Qatar 2022 World Cup Discussion

[Kooky01]

2 hours ago, Digby said:

 

You didn't have to start, buddy.

Only reason I was watching is because of my girlfriend and she doesn't care if it's not the US (I mean, she'll still watch, but very casually and let's me put on something else). So there. 

 

Also, does everyone hate me just because i'm an Astros fan? 

[Sec19Row53]

46 minutes ago, Kooky01 said:

Only reason I was watching is because of my girlfriend and she doesn't care if it's not the US (I mean, she'll still watch, but very casually and let's me put on something else). So there. 

 

Also, does everyone hate me just because i'm an Astros fan? 

No.

 

You got that reaction for crapping on something you don't like that others do. What was the point of it?

 

Yeah, we can share opinions.  That statemwnt is just being a douchenozzle.

[IceCap]

49 minutes ago, Kooky01 said:

Also, does everyone hate me just because i'm an Astros fan? 

No people dislike you because you went into a soccer thread to :censored: about soccer. Do you not understand the concept of not pissing on someone else's parade?

[Kooky01]

1 minute ago, IceCap said:

No people dislike you because you went into a soccer thread to about soccer. Do you not understand the concept of not pissing on someone else's parade?

I do and I'm sorry. 

[JerseyJimmy]

CONGLATURATION, USA! YOU STILL CAN'T MAKE IT PAST THE ROUND OF 16!

[Sec19Row53]

2 minutes ago, JerseyJimmy said:

CONGLATURATION, USA! YOU STILL CAN'T MAKE IT PAST THE ROUND OF 16!

Another nozzle, I see.

[Kooky01]

1 hour ago, Sec19Row53 said:

No.

 

You got that reaction for crapping on something you don't like that others do. What was the point of it?

 

Yeah, we can share opinions.  That statemwnt is just being a douchenozzle.

 

[Rockstar Matt]

More thoughts now that I've had time to digest the game:

 

I think what disappoints me the most is that the US gave up 3 goals on basic, basic football 101 stuff. It wasn't moments of individual brilliance or even team brilliance on the Netherlands part, but simple, simple level stuff you learn as a child. The 2 first goals were essentially the same goal, with Adams not making the recovering defensive run that we've seen him make hundreds of times and Dest ball watching and letting Blind cross his face unchallenged. The final nail in the coffin was a defensive miscue and allowing Dumfries to be unmarked in the 6-yard box. Simple stuff that really came down to the US not getting back in transition.

 

I felt like some of those mistakes were simply fatigue on the USMNT's part. The players looked gassed and just simply didn't have it, but also it was Berhalter being decisively outcoached by LVG. The Dutch were quite content to let the US have the ball and try to get good opportunities in the final 3rd, while clogging up the mid-field neutralizing our talented mid-field and full well knowing the US doesn't have the personnel nor quality to be effective at that. The game stats are misleading, IMO.

 

Because of our system, the Dutch knew we'd be playing wide with overlapping full-backs, and sometimes those full-backs would push with the ball into the interior which forces our two 8's (McKennie and Musah) out wide to vacate that space and forces our FB's to be a playmaker. Dest can do that, but Robinson can't. The problem with this, and we should have adjusted after Depay's goal, is that if our fullbacks, while dribbling the ball into the midfield, turns the ball over all of the sudden our stout defensive midfield is out of position, and lets the Dutch carry a number advantage in the counter. The Netherlands scored all 3 goals doing this. Taking advantage of a US mistake, their fatigue and combined with being out of position due to our attacking tactics. 

 

It's clear to me that the US needs to completely change their attacking system. We need someone like Reyna playing as the 10 creating opportunities centrally. As good as the MMA midfield is in defense, they lack the clinical technical ability that's needed to create good chances in the final 3rd. It's also clear to me that the US needs better depth. Way better depth. These players looked gassed today. Essentially played 4 games in a week and a half with the same starting lineup. We have those depth players that could have really helped, but Gregg chose to bring players like Roldan, Ferreria and Morris instead. 

 

The good news is that in addition to this talented young core who will be in their prime with World Cup experience in 2026, there are boatloads of other promising, talented and technical young players breaking through in their respective clubs right now. Just need a better international manager to fully unlock the talent of this team and to get them to play greater than the sum of their parts. 

[Cujo]

The first three Rd of 16 games were complete boatraces, where the "blue blood" team put on a clinic vs their lesser opponent. I expect England/Senegal to be no different today.

