oh no said:

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I think we need to be ambitious and take longer shots. don't need to break them down and wait for mistakes. you can clean up some junk on rebounds and deflections. take some shots from outside the 18 instead of sending the balls out wide in the corner and hope some crosses can be sent.

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Just make sure they are on goal. Iran's keeper tends to return them back into players charging into the box.

I agree. We've got guys who are fully capable of dribbling into the middle and taking a crack. Our cross and pray strategy doesn't seem to be working.

Which relates to my previous post… now is the time to not play a 9. Get our creative guys out there up front and make something happen.

I'm already and will be full clenched until the final whistle. After that it's either GGG out or let's go write our own Cinderella story

deadbq03 said:

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I agree. We've got guys who are fully capable of dribbling into the middle and taking a crack. Our cross and pray strategy doesn't seem to be working.

Which relates to my previous post… now is the time to not play a 9. Get our creative guys out there up front and make something happen.

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Dempsey mixed in a brief critique of the larger American approach before the Brazil game...he (and I) wish Americans would adopt some Brazilian philosophy and play with more aspiration and less fear when attacking...go try to do something great

2-1 murica

Winning goal after 80th minute

The source, who is closely monitoring Iran’s security agencies operating in Qatar over the World Cup period, said that dozens of officers from the IRGC had been drafted in to monitor the Iranian players who are not allowed to mingle outside the squad or meet with foreigners.

— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) November 28, 2022

If this game was held in the US do you think players would defect from Iran?

Actually probably not for fear of retaliation to their families.

The majority of the players play for European clubs and reside in Europe. They don't need to defect from Iran per se. But yes, even those players are going to face and have already faced immense pressure and I'm sure that their families still living in Iran or any of their interests (some have businesses their for example) have been used as leverage. Several players were questionable to even be called into the national team due to concerns about their politics. I believe Sardar Azmoun was one of them.

KCup17 said:

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If this game was held in the US do you think players would defect from Iran?

Actually probably not for fear of retaliation to their families.

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we'll see in four years.
didnt something similar happen with a Cuban player ~15 years ago during WCQ?

KCup17 said:

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If this game was held in the US do you think players would defect from Iran?

Actually probably not for fear of retaliation to their families.

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As Dre said, most of their players move in and out of the country as they wish.

I don't think the US has ever breezed through a meaningful game. Not now under Berhalter nor ever in its history. I don't expect tomorrow to be the first time it happens.

Carlos Queiroz unfortunately is usually pretty good at making games ugly when it suits him. That's usually all he's good at. But thus far, he's been really bad at doing it against England and then succeeded in going away from that against Wales. I watched that game and I think the appropriate description is that Iran was very direct but they were far from 10 men behind the ball defending. Taremi and Azmoun were both pretty advanced and provided good outlets for when Wales inevitable gave the ball away because their midfield was woeful and in capable of generating anything in attack. Or to put it another way, Iran possessed the ball for about 34 minutes and took 21 shots...1 shot every 90 seconds or so. That is absolutely not a stat a team that is bunkering in a low block generates.

Taremi and Azmoun...and specifically Taremi...are the biggest concerns to me. We don't have a forward of Taremi's caliber. He has broken into Europe much later in his career than Azmoun but he has been elite for Porto and killed it in the group stage of the CL this year. In a game where chances are likely going to be at a premium, a clinical finisher could easily be the difference maker and he's the most clinical finisher on either team.

Ah for some reason I thought they were like Qatar where a lot of their players were from their domestic league. I actually think I am thinking of Saudi Arabia.

Gonna be a long 22ish hours!

It was either that or the Gold Cup. But yeah their whole team defected to the US.

My hope is that is the game Gregg's been saving Reyna for. Creativity in the middle will be what we need.
But it still scares me, they are lethal in the counter attack and we will have to press forward. And it's not even the full counter attack they can beat you on, it's that stretch where they get one on one's we will have to be really really disciplined I'm the back.
Hoping for the best, but 1998 stays with me.

Wales had no idea what to do when they were being asked to possess the ball for most of the match. Iran torched them on the counters; Wales' midfield would become non existent and their defense couldn't track back in an organized fashion.

We'll be better prepared to possess but we're not showing the creativity to create many great chances. Hopefully they play fearless with the ball and take some chances

Mathguy64 said:

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$20 says ggg starts Sargent or Wright. He's just not capable of finding a way to get Gio on the field with CP, Weah and MMA. He's just got one setting and it's locked on a traditional striker.

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Not sure Gio is healthy enough to go 90 so doesn't make sense to start him in any position

Nm

Yeah!

I really think we need to be ready for Iran to potentially frantically press us all over the field like they did to Wales.
And dont be afraid to play direct for a bit to back them off, if you have to

OFFICIALLY PUCKERED

Let's **** **** up

I want Weah up top to stretch the back line and play more direct but I bet Gregg goes with Jesus to drop back and connect more

Whomever can connect best with the midfield, maintain possession, play a little hold up and get back on D to disrupt some counters should play...

Not sure we have that combo

I'd like to see Jesus playing forward today. Keep trying keys until one of them opens the lock. Sargent and Wright weren't bad but didn't wow anybody. I'm not sure if he is the answer but it's worth a shot.

Ream, Zimmerman and Turner need to be extra sharp. Unless we get goals real early, they are going to be on an island. That's the risk with today's plan. Those three guys will be hung out to dry repeatedly. Do your jobs.

Entire team needs to understand that this is only game that matters. It's a one game tournament. Don't worry about card accumulation. If you need to play aggressively, do so without fear of consequences. Don't worry about losing your legs. Play to win this game. We will sort out the lineup for knockout game later.

Offensively, I would like to see more back passes. And more big switches. That mean seem counterintuitive. Whenever you have to win, it's natural to go full throttle. If you have a chance, go for it. But if Weah drives to corner and nothing is there, don't blindly sling in a wish pass because you need to win. Take it back out and build up the attack. Make Iran move defensively. Make Iran defend sideline to sideline. A slow good chance is always better than a quick hopeful chance.

Quote:

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Entire team needs to understand that this is only game that matters. It's a one game tournament. Don't worry about card accumulation. If you need to play aggressively, do so without fear of consequences. Don't worry about losing your legs. Play to win this game. We will sort out the lineup for knockout game later.

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This cannot be understated. Knockout rounds start today