Canada vs. United States (Nations League A) Tuesday, Oct. 15th, 2019 - 7:30pm EST

[Obinna]

17 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

@ObinnaMiller has actually only come off the bench twice and started 13 appearances.  Still, I think he’s a bit too inexperienced to rely on. 

Would have really felt a lot more comfortable with Edgar, James or Straith as added cover.  

Yeah right you are. He hasn't played a lot of matches, but when he has played it has been mostly starts.

At least we have Vitoria as a steady hand back there, right?

[goleafs67]

USMNT roster released. Jozy and Bradley called so hopefully draws in more TFC fans

 

 

[Ngravs]

We can beat this squad. https://t.co/2IsK8GvLCX?amp=1

[Alex]

USMNT ROSTER BY POSITION (CLUB; CAPS/GOALS):

GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Atlanta United FC; 61/0), Sean Johnson (New York City FC; 8/0), Zack Steffen (Fortuna Düsseldorf/GER; 16/0)

DEFENDERS (8): Reggie Cannon (FC Dallas; 8/0), Nick Lima (San Jose Earthquakes; 8/0), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls; 13/2), Daniel Lovitz (Montreal Impact/CAN; 10/0), Matt Miazga (Reading/ENG; 17/1), Tim Ream (Fulham/ENG; 36/1), DeAndre Yedlin (Newcastle United/ENG; 59/0), Walker Zimmerman (LAFC; 11/2)

MIDFIELDERS (8): Brenden Aaronson (Philadelphia Union; 0/0), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC/CAN; 150/17), Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy; 11/2), Weston McKennie (Schalke/GER; 15/3), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea/ENG; 32/13), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders FC; 16/0), Wil Trapp (Columbus Crew SC; 20/0), Jackson Yueill (San Jose Earthquakes; 3/0)

FORWARDS (7): Jozy Altidore (Toronto FC/CAN; 115/42), Paul Arriola (D.C. United; 28/5), Corey Baird (Real Salt Lake; 4/0), Tyler Boyd (Besiktas/TUR; 7/2), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders FC; 35/6), Josh Sargent (Werder Bremen/GER; 9/2), Gyasi Zardes (Columbus Crew SC; 53/10)

[Alex]

Honest question, Berhalter is getting ripped apart on Twitter, who is left off or who is on the team that the American fans don’t like? 

[CanadaFan123]

Anyone know who is in the actual 23 man squad for them?  Surely can’t be calling 26 for official matches.

Nonetheless it’s a strong squad for the Americans but I think with the home field we have a slight advantage.  Feels weird saying that but I’m just being honest.  

Lucky for us their attacking options are the weakest part of the squad (sans Pulisic). 

Edited October 2, 2019 by CanadaFan123

[Floortom]

Dest not on the squad. Guess he won’t commit to the US just yet.

no Tyler Adams is a break for us too. 

[CanadaFan123]

1 minute ago, Floortom said:

Dest not on the squad. Guess he won’t commit to the US just yet.

no Tyler Adams is a break for us too. 

He’s their Fikyao Tomori, unlikely he plays for them IMO and if he does it won’t be for a while. 

[lazlo_80]

25 minutes ago, Alex said:

Honest question, Berhalter is getting ripped apart on Twitter, who is left off or who is on the team that the American fans don’t like? 

there's a piece here and there that could've been called up but this IS the team these days.

Alot of people are probably pissed about Dest.

[dyslexic nam]

No idea if we win, but it is nice to see a squad announced and recognize that the majority of them are good MLS players. A few guys affiliated with big clubs but on paper we have no reason to be scared of this team. That are absolutely beatable. 

[Alex]

I’ve gone through the comments on the USMNT twitter and the consensus seems to be that Zardes, Trapp, Roldan, Lovitz and Bradley are terrible. 

