Moose Stuff
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We good
2023-2024 European Football Thread
- Thread starter Portland Frog
- Start date
Moose Stuff
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He’s been hurt for 2 months. Just came back. Hard to pick 3, we’ve got a really good young team. Pulisic, Adams, McKennie, Aronson, Musah, Weah….. hell one of our best guys has been hurt since the first game of qualifying (Reyna) and another of our better guys, Dest, was our tonight as well.
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Chongo94
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Heard he’s missed like 52 games for Chelsea since he signed with them. Crazy.
Moose Stuff
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How good was Walker Zimmerman tonight?!?!
dawg
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Moose Stuff
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Moose Stuff
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Purp
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Like Moose said, there's not a top 2-3 best players anymore. Gone are the days you could point to a Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, and Michael Bradley as a clear top 3 with a wide gap between the next tier. Our depth in the top tier is phenomenal and silly young.
I'd say Tyler Adams is our most important player. He's not going to light up the stat sheet, but he's an elite #6 who does everything you need him to at a very high level.
Pulisic and Reyna get most of the headlines with McKennie, but Weah and Aaronson also belong in that conversation with midfielders and forwards.
Yunus Musah is also very special. He's only 19, yet Mexico couldn't move him off the ball at all last night. He's so strong, so fast, so great with the ball on his feet... He can dribble with pace and drive on a back line and he can beat you with clever footwork in tight spaces. He's going to be elite too.
Dest is also an elite talent. He's not an elite defender, but his soccer IQ and skill are truly world class. There's a reason he starts for Barca at right back, left back, and right wing. The kid is really fun to watch.
Zach Steffen is an elite GK. He doesn't get much playing time at City bc he's behind one of the top 5 in the world, but elite athletically and exceptional playing the ball out of the back with his feet. And it's really that attribute alone that puts him ahead of Turner IMO.
For me, all of those guys belong in the same tier. Then you have the next tier that isn't far behind and includes guys like A Rob, M Rob, Brooks, Busio, and Pepi. All of these guys except Brooks have risen from relative obscurity in 2021 to vital pieces for the USMNT and their clubs bc of a rapid trajectory upward. Brooks started 2021 in the top tier and and dropped a rung due to a forgettable couple of months in September and October, but he appears to be finding his form again.
We've never seen a level of talent this high and this deep and it's all young. Very young. It's likely all the names I just mentioned except Brooks will be together for 3 World Cup cycles. Over half will likely play 4 together. Brooks has already been part of 2 WC cycles so he's likely only got 2 more in him. We're going to be very good for a very long time.
Purp
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How much fun was that last night?!? Holy boat! That wasn't a lucky win bc we converted a couple counter attacks after being out possessed all night. We took it to them, forced them into bad turnovers, and possessed ourselves on the front foot. We beat them with a style, assertiveness, and talent level that can also translate to Azteca. Short of a 15-20 minute spell in the first half I felt like we owned that game from the opening whistle.
Aaronson doesn't get all over guys, he gets inside their jersey he's so pesky. His guy can't go anywhere without feeling him way inside his personal space. Love his work rate. His quality on service needs to improve, but love everything else about his game.
Our midfield was outstanding. Adams is sooooo good at what he does. McKennie is all over the place and brings a toughness and swagger that elevates the team. Musah is so strong on the ball. He's like Sargent holding the ball and like Dest moving with it. I love watching his directness with the ball in space.
The back line was fantastic. The recovery speed of Yedlin, A Rob, and M Rob is phenomenal. The 1v1 defending from the back 4 was great all night. Give credit to Berhalter for that lineup, but particularly the inclusion of Zimm and Steffen. They were both terrific.
Subs were excellent and well timed. Obviously, the Pulisic inclusion was vital. I was hoping Acosta would come on and avenge Aaronson's and Adams' abuse from earlier, but that was a wise sub to bring him on with Adams as dual stoppers. Almost like having 4 center backs to close out the game.
That 2nd yellow and subsequent red for M Rob was rubbish. Should have been yellow the other way for diving. Lozano is going to be called Chucky Louganis from now on. That play pissed me off so much.
The targeting call missed on Adams should have been a strong yellow with a very animated "you're lucky this isn't red" demonstration from the ref. There was no effort to win the ball there. It was all about drilling Adams in a vulnerable spot to send a message. When the ref doesn't protect players when stuff like that happens you get nasty games. Has to be dealt with using cards. Has to.
