USA National Team Watch

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

Not that is will happen, but in the BBC scroll this morning, people are calling for a temporary Pochettino takeover of the England squad for the World Cup.

Maybe the Americans can offer a oil tanker worth of cash and try for the same. I only think I suggest it because it would make make me even happier if they got him and then still crashed out.

[narduch]

Following our match

 

 

[Gian-Luca]

A 0-0 draw against the Saudis. Given that this was supposed to be the big response after getting played off the pitch by Japan, I would imagine the American fans won't be happy with this. Stats look pretty even, each side with 2 shots on goal. Overall I think we can afford to feel happier about our camp, the main cause for US optimism is how much of a dog's breakfast Southgate is making England look right now, whereas all our opponents look in decent form.

Wouldn't be surprised if Iran topped their group.

[CanadaFan123]

Not convinced that results here mean anything. We’ve seen teams underperform and then look great at the dance ... case in point was when Brazil drew us in a friendly and was eviscerated by their press prior to winning the 94 World Cup.

I think the USA is going to advance out of their group. 

[Gian-Luca]

11 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

Not convinced that results here mean anything. We’ve seen teams underperform and then look great at the dance ... case in point was when Brazil drew us in a friendly and was eviscerated by their press prior to winning the 94 World Cup.

I think the USA is going to advance out of their group. 

I agree about results for these friendlies, but the concern from the US supporters isn't so much about results but how poor the US team is playing. The player ratings on the MLS site are once again overall abysmal and after just a quick survey of social media its tough to find anyone saying anything remotely positive about how they are playing.

[CanadaFan123]

If friendlies do mean something then we should be pleased as the only team the USA has been able to beat has been Morocco - and they thrashed them.

[Obinna]

I can't wait to catch up on all the panic from USMNT when I finish work. For now I will just say that from what I saw they were terrible, yet again. No ideas going forward, aside from what Berhalter drilled into them, which is basically just "switch play with diagonal long ball and try to overload one side". That's all they have and it doesn't work. They'd be better off just ignoring Berhalter and finding solutions themselves, instead of the patterns which don't work. 

[Obinna]

12 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

If friendlies do mean something then we should be pleased as the only team the USA has been able to beat has been Morocco - and they thrashed them.

And even then, that was an out-of-sorts Morocco, with a coach under pressure for strained relationships with players. Now Zyech is back and that coach is gone. Morocco today would probably beat the USA.

[Ansem]

Also... That was Saudi Arabia B Team 

[CanadaFan123]

23 minutes ago, Obinna said:

And even then, that was an out-of-sorts Morocco, with a coach under pressure for strained relationships with players. Now Zyech is back and that coach is gone. Morocco today would probably beat the USA.

I like that even more for us. Our team has had a lot more time in their system. Morocco with time constraints is probably going to have to keep it simple at this stage. 

[Lansdude]

I think we leave our friendlies with more answers than questions, and the US has more questions than answers. They still look like a botched job under Berhalter.

[Alex]

what does everyone think about this theory regarding club system vs country system. I tend to agree, a national programs style is dictated by its best players. 

[Unnamed Trialist]

31 minutes ago, Alex said:

what does everyone think about this theory regarding club system vs country system. I tend to agree, a national programs style is dictated by its best players. 

It's dictated by who the coach is, and how he wants to play. Then by the demand for success.

You could argue that our case proves the "style" theory, since our supposedly best player doesn't play in his "best" demonstrated position. If we were basing play on the players we'd respect his club positions  (though we mostly do for others) and we wouldn't have "brotherhood" as a condition.

Plenty of NT coaches leave off on paper good enough players. Spain is a good example where noone would say Unai Simon is the best Spanish keeper, that Ferran Torres is the best left wing, and so on for a few more positions. Spain leaves it's leading scorers off the team. It's ho hum, hard to get excited about, but apparently effective.

[narduch]

My hot take is that they simply aren't that good and their talent is overrated. 

Their biggest problem is that MLS clubs aren't doing a good enough job developing players. 

They will never do it but they need to consider having a CPL type domestic quota.

[Shway]

31 minutes ago, narduch said:

My hot take is that they simply aren't that good and their talent is overrated. 

Their biggest problem is that MLS clubs aren't doing a good enough job developing players. 

They will never do it but they need to consider having a CPL type domestic quota.

Big facts.

They need to stop the green card shit rules, and just differentiate between what is a homegrown vs an import player. 

I’ve seen this trending, but Americans are getting a lot less opportunities in their league, but it’s just masked by the never ending expansion…anyways I don’t care lol.

Everyone knows I want the Canadian clubs out of their system. 

[narduch]

2 minutes ago, Shway said:

Big facts.

They need to stop the green card shit rules, and just differentiate between what is a homegrown vs an import player. 

I’ve seen this trending, but Americans are getting a lot less opportunities in their league, but it’s just masked by the never ending expansion…anyways I don’t care lol.

Everyone knows I want the Canadian clubs out of their system. 

Agreed!

Actually think their pundits are showing their arrogance by expecting they should be better. 

They will fire Berhalter and the results won't improve much.

They will continue to perform well at home Gold Cups and it will continue to mask how far they have fallen. 

 

Edited October 1, 2022 by narduch

[VinceA]

34 minutes ago, narduch said:

Agreed!

Actually think their pundits are showing their arrogance by expecting they should be better. 

They will fire Berhalter and the results won't improve much.

They will continue to perform well at home Gold Cups and it will continue to mask how far they have fallen. 

 

They fire Berhalter and they get the right coach they will be scary.

