GWT: World Cup - Round of 16 - Netherlands v. United States

[Savant]

Would Dike be an option if he can stay fit? Looked promising at Barnsley.

i think you can make the argument that USA taking Morris, Wright, Ferreira instead of Pefok, Dike and Tillman was certainly not vindicated. There are other names that you could add here as well. Sargent was decent but was certainly replaceable but even if we are counting him as a positive you can say USA got at least 75% of their selections in that spot wrong

 

[hatterson]

Came down to finishing.

That xG seems high for the US and low for the Netherlands.

3-1 didn’t feel like an unfair score, although 3-2 or 2-1 would have felt fine as well.

 

[Dolemite]

 

[luiginb]

xG is only relevant when the score is tied.

 

[Ajacied]

Very Italian like game for Oranje. But there’s a first for everything. Dumfries was amazing and I thought Aké continues to impress. He’s flat out been one of world’s best CB’s this year.

De Roon and Klaassen were obvious misfits. Hope they won’t start anymore.

 

[Rob]

USA getting dumped on here but they still are a good competitive team. I guess the expectations of much of the fan base are higher than just getting out of the group stage.

I was working in South Korea in 2002 when the US made it to the quarterfinals. Obviously much more excitement around the future of the team then. Even fans from other nations thought that it was only a matter of time before the US was a contender for the World Cup.

 

[Dolemite]

Very Italian like game for Oranje. But there’s a first for everything. Dumfries was amazing and I thought Aké continues to impress. He’s flat out been one of world’s best CB’s this year.

De Roon and Klaassen were obvious misfits. Hope they won’t start anymore.

Ake was amazing today. He totally played his heart out.

 

[bluesfan94]

No it didn’t, at least not in the sense that the statement applies to every game. I am very curious how that xG was scored. I’ve also seen it NED 1.77 - 1.51 USA and from watching the game that feels a lot more accurate.

That being said I think you can make the case if Pulisic scores in 2nd minute things could have been a little different, but Netherlands won because they were more talented everywhere

Pulisic and Weah finish their easy chances and it's 3-3 not changing anything else.

No, it didn't.

xG is a worse "stat" than +/- in hockey, I cannot begin to describe how loathsome I find it.

It doesn't give any context and it doesn't tell what the score was or how a team set up, whether they led 2-0 and just waited out the rest of the game or whether they chased the game cause they were behind.

Holland won because they're the better team, have better players and played better in key moments.
Had they needed to, they would've probably changed up and set up more offensively. They played - for them -a routine game and dispatched with relatively safety inferior opposition.

I mean, if you're playing that game, Pulisic finishing the early chance changes everything, so it comes down to finishing.

 

[gary69]

Very Italian like game for Oranje. But there’s a first for everything. Dumfries was amazing and I thought Aké continues to impress. He’s flat out been one of world’s best CB’s this year.

De Roon and Klaassen were obvious misfits. Hope they won’t start anymore.

Still don't think Ake has quite been at the level of Cannavaro, another shorter CB. Of course Ake could still make an even greater impression for rest of the tournament and contribute to leading Holland to the title, but I doubt he will.

Agree with the rest.

 

[Savant]

Pulisic and Weah finish their easy chances and it's 3-3 not changing anything else.


I mean, if you're playing that game, Pulisic finishing the early chance changes everything, so it comes down to finishing.

Right so everything comes down to finishing and if every team finishes their easy chances there will be more goals. Got it. The supposed xG here is not telling the story of the game

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Dutch outclassed the USA tactically. The man-marking of the midfield was something I didn't expect. Doesn't seem like Berhalter saw it coming either. He got destroyed by Van Gaal in this game. Dutch also looked like the much wiser team and made their big moments count. The US didn't. The Dutch team is significantly older and plays at better clubs, so its to be expected.

While you can say that Van Gaal's strategy was partly to let the US have the ball, I don't think thats all there is to why the US had the better run of the play. They kept the Dutch in with their superior pressing and energy. They were technically at a similar level. I don't think anyone should be watching that game and think the Dutch are miles more talented. They aren't. It looked similar against England, although I think the gap in players to England is much larger. England often plays down to their competition. We controlled the game completely against Iran and Wales, two average sides, when you adjust for score effects, so thats a positive. We often don't know where we stand because teams within CONCACAF are farmers teams. Say what you will about Iran and Wales, but they qualified for the World Cup. They aren't bad teams.

