US Soccer Catch-All

I didn't, to be honest, but a 1-1 draw against Uruguay's better than another 3-0 loss.

The USMNT's Brightest Dual National Is Suddenly On The Fence

Can't blame him in the slightest, the Oranje >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> USMNT.

Still though:

Prederick wrote:

The USMNT's Brightest Dual National Is Suddenly On The Fence

Can't blame him in the slightest, the Oranje >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> USMNT.

Still though: :(

A lot better for his career to stick with the NL.

Well lookit that. Claudio Reyna's kid is in the Guardian's "Next Generation 2019".

Time will tell, I guess.

Uff. Why is Cuba so awful? 6-0 at the half!

Dunno, we should ask the seven guys who defect after this game.

kazooka wrote:

Dunno, we should ask the seven guys who defect after this game.

Ahhh, that actually does explain it, doesn't it. Cuban soccer defections.

Pleasing, but yes, beating a team that already isn't very good but might also have several of their players defect to your nation in the process of playing you should largely be expected.

Although, the one time they played, East Germany did beat West Germany.

Godzilla Blitz wrote:
kazooka wrote:

Dunno, we should ask the seven guys who defect after this game.

Ahhh, that actually does explain it, doesn't it. Cuban soccer defections.

Yup, sorry if that sounded flippant. Usually a handful of guys run out on that team every time they play an away game.

Right. So.

Berhalter Out?

Prederick wrote:

Right. So.

Berhalter Out?

Nope, Berhalter in.

If you don't like Berhalter, your complaint will be ignored by a Berhalter near you.

The Berhalter is dead! Long live the Berhalter!

Kudos to Canada on the victory!

That said, from a US perspective, this is all going horribly wrong with Berhalter, which is to be expected given the nepotism shown in a selection process that ignored promising candidates and interviewed so few (two?). We're getting what we deserve.

Berhalter's in-game adjustments, player management, overall tactics/style of play, and player evaluation/selection (eight Columbus Crew players have had USMNT call ups and WTF is Bradley still around for—he'll be 35 in 2022) are all disappointing. I was up for giving him a chance, but I'm done with that now. He's in over his head and we won't get anywhere with this guy at the helm. Even more disappointing is that the people who managed the process to select him are still in place, so there is little hope that we'll get anything better if we sack Berhalter.

It's a mess that will end with an abysmal group performance in the 2022 World Cup. If we make it, that is. It'd be hard to imagine not making it again given how ridiculously easy it is for us to qualify, but given how Berhalter has the team performing he's raising the odds of failure every match.

Hahaha. United States "soccer."

Yeah, I was gonna say, on recent evidence, I would not take for granted that the USMNT will qualify for 2022.

Prederick wrote:

Yeah, I was gonna say, on recent evidence, I would not take for granted that the USMNT will qualify for 2022.

We haven't won on the road in something like 10 matches, and home matches against Costa Rica and Mexico have felt like away matches, so yeah, I could see this group caving.

Although I'm sure we'll get all amped up for our next match against Canada and win something like 4-0, and the USMNT will be all like "See! No problems! We bad ass!" and whatnot because they beat the 75th ranked team in the world. That way we can wobble along from catastrophe to embarrassment for another two years, keeping Berhalter's head above water until the World Cup wipes us out.

Atlanta goalkeeper Brad Guzan noted that in the final regular-season game last season, Atlanta lost the Supporters Shield to the Red Bulls with a loss.

"In the playoffs, anything can happen. It means nothing where you finish," Guzan said. "It's one and done. You've got to fight for your lives and fight for every inch that you get come playoff time."

One might argue this is an issue with the MLS. It's not a 100% true statement (Conference winners in the regular season get a bye), but you get enough randomness in a two-legged playoff that it's not untrue either.

Prederick wrote:
Atlanta goalkeeper Brad Guzan noted that in the final regular-season game last season, Atlanta lost the Supporters Shield to the Red Bulls with a loss.

"In the playoffs, anything can happen. It means nothing where you finish," Guzan said. "It's one and done. You've got to fight for your lives and fight for every inch that you get come playoff time."

One might argue this is an issue with the MLS. It's not a 100% true statement (Conference winners in the regular season get a bye), but you get enough randomness in a two-legged playoff that it's not untrue either.

It's all one-legged from this year, no?

*checks*

Holy sh*t, it is.

All rounds will use single-elimination matches that are hosted by the higher remaining seed, and no rounds will be re-seeded unlike previous years.

