Rockstar Matt

Go LA all day, everyday. Bring that Lombardi home. 
 

Having said that, this is a rare Super Bowl where I wouldn’t be upset if the Bengals won either. Gotta love some Joey B. 

2 hours ago, spicyteriyaki said:

Dear god, that is revolting.. I can’t stand centered crests. The pattern is okay, better than the last kit but nowhere near as good as our initial kit. 
 

Looks like another two years before I buy a new home kit. 

Apparently it’s because Harden was immensely disliked in the Nets locker room, whereas Kyrie isn’t.

Technically, this is a good trade for Philly, but who knows what type of Harden they’re getting. Harden has now quit on and forced a trade on two teams in one year when the going got tough. He’s a known locker room cancer and literally takes no responsibility. 
 

Good luck, Philly. 

1 hour ago, HopewellJones said:

Lol what does that even mean?

 

What’s entailed in “owning that it’s a minority opinion?” Should I have included a disclaimer?
 

Sorry guys I take it back. The Lions alt is bad because.

 

Back to the serious business that is grown men discussing sports uniforms. Only thick skin here!

Jesus man, no lmao. It means if you have an opinion about a uniform/logo and it’s unpopular, just accept that it’s unpopular. Don’t get all defensive that others do not share your opinion. 
 

For example: I happen to really like the Cowboys white uniforms, despite the mismatched blues, silvers and all. I think it’s a top 5 iconic look and I think the navy uniforms are vastly overrated. 
 

However, I know this is not an opinion shared by the majority so I don’t get defensive with others express that. 

Gotta have thicker skin if you’re going to be on these boards, bud. 

I really, really hate that alternate helmets are apparently a thing. I don’t mind throwback helmets, (and I assume most of these alternate helmets won’t be throwbacks) but one of the few design things the NFL has gotten completely right was their rule of having a single helmet.
 

The helmets are arguably the NFL’s biggest team identifier and the NFL has been rightfully consistent with that. 
 

We are about to see some truly horrendous uniforms, which began with the awful Washington BFBS alts. 

On 2/5/2022 at 9:12 AM, DG_ThenNowForever said:

I'm salty because in my heart, it should have been the Bills and it might never be their turn.

 

Go Rams. Go bone. Go dope uniforms. Go OBJ and Aaron Donald.

Obviously, I'm heavily rooting for the Rams, however this is one of the few games where I wouldn't be upset at all if the other team won (unlike the last time the Rams made the Super Bowl). The Bengals are quite a likeable team and seeing as they are one of the few remaining franchises to have never won a Super Bowl/title, they deserve to win one. 

Above all, I'm rooting for a good game. While I'd be thrilled with a LA blowout, I'd rather see a close, good game to the end.

4 hours ago, YNWA said:

Team President Jason Wright said that per NFL rules " a color from the home or away uniform must be present for it to be used on a 3rd jersey, hence the black trim on the white uniform"

Hopefully this rule will mean that the Rams 4th jersey they’re set to debut next year will be their “Sol” rather than the feared BFBS alt. 

And there we go. 
 

The US just needs to beat Panama at home on March 27th, and they’re going to the World Cup.

Canada needs just two more points, or a Panama loss/draw, and they’re also going to the World Cup.

Good to get 3 points. Not really gonna celebrate beating up on Honduras, but now we’re one step closer to clinching a spot in the World Cup.

Running the numbers, the US needs Panama to lose one more time, and the US needs to also beat them and we’ll go to the World Cup. No matter if we lose to México or Costa Rica, we beat Panamá (coupled with one more loss on their end), and we’re gonna to the World Cup. 
 

EDIT: At least two Panama draws would also have the same outcome. 

4 hours ago, fouhy12 said:

 

 

This video would seem to indicate there will be an unpainted border. 

Not necessarily. They scrubbed the middle (name and logo) to redo it for the Super Bowl, but the Bengals endzone confirms there will be no border. There’s just no reason to scrub all of the blue. 

6 hours ago, Digby said:

 

 

Great night for an outdoor soccer game.

 

All this just to avoid an extra hour on your flights and letting any brown people into the stadium. 

Apparently this was Berhalter’s decision too. USMNT said today that basically he has final say on where they play in the US. 
 

This is actually dangerous. Anyone out there is legitimately risking bodily harm playing in this game, or even attending this game. 

They look like cheap, awful knockoff University of Minnesota uniforms lmaoooooooooo. What garbage. 

I am absolutely horrified at the prospect of alternate helmets that aren’t throwbacks/faux backs. The NFL has gotten one thing right which was it’s helmet consistency, but now… dear lord. 

