World Cup Qualifiers

US has to find a way to unlock good chances. Canada deserves the 3 points.

 

Strongly agree Barry. This one was there for the taking, but we didn't take it. Their keeper made a couple of really big saves, so credit to him. I hope we put some things together in St. Paul on Wednesday against last place Honduras.

 

Turner probably should’ve done better on the goal. Not totally his fault on the goal kick, since our guy (not sure who it was) misread/misplayed it, boom it was back in our net in seconds. It’s the inclusion of Zardes in the starting lineup that is beyond head scratching. In 180 minutes this window, Gyasi has played 90+ minutes and Pepi 30…Looked it up, Zardes last played mid-October for the Crew, and GB starts him??? Don’t mean to crush Zardes, but he’s no more then an energy guy for 20 minutes off the bench, and WE all
know that except for the guy who fills out the lineup card.

We should blow out Honduras on Wed. Panama travels to El Tri who are massively struggling. A draw wouldn’t be bad, and a Mexico victory would give us a 4 point lead on Panama (probably the best result), while a Panama victory would mean a death struggle the last window w/2 US matches on the road w/a coach that can’t win away…

 

Many, many seasons ago, I heard an English commentator refer to Arsenal as "nearly men" during a match. I hadn't heard the phrase prior and had to find the reference ...I thought of it as an apt description of yesterday's USMNT performance. It never looked like a goal was coming from the run of play and, credit to Canada, but it's still friggin' Canada and not Italy out there. Poor.

 

I can’t really say too much about the match as I spent the majority of it watching a sketchy stream of the match all the while trying to find a better one.

I will say that I snickered when I saw the headline of the article that @SoCalJoe referenced in the Berhalter thread. I’m glad that he thinks that bossing the game’s possession is a win (even more so when the other team made every effort to concede the possession). In the end and regardless of the players, it's another match where the US cannot find the net and rarely even threatens to.

 

Weather in Minnesota tonight should be around 0 at game time @encorespanish will you be braving the cold?? No Adams, no Richards, but Weah should be back in the lineup.

Was listening to Counter Attack on Sirius XM, former Natty players Tony Meola and Brian Dunseth host and thought they had some very valid points; paraphrasing:

•Canada has 2 excellent strikers in Larin and David, which gives the team the confidence that all they need is to give them an opportunity, we on the other hand have only 1 #9 on the roster (Perfok scores for his team and frankly should’ve been recalled this window), and Pepi hasn’t started either game yet. Pepi is in his own scoring fraught, but it’s a huge mistake by GB considering he’s been the best #9 when he has played.

• Pulisic is struggling mightily confidence wise and trying too much and being very predictable every time he touches the ball. They hope he gets moved more centrally tonight and gets back to terrorizing teams when he doesn’t have the ball.

• There is a vacuum of leadership. Tyler Adams is the leader, but he’s only 22.

• For the most part the other results in Concacaf this window have gone our way, so we must take advantage, grab the 3 points, and hopefully put the foot on the pedal GD wise.

• In order for the last point to come true we must not play like a Dumpster Fire in the first half like we have practically every freaking match! Okay, Dumpster Fire is my wording but terrible first halves have been the norm.

 

My biggest question for today is whether Pulisic will remain predictable or will he find some dynamic movement?

 

Tonight's match is effectively a must win. But will the attack wake up enough to get the job done?

 

Stunned, no Pulisic, Aaronson, Dest or Musah.



Excited to see Pepi and De la Torre and hope they all survive the frigid weather.

 

Top 3 performances for me came from Weston, Acosta and Luca.

Terrible decision by USSF to play this match in Minnesota in February. Two Honduras players had to be subbed off at the half due to hypothermia. That isn’t a knock on the grounds keepers or the stadium but come on.

 

Weston McKennie is THE man right now. And to be honest, I don't see that changing between now and November. Let's pray mightily that he stays healthy, because our chances of a) making it to Qatar, and b) advancing to the knockout stage rest solely and completely on his availability and effectiveness. Even at less than 100%, which I believe he was last night, he's still our most dangerous, creative, shitkicking scoring threat going forward.
About last night...
Everybody hustled. Don't know whether that was just a point of emphasis or it was too cold not to, but the effort, if not the performance, was there. I agree with Don and Barry. McKennie, Acosta and our bud de la Torre were the most effective Yanks. Luca sure didn't hurt himself in getting a seat on the plane to Doha. I just wonder if he'll even get the chance to make his case in the rest of the qualifiers. I also thought Tim Weah put in another solid shift. I've never seen a right back that can consistently get off quality crosses from the wing under pressure. He might be the most talented youngster we've got.
Mr. Hymel, I believe your referring to the March 23rd, 2013 match against the Ticos at snowy Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado.
We prevailed 1-nil on a 16th minute golazo by a bare armed Clinton Drew Dempsey. Jozy, Michael Bradley, Jermaine Jones, Clarence Goodson and Omar Gonzalez also shunned long sleeves in that blizzard. The temp was in the mid to upper 20's, not -4, but I generally agree: we shouldn't be sandbagging opponents like that. On the other hand, I'm certainly for any reasonable strategy to keep from experiencing the scenario of El Tri supporters turning home matches into road contests in our own country. It's a conundrum, but last night was brutal. You could just tell.
Oh, by the way, Les Canadiens polished off the 9 point window that we needed last night with their 2-nil victory over El Salvador at the Estadio Cuscatlán in San Salvador.

 

My apologies for the delayed response. I've stayed away from the board out of delusional superstition that our FFC boys were doing well while I don't visit the board, so don't jinx it. Anyhoo, there was no way in heck that I was going out in that weather to sit and watch a match. Although, I heard afterward from people that did attend, that it wasn't that bad. Keep in mind that we 'Sotans are a hearty bunch, so when our keeper is begging the stands for a blanket and 2 Hondurans are subbed off for hypothermia, you know it's bad and no joke. It was brutally cold and there was no way in anyone's logic that this match should have been played here. Flying 4+ hours to LA to play would have been the better choice, excess travel time be damned.

With all of that being said, did it provide us an advantage? Probably. But is that the way we really want to win, by making the other suffer in the elements? Can't we just go out and beat them without the external factor? I mean, we should be them without the weather. Ultimately, because we f'ed up in the last WC cycle, there's a lack of trust in the team by US Soccer and so we are resorting to bush league tactics, which isn't a good look.

 

I rest my case on visiting the board...I showed up, they lost. (insert facepalm here)

 

@encorespanish Oh No You Don’t!! Being a Fulham supporter means suffering like the rest of us. This season has been so crazy good surreal that no jinxes are allowed. Now you must post Encore till we win..which will be very soon!!!

 

@SoCalJoe I'll make a compromise...I'll just stop by to like the dancing banana posts!

 

https://football-italia.net/report-double-fracture-for-juventus-midfielder-mckennie/

 

Which I hope to be posting early and often again very soon…like, starting early this evening around 5-ish or so?