stitchface
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Everything posted by stitchface
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just because the US half-assed it doesn't make it a tough place to play. ridiculous performance. qualified for world cup but nowhere near good enough to compete. while we're benching people, I'd be happy to never see Antonee again. pathetic.
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the yellow card rule is absurd. two yellows in 12 games? No wonder the refs never give any. Gio is really really good. What a difference he makes. I thought De La Torre and Shaq did nothing to hurt their chances. De La Torre looked really steady and Moore for sure no worse than Cannon or Yedlin. Robinson's crosses have improved. He, and everyone else, need to stop giving the ball away in their own end though - better teams will punish that.
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I was pretty disappointed by the end of that game. Overall, I think the US has passed Mexico - not sure if that is more US getting better or Mexico getting worse. It was a pretty sloppy game. At times, the US looked really good though and I think deserved the win they should have had if they could finish. Quite a contrast from the home game a couple years back where the US couldn't even get out of their own half and the only hope was good defense and good luck. So, disappointing because they didn't finish and that ultimately is the difference in advancing or not at the next level. You can't miss chances like those against the world's best. I also felt like the US came out to bunker in the second half and that was disappointing. The last 15 minutes were awful - and this with 5 of the 6 forward players replaced (all but Acosta who was a mix of brilliant and awful). Why the hell couldn't they play forward instead of just hoofing it down the field? And why did they have absolutely no threat up there? Not a good way to close out a game. I have to wonder on altitude, how many of Mexico's players live at altitude? Is it really that big an advantage for them?
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I’ve watched his run over fifty times at this point. What a beautiful player. It's Messi-esque - except Messi's end in the back of the net . . . or used to anyway. Hopefully he can start and get Pulisic some space - the US needs CP to have a positive impact and Weah perhaps is too one-dimensional. Pepi or whoever plays the 9 needs to get involved in build up play.
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meh. dos a zero.
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And the last two World Cups they did qualify for they had 1 total win in 6 games. Also, the dream of both Italy and Portugal missing the 2022 World Cup is alive! you'd rather watch north macedonia? Anyway, in between they won euros. Wonder if that's happened before. Same as US . . .
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I think this is a reality of international soccer - these players get very little time to train together, come from different systems, and, for Europeans, are traveling a long way to play (jetlag is real). This all tilts toward more balance, especially in the Americas. I imagine most of you play, or have played, and understand how difficult it can be to play with people you don't know. Add it up, and it starts to come down to individuals making plays more than a team game. Canada is a prototype of a few great players and a bunch of others working really hard. One has to wonder if all the rotations are problematic - forced or chosen by Berhalter. Also, whether his system is too complicated for international play.
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Can someone explain why everyone still acts like the US might not qualify if they beat Panama? Do they actually think Costa Rica is going to take 9 this window?
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What a clasico!
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4 years ago they were the frontline . . . For sure! And btw, the level of that supporting cast at any given moment is a perfect litmus test for the overall health of the game in our country. It’s why I love & care about MLS so much. Dest out minimum 3 weeks. Snake bitten European season but great to see Christian closing strong. I have to admit I was for once not happy to see in the Chelsea lineup - and sure enough, he's on the ground halfway through . . .
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pretty meh except the first one . . . semis could be great though!
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4 years ago they were the frontline . . .
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does Scally play on the left though?
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Dest goes off injured - looks like hamstring. dammit
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He didn't have much help with Barca last year and was the center of the attack - totally different role with PSG. Speaking of Barca, I've always been skeptical of how much difference coaches make but wow, Xavi. It's like a new team - fun to watch again!
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I have not watched PSG outside of the RM debacle (both games). General observation is their midfield isn't very good. Messi is still capable of moments of magic but he is not the transition player he used to be (and Neymar was terrible). Like Ronaldo, he can finish, but he can't do it on his own any more. Also, I will say that goal scoring is not the best metric. Remember Kane's start to the season? Prior to this weekend, Ronaldo had 1 in 10 games for United.
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Sounds like you liked watching all sports more when you were young and now that you’re turning human I mean older you’ve got other interests that keep you from wasting countless hours watching games that have no interest for you. i figured that would be the response, but nah. and the gruden switch wasn't that long ago. i still spend way too much time watching sports. if you put like buck and, say, romo on MNF, i'm probably watching at least a couple more MNF games intently. definitely as compared to that awful 2018 booth i mentioned. that one was bad enough to get me to only tune in for bears games. it's not that the good guys being good brings me in. the weirdos like arod push me away. ironically, espn still strangely thinks arod has value for some reason. arod actively has made me avoid watching SNB. i also think someone like manning would probably increase viewership at least somewhat, given the response to the manningcast. Get a TV with a mute function?
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it's tough here too - had to go buy more sunscreen
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Neymar too. Not sure how that isn't a foul on Benzema though on the first goal.
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Lewandowski puts a quick end to any hope for Salzburg
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This is the thought that's been circling my head since his Leipzig experience. Blitzing teams with a high press/chaos soccer and little else doesn't really work in MLS anymore with the growth in spending, and winning the Austrian Bundesliga with Salzburg but not doing anything noteworthy in Champions/Europa league is a replacement level outcome for that job. He finds that extra tactical gear with Leeds, because he's gonna be at a talent deficit in the league in way more games than he has been for a long time. He seems like a thoughtful and smart guy so I'm guessing he's going to learn from his mistakes so I'm optimistic. the Bundesliga narrative seems to be that he refused to adapt his style to the players at Leipzig - I think it is a frequent mistake of commentators to think coaches can't get better but the good ones adapt. If he is a good coach, he will assess what he has at Leeds and who he is playing and adapt accordingly with the sole goal of staying up. Then he can build for next year.
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I'm not even sure what fail hard would look like - they are in total freefall. I guess they could play uglier and still get relegated? The good news is they played a brutal stretch of schedule - the bad news is their best players are all injured. Commenting on my own post, maybe there isn't much risk - if they get relegated is his reputation worsened? Leipzig's upswing (inevitable probably) since his dismissal hasn't helped him much.
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not sure this is a great move for him . . .
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Is TAA the worst defender in the premier league? Defense is never going to be his strong suit, but I think a fair amount of his shortcomings are tactical decisions. In general Liverpool play with an incredibly high line which is going to put him in space/isolated against attackers a fair amount(a situation very few consistently succeed in). After Chelsea made the Lukaku and Werner subs, Liverpool dropped their lines a bit and even with fresh legs running at TAA, there was far less danger created. The other part is that with the ball, TAA gets used like a central midfielder, so when the ball does turn over he's more regularly going to have to burn energy to get into position to defend wide or be in suboptimal position to prevent attacks. The heatmap for him v. Azpilicueta/James is a good representation, especially considering Chelsea was in a back 3 so the comparison is to a wingback. yes, this is why Van Dijk was the signing that put them over the top but TAA has no clue how to mark anyone even when he is back. Agree it's their model but he defends like a 9 playing as a back.
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kudos to Lewandowski and Poland for refusing to play.