We can't get a great coach because we have to pay the women's coach the same money. It really is that simple.
USMNT Player Pool Discussion
- Thread starter TU_BLA
- Start date
Looks like Forest is going to come away with a 2-1 win over ManUnited. Turner has had a couple absolutely brilliant saves but is also responsible for the 1 goal United scored. Ball was played back to him and he tried to force a pass into the MF and it got intercepted and then a pass into Rashford who slotted the ball into the far post. But, one of TurnerMs great saves led to a Forest break and counter which led to their 2nd goal (and current winner). Best save came off a United corner that went to Bruno at the top of the box who blistered a volley in that got deflected by a Forest defender towards the top of the goal, and somehow Turner was able to track it and find enough footing to get back and up to it to tip it over. Glad his mistake didn't cost them the win. I think Turner is GK1 at the moment under Nuno b/c the other GK they brought in does not have the game required to be a starter in EPL (IMO). It wouldn't surprise me if Nuno starts shopping for a Portuguese keeper though. He tries to remake everything with as many Portuguese players as he can at his coaching stops. I do think Nuno is a great fit for Forest though and he certainly gets the absolute most out of his players at clubs like this. The Tottenham experiment was not a good fit for him. Spurs players are like entitled NBA players...they give effort when they want, don't when they don't want to, and drive away in their Lamborghinis at the end of each game without a care to whether they won or lost.
That game should be investigated for fixing. The spacing and lack of pressure on the ball leading up to that second goal was not just atrocious but unprofessional. Thats not a lack of talent or conditioning issue. It’s not that they quit. It looks willful.
Well then you have to look at United doing that all season. They've been pretty bad all season and my son would tell you they've got a lineup of players out injured right now including Maguire and Casemiro. Eriksen was just cleared to return as well. My son's biggest complaint about United is the lack of MF commitment to defending and he's spot on. You saybwillful but it has been a defect the whole season really. They have been unable to defend and be attacking the whole year.
I can't watch them. I want to throw stuff at the TV half of the game.
Chris Richards now playing the 6 now at Palace. Glad the world finally read my memo on his athleticism, vision and lateral movement. Hes stuck in space at times as he adjusts and they play a double 6 when he’s out there, but they look solid and tough to score on when he playing. Victories aren’t coming yet but will,
And Pulisic scored again for Milan, netting the only goal in their win today. AC Milan is 3rd in the table entering the new year but probably too far back to challenge Inter for the Serie A title. They can definitely hit 2nd though and I think they're looking really good at securing UCL for next season as well.
Also saw an article that Jedi has been the highest rated player for Fulham this season. Team would be close except he missed a few games with injury and at least 1 for suspension.
Forest with 2 wins in their last two outings has all of a sudden put some space (and teams) between them and the relegation zone. I don't think they're out of the woods yet. I am now expecting Luton to make it out this year. I watched their game vs Chelsea today and their attack is really fun to watch. Bonehead mistake early from a defender w/ a careless pass out gifted Chelsea their 1st goal otherwise the majority of play and the 2nd half was really controlled by Luton. Their backline is a joke and their GK is nothing special but the quality of their counter and attack surprised me and the quality of service they get into the box in the final 1/3 is really top notch. Burnley and Sheffield don't look like they're getting out of the cellar anytime soon....Everton is still down there after a brief stint of quality play. Brentford is the other team that should be worried. They've been uncharacteristically sloppy on defense and they aren't scoring. Fulham and Crystal Palace are the next two. Fulham has too much quality, IMO, to stay this far down. CP is an enigma and has been for a while. Lots of good players, lots of good young players, but never really seem to be able to put it all together. And they sold Zaha who was a microcosm of all their issues. If I had to guess, Brentford, barring some January transfer help, is headed out. Luton will squeak in. Everton is too good and are only in the position they are b/c of the points deduction for violation of the FFP rules.
Also saw an article that Jedi has been the highest rated player for Fulham this season. Team would be close except he missed a few games with injury and at least 1 for suspension.
