***Official USMNT Thread***

Kaner04

Well-Known Member
Apr 22, 2019
2,473
4,451
113
26
And Kreis didn’t choose his strongest 20 man squad either. There’s plenty of players in the MLS under 23 that were better than that crap.
 
  • Winner
Reactions: jmb

shagcarpetjesus

Well-Known Member
Apr 18, 2006
5,684
3,214
113
And Kreis didn’t choose his strongest 20 man squad either. There’s plenty of players in the MLS under 23 that were better than that crap.

So who are you talking about? I’d agree that there’s maybe a couple of guys that would have made this a more well rounded roster, but I don’t think swapping out the last 3 spots on a 20-man roster would have made a massive difference. That seems like nitpicking to me.
 

shagcarpetjesus

Well-Known Member
Apr 18, 2006
5,684
3,214
113
Also Alexis Lalas is a dooshbag. I don’t need some hoof it and head it defender telling me anything.

Lalas and Rob Stone talking about how the USWNT do it the right way and how they at least don’t struggle to qualify for the Olympics should disqualify them from any serious soccer commentary. I love the USWNT. I have a daughter who loves the US Women and we bond hard-core watching those women kick ass. She rocks her Rose Lavelle Man City paisley jersey almost constantly. We were in the American Outlaws section for their semifinal and final Olympic qualifying matches in LA.

If Olympic qualifying was a U23 competition for the women, basically their entire roster wouldn’t be eligible. The only players that have received senior caps for the women recently that would be eligible are Tierna Davidson, Alana Cook, Catarina Macario, and Sophia Smith and I’d argue that only the most hardcore of USWNT fans would even know who those players are. Context matters and I’d expect our “soccer experts” to be able to have a conversation about the men’s failure to qualify without all the hyperbole and clickbait trolling commentary.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Gunnerclone

AlaCyclone

Well-Known Member
Jun 14, 2007
5,584
6,783
113
Turrible loss tonight. Even my wife, who knows nothing about soccer, said: "It's embarrassing that the U.S. Men didn't qualify for the Olympics!
 

Kaner04

Well-Known Member
Apr 22, 2019
2,473
4,451
113
26
So who are you talking about? I’d agree that there’s maybe a couple of guys that would have made this a more well rounded roster, but I don’t think swapping out the last 3 spots on a 20-man roster would have made a massive difference. That seems like nitpicking to me.
Jeremy Ebobisse, Caden Clark, Cole Bassett, James Sands, Keaton Parks, Eryk Williamson would have made that team a million times better and they weren’t selected
 

hawksuck75

Well-Known Member
Mar 25, 2006
335
554
93
Chicago, IL
Jeremy Ebobisse, Caden Clark, Cole Bassett, James Sands, Keaton Parks, Eryk Williamson would have made that team a million times better and they weren’t selected

Ebobisse/Williamson for sure should have been in. Williamson was the attacking creative midfielder this team needed. Not enough attack and it hurt them in this tournament. The biggest disadvantage is most of these other nations have been playing in-season for the last couple of months and MLS is still in training camp. Honduras was the better team today and deserved the W.

Have to get rid of Kreis from the U23 post after that showing.
 
  • Agree
Reactions: Kaner04

BryceC

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Mar 23, 2006
26,462
19,624
113
Olympics is meaningless. All focus should be on getting back to the WC. Then you can start to do “fun” little things like the Olympics.

I think we should be doing everything we can to get in both. Like it or not Americans tune in to the national team when they are playing historical events like the Olympics and WC. People would be really watching if we had an Olympic soccer team. The last time the national team was in either of those events was 2016 and kids like my son would be very interested in it.

