soccer soccer soccer

[wolf stansson]

 

 

Would love to think Pirlo specifically wants him, but this reeks of marketing to the American consumer. I just want him to play every match for a few more years, but this is definitely exciting for him.

 

He’s got a very Italian game tho. Sort of a hyper-athletic DiRossi. I could see him benefiting tactically similarly to Michael Bradley.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

This strikes me as a very opportunistic and bet-on-yourself move, both of which are very on brand for McKennie. The odds of there being a semi-reasonable path to minutes at a club like Juve would've taken probably 2 more stops if not for the way 2020 panned out. My bias is towards playing time over club prestige, but McKennie has impressed me before so hopefully he keeps it up.

[stitchface]

Wow. Never mind. Messi announces he's out and all of his enemies on Barca's board are forced to resign and he's immediately back in. Good for him. Flex away, king.

 

 

not sure where you got this - I think he will leave.

[imb]

Wow. Never mind. Messi announces he's out and all of his enemies on Barca's board are forced to resign and he's immediately back in. Good for him. Flex away, king.

 

 

not sure where you got this - I think he will leave.

 

the city>>NYFC thing seems almost set in stone. It will be fun to see what a 36, 37, 38 year old messi can do in MLS.

[wolf stansson]

Wow. Never mind. Messi announces he's out and all of his enemies on Barca's board are forced to resign and he's immediately back in. Good for him. Flex away, king.

 

 

not sure where you got this - I think he will leave.

Twitter of course. This saga has a lot of posturing and speculation.

 

 

 

 

[wolf stansson]

 

 

 

A 21 year old American carrying 2 Louis bags, wearing tight ass capri’s and getting papped up in an airport en route to signing with a mega club.

 

 

Folks, we made it. Feels good. Feels right.

[imb]

Juve Unis are tight too. Time to hit up Ali express

[bukie]

 

 

 

A 21 year old American carrying 2 Louis bags, wearing tight ass capri’s and getting papped up in an airport en route to signing with a mega club.

 

 

Folks, we made it. Feels good. Feels right.

That's what, now, 5 young American men's soccer players at Champions League regulars?

 

- Christian Pulisic, 21, Chelsea

- Tyler Adams, 21, RB Leipzig

- Weston McKennie, 21, Juventus

- Gio Reyna, 17, Dortmund

- Sergio Dest, 19, Ajax

 

That doesn't include Josh Sargent (20) at Bremen, either (because Bremen isn't exactly at the cusp of the Champions League).

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Steffen is at Man City too, plus Gloster and/or Ledezma have the chance to break into the PSV first team this year.

[bukie]

And Tim Weah at Lille, who just missed out on Champions League qualifying this season.

[bukie]

Having been so long since the USMNT played a meaningful match, what even is their best XI right now? Is Bradley still on it?

 

The way I see, you can make a 4-3-3 work, with Steffen in net, Brooks/Long in the center, and Dest/Yedlin out wide. Bradley/McKennie/Adams in mid, with Pulisic and Morris on the wings, with Altidore or Sargent as striker.

 

And I think I'd be happy with that.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

It sounds like Berhalter is pretty committed to his regista role, which simplifies things significantly as I think Yueill overrtook Bradley by the end of last year. Main questions would be:

 

- Reyna or Morris on the right wing

- who plays left back(A Robinson? Ream? Dest w/ Cannon on the right?)

- what CBs are in the best form

 

If we had a big game tomorrow, I think it'd be something like:

 

Steffen

Cannon/Long/Brooks/Dest

Yueill

Adams/McKennie

Morris/Jozy/Pulisic

 

with Reyna and A Robinson having legit shouts over Cannon and Morris, but I'll err on the side of conservatism since Berhalter hasn't given either a shot yet.

 

By the end of WC qualifying or the 2022 world cup things get more interesting if another CB(or 2?) can break through like Richards, M Robinson, or Miazga, and if Adams/McKennie can play the 6 with one of the young attackers(Pomykal, Aaronson, Ledezma, Mendez, maybe even Reyna with Morris/Llanez/Weah on the wing) taking over as the pressing 8. A striker falling from the sky would also be welcome.

[wolf stansson]

Been a long time since I cared enough to play this game, but I'm ready! I'm not going to try to think like Gregggg and think systematically, I'm just going to pick my best 11.

If we had a big game tomorrow, I think it'd be something like:

 

Steffen

Cannon/Long/Brooks/Dest

Yueill

Adams/McKennie

Morris/Jozy/Pulisic

 

 

----------------------Steffen

Dest--------Long--------------Brooks------Robinson

----------------------Nagbe

----------Adams-------------McKennie

Morris----------------------------------Pulisic

---------------------Jozy

 

What I'm doing here is not getting the most talent on that I can. If I did, I would put Dest at LB and throw in Cannon or Yedlin (who is still very good). I just think Dest is the type of player that you put in his best position, the position he will be playing for giant clubs for the next ten years, and don't mess with him.

 

I am as excited about Reyna as anyone, but Jordan Morris is more than one level above in terms of consistency and maturity. He's a game changer at the CONCACAF/qualifying level with his speed and power. I would also put a healthy Weah above Reyna at this point.

 

Striker is obviously the biggest issue. The dropoff between Jozy and Sargent is huge, and we know that Jozy's health has been an issue for a decade now and the older he gets, the harder it is to depend on him. When fit, he's still by far our best option, especially with his ability to combine with Pulisic in a way that won't slow CP down by making the wrong run/read/pass. It really sucks that he's been our best striker for more than a decade and we haven't developed anyone even close to stepping up to fill his shoes.

