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World Cup thread

Kennedy_UK

Kennedy_UK

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vhcat70 said:
Wales changed their play in 2H & we didn't respond.

No expert, but seems we could have taken ball into "holes" above box & created chaos at times. Yes, going to get taken away most times. Our ability to get on crosses wasn't good ex 1st Sarge. Thought CP's CK's were not very good.
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Wales didn't change much. We ran out our legs and stopped pressing high. I also think Berhalter had us sit back a bit more.

Their HT sub at CF (can't think of his name) did a much better job holding the ball than James did. That, combined with our lack of press, created more space.

And our passing was absolutely dreadful in the 2H. I bet we passed in the 85%+ range in the 1H; was probably below 65% in the 2H. Kept giving the ball back to them.
 
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Wildcats1st

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Kennedy_UK said:
Wales didn't change much. We ran out our legs and stopped pressing high. I also think Berhalter had us sit back a bit more.

Their HT sub at CF (can't think of his name) did a much better job holding the ball than James did. That, combined with our lack of press, created more space.

And our passing was absolutely dreadful in the 2H. I bet we passed in the 85%+ range in the 1H; was probably below 65% in the 2H. Kept giving the ball back to them.
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Yes we played low press second half and wales went direct on us. It was a crappy move by berhalter to not continue to press like the first half. Never in hell should you play a 4-3-3 up a goal and low press. If you’re gonna do that then fall back to a 4-2-3-1 or you will lose midfield. That’s why our guys were gassed trying to keep up. Tactically one of the worst things I’ve witnessed at this level.
 
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Wildcats1st

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Kennedy_UK said:
I actually think we get a point off England. They're poor in defense, but also won't sit back like Wales did.
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It’s gonna be difficult because England had a cake walk today and we had players dropping like flies. We re gonna need a 2010 Green moment when he was beat by that gimme save. You guys remember that?
 
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WayneDougan_rivals170043

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Does the USMNT think they're the women's team all of a sudden? You can be woke and controversal when you win. When you lose (or tie to a country 1/100 of your size), you'll be asked whether your head is on the game or on something else.
 
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Wildcats1st

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WayneDougan said:
Does the USMNT think they're the women's team all of a sudden? You can be woke and controversal when you win. When you lose (or tie to a country 1/100 of your size), you'll be asked whether your head is on the game or on something else.
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Make no mistake if USA can’t pull out a draw with England Charles will broker a deal for England v wales draw.
 
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Wildcats1st

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WayneDougan said:
There's still a big incentive for Wales to win that game against England though, right?
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It would be nice to think so but in the 2018 SA qualifier Peru and Colombia pinged the ball around to play for a tie to ensure they both got through at Chile expense. I think wales will be happy to get through and prince of wales will probably make it happen. This game today after waiting 8 years was a huge miss and probably seals berhalters fate.

Watching that second half today was like watching cal coach. Deer in the headlights had no idea how to adjust.
 
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Get Buckets

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Berhalter said they were still working on Reyna’s fitness and were worried about his tightness lol. Reyna said I’m 100 percent good to go.
 
warrior-cat

warrior-cat

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Wildcats1st said:
It would be nice to think so but in the 2018 SA qualifier Peru and Colombia pinged the ball around to play for a tie to ensure they both got through at Chile expense. I think wales will be happy to get through and prince of wales will probably make it happen. This game today after waiting 8 years was a huge miss and probably seals berhalters fate.

Watching that second half today was like watching cal coach. Deer in the headlights had no idea how to adjust.
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It's funny how easy it was to see for anyone that our play in the second half we looked slower, seemingly confused, and had no real plan. My daughter (turns 17 next month) has never watched a game of sports with me decided to watch this when I told her it was the World Cup, and this was our national team. About mid-way through the second half, she commented on how different they were playing compared to the first half and out of place they seemed to be at about every play. When someone who never watches any sports can see it, it is really bad.
 
Kennedy_UK

Kennedy_UK

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It's a long, tough tournament. That's why I'm not too bent out of shape on yesterday's result.
 
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stuway

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I know one thing, we need a striker bad. Josh Sargent missed a point blank header and then completely whiffed and misses the whole damn ball in another cross he should've buried with his head. Okay Reyna as a false nine, at least he can put the ball in the net

Sad we couldn't hold our lead. Zimmerman major brain fart. No need to take Bale down with his back to goal. Berhalter has to go after we flame out in the group stage here. We have to much good, legit young talent in our team. We should be much better sadly
 
funKYcat75

funKYcat75

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Kennedy_UK said:
It's a long, tough tournament. That's why I'm not too bent out of shape on yesterday's result.
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Exactly. Win the upcoming games outright, and there's nothing to worry about. England will be a tough challenge, but gotta get it done.
 