I also blame the ref for the yellows on Steffen and McKennie. If he promptly shows the two yellows Mexico earned at the beginning of that play then the two after the fact don't have to happen. I also think CONCACAF not having VAR is so embarrassing. That A whole deserves red for digging his finger in Aaronson's eye and riding him like a pony. The ref let that escalate and that part is on him, but the proper justice wasn't administered bc the 4th official couldn't evaluate the shenanigans in the scrum while the center ref farted around.
Bottom line, CONCACAF should recognize we shouldn't have to go to Jamaica without McKennie and MRob and do something about it.
All that said, darn Mexico! Dos a cero darners!
Aaronson doesn't get all over guys, he gets inside their jersey he's so pesky. His guy can't go anywhere without feeling him way inside his personal space. Love his work rate. His quality on service needs to improve, but love everything else about his game.
Our midfield was outstanding. Adams is sooooo good at what he does. McKennie is all over the place and brings a toughness and swagger that elevates the team. Musah is so strong on the ball. He's like Sargent holding the ball and like Dest moving with it. I love watching his directness with the ball in space.
The back line was fantastic. The recovery speed of Yedlin, A Rob, and M Rob is phenomenal. The 1v1 defending from the back 4 was great all night. Give credit to Berhalter for that lineup, but particularly the inclusion of Zimm and Steffen. They were both terrific.
Subs were excellent and well timed. Obviously, the Pulisic inclusion was vital. I was hoping Acosta would come on and avenge Aaronson's and Adams' abuse from earlier, but that was a wise sub to bring him on with Adams as dual stoppers. Almost like having 4 center backs to close out the game.
That 2nd yellow and subsequent red for M Rob was rubbish. Should have been yellow the other way for diving. Lozano is going to be called Chucky Louganis from now on. That play pissed me off so much.
The targeting call missed on Adams should have been a strong yellow with a very animated "you're lucky this isn't red" demonstration from the ref. There was no effort to win the ball there. It was all about drilling Adams in a vulnerable spot to send a message. When the ref doesn't protect players when stuff like that happens you get nasty games. Has to be dealt with using cards. Has to.
I also blame the ref for the yellows on Steffen and McKennie. If he promptly shows the two yellows Mexico earned at the beginning of that play then the two after the fact don't have to happen. I also think CONCACAF not having VAR is so embarrassing. That A whole deserves red for digging his finger in Aaronson's eye and riding him like a pony. The ref let that escalate and that part is on him, but the proper justice wasn't administered bc the 4th official couldn't evaluate the shenanigans in the scrum while the center ref farted around.
Bottom line, CONCACAF should recognize we shouldn't have to go to Jamaica without McKennie and MRob and do something about it.
All that said, darn Mexico! Dos a cero darners!
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Moose Stuff
Active Member
The essence of the horror that Mexico is now facing is that when the switch finally flipped in this country they were never gonna have the athletes to match us. Well the switch has flipped and that day is upon them. We can come at them with guys like Pulisic, Adams, Reyna, Pepi, Busio, Dest, etc… and they can say “OK we can match that”, BUT when we then compound that with Aronson, Weah, Musah, McKennie, both Robinsons, Steffen…. That’s a level of athleticism and physicality that they will never be able to match IMO. Nobody in this region outside of maybe Canada (and oddly perhaps Jamaica) ever will. And as we’ve said previously, I don’t think this is some golden generation. This is what we are and will be.
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Moose Stuff
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dawg
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Moose Stuff
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I love that. Also…. LMAO my ass off at aspiring to be Mexico. Nope. We’re much closer to aspiring to be France.
dawg
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Another I found on the Reddits:
Yup. The most awesome part of that statement is... it’s true. The MNT aspiring to be the France national side was a pipe dream when I started really following footy closely during and after the 1998 World Cup. Not anymore.
Purp
Active Member
This is how I feel. I just went to my niece's soccer game and am headed to the range to shoot some clays. Then a birthday party for a kid on my 4U soccer team. Then I'm probably going to re-watch the game. Again. Watched it again when I got home last night too. I might start the TCU game late bc I'm enjoying the dos a cero too much. Darn Mexico.