[MJWalker45]

5 hours ago, Cujo said:

The first three Rd of 16 games were complete boatraces, where the "blue blood" team put on a clinic vs their lesser opponent. I expect England/Senegal to be no different today.

England and France both having their way. Poland needs to have someone else take PK's in the future, because Lewandowski was worthless this tournament and only a retake allowed him to score on the second attempt. I was surprised that England did as well, seeing how plodding they were during the group stage.

[GFB]

@Rockstar Matt 

I think you’re spot on with most of your takeaways. You’re right in that the US made three really basic mistakes that would get any high school team reamed-out by their coach. Although, I don’t think those mistakes were necessarily due to being out of position in transition…. because they were in physical position to make the play and cut out the danger for each Netherlands goal, but it felt like the physical fatigue of the squad led to mental fatigue in those moments and the Dutch were ruthless and efficient in capitalizing on those lapses. 

 

However, I disagree with your assessment that the US was out-managed or need to change their system.  Full marks to LVG for setting up his team the right way and sitting off the ball (which we saw the US struggle against all qualifying and in the Japan/KSA friendlies), but there’s not much you can do when your opponent makes it very clear they want you to possess the ball.  And if you’re going to break down a team sitting in a defensive block, you have two ways to break them down: you can either go right at them with speed and skill by stringing together 2-3 consecutive moments of brilliance that unlocks the defense, or you can try to go around the block entirely by sending in crosses or taking shots from distance.  Unfortunately, the latter wasn’t an option due to the height of the Dutch goalie/defense and the attacking options for the US… and the former approach was hindered by injuries, fatigue, and a lack of depth. 

 

Putting myself in his shoes as manager, I’m not sure what Gregg could have done differently in how he set up the team for this game.  It’s clear that Reyna was struggling with form and/or fitness and wasn’t available to play a full 90, Sargent’s injury left the striker options ghastly thin (I’d have traded my kingdom for a healthy Brandon Vasquez), and you noted that the world-class talent of this team is only 7-8 players deep. While, like you, I have my quibbles with the back-end of the roster or the subs that GGG leaned on, I don’t believe that Pefok or Pepe or Scally or whichever “I would have taken this player over Christian Roldan” makes much of a difference against elite players like Virgil van Dijk, Memphis, Frenkie de Jong, etc…

 

While I am disappointed with the result, I think the backlash against Berhalter is far too harsh and critical for a team that pretty much reached the heights they deserved. They got out of a decently tough group with 5 points, didn’t concede from open play, and the players were in position to make the necessary offensive/defensive plays to advance in the knockouts… it’s hard to ask for much more at this stage. And that’s not taking into account the successes in Concacaf/Gold Cup/Nations League and the struggles of other Concacaf teams in Qatar.  

 

Although I’m personally not in favor of Berhalter returning (eight years under one voice is too long, fresh perspectives and new ideas are needed), I think Gregg did a great job in all the important big-picture areas: re-establishing a healthy culture, acquiring and developing young talent, and winning games/trophies and he deserves a lot more credit/respect than the scorn a lot of US fans are giving him.

[Rockstar Matt]

2 hours ago, GFB said:

@Rockstar Matt 

I think you’re spot on with most of your takeaways. You’re right in that the US made three really basic mistakes that would get any high school team reamed-out by their coach. Although, I don’t think those mistakes were necessarily due to being out of position in transition…. because they were in physical position to make the play and cut out the danger for each Netherlands goal, but it felt like the physical fatigue of the squad led to mental fatigue in those moments and the Dutch were ruthless and efficient in capitalizing on those lapses. 

 

I agree with this. I think the lack of quality depth really hindered the US in this game. I saw a stat that said the US players as a whole ran 38 km more than any other team. A testament to their work-rate but also the fact the US was forced to essentially use the same XI every game.

 

Quote

However, I disagree with your assessment that the US was out-managed or need to change their system.  

 

And if you’re going to break down a team sitting in a defensive block, you have two ways to break them down: you can either go right at them with speed and skill by stringing together 2-3 consecutive moments of brilliance that unlocks the defense, or you can try to go around the block entirely by sending in crosses or taking shots from distance.  