That is... uh.... well, that's a choice alright.

Welp, I was wrong, because that was absurd.

Not Atlanta beating New England or RSL beating Portland. I'm talking about the madcap absurdity of Seattle v. Dallas and DC United pulling off one of the most impressive last-minute bed-poopings I've ever seen.

I continue to be wrong, as Philly vs. Red Bulls was also a hum-dinger!

Maybe one-legged playoffs aren't so bad! (Or maybe MLS defending is atrocious.)

Either way, fun!

Garg, MN United couldn't finish to save their lives. Frustrating.

Big relief for him I’m sure. He’s looked really good in coming on as a sub lately and I know he’s had a few close misses. Good for him. And Chelsea.

Hat-trick now.

I know it's unfair to say this while the playoffs are going, but there's just no chance he turns out this good if he'd done his apprenticeship in the MLS. Just none.

Prederick wrote:

Hat-trick now.

I know it's unfair to say this while the playoffs are going, but there's just no chance he turns out this good if he'd done his apprenticeship in the MLS. Just none.

Eh, Alphonso Davies is doing pretty well, too (Tyler Adams before his injury was also really good). This statement was certainly true a few years ago, and definitely still true depending on the club (I would not personally advise that any homegrowns try and catch on with my Portland Timbers, for instance), but it's a more complicated scenario these days.

Prederick wrote:

Hat-trick now.

I know it's unfair to say this while the playoffs are going, but there's just no chance he turns out this good if he'd done his apprenticeship in the MLS. Just none.

Absolutely not. Total agreement. Just the work it takes on the back end to see the playing field is invaluable. It was fun watching him and DeAndre facing off against each other the other day too. The MLS is a fine league for players looking to extend their careers a bit and for players to develop some by playing with those players, but for young players that have international talent, it’s a terrible place to be for their growth.

kazooka wrote:

Eh, Alphonso Davies is doing pretty well, too (Tyler Adams before his injury was also really good). This statement was certainly true a few years ago, and definitely still true depending on the club (I would not personally advise that any homegrowns try and catch on with my Portland Timbers, for instance), but it's a more complicated scenario these days.

True, but in Davies' case, I feel like he's much better off for the next few years of his development at Bayern (and would've been for the last 2-3) than he would've been anywhere in the MLS.

I really don't want to sh*t on the league too much, because it's a decent league with decent players, but just the difference in technical ability that players from even relegation-threatened top level teams can put out is.... frustrating sometimes. And it effects the USMNT, because we try to, understandably, build part of the national team through the domestic league, it's just endlessly frustrating to see us create players with all the physical characteristics needed, but couldn't string six passes together in a game if their lives depended on it.

Why all of your favorite MLS stars are Argentinian

With a tortured lilt, in 1945 Enrique Campos first sang a tale of a boy whose life is made by an unexpected call up to his club’s first team. As so many tangos have, El Sueño del Pibe permeated into the Argentinian consciousness creating a shared dream where maybe, just maybe, fútbol can lead to salvation.

We have seen Carlos Tevez and Diego Maradona fulfill it, carrying themselves and their families out of poverty. But now, as the Argentinian league wilts under financial stress, the dream withers away.

“It’s a beautiful dream … it’s just not true,” said Sebastián Blanco, the Portland Timbers number 10.

Argentina’s economy is in freefall. As of September 2019, Argentina’s currency registered a more than 50% inflation rate in the last year, a record in the last 29 years. The peso is fluctuating around 61 pesos to the US dollar, officially. This means, one Argentinian peso is valued at under a tenth of an American quarter.

The jarring reality of the country’s economic crisis has made a stable landing ground of the MLS, a new paradise for Argentinian footballers to settle and expand their careers. This year, they were the most represented foreign nationality in the league other than Canadians, according to MLS data. Mexican players, it may surprise, were in the single digits.

“More than three years ago it would have been unthinkable for an Argentinian to come to the MLS,” said Blanco.

Huh! Well, I wonder what it is about the MLS that...

He’d be able to just play without external pressures: no threat of violence, top quality infrastructure and most importantly, consistent paychecks. It’s no secret that South American teams often struggle to pay their players on time.

..........yup, that'll do it.

Prederick wrote:

The USMNT's Brightest Dual National Is Suddenly On The Fence

Can't blame him in the slightest, the Oranje >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> USMNT.

Still though: :(

Well hot damn.