soccer soccer soccer

[wolf stansson]

One other thing I'm noticing during this Gold Cup is that though I'm not sure how many of their best players each team brought (except Qatar, they have the whole gang), but after Mexico in WCQ, the difference between, say, Costa Rica and Panama is almost negligible at this point. Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica, Canada, El Salvador and Panama are all about the same quality, so it could be interesting to see who qualifies in the octagonal aside from Mexico and assumedly the US.

Where do we think Canada is with their top squad? I think they're solidly third in the region talent-wise, but I'm not sure they "know how to win in concacaf" yet. They're sort of where the US was in the early aughts before we started beating pretty much everyone at home, including Mexico, consistently. If they can start holding home court consistently in qualifying, and getting draws/regular wins against the riff raff on the road, there is no reason they can't be the new, second tier power in the region going forward. I just don't know if they are there yet mentally.

 

The MLS arm of US Soccer coverage is always very rah-rah, and I think they overhype the Canadian MNT because it's a huge market for them, and I also think they extend way too much credit to their league guys (Kellyn Acosta for example), when evaluating play, but I liked this about Roldan:

 

https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/three-takeaways-from-usmnt-s-tense-gold-cup-quarterfinal-win-over-jamaica

The USMNT fanbase can often swoon over exciting young prospects with high ceilings and European opportunities, while not fully appreciating MLS-based players like Zardes and Roldan – and criticizing Berhalter for relying on them. But on this night we saw why the coach values not only lofty ceilings but also high floors: He can trust that they will be prepared for the moment and provide dependable output.

 

“Our starters did a really good job of wearing them down, relentless running in behind, making their jobs really difficult. So once I got in the game was a little bit stretched,” said Roldan. “We inverted the triangle a little bit on their right side so I was able to get a little bit more space out wide; they kept dropping and dropping. So my ability to get wide and then get high and get the ball to cross was really important.”

 

Roldan does this for Seattle, every game. He's a huge part of their consistency/dynasty. He is so smart adjusting tactically without needing active coaching that he can watch the flow of the game, and make his own adjustments to use the defensive shape to his team's advantage. It's subtle and rarely wows you, but he knows how to disrupt defensive shape and unbalance the opposing team mid-game. GGG is a complex tactical coach, sometime too complex for short international windows, but players like Roldan being able to execute his tactics become super valuable as role players.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

One other thing I'm noticing during this Gold Cup is that though I'm not sure how many of their best players each team brought (except Qatar, they have the whole gang), but after Mexico in WCQ, the difference between, say, Costa Rica and Panama is almost negligible at this point. Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica, Canada, El Salvador and Panama are all about the same quality, so it could be interesting to see who qualifies in the octagonal aside from Mexico and assumedly the US.

Where do we think Canada is with their top squad? I think they're solidly third in the region talent-wise, but I'm not sure they "know how to win in concacaf" yet. They're sort of where the US was in the early aughts before we started beating pretty much everyone at home, including Mexico, consistently. If they can start holding home court consistently in qualifying, and getting draws/regular wins against the riff raff on the road, there is no reason they can't be the new, second tier power in the region going forward. I just don't know if they are there yet mentally.

 

The bottom 2 spots of qualifying are definitely going to be fascinating. This Gold Cup team dispatching of Costa Rica is a decent sign, but last cycle's meltdown against Haiti and their relative inexperience make me unsure. Costa Rica, Panama and Honduras are not on the upswing, El Salvador feels like not enough talent to match the pluck they have to get into the Top 4, and Jamaica have underperformed their talent for a long while. Someone's gotta make it, and I feel like betting against Panama, El Salvador, and Honduras is a decent bet, but picking a loser from CR/Canada/Jamaica (add in the US if you like knocking on wood) is really tough.

[stitchface]

One other thing I'm noticing during this Gold Cup is that though I'm not sure how many of their best players each team brought (except Qatar, they have the whole gang), but after Mexico in WCQ, the difference between, say, Costa Rica and Panama is almost negligible at this point. Costa Rica, Honduras, Jamaica, Canada, El Salvador and Panama are all about the same quality, so it could be interesting to see who qualifies in the octagonal aside from Mexico and assumedly the US.

Where do we think Canada is with their top squad? I think they're solidly third in the region talent-wise, but I'm not sure they "know how to win in concacaf" yet. They're sort of where the US was in the early aughts before we started beating pretty much everyone at home, including Mexico, consistently. If they can start holding home court consistently in qualifying, and getting draws/regular wins against the riff raff on the road, there is no reason they can't be the new, second tier power in the region going forward. I just don't know if they are there yet mentally.

