USMNT 2025 | Page 2 | The Boneyard

USMNT 2025

Waquoit said:
An MLS manager that the players signed off on bringing back. That tells me there a player issue here.
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A major part of the issue in my opinion is that some guys basically had starting positions that were unassailable because of Gregg.

Under Jurgen, Bob and Bruce you had to compete for your spot and nobody was safe.

The culture of no competition has been eroded in my opinion. Poch has to normalize things.
 
We have no offense, no defense. Just a bunch of guys who can pass the ball around in the middle third.

Missing Robinson was huge. I'm done with Musah. Can't remember him ever making a real difference. Try Weah at right back as he also doesn't create enough chances.

Put Reyna and McKinnie above Adams in midfield and put Pulisic plus one other on the wings. Let all the midfielders fight for that spot.

Figure out a way to test CB pairs until you find one that can play in 2026.

Striker is going to be the guy with the best 25-26 club season. Predicting that is pointless. Same for the Keeper.

Still trying to understand what Ponch's tactics are going to be. Seems disorganized.
 
The best young athletes in South America play "futbol." The best young athletes in Europe play "football". The best young athletes in Africa play "football". The best young athletes in The USA play basketball or "American football", because that's where economic opportunity lies.
 
Viet Vet said:
The best young athletes in South America play "futbol." The best young athletes in Europe play "football". The best young athletes in Africa play "football". The best young athletes in The USA play basketball or "American football", because that's where economic opportunity lies.
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Nope.

If Messi were American and played any sport he would have been passed over.

American coaches don’t have a good eye for talent. They evaluate prospects based on a middle school gym teacher mentality (he big, he fast, he good) and pass over lots of talent.
 
ZooCougar said:
Nope.

If Messi were American and played any sport he would have been passed over.

American coaches don’t have a good eye for talent. They evaluate prospects based on a middle school gym teacher mentality (he big, he fast, he good) and pass over lots of talent.
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Youth coaches don't respect individual skill as a rule, I find. It's like they are all old rec basketball coaches trying not to let one kid hog the ball. But in soccer, that's OK. Individual players making plays is vital even in such a team sport. But I've seen that that get squeezed out of kids first-hand.
 
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Waquoit said:
Youth coaches don't respect individual skill as a rule, I find. It's like they are all old rec basketball coaches trying no to let one kid hog the ball. But in soccer, that's OK. Individual players making plays is vital even in such a team sport. But I've seen that that get squeezed out of kids first-hand.
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Or recognize creativity.
 
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Ended the two game friendly set with a 2-0 victory over Japan. Still playing with personnel and line ups. Strong game, we could have had 4 or 5 goals. Good effort but the defense still made horrifying TOs and Japan was stopped on some golden opportunities. It is getting close to the time to stop experimenting and work on cohesion and chemistry.

www.espn.com

Pulisic rates 9/10 as Japan win gets USMNT back on track

Christian Pulisic was among the USMNT's best as Mauricio Pochettino's men bounced back from Saturday's concerning loss against South Korea to defeat Japan 2-0.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
 
Palatine said:
Ended the two game friendly set with a 2-0 victory over Japan. Still playing with personnel and line ups. Strong game, we could have had 4 or 5 goals. Good effort but the defense still made horrifying TOs and Japan was stopped on some golden opportunities. It is getting close to the time to stop experimenting and work on cohesion and chemistry.

www.espn.com

Pulisic rates 9/10 as Japan win gets USMNT back on track

Christian Pulisic was among the USMNT's best as Mauricio Pochettino's men bounced back from Saturday's concerning loss against South Korea to defeat Japan 2-0.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
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That looked a little better than it has in awhile. Still think there's better players Poch could bring in. And should bring in and start getting ready for the WC.
 
Poch was brought in too late in the cycle to really do much. He is just doing disaster response at this point.

2-0 win is a positive sign. The defense against South Korea looked like a fatal flaw to me that will plague us.

I'm sure after this cycle is over the Federation and MLS will push for some American Middle School Gym teacher to be the manager so that we can get more plucky MLS players into the mix.
 
