USMNT/Soccer Thread
- Thread starter BigBlueSean
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So Meg Whitman - former HP CEO & former CA Gov candidate & former P&G VP - & her husband bought 20% of FCC & will be managing partner. FCC now valued at more than $500M - one of highest in MLS. Original owners paid $150M MLS entry fee & spent $200M on the new stadium. You do the math but that one hellava profit in a short time.
Pulisic continues to make me look bad.
Pulisic continues to make me look bad.
It’s always corrupt and about the bottom line $
Portugal winning hurts so try to knock em out early, Belgium too, strongest team in Europe no argument really, make them play away games in Denmark and Russia maybe get lucky.
Happy for my Croatia though, have to play England at Wembley but if healthy and not unlucky they won’t lose that, might even thump them for good measure.
Portugal winning hurts so try to knock em out early, Belgium too, strongest team in Europe no argument really, make them play away games in Denmark and Russia maybe get lucky.
Happy for my Croatia though, have to play England at Wembley but if healthy and not unlucky they won’t lose that, might even thump them for good measure.
It is going to be really interesting to see how the closing of domestic leagues, UCL, and Euro 2020 gets played out. Euro aint moving at all so its going to be up to the leagues to figure out what in the world happens as well as UEFA.
With that being said, I had a question I wanted to pose to everyone in light of COVID19 shutting everything down:
What happens first, Man U win the premier league, or Arsenal win the premier leage?
With that being said, I had a question I wanted to pose to everyone in light of COVID19 shutting everything down:
What happens first, Man U win the premier league, or Arsenal win the premier leage?
For me, I think the EPL is on the verge of going back to a league dominated by "the Reds".... Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United. Liverpool just kinda has a machine going and they will make the necessary moves to address their issues this off season. I can see them bringing in a striker and maybe a guy to add depth.
Arsenal I think will be very interesting to watch. I REALLY like Arteta. He is squeezing everything he can out of the team he has. The issue is they are so imbalanced. They have a ton of quality going for ward in Lacazette, Auba, Ozil, Pepe... and Ozil has flourished under Arteta. Ceballos fits like a glove in that midfield but they will have to do some work to keep him. The potential for guys like Saka, Martinelli (absolute steal so far), Willock, Guendouzi, Nketiah are all VERY solid. Then you have William Saliba, who is gonna be a major staple going forward in the back line. All they need is 1 more CB of quality--- If they can seal a deal for a guy like Upamecano, I think Arsenal takes big steps forward.
Manchester United - The first order Man U is getting a coach. I am just not sure OGS is the guy. I still like Pochettino, and if that does not work, Allegri. An off the beaten path name with high risk IMO is Julian Nagelsmann. Can't deny what he has done with RB Leipzig. Obviously, Man U's first order of business is Sancho. He fixes that right hand side. Then comes the question--- What to do with Paul Pogba? Could his money really be utilized to invest into the club? Sure, but a Pogba-Fernandes midfield pair is mouthwatering. Add a younger, more defensive minded MF in the mold of Ndidi, Partey, or Zakaria and that is one tough midfield. There is an issue at LB that needs solving whether it be internal or via the market and I am not sure the CB pairing as is needs an upgrade to pair with Maguire. Manchester United too has a ton of nice young pieces with potential in Rashford, Sancho (if bought), Greenwood, Gomes, Fosu-Mensah, Henderson, Tuanzebe, Williams, Dalot etc. This version of Martial is VERY nice but I could see Man U investing in an alternative.
Both squads are young and full of promise. One has the Manager figured out, the other doesn't, and Man U I think has more balance and world class quality as of right now. Should be an interesting future for both.
Arsenal I think will be very interesting to watch. I REALLY like Arteta. He is squeezing everything he can out of the team he has. The issue is they are so imbalanced. They have a ton of quality going for ward in Lacazette, Auba, Ozil, Pepe... and Ozil has flourished under Arteta. Ceballos fits like a glove in that midfield but they will have to do some work to keep him. The potential for guys like Saka, Martinelli (absolute steal so far), Willock, Guendouzi, Nketiah are all VERY solid. Then you have William Saliba, who is gonna be a major staple going forward in the back line. All they need is 1 more CB of quality--- If they can seal a deal for a guy like Upamecano, I think Arsenal takes big steps forward.
Manchester United - The first order Man U is getting a coach. I am just not sure OGS is the guy. I still like Pochettino, and if that does not work, Allegri. An off the beaten path name with high risk IMO is Julian Nagelsmann. Can't deny what he has done with RB Leipzig. Obviously, Man U's first order of business is Sancho. He fixes that right hand side. Then comes the question--- What to do with Paul Pogba? Could his money really be utilized to invest into the club? Sure, but a Pogba-Fernandes midfield pair is mouthwatering. Add a younger, more defensive minded MF in the mold of Ndidi, Partey, or Zakaria and that is one tough midfield. There is an issue at LB that needs solving whether it be internal or via the market and I am not sure the CB pairing as is needs an upgrade to pair with Maguire. Manchester United too has a ton of nice young pieces with potential in Rashford, Sancho (if bought), Greenwood, Gomes, Fosu-Mensah, Henderson, Tuanzebe, Williams, Dalot etc. This version of Martial is VERY nice but I could see Man U investing in an alternative.