Catman100

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funKYcat75 said:
Exactly. Win the upcoming games outright, and there's nothing to worry about. England will be a tough challenge, but gotta get it done.
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Need Iran to draw with Wales and us to at least draw with England.
 
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WayneDougan_rivals170043

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funKYcat75 said:
Exactly. Win the upcoming games outright, and there's nothing to worry about. England will be a tough challenge, but gotta get it done.
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There's 3 f'ing games. The tournament ain't that long.

1) England is the favorite and they destroyed Iran
2) We were the second favorite and we tied with the 3rd favorite
3) The 3rd favorite plays England last and there is incentive to tie

We are screwed.
 
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Kennedy_UK

Kennedy_UK

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Catman100 said:
Oh and here's a hot take:

I legit hate Mexico soccer more than UL, Tennessee, Duke or the New York Yankees.
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Nah.

And I almost got ambushed at the US/Mexico Nations League final, so f*ck them.

But nah.
 
Catman100

Catman100

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Kennedy_UK said:
Nah.

And I almost got ambushed at the US/Mexico Nations League final, so f*ck them.

But nah.
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They throw batteries, bottles and crap at our players, sometimes on US soil.

Yea I would probably cheer for the Taliban against them.
 
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Dore95

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The worst part of yesterday IMO was to see our guys dragging in second half, basically worn out. The one thing we used to be able to count on from the USMNT was fitness. I know we have several guys coming off injuries, but still.

Anyway, we are going to need to rotate the squad big time and that's not exactly a great thing when we played what should have been our strongest lineup yesterday.

One final thing - I love Pulisic but his constant complaining about being fouled drags the team down. One time yesterday he was too busy complaining about a call than to see the ball come his way on a deflection. I felt we got taken out of our game a little in the 2nd half by focusing too much on the ref.
 
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gollumcat

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In the second half the game got away from the all Qatari officiating crew. Letting players constantly lay on the ground stopping the game for minutes on end with nothing more than cramps. Missing obvious yellows. Thats why there are 5 subs now. There isnt even a legitimate pro league in Qatar. I felt like the game was above the experience and skill level of the crew,
 
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Catman100

Catman100

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gollumcat said:
In the second half the game got away from the all Qatari officiating crew. Letting players constantly lay on the ground stopping the game for minutes on end with nothing more than cramps. Missing obvious yellows. Thats why there are 5 subs now. There isnt even a legitimate pro league in Qatar. I felt like the game was above the experience and skill level of the crew,
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I can agree with that.
 
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Lazlo7

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Australia that is how you do it - from own goal one long clear to winger, cross in front to other winger - Goal
sheer beauty.
 
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CardHack

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It felt like a loss. To be so proactive and frankly dangerous with the frequency they did in the first half was what all USMNT fans have been waiting for...especially when you consider the infrequency of a first half goal in qualifying. Going in up at the half with the tempo of play and how they seemed to gain steam in the 2nd half of so much of the WCQ I thought we were sitting perfectly. The midfield combinations to the chested ball down into Pulisic's feet and the perfectly weighted slotted ball for Weah's run were as good a goal as you've really seen on back to the World Cup 2002 from Open play. Weah's footwork and timing were perfect; that was a rocket for a ball played off the outside of his foot.

...but sometimes you are what WCQ says you are regardless of whether it's in a swamp in Panama City or a cold night in Cincinnati; we fell apart in our attacking 3rd. We also got next to nothing from set pieces during Qualifying when it kind of carried us through Nation's League and Gold Cup 2021. Pulisic's service on corners is really no better than it was throughout qualifying and it's a place where Acosta and Reyna in particular are significantly better. Going into the World Cup I thought 4 points would get us through so there are worse fates than getting a tie to England which looked lethal by their perennial underachieving standard. It would vastly improve our chances if Iran beat Wales.

I also think this underscores a concern for 2026; Wales basically played the game like they had throughout EuroCup as well as qualifying out of Europe...we are autoqualified so I don't even know what we will do or even if we participate in WCQ in CONCACAF in 2024-2025. To me it practically mandates getting into CopaAmerica.
 
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WayneDougan_rivals170043

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All sports need to start eliminating the benefits of faking an injury. For football, it's simple. You get hurt in a way that stops play you're out of the game until the series is over (or a timeout). For soccer, it's harder, but I would do this... keep the same rules in place as today when there is a foul, but if a foul isn't called the player can either:
1) Get up and stop being a *****
2) Lay there on the field until his fake cramp stops hurting while play continues
3) Raise his hand to stop play, but he has to either be subbed out or sit on the sidelindes until the next throw in or goal kick by his own team.
 
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