USMNT Rising

[ZooCougar]

Very cool to see. Know he's hurt right now but Sancho is eating his lunch at Dortmund.

I think we're due for a new USMNT Rising. Gregg Berghalter - the coach who never won anything gets appointed by his brother to coach USMNT

Pulisic seems to get all the minutes in CL and if he is healthy he gets subbed in for the League games. Issue this year is Sancho and staying healthy.

He’s also balking on signing a new contract so that would signal that he wants his options open transfer wise since the lack of a new contract will drive his transfer fee down a bit.

Chelsea allegedly made an official offer.

 

[ZooCougar]

Pulisic officially signs with Chelsea. Loaned back to BVB for the remainder of the season.

 

[meyers7]

Pulisic officially signs with Chelsea. Loaned back to BVB for the remainder of the season.

Ugh, I hate hating Americans.

 

[ZooCougar]

Ugh, I hate hating Americans.

This move scares me. Chelsea has quite a few young talents that don’t get off the bench or don’t even make the team sheet.

BVB is the clear winner here. He didn’t want a new contract with them and they still got a huge pile of money for the sale.

I would just point out to all of the people who think pay to play is the answer, Pennsylvania Classics would be getting about 700k in solidarity payments for this sale if the USSF allowed it to happen.

 

[meyers7]

This move scares me. Chelsea has quite a few young talents that don’t get off the bench or don’t even make the team sheet.

Well hopefully for Pulisic, Hazard moves on.

BVB is the clear winner here. He didn’t want a new contract with them and they still got a huge pile of money for the sale.

And they get to keep/use him for the rest of the season on loan.

I would just point out to all of the people who think pay to play is the answer, Pennsylvania Classics would be getting about 700k in solidarity payments for this sale if the USSF allowed it to happen.

That would be nice. Help a lot of teams.

 

[LIuconn]

I hope CP can actually play out this season. Dortmund has a good shot to win the league and Champions League.
Not sure how I feel about him going to Chelsea. Guess I'll root for them to win the Europa League every year

 

[djct1999]

I hope CP can actually play out this season. Dortmund has a good shot to win the league and Champions League.
Not sure how I feel about him going to Chelsea. Guess I'll root for them to win the Europa League every year

The key is Sarri. If he stays, I believe long term CP will flourish. Pulisic has the exact skill set Sarri covets.

I sort of wished the opposite. I am probably the only one who wants him out of Dortmund asap. Something weird is going on there(and its not just the emergence of Sancho). I don't see how 6 months more in Germany will help Pulisic at all.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

The key is Sarri. If he stays, I believe long term CP will flourish. Pulisic has the exact skill set Sarri covets.

I sort of wished the opposite. I am probably the only one who wants him out of Dortmund asap. Something weird is going on there(and its not just the emergence of Sancho). I don't see how 6 months more in Germany will help Pulisic at all.

Well, at least I get to root for Dortmund to take out the Roosters in the next Champions league round. I wonder how much Dortmund kit sales in the US will drop because of this sale?

It was clear that he wanted out of Dortmund and wanted to move across the channel to the EPL. As a Arsenal fan, I obviously did not want Pulisic to go to Man U, Man City, Liverpool, Tottenham nor Chelsea. Regardless, for the sake of the USMNT for 2022, he's needs to be on his A game by then and to get their, he will need regular playing time at Chelski. My fear is that Chelsea made this move to keep him off the roster at EPL and Champions rivals and he'll wallow on the bench for a month or two next season before being loaned out to a lower tier league like Miazga was (look at this list - https://www.chelseafc.com/en/teams/on-loan-players). Still, its better than Man U right now, which is a circus, or Man City and Liverpool, which are loaded in the midfield and attack positions. At Arsenal, he would not have been a bad replacement for Ramsey.

 

[LIuconn]

He would have looked really good next to Dele, Sonny and Eriksen.

 

[ZooCougar]

The key is Sarri. If he stays, I believe long term CP will flourish. Pulisic has the exact skill set Sarri covets.

I sort of wished the opposite. I am probably the only one who wants him out of Dortmund asap. Something weird is going on there(and its not just the emergence of Sancho). I don't see how 6 months more in Germany will help Pulisic at all.

I agree on this except for the fact that mid season transfers never seem to work great without the benefit of preseason camp.

 

[ZooCougar]

Well, at least I get to root for Dortmund to take out the Roosters in the next Champions league round. I wonder how much Dortmund kit sales in the US will drop because of this sale?

