Canadian Chuck Posted November 13, 2022 Share Posted November 13, 2022 (edited) On 11/8/2022 at 9:18 PM, VinceA said: Media is reporting an injury but I thought he was back to playing for Middlesbrough? So who knows what's going on. Some articles have speculated, likely correctly, that Steffen was really upset upon hearing Turner would be the #1 and Steffen would not accept a backup role, so it was decided to bring Sean Johnson for locker room chemistry. Johnson is someone who would feel grateful to just get invited as the #3, plus he is a veteran presence for the locker room. So they dropped Steffen entirely, Horvath is the #2, and Turner doesn't have to look behind his shoulder anymore. Not saying this was the right move but this would explain it. Edit: as an analogy, this would be like the Germany coach dropping Ter Stegen if he was causing a rift with Neuer like he has before. Just on a much smaller scale here for the USA. Edited November 13, 2022 by Canadian Chuck Onelessstar and Jack1997 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrstepp817 Posted November 16, 2022 Share Posted November 16, 2022 On 11/13/2022 at 5:24 PM, Canadian Chuck said: Their weakness by far is CBs. Walker Zimmerman and Aaron Long has to be one of the worst pairings of any nation at the World Cup. Fans hoped it would be John Brooks and Chris Richards, but Berhalter does not like Brooks, and Richards got hurt. Benfica's starting CBs made the WC rosters for Argentina and Portugal so Brooks has not been able to play much there after a good run of being a Bundesliga starter. Every other position looks at least serviceable. FB has Dest and Robinson with Joe Scally deputizing both sides, central midfield has Adams/McKennie/Musah, attack has Reyna/Pulisic/Weah/Aaronson. Sargent and Wright are not the best striker options, but one is the joint-leading scorer in the Championship and the other is second place in the Turkish Super Lig ahead of Weghorst and Batshuayi. Turner is good although likely rusty. But they will be undone by their central defense. Aaron Long couldn't handle FC Cincinnati in the MLS playoffs, how will he be able to handle World Cup competition. Best finish to hope for is making the round of 16, second in the group behind England. The CB pairing is going to definitely be a concern....losing Miles Robinson and Richards really, really hurt...Zimmerman is pretty good but Aaron Long...WOOF Canadian Chuck 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGAA_Star Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 USA play today against Wales and really in this match it could go either way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phresh Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 1-0 for the US. They’ve been dominating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kacbru Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 Do not like the US at all, but their high press is really causing Wales problems. Is this a reason for optimism for us against Belgium? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floortom Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 US looks really good so far wales cant get on the ball Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kadenge Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 3 minutes ago, Floortom said: US looks really good so far wales cant get on the ball The US have 3 talented and young mids Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-O Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 Other than Bale & Hennesy, is there any player that would play in our NT from that Welsh side? Ramsey can't run anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floortom Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 Poor challenge from Zimmerman. Deserved penalty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floortom Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 30 minutes ago, P-O said: Other than Bale & Hennesy, is there any player that would play in our NT from that Welsh side? Is this a serious question ? Corazon, Onelessstar and phresh 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pottsy3 Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 45 minutes ago, P-O said: Other than Bale & Hennesy, is there any player that would play in our NT from that Welsh side? I mean Neco Williams is one of the reasons why Richie came back on loan to TFC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phresh Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 49 minutes ago, P-O said: Other than Bale & Hennesy, is there any player that would play in our NT from that Welsh side? Ramsey can't run anymore. About half their team. Onelessstar and Corazon 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Chuck Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 Not surprisingly, Zimmerman was the Achilles' heel from the starting lineup. The lone MLS player. Team was also noticeably worse when the MLS players subbed on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unnamed Trialist Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 49 minutes ago, P-O said: Other than Bale & Hennesy, is there any player that would play in our NT from that Welsh side? Ramsey can't run anymore. I was going to ask the opposite question: do we have any players in our programme that Wales will be wanting to poach? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eramosat Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 thought i saw some similarities to the Hamilton game for USA, lots of possession and excellent switching and forays, but less useful finishing ideas in the offensive third. They were smart and skilled enough to get a transition 1-2-3 for their only goal, they should maybe play to that dynamic some more? who knows. but i bet Wales had more shots, attempted and on target all game, saves by Welsg keeper are hard to remember. why wales sat back so much at first i do not understand, but to be fair USA did look very crisp in both their defensive setup and their possession. but they regrouped and placed enough pressure to draw their very fair penalty equalizer. narduch 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Chuck Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 Also, the decision not to play Reyna was baffling. He may be their most talented player. Perhaps saving him for England, who they almost have to get a result against now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonovision Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 Any Berhalter bounce passes today? