https://x.com/optaanalystus/status/1805028745893355939?s=46&t=wAzMZR-0PRGT1LpN6U5x0g
The second chart tells a good story: the goals came from relatively difficult scoring chances in the first half, but from 60 mins onward, they started to crack Bolivia open but weren’t able to finish off a chance. And then the last chart with the shot map shows that Bolivia just couldn’t make inroads into the 18-yard box.
This Brazil Costa Rica game… is how we will need to play against them to advance…
Costa Rica getting super lucky… but have zero shots and only 25% possession… stil 0 - 0
VAR blows
Both calls were correct however
Matt Turner got trucked in the 12th minute and the ref was like “this is fine.”
There cant be VAR on that one unfortunately. I agree it was a foul.
If your video technology allows you to review some but not all fouls then it kind of sucks, true of all sports but so egregious in soccer.
VAR is not allowed for just a foul… just to check goals, penalty kick calls and red card decisions.
A lot include fouls… but none of the reasons are because of fouls. That’s it.
American football and basketball are the same. You can’t use VAR for just a foul or no foul decision. I’m not sure how you can complain about soccer and not basketball and American football as well.
Pepi is cursed
Yes to all
Berhalter has to be fired if we can’t get out of a group with Bolivia and Panama, right?
However we all know they cant make it foul no foul or all these games would just be VAR reviews every 30 seconds. At least that is my opinion.
If US soccer were governed by a proper organization you’d be correct. USSF is not a proper organization though.
Not sure what’s the right way to evaluate the Panama game. 70 mins is a long time to play a man-down, I’ve read some stuff before that ballparks the value of an early red card as approaching 1 goal in a specific game.
Very unfortunate that the biggest (missed) chance directly preceded their second goal:
https://x.com/optaanalystus/status/1806478729092198630?s=46&t=wAzMZR-0PRGT1LpN6U5x0g
It wouldn’t be evaluating just one game…
Also that’s the second time in 3 competitive windows one of our guys has gotten a straight red completely outside the flow of play. That lack of discipline ultimately falls on the manager/coach of a team
I mean, ultimately, I think playing Uruguay in a pressure situation is a decent proxy for a World Cup-level match, so it’s going to be a fair measuring stick. I just wouldn’t know what to do in the scenario where they play them to a draw that’s relatively equal in terms of chances created…in a vacuum that’s a solid performance but it also might get them sent home in the specific situation they are in now.
Uruguay has all but won the group. I bet they rest a lot of players and we’ll have a decent chance to win.
Of course, Bolivia is all but eliminated, so hard to say how much effort they’ll put up against Panama.
Not putting more in the back of the net against Bolivia May come back to haunt us
Ya… we could win 1 - 0 vs Uruguay and still not qualify for the knockout rounds because Panama drops a 4 spot on Bolivia… which is entirely plausible.
Helpful for us that Carrasquilla took that brain-dead red card late in the match, he’s one of Panama’s best players. It’s gonna be white-knuckle time for sure though.