Guest Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 4 hours ago, mrstepp817 said: IMO the US has decent depth but very few elite guys so the difference between the A and B teams isn't much.... Meanwhile Germany's C? team wins the Confed Cup...yeesh Germany B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harrycoyster Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 5 hours ago, mrstepp817 said: IMO the US has decent depth but very few elite guys so the difference between the A and B teams isn't much.... I think Pulisic, Brooks, Yedlin and arguably Bradley are pretty elite as far as CONCACAF is concerned. They'd all be in a CONCACAF Best 18 team. There is a huge drop off from the A team at CB (Brooks, Cameron -> Besler, Hedges), AM (Pulisic -> Rowe/that Tijuana player they played against Ghana). Dwyer and Morris are also clearly not as good as Altidore and Wood. Why the US called in Morris and Agedelo over Sapong and Ramirez is...perplexing. Everywhere else the drop off is noticeable, but much smaller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 10 hours ago, harrycoyster said: I think Pulisic, Brooks, Yedlin and arguably Bradley are pretty elite as far as CONCACAF is concerned. They'd all be in a CONCACAF Best 18 team. There is a huge drop off from the A team at CB (Brooks, Cameron -> Besler, Hedges), AM (Pulisic -> Rowe/that Tijuana player they played against Ghana). Dwyer and Morris are also clearly not as good as Altidore and Wood. Why the US called in Morris and Agedelo over Sapong and Ramirez is...perplexing. Everywhere else the drop off is noticeable, but much smaller. You could argue that Yedlin could make a best 18 CONCACAF team, but I wouldn't say he is an elite player at his position. Paul Aguilar (Club America), Christian Gamboa (Celtic) are arguably just as capable. Same for Brooks. You have three Mexican centre backs who are all of similar quality: Reyes (Espanyol), Moreno (Roma), Salcedo (Eintract Frankfurt) - Moreno is my personal favorite. As for Costa Ricans, Duarte (Espanyol) and Gonzalez (Bologna) are high level players also. Even within the US squad, Brooks has the highest upside given his age, but he's not elite compared to Cameron or Gonzalez. Better? Arguably yes, but I wouldn't say he is elite. The only player in the US team who I would say is an "elite" player is Pulisic. He is head and shoulders above any of the other US attackers, would probably make a starting 11 of Mexico (who I think are undisputed number 1 in the region), and would undoubtedly make a best 18 CONCACAF team. So that is 1 elite player from the US, but from Mexico you have: Chicharito, Corona and arguably Vela who are truly "elite" players. I'm tempted to put Hector Hererra into that group as well, but I think his American counterpart Michael Bradley is arguably just as effective. All in all, I think you have a noticeable drop off from a first choice US starting 11, but the rest of the players are easily rotatable with not much of a dip in quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrstepp817 Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 Pulisic is already an elite player....I think Cameron and Brooks are both elite as well so I agree on the CB deal but after that I think a lot of the guys are fairly interchangeable...I think Bradley at one time was elite but he's fallen off some with age.... I am excited about hopefully going to the game vs. Honduras on July 14....might get a #FH shirt made for the game...glad its a 9pm kick, the heat won't be as oppressive.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harrycoyster Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 2 hours ago, Obinna said: You could argue that Yedlin could make a best 18 CONCACAF team, but I wouldn't say he is an elite player at his position. Paul Aguilar (Club America), Christian Gamboa (Celtic) are arguably just as capable. Same for Brooks. You have three Mexican centre backs who are all of similar quality: Reyes (Espanyol), Moreno (Roma), Salcedo (Eintract Frankfurt) - Moreno is my personal favorite. As for Costa Ricans, Duarte (Espanyol) and Gonzalez (Bologna) are high level players also. Even within the US squad, Brooks has the highest upside given his age, but he's not elite compared to Cameron or Gonzalez. Better? Arguably yes, but I wouldn't say he is elite. Perhaps Aguilar would start over Yedlin when healthy, but Yedlin definitely makes the team. Gamboa is basically a RW at this point. He plays so far up the field and is the least defensively stable of the three...which is saying something. There is an argument about how well they play for their countries, but Brooks is the clear second best CB in CONCACAF after Moreno for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gian-Luca Posted July 4, 2017 Author Share Posted July 4, 2017 MLS website preview: https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/07/04/2017-concacaf-gold-cup-your-ultimate-guide-north-americas-tournament Hadn't noticed that, at the moment (assuming the article is accurate) we are the lowest FIFA-ranked team in the tourney. