Futbol Talk

[Its DJOver]

Honestly, all the pens that weren't converted were pretty poor, Sancho's being the worst. Other than Jorginho scuffing his shot, and Rashford not even getting it on frame, they were all at poor heights, not nearly close enough to a corner, and with not nearly enough pace.  At this level there's really no excuse for not being able to do exactly what Kane or Maguire did; right in a corner, with pace, no chance of stopping it even if you guess right.

[JWags85]

Honestly, all the pens that weren't converted were pretty poor, Sancho's being the worst. Other than Jorginho scuffing his shot, and Rashford not even getting it on frame, they were all at poor heights, not nearly close enough to a corner, and with not nearly enough pace.  At this level there's really no excuse for not being able to do exactly what Kane or Maguire did; right in a corner, with pace, no chance of stopping it even if you guess right.

Totally agree.  You have Sancho who scores at a high rate in Germany, Rashford who has 55 goals in the Prem, Jorginho who, while not  a goal scorer is a stud known for amazing ball placement...and they all can't muster a good strike but Maguire, who literally scores about once a year on a header, laces a perfect belter

[Its DJOver]

Totally agree.  You have Sancho who scores at a high rate in Germany, Rashford who has 55 goals in the Prem, Jorginho who, while not  a goal scorer is a stud known for amazing ball placement...and they all can't muster a good strike but Maguire, who literally scores about once a year on a header, laces a perfect belter

It's more mental than anything really.  I thought this was pretty funny last season, you have the most expensive squad in the history of club soccer, and you can't convert a PK to the point that the keeper is trying to take them.

https://talksport.com/football/834067/ederson-penalty-man-city-tottenham/

[MUBurrow]

Well I think this second penalty awarded to Mexico might be my new record holder for least favorite use of VAR ever.

Edit: ball don't lie.

[Its DJOver]

Yea, I know I'm biased, but this is one of the more one sided officiated games I've seen in a while. Though TBF if all teams play the way they did tonight, US loses in the finals regardless. Need a much better performance.

[Its DJOver]

Again, I know I'm biased, but I thought Canada was the better team. Let's see what happens Sunday. On paper, should be a Mexico walk in the park.

[BM1090]

Turner have any real chance of supplanting Steffan for the WCQs?

[brewcity77]

Turner have any real chance of supplanting Steffan for the WCQs?

He should. Has been notably better. Seems like playing in MLS does more for your form than sitting front row at City games.

[jesmu84]

Turner have any real chance of supplanting Steffan for the WCQs?

Don't forget about Horvath.

Suddenly, US has a ton of depth at keeper.

[Its DJOver]

I've mentioned it a bunch about how penalties at the top level should be converted 100% of the time.  US put on a clinic, Dutch had some very poor pens.  I think there is an argument to be made that the Dutch were the better team overall today, but if half your penalties are that poor, you can have no complaints.

[JWags85]

Don't forget about Horvath.

Suddenly, US has a ton of depth at keeper.

I mean the US always has.  Thats been their international top level strength for 25 years.

After Meola (who probably would have been a Euro level keeper if he was a decade later) you had Keller and Friedel who played in England for close to 2 decades each.  Plus the 3rd string was Sommer who was sneaky solid and actually played in the PL before them.

Then Tim Howard arrived, say no more.  But that also brought Marcus Hahnemann into even more depth, again played a long time in the UK.  Then Guzan as well.

Then over the last 5-6 years you add Horvath, Steffan.  Replace your reliable 3rd string MLS keeper in Rimando with Sean Johnson.  Now Turner is emerging.  And you got David Ochoa and Chituru Odunze waiting in the wings.

If the US's whole national development was like their keepers, they'd have been a WC contender years ago.

[brewcity77]

The US keeper depth has been poor since Howard retired. Guzan was a fine backup, but he was never close to what Friedel, Keller, or Howard were in their primes, and no one the past few years have been close to that.

Horvath lost his job at Brugge & is headed to the Championship. Steffen has more appearances for the US than his European clubs since moving overseas. But no one else has reached their potential enough to supplant either of them.

The position used to be a strength but it's been years since we had one elite keeper, much less many. I hope it gets back there, but right now all of our best players are field players.

[jesmu84]

Very impressed with the B team tonight

[jesmu84]

Very impressed with the B team tonight

Bump

[brewcity77]

Amazed. Berhalter has pulled all the right strings of late. Thoughts...