Both squads are young and full of promise. One has the Manager figured out, the other doesn't, and Man U I think has more balance and world class quality as of right now. Should be an interesting future for both.
He's been terrific since the premier league restarted. perhaps the best winger in the entire league. Hopefully his calf issue doesn't keep him out today. I suspect he will get a rest today though.
Loss really surprised me but left a door open for my Gunners. It's amazing to me that in one of Arsenals worst years, we still have a shot at European competition. I like how Arteta is changing the culture of Arsenal. There's a ton of work to do still, but I'm optimistic.
Signing Saka and Martinelli to long term deals were crucial. I also like signings of Pablo Mari and Cedric. I saw where Aubameyang wants 250k a week to stay for 3 more years. It translates to about 45mil. You aren't replacing his goal output with 45 mil. If we have Ozil 350k/WK we can give Auba what he wants IMO.
Everyone acts like Arsenal are done but look at what the sole signing of Bruno did for Man U. If Arsenal close the deal on Partey and add a defender they can be a solid top 4 side. Upamecano is said to favor Arsenal and Arsenal has Saliba back from loan that's a CB as well.
Could see Arsenal looking like this next year:
Auba
Saka, Ozil/Aouar, Pepe
Xhaka, Partey
Tierney, Saliba, Upamecano/Thiago Silva, Cedric
Leno
That's a pretty damn good squad.
He definitely is, but he always has been inconsistent with his finishing and final delivery. It got better this year, but still needs work. He is just so freaking fast and powerful.
freezing cold takes exposed.
CP may be the best attacking player in the PL since the restart. LOL
FFP has now proven to be the dumbest, most worthless thing in soccer history.
Man City CL ban overturned.
Man City CL ban overturned.
Pep was brought to City to win Champions League, and they havent even made a semifinal appearance since he got there.
^ That was amazing.
Barca not good, but BM is hanging big numbers on a lot of good clubs. Now have to say they're the real deal after thinking Bundesliga was down. Muller is the conductor.
Barca not good, but BM is hanging big numbers on a lot of good clubs. Now have to say they're the real deal after thinking Bundesliga was down. Muller is the conductor.
When you look at Bayern you are seeing what a true world renowned top shelf organization looks like--and that is a model for any professional franchise; last year they appeared to be an aging squad but the integration of the uber talented Davies and move of Kimmich up in formation, getting Pavard for a sack of magic beans and Alaba back to CB later they look like they hit another gear.
...not wholly unrelated, I would assume all of that means Chris Richards goes out on loan.
Bayern is just a machine man. And what helps is they have 2 guys in Lewy and Mueller that are aging, but what makes both great isn't their physical abilities or speed that deteriorates first over time. Their patience with Sane was key too. Man City rejected an 80mil deal wanting 100, Bayern said no, loaned Coutinho and Perisic, Sane gets hurt and they wind up getting him this year for 40 mil. Bayern have their heirs to Robben and Ribbery now in Sane and Gnabry and have an excellent backup in Coman and a World Cup finalist in Perisic. And they also will have Sule and Hernandez coming back healthy and I just can't see them letting Thiago go.
Extremely well run organization. Rumor is they also have a liking for Dest too. Of the "super clubs" Bayer by far would be my favs.
Dest's RB position at Ajax has been filled by someone else, or so I thought I read last week; it is still tough for me to translate the difference between Champion's League soccer organizations with the traditional MO of American major sports franchises...but could it be that RB filling translates to the inevitability of Dest going out? I'm skeptical that Dest is Bayern caliber, but they have shown over the years that quality in attack is an expectation from their backs.
Haven’t been following soccer for that long (few years) but am I imagining that US soccer is slowly becoming legit? I mean has there ever been a time where we have players at clubs like Chelsea, Juventus, Borussia Dortmund and several others in Bundesliga 1? Our mid and front lines are becoming elite. Outside of Dest (who still has a lot to prove) the back line is the vulnerability.
We have some great Quality in this USMNT pool. It's just going to be a matter of getting the right system and maximizing how we get our best talent all on the pitch at the same time. Sargent is our striker if the future. I better not see Zardes leading the line again. Our wings/CAM have some nice pieces and might be the strength of our team with Reyna, Pulisic, Weah, Pomykal, Ledezma, Sabbi. Our midfield should be solid for years to come with a partnership of Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie, who I think gets way more playtime at Juventus than people think. Playing Adams at RB is waste IMO.....One of Dest, Cannon, Yedlin can handle the RB position...... the LB and CB pairing are up in the air. But come 2026 when we will be hosting the world cup, we should have a team that iiss very formidable.
