Match report.

https://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/live/belgium-dismantles-usmnt-5-2-in-nightmare-friendly-raising-world-cup-alarms-for-mauricio-pochettino-183000075.html

Belgium has a pretty decent roster.

It was an interesting game. I need to see the Portugal game on Tuesday to know how to interpret it.

I will say I started the thread talking about how the US had no goalies. Matt Turner was brought back into the goal for some reason and he was terrible. While only the first goal was his fault he could have easily given up two or three more goals with his blunders. Crappy goalies parry the ball right back into danger, which he did multiple times. I hope Matt Freese is better on Tuesday.

Maybe the US should start recruiting talented teen footballers from west Africa, O1 visas. There is more money in Europe, but the US also is attractive for young up and coming players in Africa.

Sounds like they hit lots of shots on us. That isn't the GK fault

concordtom said:

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Sounds like they hit lots of shots on us. That isn't the GK fault

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As I said, he made many other mistakes that could have led to goals.

Cal88 said:

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Maybe the US should start recruiting talented teen footballers from west Africa, O1 visas. There is more money in Europe, but the US also is attractive for young up and coming players in Africa.

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There are not many such players that have succeeded. We are going to have to wait one more cycle and we will have the team we want.

sluggo said:

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Cal88 said:

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Maybe the US should start recruiting talented teen footballers from west Africa, O1 visas. There is more money in Europe, but the US also is attractive for young up and coming players in Africa.

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There are not many such players that have succeeded. We are going to have to wait one more cycle and we will have the team we want.

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We e been saying that for many cycles.
Never gonna happen.

concordtom said:

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sluggo said:

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Cal88 said:

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Maybe the US should start recruiting talented teen footballers from west Africa, O1 visas. There is more money in Europe, but the US also is attractive for young up and coming players in Africa.

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There are not many such players that have succeeded. We are going to have to wait one more cycle and we will have the team we want.

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We e been saying that for many cycles.
Never gonna happen.

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I haven't. With all due respect I know the players involved.

Respect in OT?
What a novel concept !!!

So when you say "another cycle", are you saying another generation? Or 4 more years of maturing for this current crop?

concordtom said:

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Respect in OT?
What a novel concept !!!

So when you say "another cycle", are you saying another generation? Or 4 more years of maturing for this current crop?

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Another WC cycle, four more years.

What are the WC expectations for the USMNT? Getting by the group stage, against Paraguay, Australia and Turkey/Kosovo? Normally that is enough of an achievement in world cups, but this time around with the expanded format and half the 3rd place teams going through, it has got to be bigger than that...

sluggo said:

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concordtom said:

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Respect in OT?
What a novel concept !!!

So when you say "another cycle", are you saying another generation? Or 4 more years of maturing for this current crop?

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Another WC cycle, four more years.

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I have not calculated it but I think these guys will be too old.

prime age for professional soccer players is generally considered to be between 25 and 27 years old, with a broader peak performance range of 25-28. Players in this phase balance optimal physical capabilities with experience, with attackers often peaking slightly earlier (25) than defenders (27) or goalkeepers (28).


Key Aspects of Soccer Prime Age:
Position Differences: Wingers and forwards often peak around 25-26 due to reliance on speed, while defenders and goalkeepers, relying on positioning and experience, can maintain their peak until 30-31 or older.

The "Peak" Defined: This period is characterized by the highest percentage of minutes played in top leagues, such as the Premier League, and peak market value.

Performance Curve: A steep improvement curve exists in the early 20s, peaking around 26, followed by a slower decline until age 30, after which performance often drops sharply.

Position Player Age

Goalkeepers
Matt Turner 31
Matt Freese 27
Patrick Schulte 24
Chris Brady 22

Defenders
Tim Ream - 38
Miles Robinson - 28
Antonee Robinson - 28
Mark McKenzie - 27
Chris Richards - 25
Sergiño Dest - 25
Joe Scally - 23
Noahkai Banks - 19

Midfielders
Cristian Roldan - 30
Weston McKennie - 27
Tyler Adams - 27
Aidan Morris - 24
Tanner Tessmann - 24
Johnny Cardoso - 24
Malik Tillman - 23
Gio Reyna - 23

Forwards
Christian Pulisic - 27
Tim Weah - 26
Brenden Aaronson - 25
Folarin Balogun - 24
Ricardo Pepi - 23

concordtom said:

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sluggo said:

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concordtom said:

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Respect in OT?
What a novel concept !!!

So when you say "another cycle", are you saying another generation? Or 4 more years of maturing for this current crop?

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Another WC cycle, four more years.

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I have not calculated it but I think these guys will be too old.