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lansdude Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 (edited) So Berhalter's three midfielders Musah, Adams, and McKennie are absolutely owning Wales in the middle and preventing them from passing through during the first half. Wales adjusts and starts looking better in midfield, and Berhalter's answer is to sub out McKennie, then Musah. Then Wales and the USA start trading possessions and unsurprisingly, chaos happens and Zimmerman does an MLS on Bale. Lmao if I were a US fan I'd be annoyed with this coach. Edited November 21, 2022 by Lansdude Musah, not Adams was the 2nd MF sub. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eramosat Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 32 minutes ago, Lansdude said: So Berhalter's three midfielders Musah, Adams, and McKennie are absolutely owning Wales in the middle and preventing them from passing through during the first half. Wales adjusts and starts looking better in midfield, and Berhalter's answer is to sub out McKennie, then Adams. Then Wales and the USA start trading possessions and unsurprisingly, chaos happens and Zimmerman does an MLS on Bale. Lmao if I were a US fan I'd be annoyed with this coach. i did not follow that those those were some of the substitutions. USA midfield first half was awesome. controlled most of the play, somehow on O they pushed Wales deeper and deeper with almost no challenge, and in return gave them no ground on D? but it might have been tough to hold Wales back in 2nd half once they had a rest to regroup and understand as a group how much bolder they would have to play to get an equalizer. which they did. no question in my mind, as in qualifying...USA have a lot of great pieces that add up to less than their whole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macksam Posted November 21, 2022 Author Share Posted November 21, 2022 1 hour ago, P-O said: Other than Bale & Hennesy, is there any player that would play in our NT from that Welsh side? Ramsey can't run anymore. I don't think it's a good comparison to make when you consider how there is nothing in common between our national team and their national team. We have guys who play all over and they for the most part are a team full of Prem and Championship journeymen. They lack our offensive flair and creativity and we lack their rigid structure, which is based off of their capable defenders. Outside of defense, all of their midfielders and forwards would have a hard time adjusting to our system and I think it would be the same vice versa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGAA_Star Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 USA vs England I'm really looking forward to Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCalTransport Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 56 minutes ago, Lansdude said: So Berhalter's three midfielders Musah, Adams, and McKennie are absolutely owning Wales in the middle and preventing them from passing through during the first half. Wales adjusts and starts looking better in midfield, and Berhalter's answer is to sub out McKennie, then Musah. Then Wales and the USA start trading possessions and unsurprisingly, chaos happens and Zimmerman does an MLS on Bale. Lmao if I were a US fan I'd be annoyed with this coach. I know what you mean Aron Winter & Ryan Nelsen would have managed this game better 😜 Jokes aside, I think if they had a mediocre manager, they would be a very tough team to play against for anyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canadian Chuck Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 The USA lineup is borderline scary when fully healthy, especially the physical "MMA" midfield of McKennie, Musah, Adams. Easily the second most talented in their World Cup group. When healthy they can field a lineup of mostly Big Five league starters, except for Turner who is the #2 for the first-place Premier League side and Sargent who has previous Big Five league experience and now the joint-leading scorer in the Championship. That is a good lineup. But they don't have depth. Zimmerman in for the injured Chris Richards was enough to concede a goal. And their quality suffered massively when other mediocre MLSers subbed in. If that match had gone to extra time they probably would have lost with the MLS-based substitutes they had on the field. Their manager is mediocre at best too. Some people like to claim MLS is as good as the English Championship which is where many of the Wales players come from, but the MLS players were overmatched today other than Bale. Onelessstar 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A_Gagne Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 3 hours ago, Floortom said: US looks really good so far wales cant get on the ball And in the second half: Wales looks really good so far US cant get on the ball Bdog 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stryker911 Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 1 hour ago, Unnamed Trialist said: I was going to ask the opposite question: do we have any players in our programme that Wales will be wanting to poach? I was actually going throught the starting lineup of every team that has played so far. With the exception of England, if you asked anyone if they wanted to trade their front 3 for David, Davies and Tajon they would all say yes. My other team is Netherlands and those 3 I would take over Janssen, Bergwijn, and Gakpo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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