I am sure we will have some upset USMNT fans when we don't start the full XI starters against Grenada in the 4th match in 2 weeks.
* Official World Cup 2022 Thread *
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Last: 4 mo ago by TRM
So last WC I tracked stats on GK jersey color and associated win % and save %. It was fun and silly. Anyone have any other relatively easy stat you'd like to see crunched this year?
Argentina would be fantastic, and if it happened in TX, I'd be really tempted to break the bank to go.jeffk said:
Yeah, I posted the Argentina thing earlier. That'd be awesome, but I haven't seen it confirmed anywhere official yet.
Glad that we'll see the full WC roster for those two windows. I expect we'll see a heavy dose of rotation between games during those four summer matches though, so hopefully no one overreacts when CP10 doesn't start all four.
But surely these rumors were started before Argentina drew Mexico in the same group, right? I have a tough time thinking they'd want to play Mexico now… and I'm not sure they'd want to have such a long trip just to play us.
They may want to play the US and Canda, instead of Mexico. It's pretty lucrative payday to play friendlies in the US for most of the big national teams.deadbq03 said:Argentina would be fantastic, and if it happened in TX, I'd be really tempted to break the bank to go.jeffk said:
Yeah, I posted the Argentina thing earlier. That'd be awesome, but I haven't seen it confirmed anywhere official yet.
Glad that we'll see the full WC roster for those two windows. I expect we'll see a heavy dose of rotation between games during those four summer matches though, so hopefully no one overreacts when CP10 doesn't start all four.
But surely these rumors were started before Argentina drew Mexico in the same group, right? I have a tough time thinking they'd want to play Mexico now… and I'm not sure they'd want to have such a long trip just to play us.
"And liberals, being liberals, will double down on failure." - dedgod
Argentina playing Mex was definitely the talk before the draw, but probably would need to be someone else now.deadbq03 said:Argentina would be fantastic, and if it happened in TX, I'd be really tempted to break the bank to go.jeffk said:
Yeah, I posted the Argentina thing earlier. That'd be awesome, but I haven't seen it confirmed anywhere official yet.
Glad that we'll see the full WC roster for those two windows. I expect we'll see a heavy dose of rotation between games during those four summer matches though, so hopefully no one overreacts when CP10 doesn't start all four.
But surely these rumors were started before Argentina drew Mexico in the same group, right? I have a tough time thinking they'd want to play Mexico now… and I'm not sure they'd want to have such a long trip just to play us.
jeffk said:
So last WC I tracked stats on GK jersey color and associated win % and save %. It was fun and silly. Anyone have any other relatively easy stat you'd like to see crunched this year?
I presume you shared this vital information with GGG?
Lol. I actually tweeted it to a couple of the semi-serious soccer people I interact with. We've been using mostly green keeper kits in qualifying but we do use purple on occasion too and that's obviously worrisome.
I think gregggg and the staff should go to Europe and play away friendlies whenever they can.
I would fully assume the two fall friendlies to be in Europe.oh no said:
I think gregggg and the staff should go to Europe and play away friendlies whenever they can.
oh no said:
I think gregggg and the staff should go to Europe and play away friendlies whenever they can.
I think the team should play the away friendlies tho...
Ask your nearest defender what this is like to keep track of.
— Charles Boehm (@cboehm) April 4, 2022
A big reason why it doesn't really matter how old he is in regards to the national team.https://t.co/W5xq9ILPpN
This clip is a great example of what our strikers still need to develop at, and the best way to do that is to get reps actually up top. Not playing on the wing, these european clubs are screwing us over playing Sargent and Pepi there.
another angle
Chicharito doing his thing! pic.twitter.com/Ck1cUTt51T
— Rodolfo Landeros (@RodolfoLanderos) April 3, 2022
Our two CONCACAF opponents this summer are El Salvador and Grenada. And there might be a friendly with Uruguay in the works as well.
https://www.si.com/soccer/2022/04/05/concacaf-nations-league-draw-usmnt-group-world-cup-prep
https://www.si.com/soccer/2022/04/05/concacaf-nations-league-draw-usmnt-group-world-cup-prep
Uruguay, nice! Cutting our teeth on a quality side…jeffk said:
Our two CONCACAF opponents this summer are El Salvador and Grenada. And there might be a friendly with Uruguay in the works as well.
https://www.si.com/soccer/2022/04/05/concacaf-nations-league-draw-usmnt-group-world-cup-prep
Glad to hear about Uruguay. We definitely need 2 European friendlies in September.
Crazy to me that we will only have a week to prepare for the World Cup in November. Add this to long ass list of why Qatar never should've hosted.
Crazy to me that we will only have a week to prepare for the World Cup in November. Add this to long ass list of why Qatar never should've hosted.
The World Cup not being this summer is really messing with my brain
Yeah normally in a WC year we get a shortcut through sports purgatory. Tournament usually starts right as NBA and NHL are ending and then we're left with only one month of nothing but baseball.
It's definitely going to be weird having WC coincide with NFL and CFB.
Will make for a handful of epic sports days.
