MNT's 2023

[CardiacAndre7]

Anywho, on a much lighter and a lot cooler note…

 

[outlaw]

nice touchdown from the boys last night - excited to see this group go again Monday

 

[Palatine]

Friendly versus Mexico coming up on on April 19th. 10 PM. TBS.

Here's the roster.

 

[ZooCougar]

Louisville City?

Reaching into the American second division huh?

 

[Palatine]

Louisville City?

Reaching into the American second division huh?

This was Hartford Athletic's chance to get a shot. Just kiddin'. Yep, it's the MLS special. But it's a good chance to see someone who might help us come June. No harm in leaving no stone unturned. Another opportunity to get eyes on Cowell,

 

[Palatine]

Louisville City? Reaching into the American second division huh?

Josh has been signed by Benfica in Portugal directly from his USL club. He's a 6'3", centerback and only 17 years old.

He exactly the kind of player that should be looked at in this window. You could look t this as a good sign for American soccer rather than something terrible.

 

[Waquoit]

Hartford is a feeder squad for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines football.

 

[ZooCougar]

Josh has been signed by Benfica in Portugal directly from his USL club. He's a 6'3", centerback and only 17 years old.

He exactly the kind of player that should be looked at in this window. You could look t this as a good sign for American soccer rather than something terrible.

I’m kind of poking fun at the MLS goobers who were up in arms when Jurgen called in an NASL and college soccer player named Jordan Morris over two of their plucky low talent MLS heroes.

 

[Palatine]

Hartford is a feeder squad for Saint Vincent and the Grenadines football.

The truth is that USL and MLS have been a boon for Central American soccer (and I suppose for the islands as well). Much moreso than for the USA.

 

[Sleepy]

The truth is that USL and MLS have been a boon for Central American soccer (and I suppose for the islands as well). Much moreso than for the USA.

I think that perhaps MLS has made the floor of the USMNT higher than before(although the failure in qualifying for 2018 may be a mark against that supposition), and perhaps the talent pool deeper, but a lot of the players are fairly interchangeable, and the standouts obviously leave for Europe as quickly as they can these days, unlike before when you had guys like Bradley, Dempsey, Howard, etc. seduced back to MLS for the $$$ and letting their games stagnate. I guess you could call MLS a plus for the USMNT if it weren't for the political wrangling of player and coach selection that the league exerts over the USSF.

 

[ZooCougar]

The truth is that USL and MLS have been a boon for Central American soccer (and I suppose for the islands as well). Much moreso than for the USA.

European Soccer is a boon for the USA’s best players. MLS is a minor (selling) league and probably always will be.

I will say this, an MLS game is infinitely more interesting than MLB. Literally posting this from Kaufman. I don’t know how baseball is still a thing.

 

[Sleepy]

European Soccer is a boon for the USA’s best players. MLS is a minor (selling) league and probably always will be.

I will say this, an MLS game is infinitely more interesting than MLB. Literally posting this from Kaufman. I don’t know how baseball is still a thing.

I don't have any expectation of MLS ever surpassing the Top 5 in Europe (Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1), but I hope the league sets goals to pass LigaMX, clearly surpass the Championship, make itself at least the near-peer of the Primeira Liga, the Eredivisie, the Belgian Pro League, and the other leagues that are a step below the Top5; if MLS can't clearly pass the Scottish Premiership within a decade or so, that would have to be considered a failure in my eyes. Move from a clear minor league to a middleweight league.

Maybe MLB sucks in your eyes because you're watching the Royals?

 

[ZooCougar]

I don't have any expectation of MLS ever surpassing the Top 5 in Europe (Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1), but I hope the league sets goals to pass LigaMX, clearly surpass the Championship, make itself at least the near-peer of the Primeira Liga, the Eredivisie, the Belgian Pro League, and the other leagues that are a step below the Top5; if MLS can't clearly pass the Scottish Premiership within a decade or so, that would have to be considered a failure in my eyes. Move from a clear minor league to a middleweight league.

Maybe MLB sucks in your eyes because you're watching the Royals?

