2022 World Cup Thread

[ZiggysFryBoy]

But they have to beat Iran, right?

Win and advance.

[MuggsyB]

Win and advance.

But if we tie Iran advances??  Good freaking grief. 

[ZiggysFryBoy]

But if we tie Iran advances??  Good freaking grief.

Correct.

That's why crapping the bed vs Wales was so tough.  But welcome to the USMNT, nothing is easy.

[MuggsyB]

Correct.

That's why crapping the bed vs Wales was so tough.  But welcome to the USMNT, nothing is easy.

I thought the Wales result sounded like a disaster despite some media reports. 

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

I thought the Wales result sounded like a disaster despite some media reports.

IIRC we are ranked lower than Wales so a loss was more expected than a win.

[Shaka Shart]

If you can't beat Iran you don't deserve the knockouts anyway

[panda]

IIRC we are ranked lower than Wales so a loss was more expected than a win.

FIFA rankings are historically inaccurate

[MuggsyB]

If you can't beat Iran you don't deserve the knockouts anyway

That sounds reasonable. 

[jesmu84]

The result wasn't the best on the scoreboard.

But we held our own, or played better, against a top nation.

No complaints about anything today, on the whole.

GGG really impressed me with the switch to 4-4-2. But he really annoyed me with subs 15 min late.

Tyler Adams is incredible. Tim ream fantastic on Kane. Mckennie was his best self. Pulisic was really good and clearly recognized his errors in Wales not pushing attack. He also had good corner service.

The us midfield dominated that game

[The Sultan]

Yeah, it's too bad that the one bad half they played cost them two points.  Beating Iran will be tough because they are going to just park the bus and hope for a draw, and I am not sure we are going to be able to break that down.

Oh and I don't need to see Shaq Moore again.

[panda]

Yeah, it's too bad that the one bad half they played cost them two points.  Beating Iran will be tough because they are going to just park the bus and hope for a draw, and I am not sure we are going to be able to break that down.

Oh and I don't need to see Shaq Moore again.

Iran needs to win. GOal difference not in their favor so a tie most likely won't help them.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Iran needs to win. GOal difference not in their favor so a tie most likely won't help them.

Wouldn't they advance with a tie provided Wales doesn't beat England?

[The Sultan]

Iran only need to win if Wales beats England.

[panda]

Is goal difference still the tie breaker ?

[panda]

Never mind - bad at math

[Golden Avalanche]

Adams, Turner, Ream standouts again. Musah very good. Good Dest showed up today. Substitutions confounding. Faded down the stretch. McKennie with the miss of the Cup.

Ferreira, Wright, Sargent continue to show why they were selected.

[JWags85]

Ferreira, Wright, Sargent continue to show why they were selected.

Wut?

[brewcity77]

That was exactly what we wanted. Let them control possession and make them break down the defense, which they couldn't do. England had two real chances, the deflection by Zimmerman and that one palmed save (might've been offside anyway?). USA's defense has been excellent so far.

My only gripe today was waiting to sub. I like to see subs at 60. We were pushing for a goal then, so I understood waiting until 65, but England brought on Henderson and seized the momentum. By the time Aaronson and Reyna came on, our best opportunities were done.

Still, happy with the result, out-executing England, and just needing to win to advance, as it should be.

[panda]

We just need to score a couple goals against Iran. Shouldn't be an issue right ?!

[panda]

That was exactly what we wanted. Let them control possession and make them break down the defense, which they couldn't do. England had two real chances, the deflection by Zimmerman and that one palmed save (might've been offside anyway?). USA's defense has been excellent so far.

My only gripe today was waiting to sub. I like to see subs at 60. We were pushing for a goal then, so I understood waiting until 65, but England brought on Henderson and seized the momentum. By the time Aaronson and Reyna came on, our best opportunities were done.

Still, happy with the result, out-executing England, and just needing to win to advance, as it should be.

Waiting so long to bring on aaronson and Reyna was killer. It's hard for subs to make an impact and especially difficult in ten minutes or so.

Juventus owe Mckennie a debt of gratitude. His transfer value for the highly probable sale in the January window is going up big time after this game.

[ZiggysFryBoy]

That was exactly what we wanted. Let them control possession and make them break down the defense, which they couldn't do. England had two real chances, the deflection by Zimmerman and that one palmed save (might've been offside anyway?). USA's defense has been excellent so far.

My only gripe today was waiting to sub. I like to see subs at 60. We were pushing for a goal then, so I understood waiting until 65, but England brought on Henderson and seized the momentum. By the time Aaronson and Reyna came on, our best opportunities were done.

Still, happy with the result, out-executing England, and just needing to win to advance, as it should be.

Especially with 5 subs plus a concussion sub, no reason to wait as long at Gregg did.

We ended up only using 4 subs.

[jesmu84]

Especially with 5 subs plus a concussion sub, no reason to wait as long at Gregg did.

We ended up only using 4 subs.

I have tended to buy into the idea that GGG preplans his subs and doesn't waver from that (outside of injury)

[MUBurrow]

GGG definitely got a outmanaged a bit on the timing of the subs.  England's only real advantage during the second half was when they got their subs into the run of play earlier.  The one I was yelling at the tv about was to take Weah off earlier - he had stopped being effective for awhile before the Reyna sub.

Overall though, it was pretty enjoyable to watch the US attack a quality team from the midfield.  A nice change from World Cups past when they would go over their own midfield, and just try to find their one competent striker on the counter. 

[panda]

https://twitter.com/fb_bentley/status/1596369981301727232?s=42&t=E_a_kQ7TkiXWatauNOE2hQ

If true, fire able offense

[brewcity77]

https://twitter.com/fb_bentley/status/1596369981301727232?s=42&t=E_a_kQ7TkiXWatauNOE2hQ

If true, fire able offense

Very curious. Honestly, my hope is that Gregg just does enough to get us to the Round of 16, I'll take any result after that and would just like to see him move on after the Cup. He can caretake while they find a replacement, but I don't want him to be the answer for 2026. He's taken us as far as I think he can.