https://x.com/MenInBlazers/status/1964503680306298891?t=YZL-bln_GaBuVZU4EUCbOw&s=19
https://x.com/usmntonly/status/1964467380060639332
USMNT fans turning on Coach P.
I’m happy we won, but the collective PR wing of US Soccer acting like we just won the World Cup instead of beating Japan’s B team 2-0 is really ridiculous.
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I have been very out on soccer for a while now. Years. I am trying to get ramped up for the World Cup next year.
Has the quality of athlete on the national team improved at all or are we still outmatched athletically whenever we play a good side?
So Poch announced a new training roster. There are a few questionable adds / Ommissions, but at least one of them made sense (Tyler Adams and his wife just had a baby).
To answer your question, IMLTHO, the best 11 we could put on the field is top 10 in terms of talent.
The question is heart / coaching. We have coaches who have us playing way too conservatively at times, and at other times allow star players to slack.
The right coach could take our talent as far as the semifinals with a couple lucky breaks. But I’m not sure we have the right guy or our best roster
Though this training roster is an improvement.
My first question was about Tyler Adams, so that makes more sense why he’s not there.
Think our USMNT players are always uneven, just not enough depth. We can’t seem to get a high level group with talent across all positions. There’s always a hole, just not always the same hole. Left back, creative midfielder, striker. Goalie was always a strength for a while, but lately a problem (hopefully Freeze can step up as comp gets tougher?). Right now having Ream at center back is a liability, he’s good but better teams will expose his lack of speed. And we need a striker still, though Balogun shows some potential. Also still need a consistent creative midfielder. At times I think McKennie is an elite player and other times I forget he’s on the field. Haven’t seen enough yet from the other midfielders to say they can orchestrate the offense. Was hoping Reyna could grow into this role, but he seems stuck in neutral (injuries haven’t helped, but coaches also seem to dislike him).
Guessing we get grouped this time due to defensive holes, but I’ve been wrong before. Really thought they’d fail to make it out in ‘02 and ‘10, and thought they’d do pretty well in ‘98 and ‘06 (that ‘06 group was tough though, especially given Ghana was better than anyone thought iirc). Just seems like other teams are gonna score on us, and we don’t have the firepower to keep up. Hope I’m wrong with my predictions again.
I share the same feats but I don’t even get that at because I don’t trust Poch to put out best 11 out there.
There is definitely drama anytime Gio Reyna is involved with the USMNT, but he simply is too good to leave off the roster. Decisions like that make no sense to me. Make me question how bad we want to win. I know chemistry does matter to an extent, but not at the expense of not fielding the most talented team you can.
Until Poch puts out best 11 out there, I’m not sure the defense matters.
FWIW - Robinson / Richards / Dest is 75% of a damn good back line, but your point about Ream is fair. We are a player away from having a world class back line.