Lmaooooooooooo. These are the worst uniforms in the league, bar none. Oh my god. 
 

We’ve known the name for a while, and I’ve accepted that, but holy crap these uniforms. I’m literally befuddled at how bad these are. 

Now, y'all know I'm a Cowboys die-hard and that'll never change (though I wish I could sometimes..), but I gotta say, as a born and raised Angelino, I still can't believe that not only the LA Rams are back, but now they're going to their second Super Bowl in 6 seasons here. It's unbelievable. The LA Rams in their first run here, were a good team in the 50's, 60's and 70's but they were god awful in the 80's, save for a few good teams every now and then, until they left LA in the mid-90's. Only one Super Bowl appearance in that entire time frame. 

But now, in their second run, they have two Super Bowl  appearances since their return in 2016. They have an opportunity to win the cities' first Super Bowl in nearly 40 years, and their first Super Bowl in their rightful home. It's more than any of us LA kids who grew up without a home town team, could have ever asked for. It seemed like a pipe dream my entire childhood. I remember being on these very boards in my early 20's excitedly discussing the prospects of the Rams possibly returning back to LA, eagerly discussing rumors and their validity which would be giving my city a football team again. To now, being in my early 30's, watching the LA Rams play in a Super Bowl hosted in their very own stadium, right here in Los Angeles (only a few miles from where I grew up no less). It's surreal. 

It's definitely been a joy cheering for them and supporting them since their return home. 

1 hour ago, Digby said:

 

Honestly I am increasingly questioning how much of this is true, given the year he's had for both club and country. I expect better from a supposed elite attacker than his apparently inflexibility, and he needs to do better than constantly dribbling into 4 guys. But it's also true that both of his coaches are putting him in sub-ideal spots. I guess one difference is that Berhalter plays him anywhere buying into his genius attacker persona, while Tuchel plays him anywhere as a master-of-none sacrifice to the wolves. But the problems end up being the same. He seems to be the one attacking player whose position is rotation-proof for the USMNT right now...but I'd like to see him as a super-sub next game regardless.

There is no question Pulisic is in bad form right now. Not only does he look tentative and unconfident, he looks a step slow at the moment too. Don’t know how much that is just mental considering his club situation and also coming back from nagging injuries. 
 

And when you couple that with the fact that playing on the wing allows the defense to contain you better along with the understanding that every CONCACAF team we face goes out of their way to send multiple dudes at Pulisic (since he’s our most dangerous attacker, he almost never gets 1v1’s in CONCACAF play) while Berhalter does him no favors with their game plan and not punishing teams for over committing to Pulisic, it’s no wonder he’s struggling. 

Pulisic is at his best when he’s allowed to be direct and attack defenders. That’s when the World Class version of him comes out. This is true at Chelsea and when playing for country. 
 

Playing LW works for Pulisic when he has Havertz, Werner, Mount, Kante to work with (i.e. world class attackers and midfielders lmao), but with the USMNT lack of world class attackers and the uncreative attack plan from Berhalter, he just cannot be out there on the wing. It’s a waste of his talent. Play him centrally at the 10 and allow him to roam free and create. 
 

But lest we forget, Pulisic just won the CL as his team’s No. 10 and had a goal + assist against Real Madrid in the CL semifinals. Nearly had the game sealing goal in the Final against Man City too.
 

He’s probably going through his worst stretch of his career at the moment, but he’s still very young (just 23), already accomplished so much. He’s easily our best ever player. Don’t let a few months of poor play negate everything he’s done beforehand. 

49ers need to move on from Jimmy G. He cost them the Super Bowl in 2019 and cost them tonight. 

Holy crap. They actually did it. Congratulations to @Sportand @Dilbert y’all deserve this so much. Enjoy it. 
 

How wild would it be though if after 30+ years since their last Super Bowl appearance, the Bengals meet the Niners again. What are the odds??

4 minutes ago, DEAD! said:

 

This confounds me.  Sure, the pitch was an issue, but Canada was able to find two goals. If anything, the US should have been better prepared for this match than Canada partly because Canada just came from the heat in Honduras and they now have to fly back into the heat in El Salvador. 

Before the game, a thought came to me that said, what if Canada just simply has that one or two players that can just finish... but, who does the US have?

As it stands, Jamaica is leading Panama, If that result holds, considering Panama's next game is against Mexico,  Canada, could possibly qualify in THIS window. 

 

It’s absurd. I saw someone point out that Canada plays like team, they know what they’re trying to do and their manager gets the best out of their players whereas the US plays like they are just a bunch of players with no understanding of what they’re trying to be.
 

