MLS and Sporting KC - Official Thread

[hskr4life]

BTW, USMNT roster released and we’re  without Sergent and Pulisic this go around.  Big window to be without them, Pulisic especially.

[Keenan9595]

18 minutes ago, hskr4life said:

BTW, USMNT roster released and we’re  without Sergent and Pulisic this go around.  Big window to be without them, Pulisic especially.

Apparently The premier league isn’t allowing players to go to red countries (Panama) Reyna is also injured and not called in.  Also puzzled by KDF and Scally not being called in.  But we have a legit chance to get 6-9 points this cycle.  BIG one to capitalize on.  

[hskr4life]

41 minutes ago, Keenan9595 said:

Apparently The premier league isn’t allowing players to go to red countries (Panama) Reyna is also injured and not called in.  Also puzzled by KDF and Scally not being called in.  But we have a legit chance to get 6-9 points this cycle.  BIG one to capitalize on.  

Yep— any players from England would not have been able to make the trip to Panama... so in essence our toughest of the 3 games.

[aphilso1]

On 9/29/2021 at 8:03 PM, aphilso1 said:

The commentators didn’t notice, but that second one was with his left (weaker) foot. Super impressive. 

 

And another left-footed goal for Salloi today.  The kid is becoming ambidextrous before our eyes.

[49r]

A glorious day at the Park. Johnny with the brace to celebrate signing his contract. Couldn’t have asked for better weather. All around great day.


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[hskr4life]

No Sergent, no Pulisic... no problem.

 

I like this Pepi kid by the way.

[Keenan9595]

13 minutes ago, hskr4life said:

No Sergent, no Pulisic... no problem.

 

I like this Pepi kid by the way.

Goodness that first half was abysmal though. I was worried until we spotted one in.  Pepi is definitely making a case for himself.  

[hskr4life]

21 minutes ago, Keenan9595 said:

Goodness that first half was abysmal though. I was worried until we spotted one in.  Pepi is definitely making a case for himself.  

 

To be fair, we probably should have been playing at least 11 on 10 if not 11 on 9 at points in the first half.  Two pretty clear goal scoring opportunities taken away.

[Keenan9595]

37 minutes ago, hskr4life said:

 

To be fair, we probably should have been playing at least 11 on 10 if not 11 on 9 at points in the first half.  Two pretty clear goal scoring opportunities taken away.

Definitely, I just knew we needed 3 points from this game and that first half made me nervous.  lol 

[hskr4life]

1 hour ago, Keenan9595 said:

Definitely, I just knew we needed 3 points from this game and that first half made me nervous.  lol 

Until they prove me otherwise, I’m going to be nervous every time we step on the pitch.  Trinidad still haunts me to this day.

[Keenan9595]

8 hours ago, hskr4life said:

Until they prove me otherwise, I’m going to be nervous every time we step on the pitch.  Trinidad still haunts me to this day.

For sure man but this team is so young and has more talent then we’ve ever had playing day in and day out in Europe’s top 5 leagues.  It’s growing pains for now,  it when it clicks and we find that true core who learns to win together.  Watch out!!!

[49r]

Canada gets their first result in Mexico since 1980, and really they should have won.  Mexico is looking really pedestrian right now.

[aphilso1]

Favorite moment for me was was Pepi's first goal, and to celebrate he kisses the crest on his jersey.  I'm probably reading too much into that simple gesture, but originally I had assumed that he decided to play for the US instead of Mexico because we are thin at the #9 and they aren't.  Simply a better opportunity.  But that moment made me think that maybe it really was a love for this country that made him choose his nation over his heritage.  And maybe we will see the tides turn and be able to start keeping more of the elite Mexican-American soccer players representing the USA in the future.  

 

Oh, and how cool was it to finally have home field advantage in the state of Texas?!? Austin's crowd was FANTASTIC.

 

Looking at the bigger picture, we are now top of the table thanks to Canada getting a draw in Estadio Azteca.  Panama losing helps too.  And Costa Rica must be in a complete panic as they are sitting on 3 points through 4 matches.  It's still early, but 29% of the way through WCQ and things are going about as perfectly for us as we could have realistically hoped.  We will be in a commanding qualifying position if we can snag a point at Panama and a win at home against a frazzled Costa Rica team.

Edited October 8, 2021 by aphilso1

[aphilso1]

CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying Standings & Results

Team	PTS	GP	W	L	D	GF	GA	GD
1. USA	8	4	2	0	2	7	2	+5
2. Mexico	8	4	2	0	2	5	3	+2
3. Canada	6	4	1	0	3	6	3	+3
4. Panama	5	4	1	1	2	4	2	+2
5. El Salvador	5	4	1	1	2	1	3	-2
6. Costa Rica	3	4	0	1	3	1	2	-1
7. Honduras	3	4	0	1	3	2	5	-3
8. Jamaica	1	4	0	3	1	2	8	-6

 

This is beautiful.

