2022 World Cup Thread

[tower912]

Again, Morocco?

[MuggsyB]

Anyone have a good Tagine recipe? 

[MuggsyB]

Hold up....they kicked the Moroccan guy out of the game for that??  Seems ridiculous. 

[MuggsyB]

Congrats to Morocco!

[mug644]

Exciting to see a country from Africa make it to the semis, and Morocco has been solid throughout the tournament. They have fully earned the spot they are in.

Having lived and/or worked in many African countries, I've often had great discussions with friends and colleagues around this question: "who will win a World Cup trophy first, the US or a country from Africa?"

Great fun discussing the possibilities. What say all of you?

[jesmu84]

https://twitter.com/PaulTenorio/status/1602074325057785860?t=uVoxVNKjJnEv1Ee0tcYgkg&s=19

[21Jumpstreet]

https://twitter.com/PaulTenorio/status/1602074325057785860?t=uVoxVNKjJnEv1Ee0tcYgkg&s=19

Clearly Gio didn’t give it his all when given the limited chance, but this is an internal issue that should have only come out through Gio if at all.

[wadesworld]

If he’s better than guys playing above him, you play him in the World Cup. These weren’t some friendly matches.

[Golden Avalanche]

https://twitter.com/PaulTenorio/status/1602074325057785860?t=uVoxVNKjJnEv1Ee0tcYgkg&s=19

We have the answer which is good but it leads to other questions.

Why air the dirty laundry knowing full well you're putting a target on the player's back and doing so just three days after elimination? Does that not break the circle of trust a real "leader" would foster amongst the team?

Why did he handle McKennie (last year) and Reyna differently, regarding both public spin and punishment?

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

We have the answer which is good but it leads to other questions.

Why air the dirty laundry knowing full well you're putting a target on the player's back and doing so just three days after elimination? Does that not break the circle of trust a real "leader" would foster amongst the team?

Why did he handle McKennie (last year) and Reyna differently, regarding both public spin and punishment?

Keeping him on the bench was a controversial decision. Now it looks less controversial. Maybe an attempt to make a new contract for Gregg more palatable.

[Pakuni]

We have the answer which is good but it leads to other questions.

Why air the dirty laundry knowing full well you're putting a target on the player's back and doing so just three days after elimination? Does that not break the circle of trust a real "leader" would foster amongst the team?

Why did he handle McKennie (last year) and Reyna differently, regarding both public spin and punishment?

People griped the last three weeks about the lack of explanation for Reyna not playing. Now that it's been explained, we're going to gripe about that too?

Reyna is a professional athlete, and a coach explaining that a professional athlete isn't meeting expectations isn't airing dirty laundry. It's pretty routine.

Not sure why this puts a target on Reyna's back, or what that means.

[tower912]

If the coach had said it publicly prior to the tourney, would anyone have been mollified?

It is over.  The USA lost.  Reyna apologized to his teammates.   Nothing to do but move on.

[panda]

Imagine coming from dortmund, one of the best, if not the best youth systems/feeders into the first team in the world and going into a team with a bozo like GGG as a manager doing everything he can to show he’s the boss and slight you aka bringing on Jordan f’ing morris before him in a game where you need possession and verve going forward.

Then after the fact, usmnt lackey reporters “leak” a story that was supposed to be off the record to show what a great leader ggg is. Please spare me the sanctimony.

[jesmu84]

Allegedly, 12 of 25 players on the roster voted to send Gio home. Sheesh

[ZiggysFryBoy]

Allegedly, 12 of 25 players on the roster voted to send Gio home. Sheesh

But was there a letter written to GGG?

[jesmu84]

But was there a letter written to GGG?

https://twitter.com/BobbyFolk/status/1602151653951803393?t=wzI3dS10tWtdTsGzeFoLow&s=19

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

Imagine coming from dortmund, one of the best, if not the best youth systems/feeders into the first team in the world and going into a team with a bozo like GGG as a manager doing everything he can to show he’s the boss and slight you aka bringing on Jordan f’ing morris before him in a game where you need possession and verve going forward.

Then after the fact, usmnt lackey reporters “leak” a story that was supposed to be off the record to show what a great leader ggg is. Please spare me the sanctimony.

Or maybe he was just being a turd.

[JWags85]

Allegedly, 12 of 25 players on the roster voted to send Gio home. Sheesh

This has been proven false.  Multiple players were reached out to and denied it.  Then it came out that it was a vote from the management/support team.