 

See this is where I disagree. I'm not sure how you can disagree with my opinion that the US need's to change their system. I've said this way too many times on these boards, but the system doesn't suit our players. As you correctly stated, to break down a defensive block you need either speed and skill (which I'll interpret as technical ability) by connecting a couple key passes/individual brilliance or sending in crosses into box/long distance shots. We actually have the players who are able to run directly at the opponent, string together a few key line breaking passes/create moments of brilliance and create good scoring chances. Pulisic is at his best when doing that, we've seen him score and assist goals while doing this for Chelsea and Reyna, when healthy, has world-class potential as a central attacking midfielder. He has that elite line-breaking passing ability and ability to glide past defenders that this team desperately needed this tournament. 

 

But instead, we prefer to play wide and send in crosses to strikers who are not good at finishing those crosses (or even getting on the end of them aside from Sargent). What's even more baffling to me is that if that's the style Berhalter insisted on playing against quality teams in a defensive block, Pefok (who is no elite/world class player by any stretch of the imagination) is easily the best striker in the pool at finishing crosses sent into dangerous spots. McKinnie is also outstanding at arriving late to the box and scoring goals from crosses/late passes (which is exactly what Depay did against us). It's something that we have seen consistently from him at Juventus, yet in Berhalter's system, McKinnie is almost always out wide playing off the fullbacks or back tracking defensively in this system. This is just a few of the many examples we have of Berhalter playing our best players out of position.

 

Quote

Putting myself in his shoes as manager, I’m not sure what Gregg could have done differently in how he set up the team for this game.  It’s clear that Reyna was struggling with form and/or fitness and wasn’t available to play a full 90, Sargent’s injury left the striker options ghastly thin (I’d have traded my kingdom for a healthy Brandon Vasquez), and you noted that the world-class talent of this team is only 7-8 players deep. While, like you, I have my quibbles with the back-end of the roster or the subs that GGG leaned on, I don’t believe that Pefok or Pepe or Scally or whichever “I would have taken this player over Christian Roldan” makes much of a difference against elite players like Virgil van Dijk, Memphis, Frenkie de Jong, etc…

 

I'm also in agreement that when it comes to personnel, the Dutch outclasses the US at basically every position, and even then I think only Pulisic and Reyna would see playing time as bench players for this Netherlands squad. Still though, I think the set-up was poor. The Americans were naive in thinking they were good enough to play "their" style and that would be good enough to win. It didn't help that I thought every one of our star players (aside from Reyna) arguably played their worst game of the tournament. But the US was set-up to fail. LVG even stated that the US never adjusted to what they were trying to do. 

 

The back end of the roster, with the right players, could have helped the US not gas out against the Netherlands by giving our stars proper time to rest. What's the point of bringing players (aside from keepers) who never got even close to seeing a second of playing time? Why bring Ferreria, who was so atrocious that he was subbed off in 45 minutes, instead of bringing a Pefok or Pepi? Why bring Roldan, Long and Morris instead of Tillman, Milhailovic and Brooks? 

 

Quote

While I am disappointed with the result, I think the backlash against Berhalter is far too harsh and critical for a team that pretty much reached the heights they deserved. They got out of a decently tough group with 5 points, didn’t concede from open play, and the players were in position to make the necessary offensive/defensive plays to advance in the knockouts… it’s hard to ask for much more at this stage. And that’s not taking into account the successes in Concacaf/Gold Cup/Nations League and the struggles of other Concacaf teams in Qatar.  

 

Although I’m personally not in favor of Berhalter returning (eight years under one voice is too long, fresh perspectives and new ideas are needed), I think Gregg did a great job in all the important big-picture areas: re-establishing a healthy culture, acquiring and developing young talent, and winning games/trophies and he deserves a lot more credit/respect than the scorn a lot of US fans are giving him.

 

I'm sorry, but Berhalter did the bare minimum. 

 

The US was expected to get out of the group and that's something we should always expect our team to do. We've done the last 3 times we've made the WC, and 4 out of the last 6 dating back to '94. If we're going to celebrate his bare minimum accomplishments as some great achievement then the USMNT will always be stuck in mediocrity. The US was expected to qualify for the WC yet they backed into qualifying by goal difference, even though we have the most talented pool/team in the confederation.

 

Yes we beat Mexico in the Nations League and Gold Cup (who honestly cares about the GC), but this Mexico squad this cycle has proven to be their worst team in the modern era. Considering the talent level difference, we should be beating Mexico consistently (doesn't help Mexico that Tata is an even worse coach than GGG). He gets the scorn because it's apparent that these group of US players are the most talented in our history, yet he cannot get the most out of them or get them to play to up to their potential and beyond. Jurgen Klinsmen (a bad coach) got more out of worse 2014 US team, in a far, far tougher group than Greg did with a far more gifted roster. The US literally just suffered their worst knockout round loss in the modern era despite having it's most talented team.

