I’m a much bigger fan of “don’t lose by 6 and you’re in” so you can survive the uninspired nights than last time’s “ooops”.
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Yeah, Steffen needs to go on loan somewhere to play in the fall lead up to the World Cup… And Turner is going to Arsenal and probably won’t start so should also probably ask for a loan.
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True. In an ideal world both Steffen and Turner would get loans and Horvath would be the hero in leading Forest to the EPL. The best of the bunch will eventually be Gabriel Slonina who starts for Chicago Fire as a 17 year old and has big clubs in europe wanting him (apparently Chelsea deal recently fell through because of ownership situation)…maybe he’ll be our starter in 2026.
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Even if Turner isn’t playing regularly, I would start him over Steffen, who also isn’t playing regularly. Turner is an elite shot-stopper and Steffen…is allegedly good at passing? But the staff seem to really like Steffen.
For me the most important things that need to happen to raise the team’s World Cup ceiling (beyond just general health) are:
- McKennie making a full recovery and getting back to his peak form that he was at before getting injured.
- One of the strikers to distinguish themselves and claim the starting job (I like Ferreira, but Pepi emerging further would be welcome).
- A real backup left back option solidifying.
- One more CM option to backup our starters. Though maybe you end up starting a Reyna-McKennie-Adams midfield and bringing Musah off the bench, so maybe you don’t need another backup CM since De La Torre has claimed a rotation role.
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Steffen definitely made a meal of the mishandled save that led up to the second goal last night. The first goal was a very nice corner ball taken, along with poor marking on the US part. I felt that McKennie’s absence in the final round of games had the most impact among any of the missing players, particularly with respect to defensive errors that led to some scary chances by Mexico, Panama and the Ticos. I think McKennie would have helped clean up several of those sequences and maybe created a few more goal scoring chances for the US.
Really, really like Weah, Pulisic and Gio as attackers. Wish we had a top level striker to go with them-- maybe Pepi by next fall, but doubtful. Other wish is for a midfielder at the same competitive level as our wingers-- not happening before Qatar though. Regarding Gio, I’ve seen a lot players proclaimed as the next US world-class player and the vast majority did not pan out. But based on my admittedly limited perspective, I think Gio looks like a potential Ballon d’Or someday if he stays relatively healthy.
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I think McKennie was playing at a similar, if not better, level to any of the wingers pre-injury.
If I can assume full fitness and peak form, I think I’d probably go:
Pulisic - Ferreira - Weah
Reyna - Adams - McKennie
A. Robinson - M. Robinson - Zimmerman - Dest
Turner
That lineup has a lot of goal-scoring in the midfield and wings, so a striker who can create chances becomes a little more important than one who is more of a pure shot-getter.
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Yeah, I’m probably not giving McKennie his full due, even though I’m still very high on him. He doesn’t stand out like our wingers, but that’s probably more a function of him being a box-to-box midfielder who doesn’t draw my eye as much on the attack. I like your line up; though I’m lukewarm on Ferreira-- no one else that I can currently think of who’s a better fit with that group (unless, as you implied, Pepi makes big strides before Qatar). I don’t watch Legue 1, so I was not familiar with Weah until this World Cup qualifying cycle. Really like him, though, maybe more than Pulisic. He reminds me a little of Henry, one of my all time favorite players, in terms of his speed, stride and ball control. Obviously not anywhere close to the same quality on shooting, among other things, but I could see Weah eventually becoming a top level European club player.
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Any potential upgrades for the Robinsons out there? I was unimpressed by them during this 3 game stretch.
Antonee is pretty solidly the first choice left back. I think that he is generally good, but maybe got heavy-legged by the end of the window. Backup LB is a huge hole, Berhalter doesn’t really trust any of the backups so far. Interesting names who could earn a look with a good spring at their clubs are Jonathan Gomez (just moved to Real Sociedad in Spain), Kevin Paredes (just moved to Wolfsburg in Germany, but is more winger than true fullback), and DeJuan Jones (starts for New England in MLS), as all got looks in the January national team camp.
Miles I think is generally good too. He’s got the best closing speed out of our CB options, and the US system wants their CBs to be comfortable making defensive plays in space. Better than what he showed this window too. Alternatives would be Chris Richards (Hoffenheim in Germany) who started against Canada in February and got injured but is probably #3 on the depth chart, John Brooks (Wolfsburg) who has really fallen out of favor after some bad performances with the national team, and Aaron Long (NY Red Bulls in MLS), who only recently came back to full fitness from a serious injury. I think it would be reasonable to assume we would face less packed-in defenses at the World Cup, so Miles Robinson’s weakness in passing might be less important compared to his defensive strengths.
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That’s really my biggest concern. He gave away some grade A turnovers that probably end up in the back of our net against European and South American teams.
love this draw…bring on the brits!
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6 points minimum in the group stages we would hope.
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US v. England Black Friday, UVA v. Tech Saturday. Going to hopefully be a clean sweep for the good guys this Thanksgiving.
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Wow, the Dutch really lucked out.
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Let’s go!
Tough group actually. There aren’t really “groups of death” since they changed the draw process for the 2018 WC, but this is one of the tougher groups, at least if you go by some of the ratings systems: https://twitter.com/audacityofhoops/status/1509951040891678721?s=21&t=uKkkxF1ysBICb_cP848ynw
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Worst thread ever. Soccer is what you play when your little, or you are t good at other sports. Same for Lacrosse which is the same as ultimate frisbee in my mind. Bottom tier athletes love both sports. Except if you grew up somewhere else.
Chime in @DFresh11
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Sorry, you’ll get no back-up from many on us on this one, haha. Soccer has some of the best athletes in the world and is an incredible sport. Having been in a nation hosting a World Cup, it’s also one of the most amazing sporting events in the world, period.
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But I am getting people off of the roof their houses based on what happened today for UVA basketball.
Also, name 5 players from the world of soccer who could play on the NBA
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Haha, name me five NBA players who could play for a Champions League club. The endurance required to run constantly for 90 minutes is completely different than what is needed for an NBA game on a short court with all it’s starts and stops. I’m not saying one is better than the other, but they’re extremely different. Both are world class athletes.
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