US playing well against Mexico in the first half. @DFresh11 Gio getting the start and playing well although that bleached hair is something… And then I look at twitter and we’re hiring back Berhalter??? WTF?
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Mexico played dirty and cheap…as per usual. Unfortunately provoked US guys into sticking up for their teammates and getting red cards as well … 4 total red cards.
But USA 3-0.
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This current generation of the USMNT is fun. Great team chemistry, a ton of confidence and swagger, and the skill to back it up. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a talent gap between them and Mexico before.
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Dominant performance but yeah Mckennie and Dest should have kept their heads as now we won’t have them against Canada. Having Joe Scally at RB instead of Dest will be tough as Canada has speed on the wings.
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Those cards should be rescinded - especially McKennie’s
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I missed it but heard Gio has new hair haha.
No clue why they brought that coach back.
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The search process was ridiculous given that this is where it landed. But it makes some sense from a pure soccer standpoint, as some of the team’s stars (Pulisic and Weah most notably) have been very outspoken about wanting Gregg back, and the team played well under him, especially defensively. At the World Cup, the main issue was lack of chance creation, but getting Balogun into the team should help with that, as they’ve never had someone who has accomplished as much goal-scoring in a Big 5 European league as he did this past season.
Some charts that illustrate this are in this tweet: https://twitter.com/johnspacemuller/status/1669379776786866177?s=46&t=wAzMZR-0PRGT1LpN6U5x0g
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Or he just could have played Gio
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I don’t like soccer but as some who’s worn my nation’s crest this one gave me chills
https://twitter.com/CBSSportsGolazo/status/1669551848133476355?s=20
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Really what it comes down to. When Adams is healthy if he sits Gio for the MMA midfield then he’s a bad decision. Don’t know who you take out but it’s not Gio. Then again, what are the odds all 4 guys are ever healthy at the same time again?
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Seems to be a crazy trend somehow with our guys. Injuries
Also think our organisation overly focused on fitness vs skill
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Interesting we have the same issue on the rugby side. I find the focus on fitness/physicality is used as a way to make up for the lack of skill. And it works to a degree until you meet truly skilled teams.
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I think the club teams have a lot more to do with that. The national team players are only with US Soccer for 1-2 weeks at a time, 4-6 times/year. Modern soccer players at good clubs just have too many games to play, so it can be hard for guys who have some vulnerability to injury already.
Good point. Is all part of it. But my son came up in HS years in the US and all colleges cared about was physicality. To the detriment of technicality even
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Basically between Pulisic, Reyna, Weah, McKinnie, Musah and Arronson, you can start 4 at wing and MF. Going into the WC, Reyna hadn’t played in a while, the MMA MF was the strength of the squad and Weah beat out Reyna. It’s hard when most of your best players play the same positions.
I’m not fond of bringing Gregg back. I mean, it took 6 months to bring the old guy back after you didn’t renew his contract and let him go in the first place? He built a solid culture I guess, but talking about the Gio situation to a public audience was a bush league move and the tactics against Netherlands were minor league. He performed to expectations, but didn’t exceed them in any way. I guess we could do worse, but there wasn’t someone better with tactics out there that we could afford? I know there’s salary limitations and all, but I thought the new Sporting Director making the hire could have more or better contacts around the world than Stewart did. Guess not.
Given the above where 6 of our best players played the same positions, a good coach would’ve figured out how to play them all together instead of forcing a subpar striker or 2nd central defender into the lineup just to play a 4-3-3. Adapt like the Argentine coach did.
The hire doesn’t instill a lot of confidence that we can make the 26 WC semi with the host country boost that happens some years. I guess it’d help if our guys stayed healthy and in form too.
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The way I see it, gio will benefit from his redshirt World Cup.
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You playing in red shirt leap years now. Which is next level use of the shirt
And Boyd and Zendejas are playable options too. Good we have depth there. Should be able to rotate players in Copa America and 2026 rather than riding MMA, Pulisic, and Weah the entire time like last World Cup.
Also can we build up similar depth defensively?
Looking good again, tonight. Two assists for Reyna. First goal for Folarin. Welcome to the USMNT, Folarin. Made the right choice to play for us over England.
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This team is fun. It’s almost a shame they won’t have to go through qualifying for the next World Cup (because US is a host), as I want to see them in more matches with real stakes and intensity like even the Nations League matches have had.
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