Again, it's not the end of the world, but it's just another missed opportunity for US soccer and growing the interest in the sport.
 

brett108

Well-Known Member
May 1, 2010
5,262
2,142
113
Tulsa, OK
Still on the coach and the USSF to put a winning team in the field. Our best players are in Europe and should be but this team was talented enough to qualify for the Olympics. Whatever the hell Kreis’s game plan was, was terrible and he was throwing his players under the bus after the game
I mean I coach my sons U8 team and the ball tends to stick to the foot better for them than in did for the US Mens team last night. A lot of poor individual play was seen last night.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: twojman

Gunnerclone

Well-Known Member
Jul 16, 2010
75,629
79,929
113
DSM
I think we should be doing everything we can to get in both. Like it or not Americans tune in to the national team when they are playing historical events like the Olympics and WC. People would be really watching if we had an Olympic soccer team. The last time the national team was in either of those events was 2016 and kids like my son would be very interested in it.

Again, it's not the end of the world, but it's just another missed opportunity for US soccer and growing the interest in the sport.

People watching doesn’t make the players any better. That’s the problem here.
 

twojman

Well-Known Member
Jun 1, 2006
7,755
3,927
113
Clive
Some poo poo'd the US not making the Olympics and I can kind of see it but I don't really agree with it all the way.

" Still, though, the U.S. was favored to qualify, and should have. This is a failure, an unvarnished failure. It's a missed opportunity, and another blemish on an awful half-decade for American men's soccer."

 

shagcarpetjesus

Well-Known Member
Apr 18, 2006
5,684
3,214
113
I mean I coach my sons U8 team and the ball tends to stick to the foot better for them than in did for the US Mens team last night. A lot of poor individual play was seen last night.

In general, I’m a fan of Sebastián Soto and think he could develop into a good forward, but he had a couple of touches yesterday where he came back and showed for the ball in the middle and had a first touch that no joke went backwards 15 yards.
 
  • Like
Reactions: brett108

shagcarpetjesus

Well-Known Member
Apr 18, 2006
5,684
3,214
113
The moment where Palma, the Honduran player who scored the goal on Ochoa’s gaffe, came over to check on his former teammate was pretty cool to see as a fan of sports. Just a really cool human moment.

6B1C9BB2-FE53-4B20-8E72-4BCEE0AF66C1.png
 

Bader

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Jul 25, 2007
7,570
4,660
113
Ankeny
This is a conversation that’s worth having. Kreis picked way too many holding/defensive mids for the roster.
Glad we could evolve from Jurgen's 'tactical strategy' that displayed a hilariously inept ability to possess the ball all the way to Bunker Bob 2.0 here
 

jmb

Well-Known Member
SuperFanatic
SuperFanatic T2
Apr 12, 2006
20,987
10,519
113
I’m going to push back on this comment. How do you prioritize the Olympics more than we did? If you want to be Alexi Lalas and pretend like we didn’t qualify because we didn’t prioritize Olympic qualifying, go ahead. I think you are both fools though.

Explain to me how you go to Chelsea, Barcelona, Dortmund, Juventus, Valencia, RB Leipzig, and Werder Bremen and get them to release Pulisic, Dest, Reyna, McKennie, Musah, Adams, and Sargent for a 3 week tournament in the middle of the European club season.

Lalas laid it on thick after the match about how if the Olympics are important you make sure you have your best team there for qualifying. European clubs don’t release first team players for Olympic qualifying....period. You get the best team together you can, but you’re not going to have your pick of the litter when you have several young players playing first team minutes in Europe. Acting like this is somehow a failure of Berhalter or Kreis or US Soccer is disingenuous at best or maybe it’s just pure trolling or ****-stirring.

I wanted these guys to go to Japan as much as anybody because tournament experience is good development for our younger guys and maybe more importantly, it’s a huge chance for our MLS talent to get in the shop window and get noticed by scouts from European clubs. However, I think we should lay off the “we didn’t qualify because we didn’t prioritize it” crap. Crazy **** can happen when your qualification basically comes down to a one-off match. It sucks that this is the third consecutive time we didn’t make it to the Olympics, but let’s try to have a little perspective.
Population of Honduras: 9.27 mm
Population of United States: 328.2 mm

Our U16 team should qualify for the Olympics with the priority and resources we invest squander. The ongoing mismanagement of US Soccer should be stunning...it isn't.

Here is the list of Honduran players that are playing internationally. https://us.soccerway.com/players/players_abroad/honduras/

The fact that we can't beat Honduras is pathetic.