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Official US Soccer / World Cup '26 Thread (USA vs. Mexico 3/24 in Dallas)

BubbaJean said:
Predicted XI:

Steffen

Dest - M. Robinson - Zimmerman - A. Robinson

Musah - Adams - McKennie

Weah - Pepi - Aaronson
Click to expand...

At this point I would take that XI and run. But lets be honest. We know Zardes, Roldan, or Lleget will be in there somewhere
 
BubbaJean said:
Predicted XI:

Steffen

Dest - M. Robinson - Zimmerman - A. Robinson

Musah - Adams - McKennie

Weah - Pepi - Aaronson
Click to expand...

Looks good although I wouldn't be surprised if Arriola started and Weah came off the bench.
 
Leaving in an hour or so. Wearing the #8 dempsey jersey that Brasky gave me years ago

Hope it's still imbued with some of that brasky voodoo
 
What sort of playing style does Costa Rica have these days? Are they sitting deep and countering or pressing high?
 
Then perhaps some of our concerns about playing out of the back are less important? I do think building from the back is our best shot at keeping possession, playing the ball on the ground, getting our best players into good locations on the field, etc. Of course I'd love to be tactically flexible, but I think GGG's philosophy works best if we can play out of the back. We should have the players to do it regardless of opposition. I do think it's harsh to sit Turner given how well he's been playing though.
 
It seems crazy to me because Turner has actually been pretty efficient in his distribution - he's very quick in getting the ball out of his hands after a save and it's what led to the Musah to Dest to Pepi goal. Our issue has been our center backs finding anyone other than the DM and our midfield finding wings/forwards, not goalie to defense. Berhalter loves Steffen from his C-bus days and likely thinks he's the best option moving forward, which I guess is a call he can live/die by. I think Steffen is a great keeper, but he's no Ederson and if anyone is thinking his distribution is going to change games, sorry, but it's not happening. I'd ride the shot stopping keeper and worry about fixing the other issues. Now he's got a keeper who doesn't have much chemistry with any of the backline.
 
My observation from watching us is that we don't move the ball around quickly enough compared to most of our Concacaf counterparts. Even teams worse than us at possessing the ball still seem to form passing networks that can quickly progress the ball, find a man in space, one touch pass, etc.

We too often pass quickly and then have a player trying too hard to progress teh ball with a take on. Or we pass aimlessly sideways along the back line and fail to progress through the midfield (as Husky says). Adams and McKennie are pretty good at linking up the defense to the attack, but they can get man marked out of play at times. I don't really rate the Roldan/Arreola/Lleget types wrt building play up at all. If GGG likes them for winning the ball back or working hard defensively or tracking back or whatever, fine, but they don't really fit the quick, ball on the ground, possession style imo.
 
Maybe I shouldn't be but I'm surprised to see there are still a decent number - 100+ - tickets directly available for tonight including some prime locations. Perhaps an indication that US soccer is charging too much?
 
Agreed - I think we need guys like Pepi, Aaronson, and Weah also checking into the space in front of Adams/McKennie more efficiently. That space is usually wide open and will draw in defenders to create the long diagonals. But the few times we try this the forwards tend to get surrounded without finding an outlet. A quick play from Robinson to Aaronson will pull McKennie or Adams' defender and free up space for them to operate centrally with their face to the goal. That kind of play takes chemistry though and we just don't have it as a team yet.
 
HuskyDeac said:
It seems crazy to me because Turner has actually been pretty efficient in his distribution - he's very quick in getting the ball out of his hands after a save and it's what led to the Musah to Dest to Pepi goal. Our issue has been our center backs finding anyone other than the DM and our midfield finding wings/forwards, not goalie to defense. Berhalter loves Steffen from his C-bus days and likely thinks he's the best option moving forward, which I guess is a call he can live/die by. I think Steffen is a great keeper, but he's no Ederson and if anyone is thinking his distribution is going to change games, sorry, but it's not happening. I'd ride the shot stopping keeper and worry about fixing the other issues. Now he's got a keeper who doesn't have much chemistry with any of the backline.
Click to expand...

Spot on
 
A Steffen error leading to a loss would certainly be the end of GGG one would think. Massive call.
 
I like the lineup. Arriola isn't my favorite but he presses hard and we'll want to keep the pressure high. Weah seems well suited to attack tired legs if needed.
 
Also Sabo and Bolaños on the bench is amazing. El Pescadito is sitting in an Antigua bar nodding his head.
 
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