• First half, Turner was immense. Showed why he should be GK1. I thought the ref style would hurt us because we had so many breakaways called back (at least 3) and Mexico was creating so many more chances that those fouls hurt us proportionally more.
  
• Acosta was massive. Got in everywhere, took smart fouls when needed, came up with the winning assist. Man of the match.
  
• Defense won this. Felt a bit like the Bradley days. Good organization at the back along with some luck.
  
• Berhalter has pulled all the right strings of late. I've been critical generally, but he's done well to shut out high powered offenses like Qatar and Mexico, made all the right subs (he really gets the 5 sub/3 window format), and really put together deep squads.
  
• This was fun. It's been awhile since the USMNT was fun to watch. Bring on the Qualifiers.

[injuryBug]

Defense seemed to be working very well together.  anytime someone was open it was only for split second and the rotations were done very well to help eachother out.

Nice to have basically 2 different teams win tournaments this summer

[shoothoops]

Last night was a good night for MLS soccer development people.

[JWags85]

Amazed. Berhalter has pulled all the right strings of late. Thoughts...

• Berhalter has pulled all the right strings of late. I've been critical generally, but he's done well to shut out high powered offenses like Qatar and Mexico, made all the right subs (he really gets the 5 sub/3 window format), and really put together deep squads.
  
• This was fun. It's been awhile since the USMNT was fun to watch. Bring on the Qualifiers.

Same feeling here.  Ive been critical of Greggggg and hated the hire.  But he's REALLY been strong the last year or so.  Put together good lineups, has a good feel for chemistry, this is really fun stuff.

[JWags85]

The inflated transfer fees of English players in the PL is always hilarious, especially defenders.  Ben White isn't super young, only has 2 caps at age 23 (24 by the start of next season) and hes worth $70MM.  Absurd.

But that doesn't make $140MM for Grealish any less shocking.  Just insanity

[jesmu84]

The inflated transfer fees of English players in the PL is always hilarious, especially defenders.  Ben White isn't super young, only has 2 caps at age 23 (24 by the start of next season) and hes worth $70MM.  Absurd.

But that doesn't make $140MM for Grealish any less shocking.  Just insanity

If Grealish is 140, Harry Kane is...200?

[Its DJOver]

Eh, it's an absurd amount of money, but given the players age and quality, I get it.  Plus if Kane doesn't happen this summer, and all they have come in is Grealish, their likely net spend won't be bad at all.

[Its DJOver]

https://www.fcbarcelona.com/en/football/first-team/news/2207655/leo-messi-not-staying-at-fc-barcelona

Wow, PSG or City are about to get one of the best free transfers ever.

[brewcity77]

While the roster construction sucked (almost all the attackers were 32+) it would be pretty cool for Rapinoe and Lloyd to walk into the sunset with braces to secure an Olympic medal. No, it wasn't gold, but it was still a great potential walk-off. Pinoe's goals were two of the best you'll ever see. Brilliant score on a direct corner and a magnificent first-touch volley.  I really hope they call their careers, Pinoe will be 38 and Lloyd 41 when the next World Cup comes around.

[JWags85]

While the roster construction sucked (almost all the attackers were 32+) it would be pretty cool for Rapinoe and Lloyd to walk into the sunset with braces to secure an Olympic medal. No, it wasn't gold, but it was still a great potential walk-off. Pinoe's goals were two of the best you'll ever see. Brilliant score on a direct corner and a magnificent first-touch volley.  I really hope they call their careers, Pinoe will be 38 and Lloyd 41 when the next World Cup comes around.

Rapinoe had a nice Olympics, which was surprising cause she was horrid during the WC, despite what a bunch of goals off of penalties would say.

Lloyd will call it.  But I would be shocked if Rapinoe doesn't try to play.  Whether they keep her in the squad is another story

[Its DJOver]

Saw the stat somewhere (can't remember where) that since Jan 2020, the only country in the America's that had sent more players to Europe than the US was Brazil.  Literally today, Sam Vines moves to Belgium, Gianluca Busio moves to Italy, and there's talk of Sargent heading to Norwich.  Busio is only 19, but has a very high ceiling IMO.  Keeping track of all the new players heading overseas is a very good problem to have.