional and always buckle when the pressure is on. They always choke in the Euros. Etc.
They are a bunch of soft twinks who will feel our large and strong cocks, and will be pressed to death. The aussies won't play that shit and will show up to fight back.
>>154969517 Its the investors buying into the league and people buying equity into the clubs. The individual clubs will have no say because that's how a free market system works.
>>154969064 So doesn't that provide even more incentive to MLS academies who will always be able to sell players and don't need to worry about revenue risk in covering their academy costs?
>>154969792 The ROI in a sports team is the team value MLS not being in pro/rel keeps the team values inflated above teams in Europe with higher revenues because they don't run the risk every year of being relegated
>>154969945 >The ROI in a sports team is the team value wrong, it's the stadiums and land first. Owning your stadium is huge for financial growth since the club or franchise controls the income and obviously the land is inherently valuable and worth millions. None of this is exclusive to a closed league model.
>>154970663 I think you're kinda right. as I understand it sports team owners are pretty cash poor and their biggest ROI is when they eventually sell the team building a new stadium is one of the most surefire ways to increase the valuation of the club
>>154970663 The stadium and the land helps the team value, sure, but again the ROI is what the investor gets back and that only comes from the sale of the team
>>154971721 NTA but I think when people talk about who should and shouldn't start for the US they're weighing what they expect or think is more likely to happen in the future more than they're weighing what has happened in the past. If you look at their club careers where there's a much greater sample size, it's clear who the better player is.
This is a long winded way to say people aren't going to write off a player playing at one of the best clubs in the world in one of the best leagues in the world because he has done poorly for the USMNT in the 6 matches he has started, all of which were friendlies.
I don't even know why I'm bother explaining this, Cardoso is injured, but maybe next time this will help you when you ask "why do people want our good players to play in competitive games"
>>154971580 Poch isnt dropping him no matter how many times he fucks up, it's insane honestly. That first half was a disaster he was an energetic bunny traffic cone and while the second half went better for him I think that was because Senegal stopped caring and were rotating heavily just to get some practice before the tournament starts.
I watched some podcast on YouTube today that had Bruce Arena, Bob Bradley, and Gregg Berhalter on at the same time and their thoughts about the Senegal game. It was a surprisingly fascinating watch.
>>154971721 the same could have been said for jedi for a few years, now he's one of our most important players. these young dudes are often unimpressive until they aren't. then again, there are the timmy chandlers of the world
>>154971283 agreed, but that's a far cry from "academy system won't really work". There weren't academies until ~10 years ago, this shit doesn't get fixed overnight. USL still has the ability to sell academy players, so it's not like they have a total lack of incentive, though it's fair to say that fewer teams are sharing in the revenue so there's cash flowing to fewer places.
>>154974167 >>154971927 Johnny was not even bad for us, people just don't understand what he does. Johnny layed the clamps down against Belgium and when he came off the midfield completely fell apart and Belgium ran rampant over us.
>>154974465 >Johnny was not even bad for us Agreed, I don't know why I even engaged with that anon he's had a hard on for Cardoso for years now despite him hardly playing for the US
>the hype machine is starting up again for this absolute manlet I don't care if he's scoring in Liga MemeX, he's never been more than complete shit with a US shirt on.
>>154976749 We could definitely beat a team like Bosnia in round of 32, the round of 16 team would have to be Mexico, or Switzerland (who are very good) but not elite to have a chance
>>154976968 Yes they do. I watch all the international games like an autist. They also have the 10th most valuable team on TM. They are excellent. Will be the surprise of the tournament imo. Turkey are being heavily overrated by everyone.
>>154979075 Netherlands game was frustrating as fuck. We went toe to toe with them for most of the game, but played right into their tactics and allowed goals on egregious mental errors. Not like we were played off the field, but looked tired young and unprepared. Which is tough because previous versions of our team would've been the opposite and at least you could cheer for a limited team playing above their level
>>154976359 Our best players are always going to be half euro/half black marines raised on military bases who then go on to be trained in European academies. US coaches are too stupid to train worldclass players.
>>154976359 we need america to keep deteriorating to the point where it gets as bad as brazil then we will have literally infinite street mutt soccer gods
>>154983383 it's just a dumb list starting from false pretenses. if the US play perfectly or "other shit happens" we could beat any team in any individual game
jfc the zoomer effect is real. these niggas think that because Haaland is norwegian their whole entire country has become futbol gods. i'll put $5k right now on Norway getting grouped
I listened to the CEO of US Soccer give an interview (JT Batson). He said since he took over they increased the number of employees from 200 to 600. Seems like overkill.
might try and go to the game on saturday. definitely not spending $200, gonna wait until right before kickoff and buy some if they drop which I think they will
>>154793812 Seriously ishowspeed is for real I am too old for zoomer antics but this guy basically put the entire team on his back and said the USA IS going to have a good World Cup song motherfuckers. I will always respect him for that.
>>154976432 >yedlin doesnt step up >adams slow to put himself in front of the passer >yedlin gets burned again like a retarded manlet and musah doesnt want to get close and foul for a possible pen >ream and anthony robinson ball watching like retards, not a single time do they communicate on dumfries backpost run. Not a single fucking glance behind them we deserved to lose, and especially for starting that spic ferreira
>>154974617 >>155011490 Zendejas is Luna but with technique and creative vision. He's the evolved form of Luna. >>155017586 I swear to fuck they better not replace him with Luna.