Netherlands vs USA, Round of 16. Live at 3pm GMT from the Khalifa International Stadium

[GunmaN1905]

Just now, Haguey said:

He's not a defender, but they'll play him like one. Same reason why Alex Telles is a failure

He's actually only useful in a specific system.

Physically imposing, but his ball control is subpar.

Crossing is also poor, you can see it was something he worked a lot on, he has no talent for it, just repetition. That's why he always goes for low crosses, poor touch.

If he has no space, he's useless on attack.

No doubt that United or Chelsea will bid for him.

[skybluedave]

What is Reyna's natural/preferred position? Feel like he should have been starting for US

[silentwars]

Atmosphere is non existent 

[Mickybricks14]

Bergwijn has been utter gash all tournament

[Darius1998]

1 minute ago, skybluedave said:

What is Reyna's natural/preferred position? Feel like he should have been starting for US

No. 10 as a playmaker. Or on the left so he can cut inside.

[HOORAY HENRIK]

Imagine not starting CCV.

[fxbghdfn]

2 minutes ago, silentwars said:

Atmosphere is non existent 

They were doing a Mexican wave after 17 mins. Shows the type of crowd they've got there. 

[craigcwwe]

Poor reflection on de Ligt that he's a backup for this Dutch side.

[DJ]

Just now, craigcwwe said:

Poor reflection on de Ligt that he's a backup for this Dutch side.

He is a CD. Central. Just isn't as good as others in a wider postion. 

[XuluBak]

1 minute ago, craigcwwe said:

Poor reflection on de Ligt that he's a backup for this Dutch side.

Think that's more because they play 3ATB than anything. 

[Astafjevs]

Pretty sure he was starting XI and one of the Dutch posters on here said he offered to step out of the XI because he's not accustomed to playing in a three on the right 

[skybluedave]

US gave it a go but not enough quality up top or at the back. Good game though. And hopefully a sign of things to come in these knockouts.

Holland/Argentina should be a good match up

[GunmaN1905]

1 minute ago, craigcwwe said:

Poor reflection on de Ligt that he's a backup for this Dutch side.

It's more about coach using the best players for given roles.

Koopmeiners is a class above De Roon, but De Roon is way better support for De Jong.

De Ligt and De Vrij are both only capable of playing central with three CBs.

[CFuller]

[DJ]

1 minute ago, Astafjevs said:

Pretty sure he was starting XI and one of the Dutch posters on here said he offered to step out of the XI because he's not accustomed to playing in a three on the right 

That's correct. 

[PMLF]

CONCACAF fully eliminated from the World Cup.

[georginho_juventusygr]

Bah, if only USA could defend.

[Darius1998]

4 years for the US to find a decent forward and a starting berth for Reyna.

[Pukey]

Netherlands game plan was good, USA were incredibly disappointing, and there you go. Really bad goals to concede, and Pulisic was a horror show

[Anthrax Dave]

Gutted for America.

[DJ]

1 minute ago, georginho_juventusygr said:

Bah, if only USA could defend.

And attack. And keep the ball in midfield. And had a couple of star players capable of doing surprising things. ^^

[silentwars]

15 wins out of 20 now for LvG, 0 defeats 

[thefmveteran86]

Netherlands were too good, the USA have still got a young squad got potential when they co-host in 4 years time

[Weezer]

Not a surprise considering their most popular national sports that the Americans are absolutely crap at kicking a football.

[Astafjevs]

8 minutes ago, PMLF said:

CONCACAF fully eliminated from the World Cup.

And they've been largely rubbish. Can't wait to see more of them in 2026

[XuluBak]

That went about as well as expected when the draw happened. Only reason anyone was giving us a chance is because the Dutch we're unconvincing in the group stage. And they almost made us look capable going forward...still couldn't finish, but probably created more chances today than in the entire group stage. Limited depth and quality experience were quite evident. 

Good experience for the players that will be a part of the squad in 2026 though.

Aaronson not starting and Reyna not playing more was disappointing. Pulisic continuing to take every set piece, when his delivery is consistently awful was frustrating. Berhalter's striker selection and usage was perplexing. 

Edited December 3, 2022 by XuluBak

[Anthrax Dave]

7 minutes ago, XuluBak said:

That went about as well as expected when the draw happened. Only reason anyone was giving us a chance is because the Dutch we're unconvincing in the group stage. And they almost made us look capable going forward...still couldn't finish, but probably created more chances today than in the entire group stage. Limited depth and quality experience were quite evident. 

Good experience for the players that will be a part of the squad in 2026 though.

Aaronson not starting and Reyna not playing more was disappointing. Pulisic continuing to take every set piece, when his delivery is consistently awful was frustrating. Berhalter's striker selection and usage was perplexing. 

 

I think you guys could be good bet for Semi-Final in 2026. Been my second team for this tournament, because I loved how you played.

[XuluBak]

3 hours ago, Anthrax Dave said:

 

I think you guys could be good bet for Semi-Final in 2026. Been my second team for this tournament, because I loved how you played.

I'm nowhere near that optimistic, but there's a good young core to build around, and this experience should help. Desperately need clarity up front and improvement at CB though. Some depth wouldn't hurt either. 