It was clear that he wanted out of Dortmund and wanted to move across the channel to the EPL. As a Arsenal fan, I obviously did not want Pulisic to go to Man U, Man City, Liverpool, Tottenham nor Chelsea. Regardless, for the sake of the USMNT for 2022, he's needs to be on his A game by then and to get their, he will need regular playing time at Chelski. My fear is that Chelsea made this move to keep him off the roster at EPL and Champions rivals and he'll wallow on the bench for a month or two next season before being loaned out to a lower tier league like Miazga was (look at this list - On-Loan Players | Official Site | Chelsea Football Club). Still, its better than Man U right now, which is a circus, or Man City and Liverpool, which are loaded in the midfield and attack positions. At Arsenal, he would not have been a bad replacement for Ramsey.

He’s third largest purchase in Chelsea history, and in the top 10 in EPL history. He’s not in the same range as 5M Miazga. I think they have bigger plans for him than Miazga. Of course this is Chelsea and it could happen, but I think that they are thinking MUCH bigger with Pulisic.

 

[ZooCougar]

Also, Tyler Adams is now with RB Leipzig and is with the First Team.

 

[Waquoit]

I agree on this except for the fact that mid season transfers never seem to work great without the benefit of preseason camp.

Perhaps rarely instead of never. Virgil was great from the get-go last year.

 

[ZooCougar]

Listened to the experts on the radio yesterday. Chelsea has been working on this deal for a long time. Perhaps since before last summer. Sarri had nothing to do with deal, he apparently just wants to manage the team and is not interested in the transfer market. Not much else to conclude at this point.

 

[djct1999]

Listened to the experts on the radio yesterday. Chelsea has been working on this deal for a long time. Perhaps since before last summer. Sarri had nothing to do with deal, he apparently just wants to manage the team and is not interested in the transfer market. Not much else to conclude at this point.

I think you can conclude from what he said was that he liked CP as a player and was asked a while back what he thought of the player. He didn't know that yesterday was the day it would become public and anything more was lost in translation.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Does anybody have any thoughts on this initial roster for the Panama and CR friendlies?
USMNT news: Acosta cut as Berhalter trims United States roster for Panama and Costa Rica friendlies | Goal.com

Is Berhalter just evaluating guys? 100% MLS, I assume because the European based guys are still playing. Still, a lot of new names.

 

[progrocks]

January camp has always about seeing what you have in MLS/Scandanavia.

 

[outlaw]

hopefully this is a wake up call for Acosta

but, yes, its 100% MLS cus US Soccer refuses to adopt the European calendar, therefore all European based players are unavailable for selection during the Jan camp. I am hoping for a full squad in March.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Does anybody have any thoughts on this initial roster for the Panama and CR friendlies?
USMNT news: Acosta cut as Berhalter trims United States roster for Panama and Costa Rica friendlies | Goal.com

Is Berhalter just evaluating guys? 100% MLS, I assume because the European based guys are still playing. Still, a lot of new names.

Yes, the January/February window is a critical time for most European leagues as players are being rested (or used to rest starters) in advance of the final push into regular season and Cup playoffs. So, its almost always MLS players with some Northern European leagues and Liga MX sprinkled in.

That said, after the last year, the USMNT organization has seen hopefully everyone and now its time to start settling with a 'core' group of say 20 to 25 players to work with in order to build-up a culture, playing style, etc, especially with the Gold Cup now on the horizon. I think the next international window is in March and that roster will be telling.

Of the names on this roster, I would say the following maybe part of the core with the rest filling-in for the 'core' group who play in Europe: 1) Sean Johnson GK, 2) Zack Steffen, 3) Michael Bradley MF, 4) Sebastian Lletget MF, 5) Djordje Mihailovic, 6) Cristian Roldan, 7) Wil Trapp, 8) Gyasi Zardes. Thoughts?

PS - Any catch that Tim Howard has announced that 2019 will be his last profesional season? Going to miss him.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

hopefully this is a wake up call for Acosta

but, yes, its 100% MLS cus US Soccer refuses to adopt the European calendar, therefore all European based players are unavailable for selection during the Jan camp. I am hoping for a full squad in March.

I do prefer the European calendar; but, admittedly, games in December/January/February in Denver, Minneapolis, Chicago, Columbus, Toronto, Montreal, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia would be challenging for the players and fans. A 'hybrid' calendar featuring an earlier start with a break from the end of December through February would make sense; but, I bet players and coaches would hate it.

