USMNT Summer 2023: Memo's Mirror Gets Sharp
- Thread starter InstaFace
- Start date
Are there any non-capped duals on the bench?
Edit - bc uh put them in.
Great ball and finish.
STKN country population couldn’t even fill an nfl stadium
Edit - bc uh put them in.
Great ball and finish.
STKN country population couldn’t even fill an nfl stadium
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Cowell has really had some poor touches. He keeps zigging instead of zagging and can’t quite connect.
I am at this game and I can hear this poor SOB crying in pain from across the field. Oh mercy.
Roldan got every bit of that shot.
Roldan got every bit of that shot.
If that Uzbekistan and Oman thing for September sounded weird and reactionary... it was. Our boy JT Batson had his shit lined up before CONMEBOL got all wobbly on him.
View: https://twitter.com/St8ofFootball/status/1674217042092900352
View: https://twitter.com/St8ofFootball/status/1674217042092900352
I doubt anyone this side of Alexi Lalas is drawing too many conclusions from the great performances in the game last night. I do think it’s fair to look at players who could not shine against a team from a country roughly the population of Salem, MA though. I’m concerned about Soñora and Zendejas. Both players have aspects of their games that I like, but both were relatively invisible last night. To a lesser degree, I would’ve liked to have seen more from Cade Cowell too.
I admit to being very excited about the tools Jalen Neal has. I also admit to chuckling at someone nicknaming Jesus Ferreira “Pirate of the Caribbean”.
I admit to being very excited about the tools Jalen Neal has. I also admit to chuckling at someone nicknaming Jesus Ferreira “Pirate of the Caribbean”.
Thats about where I am on Sonora and Zendejas, both had flashes but not much that compelled me and a good chunk of what didn’t. I liked a lot of what Mihailović showed as well. Happy for Ferreira, he made the most of his opportunity and did have some cheeky touches. To this point I’ve felt he gets swallowed up in bigger matches with tough back lines, but still developing. Cowell showed enough to make me curious for more. A Vazquez start please. More Neal.
Interesting. I thought he was awful. A black hole whose first touches let him down most of the time. Very late before he was subbed he got in the flow a bit, but I think they could have had 9 goals in that game if they'd just decided to forget the left and send everything down the right.
The consensus on the Scuffed discord is that Cowell seems to do great against fellow kids no matter how good they are (U20 World Cup), and bad against adults no matter how bad they are (SKN last night), and explanations for this phenomenon vary considerably.
It’s the inconsistency that’s killing Cowell. I’m trying to keep in perspective that he doesn’t turn 20 until October despite the fact that he looks like a fully matured professional. Ideally, he’s got a lot more growth ahead in term of first touch, decision making, technique, making runs…he shows incredible flashes in all these areas, but an equal (sometimes greater) number of mistakes.
Dude had some touches against Jamaica that made we say “wow” out loud. Cowell has the highest ceiling among all the attackers in this squad. My sense is that he needs to move out of San Jose and get to a strong youth development club in the Netherlands or Belgium to push him to another level.
Been happily surprised at Djordje’s progress. I didn’t think he could play as well centrally as he has been. Heitz did Djordje raw in Chicago. On the whole, it was probably time for Djordje to move on and for the Fire to cash in, but Heitz blindsided the kid immediately after the manager said they wanted to keep Djordje to build around. Bad form.
Dude had some touches against Jamaica that made we say “wow” out loud. Cowell has the highest ceiling among all the attackers in this squad. My sense is that he needs to move out of San Jose and get to a strong youth development club in the Netherlands or Belgium to push him to another level.
Been happily surprised at Djordje’s progress. I didn’t think he could play as well centrally as he has been. Heitz did Djordje raw in Chicago. On the whole, it was probably time for Djordje to move on and for the Fire to cash in, but Heitz blindsided the kid immediately after the manager said they wanted to keep Djordje to build around. Bad form.
I'm probably overreacting about Cowell. It's one of those things where you go into a game really anxious or excited to see how a particular player or two do, and you focus on them, and then get a distorted view that's different from if you'd just been watching the game more casually.
It's tough. The pessimistic case is that Cowell flew up through the youth ranks because he physically matured so quickly so he never had to grind away at his technical and mental abilities. Or maybe this just is his plateau? You just never know with kids.
I keep comparing Cowell to Brian Gutierrez because Guti is only 4 months young but looks about 8 years behind Cowell. Watch the Fire and Guti's control, creativity, and playmaking pop. But we're all waiting for him to hit some kind of growth spurt/athleticism bump where Guti can either get strong enough to play as an 8 or fast enough to run the wing.
Soñora is the spot on recent USMNT rosters that just baffles me the most. The gap on how he is evaluated by US Soccer versus how he is evaluated by the soccer world at large seems huge. Djordje was a recent MLS all-star who was good enough to move on from Montreal to the Netherlands (has not found his form there yet, admittedly), yet a place on the Nation's League roster and the Jamaica start go to the guy who all of MLS seemed to pass on and has been in fairly indifferent form for Juarez. He's tidy and has his moments, but he seems to be a real Darlington Nagbe heat map guy at best.