Forest with 2 wins in their last two outings has all of a sudden put some space (and teams) between them and the relegation zone. I don't think they're out of the woods yet. I am now expecting Luton to make it out this year. I watched their game vs Chelsea today and their attack is really fun to watch. Bonehead mistake early from a defender w/ a careless pass out gifted Chelsea their 1st goal otherwise the majority of play and the 2nd half was really controlled by Luton. Their backline is a joke and their GK is nothing special but the quality of their counter and attack surprised me and the quality of service they get into the box in the final 1/3 is really top notch. Burnley and Sheffield don't look like they're getting out of the cellar anytime soon....Everton is still down there after a brief stint of quality play. Brentford is the other team that should be worried. They've been uncharacteristically sloppy on defense and they aren't scoring. Fulham and Crystal Palace are the next two. Fulham has too much quality, IMO, to stay this far down. CP is an enigma and has been for a while. Lots of good players, lots of good young players, but never really seem to be able to put it all together. And they sold Zaha who was a microcosm of all their issues. If I had to guess, Brentford, barring some January transfer help, is headed out. Luton will squeak in. Everton is too good and are only in the position they are b/c of the points deduction for violation of the FFP rules.
An hour after CP's game winner, the team just ahead of them in 2nd, Juventus, got a 1-0 win and started both McKennie & Weah. Wes is a fixture starting on that right side for Allegri.
Musah has a problem now with a couple midfielders who were hurt and now recovered. He may ride the pine for a while after about 6 starts in a row. And Pulisic has 7 goals & 4 assists, including 1 goal in the Ch LG which Milan is now out of, but which will be playing in the knockout round of the Europa League in a week or two.
AC Milan had the unfortunate task of being in UCLs group of death and it wasn't really close. Newcastle played decently well in the group stage, Milan played fairly well, along with PSG and surprising to top the group was Dortmund, who has been in so-so form this season.
Sargent made his return to Norwich's lineup yesterday and promptly scored a goal to knot things up late. Hoping he finds his form.
As long as Cindy Parlow is running the joint, we are going nowhere.
Ooooh, this is such good news. He still probably won't get a smell from Beer?halter but for his career in general, it's great.
Oh my goodness! Tim Weah comes off the bench to join the fun for Juve in an Italy Cup match today. He's at least 25 yards out & fires a rocket that clips the underside of the crossbar & in. The Salernitana goalie never moved. It was Tim's 1st & Juve's 5th & final goal. McKinnie got the day off. Pulisic gets his 5th assist off the bench along with 7 total goals for Milan in a Cup win a couple days ago.
Juventus will continue to dog Inter Milan for a Serie A title and just might win it. Their back line is solid (unlike Milan's). An attacking style that is firing on all cylinders. Chiesa scores in bunches. Need more goals, bring Vlahovic off the bench. Then bring in a star in the making off the bench, an 18-yr old Turk named Vildiz who scores a brace today. We know the midfield is solid with McKennie and Weah (now maybe more minutes). Our lads, including Musah, are important pieces at the top of Serie A.
Juventus will continue to dog Inter Milan for a Serie A title and just might win it. Their back line is solid (unlike Milan's). An attacking style that is firing on all cylinders. Chiesa scores in bunches. Need more goals, bring Vlahovic off the bench. Then bring in a star in the making off the bench, an 18-yr old Turk named Vildiz who scores a brace today. We know the midfield is solid with McKennie and Weah (now maybe more minutes). Our lads, including Musah, are important pieces at the top of Serie A.
DARYL DIKE!!! He is returning from a ruptured Achilles and is set to play about 45 minutes in West Brom's 3rd round FA Cup game on Saturday
Dike started for WBA and scored a goal in the 27'. WBA leads 3-0. Looks like Dike was subbed off at halftime which was the original plan.
Forest is knotted with Blackpool in their FA Cup game. Turner didn't start this one as most EPL teams use a lot of backups and 2nd teamers for these cup games. The guy they brought in to replace Turner is in goal and he's not doing great. I think Turner is in better form and in favor with Nuno.
