Coming around a bit on Neal. He does make a mistake here and there but he did pretty well off the bench against Michail Antonio and was good passing against SKN. Do we think this is what Chris Richards would have looked like as a 19 yr old CB for the NT?
Vac, from your response, I think you and I are in the minority on this site about thinking winning is more important than integrating young players into the team. Should Reyolds start over Yedlin even if Yedlin is outperforming him in training because playing against Trinidad and St. Kitts is somehow going to prepare him to play against Brazil and Argentina in the Copa next summer? The guys that will be most prepared to play in the Copa will be the guys that regularly train with or play against top level players on their club teams and then same for the next WC. Having 5 caps in the Gold Cup doesn’t mean anything in terms of future preparation to play against the top teams in the world. Reynolds is going to be the same player a year from now whether he plays all the minutes or none of the minutes the rest of this tournament.
If you are a neutral soccer fan, you’d have to be out of your mind to watch any CONCACAF game expecting to see an entertaining, aesthetically pleasing soccer mis-match.
I watch these CONCACAF abominations because I’m a USMNT fan and it’s my duty to watch every one of these shit shows.
That does not mean that they are useless or not informative.
Even if you are the superior team (the USMNT always is) that does not mean that the game will be easy.
Losing is still possible. You still have to do the work.
And this is where the value comes.
In training and during team get togethers there is a lot to be learned about what kind of people these new players are.
During a game, a manager can learn a lot about players professionalism and commitment to excellence.
Ever take your beloved but cheap, crappy guitar to a shop and had the tech turn his nose up and tell you that your cheap little axe was not worth his time? I’ve had that happen and to me, that shows a lack of professionalism. I’d name that shop but they don’t exist anymore. Good riddance.
I expect Yedlin, Cowell, Djorde, Zendejas, all of them, to play against a St. Kitts, unapologetically, as if they were playing Brazil, France or Italy.
And if I were the manager I play Yedlin in this kind of game for two reasons:
1. If it gets rough out there Yedlin is veteran, hard man and knows what to do to protect his players.
2. I expect him to remind the young players to keep their standards up regardless of the weak opposition.
These guys can half ass it and beat St. Kitts but if they do I don’t want them on the team. Do you?
You got people on SBI who want to send out all newbie/rookie lineups. As a fan, I like that idea because it means I get to see all the new players I’ve never seen. Dave Sarachan did that.
But if the manager is being a serious professional with a future, he should have a plan and bases his lineups in these cupcake games on:
1. Making sure the team goes out there with the right attitude and commitment to winning.
2. Making sure the team is set up so that the players have a chance to make their case for ongoing inclusion. Why should I pick you going forward?
It’s a balance. I don’t know if BJ ever was a serious candidate for the head job but this is a great opportunity for him to audition for someone. So I expect him to be deadly serious about winning the tournament.
The reality is winning every single game, especially in a tournament, even the crap Gold Cup and those high school level teams, is very important for national teams because they play so far fewer games than clubs do.
And in a tournament the more you win the more games you get to play.
The key to being a successful international is to produce your best form on demand, on short notice , teamed up with players you may not know much about against players you also may not know much about, in a location where you may never have been before.
If we need a veteran to go out there and remind people to play hard I’d rather put Roldan out there. Yedlin no longer gives you big time speed and his crossing is bad. Reynolds is not a great defender but is going to pin Trinidad’s left side deep with his getting forward.
Roldan, Yedlin, it doesn’t matter as long as you have at least one veteran outfield player out there.
Reynolds has a lot of potential but needs a lot more work.
Vac, I essentially agree with most of what you said except I think it starts in training with the team after the callup. You earn the callups with your club play when you are an unknown quantity with the National team, but you have to earn your playing time in the training. By the way, I learned the hard way that the amp is more important, at least for me. I have seen a lot of really good players playing cheap guitars. I just bought a cheap $150 335 copy and I can’t believe how good it is. Stays in tune, good intonation, action too low so notes out but I can fix that. Haven’t plugged it in though yet. Doh!!
Sounding like both Yunus and Pulisic could be heading to AC Milan. While Balo and Timo could be together at Juve. A little strange there doesn’t seem to be much Weston talk. Juve just signed a new director from Napoli so maybe their waiting on him taking over.
2T, I would say after 2 games Turner, Neal, Sands, Mahailovic, and Ferriera should be starting based on performances in both games. It is hard to draw much from good performances against St Kitts soley as they really looked the part of an amateur team. I think the rest should be determined by who plays better in training except I don’t think Sonora should start by reverse logic. I personally think winning is more important and the best players should play regardless of age. I think giving experience to undeserving players just because they are young is highly over rated and doesn’t do anything to make the first tram any better.
Coming around a bit on Neal. He does make a mistake here and there but he did pretty well off the bench against Michail Antonio and was good passing against SKN. Do we think this is what Chris Richards would have looked like as a 19 yr old CB for the NT?
JR, haven’t seen him play prior to this tournament but I would definitely say he has been the best centerback up to now.
Vac, from your response, I think you and I are in the minority on this site about thinking winning is more important than integrating young players into the team. Should Reyolds start over Yedlin even if Yedlin is outperforming him in training because playing against Trinidad and St. Kitts is somehow going to prepare him to play against Brazil and Argentina in the Copa next summer? The guys that will be most prepared to play in the Copa will be the guys that regularly train with or play against top level players on their club teams and then same for the next WC. Having 5 caps in the Gold Cup doesn’t mean anything in terms of future preparation to play against the top teams in the world. Reynolds is going to be the same player a year from now whether he plays all the minutes or none of the minutes the rest of this tournament.
