Dre_00 said:
I can/will likely expand on this in the official US/Netherlands game thread but it's worth mentioning now...
This Dutch team is 100% beatable. We might lose 6-0...who knows. But they have looked average at best thus far and they weren't excellent in the run up to the WC.
They have talent of course. But a lot of their Ajax players look like shells of their former selves and have seemingly taken a massive step back (along with Ajax). Gakpo will be a handful and De Jong will pull the strings from midfield. But their front 6 shouldn't scare us. They aren't Brazil. Far from it.
The key is that the Dutch won't beat themselves. They are not going to make a concacaf level mistake.
You have to go out, play well, and beat them with creativity and attacking prowess. My concern is we don't have that creativity without pulisic.
I ultimately think we match up well and have a decent chance of getting past the round of 16.
Either way, I'm happy as a clam as I had us 3rd in the group. What do I know???