clt says vertical video is just stupid. especially for soccer!!
Okay morning after sobriety:
Effort / Focus: A (we took it to Paraguay from opening whistle and rarely lagged)
Pass completion: A+
Attack (creativity and aggressiveness): A
Defense: B (wasn’t crazy about conceding that goal)
GK play: B+
Team Cohesion: A-
I almost want to give two grades for Cohesion - before and after Pulisic came out. Feel like it was an A when he was on the field and then dropped (along with the quality of our play) with every MLS sub we brought on.
Overall, I’m really impressed with our attack. We put 5 balls in the net and had one get called back on a very tightly called offsides. Those 5 goals give me confidence that we can score on anyone, at least 1 or 2 per game.
I do worry about our defense. We are definitely better with Chris Richards back in the lineup, but I still think we’re going to give up goals in every match of this tournament, especially in the actual playoff. We’re going to have to beat teams like 3-2 or 2-1 once we get out of group play because we’re not going to hold a clean sheet.
https://x.com/i/status/2065631296668201015
Klopp… dang.
https://x.com/i/status/2065869285730517034
That’s not bad. Pretty close to a nationally televised (feature) NFL game, and close to double what even a featured SEC or B1G football game draws.
Stunner Saturday so far!
https://x.com/i/status/2066210763824386499
https://x.com/i/status/2066210340757475436
This was such an awesome moment.
Been rooting for Curacao all match, but it’s not looking good.
clt says don’t poke the bear, carraco
Welp, that went about as expected.
Japan Netherlands should be the match of the day. At least on paper.
Funny listening to the apologists for World Cup expansion. Same thing we’ll be hearing next March Madness.
There are too many teams. But I like underdogs.
First half of Japan vs Netherlands was excruciating to watch. Japan packed it in so tightly that the Netherlands could only pass it around the edges of the Japanese wall even though they held about 90% possession. It was boring as hell to watch aside from about 2 minutes of Japanese counter attacks.
One of the other beautiful things about the US game the other night is that both teams were going for it and trying to score goals instead of just trying to pack in it on defense, which I despise watching.
Japan vs Netherlands ended up.providing the best 45 minutes of the day. Almost hard to believe those were same teams that played a most lackluster first half.
The US is going to have bring its “A” game against Australia. Austraila looked good against Türkiye.
I have some concerns here because of our approach versus what Australia did to Turkey. Essentially they packed the middle of the field (they played looser on the wings), and forced Turkey to take lots of shots from outside. It will be absolutely critical that we create opportunities from the wing. It is also critical to get a lead, preferably 2 goals, early, to force them to open up.