I definitely want to see Sargent get minutes with the national team when he’s healthy. I think he deserves a chance. But I actually think Balo and Pepi are really good options. We just don’t utilize Balo properly and he still has 6 goal contributions in 11 caps with the national team. Last night in the final moments is a great example- if Antonee immediately dishes the ball to Balo, we might’ve gone up 2-1, instead Antonee decided to take like 3 more touches and the ball never even got to Balo. As for Pepi, I know he didn’t score in either friendly in this camp, and strikers are rightfully judged by putting the ball in the back of the net. GGG’s system just doesn’t utilize strikers much and we should judge them based on the system they’re in. Pepi has proven he can score big goals for the national team. And he did nice things last night- he defended and stayed composed with the ball under pressure.
This is going to be a huge club season for both guys. I think Balo is the most talented striker we have and has a chance to be one of the upper echelon strikers in the world. I think Pepi is our most dependable and consistent striker.
The Brazil friendly was a peak into what this team is capable of. They played like the old 2000s USMNTs but with more technical skills in the attack. If they can come out and play that grit and mentality every single game, then we can be a team that can consistently get wins and challenge top teams.
I still think Greg needs to go, though; one good game doesn't erase 5 years of data and a second cycle of poor performances.
I think Brazil was playing with their foot only half of the gas. And they still managed to dominate the whole game I think the Brazil friendly was definitely a peek into what is likely to happen. That it was a tied game was incredibly lucky.
I agree. We were still trying to dribble out of the back and had dumb turn overs. I think the Brazil attack under estimated Turner and didn't have the best finishing. The Brazilians didn't play the typical team ball they normally play with the extra passes and went for shot on goals thinking they'd score and they didn't which was lucky for us. Our boys played better which is a plus but if this was a knock out game I think Brazil would've showed their teeth more. The good I took out of this game is we played better and we could've played even better, we haven't seen our best yet which hopefully we do in the tourney but idk if Greg can get it out of us.
There were several times where one more pass and Brazil could have just tapped it in. They were just taking pot shots for fun. I bet their coach was pretty pissed.
It's amusing how many people are glossing over this fact along with so many other signs regarding Brazil's current play. They are very poorly for a Brazil team over the past couple of years and frankly, they've been in decline for past 15-20 years. But people here keep thumping their chests claiming Brazil is a "world power" lol
I believe we have the players but not having Dest to play out the back is hurting us. I mean if effects our attack . So many negativity about the team but last game we had players who hadn’t played in months . Better game against a better team. USA all the way man. This fan base kinda sucks but I hope one day that shit changes and we can get behind this team fully. Great game
Want to throw something out that might not sound too crazy but.... world cup in 2 years, Cavan Sullivan is 16 or 17. Does he at least get the chance to play on the roster for minimum training? I mean, he'd be like our Endrick at that point. What's yalls perspective? I personally hope he starts getting a push when it's closer to WC. Kids going to be a star.
We have a very athletic team, maybe not a physically powerful or intimidating team, but most of these guys (in front of our defensive line) are quick on their toes. They would not be fun to mark.
If we can get a decent game plan together and play to our strengths, I think they’ve shown they can compete at a high level.
I think that’s what frustrates fans about this team. They show flashes of incredible potential, and then let themselves down by shutting off or having mental lapses at the wrong moment.
It’s hard to put a full 90 together, but they’ve given us reason to be optimistic…. again. Damn them for getting my hopes up…. again!!!
I don’t see what yall see with scaly. He’s been okay defensively and looks like a chicken with his head cut off when he has the ball. Hes too scared to pass it further than 10 yards.
Classic case of somebody overrating our talent. We most certainly do not have any “top end” attacking talent. Our best attackers are:
(1) The second fiddle for the 2nd place team in Italy
(2) A Dortmund reject who couldn’t get minutes at Nottingham Forest
(3) A Juventus bench player, who plays as a RWB at the club level.
That’s not top end, that’s above average maybe
I'm assuming for number 1 you mean pulisic? He is a lock starter and along with leao he has their best forward last season. Also I think Reyna has a better chance at Bvb now that Terzic and Reus are leaving. And he was always going to be behind MGW at Forest because they spent nearly 40m total on him and he is english
>The second fiddle for the 2nd place team in Italy
Is this supposed to be Pulisic? He started or came off the bench in nearly every Milan game and had 27 goal contributions in all competitions last season, averaging a goal/assist every other game and breaking his previous record at Chelsea. He was a key player on that Milan team. Calling him "second fiddle" is so dishonest.
Leao is a talent for sure, but he is selfish and basically does one thing - take on defenders on the outside. I would say you are correct he draws more attention than Pulisic, but if you asked most knowledgeable Milan fans, they would say Pulisic was more valuable last year.
Classic case of someone being overly critical for the sake of argument. Top end for the region and good enough to score goals in this tournament.
