soccer soccer soccer

[wolf stansson]

Tyler Adams and Josh Sargent are both eligible for the next U-20 WC.

[bukie]

Venezuela next, and they've been the best team in the tournament to this point, not allowing a goal through 4 games.

[shnsajax]

I read they have only faced 6 shots on target in those 4 games too. Not exactly playing against the best competition till now.

[SpongeWorthy]

GOAL OF THE MILLENNIUM

[CubInOK]

GOAL OF THE MILLENNIUM

[wolf stansson]

Today’s U.S. MNT Starting XI vs. Venezuela: 1-Tim Howard, 2-DeAndre Yedlin, 4-Michael Bradley (capt.), 6-John Brooks, 8-Clint Dempsey, 9-Bobby Wood, 10-Christian Pulisic, 15-Darlington Nagbe, 17-Jorge Villafaña, 20-Geoff Cameron, 23-Fabian Johnson

 

 

I love Bruce Arena. This is a lineup right here. This is what friendlies are for.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Is that a 4-3-3 with Fab/MB/Nagbe as the middle band? Or 4-2-3-1 with Wood up top and Fab/MB as DMs?

[wolf stansson]

Is that a 4-3-3 with Fab/MB/Nagbe as the middle band? Or 4-2-3-1 with Wood up top and Fab/MB as DMs?

I'm guessing 4-4-2 diamond with CP at the point.

[wolf stansson]

Wow. Jese Gonzalez is on our gold cup roster. That's a huge development. He could be our future #1. I wonder what happened with Mexico.

[bukie]

That felt like the Belgium game in the 16 WC. US U-20s just had no chances until the game was in hand.

[wolf stansson]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/stuholden/status/871275910065905665[/tweet]

[soccer10k]

That felt like the Belgium game in the 16 WC. US U-20s just had no chances until the game was in hand.

 

Down to the golden opportunity at the end of regulation that would have won the game.

[shnsajax]

That felt like the Belgium game in the 16 WC. US U-20s just had no chances until the game was in hand.

 

Down to the golden opportunity at the end of regulation that would have won the game.

 

The ghost of Wondo!

[shnsajax]

I wonder how much Qatar pressure FIFA is feeling today?

[jersey cubs fan]

I wonder how much Qatar pressure FIFA is feeling today?

probably none

[Transmogrified Tiger]

same lineup as Venezuela but with Altidore for Wood

 

[tweet]

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[Transmogrified Tiger]

luv to play CONCACAF games with refs that are terrified to give cards

[shnsajax]

That Pulisic kid looks ok.

[wolf stansson]

I'm glad we can just watch the Azteca game without a sense of impending doom. That's all I wanted was those 3 points. Now anything good that comes out of Azteca is just frosting.

 

Nagbe, Yedlin, and Pulisic were great last night. Bradley was solid and even really good when he got the support he needs. Deuce is doing the same thing to the national team that he's doing to Seattle. He requires a very specific set up to be successful and when it comes off, it's the absolute highest his team is capable of playing at, and when it doesn't, it looks totally disjointed. It's tough to find the balance, but luckily Pulisic is a soccer psychic that knows where he'll be or where he wants him. Nagbe has all the talent Pulisic does but half the instinct, which is still pretty damn good.

 

Still waiting for John Brooks to learn not to switch off for 30 seconds every game.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

I don't know if I've ever seen two USMNT players run at defenses in the same game at a level like Pulisic and Nagbe did last night. Middling/expected result aside, that plus Villafana's emergence(and what that means for Fab's position) made me pretty excited about the future.

 

And yeah, I was hoping that Dempsey would have more success with a true hold up forward(I forget what number that's supposed to be) instead of Morris, and he had a good workrate, but it seemed like he was adding to the congestion, especially with T&T parking the bus. Probably less of a problem against Mexico, but I wonder if Altidore and Wood on the same front line would be better against the CONCACAF minnows.

[UMFan83]

Pulisic scores at Azteca leading to a result. That's my bold prediction.

[wolf stansson]

Pulisic scores at Azteca leading to a result. That's my bold prediction.

Our beautiful, confident son is ready.

 

[tweet]

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[bukie]

Felt like Dempsey was the worst US player on the pitch last night, and the US dominated from the second they subbed him out.

 

Fab and the CBs were also disappointing, and Mexico will score 2-3 if they play that way again Sunday.

 

I'd like to see Altidore-Wood up top Sunday with Acosta on the left in place of Fab. Use Dempsey for 20 minutes at the end to try to pull out a win if it's there late.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

[wolf stansson]

I have a 100% conversion rate on reading a headline and knowing it's Haisley before the page loads.

 

http://deadspin.com/christian-pulisic-is-restoring-my-faith-in-u-s-soccer-1795958003

 

On the Haisley scale, this is probably his least bad column, but I still can't help but read this:

American soccer will be where it needs to be when we’re churning out a handful of new Pulisics and John Brookses and DeAndre Yedlins and Michael Bradleys (well, the version of him back when he was still good) every year, and it’s going to take a whole hell of a lot of hard work and commitment to get there.

and roll my eyes. The only reason he put Brooks and Bradley on this list is because Brooks just got sold for a fortune and Bradley once played for Roma. If neither of those things had happened, he wouldn't rate them. Donovan, Beasley, and Dempsey, conspicuously absent from his list. The most talented player pre-Pulisic, the champions league pioneer, and the realest of the real.