Super clubs don’t want Poch, that’s why he was slumming it with the US in the first place.
Although there are many more clubs with money than there are top tier coaches, so I guess we’ll see.
Neither Canada or the US played well in the round of 16. Mexico, at least, wasn’t embarrassed.
All three should co-host again in 2038.
Unfortunately the US team did not have Yoda on the team to counter Dooku, or was that Doku?..I can’t remember.
Yes, the US certainly screwed up, but Belgium took advantage and that is what you need to do to win.
//i\\
Boys against men.
Boys with the strength and speed of grown men, yes, but not the cleverness or understanding of the game at this level.
Not the passing or trapping skills of the men.
A long way to go still for the USMNT.
The US midfielders start in the EPL, Bundesliga, and Serie A; this was pure execution, not better tactical nuance.
eta I see you updated to trash the passing and trapping, which absolutely were terrible this game.
Pretty rough game for the US. Belgium’s better, but it felt like this just got away from the US.
I would’ve liked it if that shot by Berhalter had hit the net. It was a really good strike and he’s been great for Vancouver.
I was stuck in a meeting and missed the match after the first hydration break.
My brother texted me halfway through the second half that the “umpire” is screwing the US.
The Canadian commentators are saying the Americans have embarrassed themselves on and off the field. I witnessed the on pitch embarrassment. Is the off the field embarrassment because of the Trump intervention of the red card, or was there something else?
You might have been onto something with the distraction. The US played way way below their level.
That suggests a difference in skill level, and I completely disagree. In my 40+ years of watching soccer, this US team was by far the most skillful (despite not making the QFs). They were just sloppy, and had the worst goalkeeper (who is definitely MLS-level). But in every past WC, it was obvious that they didn’t have the “speed of the game” that the best teams did. Now they do. This is the first time I think they truly are a top 15 team in the world.
One thing I had noticed was that Tim Ream wasn’t making many progressive passes in the first half - the midfield, particularly the central midfield, was disconnected from the back line.
There’s a podcast I’m listening to right now that points out that the Belgian line of press was higher up the field than the U.S. had played against yet in this tournament. The U.S.'s players should have figured out how to deal with this, but weren’t making on-field adjustments quickly enough to deal with this - and once you’re chasing the game, you can’t settle back into a defensive shell and try to sort things out that way.
I think the US screwed itself mostly, but I did feel that there were a few “how is that not a foul” moments that all went Belgium’s way. Add a few more instances of professional fouls (“I’m technically fouling you, but not quite so much that the ref will call it”) and fans that want to feel aggrieved will, but there’s really no excuse for the US’ level of play.
I think I watched the same commentary, and I thought they were being pretty harsh on the Americans. They went in pretty hard on Pulisic, surprisingly so. I think their main point was more about the US media and commentators overrating the team than anything else, but it was bordering on mean-spirited to me.
Ah, the CanadaSoccer subreddit informs me that this commentary is all part of a generational hatewatch. I was out of the loop.
Strongly disagree, although with FIFA’s continental rotation policy and the mix of countries hosting (even if only one match) in 2030, and Saudi being waved through for 2034 I suspect this is a fait accompli. It’s not like there are any other North American countries remotely capable of hosting a World Cup. I think I’m especially bitter because I doubt I will see England (or a wider UK bid) hosting in my lifetime. Mexico have had it 3 times since we had our only one!
Under the current rules only Oceania or Concacaf can host in 2038. Nowhere in Oceania, and nowhere in Concacaf outside the 2026 hosts is anyway near big enough, so the same three hosts again is the only option unless they change the rules.
My own personal opinion is that they’ll decide that South America hosting three games in 2030 isn’t enough to exclude them from 2038. It’s ridiculous that it excludes them from 2034 but FIFA were determined to hand that event to the Saudis.
I just watched that, and my first thought was, are any of those erudite TSN commentators actually Canadian, or can they not even field a home team for their studio?
I wonder if this is what it felt like to see Jesse Owen’s win gold in 1936?
I thought 2030 was going to be a joint hosting by Spain, Portugal, and Morocco. Did I miss something?
In the studio, TSN has had a few former national team members both male and female. However Canada has a lack of game experts as can be found in Europe.
The guy who claimed that the US embarrassed themselves is, IIRC, Irish and being generally negative is his thing and not unknown in North American media.
I must say watching snarky people with accents from the UK talking about soccer is rather entertaining.