USA National Team Watch

[InglewoodJack]

1 minute ago, Cicero said:

I think this view is already out-of-date. This thinking probably is most connected with the NBA, but here's a brief summary of 2022's top ten NBA draft picks:

1. Paolo Banchero - mother was a professional basketball player, attended private catholic high school in Seattle.
2. Chet Holmgren - father played in college, attended private high school which Jalen Suggs also attended.
3. Jabari Smith - father played in NBA.
4. Keegan Murray - father played for U of Iowa, grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
5. Jaden Ivey - mother is head women's coach at Notre Dame, played in WNBA, father played for the Baltimore Ravens.
6. Benedict Mathurin - Canadian, son of Haitian immigrants, not sure of economic status, but played many sports growing up, so it doesn't seem he was 'from the hood'.
7. Shaedon Sharpe - from London, Ontario. Not sure of econ. status, but was able to play at several US prep schools, so at least had some financial backing from somewhere. Not sure there's a 'hood' in London.
8. Dyson Daniels - Australian, son of former Australian professional basketball player.
9. Jeremy Sochan - Polish mother, grew up in US, mother played professional and US college bball, father was a college player in US.
10. Johnny Davis - father Mark played college bball, had brief stint in NBA.

You get the picture. Allan Iverson type stories are the rarity now. Middle or upper-class development pathways are the norm. I've had a small window into the bball world through my children. It's all about prep schools and rep programs. High School teams are almost irrelevant now for ambitious players. Connections through parents are clearly beneficial. I don't know about the NFL, maybe football still draws on a lower economic class than other sports.

I see what you're saying and agree, but "bring soccer to the hood" or at least the way I read it means making soccer more part of American urban (in the literal sense) culture, meaning it's the sport kids play with friends when they're younger, it's the sport that creates local legends, has a healthy high school culture, it's something young kids get excited about. Kids learning basketball these days watch IG clips from Overtime, they cheer for their school teams, it's the sport they play after school because every neighbourhood has a court- and because so many Americans have such an intimate relationship with basketball, it allows the best talent to bubble upwards, leading those players to get ID'd by elite academies, then D1 schools, so on.

I think an AI type is more likely to emerge in American soccer than American basketball though. In Basketball, you basically have one shot- NBA or bust- way fewer players see playing abroad as a viable second option vs. soccer players (vice versa). In soccer, you can still plausibly post a mixtape online and have some obscure european team give you a shot.

I can't say that I'm familiar with the background of the NBA's top 10 last year, but I will say, Benn Mathurin, son of Montreal, QC, grew up underprivileged in the east end- he himself has called it a place "rife with drugs and gang violence" himself in an article for The Athletic. Chris Boucher of the Toronto Raptors, and also of Montreal, worked at a St. Hub at 16 and was plucked out of Montreal North to go play basketball and avoid gang life. Lu Dort credits basketball as the reason his life didn't lead down a very dark path, like some of the people he grew up with, also in Montreal North, did. I guess my argument for soccer seems to be materializing with basketball!

[CanadaFan123]

I just find the body language/attitude l of some American players to be very negative. Pulisic and Reyna in particular look like they’re constantly about to throw tantrums. When things don’t go their way they always get captured with these whiny looks on their faces. Not strong characters. Contrast that with Tyler Adams and Timothy Weah who look to be real solid players/people.

[BearcatSA]

1 hour ago, Cicero said:

I don't know about the NFL, maybe football still draws on a lower economic class than other sports.

That is definitely changing at the most important position:  quarterback.  There is a lot more specialized, pay to play training there for the position and several players either attend more prestigious prep football schools or get transferred to them in their final year or two of high school before the vaunted National Letter of Intent Day signings after the bowl and all star games are done.

And with the opening of name, image, and likeness opportunities, it's a wide open frontier out there for these high profile position players to make some serious (legit, not under the table) cash even before they hit the pros.

