MLS and Sporting KC - Official Thread

[Keenan9595]

6 hours ago, aphilso1 said:

 

Is De La Torra a straight #10 or does he have some position flexibility?  I haven't seen enough out of him to know.  Honestly I think we have more depth at #10 than we do at the wingers, because a couple of our first team wingers are actually better in the creative mid role (Pulisic, Reyna). 

 

That's kind of an interesting mental exercise...catalogue our non-striker offensive players and sort them by what positions they can play.  Hmmm.  I just might need to do that today.

Pulisic has played striker and even a false 9 I believe at Chelsea.  I’ve wanted to play with him up front and both weah and aaronson on the wings and see what happens.  Haha

[Keenan9595]

4 hours ago, The Polish Rifle said:

So when the USMNT goes on the road in Central America they get bags of piss thrown at them, batteries and bottles thrown at them, horrid field conditions, their hotel locations leaked, games scheduled in insane heat, ect. ect. - but we're gonna draw the line at Honduras having to play in cold weather? Glad we did it. 

Not to mention fireworks, car horns and gun shots going on outside their hotels at 3 am.  

[The Polish Rifle]

28 minutes ago, Keenan9595 said:

Not to mention fireworks, car horns and gun shots going on outside their hotels at 3 am.  

I also forgot to mention El Tri playing at like a mile and a half altitude. Bout time we make the Central American teams uncomfortable when they play on our turf. 

[uneblinstu]

I think it's totally fine to play the game in cold weather. My question is why do that for Honduras? They're the worst team in the table? That should have been Mexico or Panama.

[Keenan9595]

16 minutes ago, uneblinstu said:

I think it's totally fine to play the game in cold weather. My question is why do that for Honduras? They're the worst team in the table? That should have been Mexico or Panama.

I get that, part of it was probably travel distance but we had to have those 3 points, we don’t win and we have to win 2 of our last 3 in either Mexico or Costa Rica.  Was it silly?  Yes.  Was it worth all the flack and bitching that’s been going around on Twitter or Facebook?  I don’t think so.  

[aphilso1]

17 hours ago, Keenan9595 said:

Pulisic has played striker and even a false 9 I believe at Chelsea.  I’ve wanted to play with him up front and both weah and aaronson on the wings and see what happens.  Haha

 

True.  He's also even played some minutes at RB for Chelsea.  Pulisic is certainly versatile, but in this system his best positions (in order) are 10, 7, 11, 8.  Gregg seems to want more of a traditional target center at the #9...which actually makes me think that if he is healthy before Qatar, that Altidore will be the second striker on the roster to go along with Pepi.  

 

I do like the thought of trying Pulisic out as a false 9.  But my projections are trying to forecast who Gregg selects for the WC 23-man roster, not what I would personally like to see.  And I feel like that is something that if Gregg was going to try out, he probably would have done it already.  

[aphilso1]

17 hours ago, The Polish Rifle said:

I also forgot to mention El Tri playing at like a mile and a half altitude. Bout time we make the Central American teams uncomfortable when they play on our turf. 

 

I'll say it again. We should have a home stadium in Anchorage specifically for when we play Mexico.

[cornfed24-7]

21 hours ago, The Polish Rifle said:

So when the USMNT goes on the road in Central America they get bags of piss thrown at them, batteries and bottles thrown at them, horrid field conditions, their hotel locations leaked, games scheduled in insane heat, ect. ect. - but we're gonna draw the line at Honduras having to play in cold weather? Glad we did it. 

I only wish it was Mexico instead of Honduras.

[Keenan9595]

2 hours ago, aphilso1 said:

 

True.  He's also even played some minutes at RB for Chelsea.  Pulisic is certainly versatile, but in this system his best positions (in order) are 10, 7, 11, 8.  Gregg seems to want more of a traditional target center at the #9...which actually makes me think that if he is healthy before Qatar, that Altidore will be the second striker on the roster to go along with Pepi.  