 

His lasting legacy, and best accomplishments IMO, was his ability to recruit the excellent dual-nats that this US team counts among their core. I give him a ton of credit and props for that, which he deserves.

 

It might be harsh, or seem overly critical, but what do we want of our NT? To be stuck for the next 40 years as one of the 10-16 best national team's in the world like Mexico was? Or to actually become a world-power in football and one that's consistently going deep in international tournaments? 

[MJWalker45]

6 hours ago, Rockstar Matt said:

 The US literally just suffered their worst knockout round loss in the modern era despite having it's most talented team.

And every single goal that was scored came because the players tuned out at that moment. Greg can only do so much. I think he should have used Reyna more, and he should have trusted players that were not on the World Cup roster as well, but the players that were there should have done enough to stay in that game from start to finish. 

[Digby]

17 hours ago, GFB said:

Although I’m personally not in favor of Berhalter returning (eight years under one voice is too long, fresh perspectives and new ideas are needed), I think Gregg did a great job in all the important big-picture areas: re-establishing a healthy culture, acquiring and developing young talent, and winning games/trophies and he deserves a lot more credit/respect than the scorn a lot of US fans are giving him.

 

The culture piece is huge. We know the Klinsmann era was marred by a cliquey dressing room and a lot of outsized egos for what they had actually accomplished. It's hard to get a read on these things as an outsider but it seems like this group really supported each other and played together well. That counts for something, especially since the plan appears to be keeping the core of this squad together for a long time.

 

I basically agree on the four-year limit thing, though I don't get the sense USSF has ever cared about that so I don't expect a change unless Berhalter gets a club offer he can't refuse. (Plus, if it's Berhalter vs. the field, I don't if I trust USSF to get "the field" correct.) (And yes I realize the second cycle did not end well for literally any of the previous several MNT coaches. Again, not me making the call here! Just assuming!)

 

 

14 hours ago, Rockstar Matt said:

The back end of the roster, with the right players, could have helped the US not gas out against the Netherlands by giving our stars proper time to rest. What's the point of bringing players (aside from keepers) who never got even close to seeing a second of playing time? Why bring Ferreria, who was so atrocious that he was subbed off in 45 minutes, instead of bringing a Pefok or Pepi? Why bring Roldan, Long and Morris instead of Tillman, Milhailovic and Brooks? 

 

I mean, this stuff is easy to armchair quarterback with the benefit of hindsight, who knows. I don't know that a Chicago Fire Homegrown Signing is going to be the guy that scores two against the Netherlands, nor would Brooks (based on his last few USA appearances) offered an upgrade on the backline, which performed well throughout. He got some wrong (strikers couldn't have been worse) and some right (surprise Ream resurgence, Turner the unquestioned #1), like most managers do.

 

 

I don't see losing to a traditional power that hasn't lost in 18 months to be an underachievement. If the USA losing to the Netherlands is now a fireable offense, the squad is in better shape than I thought! The Ghana and Belgium games had more flattering scorelines but were arguably more winnable games. (Jesus Ferreira, meet Ricardo Clark.) With better luck we could have had Group F as an eminently winnable group, or drawn Japan or Morocco in the knockouts instead, oh well. Based on the draw they got, it doesn't seem fair to say this group didn't perform up to their potential. By that standard, none of these players have done so for their clubs, either. 

 

 

14 hours ago, Rockstar Matt said:

It might be harsh, or seem overly critical, but what do we want of our NT? To be stuck for the next 40 years as one of the 10-16 best national team's in the world like Mexico was? Or to actually become a world-power in football and one that's consistently going deep in international tournaments? 

 

Ultimately I think these questions lie more with Brian McBride and Earnie Stewart. 

[DG_ThenNowForever]

My key takeaway is that Christian Pulisic can't be our best player. That and we needed a striker badly.

 

Otherwise, the World Cup was a huge success. Ask Germany and Italy where they'd rather be right now.

[BrySmalls]

13 hours ago, Rockstar Matt said:

The US literally just suffered their worst knockout round loss in the modern era despite having it's most talented team.

 

I disagree. Their 2-1 AET loss to Ghana in the 2010 WC was worse AND we had several strikers on the roster back then!