All of this reporting has been done by a pair of USMNT/MLS shills, with a very clear slant.

Or maybe he was just being a turd.

Except his reputation is pretty much sterling.

Like panda said, he is coming from a very respected development system, at a very demanding super high level club, and he's become an auto start when healthy at this young of an age.  He was super close with Haaland, and now Bellingham, and has nothing negative ever reported of him with effort or attitude problems at the club level.

Additionally hes the son of a respected and very experience former US star himself. 

Counter that with the other side being a manager who has received heavy criticism for biased player selections (MLS centric) over ability/skills and some very questionable lineup/substitutions during the WC.

If you need further evidence of the hatchet job, in addition to tweeting the false player vote story, McIntyre made some vague allusion to "problems" in Germany with being selfish or whatnot.  When pressed, he had NOTHING to substantiate it and there were multiple responses stating stories sharing just the opposite.

[Pakuni]

This has been proven false.  Multiple players were reached out to and denied it.  Then it came out that it was a vote from the management/support team.

All of this reporting has been done by a pair of USMNT/MLS shills, with a very clear slant.

What are you suggesting here? Two rogue reporters (never mind the many others who've reported similar things) have decided to trash Gio Reyna with a bunch of lies?
That somehow this getting out benefits the USMNT and MLS?
That Berhalter needed to invent a cover story for not playing Reyna, and decided the best way to do it was to tarnish the reputation of his close friend's son?
Does all that make more sense to you than taking the story at face value? Is Gio Reyna somehow the first young athlete called out by coaches and teammates for not giving his all?


Who were the multiple players who've denied the reporting on the vote? Hadn't seen that.

[JWags85]

What are you suggesting here? Two rogue reporters (never mind the many others who've reported similar things) have decided to trash Gio Reyna with a bunch of lies?
That somehow this getting out benefits the USMNT and MLS?
That Berhalter needed to invent a cover story for not playing Reyna, and decided the best way to do it was to tarnish the reputation of his close friend's son?
Does all that make more sense to you than taking the story at face value? Is Gio Reyna somehow the first young athlete called out by coaches and teammates for not giving his all?


Who were the multiple players who've denied the reporting on the vote? Hadn't seen that.

"Rogue" no.  US Soccer/MLS loyalist and/or shills?  Yes.  No different than CBB reporters reporting rumors or half truths about coaches and open jobs to get them buzz or higher extensions.

It benefits US Soccer and their guy, Berhalter, cause a team that had serious problems scoring kept one of their best and most promising attacking players stapled to the bench.  Meanwhile guys like Acosta were preferred subs and Jesus f'ing Ferraira got a start in a knockout match.  So instead of their manager taking heat, they can say "Reyna didn't play because of character issues, look at how terrible it was".

And I don't know what Berhalter and or US Soccer was thinking.  Don't forget before all of this Wynalda was saying he was told Berhalter was having Reyna talk about being injured as cover for not playing.

And again, as I said, that would be more believable if he has literally never faced that sort of allegation or criticism until suddenly it happens now with his national team manager under fire for the last few weeks and on the cusp of an extension/sacking.

https://twitter.com/RaeComm/status/1602174151741112321

And there is a big difference between "not giving it his all" and being almost sent home for being a slacking cancer and supposedly needing to apologize to everyone in order to stay.

As for the last point..
https://twitter.com/TaylorTwellman/status/1602155709201883136

https://twitter.com/TaylorTwellman/status/1602168314473680896

And if that is indeed the case, polling your support staff about a player decision like that is just another reason Berhalter should be done.  Beyond the blatant nepotism that got him the job in the first place.

[Golden Avalanche]

People griped the last three weeks about the lack of explanation for Reyna not playing. Now that it's been explained, we're going to gripe about that too?

Reyna is a professional athlete, and a coach explaining that a professional athlete isn't meeting expectations isn't airing dirty laundry. It's pretty routine.

Not sure why this puts a target on Reyna's back, or what that means.

You have it wrong. The griping wasn't for a lack of explanation. The griping was that the excuses provided were flimsy and he invented multiple stories as to why Reyna wasn't playing that made zero sense to any person who actually follows the program.

[Pakuni]

"Rogue" no.  US Soccer/MLS loyalist and/or shills?  Yes.  No different than CBB reporters reporting rumors or half truths about coaches and open jobs to get them buzz or higher extensions.

It's massively different. Trashing a player's reputation is not at all similar to giving a coach hype for a job opening. It would be akin to Jeff Goodman tweeting that Caleb Love and Armando Bacot aren't trying to shield Hubert Davis from criticism for UNC's slow start.
And that's something you never see.