[aphilso1]

Call me crazy, but I'm starting to believe in Gregg.  A few examples:

 

1. How he handled Weston's off-field issues was perfect.  Sent him home for a window to send a message.  But then when he brought him back to the team there was no residual punishment.  No sitting the bench in the doghouse for an indefinite period of time.  Weston received his punishment, and now is forgiven.  We move on.

 

2. Playing Musah through the middle is a bold move that makes Gregg look like a genius.  Musah is one of the speedy up-and-comers in La Liga playing out wide.  Logic would say that he and Arriola are the same type of player in our 4-3-3, and they should share playing time at the right winger position.  Gregg playing Musah where he has is really a pretty bold move, because if it didn't work out he'd look like an idiot.  But Musah has been great every time he's played, and kudos to GB for trusting him as a #10.

 

3. Riding the hot hand in goal with Turner.  It would be easy to roll out Steffen whenever he's available.  Turner has played perfectly as our keeper, and was rewarded with the #1 jersey last night.

 

4. A well-thought out strategy to get 3 points against an inferior foe, while playing without our two best creators.  No Pulisic, no Reyna, no problem.  Dest and Robinson were given the green light to get forward and attack.  Aaronson was given a heavier workload out wide.  We switched the field with long, aggressive passes the whole night.  Quality in the final third could have been better, but not for lack of game plan.  And don't forget the two "yellow" cards that resulted from the team constantly looking for the aggressive through ball.  That was a really well designed match last night by Gregg and his staff.

 

5. Buy-in from the young players.  Gregg and these kids are growing up together.  Obviously winning helps a lot, but this looks like a TEAM.  That isn't always the case.

 

6. Identifying young talent and getting it.  This was the main argument for keeping Klinsmann around despite continued disappointing results.  He expanded the talent pool by going out and getting commitments from dual-nationals.  That wasn't supposed to be Berhalter's strength.  And yet, the two 18 year old wunderkinds on the pitch had the option to play for Mexico (Pepi) and England/Ghana/Italy (Musah), but committed to the USA instead.

 

[HuscurAdam]

I just want to shout-out Tim Weah!  He dominated after coming on as a sub and should have had at least one assist.  How Zardes didn't put his brilliant cross into the back of the net is beyond me (and had me screaming at the TV).  The depth of young talent on this team is almost unthinkable to this longtime USMNT fan.    

[49r]

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[hskr4life]

Kind of like Nebrasketball this year... it's hard to see the team as "young" because there looks to be soooo much talent.

[HuskerFever]

Another reason to catch a Union Omaha game this season. Playoffs coming up:

 

 

[hskr4life]

USMNT... just ridiculous.  We looked GOD AWFUL tonight.

[HuscurAdam]

13 hours ago, hskr4life said:

USMNT... just ridiculous.  We looked GOD AWFUL tonight.

 

That starting 11 looked like Berhalter just drew names out of a hat...then went out a produced a predictable result.

Absolutely HAVE TO get 3 points on Wednesday!

[hskr4life]

4 hours ago, HuscurAdam said:

 

That starting 11 looked like Berhalter just drew names out of a hat...then went out a produced a predictable result.

Absolutely HAVE TO get 3 points on Wednesday!

Berhalter “The good news is that we’re still in 2nd place”

 

Me: “we’re also well within the realm of 5th and out”

[Keenan9595]

Brain fart to start the game, but settled in amd played well enough to win.  Golazo by Dest, great hustle goal by weah.  HUGE 3 points and we’ll get back 2-3 of our best players for the next cycle.  I mostly love how the young kids are going though the growing pains to qualify.  Amazing experience for kids who are between 17-23 and some veterans.  Will be huge going forward.

[hskr4life]

I was just about to say— provided we qualify, this will be a great learning experience.

 

— Are we sure Steffen is our best in the net?

 

— Loving me some Dest, Weah, and Aaronson.  Aaronson honestly looks so smooth for how young he is.

 

— Weston has the heaviest first touch I think I’ve ever seen for someone how controls the ball pretty well after that.

 

— How did CR not score on the 1-on-1 breakaway.  Yeash.

 

— I thought we should get at least 6 out of our first set and we got 5.  Was expecting at least 7 out of this set and we got 6.  We’re close enough, but can’t feel comfortable.

 

— November should be really fun playing Mexico.

[CanadianHusker]

Can’t believe the AR didn’t flag offsides for CR’s goal. He completely affected how the keeper played the ball, and he was clearly in an offside position. Love the fight and depth and experience we are building although sometimes I wonder if Berhalter knows what he’s doing when picking a lineup. Will be great to have Pulisic, Reyna, etc. back in November.