[Olympique_de_Marseille]

53 minutes ago, Alex said:

MIDFIELDERS (8): Brenden Aaronson (Philadelphia Union; 0/0)

They will likely cap-tie him vs Cuba; wonderful opportunity to give him minutes because Cuba will be easy work for them at home just like it was for us.

Bradley and Altidore will start at BMO Field.

[BuzzAndSting]

Has anyone found odds for this match yet? I've searched a little but can't find anything, I assume it will be a couple days.

[lazlo_80]

17 minutes ago, Alex said:

I’ve gone through the comments on the USMNT twitter and the consensus seems to be that Zardes, Trapp, Roldan, Lovitz and Bradley are terrible. 

interesting. Bradley is replaced by Tyler Adams if he's healthy, which he isn't.

Zardes is a depth play. Its all Altidore and Sargent at this point.

[Obinna]

1 hour ago, Alex said:

Honest question, Berhalter is getting ripped apart on Twitter, who is left off or who is on the team that the American fans don’t like? 

I have been lurking on big soccer and reddit. They are certainly a dejected bunch and the angst of missing the world cup remains with them. 

I get their frustration with calling players like Zardes and Trapp and even Bradley.

They would rather call up young prospects (some I understand are still playing youth ball), but if you're GB you must call up the best players and sprinkle in the prospects. That's the reasonable thing to do, but fans are largely unreasonable and want radical change. 

Sadly for them, they just aren't as good as they use to be. There are no top level vets in good form, such as Dempsey or Donavan, to lean on. 

Sure, they have some very good young players, such as Pulisic and McKennie and Adams and Sargent, but young is the operative word. They are attached to big clubs, but Pulisic (not playing), Sargent (not playing enough), McKennie (plays in a different role each week) and Adams (injured) each have issues they are working through.

Edited October 2, 2019 by Obinna

[Floortom]

49 minutes ago, CanadaFan123 said:

He’s their Fikyao Tomori, unlikely he plays for them IMO and if he does it won’t be for a while. 

Good comparison. An Ajax starter at 18 years old. He has to be firmly on the Dutch radar now. 

[apbsmith]

13 hours ago, Obinna said:

I'm very curious to know how our fullbacks will fare.

Miller has largely been coming off the bench this season, but he's always looked up to the task this year in MLS. Same with Richie Layrea, although I would argue that while Miller has looked good in his limited time, Richie has looked great at times. 

I am particularly interested to see if Adekugbe can hang. He's been in and out of the program for a few years now. This will be his biggest test, should he play. He's been a starter at a decent side in Norway for a couple of seasons now. Will some of the best wingers in MLS prove to be too much? Arriola, Morris and even Baird are all good players with a lot of pace and power. 

 

Good points, and I'm assuming Arriola is likely going to get the start? 

ZBG owned Arriola's soul that night in 1v1 defending in a 0-0 draw, some pretty impressive highlights by ZBG that night, especially vs Arriola. 

https://mobile.twitter.com/impactmontreal/status/1115775108323397633

(Scroll down for Arriola tackle).

Anyways, need to focus at task at hand and players called in, so hopefully Layrea will have no issues being up to the task.

Edited October 2, 2019 by apbsmith

[Obinna]

8 minutes ago, apbsmith said:

Good points, and I'm assuming Arriola is likely going to get the start? 

ZBG owned Arriola's soul that night in 1v1 defending in a 0-0 draw, some pretty impressive highlights by ZBG that night, especially vs Arriola. 

 

So hopefully Layrea will have no issues being up to the task.

I think Arriola will start and so will Pulisic. 

However, one of them will probably play as the CAM.

Arriola has been used as a no. 10 recently, according to Matt Doyle. Meanwhile, Pulisic was not listed as a forward, but that could mean nothing (though he did play as a no. 10 against Mexico in the GF final).

The other winger will be one of Boyd/Baird/Morris. My guess is that it will be Morris, just based on his recent form for Seattle.