US had the youngest side at the tournament. This is a team thats getting better, but anyone expecting them to be winning the World Cup was counting on a miracle. The teams that get to the later rounds and win this tournament are usually almost always the best teams, and US isn't one of those, although the side is improving.

 

[S E P H]

USA getting dumped on here but they still are a good competitive team. I guess the expectations of much of the fan base are higher than just getting out of the group stage.

I was working in South Korea in 2002 when the US made it to the quarterfinals. Obviously much more excitement around the future of the team then. Even fans from other nations thought that it was only a matter of time before the US was a contender for the World Cup.

Let's see how far the Dutch go, I don't think they win whoever they face next and from that, it will showcase how good or poor this USA team is. TBH, I think US has a ton of overrated players. They get signed by European clubs and posters on here go wild. For example, look at Weah, he plays for Lille and is really a nothing player, I actually think he's easily worse than David and you lot know how I fancy Jonathan. He's still young so I am not going to call him an out right bust, but not really that young and he was playing as a starting #9 for the Americans lol. No wonder why they lost.

 

[Savant]

Let's see how far the Dutch go, I don't think they win whoever they face next and from that, it will showcase how good or poor this USA team is. TBH, I think US has a ton of overrated players. They get signed by European clubs and posters on here go wild. For example, look at Weah, he plays for Lille and is really a nothing player, I actually think he's easily worse than David and you lot know how I fancy Jonathan. He's still young so I am not going to call him an out right bust, but not really that young and he was playing as a starting #9 for the Americans lol. No wonder why they lost.

Weah played RW for the majority of tournament Minutes .

 

[Savant]

yup. Been saying. LVG drank Gregg’s milkshake today

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

Very interested in the midfield battle here. de Jong is the best MFer either side have, but I could see the athleticism and pressing of McKennie and Adams giving him a hard time.

Going forward, Netherlands lack attacking quality outside of Gakpo, but then Dumfries could cause trouble for Robinson. Dest vs. the corpse of Daley Blind is another fun matchup.

Ultimately, I think this is a 1-0 for the Netherlands.

I'm a f***ing genius

 

[les Habs]

No, it didn't.

xG is a worse "stat" than +/- in hockey, I cannot begin to describe how loathsome I find it.

It doesn't give any context and it doesn't tell what the score was or how a team set up, whether they led 2-0 and just waited out the rest of the game or whether they chased the game cause they were behind.

Holland won because they're the better team, have better players and played better in key moments.
Had they needed to, they would've probably changed up and set up more offensively. They played - for them -a routine game and dispatched with relatively safety inferior opposition.

Not a fan of xG either. Not sure I’d go so far as loathsome, but I do loathe how often it’s thrown around in football conversations. It’s too subjective. I suppose you could gather multiple sources and come to a better conclusion, but still not a fan.

 

[les Habs]

LOL, we’ll Van Gaal sticks with Blind and Dumfries opposed to what I was suggesting and they both come up big despite being somewhat invisible up until today. We’re not that great a gauge, but I think the Dutch are getting better as the tournament goes on. Seems a a good spirit In the squad so we’ll see if they can get past Argentina.

I was somewhat distracted watching this one, but I have say that from what I’ve seen Ake has had quite the tournament. Not what I expected.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Let's see how far the Dutch go, I don't think they win whoever they face next and from that, it will showcase how good or poor this USA team is. TBH, I think US has a ton of overrated players. They get signed by European clubs and posters on here go wild. For example, look at Weah, he plays for Lille and is really a nothing player, I actually think he's easily worse than David and you lot know how I fancy Jonathan. He's still young so I am not going to call him an out right bust, but not really that young and he was playing as a starting #9 for the Americans lol. No wonder why they lost.

Damn, you really showed us by not knowing the lineup we played.

 

[luiginb]

Yeah I agree Weah atm is very overrated, but he's still 22. He might play well against concacaf competition but he can't cut it in France yet and he couldn't at the WC either.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Weah is the speed threat we use on the wings. He makes very good runs over the top and can beat almost anyone for pace. Having a player like that is a good weapon to have. Is he much or any worse than Bergwijn who the Dutch brought on?

I think a lot of people would’ve preferred Reyna or Aaronson start for Weah, but Reyna missed almost the whole qualifying due to injuries. The coach didn’t trust him. And Weah played very well in the qualifiers, so he was barely keeping Aaronson out, and managed to hang onto the starting spot for the World Cup. That Weah was starting for the USA isn’t an indictment on the level of the playing squad. He’s not that good, but he’s also not bad. We have bigger areas of concern than that position.

 

[Dolemite]

Just saw this.