And I don't know what Berhalter and or US Soccer was thinking.  Don't forget before all of this Wynalda was saying he was told Berhalter was having Reyna talk about being injured as cover for not playing.

Don't forget that Wynalda has since walked this back for those remarks and apologized for getting it wrong.

And again, as I said, that would be more believable if he has literally never faced that sort of allegation or criticism until suddenly it happens now with his national team manager under fire for the last few weeks and on the cusp of an extension/sacking.

And there is a big difference between "not giving it his all" and being almost sent home for being a slacking cancer and supposedly needing to apologize to everyone in order to stay.

This is like saying that because a player never got into trouble in college, he would never, ever be a problem in the pros.
It's not at all incredible to imagine a player behaving differently today than he did in the past in different circumstances. Especially when we're talking about a 20-year-old.

https://twitter.com/TaylorTwellman/status/1602155709201883136

https://twitter.com/TaylorTwellman/status/1602168314473680896

So, then, no players have come forward and said there was no vote? Just Twellman reporting what he's been told by agents, which is different than McIntyre reporting what he's been told.
OK.
But if we're taking Twellman as the more credible source here, then how do you feel about his tweeting The Athletic's story on this and calling it "Good stuff" and later tweeting that he can "fix whatever issue this is."
Seems to me that Twellman is confirming that there is, indeed, an issue.
And speaking of what actual players have said, what do you make of Yedlin's comments?

Anyhow, whether there was a player vote or not seems pretty irrelevant. There's way too much smoke and way too much solid reporting here to believe this is all some massive conspiracy by Berhalter and the USMNT, no matter how much you wish it so.

[JWags85]

Don't forget that Wynalda has since walked this back for those remarks and apologized for getting it wrong.

Yet he was tweeting "Apology accepted" today when people were talking about him being right all along.  I don't think he walked it back as much as he misrepresented it, not that there wasn't an issue beyond "Reyna is a malcontent".

This is like saying that because a player never got into trouble in college, he would never, ever be a problem in the pros.
It's not at all incredible to imagine a player behaving differently today than he did in the past in different circumstances. Especially when we're talking about a 20-year-old.

Actually no, cause he's actively playing with BVB.  That is being a pro.  And this isn't his first time as a US capped player.  There has never been an issue with any of his other USMNT camps.  He's been great with his club team, through plenty of challenges with injury and competition (not in the past, but literally up to the WC) but now suddenly he's a low effort/attitude issue.

So, then, no players have come forward and said there was no vote? Just Twellman reporting what he's been told by agents, which is different than McIntyre reporting what he's been told.
OK.
But if we're taking Twellman as the more credible source here, then how do you feel about his tweeting The Athletic's story on this and calling it "Good stuff" and later tweeting that he can "fix whatever issue this is."
Seems to me that Twellman is confirming that there is, indeed, an issue.
And speaking of what actual players have said, what do you make of Yedlin's comments?

The problem is McIntyre was also tweeting a bunch of baseless nonsense about Reyna with BVB which immediately makes it seem like he's pushing an agenda and trumping up something.  Twellman has been on both sides of this argument.   Looking through his timeline he hasn't been explicitly pro one side or the other.  He has, however, been extremely critical of USSF's handling of it all.  Him saying "Good Stuff" was to the writer pushing for more details/clarification.

There is of course an issue.  There is friction between the current manager and one of the most promising young US prospects ever.  Regardless of fault or blame, thats a huge problem that must be fixed.  Especially if it would then reside with Reyna and USSF.

Yedlin's comment, assuming you mean about "fitting it with the group" or whatever, means very little.  Coming from a player that wont be around in 2026 and only featured due to injuries to others in the pool leading up, I'm not going to read much into it.  Especially since the culture that should matter is that built around the young stars, not aging MLS vets on the decline.

Anyhow, whether there was a player vote or not seems pretty irrelevant. There's way too much smoke and way too much solid reporting here to believe this is all some massive conspiracy by Berhalter and the USMNT, no matter how much you wish it so.

And I couldn't disagree more.  I don't think its a massive conspiracy, I think its tremendous CYA.  Feeding false stories about a player vote that never happened, AFTER, off the record or private information was leaked or fed to the press.  All of which was meant to cast the manager in a favorable light.  Thats all a huge issue beyond Gio Reyna being a brat.

