MLS and Sporting KC - Official Thread

[49r]

I gotta say I'm pretty excited for next season.

[hskr4life]

2 hours ago, 49r said:

I gotta say I'm pretty excited for next season.

And we’ve got the WC between!!!

[HuskerFever]

 

[49r]

Well done!

[HuskerFever]

 

[hskr4life]

Happy WC month.  Hopefully we can avoid the injury bug that seems to be taking down people left and right.

 

Personally don't think LDLT will make the roster now.  I don't think he'll be ready to go.

 

Hopefully Weston is ok.

 

Roster release is soon!

[cornfed24-7]

14 hours ago, hskr4life said:

Happy WC month.  Hopefully we can avoid the injury bug that seems to be taking down people left and right.

 

Personally don't think LDLT will make the roster now.  I don't think he'll be ready to go.

 

Hopefully Weston is ok.

 

Roster release is soon!

I have followed three sports teams for the last 30ish years. Nebraska basketball, Nebraska football, and the USMNT. In a past life I really must have pissed off some God over something. My point is I have a feeling my debt has been paid and we're gonna have some fun watching this WC

[hskr4life]

1 hour ago, cornfed24-7 said:

I have followed three sports teams for the last 30ish years. Nebraska basketball, Nebraska football, and the USMNT. In a past life I really must have pissed off some God over something. My point is I have a feeling my debt has been paid and we're gonna have some fun watching this WC

I hope so— my goal is definitely to make it out of the group stage and possibly win the R16 game with the softish field in Group A.

 

2026 I have high hopes

[cornfed24-7]

17 minutes ago, hskr4life said:

2026 I have high hopes

Astronomical 

[hskr4life]

WC Roster was released yesterday.

 

No Steffen was a huge shocker.

 

The Jordan Morris inclusion came out of left field.

 

Happy to see LDLT made the roster and will be there.

 

So far we've avoided the injury bug.  One more set of games to avoid.

[aphilso1]

40 minutes ago, hskr4life said:

WC Roster was released yesterday.

 

No Steffen was a huge shocker.

 

The Jordan Morris inclusion came out of left field.

 

Happy to see LDLT made the roster and will be there.

 

So far we've avoided the injury bug.  One more set of games to avoid.

 

Steffen's exclusion and CCV's inclusion were my two biggest surprises.

 

A lot of people were shocked that Pepi was left off the roster, but really the striker pool is filled with 5-6 guys with identical resumes (young, shows great great promise, but produces absolutely nothing for the national team) and a couple were going to be left out.  Pepi, Pefok, Sargent, and Haji are the same player right now in my opinion and there was only room for 2 of them.

 

Morris is old school USMNT.  Those '90's rosters were filled with dudes like him that just run hard in a straight line until the opponent runs out of gas.  Not someone I want playing the full match, but having him start and wear down the opposing RB or sub in late when the RB is already gassed are both useful reasons to include him.  And despite a limited skillset, he does actually produce.

 

Surprised to see LDLT make the roster after his recent struggles both for club and country.  But having an extra possession guy available off the bench if we find ourselves holding a lead is smart.

 

 

 

[Keenan9595]

1 hour ago, aphilso1 said:

 

Steffen's exclusion and CCV's inclusion were my two biggest surprises.

 

A lot of people were shocked that Pepi was left off the roster, but really the striker pool is filled with 5-6 guys with identical resumes (young, shows great great promise, but produces absolutely nothing for the national team) and a couple were going to be left out.  Pepi, Pefok, Sargent, and Haji are the same player right now in my opinion and there was only room for 2 of them.

 

Morris is old school USMNT.  Those '90's rosters were filled with dudes like him that just run hard in a straight line until the opponent runs out of gas.  Not someone I want playing the full match, but having him start and wear down the opposing RB or sub in late when the RB is already gassed are both useful reasons to include him.  And despite a limited skillset, he does actually produce.

 

Surprised to see LDLT make the roster after his recent struggles both for club and country.  But having an extra possession guy available off the bench if we find ourselves holding a lead is smart.

 

 

 

CCV has been one of Celtics best players all season and Richards being hurt solidified he was coming I think.  Aaron long is the one that doesn’t make any sense to me, Miazga, EPB and McKenzie have all been in better form and long has stunk for the USMNT for a few years now.  

[hskr4life]

1 hour ago, aphilso1 said:

 

Steffen's exclusion and CCV's inclusion were my two biggest surprises.

 

A lot of people were shocked that Pepi was left off the roster, but really the striker pool is filled with 5-6 guys with identical resumes (young, shows great great promise, but produces absolutely nothing for the national team) and a couple were going to be left out.  Pepi, Pefok, Sargent, and Haji are the same player right now in my opinion and there was only room for 2 of them.

 

Morris is old school USMNT.  Those '90's rosters were filled with dudes like him that just run hard in a straight line until the opponent runs out of gas.  Not someone I want playing the full match, but having him start and wear down the opposing RB or sub in late when the RB is already gassed are both useful reasons to include him.  And despite a limited skillset, he does actually produce.

 

Surprised to see LDLT make the roster after his recent struggles both for club and country.  But having an extra possession guy available off the bench if we find ourselves holding a lead is smart.

 

 

 

 

I can definitely see that  with Morris.  I actually like how he plays, but with his limited time with the USMNT and injury, I didn't even consider him having a shot.  You could see how much it meant to him specifically though when they played that clip of GB calling all of the players.  He was nearly in tears.