[GFB]

15 hours ago, Rockstar Matt said:

See this is where I disagree. I'm not sure how you can disagree with my opinion that the US need's to change their system. I've said this way too many times on these boards, but the system doesn't suit our players. As you correctly stated, to break down a defensive block you need either speed and skill (which I'll interpret as technical ability) by connecting a couple key passes/individual brilliance or sending in crosses into box/long distance shots. We actually have the players who are able to run directly at the opponent, string together a few key line breaking passes/create moments of brilliance and create good scoring chances. Pulisic is at his best when doing that, we've seen him score and assist goals while doing this for Chelsea and Reyna, when healthy, has world-class potential as a central attacking midfielder. He has that elite line-breaking passing ability and ability to glide past defenders that this team desperately needed this tournament. 

 

Our young players are excellent at running directly at an opponent... on the dribble. We are an incredibly dribble-heavy team: Pulisic, Reyna, Musah, Dest, and even Weah all love to get on the ball and get around their defender to break lines.  While some of these players do possess the ability to make a key pass, they usually do not play quickly, especially in concert with one another.  Why? My guess is youth and a lack of chemistry more than any sort of attacking philosophy. Our young players all enjoy their time on the ball and in moments where they are unsure of what they are going to do after receiving a pass, they usually default to keeping the ball at their feet until they figure it out.

 

 

If you look at the Pulisic goal vs Iran, you can see it's one of the rare times the US had a string of quick passes to unbalance the defense. Adams is dribbling the ball forward and finds Robinson (1 touch) who moves the ball back to Adams (2 touches) who quickly looks over his options and lays the ball off to McKennie (1 touch). This quick movement has unbalanced the Iranian defense and allowed Dest (1 touch) to make an open back post run and head the ball across for Pulisic (1 touch) who finishes the movement.  This is a wonderful move and one of the best goals the US has scored in a long time... and I don't believe it's an accident that it didn't come from the run of play via Pulisic, Reyna, Dest, or Weah (or until the very end).

 

Unfortunately, we don't have many natural combiners - players with an excellent first touch, who move off the ball and look to combine quick passes with their teammates.  McKennie can when he has time and space, but his technical ability and touch lets him down in close quarters. Aaronson can do it in smaller spaces, but he also is somewhat dribble-oriented. Maybe LDLT if you're willing to take a step down in player quality.  

 

 

The moments when the US have had success attacking through the middle of the field (or Zone 14) -- such as the Weah goal vs Wales -- came when the US created a turnover, countered quickly into the space, and allowed Pulisic take 5 touches driving at the backline before slotting Weah in behind.  But if you're going to try to attack through Z14 against a team sitting back in a defensive block, you're not going to have success through via extended dribbles.  The ball just doesn't move fast enough to unbalance the defense.

 

15 hours ago, Rockstar Matt said:

But instead, we prefer to play wide and send in crosses to strikers who are not good at finishing those crosses (or even getting on the end of them aside from Sargent). What's even more baffling to me is that if that's the style Berhalter insisted on playing against quality teams in a defensive block, Pefok (who is no elite/world class player by any stretch of the imagination) is easily the best striker in the pool at finishing crosses sent into dangerous spots. McKinnie is also outstanding at arriving late to the box and scoring goals from crosses/late passes (which is exactly what Depay did against us). It's something that we have seen consistently from him at Juventus, yet in Berhalter's system, McKinnie is almost always out wide playing off the fullbacks or back tracking defensively in this system. This is just a few of the many examples we have of Berhalter playing our best players out of position.

 

But the US was set-up to fail. LVG even stated that the US never adjusted to what they were trying to do. 

 

I don't believe that Berhalter insisted on playing the ball out wide or he has some rigid style of play that he is super-imposing on the national team. Sure, his teams like to activate the fullbacks in the attack, but with Jedi and Sergino on the roster it makes sense that you want to use their talents that way. If you look back at his Columbus teams, Berhalter always used a 4-2-3-1 (btw, a match where Gregg won the tactics battle against some guy named Jesse Marsh) and not a 4-3-3.  

 

The 4-3-3 allowed  (A) for the US to use the fullbacks in attack (B) keep the strongest aspect of the team, the MMA midfield, intact and (C) allow our bevy of talented wingers lots of freedom to move around in the attack, yet somehow all of our best players were being played out of position? Some things are just up to the players, and that "never adjusting" that LVG mentioned speaks more to the decision making of the players than how the manager set up the team.  They're the ones with the capacity to accelerate their speed of play, move off the ball, and start pinging it around... and I don't think it's a surprise that we ended going wide so often in that game when almost all of our attacking players play out on the wing for their clubs and love to dribble. 