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It is some of these guys and the next generation who are better.

Who are your prospects?

Cal88 said:

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What are the WC expectations for the USMNT? Getting by the group stage, against Paraguay, Australia and Turkey/Kosovo? Normally that is enough of an achievement in world cups, but this time around with the expanded format and half the 3rd place teams going through, it has got to be bigger than that...

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The US is like the 15th-20th best team in the world. So my expectations and I think typical expectations are that they would make it to the round of 16. If the played great in front of their home fans maybe the could make the quarterfinals.

The team has better attacking talent than ever, but it is weak in the back. So coaching will be very important to cover up that weakness.

concordtom said:

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Who are your prospects?

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Here are some of my favorites. There are so many it is difficult to track them all.
1. Xavier Gozo, 19. Starts for Real Salt Lake at wingback. Will be a winger or wingback, and I think he will be the best the US has ever had at this position. Should be on this World Cup roster.
2. Cavan Sullivan, 16. Reserve for Philadelphia Union. Best American player I have ever seen playing against guys his own age. A little small so figuring out how to play against grown men. Signed with Manchester City.
3. Malik Jalupovic, 16. Reserve for Philadelphia Union. Already 6'3'', may grow taller. Has most potential of any #9 I have seen for the US, and it is not even close.
4. Andri Mehmeti, 16. Starter for Red Bull New York. Center midfielders who pulls the strings for his team. This is unheard of for his age.
5. Mathis Albert, 16. Reserve for Borussia Dortmund. Having Gozo on one side and Albert on the other side is going to be terrifying for the opposition. Gozo is a little faster, but Albert is more skilled. Plays for the same team that helped develop Haaland and Bellingham and Pulisic and Reyna. They are the best development team in the world.
6. Kadren Spivey, 16. Plays for SJ Earthquakes II. I included him because he is a local and should eventually play for the Earthquakes, although they are terrible about bringing in young players. Midfielder who can do everything.

There is a little hole in the US among players say 20-22 because of covid and because some of the best potential players chose to play for different countries. I think this set of players with holdover like McKennie and Pulisic will get the US to the top 8-12 teams in the world. Maybe higher. Getting in the top 5 is beyond what I can see right now.

sluggo said:

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Cal88 said:

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What are the WC expectations for the USMNT? Getting by the group stage, against Paraguay, Australia and Turkey/Kosovo? Normally that is enough of an achievement in world cups, but this time around with the expanded format and half the 3rd place teams going through, it has got to be bigger than that...

---

The US is like the 15th-20th best team in the world. So my expectations and I think typical expectations are that they would make it to the round of 16. If the played great in front of their home fans maybe the could make the quarterfinals.

The team has better attacking talent than ever, but it is weak in the back. So coaching will be very important to cover up that weakness.

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I sometimes wonder if our ranking is higher than actuality because we dominate so much of concacaf. When we put up our top unit against other top units (not their traveling b or c squad) we don't fare so well.

Well, it's never an exact science for any country's ranking.

Ah, so you really DO know your soccer.
Let me ask you this - why has Yunus Musah been dropped?
When Pochetino came in, he tried to push Musah to be an attacker, as he's one of the few who can athletically take on opponents.

I thought we might see a new side to his game.
But I found Musah dropping back with a defensive mindset rather than an attackers killer instinct, and was bummed for him.
Now I saw he's not even on this roster, and I'm like WT fudge?!?!

I had high hopes for him, and others. Yet we've languished. So I don't have high hopes anymore for this group. Pulisic is already 27? Is that what I saw? Geez, he'll be over the hill very soon.

So now I'm supposed to get excited about a new crop of 26 year olds…great!

There are so many names that were offered up as the great American hope. We can't even remember all their names (Freddy adu)
How about what Klingsman did to the squad, bringing in those Germericans. What happened to half of them?


How about we ask UEFA if we can abandon concacaf and start playing in all their tournaments and qualifications.
THEN we'd get better!!

concordtom said:

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sluggo said:

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Cal88 said:

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What are the WC expectations for the USMNT? Getting by the group stage, against Paraguay, Australia and Turkey/Kosovo? Normally that is enough of an achievement in world cups, but this time around with the expanded format and half the 3rd place teams going through, it has got to be bigger than that...

---

The US is like the 15th-20th best team in the world. So my expectations and I think typical expectations are that they would make it to the round of 16. If the played great in front of their home fans maybe the could make the quarterfinals.

The team has better attacking talent than ever, but it is weak in the back. So coaching will be very important to cover up that weakness.

---

I sometimes wonder if our ranking is higher than actuality because we dominate so much of concacaf. When we put up our top unit against other top units (not their traveling b or c squad) we don't fare so well.

