***** USMNT vs Grenada Game Thread (6/10) *****

4,860 Views | 93 Replies | Last: 1 yr ago by fig96
agdoc2001
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DeangeloVickers said:

nm
I was wondering what I missed
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PatAg
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Tillman looks like he has incredibly poor conditioning, hasn't looked that great in this international window
PatAg
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Bello has also looked poor since coming on
jeffk
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WHEW
fig96
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Milwaukees Best Light said:

Can we get a look at the other guy at the striker? I have seen enough of ferreria.

And, anybody but nipple. Come on. Boo nipple.
This aged well.
deadbq03
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Got back to the hotel. Here's my notes:

- Q2 is nice, but man, it kinda sucks being down in the lower sections on a hot evening because they're below ground level outside and therefore don't get any wind. I sweated more there than on the walk in. Players would have it a little better because they're not on top of concrete that baked all afternoon (I was on the East side).

- Random things that TV kinda hides but you really see in person:
1) Arriola is freaking tiny - but dude works hard all game long… I don't know how many times he made a good run that no one saw (maybe cause they literally can't see him, I don't know).
2) On the other end of the spectrum, Tillman is a giant. He was easily the biggest guy out there.
3) But to Pat's point - I'm not sure it's conditioning per se: he just looked freaking lost out there. Way lost. McKennie spent a LOT of time chatting with him after the game and the gestures looked like he was trying to coach him up… which was a good thing to see from McKennie.
4) At halftime, Chris Richards and someone else - wish I could recognize him, but it clearly wasn't a high-caliber guy - were graciously taking selfies for fans amongst the hordes of folks in a concession line on the East side. Cool as hell to see and I have a tough time imagining that happening in any other sport.
fig96
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Back from the match, it was what it was. Random notes:

- Give De la Torre a plane ticket right now. Kid is electric on the ball in space.
- I have zero better gauge on our centerback situation than I did at the beginning of this match. CCV and Long looked fine but weren't even remotely tested.
- Morris is an absolute tank. He always seemed like a solid guy, but in person the dude is built like a running back.
- That third goal from Ferreira was a thing of beauty
- Glad to see Aaronson come on but disappointed to not at least get a cameo from Pulisic or Musah.
deadbq03
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Morris is huge.

CCV is stout too. Seemed short for a CB, but looked like he could hold his own physically. I do think he'd probably be a liability in the air.

For all the things I noticed live that I don't see on TV, one thing was the same: I never notice Roldan on TV, and I didn't tonight in person either.

It was hilarious when he was announced as Christian Pulisic… probably the biggest cheers he's ever gotten for subbing in.
PatAg
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deadbq03 said:

Got back to the hotel. Here's my notes:

- Q2 is nice, but man, it kinda sucks being down in the lower sections on a hot evening because they're below ground level outside and therefore don't get any wind. I sweated more there than on the walk in. Players would have it a little better because they're not on top of concrete that baked all afternoon (I was on the East side).

- Random things that TV kinda hides but you really see in person:
1) Arriola is freaking tiny - but dude works hard all game long… I don't know how many times he made a good run that no one saw (maybe cause they literally can't see him, I don't know).
2) On the other end of the spectrum, Tillman is a giant. He was easily the biggest guy out there.
3) But to Pat's point - I'm not sure it's conditioning per se: he just looked freaking lost out there. Way lost. McKennie spent a LOT of time chatting with him after the game and the gestures looked like he was trying to coach him up… which was a good thing to see from McKennie.
4) At halftime, Chris Richards and someone else - wish I could recognize him, but it clearly wasn't a high-caliber guy - were graciously taking selfies for fans amongst the hordes of folks in a concession line on the East side. Cool as hell to see and I have a tough time imagining that happening in any other sport.
Glad you had a good experience, other than it being hot
Milwaukees Best Light
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fig96 said:

Milwaukees Best Light said:

Can we get a look at the other guy at the striker? I have seen enough of ferreria.

And, anybody but nipple. Come on. Boo nipple.
This aged well.

You're not giving full credit for last night are you? Jesus scored one in the first half that I guess gets full credit. The others were against a third tier opponent in the second half of a really hot match. Dude did put them away, but kinda seniors picking on 8th graders.

Nipples goal was pretty. Maybe the guy figured out how to finish. Or maybe grenada was just outta gas.

