USMNT: Soccer's Coming Home

Jed Zeppelin

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2-3 useless low crosses so far these kids fit right in.

Liked that motion in the box from Vazquez there, couldn't quite get the right deflection for a corner but strong move.
 

67YAZ

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That was a sharp counter. Some real individual skill on display for the US...less team cohesion, of course.
 

67YAZ

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That's a very classy finish by Vasquez.

Morris is on the ball a lot so far. I'd like to see a little more switching.
 

67YAZ

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THAT IS CLASSIC GAGA!

He'll do anything to keep the ball out of the net.
 

67YAZ

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That last save was nice by Slonina, but also reflects an area where he needs to improve - directing rebounds out of play or away from danger.
 

Titans Bastard

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Interesting. I read 21 of the 22 on the pitch when they faced each other a couple weeks ago were Basque.
But, growing up in Boise, ALL of the Basques were Bilbao - I never even heard the name Sociedad.
I learned about Boise's Basques when I saw Athletic schedule a friend with Tijuana there and looked into why the hell a regional Spanish club was going to Idaho. What a world.
 

Titans Bastard

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I've been pretty impressed with Jalen Neal so far, considering has not yet made his MLS debut for the LA Galaxy.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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Did 4 guys just whiff on that ball?
Would have been better if Vazquez had whiffed. His little touch was just enough to put it out of Gressel's reach.

Soñora is 2 for 2 so far getting his corner over the head of the first defender and into a relevant space.
 

Tangled Up In Red

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I learned about Boise's Basques when I saw Athletic schedule a friend with Tijuana there and looked into why the hell a regional Spanish club was going to Idaho. What a world.
Biggest Basque population outside of the Spain/France region. Wild. I grew up with so many, I had no idea the rarity.
First time I got caught drinking was at Jialdi (what a great party).
Went back this year and the Basque Block is strong, the museum was quaint and (old friend) Dan Ansotegui's Bar Gernika still kicking!
 

ThePrideofShiner

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Biggest Basque population outside of the Spain/France region. Wild. I grew up with so many, I had no idea the rarity.
First time I got caught drinking was at Jialdi (what a great party).
Went back this year and the Basque Block is strong, the museum was quaint and (old friend) Dan Ansotegui's Bar Gernika still kicking!
My buddy's wedding had a basque influence just because he got married in Boise. Best food I've ever had at a rehearsal dinner hands down.
 

67YAZ

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Oooofff... As good as Neal was in the first half, that was youthful mistake.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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Given how small we are as a team, any size/power guy is going to perk my ears up (part of why I'm such a Dike booster). Excited for more Cowell.
 

67YAZ

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Acosta usually so much better with the deadball.

Zendejas has been very lively since the US pushed forward for the equalizer, but he wasn't finding the ball earlier. He's only getting one match this window, but I think he has to get another invite to see how he can fit into a system...whenever we get a manager to set that up.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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Players I liked:
  • Cowell—really wore out the Serbian defense, deserved a goal
  • Zendejas—skilled, shifty, confident, wish he saw more of the ball early
  • Vazquez—great #9 performance, minimal touches but buried his one real chance
  • Neal—a couple 2H mistakes but good otherwise
Players I didn't like:
  • Soñora—was bad on the ball; corners were decent
  • Pomykal—wrong mix of invisible and too visible
  • Morris—aggressively fine, OK given space but didn't really drive much, ran around a lot I guess, didn't see any skill there
Thought Gomez was OK, certainly overshadowed by Cowell on the left and his service left a bit to be desired. Slight miscommunication with Neal led to a goal.
 
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67YAZ

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Gaga with a big hug from his older brother Nick, who came up through the Fire Academy but retired last year without ever getting into an MLS match. Nick is a local real estate agent now.

@Jed Zeppelin - I can't be too critical of the young midfielders. They didn't look like they ever got in the flow, which makes sense with new kids bedding in under an interim. I would have started Acosta at the 6 just to provide a veteran anchor. But I think everyone learned a lot tonight.
 

InstaFace

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Interesting. I read 21 of the 22 on the pitch when they faced each other a couple weeks ago were Basque.
But, growing up in Boise, ALL of the Basques were Bilbao - I never even heard the name Sociedad.
Biggest Basque population outside of the Spain/France region. Wild. I grew up with so many, I had no idea the rarity.
First time I got caught drinking was at Jialdi (what a great party).
Went back this year and the Basque Block is strong, the museum was quaint and (old friend) Dan Ansotegui's Bar Gernika still kicking!
It's funny that there's a Basque contingent large enough to notice, in Boise Idaho of all places. That's actually where Susaeta, the Basque USMNT-fan twitter commentator, moved to a few years ago (and has family), so that checks out. Is there some origin story for that huge clustering, like there is with Bosnians in St Louis?
 

rguilmar

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Interesting. I read 21 of the 22 on the pitch when they faced each other a couple weeks ago were Basque.
But, growing up in Boise, ALL of the Basques were Bilbao - I never even heard the name Sociedad.
No it was 21 total players on the field that day were Basque, including subs. I think 16 started (obviously all 11 from Athletic Club and 5 from Sociedad). Off the top of my head, David Silva, Take Kubo, Surloth, and Le Normand all started for La Real and aren’t Basque. The rest were subs.

Sociedad used to have a Basque only policy back in the day but had to scrap it as Bilbao pillaged the other Basque youth academies. One criticism among Bilbao fans is that the team doesn’t draw enough from the Biscay province where they are located. Sociedad do have a policy that 80% of their youth players aren’t just Basque but from the Gipuzkoa province (I know I’ve said this before but it’s akin to the Red Sox having 80% of their minor league system filled by kids from Suffolk and Middlesex Counties), so Gomez even being there is an accomplishment on its own. The senior team must be 60% academy players too, so they really promote from within.
 

67YAZ

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McBride also tweets out a statement saying that he made the decision to leave USSF back in October.

 

Cellar-Door

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Sounds like CPC is finally cleaning house. I assume this means that Berhalter isn't going to be back. You don't snipe his two bosses and biggest supporters then bring him back, they'll slow roll the "investigation", hire a new Sporting Director and move from there.
 

Titans Bastard

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Yeah, Berhalter has to be done at this point.

Given their process, Hudson is almost certain to manage the Nations League games in March and who knows — maybe the Nations League and Gold Cup games this summer.
 

Cellar-Door

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Jimy Hendrix

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Summer seems fine because you at least get to see what club managers are interested in transitioning into the national team game in a way you wouldn't midseason. Anything after that gets silly again.