[red card]

24 minutes ago, Obinna said:

 

I get their frustration with calling players like Zardes and Trapp and even Bradley.

They would rather call up young prospects (some I understand are still playing youth ball), but if you're GB you must call up the best players and sprinkle in the prospects. That's the reasonable thing to do, but fans are largely unreasonable and want radical change. 

Sadly for them, they just aren't as good as they use to be. There are no top level vets in good form, such as Dempsey or Donavan, to lean on. 

 

The "Beerholder" as some call him has lost the confidence of about 75% of the supporters because they're still scarred from not qualifying, didn't like the USSF hiring process, he's from the MLS and the team has been so-so to poor in the matches under him so far.

Many of the supporters' frustration is mostly due to the fact they don't want the old guard that failed to qualify be selected anymore and have unrealistic expectations about how ready their young prospects are. 

Though Pulisic not playing at Chelsea has finally been a reality check for many. Sargent has underperformed at Bremen. Only player they over hype now is Steffen.

They're also upset players like Dest and a couple of Mexican-Americans  aren't selected as some fail to realize that these players aren't yet ready to commit.

[Obinna]

10 minutes ago, red card said:

The "Beerholder" as some call him has lost the confidence of about 75% of the supporters because they're still scarred from not qualifying, didn't like the USSF hiring process, he's from the MLS and the team has been so-so to poor in the matches under him so far.

Many of the supporters' frustration is mostly due to the fact they don't want the old guard that failed to qualify be selected anymore and have unrealistic expectations about how ready their young prospects are. 

Though Pulisic not playing at Chelsea has finally been a reality check for many. Sargent has underperformed at Bremen. Only player they over hype now is Steffen.

They're also upset players like Dest and a couple of Mexican-Americans  aren't selected as some fail to realize that these players aren't yet ready to commit.

Agree with your analysis. I would say though that some still overhype Sargent.

Matt Doyle has recently taken any chance he can find to label Sargent a "Bundesliga starter", because he has now stung together a couple of starts.

That is text book overexaggeration on his part. If he can hold down a starting role until xmas, then we can talk...

[Big_M]

Berhalter bringing usa lower and lower list after list with his love for mls..baird lovitz...and never letting go of his crew sidekicks trapp and zardes..could be good for us but still if they give good balls to altidore pulisic we could be in big trouble at the back..usa fans can only wish klinsmann was their coach now..this guy has absolutely no idea what hes doing

[Bison44]

3 hours ago, Alex said:

I’ve gone through the comments on the USMNT twitter and the consensus seems to be that Zardes, Trapp, Roldan, Lovitz and Bradley are terrible. 

Isnt that always the case.  Its easy to say who you think is terrible, but a little harder to come up with 4-5 guys to replace them that will be any better.  

[dyslexic nam]

36 minutes ago, Bison44 said:

Isnt that always the case.  Its easy to say who you think is terrible, but a little harder to come up with 4-5 guys to replace them that will be any better.  

Unless you are Special K

[Bertuzzi44]

On 10/1/2019 at 11:05 AM, Blackdude said:

James: hasn't played for his club since mid-August

He played 90 minutes for FC Midtjylland less than a week ago.

I would have liked to see James called in. He's always performed well for Canada, is a big threat on set pieces, and currently plays at the highest level of all Canadian CBs (albiet not as often as we'd like). He's still one of our best CBs IMO. 

Also Davies > Hoilett. Have people already forgetten how Davies dominated the MLS as a LW as an 17/18 year old?! 8 league goals for VWFC that season, who knows what he would have done had he stayed and, you know, not gone to BAYERN MUNICH....

[Obinna]

34 minutes ago, Bertuzzi44 said:

He played 90 minutes for FC Midtjylland less than a week ago.

I would have liked to see James called in. He's always performed well for Canada, is a big threat on set pieces, and currently plays at the highest level of all Canadian CBs (albiet not as often as we'd like). He's still one of our best CBs IMO. 

"plays"