ZooCougar said:
Poch was brought in too late in the cycle to really do much. He is just doing disaster response at this point.

2-0 win is a positive sign. The defense against South Korea looked like a fatal flaw to me that will plague us.

I'm sure after this cycle is over the Federation and MLS will push for some American Middle School Gym teacher to be the manager so that we can get more plucky MLS players into the mix.
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Sooooo we got a chance to be NT Manager?
 
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ZooCougar said:
Don Garber is really impressed with that soccer game you ran on the gym floor in the third period.
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Yes, it was crab soccer, but your team over-performed and the kids seemed motivated.
 
Roster for October friendlies. Looks like still tinkering a bit.

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ZooCougar said:
Or recognize creativity.
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Its a fine line between creativity for the sake of the team or for the spotlight on the player. One can be creative and still have a team approach for the game but at the youth level that needed to be coached to early and hope that parents influence for showboating and placing importance of scoring goals doesn't overtake all else. If you have a youth who can exhibit creativity while being a team player, it is a wonderful thing.
 
Don't think needs to see Adams right now, he's a lock so, not calling him in to look at other backup options is fine. Turner should get at least one game if not both. Again, fine. The Pulisic/Tillman pairing in the 3-4-2-1 is the purpose here. Luna/Weah/Zendejas will also get a look off the bench.

The McKinnie/Roldon/Morris/Tesserman will be a soup with each player looking to stand out. The fringe guys from the last two call-ups will need to hope their past performances hold up.

Musah missing this call up is hating life right now.

First 9 to actually score more than one is in the driver seat.
 
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The result was a tie, 1-1, but this is the best effort from the USMNT in a while. They were more connected and played with a purpose. They were constantly moving forward and putting the ball in good positions with numerous scoring chances. They came back after being down a goal and were the more dangerous side all night. Definitely moving in the right direction. Now they need to keep it up against Australia.
 
Just need someone to put it in the net.
The Ecuador goal was soft. I'm not sold of Freese when he's not defending penalties. Richards was mostly to blame but the GK has to save that shot.

Team is still great between the twenties but suspect in both boxes.
 
2-1 good guys. Really nice effort tonight vs Australia. Wright had two chances and buried both of them. P continues to tinker with line ups. Pulisic went out early after a rough tackle. Weston McKennie had another all around great game again. This window gave us a reason to have some optimism.
 
Palatine said:
2-1 good guys. Really nice effort tonight vs Australia. Wright had two chances and buried both of them. P continues to tinker with line ups. Pulisic went out early after a rough tackle. Weston McKennie had another all around great game again. This window gave us a reason to have some optimism.
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Conceded another soft goal, but otherwise a decent performance. My biggest concern is that yesterday will make people think that Roldan should start . . .
 
Palatine said:
2-1 good guys. Really nice effort tonight vs Australia. Wright had two chances and buried both of them. P continues to tinker with line ups. Pulisic went out early after a rough tackle. Weston McKennie had another all around great game again. This window gave us a reason to have some optimism.
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Starting to look a little bit better. This 3-4-2-1 thing might work for us. Like to see it with all our top players available.
 
Found myself watching Leeds - West Ham today for some reason. Wow, Brendon Aaronson was great today. Scored the first goal and had the Hammers on their back foot all game.
 


Timed with perfect precision between the football game and the basketball game, the USA had another good night on the pitch. Reyna had a great game scoring in the first five minutes and setting up a score for Balogun in the second half. He was all over the field pushing many passes into dangerous areas and showing there are few with his talent.

Pepi had a golden chance as a late substitute. The defense was solid and only conceded on a beautiful transition. The game ended in a weird fight that added up to nothing.
 
Wow! A 5-1 blowout versus Uruguay. It is simply a fact at this point that Sebastian Berhalter provides the best service on corner and free kicks. He should make the WC roster based on that alone. But his overall game grows every cap.

 
Reyna really helped himself this cycle. Freeman also solidified a spot on the WC roster, though his lapses in the Gold Cup still haunt me.
 
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