Royals are a pathetic disgrace.

 

[Palatine]

Royals are a pathetic disgrace.

They won a World Series more recently than the Yankees.

 

[ZooCougar]

They won a World Series more recently than the Yankees.

Just take my word for it.

 

[meyers7]

Game is tonight (Wed 4/19/23) at 10:00 EDST in Glendale AZ

Looks like you can catch it on TBS/Peacock/Universo/HBOMax/Telemundo.

 

[Palatine]

Been a long time since Mexico beat the USA. So we got that going for us.

Not an artistic success, 1-1. Both teams were offensive challenged. They scored on a huge error. We scored on a nice looking transition, good run by Dest, nice pass by Morris and a finish by Ferriera.

 

[outlaw]

Been a long time since Mexico beat the USA. So we got that going for us.

let's keep that rolling into the summer.

10pm last night (was more like 10:20+) Mexico 6/15 is 10p again, followed by Jamaica at 9:30pm and then the TBD gold cup opponent at 9:30pm to follow.... kick off times are brutal for us east coasters

 

[meyers7]

let's keep that rolling into the summer.

10pm last night (was more like 10:20+) Mexico 6/15 is 10p again, followed by Jamaica at 9:30pm and then the TBD gold cup opponent at 9:30pm to follow.... kick off times are brutal for us east coasters

Wasn't the only thing brutal about the game. Just watching it.

 

[ZooCougar]

Forgot there was a game. Was it a friendly or?

 

[Sleepy]

Forgot there was a game. Was it a friendly or?

Non-FIFA date, so it was just a money-making 'friendly' in Phoenix featuring MLS veterans, youngsters from MLS (and 1 from USL), Alan Sonora from FC Juarez, and Sergino Dest, who AC Milan regards so negatively that they gave him permission to come over and play. Barcelona apparently doesn't rate him at all either, considering they lent him to AC Milan in the first place, but the role he played in the goal shows that he's a step above the rest of these guys. I hope he can find a team where he can play regularly.

 

[meyers7]

Might have us a #9.

Balogun given green light to play for USMNT

FIFA has approved a request to change Folarin Balogun's national eligibility to United States, allowing him to represent the 2026 World Cup co-host.

www.espn.com

 

[Palatine]

Might have us a #9.

Balogun given green light to play for USMNT

FIFA has approved a request to change Folarin Balogun's national eligibility to United States, allowing him to represent the 2026 World Cup co-host.

www.espn.com

Take the word "might" out of that post. This kid is a talent.

 

[History Geek]

Might have us a #9.

Balogun given green light to play for USMNT

FIFA has approved a request to change Folarin Balogun's national eligibility to United States, allowing him to represent the 2026 World Cup co-host.

www.espn.com

My gut told me it was going to be England. Ecstatic that I was wrong.

 

[Sleepy]

I'm always hopeful for a striker to emerge, but after so many failed to pan out, I've become more tempered in my expectations. I've never watched Balogun play, so I can't say anything about how he might fit into this team. I know that Clint and Landon are the two top scorers all-time for the USMNT, but neither was an out-and-out striker in the traditional sense; Landon was more of a winger/wide attacking midfielder/withdrawn striker, deadly on the counter and setting up others, while Clint was a guy who just "tried $h1t" and never really felt like he neatly slotted into a particular position, maybe best as a withdrawn striker. It felt like with Jozy, he shorted himself (or maybe his body did); I always expected more from him, even though he's number #3 on the all-time scoring list; I was always left with the niggling feeling that there was more that he could have done-maybe I'm too harsh. As opposed to a guy like Brian McBride, who I felt was less talented than Jozy, but maximized what he had better; maybe it's simply time that's clouding my viewpoint. (A tangent-how the hell does Canada have two players like Jonathan David and Alphonso Davies after sucking for so long?!?)

Anyways, here's to hoping that Balogun pans out for the USMNT; I'd love to see him and the rest of the squad reach new heights at the home World Cup in 2026, taking the sport to another level in this country.