OT: USMNT

[HoosierPal]

1 hour ago, wgstl said:

I believe fee's were around $20, so that $40 was actually $60

I don't remember if I had clicked "fees included" or not.  It shows what you select.  But I paid $80 (total) a ticket for the Gold Cup, against St. Kitts and Nevis.  I think $60 is a bargain.

And as you responded to TrollPants, many of the national teams were in some form of tourney or qualifications for future tourneys in this window.  

[gobillsgo]

I do not remember a pair of opponents for “A-Team” friendlies as weak as Uzbekistan and Oman.   I follow soccer religiously and couldn’t name a single player or club team from either country.  I also seriously doubt the average American can point within 2000 miles of either country on a globe. 
 

This is an obvious attempt to start off the Berhalter 2.0 Era with two victories, to avoid fan outrage over his re-appointment.  The shots at STL over attendance are completely unwarranted considering the opponent.  If I had to guess, it’s due to direction from USSF to take attention off the joke of an opponent (in the case of soccer journalists), or out of jealousy of the success of CITY (in the case of other non-STL fans). 

[Brighton]

11 minutes ago, gobillsgo said:

I do not remember a pair of opponents for “A-Team” friendlies as weak as Uzbekistan and Oman.   I follow soccer religiously and couldn’t name a single player or club team from either country.  I also seriously doubt the average American can point within 2000 miles of either country on a globe. 
 

This is an obvious attempt to start off the Berhalter 2.0 Era with two victories, to avoid fan outrage over his re-appointment.  The shots at STL over attendance are completely unwarranted considering the opponent.  If I had to guess, it’s due to direction from USSF to take attention off the joke of an opponent (in the case of soccer journalists), or out of jealousy of the success of CITY (in the case of other non-STL fans). 

particularly the fans from the flat wasteland of Kansas.

[Lord Elrond]

2 hours ago, Slu let the dogs out? said:

Not the biggest Gregggg fan but didn't he get us into the knockout round of the WC?

My mistake, we made it to the round of 16 and got beat by the Netherlands

[Slu let the dogs out?]

Shocker:

https://x.com/mls_buzz/status/1704895375042077158?s=46&t=pBjvO3Wn5qUNqq5QnyRahA

[Lord Elrond]

8 hours ago, Slu let the dogs out? said:

Shocker:

https://x.com/mls_buzz/status/1704895375042077158?s=46&t=pBjvO3Wn5qUNqq5QnyRahA

I’m sure there are other stadiums FIFA can use

[gobillsgo]

There are probably only a handful of people in the World that think they’re bigger than the World Cup, and it is no surprise at all that Enos Kroenke is one of them. 

[Billiken Rich]

16 hours ago, gobillsgo said:

There are probably only a handful of people in the World that think they’re bigger than the World Cup, and it is no surprise at all that Enos Kroenke is one of them. 

Rather watch the cornhole championships on "the ocho."  Stan is a pinhead but got no problem with him shaking down a corrupt foreign syndicate.........

 

[wgstl]

2 hours ago, Billiken Rich said:

Rather watch the cornhole championships on "the ocho."  Stan is a pinhead but got no problem with him shaking down a corrupt foreign syndicate.........

 

Battle of evils 

[Lord Elrond]

12 hours ago, Billiken Rich said:

Rather watch the cornhole championships on "the ocho."  Stan is a pinhead but got no problem with him shaking down a corrupt foreign syndicate.........

 

I have no problem with him trying to take as much money out of FIFA’s pocket as possible, but FIFA will just move on. Plenty of time before 2026 to find a new stadium, the game will draw just as much interest no matter where it’s played.

[brianstl]

Stan has $3 billion in debt he still needs to pay off on SOFI stadium.  The cost of paying $2 billion of that debt off that is owed to banks and not the NFL has dramatically increased over the past year as Stan didn’t borrow that money at long term fixed rates.

Stan has to try to get every penny he can out of every event he books.

