USMNT vs Saudi Arabia
Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2022
2:00 pm ET
Murcia, Spain
FS1, UniMas

I like that start time much better. Maybe the players won't be as hung over.

The crown prince doesn't allow alcohol in the kingdom, right?

Gonna watch the first half at Love Field! Hopefully Berhalter and the boys learned from Friday.

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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The crown prince doesn't allow alcohol in the kingdom, right?

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The Spanish monarchy is pro-vino.

Christian Pulisic and Ricardo Pepi will start tomorrow, Berhalter says. #USMNT

— Paul Tenorio (@PaulTenorio) September 26, 2022

Ugh. Wish he'd start Sargent and bring Pepi in to start the 2nd half.

jeffk said:

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Milwaukees Best Light said:

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The crown prince doesn't allow alcohol in the kingdom, right?

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The Spanish monarchy is pro-vino.

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Evidently, I am anti-reading comprehension.

there should be zero hangover excuses in Qatar though!!

OP says the game is in Spain, so

akm91 said:

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Ugh. Wish he'd start Sargent and bring Pepi in to start the 2nd half.

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I'm just glad it's not Ferreira again. We can pull him off the shelf again for the next Grenada match.

I'm ready to try Altidore at #9

deadbq03 said:

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akm91 said:

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Ugh. Wish he'd start Sargent and bring Pepi in to start the 2nd half.

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I'm just glad it's not Ferreira again. We can pull him off the shelf again for the next Grenada match.

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He was definitely the main problem in the game, you are right

I am ready to see Pepi in action with the national team again.
I wonder who comes on in the 2nd half between Sargent and Jesus.

I just want everyone to have fun.

PatAg said:

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deadbq03 said:

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akm91 said:

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Ugh. Wish he'd start Sargent and bring Pepi in to start the 2nd half.

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I'm just glad it's not Ferreira again. We can pull him off the shelf again for the next Grenada match.

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He was definitely the main problem in the game, you are right

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I definitely wouldn't say he was the biggest problem. I'm just glad to see a change.

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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The crown prince doesn't allow alcohol in the kingdom, right?

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username something something

akm91 said:

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Ugh. Wish he'd start Sargent and bring Pepi in to start the 2nd half.

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I'm hoping that means Sargent did enough to earn his spot.

Hoping.

But who the hell knows with Ggg.

On the centerback topic, I think I am ok with one of of Zimmerman or Long being in the game, but they NEED to be paired with another CB that is confident on the ball.
They just arent good enough passers to play into a organized defense when paired together, but their other strengths are good to have in the game.

I wont be surprised when Newcastle United takes the field opposite us tomorrow.

Miles Robinson injury was pretty significant for USMNT's best 11, IMO.

Mckenzie hasn't seemed skillful enough- maybe he's not ready but he might have to be. Not sure Long has fully recovered from significant injuries and that hampers him athletically. Zimmerman is adequate. Brooks is too slow in recovery runs and doesn't seem to care about the national team very much. Chris Richards seemed like the future, but untimely injuries have been really costly lately- will he even be ready for Qatar? Miazga has fallen out of favor and I'm not sure how he's doing in MLS. CCV is another one that is apparently injured right now and has had very little experience pairing with any of the others in USMNT camps.

PatAg said:

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On the centerback topic, I think I am ok with one of of Zimmerman or Long being in the game, but they NEED to be paired with another CB that is confident on the ball.

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*cough* Tim Ream *cough* *cough* John Brooks *cough*

tysker said:

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PatAg said:

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On the centerback topic, I think I am ok with one of of Zimmerman or Long being in the game, but they NEED to be paired with another CB that is confident on the ball.

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*cough* Tim Ream *cough* *cough* John Brooks *cough*

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Chris Richards, McKenzie

John Adams has about the same chance of starting for the USMNT in the WC as John Brooks does.

PatAg said:

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tysker said:

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PatAg said:

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On the centerback topic, I think I am ok with one of of Zimmerman or Long being in the game, but they NEED to be paired with another CB that is confident on the ball.

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*cough* Tim Ream *cough* *cough* John Brooks *cough*

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Chris Richards, McKenzie

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Tim Ream is captaining an EPL team. Richards isnt even playing.
I dont really care either way, I just think its funny how fans dont want to bring the players best suited for the system then complain that the system isnt working

John Brooks isn't remotely close to being the best player anymore.

