Gold Cup 2019:

[I Eat Crow]

I think the US has the back line figured out. Miazga, Long, and Brooks are a solid rotation of CB's. Cannon looks like one to watch in the future. LB is really the only question mark. Ream wasn't terrible but you could tell he was a CB trying to masquerade as a wing back.

The wings actually appear to be in good shape. Pulisic should actually play his natural position. Arriola has a lot of raw talent, just needs to figure it out. I'm not sold that Sargent is the guy to play as the #9, but we'll see. Midfield is a mixed bag. Bradley retiring from international play will be addition by subtraction whenever it happens.

 

[Live in the Now]

If we had Adams instead of Bradley I think we would have won.

 

[Vamos Rafa]

Why am I going to bet against that...

Garber and company have so many USSF employees on their payroll...

 

[I Eat Crow]

If we had Adams instead of Bradley I think we would have won.

I don't think the USF realizes how much of a boat anchor Bradley is. Everyone else can see it except for the one's making the roster selections.

 

[koyvoo]

Seeing that trophy being lifted always takes me back to 2000 and Craig Forrest.

 

[koyvoo]

Threads at the BigSoccer forums are pretty entertaining right now.

 

[N o o d l e s]

Okay so NOW can this be the end of Bradley and Altidore? It’s five f***ing years past time and they’re still being run out there.

Why can’t we get shut out against Mexico’s B team with Boyd and others in the game?

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

The cronyism in US Soccer media for Bradley is why he’s still playing.

Here are two of the most recent examples. Against a bad team, he plays an average game for most players, but good for his usual play, and here are two former NT media members that make sure to criticize those who don’t want him on the team.





They’ll be sure to make clear in a few weeks once the criticism quiets down that Bradley is still the only holding midfielder capable of playing the position and that no one else deserves a chance.

Berhalter is part of them. He might be more qualified than them to coach the National Team, but there is a predetermined bias towards Bradley by those who’ve been in and around the National Team for the last 20 years. It’ll take Pulisic, McKennie and that generation revolting against the coach to get Bradley and others like Altidore out of the team. They are in good with the system that makes the decisions.

 

[N o o d l e s]

The cronyism in US Soccer media for Bradley is why he’s still playing.

Here are two of the most recent examples. Against a bad team, he plays an average game for most players, but good for his usual play, and here are two former NT media members that make sure to criticize those who don’t want him on the team.





They’ll be sure to make clear in a few weeks once the criticism quiets down that Bradley is still the only holding midfielder capable of playing the position and that no one else deserves a chance.

Berhalter is part of them. He might be more qualified than them to coach the National Team, but there is a predetermined bias towards Bradley by those who’ve been in and around the National Team for the last 20 years. It’ll take Pulisic, McKennie and that generation revolting against the coach to get Bradley and others like Altidore out of the team. They are in good with the system that makes the decisions.

Then we won’t see them in Qatar.

 

[Bringer of Jollity]

Threads at the BigSoccer forums are pretty entertaining right now.

What a gong show.

 

[Bondurant]

There's no backbone. El Tri plays dirty because we always have a weak willed roster. Sometimes getting even is more important than winning. Oswaldo Sanchez attempts to injure Eddie Johnson in '07. Nothing. Guardado pulls his crap tonight and only one guy steps in. He should have left the pitch on a stretcher.

Our guys win a meaningless WCQ in '13 when a loss would have guaranteed Mexico missing Brazil in '14. But we "play fair". A favor not returned 4 years later. Not that it would have mattered with the T&T debacle.

Throw in wanton CONCACAF corruption. That ref tonight was clearly taking orders from above. Pancake, choke and handball all in a short span "missed". U.S. Soccer does not care. Hide behind the green. Boycotted this team for 2 years. Lured back in with the Gold Cup semi and the Women's World Cup just to find out tonight nothing has changed.

Not sure why I care. The prize this cycle is a trip to Qatar to play in stadiums built with slave labor.

October can't come soon enough.

 

[Disclose]

imagine going full idiot and chant Build the Wall for losing a game?
did they know USA organized this and invited them?

i thought it was team USA's tournament to win, but i guess Mexican's that didnt care showing up (+injuries), allowed new people to really try harder.
2nd half was pretty one sided and goal was nothing but a beauty.