[RS]

1 hour ago, CanadaFan123 said:

I just find the body language/attitude l of some American players to be very negative. Pulisic and Reyna in particular look like they’re constantly about to throw tantrums. When things don’t go their way they always get captured with these whiny looks on their faces. Not strong characters. Contrast that with Tyler Adams and Timothy Weah who look to be real solid players/people.

Well Reyna was nearly sent home for his attitude, so you're on to something there. Pulisic I think it's more of a frustration thing whereas Reyna seems to think he's good enough to coast along.

There's a video of the American team returning to their hotel after advancing to the round of 16 and their fans are going nuts. Players are hamming it up along with the fans, including Pulisic who had a massive grin on his face, hugging his teammates, etc., meanwhile Reyna was stone-faced with his giant headphones on interacting with no one despite being surrounded by hundreds of people. 

[SpursFlu]

My observation is Reyna is a spoiled brat. Even the US soccer media was giving him a bit of a break and the benefit of the doubt. They even leaked some info that clearly came thru his father during the tournament that suggested Barhalter was a dumb dumb. US soccer media totally bit on it.

Look, you're playing for your country. You're like 21 yrs old and haven't done a whole lot yet. Be a team player with bells on. Don't walk around with a gas face because you're daddy is Mr Important and you think you're Messi 

[Ansem]

 

 

[SpursFlu]

4 hours ago, Cicero said:

I think this view is already out-of-date. This thinking probably is most connected with the NBA, but here's a brief summary of 2022's top ten NBA draft picks:

1. Paolo Banchero - mother was a professional basketball player, attended private catholic high school in Seattle.
2. Chet Holmgren - father played in college, attended private high school which Jalen Suggs also attended.
3. Jabari Smith - father played in NBA.
4. Keegan Murray - father played for U of Iowa, grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
5. Jaden Ivey - mother is head women's coach at Notre Dame, played in WNBA, father played for the Baltimore Ravens.
6. Benedict Mathurin - Canadian, son of Haitian immigrants, not sure of economic status, but played many sports growing up, so it doesn't seem he was 'from the hood'.
7. Shaedon Sharpe - from London, Ontario. Not sure of econ. status, but was able to play at several US prep schools, so at least had some financial backing from somewhere. Not sure there's a 'hood' in London.
8. Dyson Daniels - Australian, son of former Australian professional basketball player.
9. Jeremy Sochan - Polish mother, grew up in US, mother played professional and US college bball, father was a college player in US.
10. Johnny Davis - father Mark played college bball, had brief stint in NBA.

You get the picture. Allan Iverson type stories are the rarity now. Middle or upper-class development pathways are the norm. I've had a small window into the bball world through my children. It's all about prep schools and rep programs. High School teams are almost irrelevant now for ambitious players. Connections through parents are clearly beneficial. I don't know about the NFL, maybe football still draws on a lower economic class than other sports.

It's also because they're are only so many 6'7 + people on the planet. Basketball is more a freakshow than anything else.

This whole if if if argument is the most self centered pointless conversation arrogant, ignorant stance. Nobody cares about what you didn't do

[toontownman]

Well Berhalter will be out sooner or later. Likely sooner.

[Obinna]

I don't think Berhalter has figured out how to use Reyna. He's not a winger and he (Berhalter) is not willing to play him in the middle of the field at the expense of Musah and McKennie, which I can kind of understand. I don't really know what the solution is besides bringing Reyna on late in games for Mckennie or Musah.

This is all with respect to games outside of concacaf. Inside of the region there is no issue. Reyna is good enough out wide to play there, and the USA being head and shoulders above most teams means you can drop McKennie or Musah and not lose a whole lot. In fact, with teams bunkering Reyna is arguably the way to go when the USMNT have posession. Problem was/is that against better teams they wont.

[CanMNT Memes]

Me whenever US news drops and USMNT Twitter has a meltdown

[CanadaFan123]

21 hours ago, Ansem said:

 

 

Nice that he addresses what we all knew - he’s a brat. An injury prone 20 year old who has scored one competitive goal for his country felt entitled to start and showed what a baby he is when that wasn’t to be. Nice advertisement for future suitors.