Although I've heard he looked really awesome in his 1 full minute of playing time for Benfica this year, so I could be wrong.

That said, I would like to see Ream though.

IIRC, last time he was called up we used him at LB. Surely ggg would be willing to reevaluate him at CB, right? Or maybe there's bad blood now?

tysker said:

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PatAg said:

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tysker said:

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PatAg said:

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On the centerback topic, I think I am ok with one of of Zimmerman or Long being in the game, but they NEED to be paired with another CB that is confident on the ball.

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*cough* Tim Ream *cough* *cough* John Brooks *cough*

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Chris Richards, McKenzie

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Tim Ream is captaining an EPL team. Richards isnt even playing.
I dont really care either way, I just think its funny how fans dont want to bring the players best suited for the system then complain that the system isnt working

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Maybe adapt the system to fit your best players?

Zimmerman and Long are not asked to play out of the back for their clubs like Berhalter wants them to do, so they are not good fits for his system either.

Ream isn't even playing CB for Fulham. He's playing left back. I like Ream's utility. He would be in the squad for Qatar if Greggg's 3 man back line experiments over the last two years were successful at all and he thought we might need to employ that base formation at all in Qatar. If we're sticking with a 4-3-3 and have Antonee, an inter-changeable Dest from the right side, Bello, Vines, and another RB that can switch over like Scally, that's 5 fullback options that can play on the left side who are a lot faster than Ream and can make the overlapping runs and transition to the attack. If we're bringing Ream to Qatar to play left CB, it's to backup Mckenzie on the left side and assuming Brooks is done with USMNT.

oh no said:

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Ream isn't even playing CB for Fulham. He's playing left back. I like Ream's utility. He would be in the squad for Qatar if Greggg's 3 man back line experiments over the last two years were successful at all and he thought we might need to employ that base formation at all in Qatar. If we're sticking with a 4-3-3 and have Antonee, an inter-changeable Dest from the right side, Bello, Vines, and another RB that can switch over like Scally, that's 5 fullback options that can play on the left side who are a lot faster than Ream and can make the overlapping runs and transition to the attack. If we're bringing Ream to Qatar to play left CB, it's to backup Mckenzie on the left side and assuming Brooks is done with USMNT.

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To be fair, Ream is only playing LB because Jedi is injured. he normally plays CB for Fulham.

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Maybe adapt the system to fit your best players?

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So we should play a 3-7-0 ?

Aston94 said:

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tysker said:

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PatAg said:

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tysker said:

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PatAg said:

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On the centerback topic, I think I am ok with one of of Zimmerman or Long being in the game, but they NEED to be paired with another CB that is confident on the ball.

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*cough* Tim Ream *cough* *cough* John Brooks *cough*

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Chris Richards, McKenzie

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Tim Ream is captaining an EPL team. Richards isnt even playing.
I dont really care either way, I just think its funny how fans dont want to bring the players best suited for the system then complain that the system isnt working

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Maybe adapt the system to fit your best players?

Zimmerman and Long are not asked to play out of the back for their clubs like Berhalter wants them to do, so they are not good fits for his system either.

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I dont think defenders are being tasked with playing form the back as much as being able to handle a high press.

Aston94 said:

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oh no said:

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Ream isn't even playing CB for Fulham. He's playing left back. I like Ream's utility. He would be in the squad for Qatar if Greggg's 3 man back line experiments over the last two years were successful at all and he thought we might need to employ that base formation at all in Qatar. If we're sticking with a 4-3-3 and have Antonee, an inter-changeable Dest from the right side, Bello, Vines, and another RB that can switch over like Scally, that's 5 fullback options that can play on the left side who are a lot faster than Ream and can make the overlapping runs and transition to the attack. If we're bringing Ream to Qatar to play left CB, it's to backup Mckenzie on the left side and assuming Brooks is done with USMNT.

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To be fair, Ream is only playing LB because Jedi is injured. he normally plays CB for Fulham.

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Yeah… and by "normally plays CB" that's like every game except the last one.

We really do need someone left-footed over there if ggg is going to insist on playing out the back.

But I also agree that it'd be great if ggg could adapt and stop doing that when the personnel aren't suited to it.