We're less than two weeks away from the start of this weird, winter World Cup.

Now that the squads have been announced, let's chop up rosters (who is in and who is out), predictions, news, etc.

i mean, first, i don't think Gregg Berhalter has proven he knows what he's doing, so it kinda starts there.

like, i could see this team, based more on coaching than talent, going to Qatar and not winning a game. i could also see them getting to the quarterfinals. that last one? definitely HARDER to see, but i just feel like the USMNT is randomness on a pitch at this point, so anything could happen.

As far as squad thoughts:

- good he left off Steffen

- not really mad at the defensive selection, its more about who will play (back to coaching, ugghh)

- not mad about the midfielders. in midfield we kinda have to make do so thats pretty much who you gotta take.

- forwards? mostly the right names are there, but (and remember Sounders are my team) how you select Jordan Morris over Pefok...HOW SWAY??!?!? or Pepi? look, i know Pepi might not be in form, but Morris ain't all that in form either, and Pepi at least has done things for you on the national stage, same with Pefok. edit: also, it has to be said, when you're trying to woo Mexican-American talent, it's a bad look to young players to leave off Pepi, who committed to Berhalter and the USMNT. you're gonna wanna see that committment come back the other direction. picking Pepi over Morris isn't even a tough decision especially taking that into consideration.

i can't wait until the Berhalter era is over. as much as i want him to succeed, i was half rooting for Jesse Marsh to quickly fail at Leeds so he could take over.

scoring in Eredivisie, including against PSV, so it's not like hes feasting on the bottom of the table

Morris and Jesus Ferreira are a little confusing

also confusing was the consternation about Tim Ream. hes performing in the PL. put him between Zimmerman and his Fulham partner, and ride with it.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

i hadn't heard much lately. sadly, if what you're saying is true, this makes it even worse in light of my edit.

and yeah, while i'm not "mad" at it, not a Ferriera fan.

like, we're not the MLS team anymore. you don't have to pick MLS guys just to show loyalty...plus, there are other MLS guys there already.

definitely should have been Pefok and Pepi over Morris and Ferriera (pretty sure i keep spelling that wrong).

Callum Wilson and Connor Coady over Tammy Abraham and Scudetto winner Fiyoko Tomori?

ok then

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

but i see a lot of English fans PISSED over Tomori.

i saw a tweet that pretty much summed it up. something like "if Tomori was named Frank Taylor, he'd be on the squad."

sounds about right....er, white.

but i could at least understand that

the idea that it would be better for Tomori to be with Wolves than AC fucking Milan is incomprehensible to me

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

i feel like it's a LITTLE true...like 5%, but the 95% is DEFINITELY that he's not plying his trade in the EPL.

the FA has ALWAYS been HEAVILY biased to English players playing in England. but yeah, that's obviously horseshit.

<--- Big Baller World Order

He was fantastic filling in when Maguire missed the first two group games of the Euros, and if Maguire can continue to get called back, Mings absolutely should.

That said, I'm happy he gets to enjoy the mini-preseason soaking up that Emery knowledge.

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Photo zine(some images NSFW): http://bit.ly/USaSPhoto

"This (and every, actually) conversation needs more Chesterton and less Mike Francesa." - Walleye

>
>- forwards? mostly the right names are there, but (and
>remember Sounders are my team) how you select Jordan Morris
>over Pefok...HOW SWAY??!?!? or Pepi? look, i know Pepi might
>not be in form, but Morris ain't all that in form either, and
>Pepi at least has done things for you on the national stage,
>same with Pefok. edit: also, it has to be said, when you're
>trying to woo Mexican-American talent, it's a bad look to
>young players to leave off Pepi, who committed to Berhalter
>and the USMNT. you're gonna wanna see that committment come
>back the other direction. picking Pepi over Morris isn't even
>a tough decision especially taking that into consideration.

Right...

>i can't wait until the Berhalter era is over. as much as i
>want him to succeed, i was half rooting for Jesse Marsh to
>quickly fail at Leeds so he could take over.

^^

I will not support this year’s World Cup in any form or fashion. The entire
Infrastructure of the World Cup was built by immigrant workers who were exploited,
abused, and coerced to endure inhumane and unhealthy work and living conditions.

Immigrant workers were denied civil rights and labor rights, and dozen of workers lost
their lives because they were denied basic food resources and many times were forced
to work without any rest or breaks.

ALL HAIL THE KING of LOSING: LEBRON
Bulls | Bears | White Sox | Yankees | Notre Dame | Illinois | Chelsea | Real Madrid

i was actually hoping someone would go here.

this is a huge story as we run up to the games, and actual journalists have covered this way better than i could even imagine.

i love how Sepp came out this week like "uhhh, yeah Qatar was mistake." like, DUH. everyone was screaming that from the get go, and they could have just took it back from them and put it somewhere else, but here we are.

i was screaming about what is essentially slavery back when Trump ran for President because they were doing the same shit way back then to build a Trump golf course over there. they just applied that same practice to all the stadiums and shit they needed.

i'd say read the articles that are out there cuz as i said, they can explain better than me, but i'm glad we're talking about this cuz the casual fan should be aware.

I love the game so much, but I call myself a person who fights against
social injustice, slavery and racism, etc…

I have to put forth some type of effort…something, no matter if it is all days or one day.

ALL HAIL THE KING of LOSING: LEBRON
Bulls | Bears | White Sox | Yankees | Notre Dame | Illinois | Chelsea | Real Madrid

Not sure how interested I'd be if it wasn't for their qualification and hype, even though even that seems to have died down a bit relatively with the Canada Soccer mess up here. Our coach is better than our organization at least.