 

[businesslawyer]

I do prefer the European calendar; but, admittedly, games in December/January/February in Denver, Minneapolis, Chicago, Columbus, Toronto, Montreal, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia would be challenging for the players and fans. A 'hybrid' calendar featuring an earlier start with a break from the end of December trhough February would make sense; but, I bet players and coaches would hate it.

The European calendar is great. And soccer isn't meant to be played in 93 degree weather for a few months. But the thought that just because Europe does it we can have a North American outdoor sports league play through the winter is beyond dumb. Who the heck is going to buy tickets to sit outdoors in the Northeast and Rust Belt in January and February? Why should they?

 

[ZooCougar]

The European calendar is great. And soccer isn't meant to be played in 93 degree weather for a few months. But the thought that just because Europe does it we can have a North American outdoor sports league play through the winter is beyond dumb. Who the heck is going to buy tickets to sit outdoors in the Northeast and Rust Belt in January and February? Why should they?

Well dumb dumb, that is not the idea. The idea is to better integrate the league into the traditional schedule by taking a winter break and not playing the MLS Cup in winter conditions.

We’re playing Champions League matches in Kansas City, Toronto and Montreal in February. So this is in the realm of possibility.

When you’re done being Don Garber’s Corporate suckboy anc you’re ready to take the red pill, let us know.

 

[outlaw]

First full squad under Beerholder 3/26/19 vs Chile in Houston

 

[ZooCougar]

Yes, the January/February window is a critical time for most European leagues as players are being rested (or used to rest starters) in advance of the final push into regular season and Cup playoffs. So, its almost always MLS players with some Northern European leagues and Liga MX sprinkled in.

That said, after the last year, the USMNT organization has seen hopefully everyone and now its time to start settling with a 'core' group of say 20 to 25 players to work with in order to build-up a culture, playing style, etc, especially with the Gold Cup now on the horizon. I think the next international window is in March and that roster will be telling.

Of the names on this roster, I would say the following maybe part of the core with the rest filling-in for the 'core' group who play in Europe: 1) Sean Johnson GK, 2) Zack Steffen, 3) Michael Bradley MF, 4) Sebastian Lletget MF, 5) Djordje Mihailovic, 6) Cristian Roldan, 7) Wil Trapp, 8) Gyasi Zardes. Thoughts?

PS - Any catch that Tim Howard has announced that 2019 will be his last profesional season? Going to miss him.

Call this guy up?

Source: Donovan to make $250k in arena league


This is going to be an interesting cycle for the USMNT. I think that we are at a real crossroads in terms of where and how American talent is developed.

MLS is spending more and more as it aspires to increase it’s global prestige. At the same time, the opportunities for the young developing American player are still pretty uncertain.

The MLS “Super” Draft is not an important event anymore. Few players that are actually drafted ever get contracts and many teams are trading away picks for basically nothing. The gap between college and MLS is larger than ever and growing.

MLS teams prefer to develop domestic talent in their Academies and have already been complaining about really low ROI. MLS Teams would rather pay a foreign player from a foreign second division club, $350k a year than pay an American player and give him the same minutes.

MLS can’t really say that it is the best place for the American player anymore. He doesn’t play and he doesn’t get paid. More players are going overseas for minutes and a much higher paycheck.

This is a dilemma for US Soccer. Is it better if MLS focuses on growing the American player? Or is it better to make the league the best it can be in World terms even if it is at the expense of the American player?

My vote would be for the League to keep improving and force Americans to step up their game. But that will mean that two of America’s sacred cows of soccer, the college game (adds almost no value at this point) and pay to play soccer will have to evolve. Even if you have you have 40 MLS Academies, that’s not enough to scout and serve a nation with 350M+.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Call this guy up?

Source: Donovan to make $250k in arena league


This is going to be an interesting cycle for the USMNT. I think that we are at a real crossroads in terms of where and how American talent is developed.

My vote would be for the League to keep improving and force Americans to step up their game. But that will mean that two of America’s sacred cows of soccer, the college game (adds almost no value at this point) and pay to play soccer will have to evolve. Even if you have you have 40 MLS Academies, that’s not enough to scout and serve a nation with 350M+.

I would argue that MLS itself is at a crossroads. Is MLS in place just to make its owners money or is it there to make money and improve the game overall in the US. Expansion fees, no regulation, no development payments, pay-to play, etc. all point to making money and that's it. The big concern is that the money making bent also seems to have a big influence with the USMNT now as MLS looks to be trying to make the national program a marketing arm of MLS with less concern about envelopment and progression of the US soccer game.