When Wes is on, he is our best player it seems. But he’s not been consistent. I trust him to get back there but yeah if fully healthy, it’s a really tough decision
he didn't get one to land home but I thought Pepi was pretty solid overall, created a few decent opportunities for runners in the box with one touch flicks and had some really nice lay offs, think the he did a good job of creating a couple of almost looks at goal for himself too but there'd always just be defenders in the way
Pepi had a Giroud level flick to Dest iirc that set up a great chance middle of first half, Costa Rica defended it well Was focused more on hockey but he had moments
It was mostly a product of the million crosses to nowhere so he’s certainly still my #1 but it was hard not to come away disappointed. Looking forward to see what halfspaces says but I wasn’t surprised the fotmob ratings had him tied for 2nd worst in the XI (with Aaronson. Richards was 6.8 and they were 6.9)
Don’t get me wrong guys, I still love him, he’s still my 9 and I’m probably ordering his kit but tonight wasn’t his night
yeah he didn't get much service, I'm probably coming away with a better impression of his night than he had because those moments where he did create something, mostly for others, really stood out to me
It felt like that may have been more in the 2nd half on the opposite end from us too so harder to notice them
I think one important thing that was mentioned in the press conference was Wes had 16 ball recoveries (not sure how many of those were following his own giveaways). He does help lighten the load for Tyler.
disappointed? Sure, but the kid is still 18 I did think, with my untrained eye, he had a lot (or more than you would expect?) of attention that opened up some avenues for the others as well. I could be completely wrong, but there seemed to be a lot of the backline shading his way. The final third left a lot to be desired, absolutely.
https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/darl...crew-star-will-be-watching-not-playing-vs-cos We have a ton of talent, but this dude is so calm and steady on the ball that he would be great in the locker room and on the pitch. 100% he is that family man where he doesn’t *need* to be there so he isn’t going to push it. You absolutely could use a Nagbe on the team (been in 3 places in mls and they have 3 mls cups…) because he keeps so much shit under control when everything else is going nuts around him. He has the ability to score and get his, but won’t look for it. At the worst? You will get a dude that will be the guy in the locker room where the young dudes don’t want to do stupid shit because of him. He is 100000000% that guy.
Honest question I just thought of: Should the guy taking free kicks in Dangerous areas for us be Dest?
Got home at 1 am and my 3 year old woke me up at 545. Today is going to suck ass but that dest banger was worth it alone.
Can’t find a video at the moment, but Musah’s feint and shoulder drop to turn upfield along the near sideline was beautiful. Such a progressive player.
is Wes still in our best XI or have guys like Musah and Aaronson pushed him out? probably hinges on where GGG wants to play Gio.
I’d take Wes over Aaronson in the middle, we don’t know if we would with Gio because we haven’t seen him in that spot yet.
that's kinda my point. if Pulisic and Reyna are on the wings, you're never going to play Aaronson in midfield over Wes. but if you tell me you can go with a midfield of Adams-Musah-Gio with Aaronson and Pulisic on the wings I think that's the move. not sure if GGG would agree.
I guess the tough thing there is, where do you experiment with that? If GGG did it at other time that’s not a friendly and it didn’t work out fans would just grab their torches and pitchforks again. Let’s face it, the USMNT fan base isn’t the most rational.
I don’t think so. I don’t know why we haven’t tested Gio centrally before. GGG like him on the wing, but now that Aaronson has taken that wing spot we may see it.
plus I'd imagine the majority of the hardcore fan base wants Gio in the middle, if it didn't work out right away I'm sure they'd/we'd find something else to blame ggg for but doubt it'd simply be that he tried Gio in what mostly everyone feels is his better position
I’m not convinced that Musah is a lock starter over Busio (not because of last night, but he’s building up a real resume at the club level, where Musah has been…ok). I’m definitely not taking Wes out of the XI for Aaronson, but good lord it’s refreshing from where we’ve been to think about bringing Konrad, Weah, and Aaronson off the bench to turn the screws on a tired opponent. I also think it’s a bit of a moot issue because we’re talking about guys who pick up a lot of knocks.
You think people would get their pitchforks out for Gregg actually trying to get our best 11 on the field? Like, the main thing everyone wants him to do that he consistently sucks at?
Honestly, I don’t think it matters if it’s what people want or not, if it doesn’t work then yes I expect people will be irrational and getting out their pitchforks
Yes. I 100% believe that. People look down on GGG for a multitude of reasons and love shitting on him. If he gave the people what they want and it didn’t work, everyone would still blame him.
I disagree tbh. I think people have legitimate and rational gripes with the decisions he has made, particularly recently.
I can’t remember a single instance of GGG getting shat upon for playing someone who wasn’t ready versus the shitting he regularly gets for playing guys who are “known” to be not good enough
"Doesn't work out" would basically mean we took a loss, so yes pitchforks would be out, but the gripes wouldn't specifically be about ggg moving Reyna centrally imo
Turner Dest Miles Richards Jedi Musah Tyler McKennie Reyna/Aaronson Pepi Puli/Weah 2 of 4 healthy wingers but Puli and Aaronson for me if all healthy. Everything else (except for maybe Zimm for Richards) is locked down for Mexico IMO The idea that we play a CAM or winger at the 8 in this set up is farcical. One it doesn’t work, two it definitely doesn’t work against Mexico.
I should say that I think that people here can be irrational but are mostly fine about Gregg but there are plenty of fans out there that complain literally no matter what he does win or lose
Yes, you pass by the arena to get to the stadium. Plus the stadium they were playing at being home to a professional team
The good news is none of those four wingers will ever be healthy at the same time so it won’t matter.
100% and that last group exists for every pro sports team with more than 1,000 fans. Especially soccer. Just the most miserable people screaming into the void of social media.