Anonymous wrote:If that’s all you saw, you don’t understand the game.

Care to respond to my actual statement without a pompous redefinition? Do you agree that Uruguay is an athletic and running team or not?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was wondering what everyone thinks?
My take (I am from Argentina but live in DC) is unchanged. US squads are packed with athletes but few soccer players. Little creativity and vision, but boy are they big and can run like the wind.
I am sure many Americans that focus solely on winning will point at the coach, but my question is: are there real American soccer players that were left out of the squad that have the ability to compete with the Elite national teams?

The Uruguay team is EXTREMELY athletic and runs like the wind. El Loco Bielsa.

If that’s all you saw, you don’t understand the game.

Anonymous wrote:I was wondering what everyone thinks?
My take (I am from Argentina but live in DC) is unchanged. US squads are packed with athletes but few soccer players. Little creativity and vision, but boy are they big and can run like the wind.
I am sure many Americans that focus solely on winning will point at the coach, but my question is: are there real American soccer players that were left out of the squad that have the ability to compete with the Elite national teams?

The Uruguay team is EXTREMELY athletic and runs like the wind. El Loco Bielsa.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was wondering what everyone thinks?
My take (I am from Argentina but live in DC) is unchanged. US squads are packed with athletes but few soccer players. Little creativity and vision, but boy are they big and can run like the wind.
I am sure many Americans that focus solely on winning will point at the coach, but my question is: are there real American soccer players that were left out of the squad that have the ability to compete with the Elite national teams?

I agree with this. I’m born here but my parents are from Uruguay. Ja. No pun intended. I’m wondering if this is the moment that Americans learn that this style of soccer does not work in the world. And this means youth level, up. We see it on our fields with our local clubs, we see at the national level when our kids go and compete. And we see it at the USM & USW national teams. Period. When will we you learn and change???

If the comments in this thread are any indication, the answer is no and never. Not changing. Not learning. Well then, keep losing.

Anonymous wrote:I was wondering what everyone thinks?
My take (I am from Argentina but live in DC) is unchanged. US squads are packed with athletes but few soccer players. Little creativity and vision, but boy are they big and can run like the wind.
I am sure many Americans that focus solely on winning will point at the coach, but my question is: are there real American soccer players that were left out of the squad that have the ability to compete with the Elite national teams?

I agree with this. I’m born here but my parents are from Uruguay. Ja. No pun intended. I’m wondering if this is the moment that Americans learn that this style of soccer does not work in the world. And this means youth level, up. We see it on our fields with our local clubs, we see at the national level when our kids go and compete. And we see it at the USM & USW national teams. Period. When will we you learn and change???

Berhalter needs to be fired. His salary is 1.6 million. He is not getting results. The players have made it clear they like him, he is like a friend to them.

They don’t need a friend. They need someone who will get them to work harder and make progress.

What happened with Weah and the red card never should have happened. That was on him but also on Berhalter as manager. He is the one setting up the conditions and tone of the team. He is not succeeding. He needs to go .

New coach.
Pivot away from our defensive system. (We mostly play 5 at the back and defend the whole game…. Boring to watch.)
Bring in more creative/ agile attacking minded players.

Anonymous wrote:They didn't get booted because of the referee, they weren't as good. Simple.

With that being said, the referee should be investigated as his actions were questionable at best.

Well... they are not head and shoulders above the other team. So, if it's a knife's edge, a 50-50 game, yes, the ref does play a role. But you are correct that the proper response to that is to be head and shoulders above.

real soccer headz clearly

Nobody cares about international play. College or bust on this board.

Anonymous wrote:They didn't get booted because of the referee, they weren't as good. Simple.

With that being said, the referee should be investigated as his actions were questionable at best.

Agreed we lost because we didn't play good enough to win - we had to win and only had 3 shots on target, that's not going to win any match, let alone one against a good team.

The ref has already been under investigation for accepting a gift from a team at Copa Libertadores in 2022...how he is still a ref is beyond me.

Also of note he was the 4th official during the US/Panama match when the stoppage time should of been double what was given.

They didn't get booted because of the referee, they weren't as good. Simple.

With that being said, the referee should be investigated as his actions were questionable at best.

My guess is the majority here don't really care what the USMNT does. They mostly get into this so their kid has an avenue to social acceptance in high school amongst a peer group that does not consist of misfits and outcasts. Therein lies one of the major problems.

The unfortunate thing is, for all of the problems with the current US coach, I actually think he had the best squad out there under the circumstances.

You can quibble at the margins, and there were some injury factors, but that is true for every national team after the long club season.

So no, there are not a bunch of less athletic, better soccer players that would have made a difference. Aaronson has more skills than half of the starting lineup, and better soccer IQ than almost any American, but I think a front 3 of Pulisic, Balogun and Weah, with Reyna, plus two of McKennie, Adams and Musah in the midfield, is the best the US can do right now. Reyna is a better fit with that group than Aaronson.

The creativity and vision is not awful, it's just not on par with the top, top level. But there is no easy solution.

There are some exciting young players, but honestly fewer for the US now than many other high/mid-level national teams.

Most likely, the US will work hard and continue to hover as a top 20-30 soccer nation, regardless of coach / player selection. They can have good luck and make the quarterfinals of major tournaments, maybe even higher.

Or they can have bad luck and fail to get out of the group stage, like this Copa. That happens to almost every country. Complete failures like not making the 2018 World Cup will be very rare, especially with the World Cup expansion.

I was wondering what everyone thinks?
My take (I am from Argentina but live in DC) is unchanged. US squads are packed with athletes but few soccer players. Little creativity and vision, but boy are they big and can run like the wind.
I am sure many Americans that focus solely on winning will point at the coach, but my question is: are there real American soccer players that were left out of the squad that have the ability to compete with the Elite national teams?