If we are runners up in our group and A&M makes the SECCG, Dec 3 would be one hell of a Saturday.
If we are runners up in our group and A&M makes the SECCG, Dec 3 would be one hell of a Saturday.
the concacaf nations leagues being forced on federations has really screwed us when it comes to getting good games for our National team to prepare. We basically will hardly ever get to play top European competition outside of the World Cup
I think a lot of American sports media/personalities will be in for an ego check when the ratings are released for those weekends they clash.bagger05 said:
Will make for a handful of epic sports days.
If we are runners up in our group and A&M makes the SECCG, Dec 3 would be one hell of a Saturday.
Well, with the euro nations league we aren't going to get a lot of euro friendlys anyways. That was the whole point in the euro league, if they're only playing other euro teams it helps goose their fifa rankings.
Yea, I think I misspoke in my post. I meant all of the nations league around the world and didnt go back and remove concacaf from the sentence.ChipFTAC01 said:
Well, with the euro nations league we aren't going to get a lot of euro friendlys anyways. That was the whole point in the euro league, if they're only playing other euro teams it helps goose their fifa rankings.
We really need to get out and play some away friendlies in September. We have a lot of work to do. Only two non-concacaf games outside of the USA in the last three years.
USMNT played 4 non-concacaf matches (three friendlies) in 2021:
December vs Bosnia - home - 1-0 win with mostly a B squad or 2nd choice players outside of Matt Turner, Zimmerman, and Pepi. Bosnia had a 40' red card and we finally scored in 89'
July Gold Cup semi-final vs Qatar- home- 1-0 win. An 86' winner from Gyasi Zardes. Again a lot of 2nd choice players besides Matt Turner and Miles Robinson. We were out-shot 18-6 by the WC hosts.
May friendly vs Switzerland - away- 2-1 loss. Lleget had an early goal at 5'. Mostly our first choice players - a lot of our projected best XII in this one although no pulisic.
March friendly vs Northern Ireland - away- 2-1 win. Gio scored and Pulisic netted a PK. Mostly first choice / best XII.
Zero matches period in 2020 (covid)
Only non-concacaf international matches in 2019- home friendlies with Ecuador (1-0), Chile (1-1), and Venezuela (0-3) in the US. The status / ranking in our player pool and best XII has changed a lot since then, save a few like McKennie, Adams, and Pulisic.
USMNT played 4 non-concacaf matches (three friendlies) in 2021:
December vs Bosnia - home - 1-0 win with mostly a B squad or 2nd choice players outside of Matt Turner, Zimmerman, and Pepi. Bosnia had a 40' red card and we finally scored in 89'
July Gold Cup semi-final vs Qatar- home- 1-0 win. An 86' winner from Gyasi Zardes. Again a lot of 2nd choice players besides Matt Turner and Miles Robinson. We were out-shot 18-6 by the WC hosts.
May friendly vs Switzerland - away- 2-1 loss. Lleget had an early goal at 5'. Mostly our first choice players - a lot of our projected best XII in this one although no pulisic.
March friendly vs Northern Ireland - away- 2-1 win. Gio scored and Pulisic netted a PK. Mostly first choice / best XII.
Zero matches period in 2020 (covid)
Only non-concacaf international matches in 2019- home friendlies with Ecuador (1-0), Chile (1-1), and Venezuela (0-3) in the US. The status / ranking in our player pool and best XII has changed a lot since then, save a few like McKennie, Adams, and Pulisic.
It would be great to a couple games with all of Pulisic, Reyna, Adams, McKennie available, start figuring out the best way to deploy them.
Currently they are the only players I would say I 'need' to see in the starting lineup. Form could change that opinion, of course.
Currently they are the only players I would say I 'need' to see in the starting lineup. Form could change that opinion, of course.
Summer window info:
USMNT will play those home friendlies June 1 and June 5, opponents and venues tbd.
— Steven Goff (@SoccerInsider) April 6, 2022
Grenada is gonna get stomped bad. With a couple of games under our belt the USMNT should have a lot of things figured out. The timing couldn't be any worse for those two CONCACAF minnows…
I assume you mean things you could quickly see in a highlight video or with basic stats?jeffk said:
So last WC I tracked stats on GK jersey color and associated win % and save %. It was fun and silly. Anyone have any other relatively easy stat you'd like to see crunched this year?
Some random ideas:
Header goals by hair length/style/color.
Yellow/red cards by tattoo prevalence (none, arm sleeve, neck, leg, face):
Or you could go the officiating route… fouls/cards given by confederation (or perhaps get as granular as nationality).
Sucks that we basicaly have to waste gametime on those nations league games
I agree. Those two games are mostly wasted time as far as the World Cup prep is concerned. Other than time in camp training together our team will most likely get little out of the two matches…
Assuming McKennie is back healthy by that time, it may be the first time where the Big 4 (Pulisic, Adams, McKennie, Reyna) are on the field all at the same time. They need reps together as a group.aggiephoenix02 said:
I agree. Those two games are mostly wasted time as far as the World Cup prep is concerned. Other than time in camp training together our team will most likely get little out of the two matches…
Berhalter may test Reyna out as a CM in one of the matches to see how he would do to help breakdown bunkered opponents. As great as MMA midfield is, I'm not sure they have the profile to be successful against opponents sitting in low block.