The whole issue with Berhalter is he has a "system" that he keeps imposing with players that don't work for it. Once they get someone who can actually build a system to their player pool's strength, they'll be quite scary in CONCACAF.

Musah is the real deal, and they have a lot of talent.

We can keep underestimating the US all we like but that talent pool just needs the right coach to unlock it.

[Obinna]

1 hour ago, narduch said:

My hot take is that they simply aren't that good and their talent is overrated. 

Their biggest problem is that MLS clubs aren't doing a good enough job developing players. 

They will never do it but they need to consider having a CPL type domestic quota.

Agree with this totally. Talent is overrated plus I think those players buy into their own hype, which makes it worse. There is no humility coming out of that group. 

Will also add that in the past American players were unwanted, but that has reversed and clubs want them so they can penetrate the US market. This leads to a lot of Americans at big clubs, but few are impact payers at those clubs. 

[SpursFlu]

Are the Americans overated? Maybe the expectations in America is out of wack but globally they're still kinda looked down on. I was listening to Demarcus Beasley on TalkSport and they were being polite but you could tell they were so let me gets this straight.. you think you're good? I think if healthy they should handle Wales pretty easy.. Iran is a tough game 50/50 and they could maybe manage a pt against England 

I think the only decent nation who respects them are Mexico. Everyone else still consider them bums

Edited October 1, 2022 by SpursFlu

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

52 minutes ago, SpursFlu said:

Are the Americans overated? Maybe the expectations in America is out of wack but globally they're still kinda looked down on. I was listening to Demarcus Beasley on TalkSport and they were being polite but you could tell they were so let me gets this straight.. you think you're good? I think if healthy they should handle Wales pretty easy.. Iran is a tough game 50/50 and they could maybe manage a pt against England 

I think the only decent nation who respects them are Mexico. Everyone else still consider them bums

Overated in the FIFA rankings - probably.  We could be as well in a bit if continue to improve  and consistently beat everyone but a couple teams in our Nations League and confederation cup.

 

Possibly more seriously, the Americans as always do themselves no favours with others' perceptions of them but people who follow football know they have well funded youth programs and a lot of young talent playing around the world.

[SoccMan]

1 hour ago, SpursFlu said:

Are the Americans overated? Maybe the expectations in America is out of wack but globally they're still kinda looked down on. I was listening to Demarcus Beasley on TalkSport and they were being polite but you could tell they were so let me gets this straight.. you think you're good? I think if healthy they should handle Wales pretty easy.. Iran is a tough game 50/50 and they could maybe manage a pt against England 

I think the only decent nation who respects them are Mexico. Everyone else still consider them bums

But yet when was the last time England beat these bums at a World Cup ? The US has actually advanced out of their group a few times in the World Cup love them or hate them, moreover even mighty Portugal has had trouble with the US in World Cups one time even with Ronaldo in his prime . They might not get any respect and even laughed at but many times some of these so called powers are the ones left embarrassed at World Cups playing the US . 

[Macksam]

3 hours ago, narduch said:

My hot take is that they simply aren't that good and their talent is overrated. 

Their biggest problem is that MLS clubs aren't doing a good enough job developing players. 

They will never do it but they need to consider having a CPL type domestic quota.

MLS isn't going to dilute their product by forcing teams to play domestics that aren't good and the USSF will never force them to. 

The thing that will elevate both American and Canadian players for that matter is MLS becoming more competitive and that is gradually happening so the future is bright. The new media deal is good and I believe even better ones will come down the pipeline over the coming years which will catapult the league to top five status in the world. Once that happens, USMNT eligible players in the league will be halved compared to what it is now but the ones that are in the league will be much better than the current crop of guys and that will be a fairly good trade off for both the USSF and the CSA. I don't think the USSF will care if guys like Dom Dwyer, Jacob Peterson, Will Trapp, etc. are no longer in the league. 

 

 

Edited October 1, 2022 by Macksam

[SpursFlu]

3 hours ago, SoccMan said:

But yet when was the last time England beat these bums at a World Cup ? The US has actually advanced out of their group a few times in the World Cup love them or hate them, moreover even mighty Portugal has had trouble with the US in World Cups one time even with Ronaldo in his prime . They might not get any respect and even laughed at but many times some of these so called powers are the ones left embarrassed at World Cups playing the US . 

I would definitely love to see the US beat Iran. That would be amazing 

I think that will be one of the sauciest games in the opening round

[red card]

8 hours ago, narduch said:

My hot take is that they simply aren't that good and their talent is overrated. 

Their biggest problem is that MLS clubs aren't doing a good enough job developing players. 

They will never do it but they need to consider having a CPL type domestic quota.

One new realization from American pundits that I heard on a couple of podcasts this week is that the "great US depth" isn't really there. 

One pundit said we saw this week that there is a big drop off after the starting 11. None of the players who came in because of injuries delivered. 

Many said that they don't have enough players who can play GGG's system. GGG even seemed to imply his players weren't too bright as they couldn't absorb all he threw at them to play against Japan. 

One also finally realized that the ones on big Euro clubs are actually niche players. They are usually asked to do only specific things for their club team or are part-timers. So, when they're asked to be different or more expansive on the national team, they have difficulties adjusting.

 

[Gian-Luca]

In this video (I've cued to the Canada discussion) the mostly-American panel is mostly positive on Canada and all doom and gloom for the US - however, note the Charlie Davies comment that the US are a "Top 10" team in World Soccer, which, despite the doom and gloom, indicates that the US pundits are still overrating themselves.