[trc2014]

Interesting to compare this dressing room to Canada’s where barely anything  leaked on the Arfield situation for nearly a two year period.

[Bison44]

2 hours ago, trc2014 said:

Interesting to compare this dressing room to Canada’s where barely anything  leaked on the Arfield situation for nearly a two year period.

Exactly!!  For anyone saying Arfield is cancer and the team hate him..etc look at this mess down south.  What did we have? Some comments from his manager hinting he should stop travelling half way around the world to play \st kitts at his age/health, the skipped camps/minnow games, the usual "i need to solidify my club situation" comments, a "no cap" tweet from Hoilett and herdmans vague stories of a fight and strife between what he perceived as "cliques" in his first camp in charge.  Then the strange retirement and him sitting on his ass watching, when we could have used someone of his quality for about 20mins to pull some champions league move and pot us a goal to get a draw against Belgium.  

This shit with Reyna is big time primma donna, player manager strife.  As we get bigger and bigger stars, I imagine we'll start to have more and more of this kind of problem for our manager to deal with.  

[Bigandy]

45 minutes ago, Bison44 said:

Exactly!!  For anyone saying Arfield is cancer and the team hate him..etc look at this mess down south.  What did we have? Some comments from his manager hinting he should stop travelling half way around the world to play \st kitts at his age/health, the skipped camps/minnow games, the usual "i need to solidify my club situation" comments, a "no cap" tweet from Hoilett and herdmans vague stories of a fight and strife between what he perceived as "cliques" in his first camp in charge.  Then the strange retirement and him sitting on his ass watching, when we could have used someone of his quality for about 20mins to pull some champions league move and pot us a goal to get a draw against Belgium.  

This shit with Reyna is big time primma donna, player manager strife.  As we get bigger and bigger stars, I imagine we'll start to have more and more of this kind of problem for our manager to deal with.  

Are you implying that because the USA had a huge mess, that we should forget our mess? Just because our mess is not publicized like the USA chose to do, doesnt mean our mess is minor. Even if the USA has a bigger mess, doesnt mean we should not deal with our mess properly. 

Maybe i am misunderstanding but it feels like you are saying, "When you look at the USA issue and the conclusion is that its not so bad to include arfield for our WC squad."

Pros:
-I would argue that Arfields inclusion could maybe, hypothetically have scored a goal.... but unlikely. If our World class players who are much better finishers cant get the job done, then I dont think its guaranteed that arfield will be able to accomplish much more. 
-Better build up play, maybe? 

Cons:
-We disrupt the entire team balance tactically as arfield has not been part of any preparation. 
-We divide the squad into those who dont want him and those that are ok with his inclusion.
-We set a precedent that players do not need to ever play in concacaf away games and they will still be able to go to the world cup....even after they retire internationally. Why would any star ever consider playing away to haiti or st kitts etc. with this precedent.
-We most likely have to sacrifice buchanan, laryea, or hoilett to include him in our starting 11. Otherwise he is a substitute. 

Getting players to commit to WCQ matches is how this current team was built. We had many duals commit and got all of our star players willing to go to war in concacaf.....except arfield. The inclusion of arfield in hopes that he maybe scores one goal, is not worth the risk that we no longer get our duals and stars committing to the qualifying process. 

[Bison44]

I'm saying Reyna and the USA, that is a real shit show. Us speculating about a guy maybe coming out of international retirement (to make up for midfield injuries)  and maybe play a small roll is not, its a blip to a big program.  Complaining about your car needing a wash when the neighbor was in a fender bender is silly. 

Plus I still dont get where all this, locker room cancer and the team is split on those who want him and dont etc.  Is that right out someones ass?  And as for duals...the most important of duals lately (Eustaquio), didnt he commit to canada in 2019 when Arfield was still our captain???  

[jonovision]

 

[Acid-Tone]

Just absolutely bonkers what this whole Berhalter/Reyna story has turned in to!

Greg's contract ran out on Jan. 1st, but they have yet to announce whether they intend to re-sign him. 

Now Gregg has accused the Reyna's of blackmail!

