next soccer question

[pdub]

“ On paper, yes. But feel like we easily could have won tonight.”

Errr did you watch the second half?
I would say Uruguay was better overall for the whole game.

Yedlin saved a for sure goal off the line.
Johnson had a very good reflex kick save.
One of Uruguays best players missed a gimmie.

[pdub]

Those grades are kinda low all around I think. Yedlin did well. Saved a goal. Shoulda had an assist. Defended accurately. Made a bad touch on a ball on the sidelines.

Pulisic was better than a 6 for me too. He was all over the field.

[Deleted User 863]

“ On paper, yes. But feel like we easily could have won tonight.”

Errr did you watch the second half?
I would say Uruguay was better overall for the whole game.

Yedlin saved a for sure goal off the line.
Johnson had a very good reflex kick save.
One of Uruguays best players missed a gimmie.

I agree with all that, which is why I said we easily "could" have won rather than "should" have won.

[Cascadia]

“ On paper, yes. But feel like we easily could have won tonight.”

Errr did you watch the second half?
I would say Uruguay was better overall for the whole game.

Yedlin saved a for sure goal off the line.
Johnson had a very good reflex kick save.
One of Uruguays best players missed a gimmie.

Too much Jekyll and Hyde for Yedlin. That’s basically his entire career though.

[pdub]

https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/u ... ague/live/

I'd give Scally a 5.
Weston a 5.5 ( he was pretty off ).
Pulisic a 7.5 or 8 ( our best player on the field besides maybe the goalkeeper ).
Long a 6.

Ferriera needed to finish but this writer was correct: he made a ton of good space in this game.

Uruguay is a better team than Wales or Iran. Mexico just got beat by them 3-0. And we can play better.

I’m not sure what Gregg thinks about the CONCACAF league upcoming but i couldn’t care less…so unless we won’t have any other friendlies before November, test out the guys who will fill out the final 5-7 bench spots.

[Cascadia]

Oof, 7 field players with a rating of 7 or higher in a scoreless draw?


That feels kind of fanboy-ish

[pdub]

Yea too high.
The other too low.

You could consider Uruguay a top 10 team in the world so a tie is a good result.

[NewtonHawk11]

Yea too high.
The other too low.

You could consider Uruguay a top 10 team in the world so a tie is a good result.

Well they had their clear B team with 9 or so normal starters not in there and we were without just a few starters, but sure.

We were boring. We play boring. We have a boring "coach" who failed at a second division Swedish league who believes being cool is doing behind the back bounce passes to players on throw-ins.

Optimal lineup for November is:
G - Turner
RB - Dest
CB - Zimm and M Robinson (A big if - health) but Richards or Brooks
LB - A Robinson
DCM - Adams
CM - Yusah
CM - McKennie
LW - Pulisic
ST - Weah because why not?
RW - Reyna

[Cascadia]

Yea too high.
The other too low.

You could consider Uruguay a top 10 team in the world so a tie is a good result.

Well they had their clear B team with 9 or so normal starters not in there and we were without just a few starters, but sure.

We were boring. We play boring. We have a boring "coach" who failed at a second division Swedish league who believes being cool is doing behind the back bounce passes to players on throw-ins.

Optimal lineup for November is:
G - Turner
RB - Dest
CB - Zimm and M Robinson (A big if - health) but Richards or Brooks
LB - A Robinson
DCM - Adams
CM - Yusah
CM - McKennie
LW - Pulisic
ST - Weah because why not?
RW - Reyna

Agree with most of this, although I’d say we’re more frustrating than boring. I’m slowly warming to Gregg but not sure I’ll ever be a fan.

I’m also OK with Weah at ST and could move Pulisic there too. Maybe not a traditional ST role but if no one steps up to fill that role then why not just put your best 6 players on the pitch. Aaronson also in the mix. Busio and de la Torre as well.

This team (if healthy) has some serious depth at midfield and winger

[Cascadia]

This is my new "dream team"

ST - Wright, Sargent
LW - Pulisic, de la Fuente
RW - Weah, Musah
CAM - Reyna, Aaronson
CDM - Adams, Busio
CM - McKennie, de la Torre
LB - Robinson, Scally
LCB - Brooks, McKenzie
RCB - Richards, Carter-Vickers
RB - Dest, Cannon
GK - Steffan, Turner, Horvath


**Musah, Aaronson, Busio and de la Torre are not stuck in those back up positions. Just created a 2-deep.

[pdub]

GK - Turner, Steffen
LW - Pulisic
ST - Weah, Ferriera, Pepi
RW - Aaronson, Weah
CM - Adams, Acosta
CM - McKennie, De La Torre
CM - Reyna, Musah
LB - Robinson
LCB - Brooks, Long
RCB - Zimmerman, McKenzie
RB - Dest, Yedlin

Definitely fine with switching around Aaronson to the bench and starting Musah.
But if Reyna is fit, I want him in.