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king1010 Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 1 hour ago, Gian-Luca said: MLS website preview: https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/07/04/2017-concacaf-gold-cup-your-ultimate-guide-north-americas-tournament Hadn't noticed that, at the moment (assuming the article is accurate) we are the lowest FIFA-ranked team in the tourney. Quite the MLS slant. Arfield isnt mentioned anywhere in the top 3 stars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1996 Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 What has he done so far with Canada that he should be considered a star? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 8 minutes ago, 1996 said: What has he done so far with Canada that he should be considered a star? You can say the same about Jackson-Hamel and Davies. Arfield is clearly one of our top players. He is our only EPL player. This is just poor / lazy analysis on their part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpg75 Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 49 minutes ago, king1010 said: Quite the MLS slant. Arfield isnt mentioned anywhere in the top 3 stars. Ridiculous, the guy did a botch job. Bernier and De Jong are the recognizable faces....Edwards, Davies and AJH are rising stars. So who are the "Top 3 Stars"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 2 hours ago, 1996 said: What has he done so far with Canada that he should be considered a star? He has made the Brits remember that Canadians play soccer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koolvid Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 On 7/3/2017 at 1:13 PM, Obinna said: You could argue that Yedlin could make a best 18 CONCACAF team, but I wouldn't say he is an elite player at his position. Paul Aguilar (Club America), Christian Gamboa (Celtic) are arguably just as capable. Same for Brooks. You have three Mexican centre backs who are all of similar quality: Reyes (Espanyol), Moreno (Roma), Salcedo (Eintract Frankfurt) - Moreno is my personal favorite. As for Costa Ricans, Duarte (Espanyol) and Gonzalez (Bologna) are high level players also. Even within the US squad, Brooks has the highest upside given his age, but he's not elite compared to Cameron or Gonzalez. Better? Arguably yes, but I wouldn't say he is elite. The only player in the US team who I would say is an "elite" player is Pulisic. He is head and shoulders above any of the other US attackers, would probably make a starting 11 of Mexico (who I think are undisputed number 1 in the region), and would undoubtedly make a best 18 CONCACAF team. So that is 1 elite player from the US, but from Mexico you have: Chicharito, Corona and arguably Vela who are truly "elite" players. I'm tempted to put Hector Hererra into that group as well, but I think his American counterpart Michael Bradley is arguably just as effective. All in all, I think you have a noticeable drop off from a first choice US starting 11, but the rest of the players are easily rotatable with not much of a dip in quality. Vela and Chicharito are elite players. Vela to me is far more dangerous and complete than Chicharito but you can't argue with chichs resume/scoring volume. Corona is far from elite and extremely inconsistent, hence why he's on the bench quite often for Porto. Herrera while captain for porto hardly look elite for Mexico consistently and gets a lot of slack from Porto as well. I'm far more scared of Guardado then Herrera. I guess all in all it depends on what you mean by elite. Elite by concacaf standards or global? The only elite player globally in the Concacaf is Keylor and possibly Chich. The rest are just the regular quality player found all around Europe. Pulisic is one of the best prospects for his age globally but isn't elite yet. But if we're talking elite in terms of showing elite play in concacaf competition then Cheech, Dempsey, Guardado, Bryan Ruiz are probably the top today. Just like Landon Donovan and Paulo Wanchope would be an all time CONCACAF elites who terrorized CONCACAF teams regularly. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenFisk'sBiggestFan Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 2 hours ago, Obinna said: You can say the same about Jackson-Hamel and Davies. Arfield is clearly one of our top players. He is our only EPL player. This is just poor / lazy analysis on their part. The MLS doesn't ever report properly. They always talk up their players and then conveniently don't mention the players from better leagues. Of course, it does "make them look good" to those who don't know any better. I think that is one of the reasons the MLS gets laughed at so much by people who do know better though. It certainly appeals to those who don't follow soccer closely. Although their reporting has helped shaped the whole anti-MLS crowd's opinions. But just like America the country we love them because... well, we don't have much better... