Yeah, England's center-backs don't exactly scream confidence.Correct, he and Weah could still play elsewhere. Weah seems very unlikely as neither Jamaica nor Liberia would seem to be more attractive choices, and you'd think he'd have a very very difficult time cracking France's team. CCV has been part of the US program for a long time now, so you'd hope he's built some loyalty, but you could've said the same for Gonzalez at one time. If he breaks through for Tottenham before being cap-tied, I'll probably start getting nervous.
This is true but I generally think the NT coaches have to promise not to do shit like this to get the kid to appear. For all we know the agreement was to get him in camp with a promise not to play himI may forever renounce my support for the USMNT if CCV switches after Klinsmann insanely neglected to cap-tie him in the 4-0 loss to CR.
The first two subs came at 2-0, technically with enough time left to salvage a point so whatever, but the third was Zusi on for Johnson in the 77th minute after CR had scored in the 74th to go up 3-0. Fucking absurd.
I'm not exactly sure how close to Paraguay's "A" team this was, but they did start Miguel Almiron, who we would all be drooling over if he were American.Yeah. It's a familiar issue of "it's nice that they mostly looked better than the other team, but they didn't make many true quality moments."
I also can't speak to the quality of Paraguay's team for this friendly/
Yeah, we really need to find another creative presence beyond Pulisic. With CP in there, we're putting too much on his shoulders and without him we're toothless. The current pool of mid-20s types may produce a few attacking midfield role players, but it's hard to see anything great: Arriola, Rowe, Saief. Pray for Carleton (and several other teenagers).Still, cause for optimism. No Pusilic clones, but I could see many of these guys being capable contributors. I found myself thinking that if a few of these younger guys had been in the side in the T&T game, we might have had the energy and the legs to power through that soggy pitch and find a goal or two.
Agree with this, and hopefully our younger guys are internalizing the 'defense = gaining control of the ball back' versus 'defense = keeping the ball out of the net' mentality.I appreciated the comprehensive team defense on display. While that's a Very American Soccer thing to say about a game, the team defense has been disjointed and uneven for a long time.
Rings pretty true to me, this is pretty much the story of Sunil's life.“I felt a little bad for Sunil,” Arena wrote. “He wanted to make a change and replace Klinsmann, but he was nervous about pulling the trigger. The timing was already going to be awkward, with Copa America [Centenario] coming up in June. Now Dan was gone for two months. It didn’t feel right to move ahead at that time. … Events had already been set in motion, though.”
Ahem...Trinidad & Tobago's B team.I found Arena's statements that the defeats to Costa Rica and Mexico to be a "fiasco for US Soccer" to be the height of irony. If losing to CONCACAF heavyweights is a catastrophe, how do you characterize losing to Trinidad & Fucking Tabago?
If you've got the options for both, wouldn't you want to send the A-team to the Copa and the B-team to the Gold Cup?Wahl: US has been invited to the 2019 Copa America
This is the regular Copa America, not the special version like the one hosted in the US in 2016. A repeat of the combined Copa in 2020 is TBD.
The US hasn't participated in the regular Copa since 2007. The trouble is that it occurs in the same summer as the Gold Cup, so the US can't send its top team to the Copa.
Yes. Clubs don't have to release players for major tournaments if the team is a guest invite like the US would be in Copa America.Is it a club release requirement issue?
There might not be a Confed Cup, they are thinking of replacing it with a larger, quadrennial Club World CupPlus, if the US wins the 2019 Gold Cup, doesn't that give them an auto bid into the 2021 Confederations Cup?
There hasn't been much update since the report in February that made the GM role sound like it will be way too limited in scope. Hiring/firing the USMNT manager, no control over YNT coaches, only a "voice at the table" with how the USSF interacts with youth development.If the position matters at all (which I am still not clear on), I would find those to be somewhat compelling choices, Stewart more than Curtis probably.
I'm still not clear on what if any responsibilities the position would have besides hiring the manager. Has anything been clarified on that, or is it still clear as mud?