[Weezer]

4 minutes ago, XuluBak said:

I'm nowhere near that optimistic, but there's a good young core to build around, and this experience should help

You need to stop developing high energy midfielders and put some focus into finding some CBs and strikers  

Potential to be a great midfield but sod all at either end. Keeper looks decent though.

[EnterUsernameHere]

Mental similarities 

[The_jagster]

Has the feel of carefully selected stats with lots of metrics ignored when they were different.

[EnterUsernameHere]

20 minutes ago, The_jagster said:

Has the feel of carefully selected stats with lots of metrics ignored when they were different.

Definitely true, still interesting (to me anyway) though.

Edit: also just realised it was the wrong thread...

Edited December 3, 2022 by EnterUsernameHere

[Cod]

6 hours ago, georginho_juventusygr said:

Bah, if only USA could defend.

We have players that can, unfortunately, Berhalter loves MLS players and prefers them over some better options (CC-V, Brookes, etc.).

The lack of a true #9 is still the bigger concern...especially when we don't have any true #9s in the youth system either.

[skybluedave]

There's enough in the US team to be excited about for 4 years time though. Enough to be optimistic of a good home soil WC

[PMLF]

 

[GunmaN1905]

10 hours ago, PMLF said:

 

What a clown, taking Chuck's guaranteeeeeed seriously.

[The_jagster]

Yeah,like Croatia NT and It's Coming Home

[GunmaN1905]

11 minutes ago, The_jagster said:

Yeah,like Croatia NT and It's Coming Home

I have to say, this forum really changed my perception about British humor.

Most of you guys are definitely not living up to it with such low-quality attempts.

You don't even know anything about the guy in the picture or his predictions gimmick, but you find yourself offended.

Edited December 4, 2022 by GunmaN1905

[EnterUsernameHere]

11 minutes ago, GunmaN1905 said:

I have to say, this forum really changed my perception about British humor.

Most of you guys are definitely not living up to it with such low-quality attempts.

You don't even know anything about the guy in the picture or his predictions gimmick, but you find yourself offended.

I've never watched a full NBA match in my life and I still know who he is. Pretty mental that you can be as big into sports as people are on here and not know who he is.

[The_jagster]

17 minutes ago, GunmaN1905 said:

 

You don't even know anything about the guy in the picture or his predictions gimmick, but you find yourself offended.

I'm not offended...

It was just a low effort windup that lots of national teams take stuff too seriously for use as motivation and digs after the game.

[Heartwork]

USA fans really seem to want Balogun called up at the first opportunity.

[Baptista_8]

1 hour ago, EnterUsernameHere said:

I've never watched a full NBA match in my life and I still know who he is. Pretty mental that you can be as big into sports as people are on here and not know who he is.

Surely it's not knowing what the gimmick is rather than not knowing who he is? I know who he is, no idea what his guaranteeeed gimmick is though.

[Baptista_8]

Just looked at Depay's Twitter...very cringeworthy in general.

[Baptista_8]

1 hour ago, GunmaN1905 said:

I have to say, this forum really changed my perception about British humor.

Most of you guys are definitely not living up to it with such low-quality attempts.

You don't even know anything about the guy in the picture or his predictions gimmick, but you find yourself offended.

This is a hilariously over the top reaction.

[XuluBak]

18 hours ago, Weezer said:

You need to stop developing high energy midfielders and put some focus into finding some CBs and strikers  

Potential to be a great midfield but sod all at either end. Keeper looks decent though.

There are some youngish options up front, but Berhalter, or whoever is in charge, needs to decide what they actually want from that position. (And those players have to develop). The three guys called up, are three completely different players, and none of them were significant contributors in qualifying. So there was no consistency or continuity in attack.

Edited December 4, 2022 by XuluBak

[DJ]

I have no clue who that guy is (basketball is possibly the lamest sport on earth to me) so I had no idea what he meant by that  

Guess I do now. 'It was just a sarcastic joke'. Just about as funny as basketball tbh ^^ Amazed that Memphis even gave it some time. 

[Weezer]

18 minutes ago, XuluBak said:

There are some youngish options up front, but Berkhalter, or whoever is in charge, needs to decide what they actually want from that position. (And those players have to develop). The three guys called up, are three completely different players, and none of them were significant contributors in qualifying. So there was no consistency or continuity in attack.

Is Pepi any good?

He’s the only young American striker I know from FM  

[XuluBak]

1 minute ago, Weezer said:

Is Pepi any good?

He’s the only young American striker I know from FM  

He had a good 2021 season, including his first WCQ call up, then took a move to Augsburg, struggled to have an impact there, got dropped, and is now on loan with FC Groningen. He's only 19 though, so he's got time. Think it was a mistake to make that move when he did. FC Dallas has a good track record for developing talent and he missed out on the WC experience as a result. 

[skybluedave]

Can Weah play down middle?

[XuluBak]

2 minutes ago, skybluedave said:

Can Weah play down middle?

Yes, he can play any of the front three positions. Think he's actually played the most centrally. TBF, I have no idea of his preference or if he's comfortable centrally. Or Berhalter just stubbornly wants to play him on the right. Aaronson played on the right most of the way through qualifying (Weah was injured).