It's getting U G L Y

[VinceA]

also love how the USA is doing a camp while Bontis and co are patting themselves on the back and going dormant until March. ridiculous we aren't doing a January camp.

you'd think getting humbled at the WC would make the CSA and Herdman get to work.

Edited January 4, 2023 by VinceA

[InglewoodJack]

Damn, Reyna’s mom and Berhalter’s wife were teammates at UNC. Looks like their families are quite close, he must’ve felt betrayed when Berhalter reduced his WC role. Obviously not an excuse for the rest of this stuff.

21 minutes ago, VinceA said:

also love how the USA is doing a camp while Bontis and co are patting themselves on the back and going dormant until March. ridiculous we aren't doing a January camp.

you'd think getting humbled at the WC would make the CSA and Herdman get to work.

Yeah but did you know in 2021 no other team increased their fifa rank more than Canada so

[Bison44]

We have enough MLS guys in their offseason now, who are close to CMNT levels we should defineately have a camp poutine. The main group of regulars have played a lot of football and plenty prob dont want to come to a poutine camp, but there are plenty that could use a camp to jumpstart the MLS season and get incorporated into Herdmans system. Even if they didnt spend the bucks to bring over anyone from europe...you could still field a pretty good team for a mid-level friendly. JRR, Farsi, Shaff, Akinola, CHoiniere, ZBG, Mcnaughton, Rapaso, Pantemis, StClair, Nelsen....stick them with any vets that arent burnt out from WC...Cav, Henry, Lareya, Tiebert, Piette, Oso, kaye, Waterman etc.  Even toss in a CPL guy or two.  

Sometimes it almost seems like Herdman isnt all that interested in bringing in new guys.  .  

[red card]

Anthony Hudson is the new manager of the US. He was 8–26–9 which makes him the statistical worst coach in Rapids history at the time.

Athletic is saying Gio Reyna's mother contacted USSF during the World Cup. She was also a college roommate of Greg's wife.

... “I have known Earnie (Stewart) for years and consider him to be a close friend. I wanted to let him know that I was absolutely outraged and devasted that Gio had been put in such a terrible position, and that I felt very personally betrayed by the actions of someone my family had considered a friend for decades.

I told Earnie that I thought it was especially unfair that Gio, who had apologized for acting immaturely about his playing time, was still being dragged through the mud when Gregg had asked for and received forgiveness for doing something so much worse at the same age. Without going into detail, the statements (from GGG & his wife) from yesterday significantly minimize the abuse on the night in question. Rosalind Berhalter was my roommate, teammate and best friend, and I supported her through the trauma that followed. It took a long time for me to forgive and accept Gregg afterward, but I worked hard to give him grace, and ultimately made both of them and their kids a huge part of my family’s life. I would have wanted and expected him to give the same grace to Gio. This is why the current situation is so very hurtful and hard.”

..But I want to be very clear that I did not ask for Gregg to be fired, I did not make any threats, and I don’t know anything about any blackmail attempts, nor have I ever had any discussions about anyone else on Gregg’s staff — I don’t know any of the other coaches.

 

[Obinna]

Anthony Hudson (soccer) - Wikipedia

[Shway]

1 hour ago, VinceA said:

also love how the USA is doing a camp while Bontis and co are patting themselves on the back and going dormant until March. ridiculous we aren't doing a January camp.

you'd think getting humbled at the WC would make the CSA and Herdman get to work.

This is the nervous part I have about March. If we don’t get the results we need, I’m not calling for JH to be sacked….but we’ll have to start question if can still motivate the boys. 

[Acid-Tone]

All this because U.S. Soccer executive officer Jay Berhalter got his brother hired as manager! 

 

Nepo babies continue to wreak havoc!

[Shway]

1 minute ago, Acid-Tone said:

All this because U.S. Soccer executive officer Jay Berhalter got his brother hired as manager! 

 

Nepo babies continue to wreak havoc!

No this is all because he did a OTR and aired out the guy who everybody knew he was talking about.  

That’s some sad shit from your leader.