Reading this must be like what a Seahawks fan would feel watching the Butler pick on loop for 20 minutes from every different angle.Oral history of the debacle in T&T from fans that were there:
https://sports.yahoo.com/fans-oral-history-u-s-soccers-nightmare-trinidad-090333548.html
I'd definitely be intrigued and could maybe get behind Wenger as a one-cycle-patch for the USMNT. It would have to be part of a broader strategy like "Wenger gets us to Qatar while Cordeiro and the new GM build the foundations for longer term success." I'm skeptical that Wenger would be interested in this or that the USSF is sufficiently organized for long term planning right now.A senile Wenger would still run circles around most international teams. You joke, but with the lower stress and lower expectations, it wouldn't shock me if the USSF started targeting near-to-retirement elite club managers. Maybe if France fails to make it out of their group, they give Wenger a cycle. Dude's 68 but he's a younger 68 than Heynckes is at 72 or (say) Jorge Jesus is at 63.
The U.S. Under-19 Men’s National Team will travel to Trnava, Slovakia from May 1-12 to participate in 2018 Slovakia Cup. The U.S. has been drawn into Group B with Czech Republic, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, while Azerbaijan, Hungary, Slovakia and Wales make up Group A. All teams will face a fourth opponent in the placement stage, but only the two group winners will vie for Slovakia Cup Champions.
GOALKEEPERS (2): Sam Fowler (Seattle Sounders FC; Issaquah, Wash.), Justin Garces (Atlanta United FC; Miami, Fla.)
DEFENDERS (7): Jake Arteaga (LA Galaxy; Glendora, Calif.), Charlie Asensio (Atlanta United FC; Roswell, Ga.), Jean-Julien Foe Nuphaus (San Jose Earthquakes; San Jose, Calif.), Chris Gloster (Hannover 96; Montclair, N.J.), Rayshaun McGann (Atlanta United FC; Palm Beach, Fla.), James Sands (New York City FC; Rye, N.Y.), Akil Watts (Unattached; Fort Wayne, Ind.)
MIDFIELDERS (5): Taylor Booth (Unattached; Eden, Utah), Blaine Ferri (Solar Soccer Club; Southlake, Texas), Declan McGlynn (Crossfire Premier; Kirkland, Wash.), Isaiah Parente (Columbus Crew; Cleveland, Ohio), Sean Zawadzki (Crew SC Academy; Olmsted Falls, Ohio)
FORWARDS (6): Kyle Holcomb (Pateadores; San Marcos, Calif.), Matt Hundley (Colorado Rapids; Littleton, Colo.), Zyen Jones (FC Schalke 04; Clarkston, Ga.), Jeremy Rafanello (Philadelphia Union; Delran, N.J.), Jacobo Reyes (C.F. Monterrey; Monterrey, Mexico), Sebastian Soto (Real Salt Lake; Casa Grande, Ariz.)
Agree. The information and updates are invaluable- it’s the way I keep up with US soccer.Just a post to let you know we love these posts, so please don’t think lack of responses mean we aren’t reading.
The 1999 birth year is blessed. Shaft Brewer is arguably not even the best name among the group -- after all, Aristotle Zarris is on the roster, too.Anything short of stardom for Shaft Brewer will be a real disappointment.
Carelton strikes me as possibly the answer to "What if Sebastien Lletget had ever stayed healthy"Then of course, there's Andrew Carleton, who has excellent technique and a lot of flair and creativity. He doesn't have outstanding speed or acceleration, so there are questions about his long-term future: will he be a winger or a #10?
...and before that, not been stuck in a Big Sam team during many of his prime developmental years.Carelton strikes me as possibly the answer to "What if Sebastien Lletget had ever stayed healthy"
I meant the whole lot of it, his injuries and illness really stalled his West Ham career, every time he was supposed to go on loan he either got hurt or sick until he was too old/ hadn't played in so long nobody wanted to take a chance on him. The manager changes hurt too, but getting stuck in U-23 forever and not training for long stretches really put his development on ice....and before that, not been stuck in a Big Sam team during many of his prime developmental years.