 

Nagbe as regista is a bit of an outlier in that he stopped accepting call-up's and has been more of a box-to-box player, but with his ability to advance possession with the ball at his feet and the speed and athleticism of Adams, McKennie, Morris, and Pulisic, I think he's the best deep offensive initiator in the pool, even if it's not his natural position. A prime Claudio Reyna or John O'Brien would unlock this team's offense in a big way, and I think Nagbe has that in him. The space those other midfielders can open up with combination play and slashing runs could give Nagbe more space than he's ever had, and he's an assassin in space.

 

Plus, every now and then he'll uncork something like this (lol at the wet noodle of a layoff from Zardes):

 

 

[stitchface]

Been a long time since I cared enough to play this game, but I'm ready! I'm not going to try to think like Gregggg and think systematically, I'm just going to pick my best 11.

If we had a big game tomorrow, I think it'd be something like:

 

Steffen

Cannon/Long/Brooks/Dest

Yueill

Adams/McKennie

Morris/Jozy/Pulisic

 

 

----------------------Steffen

Dest--------Long--------------Brooks------Robinson

----------------------Nagbe

----------Adams-------------McKennie

Morris----------------------------------Pulisic

---------------------Jozy

 

What I'm doing here is not getting the most talent on that I can. If I did, I would put Dest at LB and throw in Cannon or Yedlin (who is still very good). I just think Dest is the type of player that you put in his best position, the position he will be playing for giant clubs for the next ten years, and don't mess with him.

 

I am as excited about Reyna as anyone, but Jordan Morris is more than one level above in terms of consistency and maturity. He's a game changer at the CONCACAF/qualifying level with his speed and power. I would also put a healthy Weah above Reyna at this point.

 

Striker is obviously the biggest issue. The dropoff between Jozy and Sargent is huge, and we know that Jozy's health has been an issue for a decade now and the older he gets, the harder it is to depend on him. When fit, he's still by far our best option, especially with his ability to combine with Pulisic in a way that won't slow CP down by making the wrong run/read/pass. It really sucks that he's been our best striker for more than a decade and we haven't developed anyone even close to stepping up to fill his shoes.

 

Nagbe as regista is a bit of an outlier in that he stopped accepting call-up's and has been more of a box-to-box player, but with his ability to advance possession with the ball at his feet and the speed and athleticism of Adams, McKennie, Morris, and Pulisic, I think he's the best deep offensive initiator in the pool, even if it's not his natural position. A prime Claudio Reyna or John O'Brien would unlock this team's offense in a big way, and I think Nagbe has that in him. The space those other midfielders can open up with combination play and slashing runs could give Nagbe more space than he's ever had, and he's an assassin in space.

 

Plus, every now and then he'll uncork something like this (lol at the wet noodle of a layoff from Zardes):

 

 

 

I would be (am?) concerned about that midfield's ability to keep possession. I would take Reyna over Morris this afternoon (and certainly over Weah).

[stitchface]

There's also this guy . . .

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konrad_de_la_Fuente

[Transmogrified Tiger]

My hottest USMNT take is that Nagbe is wildly overrated by the fanbase. He's a good player, and isn't way below the standard of USMNT midfield depth, but one off wonderstrikes aside he's not goal dangerous with any regularity with passes or shots, and he's a passenger defensively. I'd rather have Yueill or either of Adams/McKennie at the 6, and for the USMNT setup I'd prefer Adams, McKennie, and Pomykal, plus probably Roldan, Holmes, and Lletget at the 8, especially against CONCACAF competition(to speak nothing of tweaking shape/roles to get one of Morris/Weah/Reyna on the field instead).

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Speaking of Cannon, it looks like he's going to Boavista in Portugal, which may be a stepping stone to Lille in particular.

 

[tweet]

[/tweet]

[stitchface]

Can Morris by converted to a 9?

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Can Morris by converted to a 9?

 

He plays exclusively on the wing for club, and his skill set is not a clean fit for how Berhalter's USMNT plays with a 9, so I would say no unless there's a big change.

 

If you're looking for a winger that might be a sneaky good fit as a USMNT 9 I think it's Weah.

[stitchface]

Can Morris by converted to a 9?

 

He plays exclusively on the wing for club, and his skill set is not a clean fit for how Berhalter's USMNT plays with a 9, so I would say no unless there's a big change.

 

If you're looking for a winger that might be a sneaky good fit as a USMNT 9 I think it's Weah.

 

yea, morris just isn't very good at it so maybe to keep his spot, he needs to change. I have never really seen Weah play.

[wolf stansson]

Regardless of who you start on the wing and who you bring off the bench, that front 5 is seriously, seriously fast.

 

 

 

 

[wolf stansson]

Schalke saying the vesting trigger for the permanent move is just Juve qualifying for the champions league. Lock.

[stitchface]

Schalke saying the vesting trigger for the permanent move is just Juve qualifying for the champions league. Lock.

 

 

Interesting clause . . . wonder who put that in?

[wolf stansson]

https://sbisoccer.com/2020/08/kohfeldt-i-cant-imagine-a-starting-lineup-without-sargent/amp

 

This sounds really promising for Sargent.

 

This podcast with a Serie A expert is also really promising for McKennie’s likely role with Juve:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-soccer-show-usmnt-champions-league-epl-and-more/id327466681?i=1000489460679

[wolf stansson]

When are we going to start questioning Jordan Morris staying in MLS? He’s good enough to be a starter at a mid-table or better club in Europe. He makes good money playing for his hometown team (his dad is even team physician) so I don’t blame him for staying, but damn he’s take a leap.

 

https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020/08/31/top-takeaways-jordan-morris-second-best-attacking-player-mls-lafcs-defensive-woes

 

 

Also, I’ll cop to never watching philly, but it sure seems like Brendan Aaronsen is one to watch (mentioned by TT previously).