[Cascadia]

GK - Turner, Steffen
LW - Pulisic
ST - Weah, Ferriera, Pepi
RW - Aaronson, Weah
CM - Adams, Acosta
CM - McKennie, De La Torre
CM - Reyna, Musah
LB - Robinson
LCB - Brooks, Long
RCB - Zimmerman, McKenzie
RB - Dest, Yedlin

Definitely fine with switching around Aaronson to the bench and starting Musah.
But if Reyna is fit, I want him in.

You're two players short of a 23 man roster.

[Cascadia]

And Pepi (rather unfortunately) is in a career nosedive at the moment. I believe he hasn't scored a goal since October. Yikes!

I still think he can (and will) turn it around but he's in a tough spot right now with the WC roster.

[UnholyLivingDead]

GK - Turner, Steffen
LW - Pulisic
ST - Weah, Ferriera, Pepi
RW - Aaronson, Weah
CM - Adams, Acosta
CM - McKennie, De La Torre
CM - Reyna, Musah
LB - Robinson
LCB - Brooks, Long
RCB - Zimmerman, McKenzie
RB - Dest, Yedlin

Definitely fine with switching around Aaronson to the bench and starting Musah.
But if Reyna is fit, I want him in.

You're two players short of a 23 man roster.

The 23-man roster for the World Cup has to have 3 goalkeepers as well.

[pdub]

Throw in Johnson, backup keeper, who showed no signs of weakness yesterday.
And then Busio because he can fill in several midfield roles.

[Cascadia]

I really hope Busio is ready when November rolls around. It might be to soon for him, but he's going to be a major player in 2026 and 2030. He's got beast written all over him. He just turned 20 ten days ago.

Was totally bummed he didn't play in the Venezia match I attended.

[pdub]

We were boring. We play boring. We have a boring "coach" who failed at a second division Swedish league who believes being cool is doing behind the back bounce passes to players on throw-ins.

We qualified.
We have owned Mexico.
We won the Gold Cup.
We won the CONCACAF Nations League.

We have tied or beaten a number of good teams outside of CONCACAF.
Morocco, Uruguay, Wales, Ecaudor, Chile, Northern Ireland.
Lost to Switzerland in Switzerland.

I'm going to give the boring coach a chance - he got us into the World Cup.

[UnholyLivingDead]

We were boring. We play boring. We have a boring "coach" who failed at a second division Swedish league who believes being cool is doing behind the back bounce passes to players on throw-ins.

We qualified.
We have owned Mexico.
We won the Gold Cup.
We won the CONCACAF Nations League.

We have tied or beaten a number of good teams outside of CONCACAF.
Morocco, Uruguay, Wales, Ecaudor, Chile, Northern Ireland.
Lost to Switzerland in Switzerland.

I'm going to give the boring coach a chance - he got us into the World Cup.

25 straight home matches unbeaten. 23 wins, 2 draws. I do not understand the prevailing negativity whenever I try to talk about US Soccer with friends.

[Cascadia]

Part of the problem with the 25 straight home unbeaten streak is this the competition hasn't always been great. Most recent FIFA Rankings used. And, technically, I believe it's 22 wins and 3 draws

Draws
Friendly
13. Uruguay
13. Uruguay

World Cup Qualifier
38. Canada


Wins
Friendly
24. Morocco
31. Costa Rica
31. Costa Rica
59. Bosnia & Herzegovina
74. El Salvador
103 Trinidad and Tobago

World Cup Qualifier
9. Mexico
31. Costa Rica
61. Panama
64. Jamaica
74. El Salvador
82. Honduras

Gold Cup
9. Mexico
38. Canada
51. Qatar
64. Jamaica
90. Haiti
***Martinique - Not a member of FIFA

Nations League
9. Mexico
38. Canada
82. Honduras
177 Cuba



That's 7 wins against Top 32 teams. (Thanks to 3 against #31 Costa Rica). But it's also 3 against Mexico, which is fucking great.

[UnholyLivingDead]

But that seems to create a lose-lose situation then doesn't it? You have a 25-match unbeaten streak at home and people say "yeah but that haven't really played anyone" (think of 2007-08 KU football). Or say you play a consistent schedule of top 15 teams around the world (which are very difficult to schedule to play on the road) and lose 8 or 9 of them and everyone says "well god we suck and we aren't improving". Damned if you do, damned if you don't when the prevailing default mindset is to look for the negative.