I'd liken our national situation a little bit to a propensity by college football fans to saying "we've never recruited better"...that really is a very intangible way to look at viewing someone you have never seen play against people you have never seen play. What is indisputable is that the number of kids participating in last year's USMNT U20 World Cup squad that beat France and got to the Quarterfinals to be beaten by (was it Venezuela) was constructed almost without exception by 18,19 and 20 year olds by kids under professional contracts. Justin Rencks being one of maybe two exceptions as a collegiate. The two prior US U20 squads had significantly more collegiates. The Bundelsliga has been a very favorable foray into UEFA for Americans with the very visible impacts of Pulisic, Weston McKennie followed by Tyler Adams, Sargeant and now Reyna. With the exception of Pulisic those kids started with Homegrown contracts with MLS franchises then went overseas; Reyna getting a European VISA prior to his 18th birthday due to a family member of European descent (the same reason Pulisic did).
Brendan Aaronson seems to be somewhat on that path and has been a big benefactor of visibility with Philadelphia Union since the Restart; so has his CB teammate Mark McKenzie. Pomykal likely would have been but might be in the Nick Taitague path of highly regarded technical midfielder with a great engine who just can't stay healthy and also was part of the unfortunate FC Dallas squad bounced from the Restart Bubble. I hope that's not the case because Pomykal was dynamic in last year's U20 World Cup and combines many of the great attributes of the classic American player--high work rate, above average athleticism and a bit of that Clint Dempsey intangible of Red Ass--but with a higher technical ability than the classic American midfielder. McKennie has virtually all of those traits plus the tangible skill of scoring in the air on set pieces--something that was once a US specific trait.
I read a Twitter thread last week of the 50 best rated American U20 eligible players and something that struck me was as much who wasn't on it as who was...suggesting greater depth than we saw in the previous two decades. The downside as I see it is that the Top 10 was still composed almost entirely of dual tri and quad national eligibility in cases of people like Malik Sonogo and Balogun as strikers as well as Ricardo Pepi...each of which would factor as skilled competition with Sargeant in the next WC cycle.
chasingacup.com
Brendan Aaronson seems to be somewhat on that path and has been a big benefactor of visibility with Philadelphia Union since the Restart; so has his CB teammate Mark McKenzie. Pomykal likely would have been but might be in the Nick Taitague path of highly regarded technical midfielder with a great engine who just can't stay healthy and also was part of the unfortunate FC Dallas squad bounced from the Restart Bubble. I hope that's not the case because Pomykal was dynamic in last year's U20 World Cup and combines many of the great attributes of the classic American player--high work rate, above average athleticism and a bit of that Clint Dempsey intangible of Red Ass--but with a higher technical ability than the classic American midfielder. McKennie has virtually all of those traits plus the tangible skill of scoring in the air on set pieces--something that was once a US specific trait.
I read a Twitter thread last week of the 50 best rated American U20 eligible players and something that struck me was as much who wasn't on it as who was...suggesting greater depth than we saw in the previous two decades. The downside as I see it is that the Top 10 was still composed almost entirely of dual tri and quad national eligibility in cases of people like Malik Sonogo and Balogun as strikers as well as Ricardo Pepi...each of which would factor as skilled competition with Sargeant in the next WC cycle.
An in Depth Look at the Fall 2020 Top 50 u20 Prospect Rankings
An in depth look at the top 50 u20 prospects for the United States Soccer Men's National Team. These players are the future of American Soccer!
chasingacup.com
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Could be. Chelsea will be a lot of fun to watch regardless. Havertz, Pulisic and Werner will be a lot of fun to watch. Three of the best young players right there.
Depends on your perspective...my 16 year old lifer is over the moon about it and for Good or Bad their presence is transforming Girls Club soccer. Look at it this way...if you are a 13 or 14 year old girl with a high level of apparent technical skill and you are from Columbus, OH, Evansville, IN, Lexington or Nashville you now have a professional franchise with high caliber facilities to aspire to. She tried out and didn't make their Premier team, but to have an ECNL option is remarkable (ECNL basically being the replacement to Development Academy that was taken down in the Spring; ultimately MLS Elite is going to be the standard for the highest developmental level for teenage boys within the year)
CardHack - how much of an impact has LouCity FC's academy had on Javanon and the other boys' clubs in that area? They are pulling kids from Lexington, so I can't imagine what's going on in Louisville.
They really decimated what was KFJ and is now Mockingbird...both from an infrastructural standpoint and from the perspective of taking the top talent from their Premier teams. Many of the coaches for their teen age boys and girls teams came from KFJ which is somewhat unsurprising given Sanchez's kids involvement there.
The 04 Javanon girls I think were fairly unscathed but am not as sure with their other groups; I know they had one complete girls age group that went over to LouCity that I believe was the '06 group. I have a nephew involved at Javanon with one of the first time 11v11 groups whose whole age groups went to LouCity.
I warned my daughter when she tried out that the slots were going to be filled before she even set foot on the field for tryouts, and it wasn't the girls in her age group from Louisville that we had tried out with and against for the better part of the last seven or so years...for the girls it almost certainly was going to be Regional due to the unique nature of there being a professional women's franchise in Louisville--one of only 11 in North America. The pool became alot different.
jHc, Bayern blows off Schalke 8-0 to start season. Holy Crp. Good thing Weston gone.