I'll agree Mihailovic has looked a class above the opposition in both these games, which considering the quality of Jamaica was very impressive. He's not the likeliest here to break into the A-team (Neal is, surely) but we very much need CM depth, and he has athleticism that a (say) Busio lacks.
I don't know about this. Neal is very promising, but we have pretty solid CB depth and very little non-Gio attacking midfielder depth. If Mihailovic finds his way at AZ I could see him as part of our main squads pretty quickly. Depends if you mean a 26-man roster or the starting 11 when you say A-team as well, I suppose.
What a finish, pops it up to himself, turns and places it far corner.
Great entire play pushing the pace. Some great passing into space
Great entire play pushing the pace. Some great passing into space
Seems like we have an actual Gold Cup game thread: https://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?threads/copa-oro-2023-better-than-a-non-league-summer-friendly-sort-of.39849/
Teams are allowed to replace confirmed injured players after the group stage.
Per Giannone, Callaghan said that Soñora (hamstring) will be replaced. Not sure with whom yet.
View: https://twitter.com/micheleg3/status/1675674809047433216
Per Giannone, Callaghan said that Soñora (hamstring) will be replaced. Not sure with whom yet.
View: https://twitter.com/micheleg3/status/1675674809047433216
just looked - ouch.
My Plan B is to wait til shortly before the game, someone will be selling below face...
Here's one view of team strength at the Gd Cup, the % of World Cup minutes that are on the GC roster.
Mexico: 56%
Canada: 38%
USA: 2% (Morris, Ferreira, Yedlin)
Mexico: 56%
Canada: 38%
USA: 2% (Morris, Ferreira, Yedlin)
Xavi and Barcelona have been saying that they want to give Dest the shot to prove himself this summer at the Catalan club. I think the reality is that they aren’t finding takers for him or that they are more easily able to sell off other players. Dest no longer really fits how Barcelona have been playing, at least under Xavi. So unless Sergiño has really changed how he plays or Xavi wants his RB to play a more attacking role, this could be another long season for Dest. The kid’s loaded with talent but loses focus and confidence at times.
View: https://twitter.com/sergino_dest/status/1678831566124904470?s=46&t=XvGOrrWIyL-5CHVVL_0JYQ
View: https://twitter.com/sergino_dest/status/1678831566124904470?s=46&t=XvGOrrWIyL-5CHVVL_0JYQ
What is Pulisic's path for playing time at AC Milan? Curious who he will be competing with and whether folks who watch that team regularly think he is stronger/weaker than those players who share his position(s).
The interesting thing about this move is that it's been stated in a number of places that Pioli is looking at him as a 10 specifically, more so than a winger. Their starter for the past three seasons there was Brahim Diaz, but he was on a long term loan series from Real Madrid and he has gone back there, so the spot is pretty open. Main remaining competition for that spot is probably Charles De Ketelaere, who was disappointing for them last year. Assuming he doesn't stink up the joint in training and De Ketelaere doesn't appear to be putting all the pieces together, it really looks like Milan bought him to start him.
Thanks- in googling around a bit, I see that Pioli has a reputation as a good coach for younger players (I guess Ketelaere is the exception). It would be such a huge positive step for Pulisic to get regular playing time moving forward.
Following up on this, and unsurprisingly (to me) this appears to have been the case. At least per the guys on In Soccer We Trust, who have heard that "nobody" wanted the USMNT job. Disappointing, but is what it is.
Jimmy Conrad has been beating that drum for a while. I think I would add that “nobody” who fit the profile of manager that US Soccer was looking for wanted the job. They had a criteria that GGG apparently fit.
And who was willing to work for a reasonable national team salary…not the 8 figures the top clubs pay top managers.
/endofcreamcheeseconradrant
That's not quite what it sounded like to me. What it sounded like to me is that no one remotely at the level people were dreaming about - Low, Enrique, etc., to say nothing of the even higher-level guys - was interested in the job. I don't think that's because those people weren't in USSF's profile, but rather that they didn't want it. Of those who did, USSF concluded Gregg was the best option, which I don't think is crazy.
I’m just basing things on what Matt Crocker said along with the presentation by US Soccer which cited Personality Profiles and Age Statistics. Just my reading between the lines, they seemed to prioritize age statistics (both working with younger players and manager age) and familiarity with soccer in the US. US Soccer listed Psychometric like Personality Profiles and Abstract Reasoning Testing in their presentation. Perhaps language was a factor as well. Crocker said that they had a profile in mind based on a specific criteria, and I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. It narrows the search, and it’s fair to assume that certain names we all dreamed about were eliminated based on this criteria.
A couple of Spanish names I had thrown out there in the past were Julen Lopetegui (who had expressed interest in the past) and Marcelino (who was presumed to be Enrique’s successor for Spain), and apparently neither were asked. I imagine whatever criteria US Soccer put together eliminated them from consideration.
You might very well be right that everyone turned the US down. We know that they asked Zidane and Marsch based on public comments but anything else is speculation. Having a profile in mind to limit the search makes sense. I do question the criteria if GGG is the among the best available, but that ship has sailed and it’s time to move on.
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