Forest is knotted with Blackpool in their FA Cup game. Turner didn't start this one as most EPL teams use a lot of backups and 2nd teamers for these cup games. The guy they brought in to replace Turner is in goal and he's not doing great. I think Turner is in better form and in favor with Nuno.
Pulisic played a full 90 for Milan today but it doesn't appear he found the scoresheet. Milan won 3-0.
Brendan Aaronson scored a goal yesterday for his Bundesliga side in some cup match (can't even find it). He's been coming on mostly as a sub.
Brendan Aaronson scored a goal yesterday for his Bundesliga side in some cup match (can't even find it). He's been coming on mostly as a sub.
Actually, CP did. Late, a 19-yr old winger off the bench for Milan blocks a shot. Ball bounces to CP who starts on a 70-yd sprint, outrunning 2 defenders & passes to the kid for his 1st goal in Serie A and Pulisic's 6th assist.
With half the season left, Pulisic is on track for well into double digits for goals & assists. I'm guessing 14 goals & 12 assists. He gets close to this & it's the best season of his career, by far.
McKennie with 2 assists today in Juve's Coppa Italia win. Someone posted a meme comparing him to Pirlo 
When McKennie is focused on playing the game the right way, he can absolutely be dominant because he has that rare combo of size, speed, physicality, and touch. More often than not though he gets too emotionally wrapped up in things that he should ignore during games and it gets him focused on not the right things.
When McKennie is focused on playing the game the right way, he can absolutely be dominant because he has that rare combo of size, speed, physicality, and touch. More often than not though he gets too emotionally wrapped up in things that he should ignore during games and it gets him focused on not the right things.Can a cross be beautiful? Yes.....yes it can be. Particularly when the kicker picks out a teammate in the box & kicks it perfectly to them for a goal. McKinnie's 2nd perfect cross for an assist was from easily 40 yards out. I wonder if Beer?halter has noticed we have a guy who can pretty much pick his spot for crosses.
Those 2 assists are the 4th & 5th in the last month for McKinnie. He hasn't scored yet, but Allegri has to love him providing for all those goals. Weah got a start & and had a low, dipping bullet that the goalie was lucky to parry away and went 70 minutes.
I mentioned above some players scoring in handfulls for Juve. Add a guy named Milic who comes back from injury & gets a hat trick. Scored a 4th that was a hair offsides. Look for Juventus to win that Coppa Italia as the win yesterday put them in the semis.
Those 2 assists are the 4th & 5th in the last month for McKinnie. He hasn't scored yet, but Allegri has to love him providing for all those goals. Weah got a start & and had a low, dipping bullet that the goalie was lucky to parry away and went 70 minutes.
I mentioned above some players scoring in handfulls for Juve. Add a guy named Milic who comes back from injury & gets a hat trick. Scored a 4th that was a hair offsides. Look for Juventus to win that Coppa Italia as the win yesterday put them in the semis.
Mckinnie’s issues have diminished while he has matured but he still needs a backline and a 6 to cover him when he goes Lone Ranger and an opponent without the ability to exploit the room he leaves.
In the past we’ve lost a little with Musah and Jedi and sometimes a lot when he’s gone rogue with Tyler and a patchwork back line left to pick up the pieces. Issues club teams don’t have.
Cool he’s in form though. Just not sure yet it translates to the natty.
In the past we’ve lost a little with Musah and Jedi and sometimes a lot when he’s gone rogue with Tyler and a patchwork back line left to pick up the pieces. Issues club teams don’t have.
Cool he’s in form though. Just not sure yet it translates to the natty.
I love Mckennie. I love his fire. He will step into any scrap and pick up justice yellow cards. Every team must have those players.
His goofball ways are not enough for leadership for me. It isn't cut if he wants to take the team to another level. He plays at the highest levels in Europe. He needs to not just mess around in training constantly and show the other guys what it takes.
His goofball ways are not enough for leadership for me. It isn't cut if he wants to take the team to another level. He plays at the highest levels in Europe. He needs to not just mess around in training constantly and show the other guys what it takes.