 

Systematically, what really hurts the Berhalter style of play is the lack of a striker. The immense production that Kamara and Zardes created under GGG in Columbus was the result of numerous simple finishes they found around the box and were able to capitalize on. Unfortunately, the US was never able to find that between Ferrera, Sargent, Pepe, Pefok, Gioacchini, Wright, Dike, or Hoppe and Weah/Reyna weren't healthy enough through the run of qualifying or summer tournaments to experiment with them centrally.

 

15 hours ago, Rockstar Matt said:

I'm sorry, but Berhalter did the bare minimum. 

 

The US was expected to get out of the group and that's something we should always expect our team to do. We've done the last 3 times we've made the WC, and 4 out of the last 6 dating back to '94. If we're going to celebrate his bare minimum accomplishments as some great achievement then the USMNT will always be stuck in mediocrity. The US was expected to qualify for the WC yet they backed into qualifying by goal difference, even though we have the most talented pool/team in the confederation.

 

Yes we beat Mexico in the Nations League and Gold Cup (who honestly cares about the GC), but this Mexico squad this cycle has proven to be their worst team in the modern era. Considering the talent level difference, we should be beating Mexico consistently (doesn't help Mexico that Tata is an even worse coach than GGG). He gets the scorn because it's apparent that these group of US players are the most talented in our history, yet he cannot get the most out of them or get them to play to up to their potential and beyond. Jurgen Klinsmen (a bad coach) got more out of worse 2014 US team, in a far, far tougher group than Greg did with a far more gifted roster. The US literally just suffered their worst knockout round loss in the modern era despite having it's most talented team.

 

It might be harsh, or seem overly critical, but what do we want of our NT? To be stuck for the next 40 years as one of the 10-16 best national team's in the world like Mexico was? Or to actually become a world-power in football and one that's consistently going deep in international tournaments? 

 

Have you forgotten the state of the program post-Couva? The men's team being treated as a complete joke, failing to qualify for the World Cup in the weakest region, an entire generation of players lost, toxic leadership culture throughout the program on the field and off? Yet despite all that Berhalter was able to return us to our historic water level with the youngest and least experienced team we've ever sent. That alone makes his tenure a rousing success. And for me, as someone who hates El Tri, their dominance over us was annoying and Gregg helped win a lot of those trophies with much less talent and experience on the field. 

 

It's also funny to me that you're holding up Jurgen Klinsmann as a tactical genius of a manager and dissing on Tata, which is an opinion that I think you would be wise to reconsider. 

 

Ultimately, regardless of what certain media outlets have tabbed this group of players, this is not a golden generation for the United States.  There's no Modric, no De Bruyne, no Pirlo... Sure, we now have young players who belong at the top clubs in the world, but almost every country ranked in the top 20 has those. With a healthy academy infrastructure now in place across most of the country with both MLS and USL academies and European clubs setting up shop as well, getting that replenishing foundation of top players should be the beginning of competing on the world stage, not the culmination of all those efforts. 

 

It's going to take time (and I'm talking decades, not years) for the US to become a Brazil/France/Spain/England/Germany level soccer power; and the only way that timeline will be sped up is the off-chance we are gifted an actual Ballon d'Or level of player by the football gods. But even then, there are no guarantees in football (see Robert Lewandowski and Poland, Zlatan Ibrahimović and Sweden, or Erling Halaand and Norway).

 

 

[Digby]

1 hour ago, BrySmalls said:

 

I disagree. Their 2-1 AET loss to Ghana in the 2010 WC was worse AND we had several strikers on the roster back then!

 

Mostly Robbie Findley, though. Altidore certainly had some moments and for how much he frustrated me, he also hasn't really been replaced. What I really wonder about is the timeline where he and Davies are a dynamic duo striker partnership for two World Cups at least. That 2009 Confed Cup was a high water mark that gets overlooked all the time, but what a fun couple weeks that was.

 

[GFB]

19 minutes ago, Digby said:

 

Mostly Robbie Findley, though. Altidore certainly had some moments and for how much he frustrated me, he also hasn't really been replaced. What I really wonder about is the timeline where he and Davies are a dynamic duo striker partnership for two World Cups at least. That 2009 Confed Cup was a high water mark that gets overlooked all the time, but what a fun couple weeks that was.

 

 

Forever the Benny Feilhaber era to me, long may he reign 

[Cujo]

I had no problem (unlike others) with Brazil's choreographed dances following each goal today. Including the HC getting into the act