[aphilso1]

2 hours ago, Keenan9595 said:

CCV has been one of Celtics best players all season and Richards being hurt solidified he was coming I think.  Aaron long is the one that doesn’t make any sense to me, Miazga, EPB and McKenzie have all been in better form and long has stunk for the USMNT for a few years now.  

 

CCV had received exactly one call up in the past 3 years.  I understand he has had a great season in Scotland, but I honestly just didn't think Gregg had seen enough of CCV in person to trust him with a roster slot.  ESPECIALLY at a position like CB where reliability, and familiarity with your CB mate next to you,  trumps talent.

 

I wonder if the 26 man roster allowed Gregg to include a few guys with high upside that he doesn't know as well, since he can still field a full squad with "his guys" and use those extra 3 slots on players like CCV (in form, quality player, but very limited experience with the rest of the USMNT).

[aphilso1]

2 hours ago, hskr4life said:

 

I can definitely see that  with Morris.  I actually like how he plays, but with his limited time with the USMNT and injury, I didn't even consider him having a shot.  You could see how much it meant to him specifically though when they played that clip of GB calling all of the players.  He was nearly in tears.

 

Morris has 9 caps this calendar year, which is 75% of our matches.  He has been a regular for us ever since he was recovered enough to get called up.  I wouldn't call that "limited time" despite the fact that he was MIA in 2020-21 with the bum knee.

[hskr4life]

4 hours ago, aphilso1 said:

 

Morris has 9 caps this calendar year, which is 75% of our matches.  He has been a regular for us ever since he was recovered enough to get called up.  I wouldn't call that "limited time" despite the fact that he was MIA in 2020-21 with the bum knee.

Thanks!  I guess he came back a lot sooner than I remember.

[aphilso1]

Kit numbers just came out, and with it I think we can somewhat safely speculate which guys make up the majority of our main eleven based on numbers assigned.  Only real surprise to me is Ferreira getting the #9 and Weah not cracking the top 11 at all (will be wearing #21).  I am surprised that both Gio and Musah got a single digit number ahead of Tim.  Also, only three defenders got a single digit (Jedi 5, Dest 2, Zimm 3) so it appears that there may still be competition for who Zimmerman's CB partner will be.

 

1 Turner (GK)

2 Dest (RB)

3 Zimmerman (CB)

4 Adams (DM)

5 Robinson (LB)

6 Musah (attacking mid)

7 Reyna (RW?)

8 McKennie (box-to-box mid)

9 Ferreira (striker)

10 Pulisic (LW, probably)

11 Aaronson (mid & winger)

 

Looks to me like a "3 players share 2 positions" situation at attacking mid and right winger, since Musah, Reyna, and Aaronson can't all be on the pitch at the same time (assuming Pulisic is starting every match).

 

                   

[aphilso1]

SOMEBODY NEEDS TO RESPOND BECAUSE I WANT TO TALK WORLD CUP STUFF

[hskr4life]

LOL— I meant to respond to this yesterday.

 

How much do we think Sargent plays?  Personally I think he could be a wild card.  Is he the 2nd or 3rd striker right now?

 

I'm so excited about our mid-field depth.  I change who I’d like to see start like daily.

6 days and 2 hours to Wales

 

 

[cornfed24-7]

https://thechive.com/2022/11/14/ted-lasso-motivates-us-world-cup-players-with-hometown-surprise/

 

[hskr4life]

One thing I will say is that things are setting up pretty good for the US. We’ve avoided the injury bug to key players (so far), we’re probably as healthy as we’ve been in a long time with players like Geo, and our group, while tough, isn’t overbearing and then our crossover game in R16 doesn’t scare me too much.

 

Never is easy, but a R8 game is possible… I hope.

[aphilso1]

Gio is such an interesting addition to this team, because he is as talented as anyone on the roster but hasn't been capped much due to his injuries always occurring right before key international windows.  I remember reading a stat a few months back that our four young midfielder options (Weston, Christian, Gio, and T Adams) who were supposed to be the building blocks of the USMNT have never all been on the pitch at the same time together due to injuries.  Obviously since Gregg runs a 4-3-3, they don't all play mid for us with Gio and Christian being attacking mid/winger tweeners.  But the point still stands.  these four young guys collectively are supposed to be carry the bulk of our possession and playmaking, and they are just now learning how to play together.

[aphilso1]

22 minutes ago, hskr4life said:

How much do we think Sargent plays?  Personally I think he could be a wild card.  Is he the 2nd or 3rd striker right now?

 

 

I am hoping that either Sargent or Haji just absolutely tear it up in practice and force Gregg's hand to make them the starter.  We know what we are getting in Ferreira and his ceiling is so much lower than either of the other two strikers on the roster (or Pefok or Pepi for that matter).  Ferreira would be my choice if playing for a tie or holding a lead, but all those other guys are better at beating a quality centerback and making a goal out of nothing.

[HuskerFever]

3 hours ago, aphilso1 said:

SOMEBODY NEEDS TO RESPOND BECAUSE I WANT TO TALK WORLD CUP STUFF

 

What's a world cup? How many ounces does it hold?

[hskr4life]

Thoughts on this if Weston is hurt.

 

             Weah or Sargent or Ferreira 

 

Pulisic              Aaronson            Reyna

 

          Adams                     Musah

 

 

Robinson       Ream            Zim          Dest

 

                             Turner