Fulham vs Chelsea this AM in the West London Derby (I saw a map and it's crazy how close Craven Cottage and Stamford Bridge are...not as close as Anfield and Goodison Park but still). Team still out with an injury. Jedi has been the best player on the field for Fulham. He's been good defensively with a couple nice, instinctive interventions in the box, and when Fulham can get out on a counter he has delivered Fulham's best 2 chances of the day with crosses. Right now Chelsea leads 1-0 on a PK right at the end of the first half
I recorded and watched the friendly with Slovenia today. I don’t know if that was Slovenia’s B team or not but that had to be our D team. There was only one player out there that I would expect to be on the pitch when it counts. The play was actually better than I expected when I saw the lineup but the finishing was horrible.
It was an Olympic try out for a few of the guys. The rest was just courtesy call ups to get guys in shape for the MLS season. There’s maybe two guys on this roster in the next senior camp. At most. It’s called Camp Cupcake for a reason.
The lineup was brutal. Miles Robinson and Shaq Moore are the only two legit players that might make the 2026 WC roster. Dajuan Jones and Aidan Morris are the next 2...everyone else reminded me of the movie "Major League" where the Japanese groundskeepers are like "Who the f*ck are these guys?" I mean the GKs were likely #'s 7, 8 & 9 on the US depth chart
Robinson should have taken over that game and failed. He hurt his chances in the pool moving forward despite being a Berhalter favorite.
Moore has no shot.
Jones can play both sides and is well liked in camp. He has a chance. He and Robinson was who I was referring to. Diego Luna could have a chance too but maybe not until after 2026.
The keeper play out of the back was a clown show. The wing play was excellent but the easy part, connecting with the scorers, was dismal.
We didn’t look like we knew what we were doing out there. STILL.
Moore has no shot.
Jones can play both sides and is well liked in camp. He has a chance. He and Robinson was who I was referring to. Diego Luna could have a chance too but maybe not until after 2026.
The keeper play out of the back was a clown show. The wing play was excellent but the easy part, connecting with the scorers, was dismal.
We didn’t look like we knew what we were doing out there. STILL.
The connection lacking is forgivable. This group had never played together before. And my son shares your optimism on Luna BTW. He's really young and needs some seasoning still. And if this was a warm up for good players in MLS, why not bring in the MLS based top group. Walker-Zimmerman, both Morrises, Roldan, Vazquez and Ferreira, Arriola, Pomykal, etc.? Was Cremaschi part of the group this time? Or is Berhalter just using this as a mini ID camp for future potential call ups in case of injury to the #1-5 players on the depth chart? I referred to this line up as the US "D" squad as it didn't even qualify for even B or C status. This is the "in case of extreme emergency" group...maybe. And honestly, the US should be sending the best U23s they can to the Olympics and if that includes some A-list players, then so be it. They need to learn how to play in and win in these bigger profile events....as a group. If Aaronson and Balogun are eligible, they should be there.
The January camp is a young talent ID camp in non World Cup years going back decades. It’s part of our culture. Long before the current brain trust. After some pretty exciting prospects the last couple of years,, this group is lacking. It’s more about getting kids accustomed to camp and expectations, balancing travel, physical metrics being sorted out, etc. There’s usually three or four senior guys, typically one per position group, in each Jan camp. Lockerroom guys, the ones who teach the significance of the shirt. We don’t have that here. It makes you wonder if the 2026 roster is already set.
Barring injuries I think it is set. Berhalter will need to ID a new 6 and get them playing in that role permanently in all this stuff instead of just keeping the spot warm for Adams. Personally, I'm not sure Adams comes back to the same form and effectiveness, which sucks. Musah has done an OK job back there but his defensive effectiveness at the 6 role has not been great whereas Adams was starting to get noticed and recognized as one of the most effective 6's from a defensive standpoint. He was one of the leading challenge/tacklers in the EPL for a Leeds United squad that got countered so much you might have thought it was a political pundit talk show up until is injury. Leeds fans pretty much knew that when he went down that they were almost assuredly going to get relegated.
Club form helps but doesn’t decide who goes or doesn’t. There’s minimum physical metrics. After that it’s about youth, speed, and most importantly, your versatility in case of injury. Once the roster is set, that’s it.