Well, it's never an exact science for any country's ranking.

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My ranking is not the FIFA ranking but how good I think we are. I see 15th-20th. The FIFA ranking is 15th. That seems reasonable to me. We have been more like 10th, which is not reasonable.

I do agree we at times get over-ranked by dominating poor competition. There is a better ranking systemsthan the FIFA one, but I can't remember what it is called, and I don't really care as we will see soon where we are on the field.

concordtom said:

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Ah, so you really DO know your soccer.
Let me ask you this - why has Yunus Musah been dropped?
When Pochetino came in, he tried to push Musah to be an attacker, as he's one of the few who can athletically take on opponents.

I thought we might see a new side to his game.
But I found Musah dropping back with a defensive mindset rather than an attackers killer instinct, and was bummed for him.
Now I saw he's not even on this roster, and I'm like WT fudge?!?!

I had high hopes for him, and others. Yet we've languished. So I don't have high hopes anymore for this group. Pulisic is already 27? Is that what I saw? Geez, he'll be over the hill very soon.

So now I'm supposed to get excited about a new crop of 26 year olds…great!

There are so many names that were offered up as the great American hope. We can't even remember all their names (Freddy adu)
How about what Klingsman did to the squad, bringing in those Germericans. What happened to half of them?


How about we ask UEFA if we can abandon concacaf and start playing in all their tournaments and qualifications.
THEN we'd get better!!

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I am obsessed by soccer. I even still play despite being born in the 60s and having a major injury last year that I have not completely recovered from. I have also coached, reffed, been team manager for my kids, and helped run leagues. I watch Arsenal and Barca every week. I would watch more but sometimes I need to go outside.

I already wrote about Musah earlier in the thread. The short version is he should be on the team. But he has barely improved since he is a teenager and is not great at any position. He also tends to miss the target when he shoots.

Typical soccer players don't regress these days until they are 33 or 34. Pulisic and McKennie, the two best players, should have another WC in their prime.

I think you mean 16-year-olds instead of 26-year-olds. I am happy development is going in the right direction. We stagnated for many years.

I know all the players going back to 1990. One player is not what you need, it is not basketball. You need 11 players and 3 or 4 reserves. The German-Americans got old. There are plenty of new ones but they are often playing for Germany, like Noahkai Banks probably will. The best ones want to play for Germany because they were raised there. The ones we had were second and third tier players who had no chance to play for the Motherland.

Instead of UEFA we should play with CONMEBOL (South America). We need the competition. It could happen eventually.

PAC-10-BEAR said:

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Speaking of 0-0 scores, here's my favorite US World Cup memorable moment and my only memorable moment.

Andres Cantor on the call.

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Tim Howard's distribution
Contraataque
El mejor jugador en la historia de los estados unidos.

I was freaking out

Instead of buying an overpriced ticket to a meaningless match in San Jose, I think I will buy a 102 inch tv to watch all of the World Cup.
It will help me see if Maradona's hand touches the ball.

I will be in Greece around the time of the quarterfinals. I dont really follow soccer or the US team but it is fun to be around international people during the World Cup. I envision being at a sunny island bar with foreigners just soaking it in.

I pray the radioactive fallout doesn't get you.

concordtom said:

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I pray the radioactive fallout doesn't get you.

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There are worse ways to go

I been to Athens
Korfu
Ios
Paros
Santorini
Rhodes

Have a great time!

There is a distinct possibility of you not making it to Greece this summer due to the energy crisis, not sure how the Greek economy would operate if the Hormuz Strait remains blocked.

Cal88 said:

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There is a distinct possibility of you not making it to Greece this summer due to the energy crisis, not sure how the Greek economy would operate if the Hormuz Strait remains blocked.

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China to the rescue!

Electric ferries. Battery powered. Solar panels floating in the Aegean.

No problem, we've got this.

Maybe in a couple of years...

concordtom said:

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Cal88 said:

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There is a distinct possibility of you not making it to Greece this summer due to the energy crisis, not sure how the Greek economy would operate if the Hormuz Strait remains blocked.

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China to the rescue!

Electric ferries. Battery powered. Solar panels floating in the Aegean.

No problem, we've got this.

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Maybe my travel will be disrupted, but it's like I tell my daughter when she says climate change is going to kill us. I say, no, it will kill the poor.

Ouch

What do you tell her when she asks if her children are guaranteed to be among the wealthy?


What do you tell her when she talks about the poor in a way which indicates she actually wants them to live long and prosper? Like, maybe she has poor friends somewhere, perhaps even in a third world country.