We can have an exciting team that I think could surprise teams if they don't respect it. But I also hope they just try and go out there and play that way too even against the better squads on paper, be fun to watch rather than boring for a point. But who knows.

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Obviously White

easily the best player from North America.


Also, will be interesting to see who goes further, US, Mexico or Canada.

Definitely possible all 3 go out in the group stage

but Poland will be a test. Lewa is Lewa, Szczesny can steal one, and Zielinski has been absolutely fantastic for Napoli this year

Canada is in a much tougher spot. Croatia has a great best XI, but the depth isnt impressive and the weak spots are the fullbacks. Buchanan and Davies could stress them heavily with speed.

i like US and Mexico to advance, with Croatia having a lil too much savvy not to make it thru

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

I figure they can advanced past the group stage but I don't have any confidence past that and I think there is even some doubt if they get out of the group stage.

they needed Germany to collapse against S. Korea last time

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

So happy for him

While he prolly won't start, he'll def get game time as a 2nd half sub.

I was impressed by him v Arsenal in Europa

I'm real curious to see where he goes from PSV in the Summer

we have a slew of guys coming back from injury, and should be considered favorites to win the league right today

if they do, and CL group stage is a guarantee, from what I can gather the club wont NEED to sell anyone for financial reasons. they might get an offer they cant refuse for Gakpo but im optimistic they can keep the band together til next January at least.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

https://twitter.com/fabrizioromano/status/1593615794495184902?s=46&t=-wkLdH2MAtegZ9R8j7oOgA

I wouldn’t go back to PSG if I were him

He should do another year at PSV…but that’s not how that generation thinks

...but this world cup should be really interesting

rooting for all the African nations to knock off the colonizers and all the Serie A players (the league I watch most due to my SO and her family)

esp Senegal and my boy Kalidou..I expect a strong showing fromm them

its always Fuck AC Milan (Forza Inter) but Rafael Leão is just a joy to watch

Lautaro on Argentina , hopefully the football gods get us that Brazil matchup fingers crossed

(the 4 serie A fans (me , cgonz, khn, and someome else) in these threads know the deal)

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I wanna go to where the martyrs went
the brown figures on the walls of my apart-a-ment...

my first WC as an American citizen, figured I'd at least pretend to keep tabs on the team. I like what I've seen from Adams and Aranson for Leeds, but Weah is pretty unimpressive whenever I watch Lille, same is McKennie when I've seen Juve. And uh... that's kinda it?

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For the record, my teams:
MLB: Mets / Soccer: PSG
NCAA BB: Arizona / NCAA FB: Michigan
NBA: Spurs / NFL: Jets

Here's a tactical preview of Group B, including the USA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2PzGk46nfk

And The Guardian's brief on the team (though I think Ream will likely start at CB). https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/nov/06/world-cup-2022-team-guide-usa

Basically, Robinson at left back is going to be the thrust of how we get forward. It's a basic 4-3-3 with a weak no. 9. Pulisic and Aaronson are going to be where the goals come from unless Ferreira catches fire, which is pretty unlikely.

---------------------------------
Photo zine(some images NSFW): http://bit.ly/USaSPhoto

"This (and every, actually) conversation needs more Chesterton and less Mike Francesa." - Walleye

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For the record, my teams:
MLB: Mets / Soccer: PSG
NCAA BB: Arizona / NCAA FB: Michigan
NBA: Spurs / NFL: Jets

first, he has to stay healthy.

if we get that far? if he's playing well i think we might surprise.

if not? BLEHHHH.

but, Reyna and Aaronson are the engines in my book. however they are going is how we'll be going.

i watched a LOT of bundesliga during quarantine. they were the first to come back and i kinda got hooked into the storylines and all the americans.

he was still super young, but there were times where he looked like a superstar.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

seems like he's been shackled a little bit, and his shots being way down kinda supports that

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

ALL HAIL THE KING of LOSING: LEBRON
Bulls | Bears | White Sox | Yankees | Notre Dame | Illinois | Chelsea | Real Madrid

TERRIBLE TERRIBLE BLOW. Senegal has depth but I can't see them getting as far without their star.

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One Hundred.

<--- Big Baller World Order

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For the record, my teams:
MLB: Mets / Soccer: PSG
NCAA BB: Arizona / NCAA FB: Michigan
NBA: Spurs / NFL: Jets

sad to see Gaya hurt and Gaya's clearly the best LB in Spain right now, but happy/proud for Balde to get the experience (though might cost a pretty penny on his contract extension. but so be it)

Balde's really been outstanding over the past month + playing out of position.

even when Barca's down, still the backbone of a contention ready spanish national team. VISCA CATALUNYA

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you think we playing chess, but i'm playing mad-making. Basaglia

that move to Spurs didnt do anything for him

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

https://www.espn.com/soccer/france-fra/story/4806724/world-cup-france-karim-benzema-suffers-injury-in-training

Not that I care for Les Bleus, but I really wanted to see him thrive after being frozen out of the nat'l team for so long

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One Hundred.

but will it affect the actual games?

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"Take the surprise out your voice Shaq."-The REAL CP3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2H5K-BUMS0

It's on all the usual sites.

I now feel that if I don't watch/cheer this WC, I'm the asshole.

I THINK that was the intended takeaway.

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

<--- Big Baller World Order

I choose to believe that Qatar are actually really good, and that Ecuador is gonna make a run to the semis.