 

[DoyleG]

Threads at the BigSoccer forums are pretty entertaining right now.

Women's supporters already trolling on Twitter.

 

[robertmac43]

Bradley does not impose himself in the middle of the pitch like he once did. It's the same with TFC, his decline has been abundantly clear over the past 1.5 years.

I still think Altidore can put in a shift every now and again (at least in the MLS) but he is far from consistent and has lost a step.

 

[John Price]

 

[Rob]

Read on Twitter that the crowd was 90% Mexico fans. I’m sure that’s an exaggeration but was it more than half.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

Read on Twitter that the crowd was 90% Mexico fans. I’m sure that’s an exaggeration but was it more than half.

It's not. There's a reason tickets on the secondary market were going for over $180. US fans aren't paying that.

 

[John Price]

It's not. There's a reason tickets on the secondary market were going for over $180. US fans aren't paying that.

The price gouging by the federation is ridiculous. Friendly tickets in North Carolina for women's matches were highly inflated. I could get 30 dollar tickets though to the most recent friendly here (US Jamaica at Audi Field) but I didn't feel like going plus it was rainy.

 

[IU Hawks fan]

The price gouging by the federation is ridiculous. Friendly tickets in North Carolina for women's matches were highly inflated. I could get 30 dollar tickets though to the most recent friendly here (US Jamaica at Audi Field) but I didn't feel like going plus it was rainy.

The cheapest tickets were $40 before fees. They were there to be had if you acted 7-8 months ago.

Most people didn't and the brokers bought everything up.

 

[John Price]

The cheapest tickets were $40 before fees. They were there to be had if you acted 7-8 months ago.

Most people didn't and the brokers bought everything up.

Most people didn't know if the US would play then though. Reminds me of the NCAA tournament games I saw in DC. A month before they were cheap then people found out Duke would be in DC and bam

 

[IU Hawks fan]

Well of course. And if Mexico lost in the quarters or semis, the secondary market would've tanked like it did in 2013, and the $40 face or lower would've been the get in price. That's the whole game of it, both for a fan and a reseller.

 

[koyvoo]

Read on Twitter that the crowd was 90% Mexico fans. I’m sure that’s an exaggeration but was it more than half.

This is what they stated during the live telecast of the game too. 90% of the fans were Mexico supporters.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Read on Twitter that the crowd was 90% Mexico fans. I’m sure that’s an exaggeration but was it more than half.

It’s almost certainly not an exaggeration. This is how it always is when Mexico plays games in the United States. Mexico has the most enthusiastic National Team fans in the sport and it doesn’t hurt that they have approximately 45 million fans that reside in the United States. They play more games in the United States than Mexico, and it’s all about money.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

All Mexico’s good players are in their prime. The youngest of the core of their National Team squad is Lozano. They’ve traditionally done very well in youth tournaments, but they’ve started struggling in the FIFA ones and losing a lot of the CONCACAF tournaments to the USA. The last two U20 championships they were dominated by the USA. We’ve won both of those. They’ve won the last two U17, but the 2017 edition they were dominated earlier in the tournament by the USA in a loss and should’ve lost the final to the USA. They won on PK’s after tying the game in extra time. The 2019 edition was as bad of an American team as you’ll see, and it took extra time for Mexico to win. It was a 50/50 game. They would’ve won this game 5-0 years prior. They aren’t as good anymore and we’ve gotten better.

Mexico has one youth team aged player who plays in Europe, Lainez. They are hyping this guy as their next star, but I have to say that I’ve never thought he was good. I don’t think he’s the best of the Mexican players from his generation. I think he’ll be back in Mexico within five years. The easiest way to know they are lagging behind the USA is how many American kids with Mexican heritage they are recruiting into their teams. Often times, these players are now the best players in their junior National Teams.

They don’t have a Pulisic, McKennie or Adams. They likely can’t even match Canada’s up and coming stars of Davies and David, although I’m not saying that Canada will definitely be better in a few years. Mexico is not the giants of the region they once were. They might be the best team in the region for a few more years, but once the young American players are in their prime, they will be no better than second best in the region. If they aren’t careful, Canada could sneak up on them.

 

[OhCaptainMyCaptain]

You could tell during the pre-game stuff that it was a heavy Mexico crowd.