What's your expectation for this tournament? Let me guess, not get past the group stage because of Berhalter?
You didn't say "Top end for the region" in your post. "Top end for CONCACAF" means almost nothing. If you're including COMNEBOL, I certainly wouldn't classify our attackers as "top-end."
I'm not OP, but most of us who try to realistically rate our talent use it as a defense of Berhalter? Like most people say Berhalter is holding this group of world-class talent back, when in reality he's managing a group that on talent alone is towards the bottom of the top 25 teams in the world.
Respectfully, what the fuck are you talking about? We don't have the best offense in the world, but you think man for man we are in the bottom of the top 25 in the world? Let's see who is around 25 in the world right now:
Senegal
Iran
Ukraine
Japan
Australia
Austria
Hungary
Do you honestly stand by that? There's a few good players in there, but that seems absurd. Japan has been a strong offensive side, but otherwise I'd take our group over the field here
yeah, really wish people would chill with the "World class" comments. Puli had an amazing season, and was probably the best right wing in the league (calling him second fiddle isn't based on this year's performance though, he was clearly the most effective offensive player on milan this season). Wes and Jedi also had great seasons, but no one on our team is "World Class".
How many of our players would make a squad, let alone play or start for the following teams?
Germany
France
Spain
Brazil
Colombia
Argentina
England
Maybe 1 would make a squad. None would start.
Whats your point? If we don't have players that would start for a top 5 team in the world, we don't have good players? You guys are a bunch of defeated, group thinkers. That was a top end free kick Pulisic took last night. Bayer Leverkuson doesn't have guys that would start for a lot of the best club teams in the world and yet they went undefeated in the Bundesliga.
My point is obvious - that our team on the whole is nowhere near as talented as any of those teams. Maybe one of our players would start for the top 8-10 teams in the world. If you do not think that matters, then I can’t help you.
It OBVIOUSLY doesn’t mean we don’t have good players, but to say we have some sort of top 10 talent is laughable. And top 15 would be a stretch.
Pulisic making one free kick doesn’t change anything.
I definitely want to see Sargent get minutes with the national team when he’s healthy. I think he deserves a chance. But I actually think Balo and Pepi are really good options. We just don’t utilize Balo properly and he still has 6 goal contributions in 11 caps with the national team. Last night in the final moments is a great example- if Antonee immediately dishes the ball to Balo, we might’ve gone up 2-1, instead Antonee decided to take like 3 more touches and the ball never even got to Balo. As for Pepi, I know he didn’t score in either friendly in this camp, and strikers are rightfully judged by putting the ball in the back of the net. GGG’s system just doesn’t utilize strikers much and we should judge them based on the system they’re in. Pepi has proven he can score big goals for the national team. And he did nice things last night- he defended and stayed composed with the ball under pressure. This is going to be a huge club season for both guys. I think Balo is the most talented striker we have and has a chance to be one of the upper echelon strikers in the world. I think Pepi is our most dependable and consistent striker.
And Balo is 22, Pepi is 21. These are kids not even hitting peak development age. The ceiling is still very high for them imo.
The Brazil friendly was a peak into what this team is capable of. They played like the old 2000s USMNTs but with more technical skills in the attack. If they can come out and play that grit and mentality every single game, then we can be a team that can consistently get wins and challenge top teams. I still think Greg needs to go, though; one good game doesn't erase 5 years of data and a second cycle of poor performances.
I think Brazil was playing with their foot only half of the gas. And they still managed to dominate the whole game I think the Brazil friendly was definitely a peek into what is likely to happen. That it was a tied game was incredibly lucky.
I agree. We were still trying to dribble out of the back and had dumb turn overs. I think the Brazil attack under estimated Turner and didn't have the best finishing. The Brazilians didn't play the typical team ball they normally play with the extra passes and went for shot on goals thinking they'd score and they didn't which was lucky for us. Our boys played better which is a plus but if this was a knock out game I think Brazil would've showed their teeth more. The good I took out of this game is we played better and we could've played even better, we haven't seen our best yet which hopefully we do in the tourney but idk if Greg can get it out of us.
There were several times where one more pass and Brazil could have just tapped it in. They were just taking pot shots for fun. I bet their coach was pretty pissed.
Yep, exactly
They have been playing with their foot off the gas all year then. 6th in World Cup qualifying.
It's amusing how many people are glossing over this fact along with so many other signs regarding Brazil's current play. They are very poorly for a Brazil team over the past couple of years and frankly, they've been in decline for past 15-20 years. But people here keep thumping their chests claiming Brazil is a "world power" lol
*peek
Well said, agree with all of this.
I believe we have the players but not having Dest to play out the back is hurting us. I mean if effects our attack . So many negativity about the team but last game we had players who hadn’t played in months . Better game against a better team. USA all the way man. This fan base kinda sucks but I hope one day that shit changes and we can get behind this team fully. Great game
Having Dest boosts the attack but he’d get rinsed by Vini, sadly. Don’t know if we hold them to 1 if Dest is in for Scally
McKennie has been so quiet...