[TheA_Bomb]

Went to AC Milan v Hellas Verona yesterday. Pulisic and Musah both started on the right side in a 3-4-3. Perhaps their familiarity lends to this positioning.  I figured they'd play as Pulisic only came in as a sub in the Champions League game vs Newcastle on the 19th, Musah DNP.

Anyway most of the ball movement is on the left for AC Milan as Rafa Leao is on that side but Pulisic roams far from position playing as an Inverted Winger. Pulisic had 1 good shot on goal a quick turn around strike, and played above average maybe 6.8 out of 10.  He played with his normal high work rate and was substituted in the 75'. Musah was about 6.6 he had 1 errant pass that killed a chance, and another 1 good chance.

Great experience and playing time for both on a team competing in Serie A and Champions League.   

Stadium was awesome except the bathroom situation seriously 2 toilets for the huge section.  Not 2 bathrooms 2 total toilets.  Beer only Heineken cost 6Euro.  Crowd is really into it.   Pulisic is one of about 6 players whose jersey is featured at the Team shop.

Front row center seat is 169Euro.

Recommend a trip to Milan to see a game.  Cool city,  great restaurants and great atmosphere at the game. 

[Slu let the dogs out?]

31 minutes ago, TheA_Bomb said:

Went to AC Milan v Hellas Verona yesterday. Pulisic and Musah both started on the right side in a 3-4-3. Perhaps their familiarity lends to this positioning.  I figured they'd play as Pulisic only came in as a sub in the Champions League game vs Newcastle on the 19th, Musah DNP.

Anyway most of the ball movement is on the left for AC Milan as Rafa Leao is on that side but Pulisic roams far from position playing as an Inverted Winger. Pulisic had 1 good shot on goal a quick turn around strike, and played above average maybe 6.8 out of 10.  He played with his normal high work rate and was substituted in the 75'. Musah was about 6.6 he had 1 errant pass that killed a chance, and another 1 good chance.

Great experience and playing time for both on a team competing in Serie A and Champions League.   

Stadium was awesome except the bathroom situation seriously 2 toilets for the huge section.  Not 2 bathrooms 2 total toilets.  Beer only Heineken cost 6Euro.  Crowd is really into it.   Pulisic is one of about 6 players whose jersey is featured at the Team shop.

Front row center seat is 169Euro.

Recommend a trip to Milan to see a game.  Cool city,  great restaurants and great atmosphere at the game. 

Sounds like an amazing day/trip. Are you allowed to pound those Heineys from your seat? This was a long time ago but when I saw Fulham take on Crystal Palace in the late 2000s at Craven Cottage it was not allowed. Was utterly shocked. Had to slam a bunch of beers at half while overlooking the Thames which led to a tardy return to my seat. Wasn’t received well by the locals. 

[TheA_Bomb]

21 minutes ago, Slu let the dogs out? said:

Sounds like an amazing day/trip. Are you allowed to pound those Heineys from your seat? This was a long time ago but when I saw Fulham take on Crystal Palace in the late 2000s at Craven Cottage it was not allowed. Was utterly shocked. Had to slam a bunch of beers at half while overlooking the Thames which led to a tardy return to my seat. Wasn’t received well by the locals. 

Yes they have vendors walking around.  I went to Real Madrid a few years ago no beer in the stadium.  Same with in Colombia no beer in the stadium. 

[Lord Elrond]

7 hours ago, TheA_Bomb said:

Went to AC Milan v Hellas Verona yesterday. Pulisic and Musah both started on the right side in a 3-4-3. Perhaps their familiarity lends to this positioning.  I figured they'd play as Pulisic only came in as a sub in the Champions League game vs Newcastle on the 19th, Musah DNP.

Anyway most of the ball movement is on the left for AC Milan as Rafa Leao is on that side but Pulisic roams far from position playing as an Inverted Winger. Pulisic had 1 good shot on goal a quick turn around strike, and played above average maybe 6.8 out of 10.  He played with his normal high work rate and was substituted in the 75'. Musah was about 6.6 he had 1 errant pass that killed a chance, and another 1 good chance.

