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The Official US Soccer thread
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Zeno
Ancient
2-0 at half, around 70% possession, not creating a ton of chances but in complete control.
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Impressive half. Both goals were gritty and high effort plays. But the skill is putting them in those positions to make plays.
ASUCHRIS
ONE HEART BEAT!!!
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We're clearly missing Pulisic, but took care of business nicely today. The good news is Pulisic will be able to rest up in the Turkey game, so hopefully full strength for the knockout round.
I’m not super impressed with our offense, but the clean sheet against a good Australian side is nice.
Back line needs to clean up the turnovers.
Back line needs to clean up the turnovers.
Zeno
Ancient
Yeah, I would expect a few changes against Turkey to protect against yellow card accumulation and let players like Pulisic get 100% for the knockout rounds. 6 points and a +5 goal differential is nice to have after 2 matches.
It would have been nice to get th third goal and they should have. But Offensively this is better than anything I’ve seen from the USA in a World Cup. I thought the effort defensively was their best in a long time. The worst USA turnovers for me were in the midfield and final third of Australia’s goal. Some unforced turnovers and that were mostly in the 2nd half probably due to fatigue. The first half was a clinical performance. Australia were parking the bus and the USA broke through with grit. Even the USA’s missed chances at the end of the match were better than anything Australia had all game long.
They played a unique formation and it seemed to give Australia problems. I say unique but it’s one that we used to see played a long time ago more often. I was disappointed balogun didn’t score at the end when he ran in alone and held it too long. Would have liked him to put one on target there from farther out. They missed pulisic and it put more pressure on Robinson but he was up for that. others stepped up and got it done which is a must have to go deep into the WC. I think I would rest dest and robinson in the next match. They have been great. And freeman was an unsung hero in game 1. Glad to see him score. The partnership of Richards and Ream has been great.
That’s true.
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Stout
A handful of fairy tales from the story bag...
That was a really great...half a game. Incredible start to the WC and something the US just hasn't done before. Freaking awesome.
That was an inexcusable second half. That show that the US just isn't going to go far in the WC. Yes, you would expect a decent Aussie team to go for it. You wouldn't expect the US to crumble like they did. Only a lack of cutting edge from the Aussies held the lead for us. A better team is level again halfway through the second half, minimum. That was pathetic. We're not going to play Aussies the rest of the way. We might be able to skate in the round of 32, but not pas that.
Anyway, I'm still stoked and will ignore the above to cheer us on the rest of the way no matter what. I have to go check when we're going to play and who it might be!
That was an inexcusable second half. That show that the US just isn't going to go far in the WC. Yes, you would expect a decent Aussie team to go for it. You wouldn't expect the US to crumble like they did. Only a lack of cutting edge from the Aussies held the lead for us. A better team is level again halfway through the second half, minimum. That was pathetic. We're not going to play Aussies the rest of the way. We might be able to skate in the round of 32, but not pas that.
Anyway, I'm still stoked and will ignore the above to cheer us on the rest of the way no matter what. I have to go check when we're going to play and who it might be!
Zeno
Ancient
The US avoided any sort of significant travel for their first knockout game, they play in the Bay Area, they also get to play a third place team. They also get the opportunity to protect from any yellow card suspensions and rest key players in the third match. Things are really lining up in their favor, hopefully they take advantage of it.
I am loving how Dest & Robinson are playing, under Berhalter they played deeper and their offensive impact was minimized, now with them playing as wingback they are constantly driving the ball up the wings and the opponents have no choice but to respect them. Robinson might be my favorite player in this team.
I am loving how Dest & Robinson are playing, under Berhalter they played deeper and their offensive impact was minimized, now with them playing as wingback they are constantly driving the ball up the wings and the opponents have no choice but to respect them. Robinson might be my favorite player in this team.
Jedi and Dest were out during most of pochettino’s tenure. It’s no wonder why things were difficult for them. so far Richards, Freeman, Adams, and Ream are protecting dest and Robinson. Robinson is a brilliant defender and a good attacking player, while Dest is not a good defender imo. Dest is better on the ball than Robinson though and is paralyzing people on the wing. Having pulisic on the left side is great because that enables both he and McKinney to pair with both Dest and Robinson. Those combos gave Paraguay fits and we saw how well Paraguay defended last night.
Cardinal88
All Star
With Dest and Pulisic on the wings, a lot of defenses are going to have issues. They beat their defender and serve it in front of the net with the best of them. Honestly though, we really do not have that "IT" finisher. Sometimes Pulisic looks like he is the guy but it's not consistent. It would be awesome for Dest to turn into that right side left footed finisher.
Richards out of the back is a beast though!
Richards out of the back is a beast though!
Absolutely and my concern in the back is that Richards is irreplaceable to the point that there is a massive drop after him. Hopefully he can rest in the next game and give someone else a chance to get some experience. I think freeman can play in his position but not sure. Ream is more than solid but can be exposed against the top teams. Adams not being asked to go forward as much is also helping the back line. Adams is doing a great job as a defensive holder. Kind of that old school 6.
It makes sense the home team would get a boost in a tournament like this. I personally think we’re seeing that in the first two matches.
But whatever. Even if we were to get throttled by a good team in the semis, if we were to make it that far, I would acknowledge it as progress.
If we get to the semis I would be over the moon. I think the final 8 is probably the ceiling that I see but I’ll gladly be wrong. And we aren’t deep nor established enough to just expect wins in the 32 and 16. Most likely would have to survive penalties in any one of those 3 games in order to get to the semis. The good thing is this side is more talented than ever before, will be hungry to prove people wrong, and they have unrivaled support compared to other tournaments.
Tyler Adams, Folarin Balogun, Antonee Robinson, and Chris Richards are the players sitting on a yellow card after two matches. It would be wise to sit them against Turkiye. Sit Pulisic too since there are going to be some tough matches once they hit the knockout rounds. I thought Pochettino would have subbed out Balogun before he did and unfortunately he ended up picking up a yellow in the last minutes of the match.
Start Scally and McKenzie and Berhalter for Robinson, Richards and Adams. I would run Reyna in for Pulisic. Start Pepi for Balogun. Single yellow cards do not carry over to the knockout rounds from group play.
I would like to see Zendejas get some minutes as well as Aaronson. I expect Weah to see some minutes against Turkiye, maybe even start.
Even though they didn't score in the second half, they did create chances which was nice. The last 10-15 minutes, they just looked to run clock off and play defense.
Start Scally and McKenzie and Berhalter for Robinson, Richards and Adams. I would run Reyna in for Pulisic. Start Pepi for Balogun. Single yellow cards do not carry over to the knockout rounds from group play.
I would like to see Zendejas get some minutes as well as Aaronson. I expect Weah to see some minutes against Turkiye, maybe even start.
Even though they didn't score in the second half, they did create chances which was nice. The last 10-15 minutes, they just looked to run clock off and play defense.
If pochettino decides to go with a new lineup on Thursday and rest most of those guys who played in both games, then it will make more sense to me why he stayed with the starters for as long as he did. Many of those guys on the bench are more than capable of winning a game. And I would play Christian he is fit. I don’t want him taking too much time off. I would still limit his mins. If he needs more time then I’d sit him.
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Cardinal88
All Star
It looks like we would be stacked up agains a 3rd place team from B/E/F/I/J. I'm not sure how the seading works but if the Golden Eagles are strong, they should advance to the 16. This is about where they are ranked via FIFA world rankings so I'd be dissapointed if we didn't get to quarters. Hope and pray for more baby!