 

The MLS arm of US Soccer coverage is always very rah-rah, and I think they overhype the Canadian MNT because it's a huge market for them, and I also think they extend way too much credit to their league guys (Kellyn Acosta for example), when evaluating play, but I liked this about Roldan:

 

https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/three-takeaways-from-usmnt-s-tense-gold-cup-quarterfinal-win-over-jamaica

The USMNT fanbase can often swoon over exciting young prospects with high ceilings and European opportunities, while not fully appreciating MLS-based players like Zardes and Roldan – and criticizing Berhalter for relying on them. But on this night we saw why the coach values not only lofty ceilings but also high floors: He can trust that they will be prepared for the moment and provide dependable output.

 

“Our starters did a really good job of wearing them down, relentless running in behind, making their jobs really difficult. So once I got in the game was a little bit stretched,” said Roldan. “We inverted the triangle a little bit on their right side so I was able to get a little bit more space out wide; they kept dropping and dropping. So my ability to get wide and then get high and get the ball to cross was really important.”

 

Roldan does this for Seattle, every game. He's a huge part of their consistency/dynasty. He is so smart adjusting tactically without needing active coaching that he can watch the flow of the game, and make his own adjustments to use the defensive shape to his team's advantage. It's subtle and rarely wows you, but he knows how to disrupt defensive shape and unbalance the opposing team mid-game. GGG is a complex tactical coach, sometime too complex for short international windows, but players like Roldan being able to execute his tactics become super valuable as role players.

 

while I don't know much about Roldan, the type of player described here is hugely undervalued in soccer.

[stitchface]

back to the olympics, with the US quite possibly runner-up in group G, what is the mentality for Netherlands and Brazil who are tied at top of Group F? If you win the group, you get the US. If you get second, you likely get Canada.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

back to the olympics, with the US quite possibly runner-up in group G, what is the mentality for Netherlands and Brazil who are tied at top of Group F? If you win the group, you get the US. If you get second, you likely get Canada.

 

They aren't playing each other, and the minnows they are playing are 0-2 with a -12 GD against Brazil/Netherlands so far, so I think they just rest players where necessary for fatigue/yellow cards and collect the W. Maybe Brazil takes their foot off the gas as early as they're comfortable since they're the ones who would have to make up goal differential to leapfrong the Dutch.

[wolf stansson]

Why is old ass Carli Lloyd the only American player running in this game? I’ve never seen less effort from two teams in a big tournament. We should be stomping Australia.

 

If we get Brazil in the knock out, Pia Sundhage will find a way to beat us.

[stitchface]

Why is old ass Carli Lloyd the only American player running in this game? I’ve never seen less effort from two teams in a big tournament. We should be stomping Australia.

 

If we get Brazil in the knock out, Pia Sundhage will find a way to beat us.

 

it's an essentially meaningless game played two games (?) after the previous game? I didn't watch it but it sounded pretty drab. The USWNT is starting to look like the mens team four years ago - old and unmotivated by young challengers.

[wolf stansson]

They look like the 2007 world cup team. End of an iconic generation that is essentially only as coachable as they feel like being.

[stitchface]

France, Germany, Argentina all go out at group stage of olympics while Japan, South Korea, Ivory Coast advance. Good for the game in my opinion.

[wolf stansson]

 

Big boy squad number for Gio.

[wolf stansson]

https://twitter.com/watke_/status/1420443767211970560?s=21

[wolf stansson]

I’m not super optimistic about tonight’s game. Think the US is going to have to score 3 to win. Qatar loves playing against a high line and are great on the counter. The US lives to give away cheap turnovers when Adams isn’t in central MF. Another massive test for Busio and Acosta.

[wolf stansson]

 

Ooh baby

[imb]

horsefeathering sold out of L already

 

oh well i want to see if there's a busio option anyway

[stitchface]

I’m not super optimistic about tonight’s game. Think the US is going to have to score 3 to win. Qatar loves playing against a high line and are great on the counter. The US lives to give away cheap turnovers when Adams isn’t in central MF. Another massive test for Busio and Acosta.

 

hard to be super optimistic the way they've played, but also hard to predict. I want to believe this US team is better than El Salvador.

[wolf stansson]

horsefeathering Matt turner!!

[Thurman Merman]

horsefeathering Matt turner!!

Seriously. Qatar is kicking our ass if not for him.

[UMFan83]

Have to say that watching a match with Qatar involved is exciting

[Thurman Merman]

They are just letting Qatar do whatever they want

[wolf stansson]

Both of those subs looked ticked

[wolf stansson]

Both of those subs looked ticked

And their replacements create the goal

 

GGG pushing the right buttons

[UMFan83]

The fact that the US is a few minutes from winning this and not conceding a goal is nothing short of a miracle

[wolf stansson]

9 minutes of stoppage should be illegal

[bukie]

US has been clearly the better team now for upwards of 30 minutes. Not sure if fitness or subs are the difference, but they're clearly on a different level now.

[wolf stansson]

Playing outdoors in Austin, in July, is ridiculous.

 

Feeling much better about our keeper situation. Turner rules