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The SBI Show: Episode 334 (Breaking down the USMNT win vs. Costa Rica)

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The U.S. men’s national team rallied from an early deficit to earn a vital World Cup qualifying win against Costa Rica, and the latest episode of The SBI Show breaks it all down.

Episode 334 looks back at Wednesday’s USMNT win in Columbus, and takes an in-depth look at the top performers for the Americans, including Sergiño Dest, Yunus Musah and Weston McKennie.

Host Ives Galarcep also looks at the rest of Concacaf qualifying, and peeks ahead to November’s USMNT-Mexico qualifier with a preview of the starting lineup we could see Gregg Berhalter deploy.

The weekend’s MLS schedule is also discussed, as we give our betting picks for all of the matches in Major League Soccer this weekend.

You can listen to The SBI Show on Spotify, the Apple Podcast App, and Soundcloud, and you can listen to Episode 334 of The SBI Show here:

 

Comments

  1. Aaronson’s durability is definitely a plus, and while it’s tough to argue with the productivity I do think context matters, and as much as he has racked up some nice numbers and stepped up in some good spots, let’s also remember the teams he faced in those matches. Reyna showed against Mexico in the Nations League that he can shine against the toughest of competition. Aaronson is definitely blossoming and improving, but he’s not on the Pulisic/Reyna level, and as much as he is growing, those two haven’t hit their peaks either.

    Aaronson’s a Jersey guy, so I’m not about to hate on the kid, just want to provide some context because it can’t just be that he locks into a starting role because he stayed healthy and lit up some bad teams. In the end, the starting role will go to the better player at the time, regardless of whatever they may have done in prior matches.

    It’s all moot though until Reyna and Pulisic actually return from injury and get back into a rhythm. Right now, Aaronson is the best healthy wing option in the USMNT pool, and he’s making the most of the opportunity (though I’d argue he didn’t have a great game against Costa Rica).

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    • this is fun to discuss man. not hating on Gio (best game ever for him in the Mexico game you mentioned, defensively a different effort from him than typical in the uni, so far at least in his career, and it made a huge difference) or CP, but you made the point Brenden’s the healthiest and we’ll see how the recoveries go for the injured. At worst, we have 3 top choices for those 2 spots, and Brenden is the best consistently defending imo, an honest defensive effort every single second out there, combined with what he brings to the attack he’ll at worst assure any winger out there works their butt off or Brenden’ll take the position if in fact he’s rated lower (which again, I’m not convinced of yet becasue of reliabilty/durability/defense/current form and production). Re. CP, Love CP, love…needs to figure out how to play and not get hurt. it’s a skill and we’ve all seen and commented that the way he plays–which is awesome all out attack mode BUT he holds the ball which means he’s going to get creamed over and over again and he goes from 0 to 60 like his hamstrings will last forever with that strain (they don’t and haven’t)–brings some question marks to his overall rating. The emergence of Yunus muffles the talk of Gio playing in there, or CP, but in the right circumstance, maybe all 3 we’re discussing play together. The depth is just amazing for a USMNT team, I remember the days when if Landon didn’t play, no hope 😉

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  2. First, congratulations on your contract with CBS. I’m guessing this will provide you with pretty good financial security. Personally I don’t see how any objective and knowledgeable observer would disagree with your starting lineup. We could put together a pretty good team of 2nd stringers with Aronson, Pefok, and Weah up front, Vines, Richards, Zimmerman and Yedlin on defense. We would be a little weak in the middle, but we would also have Hoppe, Konrad DLF, De La Torre, and Giaocchini to draw from. In the past you have talked about bringing back player interviews. One I would suggest is Joe Scally. He just kind of appeared out of nowhere into starting in the Bundesliga. I think he would be a great one to interview and find out what his experience is like, if he has talked to Berhalter about national team duty, etc.

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    • After a question from Grant Wahl about the exclusion of Scally and Dike, “I had a talk with Joe probably 15 minutes before this call. Explaining to him the reasoning but also letting him know he’s really close. That he’s someone we’re really excited about, he’s been playing in the Bundesliga as a wingback sometimes a fullback and doing a decent job, but most impressive is his age and that he’s able to compete at that level. I think that Grant, he’s going to be a key contributor to what we do in the future and what we’re talking about now somewhat are guys that have been through it before and if you look at the fullbacks on our roster they’re guys that know what Concacaf is about and that was important for this window, but we look forward to getting Joe integrated.”

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    • well I guess this makes me an observer who is ___________, but Aaronson makes this team click along with Pepi and that midfield. He does it in this uniform, many times now and recently, and believe he has earned the starts going forward, earned them. I love CP and Gio both, but they need to earn it again to keep the locker room real imo, no star treatment please. I’m not saying they can’t earn it, of course they can, but Brendan has staked his strong claim at present seems to me

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      • Aaronson has certainly done well for the USMNT, but he hasn’t passed Reyna or Pulisic on the depth chart. It’s not about star treatment, it’s about putting the best team on the field and a healthy Reyna and Pulisic are going to be ahead of him. At the end of the day it’s a good problem to have, especially given how much Pulisic and Reyna get beaten up and wind up with injuries because of it.

        The thing with Aaronson is his versatility can get him into the lineup at four different positions, so he provides cover for Pulisic, Reyna, McKennie and Musah, and given how rare it is for the USMNT to be at full strength, Aaronson is a good bet to continue seeing playing time.

        Thank you for listening.

      • Thanks for the reply. First time I’ve listened Ives, not really a podcast guy, I’ll listen again. And I stick with my position. When the injured return, the spot should not be reserved for them if whoever stepped in stepped up and made the team better, which is what Aaronson did. The team was better with him on that wing, especially with Dest playing behind him. He’s an awesome fit. And I’m not convinced Aaronson can’t be better than both of them, CP and Gio, Brenden’s durability a good reason. The dude is just blooming before our eyes. Also, when Aaronson played underneath for the USMNT I don’t think he’s been nearly as effective tho his versatility is great.

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