We have a manager who is trying to fit players into his scheme (while playing favorites…) instead of creating a scheme to best fit his players. 

Canada also have better strikers than we do (David is probably the best 9 in the region). Pepi is our best striker but he’s super young. 
 

But the fact that the US has so much attacking talent who plays their club ball in the Champions League and Berhalter can’t get goals out of those guys?
 

Pulisic is the USMNT’s best ever player, and Berhalter has only gotten 3 goals from him in the last two years?? Unacceptable. Pulisic only plays well on the wing when he has a good 10 to work with. With Reyna out due to injury, Pulisic has to play at the 10. He’s our most creative attacker. 

What more do you have to see, Brian McBride? Berhalter is not the answer at manager unless your plan is to get bounced in the group stage at the World Cup. The US has no plan, no thought in the final third aside from letting their players try to make a play 1v4. It’s absurd. Canada was without Davies too and you can’t manage a single goal?
 

Starting Zardes against the group’s top team on the road should be a felony. Every match the USMNT will be out coached and has been out coached, despite having the easily the most talented pool in the region. 

54 minutes ago, DEAD! said:

The MLS has definitely improved its stature in recent years, and I see it was a top 15 league, for sure, but I have a hard time putting it in top 10. It is still not even as good as Liga MX.  I do not see it as higher than Brazilian, Argentinian,  Dutch, or Portuguese leagues. It is possible the worst MLS clubs can beat the worst of those league, but not at the top.

I also think the MLS needs to  increase the wages at the lower end of the pay scale and increase the salary cap, or get rid of it altogether. Yes, if that results in "super club(s)" then so be it. In fact, I say the MLS needs a super club like a Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.

In a perverse way, if that super club can compete on a global level, then it might actually draw more interest in the league from outside and you might get players who actually aspire to play in the  league instead of being a stepping stone. 

I’d agree with that. I think the leagues from 10th to 15th are pretty interchangeable depending from year to year, but it’s apparent that the MLS will continue to climb those rankings. Our top teams are already beginning to rival the top soccer teams in the world in terms of value. It’s only a matter of time until the product catches up too.
 

The MLS (once it becomes more and more financially stable) needs to get rid of that salary cap system. It’s fine for now and has been a saving grace for the league for years, but it’ll eventually limit the growth of the league. 

It’s really awesome to see that the USMNT is no longer just Pulisic and a bunch of average players. He had a bad game tonight, but McKennie, Adams, Robinson, Weah, Dest, and Musah were more than capable to step up. McKennie was the best player tonight. He was outstanding. He just looks supremely confident in himself and his abilities right now. 
 

Pulisic is just in a bad form right now. He looked slow, unsure and was pressing a bit too much. Hopefully he’ll snap out of it Sunday against Canada. 

And I’m growing increasingly frustrated by Berhalter and the lack of goal scoring chances his teams create in the 1st halves of games. This team is way too talented offensively to be scoring one goal at home against El Salvador (who to their credit played an excellent game). I’m tired of seeing certain MLS scrubs on the national team for competitive matches, getting playing time over far better players. 
 

Jordan Morris and Zardes should never be on the USMNT roster for WC qualifying matches, let alone see the field. It’s absurd. 
 

At the end of the day, 3 points is 3 points, but the US will have to play a lot better to earn points against Canada come Sunday. Today wasn’t good enough. 

5 minutes ago, Digby said:

it would be nice to not have a Carabao Cup specialist though. *cries in Keylor Navas*

If Turner is even that lucky. He's a really good keeper, but unless he is amazing in the summer training for Arsenal, I doubt he'll see much playing time, if at all, at Arsenal for a long while. Still though, he'll be training with and against far better players than he would see at New England or the MLS. That has to count for something

On 1/25/2022 at 11:58 AM, DG_ThenNowForever said:

It took 25 years to get to this point, but I think everyone said it would take that long when MLS launched.

 

MLS will never be a top 5 league, but is it already top 10? 15?

Definitely already top 15. IMO, it's a top 10 league too, but like 9th or 10th. It's definitely growing and climbing. It could be near the top 5 in another 25 years, you never know. It's amazing how quickly the league went from a place that would exclusively sign older near retirement European/South American stars to what it is now, a league rich with young talent where countries (including the US and Canada) send their best young players to develop further. 

Even just from a American and Canadian standpoint, think of all the young players the MLS has discovered, developed and sent to Europe's top leagues. Insane. to consider where it was even 10 years ago to now. 

EDIT: Add Matt Turner too, considering Arsenal just made a summer-transfer move for him. The USMNT's top two keepers both came from the MLS, were developed here and now both have signed with two of England's most prestigious clubs.