 

I do like the thought of trying Pulisic out as a false 9.  But my projections are trying to forecast who Gregg selects for the WC 23-man roster, not what I would personally like to see.  And I feel like that is something that if Gregg was going to try out, he probably would have done it already.  

I’d be surprised if we ever see antidore in a USMNT shirt again. He hasn’t played in like 3 years and he recently was in a big online fight with some of the last guys from the team.  I think Sargent, Pepi and Dike will be the three when the day is done.  

[aphilso1]

Weston is out for the final three qualifiers. Yikes. 
 

https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-states-usa/story/4600490/sources-usmnts-weston-mckennie-out-for-8-12-weeks-with-foot-injury?platform=amp

[hskr4life]

Yikes.  Gio escaped major injury it looks like.

[hskr4life]

Pulisic coming into form at just the right time.  Great cross and assist plus a “thank you” goal.

[hskr4life]

Sporting KCs season off to a rough start.  Top that off with the everyone is hurt for the USMNT, and I’m officially worried about our three game window here.

[jdw]

Wrong board

[aphilso1]

34 minutes ago, hskr4life said:

Sporting KCs season off to a rough start.  Top that off with the everyone is hurt for the USMNT, and I’m officially worried about our three game window here.

SKC needs to make the nameplate fonts bigger. With all the offseason turnover plus injuries, I need some help with knowing who’s who on the pitch. 
 

And yeah, Dest+McKennie+Aaronson are not the three guys I would have picked to be injured for the final WCQ leg. 

[Keenan9595]

If we get 4 we’re in.  3 puts on in the fence.  Hopefully we can not drop the ball at the end of the window here.  Thursdays game you might be watching a team play for a draw followed by opening the floodgates against Panama.  That game is huge, depending on what they do against Honduras us beating them could equate a 4 point swing.  Good news is that both Panama and Costa Rica still have to play Canada who’s trying to jump up into the next pot, so we could get some help there.  

Edited March 22, 2022 by Keenan9595

[49r]

Pretty decent result for the boys tonight!

[hskr4life]

16 minutes ago, 49r said:

Pretty decent result for the boys tonight!

We actually looked really good.  Blew two huge chances, but I was happy overall with how we played.  Fricking Coata Rica had to throw a wrench in things though.

[Keenan9595]

5 hours ago, hskr4life said:

We actually looked really good.  Blew two huge chances, but I was happy overall with how we played.  Fricking Coata Rica had to throw a wrench in things though.

The good thing is win Sunday and we’ve all but sealed it.  The goal differential between us and Costa Rica is 7 right now with two games to play. That’s pretty beneficial for us.

[hskr4life]

I am a little worried we’re without Weah and Yedlin for this home match Sunday.  Hopefully a Pulisic/Gio combo is enough to overcome.  I think if we punch Panama early, with the results of last night, they might fold.  They’ll be fighting for their lives.

 

What we absolutely need to avoid is going to Costa Rica needing a result.  I hate having to be on the road in Concacaf for the final qualifier and needing a result.

 

Yesterdays game was big.  Sundays game is HUGE.

[hskr4life]

That was fun!  Beat we’ve played in a long long time.

[49r]

Now let's go beat those Ticos!

[aphilso1]

Good weekend! SKC looked sloppy but pulled out the win against RSL, and the USMNT played its best match of this WCQ cycle.  Woot woot!

[hskr4life]

Pretty sure we have a little bit to play for in winning.  So as much as it’s improbable we lose by 6… it’s also not a game where we have nothing to play for.

[Keenan9595]

7 minutes ago, hskr4life said:

Pretty sure we have a little bit to play for in winning.  So as much as it’s improbable we lose by 6… it’s also not a game where we have nothing to play for.

Technically if we win 5-0 and Canada lose we could still win the hex.  Haha, daydreaming for sure.  But I think this team fully expects Go to Costa Rica and win which would be an awesome closing to qualifying and a nice final feather in this young generations cat before the World CupGo to Costa Rica and win which would be an awesome closing to qualifying and a nice final feather in this young generations cat before the World Cup