Show mw something against a quality opponent before you crown them. That's all I am saying.
jeffk
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I mean, the only thing I think anyone is "crowning" any of these guys with is maybe a WC roster spot. And like it or not, I think you're going to see Paulie traveling to Qatar. He'll come off the bench and give us some good minutes in a group stage game or two. Jesus might make the team, but I think his position is more precarious as any forward who looks to be having a good fall season in club action might get included.
jeffk
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Apparently last night was a sellout crowd of 20,500. I went and looked it up because I was worried it might be a smaller turnout due to ticket prices, opponent, late kick, and hot weather. Good job showing up though, ATX. Crowd sounded good on tv to me.
fig96
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It wasn't much of an opponent, but 4 goals is still 4 goals and he scored 3 in less than 15 minutes of match time. It's more than we've seen from anyone else to this point, though I'm definitely not sold on him yet. Our service early in the match was also pretty poor, that's not on him.

And it was still funny
deadbq03
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jeffk said:

Apparently last night was a sellout crowd of 20,500. I went and looked it up because I was worried it might be a smaller turnout due to ticket prices, opponent, late kick, and hot weather. Good job showing up though, ATX. Crowd sounded good on tv to me.
Crowd was good. There were some empty seats, but I think a lot of it was people rotating to the AC clubs.

I have a suspicion the supporter section chants are piped. The group of people actually doing that stuff was very small except on maybe 2 or 3 occasions.
KCup17
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Cool story of the day was that in the section next to me I spotted Chris Richards and Bryan Reynolds. Was pretty shocked as I had tickets in the literal last row of the cheaper section. Ran into Chris after the game in the concourse and asked him about this summer and where he would prefer to end up. His words were "I have a few offers from clubs in England and that's where I would want to go." Told him that I think Patrick Viera is a great coach and it would be cool to see him play at Crystal Palace. Wished him the best of luck and that wherever he went he has a bunch of Americans wishing him success.
fig96
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We actually weren't crazy hot considering it was 90+ degrees the whole match. We were down in 115 so avoided getting heated up in direct sun during the afternoon, there was definitely less breeze than our usual seats though (217).

I will also say that the Lexus Club seats are pretty baller, we're planning to do that for an Austin match where it's all inclusive.
wangus12
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jeffk said:

I mean, the only thing I think anyone is "crowning" any of these guys with is maybe a WC roster spot. And like it or not, I think you're going to see Paulie traveling to Qatar. He'll come off the bench and give us some good minutes in a group stage game or two. Jesus might make the team, but I think his position is more precarious as any forward who looks to be having a good fall season in club action might get included.
We're down to 3 matches before the WC now. Jesus has been GGG's go to in most of the recent USMNT matches. He's definitely going to the WC at this point barring injury.
TRM
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Remember the roster might expand from 23 to 26 players.
PatAg
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I think, until another forward starts burying goals, Ferreira provides so much else in the game that he is for sure going to Qatar and imo starting.
Going because of his ability to link with the team, his movement off the ball, basically his unique profile
I'd love for one of our more traditional strikers to make that leap, whether it's Wright, Pepi, Pefok, Sargent, Deke, or even someone like Brandon Velasquez

I think Wright is intriguing, because he has shown the ability to be an actual hold up presence in addition to his size

We also never know, once we are there one of the players might catch fire and then you just throw your plans out the window and ride the hot hand
PatAg
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It's not a coincidence that Pulisic, Weah, Aaronson and our others offensive players have looked dangerous when Jesus plays
fig96
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Yeah, CCV is a beast too, definitely looks the part physically. I wish we'd gotten a look at him and Long vs Uruguay.

And yeah, the Roldan/Pulisic thing was hilarious, I felt bad for the two kids right down the way from us in Pulisic jerseys though.
deadbq03
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I agree with you on Ferreira.

Many of us were quick to anoint Dike or Pepi as the clear-cut #9, because they had a couple games with some goals.

For a young striker, I was more encouraged by Ferreira's performance a couple games ago where he whiffed on his shots. He gets in great positions. The finish will come (and did playing against air last night), but the fact that he gets in position shows he knows the game. And as you noted, even if he struggles to finish, getting in the right places will draw attention from defenders and open opportunities for others.

I'm not saying he's gonna be the man, but early returns are encouraging.
akm91
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Ferreira has to understand that you have to onetime the shot when in the box at the international level when the defender is on you.
fig96
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Yeah, I'm intrigued by Wright but I'd like to see him move to a better league and see how he fares.
 
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