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USA World Cup Qualifiers Thread


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#16
JBigjake54

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0-0 final. 2 other games ended in draws.
MEX 89 winner over Jamaica.

We are good enough to beat the best teams, and bad enough to lose to the worst teams. 


#17
Thomas A Fina

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Nil nil draw against the worst team in the group

Not impressed at all. Not enough showing for the ball offensively, entirely too much one on one dribbling. I dont think they dealt with the away crowd at all. One of the unspoken negatives of the previous group being so poor is that the institutional knowledge of these games were well lost.

#18
magicmoron

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Nil nil draw against the worst team in the group

Not impressed at all. Not enough showing for the ball offensively, entirely too much one on one dribbling. I dont think they dealt with the away crowd at all. One of the unspoken negatives of the previous group being so poor is that the institutional knowledge of these games were well lost.

It will take a long time to recover. Some promising moments today.

#19
Koko

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Nil nil draw against the worst team in the group

Not impressed at all. Not enough showing for the ball offensively, entirely too much one on one dribbling. I dont think they dealt with the away crowd at all. One of the unspoken negatives of the previous group being so poor is that the institutional knowledge of these games were well lost.


I thought they handled themselves just fine given what you said about lack of leadership from previous cycles.

Disjointed in the attack but pretty calm and strong in defense. Had some spells of possession too.

Win at home and draw in the road. That never changes.

Bigger test coming up. Weasel see.

#20
sabremike

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Nil nil draw against the worst team in the group

Not impressed at all. Not enough showing for the ball offensively, entirely too much one on one dribbling. I dont think they dealt with the away crowd at all. One of the unspoken negatives of the previous group being so poor is that the institutional knowledge of these games were well lost.


The most upsetting thing was the players lacking the intelligence to adjust their tactics to align with the reality of playing on a cow pasture (IE: Stop trying to pass the ball into the net and instead get men in the box and whip balls in).
Let's Go Buffalo!!!

#21
magicmoron

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The most upsetting thing was the players lacking the intelligence to adjust their tactics to align with the reality of playing on a cow pasture (IE: Stop trying to pass the ball into the net and instead get men in the box and whip balls in).


I think they started doing that late when Pefok came on. But it did take a while to adjust.

#22
elf

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we tied because: A)  Berhalter was playing Reyna, Aaronson and Acosta  out of position. B) Dest thought he was messi and tried to dribble through 3-4 guys multiple times. C) team seemed to rush the attack waay to many times. this led to too many turnovers and poor chances.  We needed someone to control the tempo of the game. this team desperately needs Musah to commit. D) too much individual play. seemed like they were attempting too many 1v1s and lost many of those battles., and E) USA underestimated ES. they have a good squad. if they stay healthy, they could squeeze into the WC.



#23
magicmoron

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We lost!?? Fuck

#24
Koko

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We lost!?? Fuck


Seriously. WTF guys.

Dempsey (paraphrasing): In my career we went down to El Salvador 3 times. We got two draws and a loss. We could have played better but this is a good result.

#25
Paul Nasta

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Although I think that there is some truth to it, sometimes we overplay the "road games in CONCACAF are especially difficult" narrative, to the point where we use it as an excuse for poor play.

 

Last night, the field was fine, the ref was good, the weather was not bad (it'll be hotter in Nashville on Sunday), and the fans were OK (nowhere near as rowdy as in Nice last week or at one of the Euro qualifiers yesterday).  The game wasn't particularly physical and there wasn't much/any time wasting or gamesmanship by the Salvadorans.

 

We just seemed a little flat to me.  Our attackers at times were too unselfish, trying to make short passes when the better play  would be to try to make a bit of space and fire a shot.  It's like nobody wanted to step up and be the man.  Give some credit to the Salvadorans, they crowded us all over the field and we didn't deal with it that well.

 

Defensively, we were pretty good.  We were lucky that  ES is not that strong a team; against a better attacking team we would have gotten punished.  I didn't like sitting Brooks and playing Ream (who was pretty good last night), but we got away with it and now Brooks is fresh to deal with J. David and Larin on Sunday.  Hopefully, adding Pulisic to the mix and playing at home will light a spark under our guys.

 

Dest was not good.  As someone else mentioned, he would draw 2-3 defenders and then try to dribble through them.  He also got beat defensively several times; once, he got tossed to the ground like a ragdoll.  I'm not sure if he'd be better playing on the right side, or as a wingback in a 3 CB formation, but he was awful playing LB  last night.

 

McKennie is great, but he's got to dial back the fouls a bit.  He got a yellow; does CONCACAF suspend players for yellow card accumulation?  Adams was great.  I liked Konrad, although he didn't see a lot of the ball.  When he had it, good things generally happened.  Aaronson was mostly a non-factor.

 

Yes, win at home and get what you can on the road.  In that sense, last night was not that bad a result.  But there's some pressure to win on Sunday.



#26
bukie2k

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The team on the field last night had to be one of the least experienced WCQ MNT (career/caps wise) that I can recall since 1989. A bit surprising considering how the last qualification cycle went but I get the feeling that the core of this roster is going to be the foundation for 2026.