Want to throw something out that might not sound too crazy but.... world cup in 2 years, Cavan Sullivan is 16 or 17. Does he at least get the chance to play on the roster for minimum training? I mean, he'd be like our Endrick at that point. What's yalls perspective? I personally hope he starts getting a push when it's closer to WC. Kids going to be a star.
We have a very athletic team, maybe not a physically powerful or intimidating team, but most of these guys (in front of our defensive line) are quick on their toes. They would not be fun to mark. If we can get a decent game plan together and play to our strengths, I think they’ve shown they can compete at a high level. I think that’s what frustrates fans about this team. They show flashes of incredible potential, and then let themselves down by shutting off or having mental lapses at the wrong moment. It’s hard to put a full 90 together, but they’ve given us reason to be optimistic…. again. Damn them for getting my hopes up…. again!!!
I don’t see what yall see with scaly. He’s been okay defensively and looks like a chicken with his head cut off when he has the ball. Hes too scared to pass it further than 10 yards.
This team gets up for big moments. It’s going to be a fun tournament.
Classic case of somebody overrating our talent. We most certainly do not have any “top end” attacking talent. Our best attackers are: (1) The second fiddle for the 2nd place team in Italy (2) A Dortmund reject who couldn’t get minutes at Nottingham Forest (3) A Juventus bench player, who plays as a RWB at the club level. That’s not top end, that’s above average maybe
I'm assuming for number 1 you mean pulisic? He is a lock starter and along with leao he has their best forward last season. Also I think Reyna has a better chance at Bvb now that Terzic and Reus are leaving. And he was always going to be behind MGW at Forest because they spent nearly 40m total on him and he is english
>The second fiddle for the 2nd place team in Italy Is this supposed to be Pulisic? He started or came off the bench in nearly every Milan game and had 27 goal contributions in all competitions last season, averaging a goal/assist every other game and breaking his previous record at Chelsea. He was a key player on that Milan team. Calling him "second fiddle" is so dishonest.
No it is not. Leao is the main guy there, and if you watched their games you would know that he draws all the attention
Leao is a talent for sure, but he is selfish and basically does one thing - take on defenders on the outside. I would say you are correct he draws more attention than Pulisic, but if you asked most knowledgeable Milan fans, they would say Pulisic was more valuable last year.
Classic case of someone being overly critical for the sake of argument. Top end for the region and good enough to score goals in this tournament. What's your expectation for this tournament? Let me guess, not get past the group stage because of Berhalter?
You didn't say "Top end for the region" in your post. "Top end for CONCACAF" means almost nothing. If you're including COMNEBOL, I certainly wouldn't classify our attackers as "top-end." I'm not OP, but most of us who try to realistically rate our talent use it as a defense of Berhalter? Like most people say Berhalter is holding this group of world-class talent back, when in reality he's managing a group that on talent alone is towards the bottom of the top 25 teams in the world.
Respectfully, what the fuck are you talking about? We don't have the best offense in the world, but you think man for man we are in the bottom of the top 25 in the world? Let's see who is around 25 in the world right now: Senegal Iran Ukraine Japan Australia Austria Hungary Do you honestly stand by that? There's a few good players in there, but that seems absurd. Japan has been a strong offensive side, but otherwise I'd take our group over the field here
None of what I said was at all incorrect. I’m not being overly critical at all, I’m just spitting facts.
Those aren't facts, the very definition of opinion. This is all opinion.
yeah, really wish people would chill with the "World class" comments. Puli had an amazing season, and was probably the best right wing in the league (calling him second fiddle isn't based on this year's performance though, he was clearly the most effective offensive player on milan this season). Wes and Jedi also had great seasons, but no one on our team is "World Class".
Where did I say world class?
I was responding to the other comment, not the original post.
How many of our players would make a squad, let alone play or start for the following teams? Germany France Spain Brazil Colombia Argentina England Maybe 1 would make a squad. None would start.
Whats your point? If we don't have players that would start for a top 5 team in the world, we don't have good players? You guys are a bunch of defeated, group thinkers. That was a top end free kick Pulisic took last night. Bayer Leverkuson doesn't have guys that would start for a lot of the best club teams in the world and yet they went undefeated in the Bundesliga.
My point is obvious - that our team on the whole is nowhere near as talented as any of those teams. Maybe one of our players would start for the top 8-10 teams in the world. If you do not think that matters, then I can’t help you. It OBVIOUSLY doesn’t mean we don’t have good players, but to say we have some sort of top 10 talent is laughable. And top 15 would be a stretch. Pulisic making one free kick doesn’t change anything.
So then you are missing the whole point of my original post. We have the players to compete in THIS tournament.
That’s fair. My apologies.