So Chris Richards is your 6. And they might even pull McKinnie off and play double sixes in some games, assuming Tyler fully recovers.
So Chris Richards is your 6. And they might even pull McKinnie off and play double sixes in some games, assuming Tyler fully recovers.
Agree about McKinnie at the 6 since Allegri plays him there to fill in for injured teammates. Wes got screwed out of his 1st goal for Juve as a cross comes in, Wes rushes to the far post & heads it back to the goal mouth. It's his goal until Chiesa taps it in from point blank range. At least his 5th assist in the last 5 games.
It appears Gio Reyna will join Matt Turner at Nottingham Forest on loan from Dortmund ASAP. Forest needs help & Gio can provide it for a team close to the drop zone (in 16th, 4 points clear). I bet he'll start when fully fit. If Forest stays up, this could be great for Gio.
More good news on Sargent in the Championship. He scores again in the last out and Norwich has won 3 in a row. They are now in 6th place for that playoff for promotion to the EPL. They still have work to do but Sarge's return is the boost Norwich needed to fight for promo.
It appears Gio Reyna will join Matt Turner at Nottingham Forest on loan from Dortmund ASAP. Forest needs help & Gio can provide it for a team close to the drop zone (in 16th, 4 points clear). I bet he'll start when fully fit. If Forest stays up, this could be great for Gio.
More good news on Sargent in the Championship. He scores again in the last out and Norwich has won 3 in a row. They are now in 6th place for that playoff for promotion to the EPL. They still have work to do but Sarge's return is the boost Norwich needed to fight for promo.
I wonder what the salary deal for Reyna is if he goes to Forest, even on loan. Forest just got found guilty, along with Everton of violating the EPLs rules on financial fair play. Everton has already been dinged 1X this year and docked 10 pts which is why they're close to relegation. if Forest were to get docked points, it would almost assure their relegation at the end of the season.
It's also odd that Forest is looking at attack. Their main problem is not being able to defend with any consistency. It's the same problem with Luton Town. These teams generate enough goals that they should be able to get results and they're just not able to defend well enough to hold on.
Odd that Sargent wasn't named to Norwich City's team for the 4th round FA Cup matchup vs Liverpool. Liverpool hasn't played an EPL match in 2 weeks and only a Carabao match vs Fulham in that time so they are playing a few more regulars than they normally would for a match like this. Allison is in goal which is rare as Kelleher has been getting these cup matches lately. Jota and Nunez are in, Gomez and Konate are in. LFC is really banged up right now. Salah will be out a while with a hamstring injury suffered during AFCON. TAA is out, Robertson is still out, and his replacement Tsimikas is injured as well.
I didn't see any stats of note from yesterday's Euro games. I did see that both Joe Scally and Jordan Pefok started for Mondgladbach in Germany. They earned a draw with Bayer Leverkusen who sits atop the Bundesliga table. Mondgladbach looks like they are sitting well enough to remain in the Bundesliga at the end. Lots of time left though.
I didn't see any stats of note from yesterday's Euro games. I did see that both Joe Scally and Jordan Pefok started for Mondgladbach in Germany. They earned a draw with Bayer Leverkusen who sits atop the Bundesliga table. Mondgladbach looks like they are sitting well enough to remain in the Bundesliga at the end. Lots of time left though.
Sarge hasn't played a full 90 since his return off 4+ months from injury. Wagner, his coach, has really watched his minutes. But I also thought he might come off the bench in the 2nd half just for the experience. I'll bet Bla is wearing sack cloth & ashes after hearing Klopp is quitting Liverpool at end of season.
Nah, I think it's fine. I just hope they get the right coach. My son says they'll like go after Xabi Alonso from Leverkusen or the Feyenoord coach. I just don't want any retreads like Mourinho.
He’s scoring left and right. Spain was a perfect match for him. The locals love him. His name is de la Torre but they are left confused that he is learning basic Spanish. Every time they win, he eats the local dish - octopus - at the same restaurant. Or Pulpo de Gallego. The ultras call him Pulpo and show up to the restaurant to chat him.