Also, this is all in a vacuum ignoring the toxic politics that is the USSF and the nepotism buddy system above all else in Chicago.  Berhalter was chosen for no other reason than his brother was a bigwig at US Soccer and he would be loyal to the Federation and their inner goals.  There is otherwise no reason that a manager who got sacked in the Swedish 2nd Tier (probably NASL level) and then in 5 years with the Crew never won their division and finished 9th, 5th, and 5th in their conference his final 3 years....would get the job managing the most talented young US team in history.  So yes, I'm not inclined to give him and US Soccer the benefit of the doubt here.

[panda]

He very well could have loafing/bad attitude etc. None of us were there so I won’t pretend to say one way or the other.

I can say though that I would understand a 20 year old who is used to coaching instruction from the worlds best frustrations with being told he’s not going to play the role he envisioned by a coach who is presently a mid level MLS quality manager. Probably misguided and gio will look back at his reaction years down the road as immature, but I 100% understand the lack of respect someone who grew up in an elite European academy may have for a middling American manager trying to make an example out of a player.

What I have the biggest problem with is a manager going to some leadership conference, airing something that should absolutely stay in the locker room and using an example from a week ago how he handled a difficult situation as an exemplary leader. Ggg thinking this conference was “off the record” is to put it nicely, incredibly naive and truthfully embarrassing he would put this story out himself.

Overall I thought ggg did an ok job in this cycle. Qualifying did not go smoothly and the “system” fell way short. He did a great job improving team morale after klinsman, did a great job recruiting dual nationals. After that, the play on the field was mediocre, his team selections left a lot to be desired and his tactical acumen was low. In the WC specifically, I thought he set his teams up well tactically and played great first halves each game, but substitutions were mistimed, tactically incorrect and no creativity going forward (gio ?).

Cut bait while you can. I don’t think anyone will be happy with just getting out of the group next WC on home soil and ggg showed nothing that would prove he can do anything more than that in four years.

[panda]

Yet he was tweeting "Apology accepted" today when people were talking about him being right all along.  I don't think he walked it back as much as he misrepresented it, not that there wasn't an issue beyond "Reyna is a malcontent".

Actually no, cause he's actively playing with BVB.  That is being a pro.  And this isn't his first time as a US capped player.  There has never been an issue with any of his other USMNT camps.  He's been great with his club team, through plenty of challenges with injury and competition (not in the past, but literally up to the WC) but now suddenly he's a low effort/attitude issue.

The problem is McIntyre was also tweeting a bunch of baseless nonsense about Reyna with BVB which immediately makes it seem like he's pushing an agenda and trumping up something.  Twellman has been on both sides of this argument.   Looking through his timeline he hasn't been explicitly pro one side or the other.  He has, however, been extremely critical of USSF's handling of it all.  Him saying "Good Stuff" was to the writer pushing for more details/clarification.

There is of course an issue.  There is friction between the current manager and one of the most promising young US prospects ever.  Regardless of fault or blame, thats a huge problem that must be fixed.  Especially if it would then reside with Reyna and USSF.

Yedlin's comment, assuming you mean about "fitting it with the group" or whatever, means very little.  Coming from a player that wont be around in 2026 and only featured due to injuries to others in the pool leading up, I'm not going to read much into it.  Especially since the culture that should matter is that built around the young stars, not aging MLS vets on the decline.

And I couldn't disagree more.  I don't think its a massive conspiracy, I think its tremendous CYA.  Feeding false stories about a player vote that never happened, AFTER, off the record or private information was leaked or fed to the press.  All of which was meant to cast the manager in a favorable light.  Thats all a huge issue beyond Gio Reyna being a brat.

Also, this is all in a vacuum ignoring the toxic politics that is the USSF and the nepotism buddy system above all else in Chicago.  Berhalter was chosen for no other reason than his brother was a bigwig at US Soccer and he would be loyal to the Federation and their inner goals.  There is otherwise no reason that a manager who got sacked in the Swedish 2nd Tier (probably NASL level) and then in 5 years with the Crew never won their division and finished 9th, 5th, and 5th in their conference his final 3 years....would get the job managing the most talented young US team in history.  So yes, I'm not inclined to give him and US Soccer the benefit of the doubt here.

I just posted a bunch of nonsense but nail on the head right here. Ggg looks absolutely terrible with this leak. Horrible leadership from start to finish and appears clueless.

Just look at how arteta handled the Auba situation a couple years ago. No votes, no exceptions, no lies in the media, no leaks star player gone after he repeatedly stepped out of line.

Then there’s ggg….