Everything looks great on Haaland.Has a centered crest ever looked good on a uniform? I feel like I've never liked it any time I've seen it.
I tend to agree with everything here- can’t see much use to Morris once Weah is back. Also really hoping Richards starts, would love Ream for Long on roster but I guess that ship has sailed.Pretty much the World Cup roster now except:
Weah for Morris
Jedi for Vines (unless Vines lights it up and Scally doesn’t)
Probably Steffen for Johnson
Perhaps Pefok for Sargent/Pepi
Hopefully not Roldan for Tillman
If we assume Ferreira and Turner are the likely starters then I really only see the CB partner with Zim as the only starting spot up for grabs. For me, it’s Richards but Gregg loves himself some Long.
This was incredible. Not that he felt that way, but also that he was so willing to share it openly.Did anyone else catch the Scuffed interview with Jimmy Conrad? The shade he threw at Michael Bradley was wild to me.
Pomykal deserves the nod. Finally healthy, he’s playing the way we all hoped he could.Yunus is injured, will miss the camp and friendlies. Any ideas on who may be called in to take his place in the MF?
View: https://twitter.com/PaulTenorio/status/1570751220880646144?s=20&t=VosI-h534Ws4hBJ6hSPH6g
You broke my heart, Fredo. You broke my heart.Going back to the roster, I’m thinking it’s pretty much the World Cup roster now except:
Weah for Morris
Jedi for Vines (unless Vines lights it up and Scally doesn’t)
Probably Steffen for Johnson
Perhaps Pefok for Sargent/Pepi
Hopefully not Roldan for Tillman
If we assume Ferreira and Turner are the likely starters then I really only see the CB partner with Zim as the only starting spot up for grabs. For me, it’s Richards but Gregg loves himself some Long.
Did anyone else catch the Scuffed interview with Jimmy Conrad? The shade he threw at Michael Bradley was wild to me.
A lot of people on the Scuffed Discord are saying that this was the best, most compelling interview Belz has ever done, and he's done a LOT.This was incredible. Not that he felt that way, but also that he was so willing to share it openly.
I'd imagine Williamson of those two if any replacements are named. Almost all the system familiarity concerns that have kept Vasquez off the roster apply to Pomykal as well, although he did at least have some camps and caps a few years ago.Pomykal or Eryk for me.
Makes sense if LDLT is going to get the minutes and this is a get a close look pick more than a roster spot audition.Well, everyone's wrong.
Cardoso was unimpressive with the failed U23 qualifying effort a few years back, but I have not watched a single minute of him since, so who knows.
View: https://twitter.com/tombogert/status/1570786139228848131
Sorry dude. Just calling it how I think GGG sees it...You broke my heart, Fredo. You broke my heart.
View attachment 55530
(whether Fredo is rguilmar or Gregg Berhalter is left as a philosophical question)
Fully agreed. I know a few people here subscribe to their Patreon and honestly even just the Monday Reviews are well worth it. Belz does a lot of great interviews, but I wasn't really looking forward to this one as I find Jimmy Conrad a bit much at times (I do listen to his podcast with Heath Pearce and Charlie Davies because the former player perspective is fascinating to me) but the last 30 minutes or so were very compelling. I don't want to get into the specifics of the interview because it is paid content, but some of the highlights include the verbal beatdown of Michael Bradley -I literally said "Oh shit" out loud at work after some of the comments- and Conrad's explanation of his response to being nutmegged by a teenager at an event in Minneapolis which dove shockingly far into Jimmy's upbringing.A lot of people on the Scuffed Discord are saying that this was the best, most compelling interview Belz has ever done, and he's done a LOT.
Speaking of which, if anyone likes following the USMNT to the point of listening to a podcast, I can't recommend enough the value of paying $2 / month on Patreon to back Scuffed and thereby getting access to the Discord. That tiny little financial hurdle filters out all the riffraff / trolls, and the resulting conversation between a couple hundred members is SoSH-quality, one of the very few times I've ever been able to say that about another online community. There are some totally normal people there, and a few who make TB look like a dillettante - you can pretty much choose your preferred Sicko Level and get that there. I'll always come here to talk about it with y'all, but if you really want to gear up on the team and players before the World Cup, supporting Scuffed and reading that Discord that is absolutely the best couple dollars I spend every month.
To bring it full circle, a couple of the Scuffed guys have been on the Alex Mendez hype train for years now.As for a midfield replacement, the "invest in the future" choice would be Alex Mendez, who is well into his second season as a regular starter in Portugal at age 22, plays basically the same role as McKennie does for his club, and was a rockstar for that 2018-2019 U20 team (started 4 of 5 games).
He had a few goal contributions of late, including a two goal game. He's playing a ton of minutes recently for the second place team in Brazil and his increase in minutes coincides nicely with a string of good games for Internacional. I really only watch the Brazilian and Argentinian leagues over the summer and don't catch much of them once Europe kicks off, so I haven't seen him play of late.This does make the random Berhalter shoutout for him make more sense.
From what I am aware, he’s been playing as an 8 for his team and has consistently been making team of the week lists in Brazil, so he has broken through this season to some extent. What that looks like as a player, I do not know.
There are some of his club matches as replays on Paramount+, so could sneak a peek there if you are already subscribed for Champion’s League and want to slack off at work.
I don't think there's anything personal with Ream & Berhalter.someday we'll find out what Tim Ream and John Brooks did to Berhalter, but it clearly won't be anytime soon.
Ream I think it's purely the face-value "we want to play a high line with a press and don't believe in him for that situation". Brooks, it's that and also something else.I don't think there's anything personal with Ream & Berhalter.
Personal? Probably not. Probably not for Brooks either. But those are the two people for whom (from what I can tell) the evaluation of the USMNT community and the evaluation of Gregg Berhalter diverge most spectacularly, on the question of how and where they can help the team. To the point where reasonable people can wonder if "bad tactical fit" is code for his actual reasoning that he just doesn't want to share.I don't think there's anything personal with Ream & Berhalter.
Not that I disagree too much about Ream (I feel like he's earned a look), but this is happily not current info for McKenzie, who has started the last 6 Genk matches and is getting good reviews out there for it. He's absolutely in-form right now.also McKenzie (who's barely playing for Genk in Belgium, and frankly has never looked good there)
Should also note Benfica has three CBs who are injured (Lucas Verissimo, Joao Vitor and Morato). Brooks entered yesterday's game as a late sub, but if he doesn't get minutes soon he will buried beneath the guys ahead of him.I'll shed no particular tears for Brooks, since he isn't playing for Benfica right now.