nah this was worse, which that tweet thread you posted makes pretty clear. We outplayed El Salvador and got unlucky to draw, Canada wasn’t a great result against a solid team, Honduras 1st half was comparable but obviously only one half
I don’t have Paramount+, but one of the Univision channels had a nice quality broadcast.
Unfortunately the B team looked completely lost in terms of generating chances. The midfield in particular was a bad combo.
Bad news is that we are not deep enough for prime time (or a top ten ranking, or a Pot #1 ball for WC).
Loss to CRC and a draw for CAN-PAN puts USA at 5th place, and a lot of catching up.
Meanwhile, bordering on posting in the “bothers me too much” thread, ESPN has not updated its table for the CONCACAF qualifier. Still stuck on four matches played.
Dest (24) and Reyna (16) named to top 30 list in Europe for young players.
Sounds like Steffen to start tonight
We can only hope that McKinnie stays in his assigned place, and doesn’t wander off and bring someone back with him.
BAM!!
Why CMH? CowTown? C-Bus? Lum-Bus?
Not a lot of Hispanics, 'cause Columbus (6.8% Hispanic in Franklin County).
Smaller venue, so ticket sales can be limited for the away team. Put some grass in the 'shoe, see how how that fills up with fans.
I wish Turner was starting. Nothing against Steffen, but he hasn’t played much lately and Turner has been good.
Otherwise looks like a good lineup
Hard to play when you’re the backup to one of the best keepers in the WORLD. He gets plenty of work with other best players in the WORLD (#1 per 538) in practice. Won an EFL Cup match 6-1, facing 4 shots on target.
Playing against teams in the 14th best league in the world doesn’t really compare.
Game time is generally more meaningful than practice, even if you are practicing against great players.
Um, source?
Also, this is not a general situation. This is one highly regarded goalkeeper versus one average goalkeeper not even drafted into the MLS when eligible.
My opinion. Quite a few national team coaches elect not to start players that have not been getting regular club minutes.
I think Steffen has seen the field twice since April: once in August, once in September.
Weah in for Arriola, apparently a last minute lineup change due to injury
[red] Another fantastic start by the USMNT in a game where they really could use a win. [/red] However, Dest responds with a bomb from the 18 to tie things up.
We’ve had possession, we’ve had the advantage on shots, we just need to bury a couple here and suck the energy out of CRC’s players.
66’ - Weah one-times a pass after CRC fails to clear and it deflects off the goalie, the post, and into the net.
Probably could have been 2-1 against after Miles Robinson had a HORRENDOUS giveaway near midfield that sent a CRC player in all alone. Fortunately for us, they decided to try and cut it back and it gave Robinson time to get back and bail himself out.
Whether you like it or not, the referee is letting these guys play.
3 points in the bag. We definitely looked better in the 2nd half, save the giveaway. I don’t know if CRC makes it out with their usual lineup, they looked more and more gassed as the game went on. I think I heard their average age for tonight’s lineup was 31.
I thought we looked great for the most part. Unlucky not to win by more. Solid game after a bad start.
Costa Rica so slow out there. I don’t see them in the top 4 by the end of the Octagonal.
Excellent discussion on offside on the CRC goal. Even the color guy had it right before Clattenburg was called in to confirm.
Coach Berhalter had it wrong at halftime, but not shown up on live TV, which is classy, I guess. He’ll see the video later.
Bunch of old folks on CRC, like USA 2018 qualifiers. So it is possible to be even less deep than USA.
Mexico on 14, USA on 11, Canada on 10, and Panama on 8. I think those are your 4 clear favorites, and I think we have pretty high chance of a North American sweep of the auto-qualification spots at this point. The Central American teams outside of Panama have nothing left, and Jamaica could challenge but it’s going to be a climb from 5 points and 6th place.