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koolvid Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 Holy pepperonis the salvadoran messi is back from his ban, Rodolfo Zelaya. Let's take a look at his goals in the previous Gold cup's before his ban. NSFW free kick goal against Keylor Navas at 0:30: Also lol at the last goal where he embarrasses the entire USA back line Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rheo Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 MLS preview of the French Guiana game https://www.mlssoccer.com/es/post/2017/07/04/french-guiana-vs-canada-2017-gold-cup-match-preview Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ngravs Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 I'm excited to watch Honduras v Costa Rica see what they'll bring before we play them. Should we be hoping for a tie or that Costa Rica run the tables and we go for second? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpg75 Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 "Canada's best attacking talents come in the person of explosive 16-year-old Alphonso Davies (Vancouver Whitecaps), speedy 21-year-old Raheem Edwards (Toronto FC) and powerful 23-year-old forward Anthony Jackson-Hamel " They did it again. So this confirms the main preview was in fact stating our top guys are Davies, Edwards and AJH. Clueless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
king1010 Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 28 minutes ago, jpg75 said: "Canada's best attacking talents come in the person of explosive 16-year-old Alphonso Davies (Vancouver Whitecaps), speedy 21-year-old Raheem Edwards (Toronto FC) and powerful 23-year-old forward Anthony Jackson-Hamel " They did it again. So this confirms the main preview was in fact stating our top guys are Davies, Edwards and AJH. Clueless. is this an MLS players only tournament? reading that article you'd think so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rheo Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 6 minutes ago, king1010 said: is this an MLS players only tournament? reading that article you'd think so. Well it is from the MLS website so I'm not surprised that they'd be highlighting the MLS players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpg75 Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 7 minutes ago, Rheo said: Well it is from the MLS website so I'm not surprised that they'd be highlighting the MLS players. It's not surprising, but it doesn't make it right. If it was an article from N. Korea with that amount of misinformation we'd laugh condescendingly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rheo Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 Just now, jpg75 said: It's not surprising, but it doesn't make it right. If it was an article from N. Korea with that amount of misinformation we'd laugh condescendingly. I don't see anything wrong with it. They're gearing it towards their demographic. Besides it's not really factually wrong. There more action/interest on the three named players' threads here than anyone else on the team other than possibly Cavallini. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpg75 Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 8 minutes ago, Rheo said: I don't see anything wrong with it. They're gearing it towards their demographic. Besides it's not really factually wrong. There more action/interest on the three named players' threads here than anyone else on the team other than possibly Cavallini. Obviously you're not aware of the "Importance of Junior Hoilett" lol... And it is factually incorrect, in the first preview article they mention Davies, Edwards and AJH in our "Top 3 Stars" column - which they are not. Arfield and Hoilett are certainly better players, Borjan too and there's your 3 stars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruffian Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 This Sportsnet article has a similar tone with the young MLS players but does mention Arfield and Hoilett http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/concacaf-gold-cup-canada-octavio-zambrano-cyle-larin-mexico-united-states-panama-honduras/ This writer has AJH as the starting striker and not Cavallini. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rheo Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 6 minutes ago, jpg75 said: Obviously you're not aware of the "Importance of Junior Hoilett" lol... And it is factually incorrect, in the first preview article they mention Davies, Edwards and AJH in our "Top 3 Stars" column - which they are not. Arfield and Hoilett are certainly better players, Borjan too and there's your 3 stars. It's an opinion. Someone there thinks it's those three. You might think it's a different three. I might think it's another three guys. There is no hard "fact" of who the three biggest stars for Canada are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackdude Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 2 minutes ago, Rheo said: It's an opinion. Someone there thinks it's those three. You might think it's a different three. I might think it's another three guys. There is no hard "fact" of who the three biggest stars for Canada are. I don't think it's an opinion. I think it's more of MLS propaganda than an opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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