 

Restore confidence, qualify for Qatar, make a good showing at that tournament, and go for broke at home in '26 (and hopefully be blessed with a lethal finisher before then) is the big picture for US Soccer right now. 


When you are born, you get a ticket to the freak show. If you are born in the United States, you get a front row seat. - George Carlin

#27
McSoccer

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The team on the field last night had to be one of the least experienced WCQ MNT (career/caps wise) that I can recall since 1989. A bit surprising considering how the last qualification cycle went but I get the feeling that the core of this roster is going to be the foundation for 2026. 

Why is it surprising? Arena played a fairly veteran squad and got bounced.

#28
Koko

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Although I think that there is some truth to it, sometimes we overplay the "road games in CONCACAF are especially difficult" narrative, to the point where we use it as an excuse for poor play.
 
Last night, the field was fine, the ref was good, the weather was not bad (it'll be hotter in Nashville on Sunday), and the fans were OK (nowhere near as rowdy as in Nice last week or at one of the Euro qualifiers yesterday).  The game wasn't particularly physical and there wasn't much/any time wasting or gamesmanship by the Salvadorans.
 
We just seemed a little flat to me.  Our attackers at times were too unselfish, trying to make short passes when the better play  would be to try to make a bit of space and fire a shot.  It's like nobody wanted to step up and be the man.  Give some credit to the Salvadorans, they crowded us all over the field and we didn't deal with it that well.
 
Defensively, we were pretty good.  We were lucky that  ES is not that strong a team; against a better attacking team we would have gotten punished.  I didn't like sitting Brooks and playing Ream (who was pretty good last night), but we got away with it and now Brooks is fresh to deal with J. David and Larin on Sunday.  Hopefully, adding Pulisic to the mix and playing at home will light a spark under our guys.
 
Dest was not good.  As someone else mentioned, he would draw 2-3 defenders and then try to dribble through them.  He also got beat defensively several times; once, he got tossed to the ground like a ragdoll.  I'm not sure if he'd be better playing on the right side, or as a wingback in a 3 CB formation, but he was awful playing LB  last night.
 
McKennie is great, but he's got to dial back the fouls a bit.  He got a yellow; does CONCACAF suspend players for yellow card accumulation?  Adams was great.  I liked Konrad, although he didn't see a lot of the ball.  When he had it, good things generally happened.  Aaronson was mostly a non-factor.
 
Yes, win at home and get what you can on the road.  In that sense, last night was not that bad a result.  But there's some pressure to win on Sunday.

Agree and disagree.

I dont think its an excuse. There is historical evidence that strongly supports that road games are very hard. Getting a point is difficult to achieve no matter the opponent (unless its VERY early in qualifying and you have say the US playing Turks or whatever).

The field didnt seem fine to me, but I cant know for sure. It looked like passes were dying and the ball was getting stuck under our feet. Its not an excuse as you need to know how to play in these conditions and both teams play in the SAME conditions, but yeah the field seemed poor to me.

The ref was pretty good by concacaf standards, the weather was decent, and there wasnt much time wasting. Agree.

Disagree that it wasnt physical. Especially in the first half. I though El Salvador came out and set a tone and our boys responded well. There were a couple deserved yellows and the game calmed down a bit.

We came out with good energy and with the exception of Dest I thought we kept that level well its just that our attack seemed disjointed. I dont think it was them being unselfish. Quite the opposite. There were a lot of extra touches and attempts to take 2-3 guys on when a simple pass would have been better. Too much hero play. Thats understandable for a young team. Let the ball do the work gentlemen.

Dest was not good. Charlie Davies called him out post game. He needs to adjust quick to what is required of him in concacaf cause its different than anything else he will experience. Might be better to use him as a winger. I dont know. He has to adjust. Theres no way around it.

Yes there is huge pressure to win the next one. You MUST win your home games. Plus you need to get off to a good start.

#29
Captain Koolaid

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My philosophy with qualifying is that you get three points at home and aim for at least a point in the road. We were clearly the better team with better scoring chances but we couldnt finish. Dest had a poor game and idk if its because he played on the left instead of the right (he seemed to cut back while he was dribbling and passed or crossed with his right too often) very poor passes especially in the final third. Seemed like they were on fast forward and just rushing. Very fortunate we didnt get burned on a counter but a draw is a draw and as long as we take care of business at home we will be fine. You dont get a trophy for being first in qualifying. Just get points and qualify.


LONG LIVE METRO

#30
bukie2k

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Why is it surprising? Arena played a fairly veteran squad and got bounced.

CONCACAF road matches are "unique" compared to what a majority of the roster is used to dealing with, a steady hand or two on the tiller could be the difference between a result or not. Last night's game could be given a passing grade, win at home/tie on the road and all that, but another flat performance on Sunday against a strong Canada team ratchets up the pressure beyond the norm going into Honduras where results have been less than encouraging of late in qualifying.

 

Arena came onto a sinking ship and it sank so giving all the blame for the last cycle to him seems a bit unfair. Losing a must win game to a far lesser team is all on him but that team's fate was sealed long before it set foot in Trinidad.


When you are born, you get a ticket to the freak show. If you are born in the United States, you get a front row seat. - George Carlin




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