"And liberals, being liberals, will double down on failure." - dedgod
I think this will be Gregg's biggest challenge - finding the players to break down a team parking the bus. I think we have the personnel to play a 3-5-2 when needed but is there enough time to practice and get the players comfortable in their roles and responsibilities?akm91 said:aggiephoenix02 said:
As great as MMA midfield is, I'm not sure they have the profile to be successful against opponents sitting in low block.
The last time greggg tried a 3-5-2, it did not go well, IIRC. Can't remember if it was the first half of a Gold cup match or the first half of one of the earliest WCQs (away at Panama maybe?).
I love the thought of our wingbacks as guys like Dest and Shaq Moore are good attacking full backs, but they seem to get too far up the pitch too often and even though they are fast and fit to recover and track back, we get burned on counters. Those three central defenders and maybe two 6s (Adams and Acosta?) would need to be super solid and we can't have slower cbs like Brooks out there- probably need Miles Rob, Chris Richards, and Mark McKenzie? Do we have good enough center forwards if we're playing without true wingers? Is Pulisic one of them? Do you put Gio as the 10? We don't seem to have enough camp time or friendlies between now and November to really experiment and get proficient at something we have previously shown to be ill-prepared for.
I love the thought of our wingbacks as guys like Dest and Shaq Moore are good attacking full backs, but they seem to get too far up the pitch too often and even though they are fast and fit to recover and track back, we get burned on counters. Those three central defenders and maybe two 6s (Adams and Acosta?) would need to be super solid and we can't have slower cbs like Brooks out there- probably need Miles Rob, Chris Richards, and Mark McKenzie? Do we have good enough center forwards if we're playing without true wingers? Is Pulisic one of them? Do you put Gio as the 10? We don't seem to have enough camp time or friendlies between now and November to really experiment and get proficient at something we have previously shown to be ill-prepared for.
I think we used a 3 back a lot in Gold Cup and it looked good, but you're right, we did it once or twice in qualifying and it didn't look good… although iirc it was around the same time as McKinney's suspension so really the team as a whole was kinda in shambles so I doubt any formation would've looked particularly good.oh no said:
The last time greggg tried a 3-5-2, it did not go well, IIRC. Can't remember if it was the first half of a Gold cup match or the first half of one of the earliest WCQs (away at Panama maybe?).
I love the thought of our wingbacks as guys like Dest and Shaq Moore are good attacking full backs, but they seem to get too far up the pitch too often and even though they are fast and fit to recover and track back, we get burned on counters. Those three central defenders and maybe two 6s (Adams and Acosta?) would need to be super solid and we can't have slower cbs like Brooks out there- probably need Miles Rob, Chris Richards, and Mark McKenzie? Do we have good enough center forwards if we're playing without true wingers? Is Pulisic one of them? Do you put Gio as the 10? We don't seem to have enough camp time or friendlies between now and November to really experiment and get proficient at something we have previously shown to be ill-prepared for.
I think regardless of particular formation, it's clear that Robinson and Dest are gonna push forward and thats a good thing. Adams can track back.
It seems to me though that we need more creativity in the middle… and a good portion of that is due to sub-par 9 play. I'd love to see Pulisic or Reyna as false 9's. Or Reyna as a 10. Or maybe let Dest cut in to the middle in the final third and let Weah serve up the crosses.
It sucks that we've had so many guys out, especially this last window. I don't think we really know what our best 11 looks like playing together yet because they haven't all been available at the same time.
deadbq03 said:I assume you mean things you could quickly see in a highlight video or with basic stats?jeffk said:
So last WC I tracked stats on GK jersey color and associated win % and save %. It was fun and silly. Anyone have any other relatively easy stat you'd like to see crunched this year?
Some random ideas:
Header goals by hair length/style/color.
Yellow/red cards by tattoo prevalence (none, arm sleeve, neck, leg, face):
Or you could go the officiating route… fouls/cards given by confederation (or perhaps get as granular as nationality).
Yeah, I'm not interested in publishing an article on my deep dives into WC analytics, so things I can catalog easily via highlights and stat lines are perfect. Officiating is interesting - Cards given by region or even by hair vs bald?
jeffk said:deadbq03 said:I assume you mean things you could quickly see in a highlight video or with basic stats?jeffk said:
So last WC I tracked stats on GK jersey color and associated win % and save %. It was fun and silly. Anyone have any other relatively easy stat you'd like to see crunched this year?
Some random ideas:
Header goals by hair length/style/color.
Yellow/red cards by tattoo prevalence (none, arm sleeve, neck, leg, face):
Or you could go the officiating route… fouls/cards given by confederation (or perhaps get as granular as nationality).
Yeah, I'm not interested in publishing an article on my deep dives into WC analytics, so things I can catalog easily via highlights and stat lines are perfect. Officiating is interesting - Cards given by region or even by hair vs bald?
You asked for it. GIVE THE PEOPLE WHAT THEY WANT