Great experience and playing time for both on a team competing in Serie A and Champions League.   

Stadium was awesome except the bathroom situation seriously 2 toilets for the huge section.  Not 2 bathrooms 2 total toilets.  Beer only Heineken cost 6Euro.  Crowd is really into it.   Pulisic is one of about 6 players whose jersey is featured at the Team shop.

Front row center seat is 169Euro.

Recommend a trip to Milan to see a game.  Cool city,  great restaurants and great atmosphere at the game. 

Sounds like a great experience!

[HoosierPal]

Weird, but I like it, regarding the MLSNext Pro playoff rules.  Pick your poison. 

Tom Timmermann

 

@tomtimm

·

3h

 

For those who haven't been following Next Pro rules, No. 1 seed gets a first-round bye and No. 2 and 3 seeds get to chose among other four playoff teams for their opponent. Unpicked teams play in the other game.

 

 

 

[HoosierPal]

On 9/21/2023 at 8:53 PM, Slu let the dogs out? said:

Shocker:

https://x.com/mls_buzz/status/1704895375042077158?s=46&t=pBjvO3Wn5qUNqq5QnyRahA

I'm pretty sure I read that SoFi field was too narrow by FIFA standards and would require some significant renovations to the stadium, likely removing seats, to host any matches.  More to this than what has been reported.

[Lord Elrond]

9 hours ago, HoosierPal said:

I'm pretty sure I read that SoFi field was too narrow by FIFA standards and would require some significant renovations to the stadium, likely removing seats, to host any matches.  More to this than what has been reported.

Yeah, I read that too, all the more reason for FIFA to just pick a new stadium and move on. If Stan is the reason for not wanting to go forward with whatever agreement is at hand, then FIFA probably shouldn’t worry about any potential lawsuit Stan might bring if they just select some new stadium.

[wgstl]

The big problem is fifa also really wants to be in LA. 

[Lord Elrond]

1 hour ago, wgstl said:

The big problem is fifa also really wants to be in LA. 

Maybe, but they will also fill up whatever stadium they select, and still have the most watched sporting event in the world in whatever stadium they select.

[TheA_Bomb]

Looks like Ream is going to start tonight on a chilly evening in ATX.

USMNT vs Trinidad & Tobago

[gobillsgo]

Another cycle of Berhalter ball...  That game might end 0-0 without the T&T red card. As it is, got the result we needed to hopefully move on. 

[TheA_Bomb]

I didn't see anything wrong with Berhalter's approach.  T&T played a 5-4-1 and defended narrow so the box was packed.  US played out wide but, I didn't really notice a height advantage that would make for floated crosses into the box to work.  It was frustrating that they didn't try to pull T&T back forward then quickly counter.  In the 2nd half the US took more chances and finally Texas native Pepi deflected a nice pass into the net.  That loosened up the game as T&T needed to try and score and US scored 2 more quickly.

I think Weston was the best player on the pitch because he has the ability to try and create something against a team packing it in. Ream was solid but never really tested as T&T rarely passed into the US half.

It was a chilly night and the crowd was near capacity but not very rowdy. 

[HoosierPal]

Three goals in 7 minutes was pretty neat.  Ream played a nice game, even though he and Carter-Vickers didn't need to defend.  His long pass distributions were effective.  I thought Balogun looked lost out there.  Pepi appears to be our super sub, but I'm all for giving him a chance to start again. Tillman and Pareds were just okay getting some experience, but when Pulisic and Weah are healthy, they will be nice depth on the bench.  We need a head hunter on corners.  Didn't see anyone with a killer attitude on any of the 10 corners.

The atmosphere appeared to be great down there particularly in the second half, @TheA_Bomb.  Did you make the video feed?

[TheA_Bomb]

3 minutes ago, HoosierPal said:

The atmosphere appeared to be great down there particularly in the second half, @TheA_Bomb.  Did you make the video feed?

No just chilling in the upper corner of the stadium.  I'm happy to have seen USMNT 2x in ATX now.  It's a good place for them to play.