Transmogrified Tiger

I don’t see the downside right? Maybe pisses off their club teams a little but at the end of the day we haven’t clinched however unlikely it is for Costa Rica to score 6 times on the US. There's a couple guys who have injury histories that I think you consider not starting to make sure you don't overdo it with their workload. Pulisic is an easy one in that regard, just go with Weah and Morris or Arriola(assuming Reyna isn't ready to go 60+). Adams is the other one that's a bit trickier given how important he is to their defensive success. Maybe start him but he's a for sure halftime sub as long as they aren't down 3 or something. Everyone else I don't see an issue, though there's a couple other guys you could rest(Jedi, Musah) if you wanted to do more of a B team.

Rivas is optionable and honestly I don't really rate him so that's the easy choice for me.

Canada might be into Pot 3 now with Ghana slotting in behind them instead of Nigeria barely in front. They should also be pulling for Mali and of course North Macedonia. Speaking of which, Portugal took a lead, so the USA to Pot 1 dream might die at step 1.

There are laser pointers everywhere in this Senegal/Egypt qualifier, I'm almost afraid if Egypt gets a penalty it's going to turn the whole thing into a farce.

The official website looks like it localizes it for your location if you scroll down: https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/mens/worldcup/qatar2022 So the 4 group stage time windows appear to be 5 AM/8 AM/11 AM/2 PM Eastern time. Qatar doesn't do daylight savings but they seem like they're accounting for that if my time zone math is right. Knockout stage games are all at 10 AM and 2 PM Eastern

He has to be added to the 25 man(and then accrue service time his entire rehab) in order to be put on the 60 day, I think.

All the gameplay rule changes(shift restrictions, pitch clock, etc) agreed in the CBA negotiations are set to happen next year so there's time to thoughtfully implement them. The exception is the universal DH, which does start this year.

This site/twitter account seems to be the best bet for the conditional projections as it relates to pots. However, they note later that a couple of these permutations are extremely thin margins, so the chances could be more or less with other combinations of results this week

Combine that with the pickoff limitations related to the pitch clock and you create a lot of stolen base opportunities, how many current CS happen with more than a foot to the base? That would have the knock on effect of motivating pitchers to be faster to the plate(maybe limiting some velocity?) and putting a higher premium on catcher arms(especially if automated balls/strikes are coming).

Alternatively, Netherlands draw/lose their friendly w/ Germany tomorrow, Mexico lose/draw, US win, North Macedonia win -> US to Pot 1

Yep, CR still needs to win by 6. Another Panama goal would make it 5.

goodness gracious gio

Also he's really good at playing passes in behind, which is gonna be on the whole half and part of why I suggest Morris instead of Reyna

Gotta think really hard about getting Pulisic, Adams, Musah, and Jedi off reasonably quickly, if not at the half edit: maybe Roldan, Morris, and Bello at the half, Acosta around the 60 min mark

If that happens do you play the game in Costa Rica with a neutral strategy and then go uber conservative if they go down by a goal or two, or do you bunker from the start? I think you just play. The US's defensive excellence comes from squeezing opponents well before they get to the goal so you don't need to bunker or go to 5 in the back, but you also don't need to try to press a bunch of goal kicks either. Once you get into the 2nd half or so maybe you drop lines a bit or add another CB, but even if the US is uncertain to win @CR in neutral circumstances, they are abundantly good enough to not lose by 6.

get one more GD the rest of the night(and Panama is eliminated if they don't win so there will be copious chances) and CR has to beat the US by 6. The US has allowed 7 total goals in 12+ games.

Arriola, with a towering header no less, amazing

I'm being greedy, but if you're calling a foul for a guy putting his hands around the opponent's neck while not even looking at the oncoming ball, is that not a red? In any case, stone cold from Pulisic

Adding some detail to this, if the US matches CR's GD today(currently CR is up 1), CR needs to win by 4 against the US to avoid the playoff. If the US beats CR's GD by 1 or 2, it's by 5. If they beat it by 3-4, it's by 6. Okay CR going final makes this simple. If the US wins by 1 tonight, CR needs to beat the US by 4 to move past them, if the US wins by 2-3, it's 5, if the US wins by 4-5, it's 6. The last time we went to Costa Rica in WCQ, we lost 4-0 and Klinsmann was fired after.

10 minutes into Costa Rica/El Salvador and El Salvador's captain needs stretchered off for a non-contact injury, not a terrific omen

I think that's probably right, with the exception that I'm guessing they'll give St. John every opportunity to make it as a 2nd lefty, especially if Steele is being counted on every 5/6 days in April. Chavez and Gsellman can both go straight to Iowa so there's not an opportunity cost with them at the start, and then if St. John can't get outs or Steele comes back to the pen you can swap them/make him part of the end of April trim.

So with that the roster questions start to narrow further: - Hermosillo v. Heyward for the last bench OF spot - Mills v. Steele in the rotation. Both probably make the team either way and could both start in a piggyback or 6 man so this is more symbolic than it is immediately consequential. - The pen shakeout. Barring injury, Givens/Wick/Robertson/Martin/Norris should be locks, Effross and Thompson probably have to pitch their way off the roster especially given the expanded April, which leaves 2 spots for the NRI crew(Chavez, Holder, St. John, Gsellman, Yardley) and the AAA group(Rodriguez, Rucker, Roberts, Leeper, Ueckert, Mekkes, Little).

One wrinkle on Sunday that will be a little different than last night for us fans is that the US plays after the Canada and Costa Rica games are done. The Panama draw means Canada can only drop to the playoff and only in a truly insane combination of blowouts from 3 different teams, but CR going to El Salvador first creates some different interests/goals by kickoff: CR wins: Nothing changes for the US, a win functionally qualifies, a draw guarantees top 4, and a loss makes for a white knuckle trip to San Jose. Mexico needs to be careful going to Honduras without Alvarez and maybe Tata, since a loss puts them in a position for randomness to send them to the playoff or maybe worse. CR draws: US is now guaranteed in with a win and functionally qualified with a draw, and a loss is still pretty dicey. Mexico breathes easier knowing the likely US/Panama result CR loses: The US is guaranteed in with a draw, and Mexico breathes that much more easily On that note, CR has been decent on the road so far, 1-2-3 W-L-D so far. El Salvador is also 1-2-3 at home, but the losses were to Canada and Mexico. El Salvador didn't bring their strongest squad(at the very least Alex Roldan stayed in Seattle with a playable knock) so we'll have to see how representative that past and their road draw from last night ends up being now that they're formally eliminated.

Adams avoiding the yellow is the most important card result, don't really care about Yedlin's suspension and while I love Weah, we can do just fine without him with the current squad. A little worried about the midfield since Acosta and Musah went 90, but Panama at home is a solid fit for LDLT. Win against Panama and you're in unless Costa Rica houses us in the last game.