Tele57,
If you are a neutral soccer fan, you’d have to be out of your mind to watch any CONCACAF game expecting to see an entertaining, aesthetically pleasing soccer mis-match.
I watch these CONCACAF abominations because I’m a USMNT fan and it’s my duty to watch every one of these shit shows.
That does not mean that they are useless or not informative.
Even if you are the superior team (the USMNT always is) that does not mean that the game will be easy.
Losing is still possible. You still have to do the work.
And this is where the value comes.
In training and during team get togethers there is a lot to be learned about what kind of people these new players are.
During a game, a manager can learn a lot about players professionalism and commitment to excellence.
Ever take your beloved but cheap, crappy guitar to a shop and had the tech turn his nose up and tell you that your cheap little axe was not worth his time? I’ve had that happen and to me, that shows a lack of professionalism. I’d name that shop but they don’t exist anymore. Good riddance.
I expect Yedlin, Cowell, Djorde, Zendejas, all of them, to play against a St. Kitts, unapologetically, as if they were playing Brazil, France or Italy.
And if I were the manager I play Yedlin in this kind of game for two reasons:
1. If it gets rough out there Yedlin is veteran, hard man and knows what to do to protect his players.
2. I expect him to remind the young players to keep their standards up regardless of the weak opposition.
These guys can half ass it and beat St. Kitts but if they do I don’t want them on the team. Do you?
You got people on SBI who want to send out all newbie/rookie lineups. As a fan, I like that idea because it means I get to see all the new players I’ve never seen. Dave Sarachan did that.
But if the manager is being a serious professional with a future, he should have a plan and bases his lineups in these cupcake games on:
1. Making sure the team goes out there with the right attitude and commitment to winning.
2. Making sure the team is set up so that the players have a chance to make their case for ongoing inclusion. Why should I pick you going forward?
It’s a balance. I don’t know if BJ ever was a serious candidate for the head job but this is a great opportunity for him to audition for someone. So I expect him to be deadly serious about winning the tournament.
The reality is winning every single game, especially in a tournament, even the crap Gold Cup and those high school level teams, is very important for national teams because they play so far fewer games than clubs do.
And in a tournament the more you win the more games you get to play.
The key to being a successful international is to produce your best form on demand, on short notice , teamed up with players you may not know much about against players you also may not know much about, in a location where you may never have been before.
Not everyone can do that consistently.
If we need a veteran to go out there and remind people to play hard I’d rather put Roldan out there. Yedlin no longer gives you big time speed and his crossing is bad. Reynolds is not a great defender but is going to pin Trinidad’s left side deep with his getting forward.
Roldan, Yedlin, it doesn’t matter as long as you have at least one veteran outfield player out there.
Reynolds has a lot of potential but needs a lot more work.
Vac, I essentially agree with most of what you said except I think it starts in training with the team after the callup. You earn the callups with your club play when you are an unknown quantity with the National team, but you have to earn your playing time in the training. By the way, I learned the hard way that the amp is more important, at least for me. I have seen a lot of really good players playing cheap guitars. I just bought a cheap $150 335 copy and I can’t believe how good it is. Stays in tune, good intonation, action too low so notes out but I can fix that. Haven’t plugged it in though yet. Doh!!
Sounding like both Yunus and Pulisic could be heading to AC Milan. While Balo and Timo could be together at Juve. A little strange there doesn’t seem to be much Weston talk. Juve just signed a new director from Napoli so maybe their waiting on him taking over.
So how do we lineup against T&T?
Does Vazquez get a start to have a big physical striker to battle or do you stick with Ferreira?
I still think you start Cowell. But maybe play him at RW instead of LW.
Or do you go to a 3-5-2 and start Ferreira with Vazquez? I like the idea of a 3-5-2.
Jesus, Vazquez
Tolkin,Mahi, Morris,Busio,Rey
Neal,Sands,Miazga
Turner
2T, I would say after 2 games Turner, Neal, Sands, Mahailovic, and Ferriera should be starting based on performances in both games. It is hard to draw much from good performances against St Kitts soley as they really looked the part of an amateur team. I think the rest should be determined by who plays better in training except I don’t think Sonora should start by reverse logic. I personally think winning is more important and the best players should play regardless of age. I think giving experience to undeserving players just because they are young is highly over rated and doesn’t do anything to make the first tram any better.
We are not going to breakout a new formation for Trinidad under the interim to the interim manager.
Tele57,
All managers attempt to win every game.
Otherwise why bother?
The USMNT should expect to win every single game in the Gold Cup.
Otherwise why bother?
Start the eleven worst players on the USMNT roster and they should still be favored over TNT.
That said, there is still a lot that BJ can learn about all these players if he’s playing close attention.
For example you see Zendejas twisting himself into a pretzel, he’s trying so hard. And he winds up looking like shit.
You know who else often tries way too hard?
Pulisic.
But with Christian, more often than not he finds a way to settle down and get something out of all that angst.
I’d tell Alex to untwist his panties and douse the hair that’s on fire and give him one last shot vs TNT just to see what he’s made of.
There’s still a lot we don’t know.
Is BJ running this thing independently or is has he been given some kind of script by Gregg and is therefore reporting back to him?